Date: March 4, 2016
Venue: The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland
(Photo courtesy of Francesco Saggio)
Concert review by Fiona Mactaggart
Concert Review: Tord Gustavsen with Simin Tander and Jarle Vespestad – Hymns and Visions
Category Archives: Reviews
CD Review: Dahlia Dumont – Edith Piaf Comes To Brooklyn on a Reggae Bandwagon
Artist: Dahlia Dumont & The Blue Dahlia
Title: The Blue Dahlia
Label: self produced
Genre: Pop-Reggae/French Reggae-Ska
CD Review by Dawoud Kringle
The second decade of the 21st century ushered in an unforeseen phenomenon: pretty young women with ukuleles. Those of us who were born in the 60s and 70s sure didn’t see this coming! And with such women who seek a serious professional career, they have a lot of preconceived ideas to get past. So, with as much of an open mind as I could muster (suppressing the subtle sexism I was programmed with in my native culture), I wondered what The Blue Daliah had to offer.
David Belmont With Brent Arnold…An Experiment In Compressed Creativity
Artist: David Belmont With With Brent Arnold
Title: International Steel Guitar
Label: Windwater Productions
Genre: World/blues/ambient soundscapes
CD Review by Dawoud Kringle
New York City based guitarist / composer / producer / co-director of the Castillo Theatre David Belmont has a history of producing music from ambient soundscapes, jazz / rock / world fusion and avant garde jazz. In International Steel Guitar, joined by Brent Arnold (cello) and Michael Walsh (keyboards), he takes things to musical places not normally associated with the Dobro guitar.
CD Review: Spaghetti Eastern Music…using any musical device, any genre, any instrument, any abstract and ambient sound to make his statement
Artist: Spaghetti Eastern Music
Title: Sketches of Spam
Label: Bad Egg Records
Genre: rock/post-rock/experimental
CD Review by Dawoud Kringle
Every now and again, my friend Sohrab Saadat (editor / publisher of DBDBD) just loves to give me music that challenges my ability as a reviewer. He did it again with Spaghetti Eastern Music‘s new release Sketches of Spam, the solo project of New York based musician Sal Cataldi.
Concert Review: Zikrayat, An Immersion In The Traditions of Arabic Music
Date: January 10, 2016
Venue: Drom (NY)
Review by Dawoud Kringle
Zikrayat, the Arab music and dance ensemble offered their first performance of 2016 at Drom, NYC. Led by violinist / composer / teacher Sami Abu Shumays, Zikrayat (the Arabic word for “memories”) presents the classical music and the dance traditions of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and the greater Arab World. They also perform rare music from the “golden age” of Egyptian musical cinema (1940’s-60’s), traditional and standard pieces, and original compositions in these styles.
The sound at Drom on this night was quiet, by “club” standards. Zikrayat had no need to overwhelm the listener. They knew, not thought but knew, the music was beautiful on its own terms. There was no need or urge to prove anything. The set began with a varied exploration of the traditions to which Zikrayat is devoted.
