Category Archives: Reviews

CD Review: Dahlia Dumont – Edith Piaf Comes To Brooklyn on a Reggae Bandwagon

Dahlia DumontArtist: 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.

Continue reading →

David Belmont With Brent Arnold…An Experiment In Compressed Creativity

David Belmont 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.

Continue reading →

CD Review: Spaghetti Eastern Music…using any musical device, any genre, any instrument, any abstract and ambient sound to make his statement

Spaghetti Eastern MusicArtist: 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.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

CD Review: Church of Betty…overall idealistic “neo-hippie-love-is-the-answer” vibe

Church Of BettyArtist: Church of Betty
Title: Swirled World
Label: Shop Fang Records
Genre: psychedelic rock / progressive world chamber rock

Review by Dawoud Kringle

Brooklyn’s Church of Betty, the brainchild of sitarist / guitarist Chris Rael, was, from its beginning, an interesting anomaly. Being a sitar player myself, I was intrigued by his concept. COB first hit the scene in 1998. An impressive list of musicians who performed and recorded with COB includes tabla master and Rael’s longtime collaborator, Deep Singh. Their live performances brought theatrics and dance to their live sound. Rael’s sitar style, far from orthodox classical raga, nonetheless used raga as a framework he built on a pop / rock / folk / psychedelic foundation.

Continue reading →