Artist: Tomas Doncker
Title: Power of the Trinity
Label: True Groove Records
Genre: Global Soul/R&B/Soul/touch of Ethiopian music/dub
Preview, buy and download CD here
Review by Dawoud Kringle
Text by Bill McKormick
On 12/21/12, the Mayan calendar came to an end. Many people thought the world would end on that day (and some made a pile of money from that fear). Some new age adherents interpreted the event (which was based on an actual astronomical phenomenon: the ancient Mayans were very good with observational astronomy) as signaling a shift in human consciousness; the beginning of an apotheosis.
In New York City, at the Hotel Pennsylvania, the Meta Center of New York, and New Life magazine and expo joined forces to present an event to celebrate this. They featured several people who offered a variety of presentations revolving around this theme / event.
However, there was, as I understand it, a last minute addition to the program. This was an impromptu duet between new age musician David Young, and multi-instrumentalist, iconoclast Dawoud.
Reviewed by Matt Cole
Two recent CDs, Cydonia from New York-based Evil Giraffes On Mars, and Rocket In The Pocket from German trio Hammer Klavier Trio, showcase two somewhat different approaches to making and flavoring modern jazz, while being just close enough to make for an interesting hypothetical double bill.
Artist: Evil Giraffes on Mars
Title: Cydonia
Label: Evil Giraffes on Mars (884501145428)
Genre: jazz
Cydonia, while rooted in jazz, draws sounds and influences from many other musical genres. At times, the sound is almost that of prog (“Where’s Dave,” “Black Tongue”) with odd and angular meters, metal guitar tones, and on the latter an overall sound that reminded me a little of Dream Theatre. Other songs took the feel of modern jazz (“Murky Water”), almost-Southern rock with a twin saxophone lead (“Morning on the Red Planet”), funk (“Merge”), and even a tango (the aptly named “Shango Tango”), while almost always retaining the band’s core sound. The band flows together tightly (but not so much so that it sounds rigid), has a wide and well-used dynamic range, can go from exuberant to ominous in the space of a song, and has a high energy throughout the album. The only thing I might have changed would have been to add a slower number; the frenetic pace does not slow down until the album’s eighth track (“Michael’s Ladder”); however, that is only a matter of taste. In general, the excellent playing by John Cave (guitar), Matt La Von (alto and soprano sax), Doron Lev (drums, percussion, hand claps, and giraffe noises), Jamaal Sawyer (tenor sax), and Ryan Slotnick (keyboards, and most of the songwriting) make for an enjoyable listen. This is a band which could do well both at progressive jazz clubs and prog rock festivals.
Date: November 16, 2012
Venue: The New York Insight Meditation Center
Review by Dawoud Kringle
The New York Insight Meditation Center recently hosted a concert by sitar virtuoso Ikhlaq Hussain. Hussain is a musician of the Dehli gaharana (whose lineage dates back to Hazrat Amir Khousro), who plays in Gaykali Ang, a style wherein the instrument takes on the expressive qualities of vocal music. He was taught by his father Ustad Imdad Khan, and by Pandit Ravi Shankar. He performed in US, Europe, Middle East, UK, Pakistan, & India.
Date: November 10, 2012
Venue: Le Poisson Rouge
By Dawoud Kringle
On Saturday, November 10, 2012, Le Poisson Rouge played host to the 9th Annual Encuentro NYC Colombian Music Festival. The festival, produced by Pablo and Anna Mayor, was brilliantly conceived, and efficiently executed. The musical acts covered an astonishing spectrum of different styles and combinations of genres. It was announced that a percentage of CD sales donated to hurricane relief effort in New York.
In American music history studies, much has been said about the influence Latin music had on jazz. It works both ways. One of the very noticeable things was how the music the groups offered shows clearly how deeply American jazz influenced and changed the music of Latin America.
