Category Archives: Uncategorized

Chad and Jeremy

Who are Chad and Jeremy?

Text by Bruce Gallanter (Downtown Music Gallery, August 15th, 2024)

“Rest in Peace” from a suite by Chad and Jeremy. Recorded for an album called Of Cabbages and Kings and released on LP in 1967.

My name it is Matthews, and I’ve got it made
A memorial maker – it’s a profitable trade
I don’t solicit business; there’s no point in trying
What I like about my customers – they just keep on dying

Here lies Frederick, mourned by his wife
He lead a blameless life
He couldn’t win the way she treated him
His gravestone should have read
Here lies Fred – he’s better off dead
Rest in peace, rest in peace

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A Tribute to KING CRIMSON’s “The Court of the Crimson King”

Text by Bruce Gallanter (Downtown Music Gallery, November 9th, 2023)

“The Court of the Crimson King” performed by King Crimson. From their first album released in October of 1969

The rusted chains of prison moons are shattered by the sun
I walk a road, horizons change, the tournament’s begun
The purple piper plays his tune, the choir softly sing
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue for the court of the crimson king

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Wayne Shorter

RIP: Legendary Jazz Saxophonist Wayne Shorter Dead at 89

Wayne Shorter was born in Newark on Aug. 25, 1933. At the age of 12, he won a citywide art contest, which led to his attending Newark Arts High School, the first public high school in the country specializing in the visual and performing arts. His teachers helped him cultivate his interest in music theory and composition. At the same time, he became fascinated with bebop and the works of Charlie Parker and Bud Powell. Shorter switched from clarinet to the tenor saxophone. He joined a local bebop group led by a singer named Jackie Bland.

He acquired the nickname, the Newark Flash, around the jazz scene of the 1950s, while earning a degree in music education at New York University. After serving two years in the Army, he re-entered the scene, making a strong impression as a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.

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Neel Murgai

MFM “Speaks Out” Podcast EP 37: Neel Murgai on Brooklyn Raga Massive and the New Raga Renaissance

“We’re Creating New Musical Art Forms Indigenous to Brooklyn.”

Neel MurgaiIn this episode of MFM Speaks Out, Dawoud Kringle interviews Neel Murgai. Neel is a sitarist, overtone singer, percussionist, composer, teacher, and Co-Artistic Director of the  Brooklyn Raga Massive, a raga inspired musician’s collective.

Music on this episode:

“Bagheshri Unbound”  (live recorded improvisation by Neel Murgai using sitar, vocals and loops)

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MFM “Speaks Out” Podcast EP 11: Jackie Venson – A Rising Star Out of Austin

“I very quickly realized that a music career without Internet presence in 2012 and beyond was not a music career.” – Jackie Venson

In this episode of MFM Speaks Out, Dawoud Kringle interviews Austin TX based guitarist, singer, songwriter & producer Jackie Venson. The topics discussed include Venson’s beginnings, her stylistic development, her approach to music video, her business model, her experiences as a professional musician during the COVID-19 pandemic, and racism & sexism in the music business.