Some Thoughts about “Janis” by Country Joe & The Fish

Text by Bruce Gallanter (Downtown Music Gallery, 9/26/2024)

“Janis” by Country Joe & The Fish, from I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die (rel late, 1967)

Into my life on waves of electrical sound
And flashing light she came
Into my life with the twist of a dial
The wave of her hand, the warmth of her smile.

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Fela Kuti

Fela Kuti – the Godfather of Afrobeat – Who was He?

MFM Presents “Music Is Essential,” a Zoom Roundtable Discussion on the Legacy and Impact of Fela Kuti’s Music and Activism on the African Continent. With Special Guests who knew or worked with the “Godfather of Afrobeat”

“Music is the weapon of the future.” – Fela

Review by Heidi Johanna Vierthaler

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MFM African Music Webinar Ad

MFM ZOOM Roundtable Discussion V.2: the Value of African Music

MFM Presents “Music Is Essential,” a Zoom Roundtable Discussion Among MFM Members – Musicians with a Deep Connection to African Music – Speaking on the Value of Studying Music in Africa.

Date: Monday, October 7th, 2024
Time: 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm. ET
Venue: ZOOM
Ticket: $5 for non-members
Register and pay here: https://mfmassociation.thrivecart.com/african-music-zoom-roundtable/

Zoom Host and PR Campaign Manager: Adam Reifsteck

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Digital Single Review: Peterpeter’s “Heavy Traffic”

Review by Dawoud Kringle

PeterpeterArtist: Peterpeter
Title: Heavy Traffic
Format: single (digital)
Label: self-produced
Genre: experimental/electronics/improv/progressive rock

MFM members Peter Wetzler and Peter Einhorn from Kingston (NY) have teamed up to bring us some very fascinating music.

Keyboardist, composer, and writer Peter Wetzler is not sure how he became interested in music. He relates the story his mother told him of when he was five, she brought him near a beehive to hear the “music of the bees.” With a background in classical piano and an eclectic spectrum of musical influences, he has worked extensively in film, television, theater, dance, and music education. He was quoted as saying “My music merges emotion and intuition.”

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Vanessa Falabella

CD Review: Vanessa Falabella (Brazil) “Yacht Rock N’ Bossa”

Review by Dawoud Kringle

Falabella MusicArtist: Vanessa Falabella
Title: Yacht Rock N’ Bossa
Label: Falabella Music
Format: CD and digital
Genre: Yacht Rock N’ Bossa

Those of you who are close to the MFM Circle, and readers of this publication, are no strangers to Vanessa Falabella. Born in Minas Gerais, Brazil (also the hometown of Milton Nascimento), Falabella has had an impressive career. She has recorded and performed with Gato Barbieri, Philippe Saisse, Sadao Watanabe, Cyro Baptista, Jason Miles, Will Lee, Eumir Deodato, Rick Braun, Marcus Viana, The Rain Forest Band, César Camargo Mariano,  Hiram Bullock, and EMI group project Criara with film score producers Frank Ferrucci and Scott Lehrer. Earlier this year, she appeared on Nu-Bossa Elixir by Future350, featuring the head of MFM’s Hudson Valley chapter Stephen Johnson. She’s also a proud member of MFM.

Her latest release, Yacht Rock N’ Bossa, which was produced and arranged by Marcelo Lima, is a well-executed collection of twenty beautifully written and produced songs. Yacht rock is a music style and aesthetic associated with soft rock or smooth jazz. It was one of the most commercially successful genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s.

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