Event recommendation: open studios performances, screenings and lectures @ ICSP in East Williamsburg

Date: Saturday, May 12, 2012
Venue: The International Studio & Curatorial Program/ISCP (1040 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211, 718-387-2900)
Genre: Jazz/contemporary music
Ticket: pleae call venue

2pm  Eloise Fornieles The Orbit

Over the course of one hour, Eloise Fornieles will orbit a cement mixer containing a marble head of Mercury, the mythological messenger of the Roman gods. The cement mixer will slowly chip away parts of the head, eroding the iconographic replica of the divine figure to its original material state. Covering distance yet traveling nowhere, Fornieles uses this repetitive motion as a form of ritualistic journey. Fornieles’ installations create a space for contemplation, while her own emphasis on physical endurance provides a backdrop for a more visceral understanding of the body as material, with its limitations and capabilities. Continue reading →

Concert review: Iran’s Pavarotti and music actvist Mohammad Reza Shajarian and the Shahnaz Ensemble at Town Hall.

Date: April 20, 2012
Venue: Town Hall (NY)

Text by Aida Shahghasemi 

A few weeks after his son, Homayoun (read review here), Mohammad Reza Shajarian and the Shahnaz Ensemble gave a concert at Town Hall last month which portrayed creativity and innovation within the realm of Persian classical music.

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Interview: Marco Lienhard & his TAIKOZA – the man keeping Japanese culture alive?!

Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Who’s Marco Lienhard? What does he do here in NY? Oh, he’s a musician. No kidding. What makes him different from other musicians in NY? Many of these questions he’s going to answer in the video interview.

I have known Marco for more than thirty years. We met in Osaka, Japan, when we were thirty years younger. At that time I studied Kendo at a sports college and had just started playing sax. Marco, as far as I can remember, was an exchange student. We both were young and starting our adult lives far in the Far East. Both of us had no idea that we would stay in Japan for a very long time and would master a specific Japanese art. Marco is one of the first Europeans to learn and master the shakuhachi and taiko drum in Japan, and I myself become a Kendo master. In 2008 NY brought us together.

It is very interesting for you to know that people like Marco and me know more about Japan, the Japanese people and Japanese culture than the Japanese themselves. You might think, how can he say that? But it’s true because it’s a matter of fact that the majority of Japanese don’t know anything about Japanese classical music and their classical instruments? It’s unbelievable that a country like Japan lost track of many of its roots by the invasion of American and European cultures after the Second World War.

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Recommended concert: Taikoza Live…the Japanese matsuri experience!!!

Date: May 4th & 5th, 2012
Time: 8pm
Venue: The Manhattan Movement and Arts Center (248 West 60th Street, New york, NY 10023)
Tickets: $36
Genre: Japanaese folk music/taiko drums music

Taikoza uses the powerful rhythms of the taiko drums to create an electrifying energy that carries audiences in a new dimension of excitement. The taiko is a large, barrel-like drum that can fill the air with the sounds of rolling thunder. Roughly translated, taiko means big drums – and that’s exactly what Taikoza brings. Big drums, powerful rhythms, and electrifying, room-thumping energy. This exciting group draws from Japan’s rich tradition of music and performance to create a highly visual performance.  Drawing from Japan’s rich tradition of music and performance, Taikoza has created a new sound using a variety of traditional instruments. In addition to drums of assorted sizes, Taikoza incorporates the shakuhachi, the fue (both bamboo flutes) and the Koto (a 13 string instrument).

Taikoza’s new CD has been nominated as best Asian Ethnic Album for the Just Plain Folks Music Award. Taikoza has appeared on different TV programs such as Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, the History Channel in “History vs. Hollywood” and ESPN S.U.M.O: The battle of the Giants. Taikoza is featured in the Movie: The Commute.

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