By Dawoud Kringle
As I write this beginning paragraph, I just finished watching a documentary about New York City between 1977 and 1981. It hit home with me because I moved to New York City in 1983 and experienced (survived) the latter part of this era.
In this episode of MFM Speaks Out, Dawoud Kringle interviews guitarist Stephen Johnson; Polydor recording artist formerly of Victorian Parents, and Son of John, and presently with Future350), musical director of the Movita Dance Theater, and the co-founder and head of the MFM Hudson Valley Chapter.
Some of the topics discussed will include the changes in the music scene in Johnson’s native Staffordshire UK, Cork County Ireland, and the US, the changing issues facing musicians today (especially in the pandemic), the need for community and solidarity, and the founding of MFM’s first chapter outside New York City.
The following music featured in this episode is provided courtesy of Stephen Johnson. Continue reading
MFM endorses this public musicians event on Wednesday, April 29, 2020 at 7pm.
For Our Courageous Workers a City-Wide Symphonic Fanfare was conceived by Frank London, Hajnal Pivnick and Dorian Wallace.
Composers Frank London (of The Klezmatics), and Hajnal Pivnick and Dorian Wallace (of Tenth Intervention) have joined forces on this effort to bring the city together in a communal music project to honor the efforts of those risking their own health for the benefit of all.
Co-sponsors to date include The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, Make Music New York, HONK NYC, MFM, ALJA; and are being updated regularly. For more information, detailed instructions, and a downloadable score that does not require the ability to read music, go to http://www.tenthintervention.com/workers
Interview by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi
Since early 2000 a talented diaspora of a number of Iranian-born musicians have been producing sumptuous sound landscapes here in New York that both incorporate tradition and go beyond it incorporating jazz, blues, alternative rock, chanson, flamenco, heavy metal and electronica.
Well known bands, such as HYPERNOVA and KIOSK moved to New York which was the right artistic location and space to make music without the pressure to get a permission from the Department of Culture in Tehran which required pre-approval of all public performances and CD releases.
One of the newer bands coming out in 2019 is Koubeh based in Brooklyn, New York.
By Dawoud Kringle
Blink your eyes, and a new social media platform pops up. And with it, a new set of questions for the professional musician, and a new set of variables to complicate an already treacherous territory of the music business.
TikTok is a video-sharing social networking service owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based company founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming (ByteDance also owns Toutiao, Xigua Video, TopBuzz and BuzzVideo).
