CD Review: Dahlia Dumont – Edith Piaf Comes To Brooklyn on a Reggae Bandwagon

Dahlia DumontArtist: Dahlia Dumont & The Blue Dahlia
Title:  The Blue Dahlia
Label: self produced
Genre: Pop-Reggae/French Reggae-Ska

CD Review by Dawoud Kringle

The second decade of the 21st century ushered in an unforeseen phenomenon: pretty young women with ukuleles. Those of us who were born in the 60s and 70s sure didn’t see this coming! And with such women who seek a serious professional career, they have a lot of preconceived ideas to get past. So, with as much of an open mind as I could muster (suppressing the subtle sexism I was programmed with in my native culture), I wondered what The Blue Daliah had to offer.

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Music Listings- 3/14 through 3/20/2016

1. Ksenija Sidorova

Date: Monday, March 14, 2016
Time: 7pm
Venue: Le Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker St, New York, New York 10012)
Ticket: $15/$20/$25
Genre: classical and contemporary

Praised as “superbly subtle and virtuosic” (The Arts Desk) and “an amazingly accomplished artist” (Classical Source), Russian Ksenija Sidorova is the leading ambassador for the accordion.

In 2009 Ksenija made her debut at London’s Wigmore Hall and appeared in the Park Lane Group Young Artists Showcase prompting The Times to single her out as“one of the real finds of the series”. In May 2012 she became the first International Award winner of the Bryn Terfel Foundation, and this year appears at the Royal Albert Hall as part of his 50th birthday celebrations alongside Sting.  Ksenija Sidorova official site

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Adele, Neil Young, Foo Fighter, Isaac Hayes, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith: Politicians don’t Steal their Music!

Presidential Hopefuls Historically Steal Music to use as Political Propaganda

Text by Dawoud Kringle

Musicians in the USA have often been the victim of political candidates appropriating their music for the purpose of campaigning and propaganda. This is always done without the artist’s permission.

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David Belmont With Brent Arnold…An Experiment In Compressed Creativity

David Belmont Artist: David Belmont With With Brent Arnold
Title: International Steel Guitar
Label: Windwater Productions
Genre: World/blues/ambient soundscapes

CD Review by Dawoud Kringle

New York City based guitarist / composer / producer / co-director of the Castillo Theatre David Belmont has a history of producing music from ambient soundscapes, jazz / rock / world fusion and avant garde jazz. In International Steel Guitar, joined by Brent Arnold (cello) and Michael Walsh (keyboards), he takes things to musical places not normally associated with the Dobro guitar.

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Music Listings – 3/7 through 3/13/2016

1. Mary Halvorson 

Date: Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Time:  8pm
Venue: The Roulette (509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217)
Ticket: $20
Genre: jazz/improv

Famed jazz guitarist Mary Halvorson celebrates the second night of her Roulette residency with a debut performance from the new trio comprised of Ambrose Akinmusire, Craig Taborn, and Halvorson.

Guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson has been called “NYC’s least-predictable improviser” (Howard Mandel, City Arts), “the most forward-thinking guitarist working right now” (Lars Gotrich, NPR.org) and “one of today’s most formidable bandleaders” (Francis Davis, Village Voice). Ms. Halvorson is best known for her longstanding trio, featuring bassist John Hébert and drummer Ches Smith, and more recently for her solo guitar project, Meltframe. She has several other projects as a bandleader including a quintet, septet and octet. Collaborative projects include a chamber-jazz duo with violist Jessica Pavone, the avant-rock band People and the collective ensembles Thumbscrew (with Michael Formanek and Tomas Fujiwara) and Secret Keeper (with Stephan Crump). Ms. Halvorson is also an active member of bands led by Anthony Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum, Trevor Dunn, Tomas Fujiwara, Ingrid Laubrock, Joe Morris, Tom Rainey, Mike Reed and Marc Ribot, among others.

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