Text by Dawoud Kringle
It is with deep sadness that the members of MFM acknowledge the passing of Michael Harrison. Michael died in New York City on April 17, 2026, at the age of 67. The cause of death was complications from pancreatic cancer.
Artist: SoSaLa
Titel: 1987 – Hajime
Format: CD and digital
Label: DooBeeDoo Records
Genre: NO WAVE, experimental, avant-garde, jazz, world
Stream here: https://soundcloud.com/sohrab-saadat-ladjevardi/sets/1987-hajime
Buy here: https://doobeedoobizllc.thrivecart.com/sosala-1987-hajime/
An Editorial by Dawoud Kringle
Last April, I wrote an editorial about Donald Trump coopting and taking control of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (EDITORIAL: Trump and the Kennedy Center | DooBeeDooBeeDoo NY). The Kennedy Center was meant to be a cultural landmark honoring art, not Trump’s ego. There was no reason for him to have done this except to build or confiscate more monuments to his worthless legacy.
Now, he has taken it a step further. He slapped his name on it.
Earlier this month, White House press secretary / MAGA cheerleader Karoline Leavitt announced the news on social media, saying the Center board voted unanimously for the change: “Because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building.” Shortly after the announcement, Ohio Democrat Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the board, refuted the claim that the vote was unanimous. Other Democrats in Congress who are ex officio members of the Kennedy Center Board, including Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, issued a statement stating that the President is renaming the institution “without legal authority. Federal law established the Center as a memorial to President Kennedy and prohibits changing its name without Congressional action.”
Report by Dawoud Kringle
Photos by Kim Schmidt, Clara Aich, and Banning Eyre
On Friday, September 5th, 2025, the Cutting Room in New York City hosted MFM’s 10th Anniversary Celebration.
After a brief and impassioned introduction by Kim Schmidt, the MFM Unity Ensemble (featuring Joe Lovano, Arturo O’Farrill, Ron Wasserman, and Andy Weintraub) opened the show. Lovano and O’Farrill started a lively conversation performing “Giving Thanks.” O’Farrill’s piano work was magnificent, poetic, and unpredictable. Lovano’s saxophone worked its way in and out of the piano with wonderful melodies. This was perhaps the first time O’Farrill and Lovano had ever played together as a duo.
Album Review by Dawoud Kringle
Artist: Kevin Keller
Title: Arcade
Label: self-produced
Genre: New Age/Medieval Ambient/Modern Classic
