Tag Archives: Dawoud Kringle

Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

“MFM Speaks Out” EP 23: Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi on the Founding of Musicians For Musicians (MFM)

Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

(Photo by Dawoud Kringle)

“Musicians With Attitude…in order to be active collectively you have to change as a person. So in order to become not only a better musician but also a better human being, you must change yourself.”

In this episode of MFM Speaks Out, Dawoud Kringle interviews Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi (a.k.a. SoSaLa). Ladjevardi is a saxophonist, composer, improviser, producer, entrepreneur, activist, and the founder and president of Musicians For Musicians (MFM). He has lived in and performed in Germany, Switzerland, Japan, and the United States as well as releasing several independently produced albums. The topics discussed focused on MFM, the ideas and philosophies behind it, its founding and history, Ladjevardi’s music and how it interrelates to the message of MFM, and the future of MFM and its place in the music community.

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Jazz Ladies – Part 1: Emily Remler

 “In her brief ten year span as a recording artist (ending with her death at the age of 32 in 1990), Emily Remler not only proved that a female jazz guitarist could be the technical equal of any male counterpart, but also that she possessed the intensity and conviction of a true leading musical voice. Her early departure from the scene is tragic, and her legacy as both an artist and a person should be forever maintained in our collective memory.” –  Roger Blanc (MFM Board member, guitarist and composer)

Text by Dawoud Kringle

Most of you who read this are musicians. You can probably name a good number of female musicians. Maybe you are a female musician.

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A Commentary: A Zeitgeist of Insignificance – The Problem with Our Musical Values

We are the ones who hold the means to reverse this destructive and dehumanizing trend – and all humanity will suffer if we fail.

By Dawoud Kringle

The economics of the digital age have had an unfortunate effect upon the music business. Digital piracy and the futility of competing with free downloads, and the payments offered by streaming services such as Spotify or Apple Music have contributed to a constant economic devaluation of music. Progress is being made toward new models for rights and royalties in the new music economy that favor the professional musician as equally as the non-musician in the music business.

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“MFM Speaks Out” EP 21: Karl Evangelista on the Bay Area Improvised Music Scene

“An Alternative (music business) infrastructure is one of the things that helps us keep this sustainable.”

In this episode of MFM Speaks Out, Dawoud Kringle interviews Oakland, California based guitarist Karl Evangelista is among the new wave of  21st century experimental / improvisational musicians. His work blends contemporary improvised music with popular song, 20th century composition, psychedelic rock, free jazz, and multicultural concepts.

The topics discussed include his beginnings and inspiration as a professional improvisational / experimental musician, his work with Oliver Lake, Fred Frith, Eddie Gale, Trevor Watts, Hafiz Modizradeh, Muhal Richard Abrams, Roscoe Mitchell and many others, his involvement in music education (including lecturing at UC Berkeley and directed guitar ensembles at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts and San Francisco Waldorf High School, and as a licensed instructor in the Kinderguitar method), his prolific recording output, his GREX project with Rei Scampavia, his iconoclastic interpretation of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, his approach to the music business, the production of four “Lockdown Festivals” during the coronavirus pandemic, music activism, and his involvement with MFM.

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Commentary: The Music Industry and the Mafia

How Organized Crime Shaped Our Business

By Dawoud Kringle

“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.” – Hunter S. Thompson

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