Tag Archives: Dawoud Kringle

Steve Gordon

Steve Gordon Remembered…We salute the memory of our departed friend

By Dawoud Kringle

Steve GordonThe music world suffered an incalculable loss after the untimely passing of Steve Gordon, Esq.

Gordon graduated from SUNY Binghamton, in 1987, earning a B.A. (with Honors), New York University School of Law, J.D. in 1981, and earned a French Language Certificate from the University of Paris in 1982.

From 1981 to 1983 he served as a law clerk in the Appellate Division of the NYS Supreme Court, ( the second highest court in the New York State judicial system). 1983 to 1984 saw him employed as a Music Attorney  by Dino Di Laurentis in Beverly Hills, CA, where he negotiated and drafted soundtrack recording agreements and contracts with composers for this Hollywood movie studio. Gordon served as a SESAC Senior Counsel between 1985 and1990. He handled the licensing of music for public performance on radio, television, cable, nightclubs, arenas, amusement parks, and background music services in the United States and throughout the world.  From 1990 to 1991 he worked as an Associate with Mayer Katz Baker & Liebowitz, where he negotiated and drafted recording agreement for Elektra and Atlantic Records and recording artists including In Excess, Billy Idol and Boy George.

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Rest in Power, Randy Weston

The memorial service for the recently departed Randy Weston, held at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, was nothing short of inspirational

By Dawoud Kringle

Randy WestonMusic was performed. Randy Weston’s African Rhythms Ensemble paid tribute to their departed founder and leader. Every note, every stroke on a drum was a tribute to the master musician.

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Kamyar Arsani

Cassette and Digital Release by Kamyar Arsani & Benjamin Schurr “Voices in the Dark”

Kamyar Arsani had a vision…Voices in the Dark…

Music Review by Dawoud Kringle

Kamyar Arsani Artist: Kamyar Arsani & Benjamin Schurr
Title: Voices In The Dark
Label: Blight Rec
Genre: Electronic, Rock, Pop, Folk, World, & Country

There are voices in the dark. I hear them. I see them. When soul is pushed to the corner of time, dancing becomes more than a form, becomes a spirit. In the strangest of ways, you lose your fear when you dance with Voices in the Dark.” – Kamyar Arsani

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Randy Weston Remembered: A Master Musician Who Travelled the Bridge Between Africa and America

Text by By Dawoud Kringle

Randy WestonOn the morning of September 1st, 2018, pianist and composer Randy Weston was called home.

Randy Weston was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1926. to Vivian (née Moore; a native of Virginia) and Frank Weston (of Jamaican-Panamanian descent, who owned a restaurant in Brooklyn where Weston was raised). His father was a staunch Garveyite, who passed on the Pan-Africanist leader’s Afrocentric, self-reliant values to his son. He became interested in music at a young age. Among his early influences and inspirations were jazz giants such as Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Art Tatum, and Duke Ellington. He would often cite Thelonious Monk as having the greatest impact on him.

After serving in the US armed forces in WW2, taking time to study European classical piano, and later running a restaurant (which was frequented by many jazz musicians), Weston began performing in  the late 1940s with Bullmoose Jackson, Frank Culley and Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson. He worked with Kenny Dorham in 1953 and in 1954 with Cecil Payne. He formed his own trio and quartet and released his debut recording as a leader in 1954, “Cole Porter in a Modern Mood.” In 1955, Down Beat magazine’s International Critics’ Poll voted him New Star Pianist.

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Rest in Peace, Queen of Soul: Aretha Franklin 1942 – 2018

A musical legend, Aretha Franklin has been called to her final rest…

Aretha Franklin

Photo courtesy of by the bright scoop

Text by Dawoud Kringle

The news of Aretha Franklin’s passing came as no shock. It was common knowledge she had been gravely ill for a long time. Just days before her passing, news of her severe illness made international news. Nonetheless, it’s impossible to hear of the passing of this giant without sadness.

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