Tag Archives: music activism

“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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Event Review: Condensing the Vapors of Ideals into the Liquid of Process: Musicians for Musicians Holds its Third Public Meeting

Date: February, 23, 2016
Venue: CA Music Room (NY)

Review by Dawoud Kringle

MFM Open Meeting 2-23-2016On Tuesday, 2/23/16, Musicians For Musicians (MFM) held its third open public meeting at CA Music Room. The attendance was a bit thin, but considering the miserable weather, this was no surprise.

After the ritualistic opening of the meeting with a musical offering (this time, it was MFM founder Sohrab Saadat’s solo saxophone exploration of his composition “Sad Sake”), the discourse and dialogue over the processes, possibilities, and definitions of MFM and its agenda began to take shape.

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MFM’s Second Public Meeting: A Promising Idea Is Put To A Difficult Test

Text by Dawoud Kringle

MFM jpg logoOn Monday, 1/25/16, I attended the second public meeting of Musicians for Musicians (MFM). The regular DBDBD reader will recall my article about the first meeting wherein I mentioned that, as a milestone in the fledgling organization’s humble beginning, it was a successful first step. Now, MFM takes its second step.

MFM founder and president Sohrab Saadat Ladjavardi held court once again for the second meeting. The tradition of a musical interlude, started by Saadat at the first meeting, was led by Zikrayat leader Sami Abu Shumays. He led the participants in a vocal call and response that allowed the participants to experience firsthand the nuances of maqam based melodies.

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Music Activism: On my trip to Capitol Hill last week, I watched Karoline Kramer-Gould make history

Text by Blake Morgan

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Karoline Kramer-Gould & Blake Morgan (photo courtesy of Blake Morgan)

Back in October, Karoline Kramer-Gould, the courageous music director of WJCU in Cleveland made history and broke ranks with broadcasters by co-writing an open letter with me––to Congress––in support of artists’ rights.

She is the first radio-station music director to openly support artists’ pay for radio play, and she has paid the ultimate professional price, and left the station as a result.

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Artists Rights Advocates Make Gains in 2015… Web/Tech Admissions Laid Bare

the trichordist logoText by Trichordist Editor

So many of the issues we’ve been talking about for years are finally becoming part of the larger and more mainstream conversations about artists rights and an ethical internet. Seems like there is a little bit more than a slight draft blowing on house of cards that Silicon Valley has built. Here’s a quick recap. […]

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