Friday, January 7, 2011

Preview- GlobalFEST 2011 To Feature An Impressive Line-Up Of Thirteen World Music Acts, N.Y.C., January 9th, 2011. With Photos Of GlobalFEST 2010












































































































Preview-

GlobalFEST 2011 To Feature An Impressive Line-Up Of Thirteen World Music Acts At Webster Hall, N.Y.C., On January 9th, 2011. Included Here Are Photos From GlobalFEST 2010

By E. Joyce Glasgow

All Photo Credits/Copyrights: E. Joyce Glasgow

GlobalFEST 2011 (www.globalfest-ny.org) will feature an impressive and thoughtful line-up of thirteen world music acts, on three stages, at N.Y.C.’s Webster Hall on January 9th, 2011. The all night passes are $40 each.

Included here are photos from last year’s globalFEST 2010.

The performing artists to be featured in globalFEST 2011 are:

Chamber Music: Ballake Sissoko and Vincent Segal in their U.S. debut. This duo combines the lilting harp-like strings of the West African kora with the deep resonance of the cello, producing lovely and sweet chamber music with an African essence. Don’t miss!

Creole Choir of Cuba (eastern Cuba) blends the traditional Creole music of Cuba, with its original Haitian roots, in compelling, earthy and powerful singing, with vibrant dance and percussion that expresses the complex music of the Caribbean. Don’t miss!

Diblo Dibala (Congo) is a guitarist who specializes in playing the joyous dance music of the Congolese Rumba, also known as soukous or “shake” music.

Kaumakaiwa Kanaka’ole (Hawaii) (NYC solo debut) a young vocalist and dancer, is a native Hawaiian Islander who comes from a seven generation ancestral lineage that have been experts in sacred traditional Hula dance, poetry and song. His voice is gorgeous, powerful and expressive, exuding in song; gentleness, spirituality, sensuality and the groundedness of being connected to nature and it’s beauty. Don’t miss!

La-33 (Bogota, Columbia) is a large ensemble which combines hot and spicy salsa, mambo, funk and Latin jazz in exciting, infectious dance music driven by lots of brass and percussion.

Novalima (Lima, Peru/London, England) is an Afro- Peruvian ensemble whose blend of traditional African and Latin percussion with modern electronica, produces music which is unique, hypnotic and very danceable.

Orquestra Contemporanea de Olinda (Brazil) is a multi-generational group, with brass and percussion, which celebrates the mangue beat music of Pernambuco with the old frevo carnival music of Brazil’s Northeast. They take Latin melodies and African rhythms and mix them into an appealing stew with funk and rock influences.

Pedrito Martinez Group (Cuba/U.S). Martinez, a percussionist, was born in Havana and lives in the U.S. and has the prestigious distinction of being the first Afro-Cuban hand drummer to take first place in the Thelonius Monk Competition. His group pulsates with driving rhythms, energized vocals, traditional Afro-Cuban dance and a bit of funk weaving through the music.

RAM (Port-au-Prince, Haiti) is a fifteen-year-old band that incorporates traditional Haitian voudou rhythms and lyrics and rock, creating music that is expansive and uplifting, with lush vocals and a breezy, tropical feel.

Red Baraat (New York City) is a joyous, raucous, highly energetic and festive horn and drum ensemble featuring the traditional East Indian dhol (ceremonial double- sided drum). Their refreshing and exciting blend of vibrant bhangra party music and brass band jazz sweeps the audience to jubilant dancing. Don’t miss!

Rhythms of Rajasthan (Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India) is a nine year old troupe of some of the finest folk musicians and dancers from the Rajasthan desert region of India, who perform timeless tribal music and dance that is intense, unique, colorful, hypnotic, mystical, mysterious, celebratory, spiritually surrendering and boundlessly expressive. Don’t miss!

Yoro Ndiaye (Senegal)(U.S. debut) is a Senegalese singer and guitarist who grew up building his own instruments in his father’s workshop. His popular dance music is based on mbalax, a style of music that fuses Western music with sabar, the traditional drumming and dance music of Senegal.

Zikrayat (New York City) means “memories” in Arabic and is a group dedicated to presenting the classical music and dance traditions of Egypt, Lebanon and the greater Arab World. Their theatrical performances feature instrumentals, vocals, film clips and belly dancing. They also perform the music of the “golden age” of Egyptian musical cinema, from the 1940’s-1960’s.


Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Preview- N.Y.C. Winter Jazzfest 2011 Will Be Overflowing With Incredible Jazz Talent, With A Look Back, In Photos, At N.Y.C. Winter Jazzfest 2010






































































































































Preview-

N.Y.C. Winter Jazzfest 2011 Will Be Overflowing With Incredible Jazz Talent, With A Look Back, In Photos, At N.Y.C. Winter Jazzfest 2010

N.Y.C. Winter Jazzfest 2011, various venues, New York City, January 7th and 8th, 2011

By E. Joyce Glasgow

All Photo Credits/ Copyrights: E. Joyce Glasgow

Greenwich Village’s Bleecker Street will be brimming with terrific music on January 7th and 8th, 2011, when N. Y. C. Winter Jazzfest celebrates its seventh annual offering. See more information and artists’ bios and videos at www.winterjazzfest.com. Some of New York City’s brightest and most innovative jazz musicians will be bringing their musical projects to perform and the promising line up looks like it will be hot and simmering enough to melt the predicted snowfalls for that weekend. The festival occurs simultaneously at three venues on Friday and five venues on Saturday from 6:00 PM till the wee hours of the morning, both nights. I commend the producers for keeping the prices reasonable and accessible at $ 25 for one night and $35 for a two-night pass to enjoy a stunning sixty plus acts over the course of the two-night event. The venues include Le Poisson Rouge, Kenny’s Castaways and The Bitter End, all within a few steps of each other on Bleecker St. and Sullivan Hall and Zinc Bar, both within a block of the other three clubs, making it easy for jazz lovers to come and go and catch whole sets or snippets of their favorite acts. The venues do get crowded, however, and sometimes it’s hard to get in, so get there early if there is someone you really want to hear and know that that particular group may draw a big crowd or are performing in a smaller venue, like Zinc Bar.

All of the acts sound like they are worth hearing and here are just a large handful of the many highlights of Winter Jazzfest 2011 that I recommend and think will be particularly intriguing and/or exciting, featuring incredible musicians:

· Maestro drummer, bandleader, teacher and NEA Jazz Master, Chico Hamilton, who will be celebrating his 90th Birthday this year, with Euphoria (sextet)

· Charles Gayle Trio

· Steve Coleman and Five Elements (sextet)

· Jacky Terrasson Trio

· Anat Cohen Quartet

· Don Byron’s New Gospel Quintet, featuring DK Dyson and Geri Allen

· Amina Figarova Sextet

· J.D. Allen’s VisionFugitive! conducted by Butch Morris (eleven-piece band)

· Tia Fuller Quartet

· Milk and Jade by Dana Leong (quartet)

· Amir ElSaffar Quintet

· Tineke Postma Quartet

· Nguyen Le Quartet

· Donny McCaslin Quartet, with Uri Caine

· Kendrick Scott’s Oracle (quintet)

· Matana Roberts, (solo performance)

· Marcus Strickland Quartet

· Source, with Abdoulaye Diabate (sextet)

· Chris Lightcap’s Bigmouth (quintet)

· Asphalt Orchestra (twelve-piece band)

· Sameer Gupta’s, Namaskar (sextet)

· Chris Speed’s YeahNO (quartet)

· Aaron Goldberg Trio

· Bad Touch (quartet)

· Ben Perowsky’s Moodswing Orchestra, with TK Wonder

· Aethereal Bace (trio)

· Kirk Knuffke Quartet

· Nels Cline’s Stained Radiance, (duet) with painter, Norton Wisdom

· Juan-Carlos Formell and Johnny’s Dream Club (quintet)

· Charlie Hunter Trio

· Nomo (sextet)

· Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey (quartet)

· Orrin Evans and Captain Black Big Band (fifteen-piece band)

· Underground Horns (sextet)

· (U)nity (eleven-piece band)

· Water Surgeons (quartet)

· Robert Glasper Experiment (quartet)

I’ve included above a look back at last year’s Winter Jazzfest 2010 in photos to give readers a bit of a visual picture of the festival, venues and some of the musicians participating last year.

The Winter Jazzfest has proven to be so popular among jazz fans that the producers started an equivalent, two-night summer jazz festival in June of 2010, called Undead Jazzfest.

Visit www.undeadjazzfest.com for more information.