Ursula Rucker Speaks with MundoVibe’s John C. Tripp on Her Fifth Recording, “She Said”
As a poet and performance artist, Ursula Rucker has enchanted critics and fans across the globe with her diverse repertoire, captivating vocals and accessible poetic verse. Her fifth live studio album, She Said, is an organic live recording with a full band showcasing Ursula’s diverse and complex artistry across many styles. This is Ursula’s first recording to feature a live in the studio session and focuses on Ursula’s well-honed skill and prowess as an improv vocalist. MundoVibe.com’s John C. Tripp interviewed Ursula from her Philly base.
Lindstrøm @ Santos Party House in New York City, The Vanguard in Los Angeles and San Francisco’s Mezzanine in February
Lindstrøm and Christabelle
It’s a rarity for Norway’s Lindstrøm to cross the pond more than once a year, but after a quick trip over last November, he’s once again gracing both New York and San Francisco in February with what will be his second show in 6 months, as well as making a highly anticipated first-ever appearance in Los Angeles at the Vanguard on February 11th.
LINDSTRØM TOUR DATES
Thur. Feb. 10 New York, NY @ Santos Party House
Fri. Feb. 11 Los Angeles, CA @ The Vanguard
Sat. Feb. 12 San Francisco, CA @ Mezzanine
While Lindstrøm’s label, Feedelity, has predominately been a vehicle for his original space-disco creations, Lindstrøm has brought another cosmic musician into the fold by way of a remix. Glasser’s “Mirrorage” has been given the Lindstrøm treatment, though rather than overwhelming the mildly paranoid track with additional elements, he’s extended the aural odyssey by featuring the core components. Cameron Miesrow’s witchy vocals mingle with the hypnotic, pulsating beats that seem to breathe with a life of their own. Ominous bells twitch and tingle behind a smoke cloud of electronic rhythm and Meisrow’s tribal narrative is further deconstructed to create an abstract masterpiece.
On his fifth album, Courage, Mamadou Diabate carves out a new direction. A departure from the traditional melodies on his previous album, these contemporary pieces highlight his versatility as a composer and affirm his place as one of the finest kora players living in the world today. He is accompanied here by a five piece band recorded in Bamako, Mali. His previous solo effort, Douga Mansa, took home a 2009 Grammy Award in the category of Best Traditional World Music.
The Body Ecstatic: Master Afro-Latin Percussionist and Ifa Priest Carlos “Go Go” Gomez’s Elevated Smooth Electronica
Smooth Electronica artist and Latin percussionist Carlos “Go Go” Gomez is three things: master musician, priest, and martial artist. Now after decades as a sought-after rock, pop, and Latin player and as a spiritual seeker, he has found a groove-heavy way to merge these three paths on New Paradigm Global Music (Kidlat Records; February 01, , 2011), a richly layered, multi-faceted sonic journey designed to engage, inspire, and elevate.
“One of the reasons for creating this music was to integrate the various parts of my life into one,” Gomez explains. “I wanted to break down those barriers that exist between being a priest here and a musician there and a martial artist over there.”
Eloquent drones and elegant beats—punctuated by Gomez’s evocative and passionate percussion—reveal this newfound place of unity and an omnivorous musician at his best. Gomez has dug deep into his Afro-Latin heritage and played with Eartha Kitt, Tito Puente, Maxwell, Sade, and Mariah Carey, to name just a few. Yet this album reflects a new understanding, a new sense of unity and resonance after an amazing career and very full life.
In 2007 “Achilifunk”, a compilation and booklet selected and written by Txarly Brown, was released to much critical acclaim both in Spain and the rest of the world. “Achilifunk” was a surprise which opened the eyes of many, especially in Spain of the rich sounds of Catalan rumba, infused with ‘70s funk and disco.
Two years later Txarly paired the best rumba combos from Barcelona with international remixers for a new funky stew with rumba and electronica as the main ingredients. After the success of these two releases, Brown had to come up with something original for the third part. “Gitano Real” is that closing chapter of the Achilifunk trilogy. A musical evolution, an attempt to create a new rumba scene with what the predecessors have already accomplished. On “Gitano Real”, the best musicians from this new scene have come together to form a unique band. Disco, rap, funk, and soul blend with rumba and gypsy music on this incredible record.Together, they have all recreated, Achilifunk-style, a repertoire of rumba hits, funk classics, originals and the surprising eighties-style gypsy rap of “Bombéalo!”.
Txarly Brown co-ordinated and designed this project in his usual inimitable style, with deluxe packaging for the CD, consisting of a specially designed sleeve including a newspaper and digifile. It couldn’t be any other way: life is better when in it’s in style.
No other place so embodies the idea of an earthly paradise than Jamaica. And no other place in Jamaica so epitomizes the fleetingness of that fantasy than Negril. This picture perfect town has it all, and it’s not just surf and turf.
I’m standing ankle-deep in a puddle in the middle of a washed out road. One of the brief and refreshing rain showers oft-praised as a relief from the afternoon heat, arrived early this morning and refuses to leave. At breakfast, I watched the storm advance, roiling the sea and turning the sky to a dull New England gray. My feet are now lost beneath the muddy water, and tremendous raindrops soak me to my spleen. I wear only a pair of red swim trunks, which I haven’t taken off for several days. I think, if nothing else, that thhe rain might freshen them up a bit. In my hand is a soaked wad of Jamaican dollars. Soon joining me in the puddle is an old man wielding a machete. He speaks quickly, alternating between garbled English and Jamaican Patois, and wildly waves his blade in the direction of the wooden huts that line the road. He knows I’m a man in need of something. Why else would I be out here in the rain? “Red Stripe please,” I say. He hesitates.
“Red Stripe,” I repeat too loudly. “Three,” I add, holding up the same number of fingers. I place the money in his outstretched hand. He nods to indicate that we’re in business and then walks off down a narrow dirt alley.
“Too much of de white rum for him,” says a woman seated in the dim confines of one of the huts. “It make him mad.”
Time is now measured in units of “soon come”; there’s no need to worry about that which will certainly arrive.
“Mad,” I repeat, and then add, “crazy?” The woman smiles a big infectious smile. And as I wait in the puddle, a grin spreading across my face, it occurs to me that my current state might be what people call being ‘in the moment.’
“Soon come,” says the woman after several minutes pass.
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Arts Presenters conference
Friday 1/7 – Tues. 1/11
Over 5,000 arts professionals will be in New York City for the annual Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) conference from January 7-11. This marketplace for the performing arts is the largest in the world and the destination for experiencing first-hand what’s next in the performing arts. http://www.apapnyc.org/
Here Comes Trouble
Friday 1/7; 7PM; $15
92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson St.
Six acts in one evening. Tradition can make plenty of trouble, as this year’s artists prove. Forward-thinking San Francisco agency Trouble Worldwide and the worldly New York label Barbès Records have teamed up for the third annual Here Comes Trouble showcase to present six groups that leap borders and continents with a single musical bound at 92YTribeca. A Bhangra dance party closes the night.
Winter jazzfest
Friday 1/7 – Sat. 1/8; Various venues
Jazz invades the West Village when the NYC Winter Jazzfest stages more than 60 performances showcasing the most ground breaking jazz and experimental music. Five venues will host events: Poisson Rouge, Zinc Bar, Kenny’s Castaway, The Bitter End and Sullivan Hall.
winterjazzfest.com/
globalFEST 2011
Sunday 1/9; 7PM; $40
Webster Hall, 125 E 11th St.
globalFEST throws one of the year’s best international music parties while expanding the horizons of musicians and audiences alike. 13 Artists from around the world converge on Webster Hall for this global sampler. Artists performing include Bogotá’s La-33, Senegal’s Yoro Ndiaye and the string duo of Ballaké Sissoko and Vincent Segal.
If you’ve been hoping, wondering and waiting for a new female voice to sweep in, seduce and tantalize at the dawn of the new year, your wishes has been granted in Moroccan-born, Paris-based HindiZahra. This multi-talented and multi-cultural siren of Berber-soul writes infectious and hip songs that perfect spark of intimacy.
Hindi’s spontaneous yet well-honed debut, Handmade is jazzy and soulful with Arabic sounds and a gritty, bluesy Berber pulse. “I wanted a space where I could break all the barriers, where I could put all the music I knew and loved together. Where I could mix it all,” Hindi explains.
Hindi grew up in southwest Morocco improvising melodies at her relatives’ urging; singing along with Egyptian hits on the radio; and drawing inspiration from her hardworking father and the rugged ranges and verdant valleys surrounding her village. For the young Hindi, natural beauty was part of her daily existence. The places around her were filled with spirits, and the mountains reminded her of “plump and generous old ladies,” she recalls fondly. They became her first audience, as she sang to them.
With a singer and actress for a mother and uncles who loved to jam on guitars and percussion, Hindi found her own voice early. “I had to go to my room, close the door, and practice making up melodies on my own,” Hindi explains. “I had to be alone, with only my voice.”
John Tripp Creative 
