In Iran it is considered a violation of Muslim law while in the streets of Dakar, Senegal music pulses in the streets and defines the culture. Two excellent reports of how cultures embrace or oppress musical expression.

Report From Iran:

By Robert Fisk

This article was originally published in the Independent.

I heard them in a narrow street in north Tehran, not one of the rich villa-lined avenues we associate with the Iranian middle classes but a tired thoroughfare of overheated plane trees and shabby, two-storey offices in grey concrete.

The sound was of a scratched record, a 78-rpm rather than a 33-and-a-third – iPod addicts, please consult your elders – and when I turned to my driver, he assured me there must be some morning party up the road with an old gramophone. But I used to play the violin, and I didn’t believe him. And sure enough, down the street came the troubadours.

Yes, real live troubadours in the real live Islamic Republic, two of them, hacking at a violin and beating on a “zarb” drum, the work of the classical Persian musicians, a combination – for a westerner – of gypsy and nursery melodies, a sudden revelation of 14th- and 15th-century music in a regime which aspires to the purity of the 8th. Habibullah Zendegani introduced himself very quietly – it felt that way after the rasping violin pulsating through the Italian loudspeaker on his back (hence the illusion of recorded music) – and said he was only 26 but had been playing for 15 years, inspired by that master of the Iranian violin, Bijan Mortazavi. Beside him, Ramezan Souratipour banged away happily on the drum under his arm, one of a thousand little drummers in Iran – he is 32, but a diminutive figure – whose fingers dab three to a second to Zandegani’s violin. Article continues here

Report From Dakar:

“I LOVE the evening in Dakar,” says Youssou N’Dour, glancing out the darkened window of an S.U.V. at the nocturnal crowds streaming into his nightclub, Thiossane, as a warm West African breeze rustles the palms and stirs up the dirt in the unpaved parking lot.

They arrive by foot, car, scooter and battered black-and-yellow taxi, dolled up in their Saturday best for the imminent wee-hours concert by Mr. N’Dour, Africa’s biggest music star. “It’s a city that really comes alive at night.”

Though he has recently returned to Dakar, the Senegalese capital, from a gala in New York City for the international Keep a Child Alive charity — where he sang with Alicia Keys and was honored alongside Bill Clinton and Richard Branson — Mr. N’Dour sounds more like a wistful local kid than a 50-year-old global icon who has won a Grammy Award and was once named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People.” “I’m still very attached to Dakar,” he goes on, adding that he was born in a working-class neighborhood a few miles from the club. “And the people of Dakar are very attached to my music.” Article continues here

“Into The Wind” by Guzheng performer/composer Bei Bei He and Ubiquity producer Shawn Lee marries a unique blend of ancient tradition with studio trickery. This uplifting, genre-bending sound clash, recalls the afro centric harping of Dorothy Ashby and hypnotic spiritual jazz of Alice Coltrane. With Lee adding equal doses of hip hop, electric jazz, and soul sensibility to the backing tracks, the captivating sound of Bei Bei’s Guzheng comes alive on peaceful mellow joints as much as it does on Kung-Fu flavored funk tunes.

Falling in love with the 5 foot tall x 1 foot wide 21-stringed Chinese instrument at first sight, Bei Bei began playing at the age of seven. While studying the Guzheng at a music conservatory in Hong Kong in 2002, Bei Bei developed an interest in jazz and groove-based music and hoped to make those styles with her instrument one day. Eight years later, now residing in Southern California, Bei Bei was contacted by Shawn Lee about making a record in the way she’d previously dreamed of, and she jumped at the opportunity.

These days it’s not uncommon for artists to swap tracks and build tunes over the internet. But, in this case, the artists had to drop their guards, throw caution to the wind, and learn about each other’s very different crafts as they went. Meeting only once (over pancakes and ice tea at an iHop in Huntington Beach!) the two emailed and swapped files for about a year to complete the record.

“Shawn was inspired by some of the traditional music that I play,” she explains. “It took both of us being committed, fully self-expressed, inspired, connected to make this album happen.” she adds.

The initial burst of inspiration led to the birth of early pieces like “Make Me Stronger” and “Bei’s Bossa”, which were new creations based on ancient tunes. The label was so excited by these two that they shared them with label mates and this is how Georgia Anne Muldrow ended up singing on the entrancing “Make Me Stronger”, and later on “Willingness”.

However, further collaboration between Bei Bei and Lee became more challenging. “I had trouble following the key changes in “The Ambush” because the Guzheng is conventionally tuned into a pentatonic scale without the 4th and the 7th of each key. That would not allow me to play pieces like this.” she explains. “After many experiments, I tuned each octave on my instrument into its own diatonic scale, and it worked perfectly.”

Swapping notes with each addition and change, they made their way through eleven tracks. The title track was the last track to be completed, and also became the opening track on the album. But it almost didn’t happen. Lee had made the basis of “Into The Wind” which sounds very different from the finished version. Bei Bei got a serious dose of writers block and wanted to give up. But Lee encouraged Lee to make any changes she wanted. “His words pumped me up, so I put myself together and went back to my instrument until the last note was recorded. This is true teamwork that takes part not only in the art, but also in the human spirit,” says Bei Bei.

Los, Amigos, Invisibles, free, music, Commercial

It was 1997 when I met and interviewed a fresh-faced group of Venezuelanos, just in from Caracas and embarking on their first US performance at New York City’s SOB nightclub. The group had agreed to a photoshot for my magazine, ROAM, before the show and we all met in front of the club on Houston Street. Their publicist was less than thrilled when our photographer, Roberto D’Addona, dragged them off to a back alley and got carried away with the shoot, taking far more than the allotted time. But the band went along with the whole ordeal, each member striking a pose and answering my deliberately fun questions: all it seemed missed their girlfriends (I’m sure they got over that rather quickly). Their easy going attitude and enjoyment in what they were doing was apparent. That night the band tore up the dancefloor with their latin-disco-rock sound: clearly they were on their way up. Ten years later Los Amigos Invisibles show they have no intention of slowing down. Their latest release, the aptly titled “Commercial” is their most accessible work yet and is nominated for a Latin Grammy. They’ve come a long way since that first show at SOBs and it’s a great thrill knowing I was there when they first arrived. -J.C. Tripp

Comercial is the first album Los Amigos Invisibles have released without naming their country of origin — Venezuela — in the title. Whether this, along with the title they did choose, implies they’re aiming at a more universal audience than just those inclined to check out a South American disco-funk band, remains to be seen. The simple fact is, just about anyone who hears this album will like something about it. Their songs are melodic, funky as hell, and are pretty much guaranteed to get dancefloors pumping. Their retro ’70s and very early-’80s grooves may seem campy at first glance, but this is no winking exercise like Deee-Lite or the Scissor Sisters. Los Amigos Invisibles are serious about getting the party going and keeping it going. “Vivire Para Ti” should immediately be incorporated into the repertoire of any self-respecting cruise-ship dance band, and they even sing in English on “In Luv with U.” This album falls somewhere between the minimalist funk of Prince‘s hardest tracks and the lush disco appropriations of Daft Punk‘s Discovery; “In Luv with U” could easily have come off that album, while “Mentiras” features razor-sharp guitars and synth lines that are straight from the Paisley Park playbook. This is a killer  album; throw it on and watch your neighbors get drunk and dance embarrassingly. (review courtesy of iTunes)

FREE MUSIC FROM LOS AMIGOS INVISIBLES:

Los Amigos Invisibles
“Mentiras” (mp3)
from “Commercial”
(Nacional Records)

Buy at Napster
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Los Amigos Invisibles
“Vivire Para Ti” (mp3)
from “Commercial”
(Nacional Records)

Buy at Napster
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Los Amigos Invisibles
“Diablo” (mp3)
from “The Venezuelan Zinga Son Vol. 1”
(Luaka Bop)

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Stream from Rhapsody
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Los Amigos Invisibles
“La Vecina” (mp3)
from “Arepa 3000”
(Luaka Bop)

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Stream from Rhapsody
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One of the most influential underground music producers and DJs of the past decade has called it quits. Here’s his letter:

The End
It’s over. I can’t go into the personal reasons, but of course will leave you some explanation as to how I got here. It feels a bit like walking away from a life of crime or the Mafia. I am Carlito, I have finally made the break from the old dangerous way of making a living. I just hope Benny from the Bronx doesn’t shoot me as I am boarding the last train out of here. The point is that I am no longer Domu. He is a character, always has been, and as of Friday 13th November 2009, he no longer exists. Neither does Umod, Sonar Circle, Bakura, Yotoko, Rima, Zoltar, Blue Monkeys, Realside or any of the other names I put out music under. I am cancelling all my gigs and not taking any more. My hotmail is closed, my Twitter is closed and my Facebook is closed. If any of you want to talk to me and know me well enough to have my mobile number then that is still the same, and please feel free to call any time. My other email address I mail from occasionally is still open to tie up any loose ends.

I had started to change, for the worse I am now sure. My confusion was growing, my insecurity and bitterness getting out of hand, a lack of creative direction and focus were leading me somewhere very dark. I have felt so depressed by all of this. Believe me I have searched my soul long and hard this year to find the reasons again why I do this, but I can’t locate them. Too much of ‘me’ is mixed up into all of this, and no one should ever give so much of himself or herself to a job. I once believed in all of it, that I made and played music for a certain type of person, for people who didn’t want to adhere to the ‘normal’ way of life, the free thinker, the independent or open minded type who was bored of the genres, the staples, the blueprints or the formulae. The underground. But I just don’t truly believe I am needed in this battle anymore. It has been passed down to another generation, who are doing it their way, and I have no desire to try and edge in and start proclaiming to be fighting a fight that is no longer mine. I am a 31-year-old man. I can’t claim to be holding a torch up to something that meant so much to me at 15. At 21, maybe. But now, after ten years going full time, I think I have said all I had to say. My creative light has dimmed. Maybe because I started so early, who can tell? But I feel satisfied that this is it.

(more…)

Build An Ark’s releases third album: “LOVE Part 1”.
13 tracks of beautiful folk jazz featuring amongst others Carlos Nino, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Dwight Trible plus special guests Phil Ranelin (one of the founders of Tribe) and Michael White (Impulse).

Build An Ark return with their third album ‘LOVE Part 1’, and their growth – both in sound and players – shows no signs of stopping. This is their meditation on Love ‐ its varying forms and moods, its ecstatic and soothing powers Build An Ark, under the production of Carlos Niño, have made a record which flows with a real range of volume and density, with arrangements and configurations contrasting against each other. The group has still kept their organic sound while adding several more layers, and charting a distinct progression from their previous two albums. There was a real immediacy to their first LP ‘Peace With Every Step’, which was all recorded live and crammed with Fender Rhodes, handclaps, and ensemble vocals, while their second album ‘Dawn’ stands as a much shorter, calm, and cohesive record, with acoustic piano, harp, and strings bringing a more measured pace to the music.

Now with ‘Love part 1’, the diversity of sound and arrangements is immediately noticeable. . Inspired by the spirit of Laurel Canyon, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young and Joni Mitchell as much as Alice and John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, and Sun Ra, the membership of Build An Ark has swelled to 45, bringing more instruments like guitars, strings, brass, reeds, and sitar, on top of the pianos, organs, singers, drummers, and percussionists.

The writing and the improvisation is much more balanced on ‘LOVE Part 1’ too, Phil Ranelin‘s ‘How Do We End All This Madness?’ and the ensuing answer ‘Play The Music!’, were recorded completely live, while other tracks, like Dwight Trible‘s ‘Celebrate’ were recorded live, but with arrangements added to extend some of the figures.

While Build An Ark is all about the collective expression, there are some notable players, including Impulse! violinist Michael White, singers Mia Doi Todd, Waberi Jordan and Diana Moriera, Tribe co‐founder Phil Ranelin, poet Kamau Daaood, spiritual baritone Dwight Trible, and tireless arranger Miguel Atwood‐Ferguson, all under the guidance of production standard‐bearer Carlos Niño. The sound of ‘LOVE part 1’ is the sound of a family at one with the universe ‐ and it comes straight from the heart. (text courtesy of Rush Hour Distribution)

Our friends at the always excellent Beyondjazz (if you don’t know this website bookmark it now!) have a wonderful podcast dedicated to Build an Ark. Download it here.

FREE TRACKS COURESTY OF IODAPROMONET

Build An Ark
“Morning Glory” (mp3)
from “Dawn”
(Shaman Work)

Buy at eMusic
Buy at mTraks
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Build An Ark
“Dawn” (mp3)
from “Dawn”
(Shaman Work)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album