Green Arrow Radio

Atlantic Waves, London International Festival of Exploratory Music, is getting bigger, better and more global. Innovative international collaborations and outstanding creative musicianship have been sought out for the 2007 program, which is based on world premieres. This year the much praised festival features 22 concerts within 8 days, with over 70 artists from around the world, including Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Israel, Lithuania,Georgia, UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Finland, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, USA, Canada, Japan and Australia. A rather special program even for cosmopolitan London. This year’s festival includes the Grand Divas of Fado (at the Queen Elizabeth Hall), the Portuguese Guitar Masters (at St Giles Cripplegate), three Lusophone clubnights exploring soundclash, techno/electro and ghettotrash (all at Cargo), and three world class experimental audiovisual electronica nights at the ICA. With an extraordinary mix of new music for the “quench-ment” of all pallets ongoing between 1st and 11th November, the Atlantic Waves 2007 event promises an unmissable line-up of artists and genres.

Atlantic Waves info:
T: 020 7908 7622

file this one under “if I had me a magic carpet”

When I got home from the Tommy Emmanuel show last night at the beautifully renovated Majestic Theater in Madison, I tucked my guitar away and asked it why, and how Tommy could think of those things he does with his very own guitars. I swear he has a couple of spiders or octopus attached to his own hands at times, my gosh can he make magic happen on the stage. When he starts a song, you can actually see the music form around his body as he presents it to the awe-struck people in attendance. When featuring his rendition of Somewhere over the Rainbow, I heard tears falling from the crowd…TEARS! In his storied career, including 16 recordings, Tommy has set sales records that have yet to be broken and performed with hundreds of musical legends including Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Keith Urban, Eric Clapton, Sir George Martin, Tina Turner, Joe Walsh, Stevie Wonder, Nokie Edwards (of the Ventures), Hank Marvin, the Lexington (Kentucky) Philharmonic, the Dortmund (Germany) Symphony, and the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra. Whenever and wherever you might get a chance to see or hear Tommy play or create his music, treat yourself to a feeling of “That’s Incredible” and stay for awhile. By the way, my guitar had no answers for me.

A true class act:Mr. Tommy Emmanuel C.G.P.

Looking for something to do on the 19th and 20th of October….go check out my friend Sara Wasserman live. On the 19th Sara will be at Blue Nile and on the 20th at Jayne Marie on Cross Lake. Sara is a singer-songwriter whose vocals have captivated audiences everywhere, accompanied by her father, Grammy-winning bassist Rob Wasserman and Los Angeles-based producer/pianist Randy Emata. New Orleans trumpet legend Irvin Mayfield will appear as a special guest. They will perform an evening of Sara’s original songs from her forthcoming debut CD of acoustic soul and blues, as well as classic standards and high moments of musical improvisation. Her upcoming release features collaborations with Aaron Neville, Lou Reed, Soulive, and Christian McBride, among others. Sara showcased at SXSW ’07, and her original song “You Got Me” was recently featured on ABC’s hit show “Falcon Beach.” I have a feeling that these are going to be the types of show not to be missed. If you happen to run into Sara or her father, tell them MisterG sent you their way.

Follow Sara’s voice to feel that smile you needed.

Check out my conversation with Sara a bit ago here.

…and my conversation with her father Rob Wasserman here.

Glenn Jones: Against Which the Sea Continually Beats released on the Strange Attractors label is instantly gets across the sounds that are sensitive yet firm, a raw power only found in nature rises off the strings. Beautifully rolling melodies, like a hike through the Maine wilderness, personify the musical trail with the feeling of being there. Since 1989, Glenn Jones has led Boston‘s (go SOX!) “avant-garage” instrumental rock band Cul de Sac, whose musical adventures are documented on nine albums to date. Against Which the Sea Continually Beats, Jones’s second album, is a triumph of acoustic guitar composition, an innovative welding of sound and form. Recorded in Martha’s Vineyard, the peaceful, seafaring setting of this island community inspired these recording sessions, lending an air of tranquility that served as a perfect fit to create such art. The eleven tunes on Against Which the Sea Continually Beats travel from Delta to Appalachia, from classical to a cinematic sort of folk sound in a language that is purely imbued in the artist’s own musical vernacular.

To experience the Anoushka Shankar Project is to open yourself up to the wonders of mental movement. For this project, Anoushka is joined onstage by: Tanmoy Bose– tabla, Ravichandra Kulur– flute, Leo Dombecki– piano, and Jesse Charnow– drum kit. In 2007 the tour consists of new, acoustic versions of select pieces from Anoushka´s album Rise, new and as yet unrecorded compositions by her, and a showcase of some of her father Ravi Shankar´s finest Raga creations. The fusion of traditional Indian Classical and masterfully arranged audio interpretations featuring a blend of instrumentation, consumes your senses in a timeless moment of rapture. This project is certainly a step into the modern musical times with a strong sense of understanding where people have been drawn in in the past. There is a vision to this music. As with her father Ravi Shankar, the ability to listen and hear have in my humble opinion, placed Anoushka in a position to shape and invent within the structure of music, and create new boundaries for others to gain inspiration from. With a mixing of perspective, reflection and exploration, that magic of the Sitar should aptly be the choice to create these new stories. Sometimes it’s hard to turn the page, but in this case…..who KNOWS what’ll be next….SPEAKING OF…..

I invite you to check out a new project that features Miss Shankar and Karsh Kale.

Also, take a moment and re-visit my conversation with Anoushka about one year ago….ENJOY

..with Anoushka Shankar 10/5/07

What can be said that hasn’t been….for me, the show usually begins when Victor Wooten gets his bass some “alone time” on stage. Not to disappoint, this bass space was far-reaching, oft-exploratory and bone-a-fide funky at times. Jeff Coffin kept reminding me why sax is so damn good. Just imagine the Flecktones without it. Yeah, I agree. Where o’ Where are you tonight….Futureman is one cool cat (check out my past interview with Roy Wooten) with his unique blending of percussive magic from this world and beyond I found myself happily lost from thoughts other than “the moment” while he worked his art in front of our eyes. Speaking of right in front of our eyes, Bela Fleck can make his fingers appear like they wiggle and jive right in front of you, wherever you sit or stand at a show. He not only uses those banjo strings to play to us, but thankfully has found a way to use those strings to bring us to the music…with so much to take out of a Flecktones show, I really got a kick out of the rendition of the Beatles “Come Together“, just so perfectly true on that night.

Rage Against The Machine frontman Zack De La Rocha has completed his debut solo album, which was seven years in the making. De La Rocha collaborated closely with The Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore, and Billboard.com quotes a source that says it sounds like “Led Zeppelin meets Dr. Dre.” Since leaving the band in 2000, De La Rocha has worked with several artists including DJ Shadow and Trent Reznor, but it is not yet known if these artists will feature on the album. The report also reveals that some of the album was recorded at an eco-friendly studio in Los Angeles, owned by Jack Johnson. Since De La Rocha is currently unsigned, a release date is unconfirmed.

Meanwhile, reunited Rage Against The Machine play the following shows this fall:

New Orleans, LA City Park (Voodoo Music Experience) (October 27)
Las Vegas, NV Sam Boyd Stadium (Vegoose Festival) (28)

Something to look forward too times two.

West Africa never felt so close as it did on Sunday night when Toubab Krewe took the stage at the High Noon Saloon in Madison. There is some kind of wonderful happening when the cultures of a roots-centric West Africa and the rockin’ of the rolling hills in North Carolina collide in a rhythmic force so powerful you can feel the earth take a breath of contentment. The soles of people bare feet were in step with the beats of a sound so “in the now” that you could almost see people embark as if they stepped foot in the transporter room on Star Trek. The band sweats out exploration and expansion, and the music that follows them on the stage beams with excitement and demands that you move along whichever way you choose. They have been features at venues such as the Bonnaroo and Vegoose festivals to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Their live shows and self-titled debut album have won international acclaim from the New York Times, Global Rhythm, fRoots, NPR and more. The members of Toubab Krewe developed their unique sound over the course of numerous extended trips to Mali, Guinea, and Ivory Coast, where they immersed themselves in the local culture and studied and performed with luminaries such as Lamine Soumano, Vieux Kante, Madou Dembele and Koungbanan Conde.

Opening the show was Yawo. The set was an elaborate blend of afro-cuban beats and funky scales which took potions of his Togo, West African homeland and global rhythms which manage to combine luscious melodies with a get-up-and-groove music that won over the crowd easily.

Yawo at High Noon Saloon

TOUBAB KREWE 9/16/07 Madison WI