Category Archives: Outta World interviews

artists I have chatted with that are just plain different..in my opinion.

Nation Beat’s Archaic Humans & Scott Kettner

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When band leader Scott Kettner looks at a map, he sees a direct line that connects the rivers of northeastern Brazil to the parishes of New Orleans & the streets of NYC. It’s a connection that came to him in 1999 amid the swirling dancers, ecstatic musicians, & powerful percussionists parading in the streets during Carnival in Recife, Brazil. He was there at the urging of his mentor, NEA Jazz Master Billy Hart, to study maracatu, the region’s complex, dance-inducing rhythm. He came home with a vision, a vision that achieves its highest, funkiest, & most expansive expression to date with the release of Nation Beat’s latest album, ‘Archaic Humans’, out end of May on Ropeadope Records. That day in Recife, Scott heard the thread that connects the musics of Brazil & New Orleans. A master percussionist, composer, educator, & the guiding force behind Nation Beat, he has been tracing the similarities between the music & culture of northeastern Brazil and the American South for 2 decades, through recordings & performances, as well as educational/community outreach programs. Back in 2017, Kettner expanded his conception of the Nation Beat sound to incorporate his background in jazz & hybrid drumming, and he began collaborating with tenor saxophonist/arranger extraordinaire Paul Carlon. With the release of ‘The Royal Chase’ in 2020, Nation Beat injected the high-octane improvisations of NYC bop into the thunderous grooves of northeastern Brazil and the swagger of parading New Orleans brass, moving hips & feet and setting brains on fire. The Royal Chase marked a new phase in the band’s cross-cultural explorations and the album charted on both World & Jazz radio charts and spent over a year on the Roots Report chart, peaking at #1. With the release of ‘Archaic Humans’, Nation Beat expands its cross-cultural explorations even further and leaves an original mark on the music. While maintaining the infectious, audacious rhythmic and brass energy of its Brazil & New Orleans roots, the band lights up the afterburners on its jazz chops and reaches into fresh new territory with new collaborators. GRAMMY-nominated progressive hip-hop artist Christylez Bacon from Washington, DC, & soulful South African singer/songwriter Melanie Scholtz braid radically new & uplifting strands into the Nation Beat thread on several tracks. As exciting/adventurous as their recordings are, the band’s live shows have taken on an almost mythological aura for their ability to lift the souls & move the feet of their ever-growing cross-cultural audience.

I had the pleasure of chattinG with Scott Kettner about this brand new album coming out end of May from Ropeadope Records. We talk about the journey it took to go from the new ideas into the final product that I am proud to be able to get into your thirsty ear-holes. This is music to feel as you enjoy with those ears. It hits so deeply. Not ever shy to work with others, we get into the hows/whys of both Christylez & Melanie as choices to be art of the project – clearly after a few (ok..ok..ok..MANY) listens this was a great choice, as they feel like the were just waiting along the way to be in the parade. I like ot find out what helps an artist call a label home, and we find out what Ropeadope is doing to help make this music progress. When not making music, where can you find Scott, find out his special place and what artist he would chooses to build a setlist and what song off the new album does he work in?

Stephane Wrembel Back In Madison

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Stephane Wrembel is one of the finest guitar players in the world. The breadth & range of his playing & compositions are unmatched. This prolific musician, composer, educator, & musical director has released a steady stream of music since 2002 making his mark as one of the most original guitar voices in contemporary music. He has headlined Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Town Hall in NYC & The Lyon Opera House in France. He has toured and/or shared stages with master violinist Mark O’Connor, Sam Bush, Stochelo Rosenberg, Esperanza Spalding, & Al Di Meola. He has dazzled audiences at Montreal Jazz Festival, Rochester International Jazz Festival, Django Reinhardt Festival in France, Ellnora Guitar Festival, Caramoor Jazz Festival & many others. Born in Paris and raised in Fontainebleau, the home of Impressionism & Django Reinhardt, Stephane 1st studied classical piano, at the age of 4. But in his mid-teens, he discovered that he had an affinity for guitar and then he found out about Django and fell in love w/the very strong impressionist feel in his music. Django, long regarded as one of the most influential musicians/composers of all time, was a Sinti, so Wrembel immersed himself in Sinti culture and started learning the atmosphere of what it really means to play Sinti-style guitar. He learned from the masters such as Angelo Debarre & Serge Krief. After graduating summa cum laude from Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2002, he released his debut album, Introducing Stephane Wrembel. He moved to NYC in 2003. Before long, word of this remarkable European transplant began spreading among fellow musicians in the robust New York music scene. Both Gypsy Rumble (2005), which includes mandolin legend David Grisman, and 2006’s Barbes-Brooklyn found favor with critics. Oscar-winning director Woody Allen used one of Gypsy Rumble’s tracks, “Big Brother,” in his 2008 film Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Hiss fourth album, Terre Des Hommes, was released the same year. In 2003, Wrembel created his own annual event, Django á Gogo Music Festival & Guitar Camp, bringing together some of the finest musicians in the world to celebrate the Sinti guitar style to perform in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall & The Town Hall. This weeklong event held in his hometown of Maplewood, N.J. & NYC is now being produced in Los Angeles, Canada & beyond. Wrembel’s breakthrough came with his original composition “Bistro Fada,” a Django-influenced swinging waltz on his 5th album Origins that became the theme song for Woody Allen’s 2011 Oscar®-winning film, Midnight In Paris. It was included on the Grammy®-winning soundtrack for the film. Wrembel performed the irresistibly catchy “Bistro Fada” live during the 2012 Academy Awards® ceremony with an all-star ensemble led by Hans Zimmer. In 2016, Wrembel released two masterfully recorded live albums: Live In India and Live In Rochester. From 2017-2021, Stephane released The Django Experiment I -The Django Experiment VI under the nom du plume The Django Experiment. These 6 volumes were recorded with long-time collaborators Thor Jensen on guitar, Ari Folman-Cohen on double bass, Nick Anderson on drums& Nick Driscoll on saxophone and clarinet, live in the studio, evoking new interpretations of Reinhardt’s music as well as songs by other jazz composers. In 2019, Wrembel produced Les Yeux Noirs, the debut CD by Simba Baumgartner, Django’s great-grandson. Baumgartner, who lives in the countryside in France, was one of the special guests at Django á Gogo 2019 & 2023. That same year, he released Django L’Impressionniste putting the spotlight on 17 little-known preludes for solo guitar Reinhardt recorded between 1937 and 1950. Wrembel is the first interpreter who has performed all of these pieces and collected them in one definitive masterwork. It took 4 years to meticulously transcribe the songs. He released a beautifully printed/bound book of sheet music in April of 2021. In November of 2021, he debuted his specialty group Django New Orleans, a 9-piece NYC-based band, with 8 sold-out shows at Jazz At Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club. The following year his specialty program Shades of Django sold out two nights in The Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Now, in 2024, he is doing another something he has never done, recording a triptych album with a duet of guitar & piano with Jean-Michel Pilc. Following the success of these shows, Wrembel released Django New Orleans in May of 2023 in conjunction with the Django á Gogo festival. And while he is now considered one of the preeminent master guitarists in the world specialized in the Django Reinhardt style, this wonderful human keeps transcending & expanding. His music incorporates jazz, blues, classical, swing, flamenco and rock. All of these influences come together as a genre identifiable only as Stephane Wrembel.

I had the pleasure of catching up with family to the proGram, Stephane Wrembel ahead of his May 21st event at the Bur Oak here in Madison, presented by the Midwest Gypsy Swing Fest. We get into the event here with the quartet and what types of things to expect. We will be in store from something off the new and amazing triptych album with Jean-Michel Pilc. We get deep into that new trilogy with meaning and how the two artist have taken that new energy and become close friends, not only for their musical creation. I would be remiss if we didn’t take a moment or two to let Stephane brag and boast a little it about the 2024 Django-A-Gogo and my my my, there’s a lot to be proud about once again. I am proud to call Stephane a friend as when we talk, and you’ll hear it aGain, there’s a rhythm and ebb & flow to us as well, and you’ll feel that personal connection I bet when you plug into the records and most definitely when you catch him in any of his projects live.

Photo by Jason Goodman

The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis

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The Messthetics is an instrumental trio formed by former Fugazi members bassist Joe Lally & drummer Brendan Canty with progressive jazz rock guitarist Anthony Pirog. Their music has been described as “jazz punk jam. The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis is a collaborative studio album by American jazz fusion group the Messthetics & saxophonist James Brandon Lewis. How do we get to this moment: Joe Lally was onstage, playing at full throttle, when he realized that his band had found a true kindred spirit. It was the fall of 2021 and the Messthetics were at the Bell House in Brooklyn, just getting into their uptempo riff jam, “Serpent Tongue.” Joining them for the piece was a special guest, acclaimed jazz saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, making only his 2nd appearance with the group after a drop-in at another New York show back in 2019. That first meeting had been a success, but this time, Lewis’ presence definitely sparked something new. The feeling that there was more to explore within what began as an ad hoc union among the 4 musicians, lingered after the performance ended. Now, Lewis, Pirog, Lally & Canty are ready to unveil their first full-length album as a quartet. Recorded in just 2 days in December 2022 at Takoma Park, Maryland, studio Tonal Park, with engineer Don Godwin, The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis features 9 tracks that capture the combustive chemistry Lally originally sensed onstage while expanding the collaboration in all directions. Across the album, which dropped on March 15th via the legendary Impulse! label, the quartet can be heard locking into a hard, swaggering funk groove on “That Thang,” cradling a wistful, jazz-like theme on “Asthenia” or rocketing into ecstatic art-punk overdrive on “Emergence.” There is plenty of expected evidence of spontaneity running throughout this record. Once the quartet established a rapport onstage, the Messthetics followed up with an invitation to team up for an album, which Lewis quickly accepted. The Messthetics spent a few months in the fall of 2022 assembling & arranging material as a trio before meeting w/Lewis for just 1 day of rehearsal prior to the recording in December. Even with minimal prep time, the material evolved considerably.

I had an opportunity to get hang out with Joe, Brendan, Anthony and Mr. James Brandon Lewis ahead of The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis May 12th show here in Madison at the High Noon Saloon. On the heels of their new album released on Impulse!, we talk about the event and give people an idea of what’s instore and how the new record is what they will build off of as the conversations in real time begin. Anthony and James give the scoop on how they played together which led to an opportunity for a live a cameo or two, which, in turn led what is on the new record and what we will be involved in as they add to that foundation at the High Noon (or wherever you may be fortunate to catch them). A supportive environment, allow the former rhythm section of Fugazi to control the course of the ship, while Anthony’s guitar and JBL’s sax navigate the corners and exploring a dueling dialogue. For me this sound is something I want to surround myself with, sometimes alone or with a group but it has a quality of heavy and groove that can spin at a moment, just like the feeling in life. The guys shared what tracks they’d =choose to build a setlist with and some other artists and tunes, it was as eclectic as what they do. Go figure.

Photo by Shervin Lainez

Left Lane Cruiser Driving This Way

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Specializing in a raw hillbilly punk-blues style that roars like a tweaking modal chain saw, Fort Wayne, Indiana’s Left Lane Cruiser is a band led by slide guitarist Frederick “Joe” Evans IV. and Brenn “Sausage Paw” Beck on drums/washboard/trash kit. Their music has the swampy feel of North Mississippi hill country blues à la Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside, with a good dose of snarling garage punk tossed into the mix. While the band would sometimes expand into a trio, they record the bulk of their work as a two-piece, and the tough, funky roar of their music arrives fully formed on their 2006 self-released debut album, “Gettin’ Down on It”, on the group’s own Hillgrass Bluebilly Records, and the following year they signed to Alive Naturalsound Records, which is their current home. The new studio album by Indiana’s favorite blues duo, “Bayport BBQ Blues” blends Freddy’s commanding, gritty vocal rasp and positively nasty hoodoo slide guitar work with Sausage Paw’s rhythmic stomp to make for a heady firestarter for your house party, backyard barbecue or juke joint get-down. The album is dedicated to the memory of the late Chris Jonson, creator of the Deep Blues Festival.

I had the chance to catch up with Freddy J IV of Left Lane Cruiser ahead of their May 15th event in Madison at the High Noon Saloon. We talk about the event and being on tour supporting John Garcia and Telekinetic Yeti specifically citing bands like Kyuss as shaping their musical ear. What an event Madison! We dive ear first into the soon to be released record “Bayport BBQ Blues” (late Spring 2024) and we both share our stories that the new track “Turkey Vulture’ inspired and have in common. For those heading to any of their shows and dig their sound, they also do covers of tunes that work for their sound, so you may also hear something familiar differently. Let me tell you, if I was having a backyard BBQ kinda party, these two would be high on my list of being on the bill – they sure do bring a rockin’ raw fun that I feel inside from memories of times long aGo.

Stretch Music and Chief Adjuah

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Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott), is a 2-time Edison Award winning & 5-time Grammy Award nominated musician, composer & producer. He is the nephew of jazz innovator & legendary sax man, Donald Harrison, Jr. His musical tutelage began under the direction of his uncle at the age of 13. After graduating from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) in 2001, he received a full tuition scholarship to Berklee College of Music where he earned a degree in Professional Music and Film Scoring 30 months later. Since 2002, Chief has released 12 critically acclaimed studio recordings, 3 live albums and one greatest hits collection. An artist known for developing the harmonic convention known as the “forecasting cell” and for his use of an un-voiced tone in his playing, emphasizing breath over vibration at the mouthpiece. The technique is known as his “whisper technique.” Adjuah is also the progenitor of “Stretch Music,” a jazz rooted, genre blind musical form that attempts to “stretch” jazz’s rhythmic, melodic & harmonic conventions to encompass multiple musical forms, languages & cultures. The 2015 release of the recording Stretch Music marked the partnership between Adjuah’s Stretch Music record label and Ropeadope Records. Stretch Music is also the first recording to have an accompanying app, for which Adjuah won the prestigious JazzFM Innovator of the year Award in 2016. The Stretch Music App is an interactive music player that allows musicians the ability to completely control the practicing, listening & learning experience by customizing the player to fit their specific needs and goals. In 2017, Adjuah released 3 albums, collectively titled The Centennial Trilogy, that debuted at number one on iTunes. The albums’ launch commemorated the 100th anniversary of the first Jazz recordings of 1917. The series is, at its core, a sobering re-evaluation of the social political realities of the world through sound. It speaks to a litany of issues that continue to plague the collective human experience, such as slavery in America via the Prison Industrial Complex, food insecurity, xenophobia, immigration, climate change, racial and sexual orientation and gender inequality, fascism and the return of the demagogue. The trilogy includes Ruler Rebel, Diaspora and Emancipation Procrastination. Each recording vividly depicts Adjuah’s new vision and sound via a new production methodology that stretches trap music with West African and New Orleanian Black Indian masking tradition musical styles. Ruler Rebel’s release coincided with the first annual Stretch Music Festival at Harlem Stage in New York. The Stretch Music Festival, created/curated by Chief Adjuah for 3 consecutive years, explores the boundaries of Stretch, Jazz, Trap, & Alternative Rock with some of music’s most poised & fiery rising stars. Since 2006, Chief has worked with a number of notable artists, including Prince, Thom Yorke, McCoy Tyner, Marcus Miller, Eddie Palmieri, rappers Mos Def (Yasin Bey), Talib Kweli, & Vic Mensa, as well as heralded poet & musician Saul Williams. This amazing being is a scion of New Orleans’ 1st family of art & culture, the Harrisons, and the grandson of legendary Big Chief, Donald Harrison Sr., who led four nations in the City’s masking tradition. The HBO series, Treme, borrowed the storyline and the name “Guardians of the Flame” from the group Adjuah began “masking” as a member of with his grandfather in 1989. In 2018, Tulane University’s acclaimed Amistad Research Center announced its archive of the Donald Harrison, Sr. legacy papers to highlight the Harrison/Scott/Nelson family’s contributions to the arts, activism, and African diaspora cultural expressions. The Harrison family’s story has been documented by Oscar winning director, the late Jonathan Demme, in his post-Hurricane Katrina filmic works. Dedicated to a number of causes that positively impact communities, Chief Adjuah gives his time & talents in service to several organizations which garnered him a place in Ebony Magazine’s 30 Young Leaders Under 30. Holding master classes, creating and participating in discussion panels, creating content, and purchasing instruments for youth music programs and individual youth musicians are all part of hiss community-based work. He has worked with Guardians Institute in New Orleans’ 9th Ward, which is dedicated to reading & fiscal literacy, cultural retention and a firm commitment to the participation of community elders & artists in uplifting and supporting youths in underserved areas of New Orleans.

Earlier in the year, I had the honor of getting to keep it real with Chief Adjuah ahead of the May 2nd event in Shannon Hall at the Wisconsin Union Theater. We get into what people in attendance can sorta/kinda plan for, as no one in the moments quite knows. We dive deep into the latest record on Ropeadope, ‘Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning’, his journey into Chiefdom and some of the practices and responsibilities it brings, and of course, we get heavy into Stretch Music and the idea of genre blindness (something I hope greenarrowradio brinGs with it). During this, we get talk frank about the way people do the things they can do or cannot do, and how opportunity needs to be able to be in front of all. With that also comes the the who do you get in your camp to help support your ideas (like Chief Adjuah’s Harp) and allow you those opportunities to grow as an artist and take the music where it takes you – Ropeadope Records has been that place of support and growth so we talk a bit about how that relationship went down and where it can go. We even found some time for him to build a mighty setlist. I try not to play favorites, but Chief Adjuah has been one of those artists that speaks to me – and now he has.

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What’s Up With Jorma

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In a career that has already spanned a half-century, Jorma Kaukonen has been one of the most highly respected interpreters of American roots music, blues, & rock. A member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and a Grammy recipient, Jorma was at the forefront of popular rock & roll, one of the founders of the San Francisco sound and a progenitor of Psychedelic Rock. He is a founding member of two legendary bands, Jefferson Airplane & the still-touring Hot Tuna. Jorma Kaukonen is a music legend and one of the finest singer-songwriters in his field. He continues to tour the world bringing his unique styling to old blues tunes while presenting new songs of weight & dimension. His secret is in playing spontaneous & unfiltered music, with an individual expression of personality. In 2016, Jorma, Jack Casady and the other members of Jefferson Airplane were awarded The GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award for their contributions to American music. In 2019 St. Martin’s Press published Jorma‘s autobiography, Been So Long: My Life and Music, written to express his life both in and out of the music world. He was a devotee of rock & roll in the Buddy Holly era but soon developed a love for the blues & bluegrass that were profuse in the clubs/concerts in the nation’s capital. It inspired him to take up guitar and play that kind of music himself. Soon he met Jack Casady, the younger brother of a friend and a wonderful guitar player in his own right. Though they could not have known it, they were beginning a musical partnership that has continued for more than 50 years. Jorma graduated from high school and headed off for Antioch College in Ohio, where he met Ian Buchanan, who introduced him to the elaborate fingerstyle fretwork of the Rev. Gary Davis. A work-study program in New York introduced Jorma, the increasingly skilled guitarist, to that city’s burgeoning folk-blues bluegrass scene and many of its players. After a break from college and travel overseas, Jorma moved to California, where he returned to classes at Santa Clara University and earned money by teaching guitar. It was at this time, in 1965, that he met Paul Kantner and was invited to join a new not-yet-named rock band Kantner was forming with Marty Balin. As a self-described blues purist, Kaukonen was initially reluctant, but found his imagination excited by the arsenal of effects available to electric guitar, later remarking that he was “sucked in by technology.” With the group still looking for a name, Kaukonen suggested Jefferson Airplane, inspired by an eccentric friend who had given his dog the name “Blind Lemon Jefferson Airplane.” Jorma invited his old musical partner Jack Casady to come out to San Francisco and play electric bass for the new band, and together they created much of Jefferson Airplane’s signature sound. A pioneer of counterculture-era psychedelic rock, the group was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve international mainstream success. Their 1967 record ‘Surrealistic Pillow’ is regarded as one of the key recordings of the “Summer of Love.” Jorma & Jack would jam whenever they could and would sometimes perform sets within sets at Airplane concerts. The two would often play clubs following Airplane performances. Making a name for themselves as a duo, they struck a record deal, and Hot Tuna was born. Jorma left Jefferson Airplane after the band’s most productive 5 years, pursuing his full-time job with Hot Tuna. Over the past five decades Hot Tuna has performed thousands of concerts and released more than 2-dozen records. The musicians who have performed with them are many and widely varied, as are their styles, from acoustic to long & loud electric jams, but never straying far from their musical roots. What is remarkable is that they have never coasted. Hot Tuna today sounds better than ever. Jorma’s originals from his poignant instrumentals, “Embryonic Journey” (Jefferson Airplane – Surrealistic Pillow) & “The Water Song” (Hot Tuna – Burgers), to his insightful lyrics, “Genesis” (Jorma Kaukonen – Quah), have stood the test of time. Having an undeniable feeling of significance, they have been included in films and covered by many artists who have been inspired by his depth and continuity of spirit. In addition to his work with Hot Tuna, Jorma has recorded more than a dozen solo albums on major labels. But performance and recording are only part of the story. As the leading practitioner and teacher of fingerstyle guitar, Jorma and his wife Vanessa Lillian operate one of the world’s most unique centers for the study of guitar and other instruments and a high quality place to play. Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch is located on 125 acres of fields, woods, hills, & streams in the Appalachian foothills of Southeastern Ohio. It has become an important stop on the touring circuit for artists who do not normally play intimate 200-seat venues, bringing such artists as David Bromberg, Roger McGuinn, Arlo Guthrie, Dave Alvin, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Warren Haynes, Lee Roy Parnell, Chris Hillman and more. Students, instructors, and visiting artists alike welcome the peace and tranquility — as well as the great music and great instruction — that Fur Peace Ranch offers. At Fur Peace Ranch the Kaukonens have created the Psylodelic Gallery, a museum in a silo, celebrating the music, art, culture, and literature of the 1960’s, tracing important events and movements of the psychedelic era. They produce concerts at the Fur Peace Station which are streamed internationally on YouTube as well as broadcast on WOUB 91.3FM. The Kaukonens there support their local community through art
festivals and a restaurant on site.

I had the pleasure to play a little catch up with family to the program, Jorma Kaukonon ahead of the May 8th event at the Stoughton Opera House with special guest, John Hurlbut. We get into what the scene will be like for this show as well as the soon to be released new album from John & Jorma (out on Record Store Day) called ‘One More Lifetime’. We also take time to discuss the 2023 release of Live at the Bottom Line, which I (looking right at the correct name – call The Bitter End), and how he thought the guys sounded on a night a long time ag and we even touch a bit on the recent 3 CD box set of live Hot Tuna music – which really is my fav. I check in with him to see if he goes back ever like a coach to see if there’s more/less to be done with a tune – he gives a not so surprising answer with a great Jefferson Airplane example and we of course, had to find out what is going down at the Fur Peace Ranch. Friends.

Sly5thAve’s Liberation Feels Right

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Sly5thAve‘s musical inspirations span the worlds of jazz & hip hop, with recognizable icons like John Coltrane, Charlie Parker & Cannonball Adderley influencing his artistic journey. He released several acclaimed projects, including “Akuma” and the “Vein Melter” EP, inspired by Herbie Hancock’s ‘Head Hunters’. He signed to Tru Thoughts, releasing his “Composite” EP, which featured orchestral covers of tracks by Rihanna, Drake, & Frank Ocean, performed with the Clubcasa Chamber Orchestra. Following the release of his orchestral tribute t Dr. Dre, ‘The Invisible Man’, (through this recording Sly5thAve felt he had found a way to help/make people connect with orchestral music) Sly5thAve returned in 2020 with ‘What It Is’, showcasing his abilities as a talented producer & collaborative musician, the LP featured the likes of Denitia, Marlon Craft, Melissa McMillan & Grammy-nominated Thalma de Freitas as well as that celebrated Sly5thAve’s multifaceted musical nature. 2022 saw him working with fellow composer/pianist Roberto Verástegui on ‘Agua de Jamaica’ and with New York MC/lyricist JSWISS on ‘Somebody’s Gotta Do It’. He has attained much respect from his work with a host of highly acclaimed and household favorite musicians including Prince (as a member of the New Power Generation Band), Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Taylor Swift, Janelle Monae, Freddie Gibbs & one of my personal favorites, Quantic. Sly has toured and recorded as a member of Ghost Note, Quantic and with his own side project, IGBO, and he recently supported Alfa Mist on his North American tour. Here we are now in the beGinning 0f 2024, and there’s something special that feels just right. ‘Liberation’ is his 3rd solo LP. Layered with orchestral arrangements, jazz improvisation and Hip-Hop production, ‘Liberation’ is an accomplished record of courage, musical conviction & growth. Trusting his inner voice & personal taste, Sly found himself liberated from fear by the ease with which the original orchestrations of ‘Liberation’ manifested themselves: The LP is his 1st full album of original orchestral arrangements and features the musicianship of Sly5thAve’s collaborators and Ghost-Note bandmates, headed by Snarky Puppy’s multi-Grammy–winning percussion duo Robert “Sput” Searight & Nate Werth, alongside previous collaborator Roberto Verástegui. Sly5thAve’s passion for collaboration is expressed on singles from ‘Liberation’, as he revitalizes the beloved Destiny’s Child classic “No, No, No Pt. 2” with help from Jonathan Mones; through the MonoNeon bassline of “Monoxide” featuring MacKenzie on vocals and guitar from Peter Knudsen; and on closing track “Big Brother feat. Daniel Wytanis”, a track that features/pays tribute to both “Sput” & Nate, alongside Ghost-Note member/mixing engineer Ben Burget.

I finally got a moment to catch up with Sly5thAve – this was the right time. As ‘Liberation’ is an album that combines many sounds that I enjoy finding in an ear blend. We get into the seed to flower of the record and dissect the title track a little bit. We also talk about how he landed in the world of Try Thoughts Records and what it is about that relationship that feels like home. Since Sly is known for his ability to work on and with others, we get into who he’d like to see himself work with in the future, but you can tell how much he appreciates those experiences of the past. Ghost-Note has a new album dropping soon, so we talk about his pieces/parts with that scene and he builds out an amazing setlist that he’d share if invited to host the proGram. This here, right now!

In A Moment with Zakir Hussain

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The pre-eminent classical tabla virtuoso of our time, Zakir Hussain is appreciated both in the field of percussion and in the music world at large as an international phenomenon and one of the world’s most esteemed & influential musicians. The foremost disciple of his father, the legendary Ustad Allarakha, Zakir was a child prodigy who began his professional career at the age of 12, accompanying India’s greatest classical musicians & dancers. He was touring internationally with great success by the age of 18. His brilliant accompaniment, solo performance and genre-defying collaborations, including his pioneering work to develop a dialogue between North & South Indian musicians, have elevated the status of his instrument both in India and globally, bringing the tabla into a new dimension of renown and appreciation. Widely considered a chief architect of the contemporary world music movement, Zakir’s contribution has been unique, with many historic and groundbreaking collaborations, including Shakti, Remember Shakti, Masters of Percussion, Planet Drum & Global Drum Project with Mickey Hart, Tabla Beat Science, Sangam w/Charles Lloyd & Eric Harland, CrossCurrents with Dave Holland & Chris Potter, in trio with Béla Fleck & Edgar Meyer, and, most recently, with Herbie Hancock. As a composer, he has scored music for numerous feature films, major events & productions. He has composed 3 concertos, and his third, the first-ever concerto for tabla & orchestra, was premiered in India in September, 2015, by the Symphony Orchestra of India, premiered in Europe and the UK in 2016, and in the USA in April, 2017, by the National Symphony Orchestra at Kennedy Center. A now several time over Grammy award winner, Zakir is the recipient of countless awards and honors, including Padma Vibhushan, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the USA’s National Heritage Fellowship and Officier in France’s Order of Arts and Letters. Voted “Best Percussionist” by both the Downbeat Critics’ Poll & Modern Drummer’s Reader’s Poll over several years. Zakir has received several honorary doctorates and, in 2019, became a Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellow, a rare lifetime distinction afforded to only 40 artists at a time by India’s reigning cultural institution. He is the 2022 Kyoto Prize laureate in Arts & Philosophy, awarded by the Inamori Foundation to “those who have contributed significantly to the scientific, cultural and spiritual betterment of mankind.” Zakir became the 1st musician from India to receive 3 Grammys at one time at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards on February 4, 2024, for Best Global Music Album, Best Global Music Performance & Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. As an educator, he conducts many workshops & lectures each year, has been in residence at Princeton University & Stanford University, and, in 2015, was appointed Regents Lecturer at UCBerkeley. His yearly workshop in the San Francisco Bay Area, conducted for the past 30 years, has become a widely anticipated event for performers and serious students of tabla. He is the founder and president of Moment Records, an independent record label presenting rare live concert recordings of Indian classical music & world music. Zakir was resident artistic director at SFJazz from 2013 until 2016, and was honored with SF Jazz’s Lifetime Achievement Award on January 18, 2017, in recognition of his “unparalleled contribution to the world of music”. There’s more but let’s keep it simple.

I had the honor of spending a little time talking with Master Zakir Hussain ahead of the TISRA event on March 16th at the Wisconsin Union Theater’s Shannon Hall. Zakir and I spent time discussing a few unique features of this event, including having a female artist, Debopriya Chatterjee on bansuri. Along with Sabir Khan on sarangi, we get into what the instruments represent and the types of sounds to be delivered through this trio. Zakir shared the story of his father whispering rhythms (prayers) into his ears at just days old as part of a tradition that certainly must have done some priming & shaping. We get deep into the story telling of both his foundational Indian classical traditional ways and the spirit of open collaboration with artists as varied as the world is wide. We get into the transmissions he got into with several fellow percussion/rhythm masters like Mickey Hart, Babatunde Olatunji, Airto Moreira and friend of the proGram, Sikiru Adepoju (I give Zakir a chance to talk praise of Sikiru as we did when I spoke to him about Zakir). Along the way – the importance of the relationship – the acceptance of instrument and player is walked through, and we touch on when/how that happened, with so much praise to his legendary father, Alla Rakha as his journey from a small handed on the outside looking boy into the wide minded, rhythm follower that this year alone, took home 3 Grammys. Reflections of this incredible accomplishment brought out his praise for his mentors/collaborators like John McLaughlin (Shakti) & Béla Fleck? Believe it our not, the music his father would bring home from the States played a huge role in this open to all sounds exploration, and one example consists of a dual cassette boombox and a cassette of the Doors. This is a full and rich conversation, I suspect he show will be as incredible as a journey as we find when just hearing Master Hussain share some tales. Enjoy it all.

Worlds In A Life with Thollem

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Worlds In A Life is a new project that evolved organically out of Thollem’s most recent album with Nels Cline and Terry Riley (Other Minds Records). Utilizing samples from the six Thollem/Cline Trio albums as the primary sound sources, (including double bass, piano, organ, electric guitar, drums, MIDI accordion, and voice), Thollem has basically created a solo sextet with Nels Cline, Terry Riley, William Parker, Pauline Oliveros, & Michael Wimberly. This is a real-time performance combining electro-acoustic sensibilities with unique keyboard technique & omni-idiomatic improvisation. Creating new sounds from these live re-mixes the results resemble something familiar and at the same time unlike anything else. What if? and Why not? are the two leading questions generating ear-dropping surprises at each twist & turn. The title of the albums and the performance comes from the track titles of the first album with William Parker: “there are as many worlds in a life as there are lives in the world.” This music is a celebration of the limitless palette of sounds and the infinite within each of us, the seen and unseen. ACVilla will be joining Thollem in performances throughout Europe & N. America in 2024 as a multimedia improvising duo. Together they have created a show in eight movements, much like storytellers, keeping the general structure, but with enough freedom to perform it VERY uniquely each time. ACVilla will be mixing new visual material created for this performance, along the lines of this: vimeo.com/thollemacvilla/wialone. Worlds In A life is a meditation on the intrinsic value of every individual in respect to the infinitely complex inner workings and all the possibilities within each being.

It is always the riGht time to discuss new things with family to the proGram, Thollem. Somehow, this time, with our deep dive into this new Worlds In A Life project, I found myself really feeling the process along with the discussion. I started to feel the happiness I could hear in his voice, and I definitely wanted to get some of that. I went back and re-listened to Worlds In A Life, One and there I was, in the happiness. Taking what was and making a new what is, in real time prompts more questions than answers and for me, that often feels the point. Then getting an idea of how our friend, ACVilla will work her new material into something they can…they are taking on the road is the icing on this cake. This feels like another experience out there not to be missed, I hope the inspiration these folks bring me, feels an open and obvious to you, but even better, it may not and that is a perfect door in.

Talisk Brings The Energy To Stoughton Opera House

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One of the most talked-about folk bands of the 21st century, Talisk have been tearing apart stereotypes and redefining the genre for almost a decade. With over fifteen million streams and ten thousand albums sold worldwide, and sell out shows across five continents – from Paris to New York, London to Tokyo, Glasgow to Vancouver – alongside headline appearances at major festivals across the world, the Scottish trio have amassed a global, die-hard following. I am one of them. Never afraid to push musical boundaries, or test the live production capabilities of just three people, which I am sure is part of the reason why. Wielding instruments that have rarely seen the likes of their music, Mohsen Amini (concertina), Benedict Morris (violin) and Charlie Galloway (guitar) have stacked up major awards for their explosively energetic sound – including five between BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio Scotland, and two highly coveted BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards. At New Year 2022 they played BBC One’s Hogmanay show to a television audience in excess of one million, and – as the only folk act alongside pop headliners – quickly amassed a vast, mainstream audience that continues to propel the group to some of their largest live shows to date. Headlining Glasgow’s iconic Barrowland Ballroom in 2024 – during Europe’s largest winter festival, the legendary Celtic Connections…Talisk’s upward motion remains a positive force to be shared.

I had the pleasure of hanging out a bit with Mohsen Amini ahead of Talisk making their way to the Stoughton Opera House on February 17th. We get deep into the live scene that seems to really be the wheelhouse for this power trio. The energy shared and transferred is magical and brinGs people together with such ease. We also make it a point to talk about a new track, ‘Maverick’ and how they tried to bring that live setting feeling into this track, such an hefty goal, but after hearing and airing, perhaps they have gotten close. We talk about how Talisk and it variety of members over the years have come to make music and how this trio, were born to play as one. Mohsen as a great story wen asked if anyone as ever run away form him when he busts out his concertina. Don’t thumb-wrestle this guy!! You can tell wen chatting with Mohsen just why people may be attracted to this guy, this band – real feeling-based people making music that is meant to unite.

Update on Lee Fields: Faithful Man – The Film

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Mr. Lee Fields is a funk and soul legend, over fifty years in the making, and family to greenarrowradio. In this feature documentary, his journey through soul music history will take you from vinyl to virtual — and back again. A little over five years aGo, I had the chance to catch up with the folks putting this documentary together. That chat can be found here. Jessamyn Ansary and Joyce Mishaan had a specific target and goal in mind at that point to get this project way off the ground. After our conversation the first time, goals were met and onward and upward. Fast forward until now, after shopping the film, going through the change that is/was COVID, edits and more edits and eventually winning awards and garnishing the type of chatter a great subject and story do. As we sat down to talk this time around I could feel the extra energy within myself as looking to catch up must mean things are in great shape. As it turns out, the film just received great news with an offer for streaming distribution. With that comes new financial hurdles. So with the finish line hanging in the balance, Jessamyn and Joyce are reaching out to our/their amazing community for help getting this film to break the tape and out into the world! Last time, I truly believe greenarrowradio and its reach helped make that part of this dream come true. Come be part of this amazing journey and get the excited feeling I have in my SOUL. Once again there are all sorts of VERY cool premiums to commemorate your part in the success of this film.

Go HERE to see the list of ways you can help, info on a small set of people who assisted in the journey and did I mention ways you can help and cool premiums to take with you?

Here is the pre-sale link so you can get this film in your living room.

Whatsup With Cee Knowledge

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Cee Knowledge, better known as Doodlebug of the Grammy winning hip-hop jazzified topic spittin’ trio Digable Planets, adopted the moniker Cee Knowledge while studying at Howard University. Cee-Know grew up in a city full of musical traditions from the cosmic jazz of the Sun Ra Arkestra to the new Philly soul of Bilal and Musiq Soulchild and that ground-breaking hip-hop force that is The Roots and Eve. He also forged that Cosmic Funk Orchestra combining and united jazz & hip hop artists from Delaware & Philadelphia. We all know about the genre-crossing star falling to Earth sounds of Digable Planets but that vision didn’t stop when DP stopped making music for some time, that same energy brought creative forces like Roy Ayers, Sun Ra Arkestra & friend of the proGram, Ladybug Mecca toGether to remix some CFO tracks. A winner of the NAACP image aways and a Sony Innovators award. I call him a friend.

I had the chance to set up a long overdue hanG with Cee recently to go over so many things that have been happening. First off we touch on why it was I saw my Digable Planets fam on my TV?! CBS hosted a Grammy salute to 50 years of Hip Hop and so many of the legends were there to honor, be honored and help build off the past. We got a chance to talk about the music and the feels of then and now of 30 years of their ‘Reachin” album. We both were astonished at how some of the ‘topical’ talk of then is still relevant today, and out on tour, how the crowds are filling up the spaces with diversity of all peoples’ is represented. One of the main reasons I wanted to catch up w/Cee this time around was his dippin’ his toe into Co-authorship on a graphic novel entitled: The Epic of the Heaven and Earth Association. We go from how this idea kinda developed with his love of comics, developed over time and is now almost to the point of another edition. There’s also a podcast and you can subscribe here. Cee details how the view from the lens in this podcast is not from the humans on Earth as we know them. Get heavy with this. of course our time toGether would not be complete without talking NBA hoops, especially where our rival teams are currently sitting in the division and who is ballin’ that we respect. Always a classic(ish) time with Cee & G.

Feeling Timeless With Adam Rudolph’s Hu Vibrational

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Hu Vibrational‘s 5th album ‘Timeless’ offers up 9 tracks of gorgeously rich & densely textured music. The spiritually intoxicating grooves of Hu Vibrational are the brainchild of Adam Rudolph, who calls them “Boonghee Music” — a cascade of world-inspired beats mixed with jazz, hip-hop & electronica. The result is music that thrives on the balance of simultaneously reaching backwards & forwards in time. While ‘Timeless’ finds Adam playing most of the instruments, he is joined on several tracks by some of his longtime associates: Norwegian guitar sound painter Eivind Aarset, drummer Hamid Drake, and several members of his Go: Organic Orchestra. Moroccan percussionist Brahim Fribgane and North Indian performers Neel Murgai (sitar) and Sameer Gupta (tabla) bring unique sounds that Rudolph weaves into the compositional fabric. Hu Vibrational combines world music with electronica and improvised jazz to create music that is all encompassing with the sketchbook of new feelings being drawn out in real time. Adam employs his “organic” orchestrations, arrangements, and electronic processing to shape the compositions, he works with his musicians in his “sonic mandala” concept to build layers of percussion, electronics & otherworldly sounds. Beats are the core, and influences range far and wide, yet these influences only provide a foundation. This audiophile LP was beautifully mixed and mastered by James Dellatacoma, Bill Laswell’s (and Rudolph’s) longtime engineer at Laswell’s Orange Studio. The gatefold album opens onto nine gorgeous pen and watercolor paintings by Nancy Jackson that, like the art of Robert Crumb, are both humorous and deeply philosophical. It is the second time Rudolph and his wife Nancy have collaborated, the first being the 1995 book and CD release The Dreamer, an opera inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche’s “The Birth of Tragedy.” Besides leading his own ensembles, Go: Organic Orchestra & Moving Pictures, Adam may be known for his work over the last 4+ decades with innovators such as Yusef Lateef, Don Cherry, Jon Hassel, & Pharaoh Sanders among others. Maestro Rudolph was hailed by the New York times as “an innovator in World Music” and indeed his experience is long and varied; In 1978 he co-founded, with Foday Musa Suso, the Mandingo Griot Society, one of the first groups to combine African and American music and in 1988 he recorded the first fusion of American and Moroccan Gnawa music with sintir player Hassan Hakmoun. His creative methodology and philosophy has been outlined in two books, “Pure Rhythm” (2006) & “Sonic Elements” (2022). The compositional concepts are applied in all his creative output: from his through composed string quartets to his newest Hu Vibrational release. Intuition & Inspiration. I am proud to get it and call him family.

HU: VIBRATIONAL – TIMELESS
BOONGHEE MUSIC 5 Meta Records 2023

Compositions, organic orchestrations, arrangements, and electronic processing by Adam Rudolph

Published by Migration Music BMI
Recorded by James Dellatacoma at Orange Sound Studio and Adam Rudolph at Clear Lake Studio, New Jersey
Mixed and mastered by James Dellatacoma
Art and words/poetry by Nancy Jackson
Design by Sylvain Leroux

Produced by Adam Rudolph assisted by Mas Yamagata & Carlos Nino

Adam Rudolph – keyboards, thumb pianos, marimbula, cajon, mbuti harp, mouth bow, vocal, slit drums, udu drums, wooden and bamboo flutes, double reeds, gongs, kudu horn, zither, caxixi, kongos, tarija, gankogoui, bells, percussion

with
Alexis Marcelo – fender rhodes, organ (Hittin, Proto Zoa Gogo)
Brahim Fribgane – tarija (Oceanic)
Damon Banks – bass (Hittin, Proto Zoa Gogo)
Eivind Aarset – guitar and electronics (Serpentine,Timeless, Honey Honey, Proto Zoa Gogo, Psychic)
Hamid Drake – drum set (Space, Oceanic, Hittin, Jammin, Proto Zoa Gogo)
Harris Eisenstadt – bata (Hittin, Timeless)
Jan Bang – sampling (Timeless, Honey Honey, Psychic)
Kaoru Watanabe – noh kan flute (Proto Zoa Gogo)
Marco Cappelli – guitar (Hittin)
Munyungo Jackson – tambourine, shekere (Oceanic)
Neel Murgai – sitar (Hittin)
Sameer Gupta – tabla (Space, Timeless)

It’s always a special time for me when I get to talk music and art with Adam. We dive deep into how this offering “Timeless” took form and some of the participants spaces that are filled. We also find out a little bit about the title track but also it is a peek into most of the tracks I think on the record. Speaking of vinyl, we talk about the art his wife shared for this album, and the relationships the music helps to form and the importance of creative listening as an activity. My words here cannot come close to the ebb and flows of our conversation(s), and this one is no different. At the end of the day, this time it is centered around Hu Vibrational’s new album, but all of the things Adam touches offer insight into so much, including ourselves.

Walking The Miles With Joel Culpepper

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In the Middle pf November 2023, Joel Culpepper released his new EP ‘Happiness Is Only A Few Miles Away’ via Beyond The Groove. This five-track EP was produced by his good bud Tom Misch, and is his first new music since the release of his highly acclaimed and epic 2021 debut album ‘Sgt Culpepper‘. The creation of the new EP began while Joel was on tour with Tom last year. The two had originally become friends after Tom heard a song of Joel’s ‘Afraid To Be King’ that he loved. As they toured across continents together last year they had some studio time and ‘Free’ was the first track they recorded with legendary American soul artist Eddie Chacon (of Charles & Eddie) in L.A. Most of the EP was recorded at Tom’s home studio as well as Joel’s friend’s studio in Perry Vale and Jimmy Napes Studio in North London. It came at a time where Joel found himself open to trying out and connecting to new things, finding inspiration in perhaps unexpected places. The songs here continue to be that retro-soul sound we are used to hearing, but it feels like there’s more of an ease, more feeling being or trying to be understood. There’s a lot of promise in the delivery of these tunes, hope and the knowing that there’s some healing around the corner, wherever that corner may be.

I had the pleasure of catching up with Joel Culpepper recently to dive head first into the new EP. We talked about how the project got lifted up off the ground and how Tom decided that he should just produce the new music. We spend a little time talking about the track “Free” featuring both Tom Misch and Eddie Chancon and how it went from that nothing to something special. Listening! Working with and being with one of your pals can allow you to open up to trying new things…and that is what happened with these two. We get into where some of the unexpected places are that took him out of his ‘comfort zone’ and how allowing Mother Nature in also was a door to finding more meaning and ways to look at things. We talk about his recent time playing to the sold out headline show at London’s The Lower Third at the end of November and how the give and take of the people really took on a life of its own, seems like everyone was ready. And, well…Joel builds a setlist around one of the tracks off the new EP and this one too will surprise.

Joel by Joth Shakerley

Carrying The Boombox With Mocean Worker

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MOWO! INC presents ‘BOOMBOX’, the long awaited new album by Mocean Worker, dropped on out October 27th. An extremely funky, bass-driven mix of breakbeats, electroswing & jazz. Mocean Worker, a.k.a. Adam Dorn, has spent the last two decades galvanizing the sounds of electronic, jazz, soul, & funk to produce a singular and unmistakable style. Now, after an eight-year release hiatus, he returns with his tenth LP, ‘BOOMBOX’: a high-energy, deeply reverential, danceable, and genre-rejecting project that marks a fresh chapter in Mocean Worker’s acclaimed discography. Guided by the inspiration of Stevie Wonder, Wayne Shorter, The Gap Band, and Motown sensibilities, Dorn sees BOOMBOX as as stylistic arrival. Dorn’s bass playing is the heart and soul of the album. While his career originated with his virtuosic bass playing, he opted not to play on his own records for his first eight albums—he focused on hyper-detailed mini-sampling, digital production, & synthesizers. But now, bass hooks take center stage in this new record’s melodies, with a careful intention to avoid the overwrought cliche of the bass solo. After spending the last decade focused on composing for films & television, he reached a revelation about his own creative practice. The 12 tracks poured out of him in less than three weeks time, christening his new studio space in the woods of New York state. The boombox is equal parts metaphorical and material. Along with creating beats, a boombox allows blasting music for a party. Through recent years of societal upheaval, mass crises, and personal grief, Dorn offers a collection of upbeat tracks, but which never sacrifice substance. “BOOMBOX” is a metaphor for partying, community, and gathering. This is about people gathering and enjoying something” Many of the songs are tributes to Dorn’s personal friends, including the late Hal Willner and Gerald Lee, and his musical heroes like Wayne Shorter and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Above all, ‘BOOMBOX’ epitomizes the musical philosophy of Mocean Worker — it is at once an elegy to art and artists of a bygone era and an upbeat celebration of the sound of the present.

I had a great time hanGing out and talking this new music (and music in general) with Adam. I have been someone who has felt so much of what he been a part of over the years that it felt so right to be talking about this project. We go after the making of ‘BOOMBOX’ – with the passion that came with it. The image you see on the cover has a story, it includes his famous father and is something that as you hear it come out of Adam’s mouth, you can feel how special it is. The ability to apply some ‘back then’ into anything new where it actually fits in, is a gift that I dig, and anytime you hear a Mocean Worker piece, you’ll hear the expertise/knowledge getting dropped right where it needs to be. The bass – getting back to where it all started and having that bass anchor run the show most of the time, while honoring so many spirits that came before, this is another blending that enhances this new album deeply. We talk about album covers, as I noticed Adam has been reminiscing with some of his father’s collections cover art and I remembers swimming in the depth of many of those, and there’s a set list built. This is as close to two good buddies getting together at a record club discussing what’s what that I have been a part of – natural and fluid and I think that’s the reason why this new music feels me as much as I feel it. How often does Fonzie AND Mr. Jefferson get brought up in an interview???

Meeting At The Four Directions With Dirtwire

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Dirtwire stands poised between ancient Mother Earth and modern technology, a blend of ethnomusicology and the psychedelic trance state, gut-bucket delta blues and what the band variously dubs “back-porch space cowboy blues, swamptronica, & electro-twang.” It’s a sound informed by Dirtwire’s travels & performances around the globe, where East meets West and North joins South. From the favelas in Brazil, Femi Kuti’s Shrine in Lagos, Tokyo’s bluegrass clubs, Ayahuasca ceremonies in Central America, Gamelan performances in Bali, desert festivals in the Australian Outback, and the 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s modernized new capital Astana, the band spreads its message by building bridges across musical cultures in their own unique way. Dirtwire plays an array of instruments both ancient and modern, including West African kamale ngonis, jaw harps, space fiddles, whamola basses, Rickenbacher electric 12 string guitars, bowed Banjos and mouth harps from around the globe, all interwoven into modern laptop beat creation. Hailing from the underground west coast electronic bass music scene Dirtwire finds itself at the forefront of experimental electronic music production mixing in their wide array of world instruments with sampled beats & 808’s. Dirtwire’s live shows are a communal psychedelic journey, ranging from down home boot stomping get downs, to bass & blues electronic mashups, to ethereal cinematic beat driven soundscapes. Woven into each is the exploration of where live instruments meet computer production, and where tradition meets experimentation. This is the spot within thin spaces we seek sometimes.

I had the pleasure to share some energy with Evan Fraser & Mark Reveley of Dirtwire ahead of the November 17trh event in Madison at the High Noon Saloon as part of their The Four Directions tour. We talk about what the soup of a live Dirtwire event will be like in 2023. They set some goals for their live events and we discuss what those look and sound like as well as where they stretch during a set while fitting in some of the new tunes and how they have been exploring the journey of a continuous show, while dynamically moving through spaces. Those spaces are enhanced with the assistances of the global instrumentation and Americana folk world “swamptroinca’ elements that are combined. The new EP “The Four Directions” will be out November 10th and we get into the new grooves, we get deeper into the new track “Wanderer”and talk about both the visual side (David Satori’s Mind) and the musical bits as well. These artists are combining the world of then and there with the future of technology and the redefining the limits of where we are going and how we can get there. The key is they are building a foundation of all us us being invited to do it toGether. They tease all of our senses with many a surprise – keep your eyes and minds open for some Dirtwire in your world.

Where We Are Gathered by Opium Moon

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Twice-nominated Grammy winners Opium Moon create sensuous, enchanting soundscapes that evoke ancient worlds while remaining thoroughly contemporary. Elegant yet deeply emotional, their distinctive sound draws upon the diverse backgrounds of its members: Iranian santoor master Hamid Saeidi, innovative Israeli bassist Itai Disraeli, sought-after American percussionist M.B. Gordy, & virtuosic Canadian-American violinist Lili Haydn. With original compositions that meld sacred/classical traditions of East & West with trance-inducing grooves, the result is at times both stately & rapturous, a sultry & passionate music that seems to emanate from a deep wellspring.

Toronto-born violinist Lili Haydn‘s 6 solo albums have been NPR favorites (“Heifetz meets Hendrix”), and her collaborations with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Sting, Roger Waters, Jimmy Page & Robert Plant, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, George Clinton’s P-Funk Allstars, Hans Zimmer, and the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan are legendary, including performances at Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Opera House, and the Hollywood Bowl. She is also a distinguished film/TV composer with 18 feature films, Netflix’s hit show Ginny & Georgia, and various awards to her credit. Her work has been featured in more than 50 films. A dedicated social activist with a political science degree from Brown University, Lili has done 4 TED presentations, including one with Opium Moon in Mumbai, India, and performs regularly at benefits for such organizations as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, & The Feminist Majority.

Tehran native Hamid Saeidi studied santoor in the Radiff system of Persian classical music with Iran’s famous teacher Madjid Kiani, then attended The Iranian Academy of the Arts, studying composition under the music masters Farhad Fakhredini & Vartan Sahakian. Hamid has been acclaimed for his performances around the world, including his productions at Royce Hall and the Kodak Theatre.
He has scored over 30 films, TV programs, dance and theatrical presentations, receiving awards at the Beirut Film Festival in 2002, the Iran TV festival in 2002, 2004 and 2007, and at Iran’s Society of Critics of Theatre in 2005. In recognition of his work, The Farhang Foundation has commissioned his original compositions for their Nowruz celebrations.

Itai Disraeli was raised in one of Israel’s oldest kibbutz communities, the Mishmar-Ha’Emeq near Nazareth, co-founded by his grandfather in the 1920s. It was among the utopian social experiments that fostered a just, peaceful life of sharing and tolerance, but in his youth Itai lived under the constant specter of war; it was during the Yom Kippur war that he taught himself to play bass in a bomb shelter. An acclaimed, virtuosic bassist & composer, he co-founded the genre-bending band Maetar and has played with Jackson Browne, Larry Coryell, & Nishat Khan, among others. He founded and runs the acclaimed music program at Wildwood School. His music has been licensed for TV & film, and he is active with humanitarian and peace organizations, believing that music has the power to heal & connect.

Percussionist M.B. Gordy has played with such diverse artists as Beck, Frank Zappa, Michael Buble, Green Day, The Doobie Brothers, Josh Groban, Bill Withers, Guns and Roses, Neil Diamond, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, & The National Symphony, as well as his recent work for Adele, Childish Gambino, The Who, & Juanes. With an M.A. from California Institute of the Arts and intensive study of ethnic percussion, he has worked with producers Peter Asher, Don Was, & Rob Cavallo, to name a few. His groove has been heard in over 300 top box office films, including the Harry Potter series, Frozen, Batman, Superman, American Sniper, Transformers, & the X-Men series. His work is also ubiquitous on television, including Mad Men, The Mentalist, The Tonight Show, Battlestar Galactica, Good Morning America, and much more.

I had the chance to catch up with Lili, Itai & M.B. of Opium Moon to dive deep into the new album “Where We Are Gathered”. As in above, each discusses their feeling about the album, the feelings it brings out and was brought to the collection of grooves. I too share some of my thouGhts as I spent a whole lot of time letting these tracks wash over me and do their thang. This record bursts with energy and passion, the pieces to this whole excel and shine like a light unknown and as another step into the future, there are collaborations and other voices added into the worldly mosaic. Our mutual sound grabber, Ramin Sakurai of my guilty pleasure, Supreme Beings of Leisure is one we highlight, as I can happily feel the complement he adds. This album is a healer, a uniter and hopefully more than a dream-like feeling, but a movement forward, together, as only music can do.

Heavenly Cream With Malcolm Bruce

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Composer, singer-songwriter & multi-instrumentalist Malcolm Bruce has toured, performed, recorded and appeared on records with some of the biggest names in music including Little Richard, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Dr John, Steve Cropper, Joe Satriani, Joe Bonamassa, Bill Ward & Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath), Simon Phillips (Toto, The Who, Jeff Beck), Leslie West & Corky Laing (Mountain), Tony Butler & Mark Brzezicki (Big Country) and his father, the late Jack Bruce of Cream. Malcolm curated a tribute to his father in October 2016 alongside Pete Brown (Cream lyricist) at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire and performed with legends such as Lulu, Eddi Reader, Maggie Reilly, Paul Young, Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones), Dennis Chambers (Santana, Parliament / Funkadelic), Gary Husband (Level 42, John McLaughlin), David Sancious (Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Stanley Clarke) & Ginger Baker (Cream). He released his album ‘Salvation’ in 2017, a collection of 10 songs recorded at Kevin McKendree’s (Delbert McClinton, Brian Setzer) The Rock House Studio in Franklin TN and mixed by Steve Orchard (Paul McCartney, Chris Cornell) and toured the UK and USA in support. Between 2017 and 2019 Malcolm played around 100 shows in the UK, US, Australia & New Zealand with ‘The Music of Cream’, a tribute to his father’s band, featuring special guests Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath) & Robben Ford (Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell). Malcolm was also the bass player for the late Pete Brown’s final record ‘THE SHADOW CLUB’ featuring Richard Bailey (Bob Marley, Jeff Beck, Steve Winwood, Incognito) on drums, Clem Clempson & Eric Clapton on guitars, slated for release in 2024. He’s currently working on a new album, ‘FAKE HUMANS AND REAL DOLLS’, to be released in 2024. In 2018/2019 Malcolm was co-executive producer, arranger & performer for ‘HEAVENLY CREAM’, a project headed by Cream lyricist Pete Brown and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, which featured performances by Ginger Baker, Joe Bonamassa, Bobby Rush, Paul Rodgers, Deborah Bonham, Bernie Marsden (Whitesnake), Pee-Wee Ellis (James Brown), Abass Dodoo and many more. Produced by Rob Cass. The album along with a documentary, ‘THE CREAM ACOUSTIC SESSIONS’ will be released by Quarto Valley Records in November 2023.

I had the chance to catch up with Malcolm recently to get the low down on the project ‘Heavenly Cream: An Acoustic Tribute to Cream‘. We discuss how the project took shape, including the roster of incredible participants (including some of the final recordings of a few leGends). It was not difficult to get people to want to be a part of this record, not a big surprise but when you consider the raw, almost naked at times versions (compared to what our ears are accustomed to), it does make me feel like I/we are able to be there as these songs get (re)discovered. Malcolm clearly has the chops as his own performer, which I would recommend getting out and seeing as much as he is a part of as well, but as many of you, the music of Cream will always summons special times as a person, both as a musical explorer but also as a human doing. The music comes with feelings. So, we do discuss some of that from Malcom’s feelings point of view. I apologies for the poppin’ P’s etc. Must have been the long-distance connection.

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Tatsuya Nakatani Gong Orchestra

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Tatsuya Nakatani is an avant-garde percussionist, composer, and artist of sound. Active internationally since the 1990s, Nakatani has released over eighty recordings and tours extensively, performing over 150 concerts a year. His primary focus is his solo work and his large ensemble project, the Nakatani Gong Orchestra. He teaches master classes and lectures at universities and music conservatories around the world. Originally from Japan, he makes his home in the desert town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. With his activity in new music, improvisation, and experimental music, Nakatani has a long history of collaboration. Nakatani’s distinctive music centered around his adapted bowed gong, supported by an array of drums, cymbals, and singing bowls. In consort with his personally hand-carved Kobo Bows, he has spent decades refining and developing his sound as an arrangement of formations of vibrations, incorporated in shimmering layers of silence and texture. Within this contemporary work, one can still recognize the dramatic pacing, formal elegance and space (ma) felt in traditional Japanese music.

I had the honor of catching up with Tatsuya shortly before his November 1st event at the Garver Feed Mill here in Madison with his Nakatani Gong Orchestra (N.G.O.). The N.G.O. is a touring large ensemble sound art project that functions as an extension of his solo work. He composes and conducts (and plays with) an ever changing orchestra cohort formed by musicians from the local community where the performance takes place. We had to dive into how this project works from community to community, finding out how amazed even he is when concluding his time with those in that current space. I am thrilled and filled with the feeling of falling into the (ma), so we get to discuss a little more on this concept and talk about his bowing and his bows. Based on the unique coolness of what Tatsuya presents, teaches, learns from – I tried to figure out how he goes about his art when being a collaborator with other projects, as a duo. I mean, who is calling the gong guy for a jam session? November 1st here in Madison (because we are lucky) and I hope he makes his way to you sometime. We joke about his vehicle and his “Food Network’ type Instagram updates form the road.

One Drop Of Kindness With Yungchen Lhamo

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Yungchen Lhamo was born & raised in Lhasa, Tibet. Her name, which translates as ‘Goddess of Melody,’ was given to her by a lama at birth. In 1989 she made the month-long, 1,200-mile journey across the Himalayan Mountains to Dharamsala, India, to pursue her dreams. Later, she moved to Australia, where she began to sing prayers of meditation that inspired her to record her first album, ‘Tibetan Prayer’, which won the Australian Recording Industry Award (ARIA) for Best World Music Album in 1995. Yungchen was then signed by Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records label on which she released three more albums: ‘Tibet, Tibet’ (1996), ‘Coming Home’ (1998), & ‘Ama’ (meaning ‘Mother’), featuring Annie Lennox on ‘Fade Away’ & Joy Askew on ‘Tara’ (2006). In 2013 Cantaloupe Music released her fifth album, ‘Tayatha’ (meaning ‘It Is Like This’), a meditational collaboration with Russian classical pianist Anton Batagov. In March of 2022, she released a long-awaited sixth album, ‘Awakening’, through Six Degrees Records. With this album, Yungchen, who now lives in Upstate New York, explores the relevance of compassion-based spirituality to our modern-day, interdependent lives – each song reflecting topics that have become ever-more highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic. These offerings aim to appeal to those of any religion, or of none, who are interested in sound healing & spiritual awakening. It is also the 1st album to include a song in Mandarin. And now in 2023, she has just released “One Drop of Kindness” into the world. This amazing being has performed, acapella or accompanied, in numerous countries on all 5 continents, including at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, New York; Royal Festival Hall & Royal Albert Hall, London; National Concert Hall, Dublin; The Louvre, Paris; Philharmonic Hall, Berlin; International Performing Arts Centre, Moscow; The Vatican, Rome; & the Sydney Opera House. Others include the 1997 Lilith Fair festival, many WOMAD festivals, rock concerts, & benefit concerts. She has also contributed soundtracks to many films, including the 1997 film ‘Seven Years in Tibet’ starring Brad Pitt, and documentaries ‘Mission: Joy’ and ‘Better Living Through Chemistry’. She has performed or shared a stage with numerous well-known artists, including Philip Glass, Michael Stipe, Billy Corgan, Beastie Boys, Peter Gabriel, Natalie Merchant, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Jewel, Bill T Jones, Laurie Anderson, Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Lou Reed, Peter Rowan, U2, Paul Brady, & Sinead O’Connor. In 2004, Yungchen established the One Drop of Kindness Foundation, formally known as the Yungchen Lhamo Charitable Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the welfare of human beings in need, regardless of borders, through direct action. A complete being she is!.

I had the complete pleasure to have a conversation with Yunchen Lhamo about her brand new group of sonic offerings that has been released into the world just the other day. ‘One Drop Of Kindness’ is out now on Real World Records. We get deep into how, and where these seven new offerings developed from, the clear mission of the music and the living of service for others. As we are talking about the sound healing that is clearly intended from this album, we talk in length about one track in particular, which I have been using for a month now as a daily start, a reminder. For me, so much of this music is the feeling and mood it brings within me and it is clear that there is a path being created for human communication and sharing of both the common and the uncommon, and putting others ahead of yourself. The bridges being built here come with tools form many countries and take the form in many shapes, the instruments and artists devoted to the spirit of this music, the meeting of her co-produces at the time, THE TIME that was just right. None of this moment by moment living escapes importance for Yungchen, and with this newest release, I have not lost faith in the hope of opening hearts, uniting communities and bringing cultures toGether. After-all, it could just start with ‘One Drop Of Kindness’.