Did a little extra SUMthin SUMthin on the tail end of the proGram. Here’s it’s way.
Twilight Is a Spark From the Anvil- David Cieri
Outline- Olli Hirvonen
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Miss Kane- Swindle
You Make Me Feel So Good- Conner Albert
Cristo Redentor- Franc Moody
Shwele, Pt. 1- Mthunzi Mvubu
Zig Zag- Mthunzi Mvubu
Shwele, Pt. 2- Mthunzi Mvubu
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El Cos- Arnau Obiols
Mont Cau- Arnau Obiols
The final part of the regular proGram kept things popping with all colors.
Meridiana Nipona- Pepino Pascual
Bottom Swing- Pepino Pascual Ft. Alberto Perez Jordana, Gerard Nieto & Dani Alonso
El Que la Rompe la Paga- El Combo Batanga
Toca La Campana- El Combo Batanga
Momentum- Tito Carrillo Ft. Troy Roberts & Benjamin Lewis
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The Sixth Sense of the Platypus- Timuçin Şahin’s Flow State
Malika- Lionel Loueke & Ziv Ravitz
Aziza’s Dance- Lionel Loueke & Ziv Ravitz
Blues from Before- Bill Frisell
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Bathymetry: IV. Interlude- Matt McBane & Sandbox Percussion
Bathymetry: VII. Refraction- Matt McBane & Sandbox Percussion
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El Nahualli (The Shadow Soul)- Patricia Brennan
Listen Linda- Pretzil Stex
United- Simon Belelty
Middle part of this weeks proGram had some breeze to it.
Something’s Missing- The Mighty Mocambos
Arabesque Breakin’ Suite- The Mighty Mocambos
Spirits- Adrian Quesada & Ikebe Shakedown
Think- The Winston Brothers
To Be As One- STR4TA Ft. Theo Croker
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Tavistock (Sound Signals Kulu’s Jazz Remix)- Joseph Malik Ft. Paul Harrison
Flight Of The Comet- Art of Tones x Chatobaron
Mawoud Part 1- Abdel Halim Hafez Ft. Omar Khorshid
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Milk and Blood- Bangkok Lingo
Watching Winter turn to Spring- Bangkok Lingo
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Insizwa- Lorraine Klaasen & Mongezi Ntaka
Unamanga- Lorraine Klaasen & Mongezi Ntaka
Adzé Adzé- Dogo Du Togo Ft. Togo All Stars
Obligation- Dogo Du Togo
Redemption- Locos por Juana
First part of this week’s regularly scheduled proGram could not be lost.
Meant To Be- Brian Blake
Honey Bee- Oliver Darling
Mindseye- Lauren Ruth Ward
Dirty Dog- Will Jacobs
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Blow Junkie Boogie- TOMISLAV GOLUBAN
Forhill’s Boogie- TOMISLAV GOLUBAN Ft. Skylar Rogers
Don’t Talk To Me- Eric Demmer
Have You Ever Loved A Woman- Eric Demmer
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End Of The Line- Dr. John Ft. Aaron Neville
Leave Your Light On- The Jorgensens
Shake It- The Jorgensens
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Sometimes I Wonder- The Allergies
Show and Tell- The 7 Day Weekend Ft. Nephrok!
Lonely Town- Joel Sarakula
Munich Psycholympia- The Mighty Mocambos
The final part of the open schedule fiil-in reached for the skies.
Little Drummer Boy- Charles Hedgepath Ft. Yonrico Scott/Ike Stubblefield
K-Style Circuit- The Royal Arctic Institute
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White Dog- SamWoy
Eventually, Good Comes To Pass- Dana Buoy
nunca mirar hacia atrás (Bomba Estéreo’s Versión)- Run The Jewels
Oropo- Uji
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Agojie Training Montage- Terence Blanchard
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Italiodisco (Original Mix)- Dog.ma
Just to Be Free [Shuya Okino & ROOT SOUL Remix]- Joseph Malik Ft. Niki King
Eddie’s Garage- Hoodna Orchestra
Turn Me Around- STR4TA
Middle part of the open schedule fillin’ in saw thinGs this way.
Rain Rain Natural Rain- Rubblebucket
Make A Fist (Alt Take)- Phantogram
Brother- Sarah Elizabeth Charles Ft. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah
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Grateful Winds- SPADEI
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Freedom as a Heartfelt Song- Work Money Death
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Miles- The Jorgensens
Sleeping Dogs Best Left Alone- Dr. John
I Should Have Let You Be- Lee Fields
The Door- Lee Fields
Save Your Tears for Someone New- Lee Fields
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Mr Right On Time- Alexis Evans
Chris Cross- Lit Society
Jolly Old St. Nicholas- Charles Hedgepath Ft. Yonrico Scott/Ike Stubblefield
Did a little open schedule fillin’ in stuffin’. Started this-a-way.
Me and Bobby McGee- Willie Nelson [Live At Budokan]
Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line (Reprise)- Willie Nelson [Live At Budokan]
Will the Circle Be Unbroken- Willie Nelson [Live At Budokan]
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The Ott Motel- Brian Blake
My Window Faces the South- Sweet Megg
Roots Heart Rhythm- Diane Patterson Ft. Ani DiFranco
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Hallelujah- Sarah McLachlan
Suzanne- Gregory Porter
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Blues Stay Away From Me- Gail Ceasar
Going Down the Road Feeling Bad- Gail Ceasar
On the Road- Lee O’Nell Blues Gang
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Billy Bill- Tongue Hammer
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Pt. 1- The Jimi Hendrix Experience [Los Angeles Forum 4/26/1969]
Sunshine Of Your Love- The Jimi Hendrix Experience [Los Angeles Forum 4/26/1969]
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Pt 2- The Jimi Hendrix Experience [Los Angeles Forum 4/26/1969]
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Weapon Of Peace- Maybe Human
Split Decision- Popular Creeps
Seal Your Move- Richard Öhrn
Taut- Big Joanie
Found- Fucked Up
The final part of the proGram walked this and that way.
Peire Aussane- Lionel Loueke & Ziv Ravitz
Only Wrong Answers- Sameer Gupta & Ben Tyree
**pre-recorded conversation with Ben Tyree**
Love Ancestral (For Greg Tate)- Sameer Gupta & Ben Tyree
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Bright River- The Supplicants
War Of The Wildcats- The Supplicants
Indigo- Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn
Vantablack- Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn
Opal- Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn
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Bunny Lava- Jimmy Edgar Ft. Virgen Maria
Murdah Riddem- DJ Absurd & Jigsy King
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Lembro Meu Irmão- Da Cruz
Apenas 150 Anos- Da Cruz
The middle part of this week’s proGram knows something will find it a home to become.
Cash in Your Face- Darryl Harper
Opus De Funk- Dave Young
Summertime- Jason “Spicy G” Goldman & Lia Booth
White Rabbit- Jason “Spicy G” Goldman & Lia Booth
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Jade- Sasha Berliner
In Tense- Harish Raghavan
Heaven Dance- Kirk Lightsey (Live)
La Malanga- Hilario Durán & David Virelles
Challenge- Hilario Durán & David Virelles
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Three Seconds Kolme Toista: I. The Veil- Jussi Reijonen
Confirmation On 1- Timuçin Şahin’s Flow State
After Bird- Timuçin Şahin’s Flow State
Monroe- Bill Frisell
In 2 It- Lionel Loueke & Ziv Ravitz
The first part of this week’s proGram had the castings of the pod pointing in the right direction.
Doardo Valley- Hermanos Gutiérrez
Los Amantes- Hermanos Gutiérrez
Mulholland- King Canyon Ft. Derek Trucks
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Mustard Green- Hot Mustard
Joy To The World- Charles Hedgepath Ft. Yonrico Scott/Ike Stubblefield
So It Goes- Rat Child
Two Jobs- Lee Fields
Brother’s Strut- The Winston Brothers
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No Pp2 Go- Geiger von Muller
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What It Is- Miles Davis [Live in Montreal 7/7/1983]
Square Bimagic- Patricia Brennan
Sizigia (Syzygy)- Patricia Brennan
Ah-Bop- Gene Ess
A product of the diverse Washington, DC music scene, guitarist, Ben Tyree is a performer and composer of virtuosic ability, infectious groove & eclectic tastes. He studied both jazz & classical music in high school while writing his own rock songs and going to jam sessions at night. He continued his studies at DC’s prestigious Duke Ellington School of the Arts and at Howard University before moving to New York in 2002. The template for his genre-hopping agility was set by the pioneering Miscellaneous Flux, the band that he co-founded in 1998 while still in residing in DC., the group fused jazz, hip-hop & punk rock into a crowd-invigorating mix, releasing 2 EPs & a full-length album before disbanding in 2005 following its members’ move to New York. Tyree’s longstanding trio BT3 continues in that vein, melding together jazz, funk & rock in an eye-openingly memorable way. The trio recorded their debut CD, re:Vision, in 2010 with special guests and both friends of the proGram, John Medeski& DJ Logic, no strangers to boundary-erasing grooves. In recent years he’s toured and recorded with the group of people who extended my ears, the eclectic Burnt Sugar: The Arkestra Chamber as well as the uncategorizable Memphis singer-songwriter Valerie June, whose unique blend of folk, blues, gospel & soul have brought him to the stages of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno & the Late Show with David Letterman. His compositions have also taken the leap from stage to screen. He has scored several independent films as well as pieces for television that have appeared on ESPN and in advertising campaigns for companies like Green Team USA.
I had the chance to check in with Ben about his latest project titled ‘Catalytic’ in a duo partnership with friend of the proGram, percussionist, Sameer Gupta. The new tunes are due out December 6 via Tyree’s Sonic Architectures imprint. We talk about the process that shaped the new music starring right around the time that the two neighbors put out their Unruly Neighbors record. We discuss the trust that defines an understanding within each other, of each other and the directions the music takes, knowing when an improvisational moment is concluding or shifting. Ben takes time to define how each track took shape and where or how the titles came to be. There are so many relatable moments to this process and this music that make sense to me, and I truly believe that if you approach this listening the same way, with an openness to go with each flow, you’ll find your daily, hourly, momentary moment that fits just right. The key is the desire to be adventurous and look for the unknown, these two creators have it and sharing it has a second part to it…..you need to go find it. Be your own catalyst in finding your adventures. Start here.
The American Patchwork Quartetsews together echoes of traditional folk music dating back to Colonial America with the contemporary voices of its members’ ancestral roots to create a multicultural, folk music tapestry. The Quartet made its Wisconsin debut on Nov. 17 at the Wisconsin Union Theater’s Play Circle. Featuring a program of blended new and old folk music traditions, the group works to shine a light on what the quartet’s musicians call the immigrant soul of American root music as well as to combat prejudice against race & immigration. The Quartet [errr Quintet for the evening] has said that it’s on a mission to reclaim the immigrant soul of American roots music. Leading in this mission are GRAMMY-winning vocalist and Indian American and friend to the proGram, Falu Shah; GRAMMY-winning guitarist, vocalist & South Carolina-born Clay Ross; 3-time GRAMMY-winning drummer & Detroit native Clarence Penn; and Jazz Life Album of the Year winner & Tokyo-born bassist Yasushi Nakamura. Joining this lively folk quartet for this evening was special guest Harini Raghavan (Rini), a composer, producer & violinist who is known to blend her training in Indian Carnatic traditions w/electronica & rock. Rini has performed/recorded with Grammy-winning artists such as A.R. Rahman and composed music for the trending Indian Netflix show ‘The Fame Game.” Together, these musicians master the art of showcasing culture through reimagined American root music. In APQ, these musicians bring together their many musical influences, education & experiences, and part of that effort, they say, means helping audience members acknowledge people’s commonalities and differences to strengthen America’s patchwork. On this evening, the success of this mission was easily felt by the audience members and the musicians. You could feel the smiles.
The final part of the proGram found its place within.
Liberdade- Da Cruz
**pre-recorded conversation with Mariana Da Cruz and Ane H. of Da Cruz**
Durante a Noite- Da Cruz
Gimme Some Power- Da Cruz
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In Tune- Robert Glasper Ft. Amir Sulaiman
Something Deep Down- MichRyc
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Awake- Leland Whitty
Holiday- Bill Frisell
The Fours- Makaya McCraven
High Fives- Makaya McCraven
It For Chick- Yazz Ahmed
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Where Is Tomorrow- Sun Ra
***pre-recorded conversation with Marshall Allen***
What’s That- Sun Ra
Looking Outward- Sun Ra
The middle sets of the proGram this week had the below ya, looking back atcha.
Let the Music Play- The Mighty Mocambos
Theme From Beverly Hills Cop (Axel F)- The Mighty Mocambos
Curtis (Reprise)- Angels Of Libra & Nathan Johnston
Icarus- Angels Of Libra & Nathan Johnston
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White Rhino- Chicago Afrobeat Project with Tony Allen Ft. Ugochi
***pre-recorded conversation with UGOCHI***
I No Know- Chicago Afrobeat Project with Tony Allen Ft. Ugochi
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The Letter- Monzanto Sound
Batmotorswing- Renegades Of Jazz
L’addition- Hoodna Orchestra
No Confusion- Ezra Collective Ft. Kojey Radical
Smile- Ezra Collective
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The Great Divide- Kennebec Ft. Yazz Ahmed
Bond- DJ Sun
Autobahn- Karmic
Body- Supreme Beings of Leisure
The first part of the proGram was right up to the brim.
Still Water Runs Deep- Buffalo Killers
Stand Back And Take A Good Look- Buffalo Killers
American Dream- Darryl Jones
Thunderbird- Hermanos Gutiérrez
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Hellow- Evolfo
Orion’s Belt- Evolfo (Live from Sound Home)
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When Love Comes to Town- Vanessa Collier (Live)
That’s All- Southern Avenue
Hey Baby- The Jorgensens
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Right This Minute- The Weber Brothers
Two Kinds of Lovers- Jonathon ‘Boogie’ Long
Voodoo- Yates McKendree
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Your Face Before My Eyes- Lee Fields
Without a Heart- Lee Fields
The Sun Ra Arkestra is a sonic explosions recreating itself with each note and was formed in the mid-1950s and led by keyboardist/composer Sun Ra until his death in 1993. They are certainly considered a pioneer of afrofuturism. The Arkestra is still led by saxophonist Marshall Allen, an member since 1958. To this day, the outer shell of the travelers on stage are still draped in their cosmic entrance gear, expelling from the ever-evolving swirl. In jazz, unity could emerge — even as individual notes seemed in disarray and rhythms seemed uncountable. Jazz demanded discipline and precision, but also an open mind. “A lot of things that some men do… come from somewhere else,” Sun Ra said, “or they’re inspired by something that’s not of this planet. And jazz was most definitely inspired, because it wasn’t here before.” Jazz was the road to a mystical experience, a sort of reasoned ecstasy. It was the music of elsewhere. Sun Ra called his band the Arkestra, though it went far beyond the limits of a band. The Arkestra was Sun Ra’s grand Gesamtkunstwerk, a total work that crossed the boundaries of art and life for Sun Ra and his musicians. Arkestra performances were music, theatre, dance, philosophy. They combined the ancient and the radical future, African rhythms played with fists and synthesizers played with the elbows. Arkestra musicians followed Sun Ra’s style, wearing Egyptian headdresses and African robes and Mardi Gras beads. Onstage, they laughed and danced and walked arm in arm. Sun Ra wanted to show his audiences an expression of pure possibility. And yet the Arkestra was more for the musicians than the audience. Musicians lived together (for a long while in a building Sun Ra bought on Morton Street, in the Germantown area of Philadelphia) worked together, thought together. When they weren’t onstage, they were rehearsing. They played music in place of social activities, in place of sleep. The Arkestra breathed music together, abandoned themselves to it, like one single enlightened organism with Sun Ra as their guide. Sun Ra’s compositions were famously difficult, even for the most talented instrumentalists. Arkestra musicians tell stories of being baffled sometimes for months before they could hear music in the written notes. The intervals were mad, impossible. Sun Ra was patient though, often choosing musicians who were more intuitive than knowledgeable, who could be developed (intuitive people had more space in their minds). One could imagine the Morton Street building like a monastery, and Arkestra rehearsals akin to liturgical chant, with Arkestra players embodying the music through repetition until playing was an ecstatic experience. For this experience of both the past and the future, breathing and being altered in the now, we find Marshall Allen continuing to be a director from which it came – within the spiraling sound landings of The Sun Ra Arkestra.
I had the honor of checking in with Mr. Marshall Allen ahead of CODAFEST 2022 – A Celebration of Creative and Cultural Music’. Highlighting this 5-day event will be the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra, led by the 98-year-old saxophonist and protégé of the late/great Sun Ra. This event will be on November 19th at Cafe Coda. We discussed how the moment, any moment is about the vibration of that day, that moment, that time. This translated into how the group will be proceeding into the spiral while here in Madison, avoiding the square and adding the feeling of the audience to the building blocks of notes to be. This little conversation reminds me to always listen in to what those who’ve been to and from – and how/why there is the reason what the Arkestra did/does resonates within me. Its the moments within each. Take a moment. Make a moment
The 6th album by DA CRUZ (Bern/São Paulo) is called “Baladas da Luta” (“Ballads for the Fight”), and that’s exactly what it sounds like. Profound, Brazilian urban music in an attack position against hatred, delusion & political short-sightedness. There are guests on this album like the British-Nigerian pidgin rap guru Magugu or Arnaldo Antunes, who was chosen by “Rolling Stone” as one of the hundred best artists in Brazilian music. There is heavy-blooded Afrobeat, angry Hip-Hop or a Brazilian disco flair. There are touches of Krautrock, Baile Funk or Soul – all held together by the warm voice of Afro-Brazilian singer Mariana Da Cruz. Mariana Da Cruz grew up as the seventh child of a cotton picker and a cook in Paranapanema, a small provincial town in the state of São Paulo. Recordings, concerts, music lessons; all that was unaffordable. Music, however, was an escape point even then – Mariana absorbed it through a small transistor radio in her nursery. She was already singing as a teenager in a club in the nearest big city, Campinas, where she studied to become a teacher: Bossa Nova, MPB, Elis Regina, Jorge Ben – all the classics – it was her basic research. But curiosity drove her first to Lisbon in the early noughties, later to Bern, where she lives today. It stands to reason that she would reflect on the world’s dislocations through her first home, Brazil. A country that anticipated all the developments we see everywhere today. “There is a fundamental alienation between politics and the people, there is burgeoning racism, social divisions, there is an ever greater injustice in the distribution of wealth, and there is this inexplicable yearning for authoritarianism”, she says. And she sings against all this. For more than 15 years. A key driver of her music is her engagement with her African roots. Whereby the situation here – as for all Afro-Brazilians – is somewhat complicated: “We know that our ancestors come from Africa, but we don’t know from where. You can’t do any research on that,” explains Mariana Da Cruz. “We’ve travelled a lot in the last few years for this search for traces, been to Burkina Faso, Bahia, Rio – and all these experiences and impressions flow into my music. Da Cruz is a radical independent project. All of their albums so far have been recorded, mixed & produced in their own studio. They have been released on their own label Boom Jah Records, except for two albums released with the American label Six Degrees Records. The core of the band besides Mariana includes Ane H., former singer and programmer of the industrial band Swamp Terrorists, Bernese guitarist Oliver Husmann and drummer Pit Lee.
I had the honor of chatting with Mariana and Ane H. of DA CRUZ about the new release, “Baladas da Luta”. We get deep into the need and reasons behind this album and how the music stands with Brazil as times get very unrecognizable. The power of the songs are clearly explained by Ane and Mariana and if you wonder if music does have the power to make a stand against or stand with a group who is in need of a shouting voice, this album will take you by the ear and show you. Not only do we talk about the music, the situations on a global level that do affect us all, there are questions asked on how we find one language to speak…to SHOUT…to unite. For me, these people making this music always opened my body to the grooves of the sound, but this record has my eyes and mind in concert with my heart and sense of equality and justice. There is power in these songs. Check for yourself.
Her created sounds have been described as ‘lively, energetic music that makes your feet move & heart think’. With over 2 decade of experience in the literary & music industry, UGOCHI has gained quite a notable reputation for her solo career & collaborations. Not content to rest on her gnash, UGOCHI are always laying foundations for the next release, adding more classics to their repertoire. She has shared the stage with several established artists such as Common, Eric Benet, John Legend, Femi Kuti, Edwin McCain, Seun Kuti, Maxi Priest, Malik Yusef, Umphrey’s McGee, Richie Stephens, Blitz the Ambassador, Yellowman, J. Ivy, Queen Ifrika, Luciano, Wayna, Femi Kuti, Shaggy, Richie Stephens, Queen Ifrika, Vieux Farka Toure, Tony Allen, Bushman, Fatoumata Diawara, Wayne Wonder and Stephen Marley, King Sunny Ade, Me’Schell Ndegeocello. Ugochi & A.S.E.’s music is not just a unique flavor of soul music cooked up in her cosmic kitchen of sounds, styles & accents; it is also an introduction to world affairs for Africa enthusiasts all over the world. Her music honors her musical influences thru the expression of heart felt lyrical poise & soul swept instrumentation, giving birth to an incredible sound that fills a need that may have been previously unknown.
I had the complete pleasure of catching up once aGain with family to the show, UGOCHI as she and A.S.E. are heading back to Cafe Coda on November 17th as part of CODAFEST 2022. We discuss how a live experience like this is an opportunity to leave all that other stuff somewhere else and make this shared moment an opening to joy and healing. The band always finds this togetherness on a stage, with a community to be healing. Some of the styles of sounds/rhythms are discussed – hint – very similar to the way greenarrowradio flows and the love of how a place like Madison come with open ears, open hearts and especially open minds really is not lost on Ugochi or A.S.E., so, if anyone round here has a couch that is just right for that stage……
In the middle of 2021, Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Caroline Shaw released a new album with Sō Percussion, her 2nd project with the New York ensemble that year ‘Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part’ came out on June 25 2021 via Nonesuch Records. Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part is Shaw’s first album to feature her own vocals. The record follows January’s Narrow Sea, which also featured soprano Dawn Upshaw and pianist Gilbert Kalish. The musicians returned to work with Narrow Sea producer Jonathan Low for Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part. (Low recently won the 2021 Grammy Award for Album of the Year for his work on Taylor Swift’s folklore.) The new project also includes Shaw’s reinterpretation of ABBA’s “Lay All Your Love on Me,” arranged for marimba and voice. Friends of the proGram, Sō Percussion has blazed their own unique path in chamber music, redefining the genre for the 21st century with collaborations in classical music, pop, indie rock, and more. On Saturday evening, November 5th, we got a chance to drop into their awe-inspiring work alongside Pulitzer Prize-winning musician, Caroline Shaw, featuring songs from their aforementioned album ‘Let The Soil Play Its Simple Part’. Shaw also received a 2022 GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition, for Narrow Sea, performed by Sō Percussion, Dawn Upshaw, and Gilbert Kalish. Caroline Shaw brings her unparalleled musical talents as a producer, composer, violinist, and vocalist center stage in this collaborative performance with Sō Percussion. The event was another offering from the Union Theater that opens the mind and senses to newness in rhythm, voice and the combination of arts. As I watched, I could not help but get taken into the very soil, whose job is never over – just like the celebration of the arts, which luckily, we have such a great space for here.
The final part of this week’s proGram had some things you could miss if not opened up.
What a Little Moonlight Can Do- Tawanda
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Hodu Lashem- Yosef Gutman
You Need to Rock- Owen Broder
McQueen- Ted Kooshian
48th Street- The Pat Petrillo Big Rhythm Band Ft. Nile Rodgers & Lenny Pickett
It Won’t Be Long- The Pat Petrillo Big Rhythm Band Ft. Glen Burtnik
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Unison Towers- Marilyn Mazur’s Shamania
Drungudans- Marilyn Mazur’s Shamania
Gongs For Peace 2- Marilyn Mazur’s Shamania
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Outer Moat Behavior- Louis Cole
Dead Inside Shuffle- Louis Cole
Dream Another- Makaya McCraven
