Jimmy Sabater

Jaime Sabater was born in New York City on April 11th, 1936 of Puerto Rican Ancestry. He was a legend in Latin music history due to his English language crossover and his “suave” type of romantic English or Spanish-language singing style.

Jimmy Sabater had a unique style of playing timbales, creating excitement with every stroke of his sticks. He performed with the famous Joe Cuba Sextet for many years until 1979.

Jimmy Sabater also worked with many New York City legends, including Tito Puente. Jimmy Sabater will be greatly missed for his invaluable contribution to Latin music and Latin music history!

Al Di Meola - Morocco Fantasia

Morocco Fantasia (inakustic, 2012)

Morocco Fantasia is an excellent opportunity to watch and listen to one of the finest American guitarists. The DVD and Blu-Ray release shows Di Meola and his ensemble during a concert in Morocco, at the Mawazine Festival in Rabat.

During most of the concert, Al Di Meola uses the acoustic guitar, presenting a brilliant mix of jazz, flamenco and Mediterranean influences. Only at the end, he picks up the electric guitar, showing his versatility as a guitarist.

The band at the time included highly skilled instrumentalists from the areas of jazz and Latin music: Peo Alfonsi on 2nd guitar, Fausto Beccalossie on accordion, Gumbo Ortiz on percussion, Victor Miranda on bass, Peter Kaszas on drums. In some pieces, Al Di Meola and the band were joined by special guests from Morocco, including Said Chraibi on oud, Abdellah Meri on violin, and Tari Ben Ali percussion.

Morocco Fantasia features some of Al Di Meola’s familiar compositions as well as new pieces from his current album, Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody.

The video crew did an excellent job. The close-ups of the musicians are perfectly timed and allow the viewer to watch solos and musical interactions up close. It is very well edited and provides a full immersion into Al Di Meola’s music. Morocco Fantasia includes bonus material such as rehearsals, soundcheck and Al Di Meola performing a session while visiting a bazaar.

Morocco Fantasia is an outstanding video that showcases the music of an excellent guitarist and composer who gently crosses the boundaries between jazz and world music.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Performers at a past edition of Svanubhava

“With the help of a young and energetic group of students in the Trichy area, we will be presenting Svanubhava at Srimathi Indira Gandhi College on February 24th and 25th,” said Vikram K. Raghavan. “We have a great line-up of programs featuring diverse Indian art forms which you can view at http://svanubhava.blogspot.com.”

Svanubhava was conceptualized with the intention of welcoming the students to the diverse, multicultural world of Indian art and introduce them to the underlying beauty of even the rarest forms. The festival aims to involve students of music and dance institutions, students from private and public educational institutions and in the process create hubs of student communities where they can feel a sense of belonging and nurture their passion towards Indian art forms.

2012 Program

Friday, 24th February 2012
Smt. Indira Gandhi College
9:30 AM Mangala Isai
Students of Tamil Nadu Government Music School, Trichy

Inauguration

Harikatha Kalakshepam
Smt. Vishaka Hari

Tamil Traditional Theatre: Theru Koothu
Purisai Kannappa Tambiran Paramparai Therukoothu Manram
Ms. V.R. Devika – Anchor

Lunch

Carnatic Flute Concert
Sri S. Shashank (flute)
Akkarai Kum. S. Subhalakshmi (violin)
Patri Sri Satishkumar (mrdangam)

Talavadyam Concert
‘Vikku’ Sri T.H. Vinayakaram & group

Saturday, 25th February 2012

Smt. Indira Gandhi College
9:30 AM Carnatic Vocal Concert
Sri N. Vijay Siva
Sri R.K. Shriramkumar
Mannargudi Sri A. Easwaran
Sri K.V. Gopalakrishnan

Karagam
Students of Shrimathi Indira Gandhi College

Odhuvars – Thevaram (Shaivite hymns)
Kudandai Sri Lakshmanan
Dharmapuram Sri Nyanaprakasam

Lunch

Bharatanatyam
Smt. Priyadarsini Govind

Drama
Crazy Mohan & Group

Shanren

Beijing-based Shanren will be sharing the culture of Yunnan, an area thought to have inspired the Shangri-La of Hilton’s classic novel, Lost Horizon. Incentives for music fans range from limited-edition signed CDs and handmade ethnic instruments to private music lessons and even a dinner party with the band. The crowdfunding campaign will not only help make the tour a financial success, but will also create a genuinely interactive cultural experience for fans and audiences.

“Shanren sees this tour as an exchange – it’s about both sides being rewarded,” noted Shanren’s manager Sam Debell. “The band doesn’t just want to plays shows – they are creating an opportunity for fans to have a real connection with their culture through the rewards they’ve developed. They’re using the internet and crowd-funding to make the tour a financial success, and also to bond with the fans beyond the performance, especially Chinese ex-patriots and students. Shanren is going the extra mile to say thanks to their supporters, and it’s not just a gimmick – this is something that they are doing from their hearts.”

Shanren have been selected to appear at the Slacker Canadian Music Fest (the Slacker Radio-sponsored 30th edition of Canadian Music Week), which will be held in Toronto in March 2012 with 900 artists spread across 60 venues. The festival appearances will anchor their first North American tour that will launch at New York’s Pianos on March 6th and include performances in Brooklyn (New York), Philadelphia, Staten Island (New York), Hamden (Connecticut), Pittsfield (Massachusetts), Arlington (Virginia), and Asbury Park (New Jersey).

Emerging from southwestern China, Shanren (山人, literally “mountain men”), is a group of four musicians with members representing the Wa and Buyi ethnic minorities. Shanren employs instruments like the xiangzi and qinqin (four-stringed plucked instruments) and xianggu (a type of drum). They play both original compositions and reworkings of traditional folk songs, adding touches of rock, reggae, and ska. While the band members preserve their cultural heritage, they update it for a 21st-century audience.

Shanren RocketHub Crowfunding Campaign
rockethub.com/projects/5431-shanren-tour-shangri-la-to-north-america

Music: myspace.com/shanrenband

Boubacar Traoré

Terakaft from Mali plays hypnotic desert rock full of electric guitar sounds. The Tuareg band has previously shared members with Tinariwen, and the band name means caravan in the blue people’s language.

Boubacar Traoré is a West African veteran whose status in his native Mali is on par with Ali Farka Touré. Having played for over 40 years, Boubacar Traoré (also called Kar Kar, ‘the dribler’, in his football-playing youth) makes his Roskilde debut. Traoré plays the blues with the acoustic guitar as the main accompaniment.

Roskilde Festival will be held 5 – 8 July 2012 in Roskilde, which is located 35 km west of Copenhagen. Roskilde Festival is the largest north European culture and music festival and has existed since 1971.

More at http://roskilde-festival.dk

Roberto Fonseca

The new album, Yo, will be out this Spring and is his most daring one to date. Fonseca, the Buena Vista Social Club prodigy and Havana Cultura star, explores new sounds and dimensions blending traditional acoustic instruments with elements of electronica and pays homage to Cuba’s African roots while striking forwards with red-hot grooves, electronic beats and sensuous lyricism that effortlessly updates Cuba’s musical lineage.

Opening for Roberto on this Black Routes tour is Ayanna, the first non-American to win the legendary Amateur Night Live at the Harlem Apollo, whose beguiling vocals skip and swing over intimate, honey-sweet cello. Her music was recently celebrated in an evening devoted to her work at the Kings Place Festival in London.

Last year Ayanna was commissioned to write a new piece for the Bath Festival, following residencies at Wigmore Hall and Aldeburgh. She’s just finished a UK tour with Natty and recording in New York with Kronos Quartet, which neatly captures her full range.

Tour Dates

Fri 23 March – Gateshead, The Sage Gateshead, 7.30pm
http://www.thesagegateshead.org / 0191 443 4661 / Tickets £19.50 + bkg

Sat 24 March – Manchester, RNCM, 7.30pm
http://www.rncm.ac.uk / 0161 907 5555 / Tickets £15, £17.50 + bkg

Mon 26 March – London, Barbican, 7.30pm
http://www.barbican.org.uk / 020 7638 8891 / Tickets £10 – £25 + bkg

Wed 28 March – York, Theatre Royal, 7.30pm
http://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk / 01904 623568 / Tickets £15 + bkg

Thu 29 March – Brighton, Dome, 7.30pm
http://www.brightondome.org / 01273 709709 / Tickets £15, £17.50 + bkg

Fri 30 March – Bristol, St George’s, 8pm
http://www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk / 0845 40 24 001 / Tickets £21 + bkg

Sun 1 April – Birmingham, Town Hall, 7.30pm
http://www.thsh.co.uk / 0121 780 3333 / Tickets £15, £17.50 + bkg

From Night To The Edge Of Day by Azam Ali, one of the 2012 Juno nominees

Nominees for World Music Album Of The Year include Bolo Kan by Aboulaye Kone et Bolo Kan, Tambores e Amores by Aline Morales, From Night To The Edge Of Day by Azam Ali, Aam Zameen : common ground by Kiran Ahluwalia and Sleepover by Socalled.

Nominees in the area of world music, roots, reggae and other related categories:

World Music Album of the Year

Aboulaye Kone et Bolo Kan – Afo Gné (SRI)
Aline Morales – Flores, Tambores e Amores (Independent)
Azam Ali From Night To The Edge Of Day (Cross Current/Terrestrial Lane)
Kiran Ahluwalia – Aam Zameen : common ground (Kiran Music)
Socalled – Sleepover (Sélect)

Roots & Traditional Album of the Year: Solo

Bruce Cockburn – Small Source of Comfort
Craig Cardiff – Floods & Fires
Dave Gunning – A Tribute To John Allan Cameron
David Francey – Late Edition
Lindi Ortega – Little Red Boots

Roots & Traditional Album of the Year: Group

Good Lovelies – Let The Rain Fall
The Deep Dark Woods – The Place I Left Behind
The Once – Row Upon Row Of The People We Know
The Wailin’ Jennys – Bright Morning Stars
Twilight Hotel – When The Wolves Go Blind

Blues Album of the Year

Bill Johnson – Still Blue
David Gogo – Soul Bender
Harrison Kennedy – Shame The Devil
MonkeyJunk – To Behold
Suzie Vinnick – Me ‘n’ Mabel

Reggae Recording of the Year

Dubmatix Renegade – Seeds of Love & Life ft. Luciano
Exco Levi – Bleaching Shop
Jay Douglas – Lover’s Paradise
Steele Fam – Woman
Tanya Mullings – Rescue Me

Aboriginal Album of the Year

Bruthers of Different Muthers – Speakers of Tomorrow
Donny Parenteau – To Whom It May Concern
Flying Down – One Nation
Murray Porter – Songs Lived & Life Played
Randy Wood – The Gift of Life

Tickets to the 2012 JUNO Awards go on sale this Friday, February 10 at 10:00 a.m. (EST), and are priced at $213.57, $145.77, $111.87 and $62.15 (plus service fees). They are available for purchase at the Scotiabank Place Box Office, The Sens Store locations at Carlingwood Mall and Place D’Orleans, Ottawa Sports Experts, and Les Galeries de Hull; by phoning (613) 599-FANS (3267) or (toll free) at 877-788-FANS (3267); and online at www.capitaltickets.ca.

To view a complete list of 2012 JUNO Award nominees, as well as their bios and hometown information, go to www.junoawards.ca.

Snaarmaarwaar - Phosphor Bronze

Phosphor Bronze (Appel Rekords, 2011)

Three of the best string instrument performers in Belgium form Snaarmaarwaar. The finely-attuned trio plays primarily contemporary acoustic music rooted in European folk music. Phosphor Bronze is the second album by these virtuoso musicians.

Snaarmaarwaar has been dazzling folk festival audiences throughout Europe for nearly 6 years. The richly melodic interplay between the mandola and mandolin, supported by the rhythm guitar, combines virtuosity, improvisation and boundary breaking sounds. Although most of the pieces are acoustic, the trio occasionally introduces electronic elements that take trad music to new levels.

The album title, Phosphor Bronze, makes reference to the material out of which only the best strings are made. Most of the tracks are penned by Maarten Decombel. Jeroen Geerinck contributes the rest.

Snaarmaarwaar’s debut album Snaarmaarwaar came out in 2009 and was very well-received. The current line-up of the trio includes Peter-Jan Daems on mandolin, Maarten Decombel on mandola and Jeroen Geerinck on guitar.

Peter-Jan Daems from Brussels got into folk music after hearing Irish, French and Scottish traditional songs. He learned the craft during several jam sessions. In Snaarmaarwaar Peter-Jan takes care of the 10-string mandolin, which was built especially for him. The instrument is tuned in a C-G-D-A-E tuning. Next to that, Peter-Jan also plays the guitar and the mandola. He was one of the founding fathers of the band Tantra, a cross-over psychedelic folk band that mixed ethnic and Celtic music in an exciting way. He was also a part of the folk dance band Papaver.

Jeroen Geerinck was educated as a pianist, but eventually chose the guitar. After playing various music styles, he ended up in the world of folk music. Alongside Snaarmaarwaar, Jeroen is also a member of Triple-X (folk dance band), Hot Griselda (folk dance bande), B-Boa (Breton music), Amorroma (romantic folk dance band) and Transpiradansa (world music). Occasionally you can hear him as well with KV Express and Urban Trad. Jeroen is a teacher of folk guitar at the Gooik music school. His specialty is folk guitar in DADGAD tuning, which originates from Celtic and Anglo-Saxon folk music and which is the major folk music tuning in Flanders since the 1990s.

Maarten Decombel has been playing guitar since he was 9. He studied classical and jazz guitar at the Ghent conservatory. But above all, he is a true folk musician at heart. In Snaarmaarwaar he usually plays mandola (which some call an “octave mandolin”, the tuning is GDAE: one octave lower than the normal mandolin). He is however best known as folk guitar player. Maarten’s other musical projects include Göze (accordion and guitar duo), Naragonia Quartet (folk dance band) and Trip to Ireland (Irish traditional ensemble). He occasionally collaborates with Christian Merveille (theater for children) and Zefiro Torna. He often teaches the guitar at folk camps and he is a tutor at the Deinze music academy.

Phosphor Bronze is a vivacious album of genuinely diverse original folk music pieces with a modern aesthetic.

Pedrito Martinez - Photo by Petra Richterova

The concert begins with Pedrito playing the orisha rhythms of santería on batá drums, with special guests Román Díaz and Mauricio Herrera, and ends on the dance floor with Pedrito and his band feverishly delivering their distinct, funky brand of salsa. Preceding the concert there will be a dance lesson; following the show there will be an after-party with DJ David Medina.

Pedro Pablo “Pedrito” Martinez, born in Havana, Cuba, began his musical career at the age of 11, performing as vocalist and percussionist with such Cuban legends as Tata Güines and Los Muñequitos de Matanzas.

He was brought to Canada in 1998, by Jane Bunnett to tour with her group, Spirits of Havana, and decided to remain in North America to pursue his career. Two years later, he entered the annual Theolonious Monk Competition that showcased Afro-Latin Hand Drumming for the first time – and won first place.

Since settling in New York in 2000, he has performed, recorded, and/or toured with Paquito D’Rivera, Brian Lynch, Steve Turre, Meshell Ndegeocello, Eddie Palmieri, Bill Summers and Los Hombres Calientes, Arturo “Chico” O’Farrill, Stefon Harris, Bebo Valdés, Cassandra Wilson, Joe Lovano, The Conga Kings, and Sting, among others.

Pedrito Martinez - Photo by Andrew Lepley

He has lent his talents to over 100 recordings, including albums by Paquito d’Rivera, Issac Delgado, Eliane Elias, Stefon Harris, Steve Turre, Eddie Palmieri, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Conrad Herwig, and Edie Brickell. These include six Grammy-nominated records and the Grammy-winning Simpatico collaboration between Eddie Palmieri and Brian Lynch. His group performs regularly at Manhattan’s Guantanamera and released a live album recorded there.

The series continues with Morocco to Brooklyn, a 2-part program featuring the extraordinary Hassan Hakmoun, performing acrobatic dances and ecstatic music from Gnawa trance ceremonies, and Malika Zarra, a pioneer in Maghreb jazz (Apr 14).

These programs are made possible in part with public support provided by the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

Saturday, February 11th, 2012 – 8:00 PM
Roulette, 509 Atlantic Avenue (corner of 3rd Avenue), Downtown Brooklyn
+Dance lesson prior to concert &
after-party with DJ David Medina following show
Tickets: $25
Information: 212-545-7536
http://www.wminyc.org

The reggae festival announced the list of initial artists confirmed to appear in Boonville this June. Artist scheduled include Luciano, Third World, The Twinkle Brothers, Lutan Fyah, Johnny Osbourne, Romain Virgo, David Rodigan, Perfect, Locos Por Juana, Zion Train, and Dub Nation

More at: www.snwmf.com