If Music Could Talk - Podcast Link - April 28, 2012 (+ one sub. show for Paul's Boutique)

PODCAST LINK - "If Music Could Talk" - April 28, 2012

PODCAST LINK - "Paul's Boutique" - April 26, 2012

Bollywood Night w/ Dj Carlito - "WE PUT THE HINDI IN SHINDIG"  ™ (2012)

After an brief intermission, Richmond's favorite Desi dance party returns to Cous Cous.. Sat. May 12, 2012! Don't Miss This one!

Kailash Kher with his band Kailasa LIVE IN DC MAY 12

Saturday, May 12 - KAILASH KHER with his band KAILASA - Live in Concert

TICKETS & INFO HERE

Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - LIVE in DC - MAY 4

TICKETS AND INFO HERE

MORE INFO AT INTENSE ENTERTAINMENT

If Music Could Talk - April 22, 2012

PODCAST LINK for April 22, 2012 featuring special guests Lauren, Nyla, and Fadi (what a great trio!) - performing a live in studio version of a Natasha Atlas song.. "Leysh Mat'arak" here's the original :

If Music Could Talk - April 1, 2012 - Interview with Greg of Raya Brass Band

PODCAST LINK

RAYA BRASS BAND is playing at Balliceaux on April 14th (Richmond VA) more information here .

Fruko Y Sus Tesos - "El Preso" Live at Q Club

video from the show I posted about here a few weeks ago

Some cool plaster statues based on Egyptian Hieroglyphics that my friend had in his storage space

apparently if i had gotten there a few days earlier, I could have snagged these for like 20 bucks, but its probably better that I didnt take these home anyway... my living room looks enough like the storage annex of a tomb already..

Visiting my sister in LA

My sister Xeni has breast cancer.. so I flew out to see her this week, to keep her company, and try to provide some support for her while she goes through Chemo treatment #7. We went out to eat this afternoon after visiting the clinic where she got a shot that helps to boost her white blood cells again. We are both expecting that she'll have quite a few very difficult symptoms like extreme fatigue and aches throughout the next few days..... so we made the most of the evening, and walked back home the long way to enjoy the sunset over the beach in Santa Monica...

Guilty pleasure: Jane's Addiction - playing in Richmond VA at the National tomorrow night!

I can remember the first time I heard Jane's Addiction - it was almost midnight, and my parents were asleep and I was probably supposed to be in bed... Then I caught the premiere of the video for Mountain Song on MTV's 120 minutes. The video totally blew my mind... and apparently was banned from MTV shortly after I saw it. (for mild nudity .. actually, girls in diapers - in the video) Having been a punk fan thanks to my sister, and a metal fan, thanks to my friends at the time - this band seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. I remember asking my friend, Jerome, to pick their album up for me (Nothing's Shocking - released on August 23, 1988 ) the next day because he was going to the record store (Peaches) to get, uhhh.. Danzig's first album i believe. . I can remember listening to Ocean Size, and all the other songs that followed on that album on a "cassette walkman" many times (in my backyard after a snowstorm that fall and winter, on long wandering walks through woods, riding my bike through the city, and at dusk alone in a tent in the mountains once... etc)


Actually, I have similar memories of the album "Ritual De Lo Habitual" which I also picked up right after it was released (also on cassette) - it had rained hard all afternoon, and I had skipped the bus from school and taken a detour on my way back home to stop at local record store, Plan9 -- I left with Jane's Addiction's Ritual De Lo Habitual - on cassette. When I got home, I went upstairs to my room and discovered sections of my bedroom ceiling had been leaking all day and plaster and water was everywhere.... I popped in the tape into my walkman and commenced to cleaning up the mess.... this song, "Of Course", and actually, pretty much the whole album, takes me back to all of those colorful, magical memories of my teenage years, where the future was unwritten - and the world seemed very strange. The album still remains to this day one of my all time favorites.

So anyway, this band, Jane's Addiction, who captivated me so much as a young punk/metal/hippie teen is playing here in Richmond tomorrow night at the National as part of their Escapist tour. Ive seen them a few times in recent years (last time was the NIN/JA tour), and though their sound has changed quite a bit, their shows still fill me with a certain awe and ecstatic love for life....

here's one of my favorite songs from "Ritual".. it transports me back to that feeling every time....



UPDATE: here's a video I took at the show -

PODCAST - If Music Could Talk - March 4, 2012 - Spring 2012 Fund drive

A "lightly" edited podcast from last Sunday's Spring Fund Drive show -- Please donate and support WRIR Richmond Independent Radio! http://www.wrir.org

Music from India, Ghana, DR Congo, Colombia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam

PODCAST LINK

PODCAST - If Music Could Talk - Feb 26, 2012

OMG Like, Random!! this show was all over the place.... and you will like it!

PODCAST LINK

FRUKO Y SUS TESOS playing TOMORROW NIGHT in RICHMOND VA!!!

Dont miss this rare chance to see the legendary Columbian Salsa group FRUKO Y SUS TESOS here in RICHMOND VA!!!



And some oldies for you (feat the late great Joe Arroyo)

Egyptian Percussion

It's the final week of the VMFA's exhibit: MUMMY- Secrets of the Tomb. Last night I attended a special event focusing on Egyptian Percussion which was held in the museum's Reynolds Lecture Hall. (see previous post on Egyptian Percussion)

Thanks to Layne Redmond, who spoke and performed alongside Yousif Sheronik, I learned some very interesting things about Egyptian Percussion styles and instruments.

Redmond said that while we know something about drums of other civilizations by way of drawings and writings, the only drums that have survived intact from ancient times are Egyptian drums found in the tombs of the pharoahs. Some of the Egyptian musical instruments mentioned during last night's discussion were the Tar (Frame) drum, the Square frame drum, the sistrum, and other instruments like the harp, clarinet, and the lute.

To paraphrase a few of Redmond's points ...
Drums symbolized happiness in its most basic form in Egyptian culture - this is depicted often as a heiroglyph showing a woman playing a frame drum. Drums were often played by women, but also by male soldiers in battle. Different drums were used for different purposes. Drums were also believed to have powers of cleansing and protection. They were used during work, during battle, during ceremonies, and even as protection during childbirth. Drums and cymbals and hand claps were said to have the power to purify and chase away bad energies. Often drums were used during incense rituals. Drums were played by Gods as well as humans. And the sound of the Sistrum is said to have been the sound which caused the creation of the universe - bringing form and life out of darkness.

Redmond and Sheronik demonstrated some of the instruments that were played in ancient Egypt, and they showed the audience typical patterns and sounds that could be made by each of these instruments. They also invited the audience to participate in the rhythm making by clapping our hands. (The beats were announced to us by using the words "DUM" for the low pitch clap and "TEK" for the high claps) It was a brilliant way to get the audience involved in this musical dialogue. After the event, they allowed audience members to play some of the instruments they had demonstrated earlier in the evening. I left the museum with a new appreciation for the importance of music in ancient Egypt. I also left feeling inspired to go make some music of my own!

photo below: Ivory Clappers -- shaped like hands -- (specially made for Layne Redmond)).... these were commonly used in Ancient Egypt... "clapping was said to dispel bad energy" (Here is a pair of original ones found in Akhetaten's tomb)



photo below: A reproduction of an ancient Egyptian Sistrum, used ceremonially, with the head of the god Hathor on the handle. Sistrums are found in countless heiroglyphs and also appear frequently in Egyptian architecture.

"The sistrum was used in Egyptian festivals and was often played by temple songstresses. Shaking the sistrum probably marked the division of the phrases in adulatory hymns. It was believed that the sound of rattling also drove off malign forces, preventing them from spoiling the festival." (from the british museum site)




also -- a really nice tambourine (not necessarily egyptian) played more like a tar (frame) drum than the modern tambourine

First Friday BOLLYWOOD DANCE PARTY AT the VMFA!

Next Friday (First Friday March 2) I'll be djing a special Bollywood set at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts... come dance and enjoy the art galleries! view details HERE