Monthly Archives: May 2012

Welcome to Japan, Sohrab!!

Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

How did I fall in love with Japan? What made me go to Japan in 1974?

#1 Two movies: James Bond’s You Only Live Twice and Akira Kurosawa’s The 7 Samurai. Both movies inspired me to make my own research about this country and its people: about the old and modern Japan of that time. Before watching these movies I had already started to practice Japanese martial arts, such as Judo, Karate and Kendo. At that time Germans and Europeans in general had no interest in Japan. During my school days nobody taught or talked about the country “of the rising sun.”

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Recommended concert: Nashaz @ Sycamore (Brooklyn)

Date: Monday, May 14, 2012
Time: 8 pm
Venue: Sycamore (1118 Cortelyou Rd, Brooklyn, near the Q train)
Ticket: $10
Genre: Arabic music

Brian Prunka, who recently joined SoSaLa, is with his newest Arabic/Jazz/Oud/? project Nashaz back in town! He’se been laying low for the past few months, rehearsing some new music and preparing to make a record. He’s lucky to have some really amazing musicians involved who bring their passion and talents and personalities to the music: Kenny Warren on trumpet, Nathan Herrera on alto sax, Javier Moreno Sanchez on bass,  Vin Scalia on percussion. And Brian Prunka on oud. Nashaz is going to perform two new tunes.

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Event recommendation: open studios performances, screenings and lectures @ ICSP in East Williamsburg

Date: Saturday, May 12, 2012
Venue: The International Studio & Curatorial Program/ISCP (1040 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211, 718-387-2900)
Genre: Jazz/contemporary music
Ticket: pleae call venue

2pm  Eloise Fornieles The Orbit

Over the course of one hour, Eloise Fornieles will orbit a cement mixer containing a marble head of Mercury, the mythological messenger of the Roman gods. The cement mixer will slowly chip away parts of the head, eroding the iconographic replica of the divine figure to its original material state. Covering distance yet traveling nowhere, Fornieles uses this repetitive motion as a form of ritualistic journey. Fornieles’ installations create a space for contemplation, while her own emphasis on physical endurance provides a backdrop for a more visceral understanding of the body as material, with its limitations and capabilities. Continue reading →

Concert review: Iran’s Pavarotti and music actvist Mohammad Reza Shajarian and the Shahnaz Ensemble at Town Hall.

Date: April 20, 2012
Venue: Town Hall (NY)

Text by Aida Shahghasemi 

A few weeks after his son, Homayoun (read review here), Mohammad Reza Shajarian and the Shahnaz Ensemble gave a concert at Town Hall last month which portrayed creativity and innovation within the realm of Persian classical music.

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