Afropop’s  Sean and Banning have returned from Egypt with a plethora of music, video and sounds. This week they are taking a breather after an intense, month-long trip before delving into the 4-part radio & web series they will be producing on the music of Egypt. Stay tuned by reading Banning’s latest entry on Koranic Recitation.  You can also check out their video of a Sufi saint celebration (watch below) in Upper Egypt. Very cool video! Recommended to Sublime Frequencies fans!

Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Here are three YouTube videos of two musicians, Jazz icons Sonny Rollins and Michael Brecker, and the Afro Beat Brooklyn band Antibalas. These three video speak for themselves. They tell us stories you might like to know. Enjoy!

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Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Miles Davis declared Jazz is dead (it’s) the music of a museum. Frank Zappa said Jazz isn’t dead. It just smells funny. How about rock music?

The Guardian (UK) said in January: “It is a claim made before by, among others, Lenny Kravitz and the Swedish garage band the Hellacopters. But today, after years of struggle, came evidence to support the fearsome claim: rock’n'roll is dead.” Read more.

Anyway I don’t care whether certain music styles are dead. On the contrary, I only care about bands which play emotional and passionate music. I mean, music that really feels alive and speaks to me.

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 Selected by Sohrab Saadat Lajevardi

Kiosk

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Musician pick up by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

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Majid Bekkas, oud and guembri or sintir virtuoso, guitar professor and singer, has long been a star in his home country Morocco. Over the last few years, he has found his way into the European jazz scene through his collaborations with Archie Shepp, Louis Sclavis, Flavio Boltro, Joachim Kuhn or Klaus Doldinger.

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Frank Zappa live “Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow” in Sydney 1973

Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

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Email from Japan 

Dear Sohrab-san,

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Videos selected by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Afropop’s Matt Payne asks the burning question on everyone’s mind: What is Afropop? Filmed and edited by Nova Ami. Thanks to Erich Woodrum and Carla Deamant!

International icon and Malian singer Salif Keita performs at Central Park SummerStage June 20, 2010. Afropop’s Banning Eyre catches up with him backstage and chats with musical wiz kid Toumani Diabate, son of Abdoulaye Diabate. A must see for music lovers!

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Recommended by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Ogoya Nengo & Sven Kacirek perform Dear Anastasia

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Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

When I was very young watching TV was something special in my life. Watching TV was more than entertainment…it was education! It taught me something new everyday. I became a different person after a while. One of my favorite programs was a silent movie comedy show which was shown once every week. My younger brother and I watched it together. After the show finished, we went to bed with a joy and satisfaction.

All important comedians were featured, such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, Harold Lloyd, Harry Langdon, and many more. But the first three ones were my favorite ones. They made comedy into an art form. Comedy was not only used to entertain people but also to make them aware of social and political issues in a funny way. Music played also an important role. On one hand it was a very important voice in expressing human feelings and communication, and on the other hand it supported the performance of the actors.

All this said, please watch this video which features the maestros Chaplin and Keaton in Limelight.

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