Music Review by Dawoud Kringle
The New York-based Iranian ensemble Koubeh formed in 2019 and consists of five musicians from the Iranian diaspora. They dedicated themselves to celebrating and reimagining Persian music for contemporary audiences.
Text by Bruce Gallanther (Downtown Music Gallery, May 21, 2026)
“Old Fart at Play” by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band from Trout Mask Replica (released in 1969)
For the first time in New York City, FlamenKora steps onto the stage carrying the breath of three distant homelands—Senegal, Brazil/Spain, and finally New York—woven into one luminous musical current. This is music shaped by migration, memory, and the ancient pathways between continents.
Ali Boulo Santo Cissoko (Senegal) – Kora, Vocals
Roberto Monteiro (Brazil/Spain) – Flamenco Guitar
Volker Goetze (USA/Germany) – Trumpet, Flugelhorn
From Dakar, Paris‑based griot Ali Boulo Santo Cissoko brings the shimmering pulse of the kora and the ancestral voice of the Cissoko lineage, a family whose music has carried stories across centuries. From Brazil by way of Madrid, flamenco virtuoso Roberto Monteiro channels the duende of Andalucía through a South American heart—his guitar a bridge between Iberian fire and the rhythmic soul of the Atlantic. Completing the triangle, German‑born New York trumpeter and composer Volker Goetze summons the open‑sky imagination of jazz, shaped by decades of deep apprenticeship within West Africa’s Mande tradition.
Text by Dawoud Kringle
It is with deep sadness that the members of MFM acknowledge the passing of Michael Harrison. Michael died in New York City on April 17, 2026, at the age of 67. The cause of death was complications from pancreatic cancer.
Text by Bruce Gallanther (Downtown Music Gallery)
“O Caroline” was written by Dave Sinclair, composed the music, and Robert Wyatt wrote the lyrics from the first Matching Mole album (released 1972)
