The Godmother of Rock & Roll: > Sister Rosetta

Sister Rosetta Tharpe — reconstructionist, gospel music’s first superstar, the godmother of rock and roll, “the original soul sister,” Literary Jukebox hero — was born on this day in 1915. No better way to celebrate her spirit and legacy than with her legendary, electrifying 1964 live performance of “Didn’t It Rain” at the Manchester train station, complete with her iconic white coat and electric guitar.


Sister Rosetta Tharpe (March 20, 1915 – October 9, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and recording artist. A pioneer of twentieth-century music, Tharpe attained great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings that were a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and rhythmic/early rock accompaniment. She became gospel music's first crossover artist and its first great recording star, referred to later as "the original soul sister".  She was an early influence on iconic figures such as Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. 
Willing to cross the line between sacred and secular by performing her music of 'light' in the 'darkness' of the nightclubs and concert halls with big bands behind her, Tharpe pushed spiritual music into the mainstream and helped pioneer the rise of pop-gospel beginning with her 1939 hit "This Train." Her unique music left a lasting mark on more conventional gospel artists such as Ira Tucker, Sr. of the Dixie Hummingbirds. While she offended some conservative churchgoers with her forays into the pop world, she never left gospel music.
Tharpe's 1944 hit "Down By The Riverside" was selected for the American Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2004, with the citation stating that it captured her "spirited guitar playing" and "unique vocal style", which were an influence on early rhythm and blues performers, as well as gospel, jazz, and rock artists. Her 1945 hit "Strange Things Happening Every Day", recorded in late 1944, featured Tharpe's vocals and electric guitar, with Sammy Price (piano), bass and drums. It was the first gospel record to cross over, hitting #2 on the Billboard "race records" chart, the term then used for what later became the R&B chart, in April 1945.  The recording has been cited as an important precursor of rock and roll.  Tharpe has been called the Godmother of Rock n' Roll

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Gypsy Christmas with Khan brothers

22-23-24-25 Δεκεμβρίου

Gypsy Christmas with Khan Brothers

To Bollywood γιορτάζει τα Χριστούγεννα παρουσιάζοντας τούς μοναδικούς Khan Brothers ένα μουσικό σχήμα που μας έρχεται απο την έρημο του Rajasthan, για να μας χαρίσει 4 μοναδικές βραδυές πλούσιες σε μουσική και θέαμα.

Οι Khan Brothers είναι γνήσιοι εκπρόσωποι της παράδοσης των τσιγγάνων του Rajasthan - τόπου καταγωγής όλων των τσιγγάνικων φυλών. 

Η δύναμη της μουσικής τους σε συνδιασμό με τη θεατρικότητα των κινήσεων τους αποτυπώνουν μια παράδοση τόσο δυνατή που έχει καταφέρει να διατηρηθεί αυθεντική εδώ και πολλύς αιώνες. 

Το θέαμα που προσφέρουν αποτελεί τη βασική ψυχαγωγία των Μαχαραγιάδων του Rajasthan εδω και 500 χρόνια ενώ ακόμα και σήμερα η μουσική, τα τραγούδια και οι χορογραφίες τους αξιοποιούνται απο τη μεγαλύτερη ίσως βιομηχανία θεάματος παγκοσμίως, το Bollywood.

Ο δημιουργός του group Sattar Khan ; μουσικός με 20ετή διεθνή καριέρα έχει συνεργαστεί με μεγάλα ονόματα της ethnic σκηνής όπως Manu Dibango, Natasha Atlas, Musafir Gypsies from Rajasthan κλπ

Οι Khan Brothers αποτελούνται αποτούς:

Wahid Khan: Αρμόνιο, Φωνητικά.

Mahabub Khan: Φωνητικά, Χορός Αλόγου

Sattar Khan: Διπλό φλάουτο, Κρουστά (Castanets, Mouth Harp Dholak, Tabla, Kartel, Bhapang)

Στα decks ο ειδήμων της world music Μάνος Τζανακάκης. Στο παίξιμό του μεταφέρει την εμπειρία του απ' όλους τους τομείς της music business: Δισκογραφία, δημοσιογραφία (Δίφωνο, ΠΟΠ & ΡΟΚ, Sonik, κ.α.), οργάνωση συναυλιών (Lila Downs, Ska Cubano, Stewart Copeland & La Notte Della Taranta, Ojos de Brujo, Melingo, Mercan Dede, Μilton Nascimento, Μusafir, Taraf de Haidouks, Ana Moura, Istanbul Oriental Ensemble, New York Salsa All Stars κ.α.) και ραδιόφωνο (δημόσιο ραδιόφωνο στην Kαλιφόρνια, στήσιμο και διεύθυνση, κατά την πρώτη περίοδο, του KOSMOS 93.6). Είναι μέλος του πανευρωπαϊκού ραδιοφωνικού chart της world music (WMCE) και η εκπομπή του Globalista μεταδίδεται κάθε Σάββατο βράδυ, 10-12, στους 105.5 Στο Κόκκινο. (www.stokokkino.gr). Ως club dj έχει εμφανιστεί σε δεκάδες μαγαζιά και events τόσο στην Ελλάδα (συμπεριλαμβανομένης και της Ολυμπιάδας 2004), όσο και στο εξωτερικό. (Η.Π.Α., Αγγλία, Ιταλία).

Bollywood Indian Bar restaurant

Elasidon 29, 11854, Gazi

RSVP @ 2103450041 (After 14:00)

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Researchers reveal Stonehenge stones hold incredible musical properties

A team of researchers from London’s Royal College of Art (RCA) have discovered that the stones used to construct Stonehenge hold musical properties and when struck, sound like bells, drums and gongs.  It is suggested that these properties could be the reason why the builders were willing to travel so far to source the stones from Wales and bring them to the site in Salisbury Plain, England. 

English Heritage allowed archaeologists from Bournemouth and Bristol universities to acoustically  test the bluestones at Stonehenge, effectively playing them like a huge xylophone.
To the researchers’ surprise, several were found to make distinctive if muted sounds, with several of the rocks showing evidence of having already been struck.
The stones make different pitched noises in different places and different stones make different noises - ranging from a metallic to a wooden sound.
The investigators believe that this could have been the prime reason behind the otherwise inexplicable transport of these stones nearly 200 miles from Preseli to Salisbury Plain.
There were plentiful local rocks from which Stonehenge could have been built, yet the bluestones were considered special.
The principal investigators for the Landscape & Perception project are Jon Wozencroft and Paul Devereux. Wozencroft is a senior lecturer at the RCA and the founding director of the musical publishing company, Touch. 
Jon Wozencroft told MailOnline it was 'amazing' to find that the stones used in the monument make the noises that the researchers hoped for.
'It was a really magical discovery and refreshing to come across a phenomenon you can't explain,' he said.

The researchers have looked into geological reasons as to why some rocks make noise and others do not and one theory is that the amount of silica in the rocks could explain why in the future.
'Walking around Mynydd Y Presel you can't tell which stones will make sounds by sight, but in time you get a sort of intuition by the way they are positioned,' he said.
The researchers had feared the musical magic of the stones at Stonehenge might have been damaged as some of them were set in concrete in the 1950s to try and preserve the monument and  the embedding of the stones damages the reverberation.
Mr Wozencroft said 'you don't get the acoustic bounce' but when he struck the stones gently in the experiment, they did resonate, although some of the sonic potential has been suffocated.
In Wales, where the stones are not embedded or glued in place, he said noises made by the stones when struck can be heard half a mile away.

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Omar Souleyman in Athens

ΠΑΡΑΣΚΕΥΗ 11 ΑΠΡΙΛΙΟΥ 2014
Ο Omar Souleyman στο Gagarin 205 
Τιμή εισιτηρίου προπώλησης : 25 e
Τιμή εισιτηρίου στο ταμείο : 28 e

Σημεία προπώλησης: Θέατρο Ακροπόλ (Ιπποκράτους 9-11, Τηλ.: 2103643700), Public, Seven Spots, Παπασωτηρίου,Viva.gr
Eίναι αναμφισβήτητα το πρόσωπο της χρονιάς.
Από τους γάμους και τα πανηγύρια στην Συρία μέχρι το Primavera & το Gagarin 205. O Omar Souleyman πάει παντού.

Ο μουσικός από τη Συρία έχει συνεργαστεί με τον Damon Albarn (Blur), τη Bjork, ενώ η αμερικάνικη δισκογραφική εταιρία Sublime Frequencies τον έχει συμπεριλάβει σε πολλές συλλογές της. Μετά από 500! άλμπουμ (cd και κασέτες πρόχειρα ηχογραφημένες ζωντανά, από γλέντια σε γάμους όπου τραγουδάει) που έχει κυκλοφορήσει στην ευρύτερη περιοχή της πατρίδας του, έχει φέτος την πρώτη του «επίσημη» κυκλοφορία με μεγάλη εταιρία, με καταξιωμένο παραγωγό τον Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) και με ηχογραφήσεις στη Νέα Υόρκη.
Το άλμπουμ έχει τίτλο «Warni Warni» και … τα σπάει!
‘Ενα χαρμάνι συριακών, τούρκικων, ιρακινών και κουρδικών ήχων, αλλά με «εκσυγχρονιστική» διάθεση και ηλεκτρονικά βοηθήματα που συμπαρασέρνει ολόκληρο τον πλανήτη!
Όπως έγραψε και ο πολύς Andy Morgan, “a gentleman with punk attitude, Omar Souleyman is a breath of fresh air”.


Omar Soyleyman on Myspace
Omar Soyleyman’s Fan Page on Twitter

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Musical project spanning 16 countries celebrates 500 million migrating birds

Flyways celebrates the great bird migration between Africa and Eurasia along the Great Rift Valley, using music of the cultures over which the birds fly. As a musical metaphor for the richness and interdependence of life in all its forms, the project aims to support conservation relating to the birds, affirm the music traditions found throughout the region, and encourage international collaboration to protect a shared heritage.

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Jazzin Poetry

Ma Rainey
Sterling Allen Brown (1932)
I
When Ma Rainey
Comes to town,
Folks from anyplace
Miles aroun',
From Cape Girardeau,
Poplar Bluff,
Flocks in to hear
Ma do her stuff;
Comes flivverin' in,
Or ridin' mules,
Or packed in trains,
Picknickin' fools. . . .
That's what it's like,
Fo' miles on down,
To New Orleans delta
An' Mobile town,
When Ma hits
Anywheres aroun'.
II
Dey comes to hear Ma Rainey from de little river settlements,
From blackbottorn cornrows and from lumber camps;
Dey stumble in de hall, jes a-laughin' an' a-cacklin',
Cheerin' lak roarin' water, lak wind in river swamps.

An' some jokers keeps deir laughs a-goin' in de crowded aisles,
An' some folks sits dere waitin' wid deir aches an' miseries,
Till Ma comes out before dem, a-smilin' gold-toofed smiles
An' Long Boy ripples minors on de black an' yellow keys.
III
O Ma Rainey,
Sing yo' song;
Now you's back
Whah you belong,
Git way inside us,
Keep us strong. . . .
O Ma Rainey,
Li'l an' low;
Sing us 'bout de hard luck
Roun' our do';
Sing us 'bout de lonesome road
We mus' go. . . .
IV
I talked to a fellow, an' the fellow say,
"She jes' catch hold of us, somekindaway.
She sang Backwater Blues one day:

'lt rained fo' days an' de skies was dark as night,
Trouble taken place in de lowlands at night.

'Thundered an' lightened an' the storm begin to roll
Thousan's of people ain't got no place to go.

'Den I went an' stood upon some high ol' lonesome hill,
An' looked down on the place where I used to live.'

An' den de folks, dey natchally bowed dey heads an' cried,
Bowed dey heavy heads, shet dey moufs up tight an' cried,
An' Ma lef' de stage, an' followed some de folks outside."

Dere wasn't much more de fellow say:
She jes' gits hold of us dataway.

Cabaret 
Sterling Allen Brown
(1927, Black & Tan Chicago)
Rich, flashy, puffy-faced,
Hebrew and Anglo-Saxon,
The overlords sprawl here with their glittering darlings.
The smoke curls thick, in the dimmed light
Surreptitiously, deaf-mute waiters
Flatter the grandees,
Going easily over the rich carpets,
Wary lest they kick over the bottles
Under the tables.

The jazzband unleashes its frenzy.

Now, now,
To it, Roger; that's a nice doggie,
Show your tricks to the gentlemen.

The trombone belches, and the saxophone
Wails curdlingly, the cymbals clash,
The drummer twitches in an epileptic fit

Muddy water
Round my feet
Muddy water

The chorus sways in.
The 'Creole Beauties from New Orleans'
(By way of Atlanta, Louisville, Washington, Yonkers,
With stop-overs they've used nearly all their lives)
Their creamy skin flushing rose warm,
O, le bal des belles quarterounes! *
Their shapely bodies naked save
For tattered pink silk bodices, short velvet tights,
And shining silver-buckled boots;
Red bandannas on their sleek and close-clipped hair;
To bring to mind (aided by the bottles under the tables)
Life upon the river--

Muddy water, river sweet

(Lafitte the pirate, instead,
And his doughty diggers of gold)

There's peace and happiness there
I declare

(In Arkansas,
Poor half-naked fools, tagged with identification numbers,
Worn out upon the levees,
Are carted back to the serfdom
They had never left before
And may never leave again)

Bee--dap--ee--DOOP, dee-ba--dee-BOOP

The girls wiggle and twist

Oh you too,
Proud high-stepping beauties,
Show your paces to the gentlemen.
A prime filly, seh.
What am I offered, gentlemen, gentlemen. . . .

I've been away a year today
To wander and roam
I don't care if it's muddy there

(Now that the floods recede,
What is there left the miserable folk?
Oh time in abundance to count their losses,
There is so little else to count.)

Still it's my home, sweet home

From the lovely throats
Moans and deep cries for home:
Nashville, Toledo, Spout Springs, Boston,
Creoles from Germantown;--
The bodies twist and rock;
The glasses are filled up again. . . .

(In Mississippi
The black folk huddle, mute, uncomprehending,
Wondering 'how come the good Lord
Could treat them this a way')

shelter
Down in the Delta

Along the Yazoo
The buzzards fly over, over, low,
Glutted, but with their scrawny necks stretching,
Peering still.)

I've got my toes turned Dixie ways
Round that Delta let me laze

The band goes mad, the drummer throws his sticks
At the moon, a papier-mache moon,
The chorus leaps into weird posturings,
The firm-fleshed arms plucking at grapes to stain
Bending, writhing, turning

My heart cries out for
M U D D Y  W A T E R

(Down in the valleys
The stench of the drying mud
Is a bitter reminder of death.)

Dee da dee D A A A A H

* (French) "Oh, the ball of the beautiful quadroons."

Song
Gwendolyn Bennett (1926)
I am weaving a song of waters,
Shaken from firm, brown limbs,
Or heads thrown back in irreverent mirth.
My song has the lush sweetness
Of moist, dark lips
Where hymns keep company
With old forgotten banjo songs.
Abandon tells you
That I sing the heart of race
While sadness whispers
That I am the cry of a soul. . . .

A-shoutin' in de ole camp-meeting-place,
A-strummin' o' de ole banjo.
Singin' in de moonlight,
Sobbin' in de dark.
Singin', sobbin', strummin' slow . . .
Singin' slow, sobbin' low.
Strummin', strummin', strummin' slow . . .
Words are bright bugles
That make the shining for my song,
And mothers hold down babies
To dark, warm breasts
To make my singing sad.

A dancing girl with swaying hips
Sets mad the queen in the harlot's eye.
Praying slave
Jazz-band after
Breaking heart
To the time of laughter . . .
Clinking chains and minstrelsy
Are wedged fast with melody.
A praying slave
With a jazz-band after . . .
Singin' slow, sobbin' low.
Sun-baked lips will kiss the earth.
Throats of bronze will burst with mirth.
Sing a little faster,
Sing a little faster,
Sing!

Poem
Helene Johnson (1927)
Little brown boy,
Slim, dark, big-eyed,
Crooning love songs to your banjo
Down at the Lafayerre--
Gee, boy, I love the way you hold your head,
High sort of and a bit to one side,
Like a prince, a jazz prince. And I love
Your eyes flashing, and your hands,
And your patent-leathered feet,
And your shoulders jerking the jig-wa.
And I love your teeth flashing,
And the way your hair shines in the spotlight
Like it was the real stuff.
Gee, brown boy, I loves you all over.
I'm glad I'm a jig. I'm glad I can
Understand your dancin' and your
Singin', and feel all the happiness
And joy and don't care in you.
Gee, boy, when you sing, I can close my ears
And hear tom-toms just as plain.
Listen to me, will you, what do I know
About tom-toms? But I like the word, sort of,
Don't you? It belongs to us.
Gee, boy, I love the way you hold your head,
And the way you sing, and dance,
And everything.
Say, I think you're wonderful. You're
Allright with me,
You are.

Sonnet To A Negro In Harlem
Helene Johnson (1927)
You are disdainful and magnificent--
Your perfect body and your pompous gait,
Your dark eyes flashing solemnly with hate;
Small wonder that you are incompetent
To imitate those whom you so dispise--
Your shoulders towering high above the throng,
Your head thrown back in rich, barbaric song,
Palm trees and manoes stretched before your eyes.
Let others toil and sweat for labor's sake
And wring from grasping hands their meed of gold.
Why urge ahead your supercilious feet?
Scorn will efface each footprint that you make.
I love your laughter, arrogant and bold.
You are too splendid for this city street!

Jazzonia
Langston Hughes (1926)
Oh, silver tree!
Oh, shining rivers of the soul!

In a Harlem cabaret
Six long-headed jazzers play.
A dancing girl whose eyes are bold
Lifts high a dress of silken gold.

Oh, singing tree!
Oh, shining rivers of the soul!

Were Eve's eyes
In the first garden
Just a bit too bold?
Was Cleopatra gorgeous
In a gown of gold?

Oh, shining tree!
Oh, silver rivers of the soul!

In a whirling cabaret
Six long-headed jazzers play.

Juke Box Love Song
Langston Hughes (1950)
I could take the Harlem night
and wrap around you,
Take the neon lights and make a crown,
Take the Lenox Avenue busses,
Taxis, subways,
And for your love song tone their rumble down.
Take Harlem's heartbeat,
Make a drumbeat,
Put it on a record, let it whirl,
And while we listen to it play,
Dance with you till day--
Dance with you, my sweet brown Harlem girl.


Dream Boogie
Langston Hughes (1951)
Good morning, daddy!
Ain't you heard
The boogie-woogie rumble
Of a dream deferred?

Listen closely:
You'll hear their feet
Beating out and beating out a --

You think
It's a happy beat?

Listen to it closely:
Ain't you heard
something underneath
like a --

What did I say?

Sure,
I'm happy!
Take it away!

Hey, pop!
Re-bop!
Mop!

Y-e-a-h!

Trumpet Player
Langston Hughes
The Negro
With the trumpet at his lips
Has dark moons of weariness
Beneath his eyes
where the smoldering memory
of slave ships
Blazed to the crack of whips
about thighs

The negro
with the trumpet at his lips
has a head of vibrant hair
tamed down,
patent-leathered now
until it gleams
like jet--
were jet a crown

the music
from the trumpet at his lips
is honey
mixed with liquid fire
the rhythm
from the trumpet at his lips
is ecstasy
distilled from old desire--

Desire
that is longing for the moon
where the moonlight's but a spotlight
in his eyes,
desire
that is longing for the sea
where the sea's a bar-glass
sucker size

The Negro
with the trumpet at his lips
whose jacket
Has a fine one-button roll,
does not know
upon what riff the music slips

It's hypodermic needle
to his soul
but softly
as the tune comes from his throat
trouble
mellows to a golden note

Negro Dancers
Langston Hughes (1926)
"Me an' ma baby's
Got two mo' ways,
Two mo' ways to do de Charleston!"
Da, da,
Da, da, da!
Two mo' ways to do de Charleston!"
Soft light on the tables,
Music gay,
Brown-skin steppers
In a cabaret.
White folks, laugh!
White folks, pray!
"Me an' ma baby's
Got two mo' ways,
Two mo' ways to do de
Charleston!"

Honky Tonk in Cleveland, Ohio
Carl Sandburg (1920)
It's a jazz affair, drum crashes and cornet razzes.
The trombone pony neighs and the tuba jackass snorts.
The banjo tickles and titters too awful.
The chippies talk about the funnies in the papers.
The cartoonists weep in their beer.
Ship riveters talk with their feet
To the feet of floozies under the tables.
A quartet of white hopes mourn with interspersed snickers:
"I got the blues.
I got the blues.
I got the blues."
And . . . as we said earlier:
The cartoonists weep in their beer.

Jazz Fantasia
Carl Sandburg (1919)
Drum on your drums, batter on your banjoes,
sob on the long cool winding saxophones.
Go to it, O jazzmen.

Sling your knuckles on the bottoms of the happy
tin pans, let your trombones ooze, and go husha-
husha-hush with the slippery sand-paper.

Moan like an autumn wind high in the lonesome treetops,
moan soft like you wanted somebody terrible, cry like a
racing car slipping away from a motorcycle cop, bang-bang!
you jazzmen, bang altogether drums, traps, banjoes, horns,
tin cans -- make two people fight on the top of a stairway
and scratch each other's eyes in a clinch tumbling down
the stairs.

Can the rough stuff . . . now a Mississippi steamboat pushes
up the night river with a hoo-hoo-hoo-oo . . . and the green
lanterns calling to the high soft stars . . . a red moon rides
on the humps of the low river hills . . . go to it, O jazzmen.

Jazz Band
Frank Marshall Davis (1935)
Play that thing, you jazz mad fools!
Boil a skyscraper with a jungle
Dish it to 'em sweet and hot--
Ahhhhhhhhh
Rip it open then sew it up, jazz band!

Thick bass notes from a moon faced drum
Saxophones moan, banjo strings hum
High thin notes from the cornet's throat
Trombone snorting, bass horn snorting
Short tan notes from the piano
And the short tan notes from the piano

Plink plank plunk a plunk
Plink plank plunk a plunk
Chopin gone screwy, Wagner with the blues
Plink plank plunk a plunk
Got a date with Satan--ain't no time to lose
Plink plank plunk a plunk
Strut it in Harlem, let Fifth Avenue shake it slow
Plink plank plunk a plunk
Ain't goin' to heaven nowhow--
crowd up there's too slow . . .
Plink plank plunk a plunk
Plink plank plunk a plunk
Plunk

Do that thing, jazz band!

Whip it to a jelly

Sock it, rock it; heat it, beat it; then fling it at 'em

Let the jazz stuff fall like hail on king and truck driver, queen and
laundress, lord and laborer, banker and bum

Let it fall in London, Moscow, Paris, Hongkong, Cairo, Buenos Aires,
Chicago, Sydney

Let it rub hard thighs, let it be molten fire in the veins of dancers

Make 'em shout a crazy jargon of hot hosannas to a fiddle-faced jazz
god

Send Dios, Jehovah, Gott, Allah, Buddha past in a high stepping
cake walk

Do that thing, jazz band!
Your music's been drinking hard liquor
Got shanghaied and it's fightin' mad
Stripped to the waist feein' ocean liner bellies
Big burly bibulous brute
Poet hands and bone crusher shoulders--
Black sheep or white?

Hey, Hey!
Pick it, papa!
Twee twa twee twa twa
Step on it, black boy
Do re mi fa sol la ti do
Boomp boomp
Play that thing, you jazz mad fools!

Swing Era Paintings
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High Speed Strings

This brief clip demonstrates what happens when you film an upright bass while synchronizing the vibration of the strings with the frame rate of the camera. The resulting video makes it appear as though the musician is playing in slow motion when the video is actually playing at normal speed, not unlike the effect of a strobe light.

Guitar Oscillations Captured with iPhone 4

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Jazz. A retrospective of the work of Herman Leonard

 Jazz — a humbly titled yet absolutely amazing retrospective of the work of  Herman Leonard, who passed away a few weeks before the book was published. Leonard had been photographing jazz musicians since the 1950s and developed close friendships with greats like Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, which gave him unique access to these innovators and their larger worlds beyond the stage. The book reveals a rare glimpse of the underbelly of a cultural revolution through stunning, luminous never-before-seen images of icons like Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald and more.
From backstage parties to afterhours sessions to private get-togethers in musicians’ apartments, Jazz is both a bittersweet remembrance of one of the greatest entertainment photographers in history and a remarkable record of an era whose legacy shaped everything from music to pop culture for decades to come.

 Jazz is a priceless timecapsule of the glory days of “the sound of surprise,” a cultural icon in its own right.

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