Powerful insight into iconic South African

MOVING TRIBUTE: The activist looms large at the Apartheid Museum Picture: KATHERINE MUICK-MERE

A historical exhibition can be boring if not handled well. But the Steve Biko exhibition at the Apartheid Museum is one of the most powerful Joburg has seen in a long time.

Steve Biko: Quest for a True Humanity is the first major exhibition to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the death of this father of black consciousness in South Africa. Five months in the planning, it is anything but dry.

Telling a story of unbelievable cruelty and resolute dignity, it is designed to make you understand Biko, cry for the loss this country suffered when he died, and celebrate the values he instilled in the youth.

Beginning with a massive panel containing a repeat design of Biko’s face, coloured in greys with touches of red, the show reflects a sexy icon evolved with indomitable dignity. Its story is horrendous and proud and begins long before Biko was born, on December 18 1946. It starts in the mid-19th century, when African intellectualism was mooted. Curator Emilia Potenza sensitively distils the ideas that shaped Biko’s thinking.

The exhibition continues through Biko’s life of rebellion and reflection on injustice, to its horrifying end and chilling aftermath. “It leaves me cold,” Jimmy Kruger, the then Minister of Police crassly declared shortly after Biko’s death on September 12 1977. Those responsible never told what happened; they appealed to the truth commission for amnesty but never apologised.

The exhibition concludes with colourful graphics: the faces of different people responding to Biko — from President Thabo Mbeki to musician Johnny Clegg, high school kids and US rapper Keith Murray.

“If you’re young and conscious,” Murray says, “sooner or later you’ll hear about Steve Biko.”

The exhibition is complemented by hand-picked quotes and beautiful photographs, and curator Potenza and designer Megan Futter have obviously invested a lot of care here.

Throughout, Biko’s earnest young face is omnipresent, often ghostlike, in the printed fabric panels. His voice and the sound of his name thread themselves through the show, filtering into your awareness of his passionate and pervading influence.

The exhibition, commissioned and funded by the National Department of Education and created in collaboration with the Steve Biko Foundation, features the only recorded interview with Biko, and Peter Gabriel’s Biko, considered among the most influential protest songs of the ’80s. Mantra-like, the repetition of Gabriel singing Biko’s name filters through the exhibition, which also pays moving tribute to the dozens of almost-forgotten freedom fighters who also died in detention.

German poet Rainer Maria Rilke famously offered advice to young poets: “No one can help you.” Similarly, Biko empowered black youth: “Black man, you are on your own.”

Christopher Till, director of the museum, says: ‘‘In this exhibition, we do not deify Biko. We aim to reflect on him as he was and place him in contemporary culture. Biko has become a popular youth icon, on a par with Che Guevara, but kids don’t know about Biko really.”

Steve Biko: Quest for a True Humanity is on until the end of June. Phone 011- 309-4700.

Robert LePage is all about progress

Robert LePage is the director of San Francisco Opera’s upcoming premiere of Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress.

Robert LePage, director of San Francisco Opera’s upcoming U.S. premiere of Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress,” equates performance with play.

“I believe in playing,” says the acclaimed French Canadian director, actor, writer and founder of the multidisciplinary production company Ex Machina. “Actors bore me, but players are interesting.”

A hot commodity in the world of contemporary theater known for his innovative use of technology, LePage’s packed resume also includes film (“The Far Side of the Moon”), concerts (Peter Gabriel’s 1993 “Secret World” Tour), and even circus; he created Cirque du Soleil’s thrilling spectacle “KA,” permanently onstage in Las Vegas.

“That’s my thing. I always try to prepare a space for people to play,” LePage, “not yet 50,” says when asked what characterizes his varied body of work.

His unique style has been in demand for decades, going back to the 1980s, when many international opera houses were doing new productions of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle.

“I’ve been offered 10,000 ‘Rings,’” he says. “I’d never done opera before.”

His first opera, in 1993, was a successful Canadian Opera Company double bill of Bartok’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” and Schoenberg’s “Erwatung.”

Watch video clips from “The Rake’s Progress.”
Though still not devoted exclusively to opera, he calls it a big adventure. “It’s the great mother art,” a meeting point of different disciplines. LePage’s new interpretation of “The Rake’s Progress,” which has been produced in Brussels and Lyon, gives the story — about the decline of a fellow named Tom Rakewell due to decadent living — a 1950s Hollywood setting.

As a starting point for his direction, LePage points to the fact that Stravinsky, when he was composing in the 1940s, was looking ahead to writing opera for television. “He was an amazing antenna,” LePage says.

Like Stravinsky, LePage believes in progress. He says, “If one is in the theater, if you want it to evolve, you have to invite a lot of influences. You have to update.”

That attitude seems to be the secret to his success. He says, “I’m a free spirit. I used to be offered very specific things, but now I’m not hopping around, being commissioned. I’ve managed to do my own stuff.”

IF YOU GO The Rake's Progress Presented by San Francisco Opera
Where: War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
When: 8 p.m. Nov. 23, Dec. 1, Dec. 4 and Dec. 7; 7:30 p.m. Nov. 28; 2 p.m. Dec. 9
Tickets: $15 to $275
Contact: (415) 864-3330 or www.sfopera.com

Family detective: Peter Gabriel

Nick Barratt's investigation into our hidden histories. This week: Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel was one of the founder members of the band Genesis, which celebrates its 40th birthday this year. Despite the rebellious image of the music scene in the late 1960s, the original members were public school boys from Charterhouse. Gabriel left the band in 1975 to launch a solo career, achieving his greatest success in the late 1980s with songs such as Sledgehammer. Today he takes a leading role in promoting world music through the WOMAD festival.

Who is he related to?

Peter Brian Gabriel was born on February 13, 1950, the son of Ralph Parton Gabriel and his wife of three years, Edith Irene Allen. His Gabriel forebears were fairly well known in the 19th century as politicians and businessmen in Streatham, south London, where a long-standing family business can be traced.

Census returns indicate they enjoyed a comfortable life, waited upon by numerous servants and educated at the finest schools. Peter's grandfather, Christopher Burton Gabriel, for example, also appears as a boarder at Charterhouse in 1891.

The family had a profitable timber business and one of the main characters to emerge is Peter's two-times great-grandfather, Christopher Trowell Gabriel, born in 1797. He was the son-in-law of the famous billiard-table maker, John Thurston, whose only daughter, Ruth, he married in 1833.

The business was clearly not without its ups and downs. Christopher's brother, Thomas, applied for bankruptcy in March, 1859, but Thomas was able to recover, to the extent that he became the Lord Mayor of London in 1866.

At his death in 1873, Christopher left an estate of just under £200,000, a vast sum for the period. His son, Thomas, received the estate in Ely, while his widow, Ruth, was given all household goods in the family mansion, Norfolk House. Christopher's religious beliefs are also made clear by his will, with various bequests made out to Wesleyan societies.

Further research reveals when and where the Gabriel fortune was first made. Christopher Gabriel senior, Christopher and Thomas's grandfather, founded the family business in 1770 as a craftsman making tools and chairs, before turning to the timber trade from 1812. Many inventories survive, showing how the business expanded in the late 18th century.

Other records of the Gabriel family were deposited at the Guildhall Library, London, where letters, accounts and documents stretching back to the 1620s can still be viewed.

Vibrant N'Dour enchants Kimmel

Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour, clad in white pants and shoes and a smart red-and-white striped African shirt, stood beaming at center stage, taking in the applause. He and his potent 10-piece band, Super Etoile de Dakar, had just delivered a satisfying set Tuesday night in their Kimmel Center debut, more than 70 minutes, showing why he is considered one of the world's greatest singers.

On display was his distinct tenor voice, a textural wonder, possessing a thick elastic tonality at bottom and rising up to the trademark keening wails that cascade down in perfectly controlled melisma. (Although he sings mostly in Wolof, Americans may be more familiar with this sound by recalling his soaring voice climaxing the 1986 international hit "In Your Eyes," by Peter Gabriel, an N'Dour enthusiast.)

Whether pinning held notes to the wall or sliding wherever with total control, the trim vocalist never oversang. He also gave the three-quarters-full house a taste of his stamina - after a quick break, N'Dour and company emerged to do another solid hour. Exuding the confidence of someone who began his career at age 12, the 48-year-old N'Dour repeatedly exhorted the compliant crowd to clap and dance, even coming into the aisles, to the particular delight of the West African ex-pats present in traditional garb.

The performance concluded with a lengthy onstage audience dance-off, likely the most erotic patron hip-shaking the Kimmel has seen. N'Dour showcased material from throughout his career, including his just-released Rokku Mi Rokka, an exploration of Malian sounds, and 2004's Grammy-winning Egypt, inspired by his Islamic faith. There were no covers, not even his mid-'80s Dakar-meets-Philly reading of the Spinners' "Rubberband Man" in mbalax - the percussive hybrid African genre he helped create - despite being just across Broad Street from Philadelphia International Records.

Sitting on a monitor, N'Dour began the second encore set with a gorgeous folk ballad. As guitarist Mamadou "Jimi" Mbaye worked up a beautiful solo, shifting from kora-like lines to bluesy inflections, fans came up front to snap photos of each other, the smiling star framed above them.

Posted on Thu, Nov. 22, 2007 By David R. Stampone For The Inquirer

Theatrical visionary prophesied nine eleven

A leading theatre director foretold the destruction of the Twin Towers in a play which was due to be performed in New York but abandoned 10 days after the 2001 tragedy - according to a new book.

Dr Aleksandar Dundjerovic from The University of Manchester says the depiction of terrorists crashing a plane in Robert Lepage's 'Zulu Time' was an eerie coincidence - but typical of his visionary qualities. In 'The Theatricality of Robert Lepage' launched tomorrow, the Senior Lecturer in Theatre Performance explores the Canadian artist's creative process by putting his best known productions under the microscope.

Zulu Time was a collaboration with musician Peter Gabriel and due to tour the world following a 21 September premier at the enormous Roseland Ballroom in 2001. One of the scenes was to feature big-screen images showing news footage of plane crashes ending in a collision caused by terrorist hijackers.

Lepage is famous for using lavish stage sets which use huge television screens and other multimedia innovations. The artist - well-known for his shyness and cross dressing - spent $200 million - the biggest theatre budget in history - on a high profile production for the Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil.

He has wowed UK audiences since he exploded onto the scene in the 1990's, most notably with his solo performances The Far Side of The Moon in 2001 and The Anderson Project in 2006. However, he is also known for theatre aestheticism that is built on a shoe string budget working with unknown artists and actors.

Dr Dundjerovic said: "The depiction of terrorist atrocities in Zulu Time is an amazing coincidence. Unsurprisingly, the production was abandoned though it did resurface briefly at the Montreal International Festival in 2002- in an altered form. But it hasn't really seen the light of day as sensitivities are still so raw. I think it's unlikely we'll ever see it performed now. The episode is in a way typical of how Lepage works as he allows the audience to construct a story by giving them images and ideas.

"What begins as his feeling eventually becomes intensely pertinent. This quality is evident in other productions. For example in 1989 'Tectonic Plates' was set in Venice in a completely flooded stage where the characters were slowly drowning. It was about man's destructive interaction with the environment long before the issues of global warming hit the headlines. His work shows that theatre is absolutely capable of pointing to you towards what the future holds. After all, our future is based on our past. This explains why prediction and foresight are evident in Lepage's work in general and is one of the reasons why many people regard him as a visionary."

He added: "Since the 1980s, multimedia and new technologies have had a great impact on theatre, allowing performance to establish its own language of communication with the audience independent of the written text. He is one of the pioneers and main exponents of mixed-media performance and internationally renowned for his distinctive work. The book will give a bird's eye view of how this great theatre practitioner works."

19 Nov 2007

Torch in new hands

Successors to the throne: Rizwan (left) and Muazzam have successfully filled the void left by their celebrated uncle.

Rizwan and Muazzam Mujahid Ali Khan have fashioned a place for themselves in the crowded qawwali arena and share more than a lineage with their uncle, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Almost 10 years ago, a great deal of scepticism greeted the news that the heirs to the great, late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, could be found within the family itself – negating the need to squander time looking to anoint one from the existing qawwali performers. The tradition remains that the successor is chosen from the qawwali party and when Nusrat passed away just over a decade ago, the mantle passed to his pupil and nephew Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.

Rahat, the son of Nusrat’s younger brother Farrukh and second-in-command in the party before his demise four years ago, had been groomed to assume Nusrat’s place and is still seen as the legitimate soul-keeper of Nusrat’s legacy.

When Rahat finally presented his international release on Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label in 2001, the question was not only whether he could uphold Nusrat’s name but also if he could hold his own in a domain that was already filled with potential descendants – through blood lines or otherwise.

Nusrat’s fame has expanded beyond the confines of qawwali, the exceptionally compelling devotional music of the Sufis of the Indian subcontinent, and it was not only related to the popularisation of qawwali among Western audiences. Nusrat’s collaborations with the likes of Peter Gabriel, Michael Brook and Eddie Vedder broke new ground for a genre of music whose origins can be traced back to the eighth century.

It is his albums with Gabriel for his Real World imprint – divided into 10 releases of classic numbers and compositions and predominant fusion ventures with Brook – that remain Nusrat’s enduring main body of work outside his native Pakistan. After his passing, Real World released a single commemorative album (Body & Soul) made up of renditions from the vault of his previously unreleased recordings, while the tracks for their tribute release Star Rise, which featured interpretations from the Asian Underground dons, were all completed bar one when the news of his death arrived.

Real World declared that Body & Soul, out in 2001, would be its last album featuring Nusrat and it had no intention of raiding the Lahore recordings of the qawwali master to meet the demand for his music. By that year, his less heralded nephews, Rizwan and Muazzam Mujahid Ali Khan, had already established headway in the tussle to fill the colossal void left by Nusrat.

Rizwan possesses the astounding vocal range and pyrotechnics that Nusrat made his own and receives ample support from brother Muazzam. The accompanying musicians themselves display an amazing sense of timing in their play and tend to place their passion on the edge – the result, one can only surmise, of years of practice.

When the Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali Group was introduced to Gabriel as the possible inheritor of Nusrat’s music in the late 1990s, the Real World proprietor only glimpsed – in consensus with millions of Nusratistas – the futility of striving to replace the irreplaceable.

That was until he was convinced to come down to the recording studio to see the Rizwan and Muazzam brothers performing in the flesh – an experience that moved him to sign them up.

Their debut under Real World in 1999, the four-track Sacrifice to Love, was a resounding success commercially and critically and regular gigs on the Womad circuit offer them the broader platform from which to make their transition from qawwali prospects to global marvel.

A lesser-known Real World release under the label’s limited edition series in 1998, Attish – The Hidden Fire, had actually preceded their first album and provided an enticing sample of their ability.

Delicately paced, packed with vocal intensities that burn with adequate glow and containing enough twists and hypnotics that held its listeners in enthralled attention, Attish – consisting of six numbers of absorbing fervour – was already deserving of its tour de force status before Sacrifice to Love came along to dismiss any vestiges of doubt over the siblings’ potential to hold up the high-flying qawwali banner that loomed large over the stages from Lahore to London under their late uncle.

Though Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali Group’s 2001 follow-up to Sacrifice to Love, A Better Destiny, was less abrasive in its energy and vigour, it cleverly sought to place them in a versatile milieu. A Better Destiny refused to mine qawwali standards – and consciously stayed away from pieces that bore the heavy Nusrat hallmark – to independently forge the group’s character away from the constant comparisons with the qawwali great. The return to the root languages of qawwali was a deliberate step in this direction and endowed two standout entries – Chishti Balam in the Farsi language, and Qalander Shahhen Shah, in olden Hindi – with an iridescent quality.

Their third album, Day of Colours, was a virtual homage to Nusrat – which, unfortunately, had the effect of ruining the diligence and meticulous planning that went into their gradual introduction and vault into prominence. Despite this glitch, the Rizwan-Muazzam siblings are viewed as prescient choices in an attempt to step into Nusrat’s shadow and nothing would come close to appreciating their claims than to observe them perform in the flesh.

The Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali Group will present a tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in two performances at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas tomorrow and Wednesday. Tickets for the shows, which commence at 8.30pm, are priced at RM25, RM55, RM75 and RM95. Call 03-20527007, or browse malaysianphilharmonic.com for details.

By NANTHA KUMAR

Scorsese - Documentariste musical.

Bercé par un environnement musical intense, varié et populaire, Martin Scorsese a systématiquement intégré la musique dans ses films comme un élément central et réfléchi. Les génériques de ces films témoignent ainsi d’une recherche cinématographique esthétique et musicale constante. Dans le désordre, on y retrouve Frank Warner, “chercheur” d’effets sonores pour Raging Bull, Sid Vicious, bassiste des Sex Pistols, qui torture le classique my way à la fin des Affranchis, Bernard Herrmann qui, par ses compositions, révèle , en partie, la personnalité de Travis Bickle dans Taxi Driver, Peter Gabriel pour une composition originale dans La dernière tentation du Christ ou encore Philip Glass pour Kundun…

Plus récemment, le cinéaste s’est orienté vers le documentaire pour satisfaire son oreille avertie : D’abord en produisant une série sur les grands noms du Blues américain (il réalisa un des films de cette série) puis en nous livrant d’une part, un portrait de l’insaisissable et protéiforme Bob Dylan, No Direction Home et d’autre part, un documentaire sur les Rolling Stones, Shine a light.

Aujourd’hui, le cinéaste poursuit la thématique en préparant un documentaire sur le plus méconnu et le plus mystique des Beatles, George Harrison : “La musique de George Harrison et sa quête de sens spirituel possèdent encore aujourd’hui beaucoup de résonances et je vais m’atteler à les approfondir”. Appuyé par la veuve du musicien, Olivia, qui co-produira le film, Martin Scorsese devrait avoir accès à un important stock d’archives et d’inédits pour retracer la vie du musicien et du producteur, entre autres films, de La vie de Bryan des Monthy Pythons.

Articles : La musique chez Scorsese et Scorsese et la Musique


By Thomas Le Jouan | novembre 18, 2007

Mamani Kéïta, la nouvelle coqueluche de la musique malienne à Paris

Née à Bamako au Mali et élevée par sa grand-mère maternelle dans la plus pure tradition bambara, Mamani Kéïta n'a qu'une petite vingtaine d'années lorsqu'elle arrive en France, au tournant des années 90, mais déjà une belle réputation derrière elle, pour sa participation active à la scène artistique malienne, de la troupe de théâtre de Oulofobougou à l'orchestre Badema national du Mali.

Aussitôt accueillie par la communauté africaine de Paris, elle se fait rapidement remarquer en intégrant le groupe de choristes de Salif Keita et en participant à un certain nombre de projets novateurs et atypiques, jetant des ponts entre musique africaine et jazz avec Jeffrey Smith, Hank Jones et Cheikh Tidiane Seck. Invitée à intégrer la formation "Tama", menée par le guitariste anglais Sam Mills et le Malien Tom Diakité, elle participe à Londres à l'enregistrement du disque "Espace" paru sur le label de Peter Gabriel, Realworld. En 2005, elle enregistre quatre chansons inédites pour la bande originale du film "Kirikou et les bêtes sauvages", réalisée par Manu Dibango.

Mais c'est indéniablement l'album de world electro expérimental "Electro Bamako", conçu en collaboration avec le Français Marc Minelli, qui lui ouvre, en 2002, les portes d'une reconnaissance internationale, tant publique que critique. Il apparaît évident, aujourd'hui, qu'en intégrant sa voix inimitable à des contextes hybrides, mêlant rythmes jazz et sonorités électroniques, Mamani Kéita, sans jamais édulcorer sa tradition, ouvrait là d'inédites perspectives à la musique africaine contemporaine. Elle s'est battue comme pour se faire une place au soleil. C'est ainsi que sa rencontre avec Nicolas Repac, compositeur, guitariste et arrangeur (Arthur H, Michel Portal…) a accouché d'un disque magnifique "Yelema", qui allie à merveille instruments africains (balafon, tama, bougarabou, n'goni…) et sonorités modernes.

Les arrangements subtils du Toulousain magnifient la voix de la Malienne. Après la sortie de cet album, elle a fait un tour à Bamako, donnant deux spectacles au Centre culture français avec Nicolas Repac. Pendant son séjour, elle échangé avec bon nombre d'artistes de sa génération pour les encourager. Aujourd'hui, Mamani Keïta fait partie des artistes qui font bouger la musique malienne en Europe. Dans cet album, composé de douze titres, elle fait le chant, Nicolas Repac est à la guitare et aux arrangements; Patrick Goraguer à la batterie; Jérôme Goldet à la basse et Moriba Koïta au n'goni. Mamani Keïta chante son enfance, les difficultés de la vie et les problèmes auxquels les femmes sont confrontées dans leur foyer. Yelema est comme un hymne au changement de comportement pour les autorités, mais aussi pour les populations. Car aucun changement n'est possible sans elles.

Kassim TRAORE

making mischief is such fun for young theatre goers

Children of all ages will be making merry at Nottingham Playhouse later this month as the theatre hosts a night of sheer Mischief. It's a new dance show specially created for young people. Children's theatre specialists Theatre-Rites and rising choreographer Arthur Pita have combined their talents to make Mischief, a mix of dance moves with visual art, clowning, puppetry, music and song. The show is described as "bursting with energy, creative play and magical silliness" and is aimed at children aged between three and 12 and their families.

After travelling the country and gaining rave reviews, including five stars in The Times, Mischief concludes its tour at Nottingham Playhouse on Thursday with a child-friendly start time of 7pm. In the show, the cast inhabits a rainbow world of weird shapes and forms in which visual artist Sophia Clist has transformed simple materials like foam into jaunty characters and mythological creatures; dark forests and magic caves; and much more besides. Feats of theatre and puppetry are interspersed with dancing and forays into the audience.

Composer and musician Charlie Winston accompanies the dancing with all manner of music, songs and sound effects live on stage. The support act on Peter Gabriel's tour earlier this year, Winston is an outstanding one-man band in his own right and marries sound to the visuals in engaging fashion. Mischief is the brainchild of Sadler's Wells and innovative producers Dance Touring Partnership. For both, this is the first commission specially created for children and families where contemporary dance is firmly at the heart of the theatrical experience.

Tickets are £12 (£10 concessions). Family ticket are £36 (two adults and two children). To book, call the box office on 0115 941 9419 or visit www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk

First acts for WOMAD 2008

The first acts have been announced for world music festival WOMAD, which takes place at Charlton Park, near Malmesbury in Wiltshire, from 25-27 July.

They are Michael Brook with special guests including Djivan Gasparyan (USA/Armenia), Altai Kai (Altai Republic, Inner Mongolia), Bedouin Jerry Can Band (Egypt), Kid Creole and the Coconuts (USA/Haiti), David D'Or (Israel), Dhoad Gypsies of Rajasthan (India), Dulsori (South Korea), Ernest Ranglin (Jamaica), Toumani Diabate (Mali), and Andy Palacio and Garifuna Collective featuring Umalali (Belize).

'Early-bird' tickets have just gone on sale, priced £115, but if you went to last year's mud fest you can get a further reduced ticket for £100. Disabled festival goers can also buy a £100 ticket which lets their carer in for free. Buy HERE.

WOMAD have also released a statement explaining some of last year's problems HERE.

Expect many more acts and entertainment to be announced over the coming weeks and months.

* Event Information
* WOMAD 2008

Senegalese Pop Star Youssou N’Dour Debuts at the Kimmel Center Performing Afro-Pop in Philadelphia November 20

"Youssou N’Dour is now one of the best loved voices in the world." —Peter Gabriel

"The finest example yet of the meeting of African and Western music: wholesome, urgent and thoughtful" —The London Guardian

Senegalese pop star Youssou N’Dour and the Super Étoile de Dakar elevate Afro-Cuban world rhythms to a new level at the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall on Tuesday, November 20, 2007. Hailed as "the West African Sinatra" by New York Newsday and one of the 100 Most Influential People in Time Magazine (2007), Youssou N’Dour has crossed mbalax—Senegal’s indigenous percussion, griot singing, and Afro-Cuban arrangements—with other musical cultures throughout the world. A cultural ambassador of West Africa, Youssou N’Dour illustrates a fusion between world and pop music at its best. His collaborations include Peter Gabriel, Sting and Wyclef Jean (Joko release, 2000), among other contemporary rock musicians; his band has toured throughout Africa, Europe and the Far East for over twenty years, recently reaching notoriety in North America. His latest 2007 release of Rokku Mi Rokka (Give and Take) shows Youssou N’Dour staying true to his roots, as it reveals the evolutionary indiosyncratic edginess of Senegalese pop music.

This concert is the sixth concert in the World & Pop Series scheduled for the Kimmel Center Presents 2007/2008 season. The next concert in the series will be the Mazowsze performance at the Kimmel Center on Saturday, November 24, 2007 at 3pm. (...)

"...The one African moving inexorably toward the world-pop fusion everyone else theorizes about..." (Robert Christgau, The Village Voice)

Youssou N’Dour has successfully conveyed the intercontinental appeal of mbalax, capturing the attention and affection of a diverse, multi-ethnic, genuinely international audience beyond Senegal. One commentator has said N’Dour’s music "encourages you to think globally while dancing locally." A blend of indigenous Senegalese dance rhythms, traditional griot percussion and praise-singing with Afro-Cuban flavors, mbalax has flourished in West Africa since the 1950’s and 1960’s. Modernized in the mid-1970’s mbalax began to evolve into more complex indigenous Senegalese dance rhythms, melodic guitar and saxophone solos, talking-drum soliloquies and Sufi-inspired Muslim religious chant.

N’Dour began his career as a teenager playing gigs in the parking lots of clubs in Dakar, Senegal’s cosmopolitan city. His distinct voice earned him live amateur-hour slots on national radio. Early in his career, N’Dour delivered performances that made mbalax famous, filtering in pop and rock influences, while staying true to its storytelling roots. Critically acclaimed albums include Set (1990), Eyes Open, (1992) and The Guide (1994). The 1990 album, Set, was one of the top world music albums of all time on Billboard; His lyrical music that year also greatly influenced young Senegalese people to create an urban ecological movement known as "Set-Setaal" (Be Clean), that involved the cleaning, painting and refurbishing of ghetto neighborhood homes and improvement of water-supply and sanitary conditions—all without governmental assistance.

"If any Third World performer has a real shot at the sort of universal popularity last enjoyed by Bob Marley, it’s Youssou, a singer with a voice so extraordinary that the history of Africa seems locked inside it." —Rolling Stone magazine

(...)

KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS SPONSORED BY CITI

Tuesday, November 20, 2007 | 8pm
Verizon Hall
World & Pop Series

Youssou N’Dour
and the Super Étoile de Dakar

FREE AT THE KIMMEL:

Tuesday, November 20, 2007 | 6:30pm and Post-show
Commonwealth Plaza
ACANA Showcase
Arrive early for the Youssou N'Dour concert for a showcase of the best African musicians in the region, featuring Princess Fatu Gayflor. And stay late for a post-show dance party! Presented in conjunction with the African Cultural Alliance of North America.

Martin Scorsese, Youssou N'Dour Join International Arts Initiative

At a star-studded gala last night at Lincoln Center hosted by CEO Patrick Heiniger, Rolex announced the six master artists who will serve as mentors in the fourth cycle of its international philanthropic program, the Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Initiative. The 2008-2009 mentors, spanning six disciplines and hailing from five countries, are: American filmmaker MARTIN SCORSESE; German artist REBECCA HORN; Senegalese musician YOUSSOU N'DOUR; Nigerian writer WOLE SOYINKA; American actress KATE VALK; and Czech choreographer JIRI KYLIAN. (...)

MUSIC: Youssou N'Dour (Senegal) is an internationally celebrated composer, singer, and percussionist whose music focuses on world issues while staying close to his Senegalese roots. Blending the musical traditions of his native Africa with eclectic influences of Cuban samba, jazz, and hip-hop, N'Dour has collaborated with other renowned musicians such as Peter Gabriel, Sting, Paul Simon, and Tracy Chapman. A charismatic musician, N'Dour is also a humanitarian and advocate of children's rights, participating in the Amnesty International Human Rights Now! tour in 1988 and serving as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 1991. He has won numerous awards for his music, including the UNESCO International Music Prize (2004) and a Grammy (2005).

FILM: Martin Scorsese (U.S.) is one of the leading filmmakers of our time. Influenced by his childhood in New York's Little Italy, Scorsese achieved early acclaim for Mean Streets (1973); Taxi Driver (1976), winner of the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or; and Raging Bull (1980), which received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Among his other celebrated films are The Last Temptation of Christ (1988); Goodfellas (1990); Gangs of New York (2002), winner of a Golden Globe for Best Director; the much-awarded The Aviator (2004); and The Departed (2006), which won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and top directing honors from the Director's Guild of America (DGA) and other organizations. Scorsese has received numerous accolades for his contributions to cinema, among them the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award in 1997 and the DGA's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. A champion of film preservation, he is the founder and chair of The Film Foundation. Scorsese's latest film, Shine a Light, a documentary about the Rolling Stones, will open in April 2008. (...)

B&W Gathers Up ‘Society of Sound’ for Its Website

Loudspeaker manufacturer Bowers & Wilkins has enlisted musicians, producers and product developers as 'fellows' in its informative musical society.

Bowers & Wilkins is looking to add a little bit of audiophile to anyone who owns or is interested in reading about its loudspeaker products. The company is embarking on an educational, resourceful and fun area of its website for those who want to read more about the loudspeaker and audio industry.

B&W’s “Society of Sound” caters to all types of people in the industry, as evidenced by the company’s “fellows” who will help spread their passion for sound through articles, interviews and other means of inspiration.

Just to name a few, the fellows include renowned artists such as Peter Gabriel, “Live from Abbey Road” producers Peter Van Hooke and Michael Gleason, and music professer Tod Machover. You can watch interviews with many of the fellows already posted on the B&W site.

The first article in the Society of Sound is in the category of the Future of Sound, and it’s called “Beyond the Optical Disc” about the digital music format. It culminates with thoughts on a “digital music player” like a CD player, only it’s essentially a straight-to-component type of player, with among its capabilities would be sending broadband downloads right to it for safekeeping or burning. Kind of a more streamlined PC for just audio. Some of us are well on our way there.

November 13, 2007 | by Arlen Schweiger Via: Audio Junkies

Pop musician Peter Gabriel launches "YouTube for human rights"

Founded in 1992 by musician Peter Gabriel, Witness organisation with its slogan "See It Film It Change It" aims at denouncing and providing evidence for human rights violations through video footage. To achieve this aim, human rights activists were given cameras and taught how to use them. Web accessibility simplifies this process by facilitating the media-independent global distribution of information and videos recorded on film or mobile phone cameras.

Witness has now gone one step further and set up The Hub web page, a test version for a portal which is to become the "YouTube for human rights". With its motto "Upload It: See It: Share It. Take Action", the portal enables human rights organisations, activists and individuals to publish videos, images or audio files without censorship and anonymously without registration or log files. Server security is provided by CivicActions, and protection is provided by Openwall GNU/*/Linux which only saves visitors' IP addresses, but not those of the people who upload files. Contributors' IP addresses are only to be checked to see whether the Internet user is in a high-risk country, in which case a secure Internet connection is recommended. The project is supported by numerous human rights organisations like Amnesty, Human Rights Watch or B'Tselem.

The Hub does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or authenticity of its contents and advises users that its contents can be trusted no further than those of any other source on the Internet. This could damage the portal's credibility, for example if it is abused for political purposes. However, the organisers state that contents will be monitored for possible copyright violations and will be withdrawn if a violation is suspected. Users are advised to publish contents under a creative commons license.

Peter Gabriel emphasised that technology had caught up with the Witness project's original idea of "giving cameras to the world" through the rapid spread of mobile phones. At the end of 2007, three billion people would have mobile phones which changed the ways they organise themselves and interact with others. Together with digital cameras and notebooks, they would allow anyone to become a "human rights defender". It had never been easier to record evidence of human rights violations, but so far there had been no means of publishing this evidence through the Internet easily and without censorship. The Hub would change this, promised Gabriel.

The legacy continues

Vibrant: Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali will be performing qawwali music in the Celebration Series on Nov 20 and 21.

Dewan Filharmonik Petronas presents a rare offering of Pakistan’s vibrant qawwali music on Nov 20 and 21 at 8.30pm. Under its “Celebration Series”, the performances will be presented by Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali as a tribute to the legendary Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

When he died in 1997, Nusrat Fateh left a musical vacuum into which stepped his two teenage nephews, who formed the group Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali. Despite their youth, they were determined to continue their uncle’s pioneering efforts to transcend cultural, language and religious barriers and bring to the world the devotional qawwali vocal music of the Sufi mystics of Islam.

The word qawwali simply means “utterance” and the music and style of performance it describes has been a feature of Islamic culture since the 12th century. It is religious music that uses the human voice as a vehicle for enlightenment.

Due to its strong folk and classical traditions, qawwali has evolved and become one of the great classical musical genres of world music.

The group’s third album, Day of Colours, finds them coming into their own with new-found maturity in their voices and approach. Not only does it maintain a family tradition but it also demonstrates their identity as singers and breathes fresh life into a centuries-old style which has become one of the glories of modern world music.

Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali inventively reinterprets spiritual love songs based upon classical Islamic and Sufi texts.

The two brothers who lend their name to the group, Rizwan Mujahid Ali Khan and Muazzam Mujahid Ali Khan, come from a direct line of qawwali singers that can trace its pedigree back over five centuries. Their grandfather was an uncle of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who taught him the art of qawwali vocal music.

They themselves studied under their father and were tutored by Nusrat. A decade into their career, the musicians of Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali are already proving to be masters of Sufi devotional music.

The broadening of qawwali’s appeal was central to Nusrat’s mission and it is an approach shared by the group. Its debut album, Sacrifice to Love, released in 1999, was an entirely traditional album. So was its 2001 follow-up, A Better Destiny. It has also released a remix fusion album with Temple of Sound. The group is a mainstay on Peter Gabriel’s influential Real World record label.

Rizwan and Muazzam lead five back-up singers in repeated chanting, usually to the accompaniment of rhythmic handclapping, percussion and harmonium music. The lead singer adds elaborate vocal lines, and the tempo and volume are gradually increased with each singer trying to outdo the other in terms of vocal acrobatics as the piece progresses to a heightened trance-like state.

NATAS Hands Out Humanitarian, Public-Service, Community-Service Emmys

(Broadcasting & Cable) _ The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6458724.html Friday gave out its Emmy Awards for humanitarian, public-service and community-service campaigns.

The awards are for programming from the media and nonprofits that "advances the public good," as judged by a panel of civic and community-service leaders.

And the winners, unveiled at a luncheon in New York, were:

MTV, for its broadband campaign, "Think: MTV's think HIV"; BET and The Kaiser Family Foundation for "Rap it Up"; The Sierra Club for its "Big Fun with Global Warming" broadband campaign; the Employee Benefit Research Institute for "Choose to Save"; and double winner Kaiser for "Marvelyn Brown: That Night/Finding Out/Denial."

In addition, Peter Gabriel's human-rights organization, WITNESS http://www.witness.org, received the first-ever humanitarian award.

Podcast: Touring with Peter Gabriel

Richard Evans shares his experiences from the road

Between the months of June and August,in the Summer of 2007 – anyone remember it? Peter Gabriel was on tour in Europe. Covering Germany, UK, Holland, Belgium, Italy, France, Switzerland and Denmark, the band played a number of festivals and one-off concerts, playing songs from So, US, OVO and others. Richard Evans, who you can hear on a number of our Sonic TALK podcasts, is a member of the touring band, and has a long history of involvement in Peter Gabriel projects, having worked at Real World Studios for several years under such luminaries as Daniel Lanois, Trevor Horn, Stephen Hague, Bob Ezrin, John Leckie and Brian Eno, before striking out as a successful solo collaborator and putting his skills as a talented multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer and engineer to effective use.

In this audio diary taken from a portion of the tour, Richard takes us through his touring setup and also gives a fascinating insight into the world of touring at this level.

Richard is currently in Los Angeles working on a new album for Michael Brook, who he has worked with on several projects.

Thanks to Edirol UK for the loan of the R-09 personal recorder which Richard uses to record his diary entries.

• PeterGabriel.com
• Richard Evans management
• Edirol R-09 portable field recorder

MOTIVES FESTIVAL, GENK (BE)

14-17 NOVEMBRE 2007 CASINO MODERN - GENK (BE) .MOTIVES FESTIVAL.

Une nouvelle et quatrième édition !

Motives Festival n’est pas un festival traditionnel. A l’occasion de cette quatrième édition il présentera donc à nouveau un visage très personnel. En sa qualité de forum international pour le jazz innovant, le festival propose un programme débordant de musiques actuelles et créatives. L’affiche propose une expérience musicale contemporaine d’une qualité inouïe, et le plus souvent associée à des stimuli visuels puissants. Le public du Motives Festival est particulièrement gâté par la succession de créations exclusives et de concerts uniques pour la Belgique. Nous invitons tout le monde à parcourir un chemin peu ordinaire, en compagnie de tous les artistes. (...)

JEUDI 15.11
23.00-0.00H
JON HASSELL & MAARIFA STREET (US)

Le compositeur et trompettiste Jon Hassell est un visionnaire. Il est l’inventeur d’un style musical qu’il définit lui-même comme étant le « quatrième monde » : une musique hybride, mystérieuse et originale, à la fois ancienne et digitale, composée et improvisée, orientale et occidentale. Il a travaillé avec des monuments de la scène pop tels que Brian Eno et Peter Gabriel et il a enregistré plusieurs albums solos qui exerceront une influence sur la musique contemporaine. En 1999, son album “Fascinoma”, produit par Ry Cooder, ouvre un nouveau chapitre dans la carrière de Hassell. En plus de Ry Cooder, il s’entoure aussi du pianiste de jazz Jacky Terrasson. Cet album va inspirer la nouvelle génération de trompettistes européens comme Erik Truffaz, Paolo Fresu et Nils Petter Molvaer. Hassell est sans aucun doute un millepatte musical, mais surtout un extraterrestre dans l’univers du jazz... (....)

Concert ARONA N'DIAYE ROSE Bakh Yaye

Arona N'DIAYE ROSE, fils de Doudou N'DIAYE ROSE et percussionniste de renom, doublé d'un danseur hors pair, est aussi professeur dans plusieurs universités européennes. Il a participé, musicalement parlant, à l'enregistrement de l'album de Peter Gabriel,«Us», et à l'enregistrement de l'album de Zazie, "Sucré salé".

Il est sollicité à travers dans le globe, pour ces talents de percussionniste, professeur & de coordinateur artistique et chorégraphe. Arona N'DIAYE ROSE vous présentera son nouveau spectacle, accompagné de danseuses et musiciens sénégalais. Ils vous transporteront vers l'effervescence des rythmes Sénégalais.

Le 11/11/2007 Havana Café, Ramonville, 31

De Jajouka à Montréal au Festival du monde arabe

Ils ont inspiré Paul Bowles, Brion Gysin, Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Aerosmith, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Ornette Coleman, Sonic Youth, Peter Gabriel, les Sex Pistols et Talvin Singh, pour ne nommer que les plus célèbres. Après plus de 1300 ans de pratique ancestrale, les Maîtres musiciens de Jajouka résident toujours dans ce village marocain du même nom.

«Notre musique est l'une des plus vieilles de l'humanité, elle existe depuis des milliers d'années. Dans notre monde moderne, le simple fait de la maintenir en vie et d'en faire la promotion la rend d'autant plus singulière. Cette musique est transmise oralement et n'a de fonction que de rassembler les humains et de célébrer la paix», soutient Bachir Attar, joint au Maroc il y a quelques jours.

Le village de Jajouka est situé dans les montagnes du Rif marocain. Pendant des siècles, la confrérie de musiciens qui en est issue a officié à la cour royale jusqu'à ce que les colons européens la repousse dans ses montagnes.

L'art musical de Jajouka est typique des sociétés traditionnelles; usant de modulations répétitives voire hypnotiques, il peut mener à la transe et on lui attribue des vertus de guérison à travers les différents rituels auxquels il se prête - mariage, deuil, circoncision, etc. On dit que cette musique très ancienne proviendrait de lointaines traditions de la Perse antique qui auraient voyagé au sud de la Méditerranée - notamment avec les Phéniciens. Cette musique de Jajouka se fonde sur la ghaïta (hautbois arabe), la nira (flûte de bambou), le gumbri (instrument à cordes), les percussions et le chant - pas moins de neuf instrumentistes et chanteurs seront sur la scène du Théâtre Maisonneuve, demain soir.
«Ma famille, explique Bachir Attar, a conservé la connaissance de cette musique. Je proviens d'une tradition orale malheureusement en voie de disparition. Après des siècles de stabilité, les temps ont changé. Nos enfants vont à l'école, les considérations monétaires et économiques l'emportent sur la tradition. J'ai peur que nous soyons la dernière génération de musiciens Jajouka.»

On sent l'inquiétude traverser le directeur artistique, fils de feu Hadj Abdesalam Attar qui fit connaître les Maîtres musiciens de Jajouka dans le monde entier. «Je rêve de fonder une école de musique, à défaut de quoi cette tradition va disparaitre. Cette école serait ouverte à tous, bien au-delà des citoyens du Maroc. Vous savez, les jeunes musiciens du Maroc sont davantage attirés par le star system que par la protection de leur patrimoine», déplore-t-il.

N'en demeure pas moins que les rock stars ont déjà trouvé très cool les Maîtres musiciens de Jajouka. Brian Jones, le défunt Stones, avait craqué pour leur musique à la suite de son fameux congédiement. Bachir Attar en conserve un vague souvenir.

«J'étais alors un petit enfant. Les plus anciens se rappellent qu'il avait été revivifié par notre travail qu'on n'incluait pas encore dans la catégorie world music. Le monde du rock s'était ensuite enthousiasmé à notre endroit mais il a eu tôt fait de nous oublier. Bien sûr, nous avons été très heureux de collaborer avec les Stones dans l'album Steel Wheels à la fin des années 80...»

«Une des rares relations qui durent est celle que nous entretenons avec le saxophoniste de jazz Ornette Coleman. Lorsque nos coffres sont vides, nous lui demandons de partir en tournée avec lui, il accepte immanquablement. Nous lui portons le plus grand respect. Un autre lien durable est celui que nous entretenons avec Lee Ranaldo du groupe Sonic Youth, un véritable ami.»

Quoi qu'il advienne des Maîtres musiciens de Jajouka, Bachir Attar ira jusqu'au bout de l'expérience. «Nous ne voulons pas être riches ni célèbres, nous voulons simplement partager notre culture avec tous les humains qui s'y intéressent.»

De Jajouka à Montréal, donc.

Alain Brunet/La Presse