Revolution peers backwards...

www.themusicalrevolution.com
themusicalrevolution@yahoo.ca

Jul./2004.
Edition (j).

PROMO:

Minque:
Jul. 17th @ "Mitzi's Sister" - Toronto, ON w/ Corporate Cash Cow...
Jul. 23th @ "Rib Fest" - Mississauga, ON.
Jul. 24th @ "Rancho Relaxo" - Toronto, ON.

The Changes:
July 21st El Mocambo (464 Spadina)
w/ The San Francisco Treat and others TBA
July 17th The Drake Hotel (1150 Queen St West) Around - 9:30 pm
w/ Beethoven Freeze and Square Root of Margaret
July 1 Rivoli (334 Queen St W)
Canada Day Bash Evening w/ Wack Mc's, Canary Mine and High Water Mark
Matinee includes:Cam de Laat, John Rowley, Kim Jarret, Nick Porter, Rosita Stone, Jimmy Dowling, Dean Drouillard and Jay Shore (amongst others TBA)
Guest Selector Deejay Scootz

Web Sites:

www.thechanges.ca - The Sweet One (Al) has finally found his calling in managing Canada's next big thang. Check out The Changes' website.

www.minque.ca - Finally the boyz are online! Czech it.

www.grandpoobah.com - Help these cats win the Ernie Ball Battle of the bands:
1) Go to: http://www.ernieball.com
2) click on Battle of the Bands 8 or BB8 icon
3) under RELATED LINKS click CHECK OUT BANDS
4) type in GRAND POO BAH
5) scroll down to search results and click on GRAND POO BAH
6) then A GRAND POO BAH poster will appear (don't be distracted you are on
a mission) above the poster it says vote for GRAND POO BAH click on that
and fill out some info. Done!
This request comes from my boy Andrew Fortune. At the very least, check out the site - the music is absolutely stellar!

IN THIS ISSUE:

Internet Host Sites:
www.ampcast.com
www.mp3.com (back up - all new)
www.iuma.com
www.vitaminic.com

Online Retailers:
www.cdbaby.com
www.garageband.com
www.amazon.com

V)
escape unnatural landscapes
a feeling is a chore
worn as covering for eyes

X)
one can build a world
in a universe of thought
in a momentary silence

Copyright: Zoë Zagg, 2004.

EDITORIAL:

Adventures, adventures, adventures... Last September, I remember being at a hip hop summit with my gurl Kristi (revolution newsletter Oct./04). We were front row center listening to Chuck D inspiring. It was an absolutely life enriching experience! These experiences are few and far between and often can be quite unexpected. That being said, this past month Kristi and I found ourselves knee deep in another awe-inspiring event.

So we show up to the distillery, east downtown, Toronto. We had spent the last hour searching for the Betty Olimphant Theatre. No-one in the area seems to recognize its existence. 411 is a bust. So, hey - we decide to check out an old brewery, why not? Kristi spots a sign on a door - "Samarpana Dance Academy, Gunsaleen". Sounds familiar to me. Hmnnn... Why not check it out? So we go through the door, up the stairs, around the corner, around another corner - detour to the bathroom - down a hallway, around still another corner and there's a man with glasses at a table. I notice a stack of papers, ask him for one. I scan the paper's contents:

Pushpanjali
Sabdam
Janda
Kirtanam-Natanam Adinaar
Devastuthi
Swarajati-Raravenu
Mallari
Kirtanam-Idadupadam
Thillana

Dances, but who? Then I notice Farahana's name. Yes. Triumph is ours! We have found our dance recital. We enter the studio theatre. It is crammed with families, friends and interested parties. Where will we sit? A lady, 3rd to back row/center, motions us to sit beside her family. We take our seats, prime viewing/first class. The recital starts, on cue, as if they had waited for us to arrive. INCREDIBLE!

I have absolutely no idea what I am watching. (Farahana has since educated me). I immediately take note of the Eastern music with its tablas and other exotic (to me) instruments. A man dressed in white is sitting cross-legged on the floor just SW of the dancers. He is striking a bell/percussion type instrument in time with the music (maybe cuing the dancers?) I assume that he is their teacher (Goona). Immediately I notice the intense foot work (stamping with bare feet/ bells around the ankles). As the dances progress though, I start to realize that there is much more to these performances - positioning, hand placement, body and head movement, eyebrow and eye, and on and on...

Mistakes are made. Highlights many. Farahana's group is especially interesting with her (2nd Generation African (from Rwanda, family is originally from Gurjat)), Bob (Hungarian), IChing (Chinese?) and Andrea (West Indian). They perform a Bharatnatyam dance (traditional, for courting, story telling). As for the other dances, some of the girls look barely school age, but manage to perform with skill and discipline. I am floored!

Two of the girls, Thejasvi and Shamini (Farahana tells me that they are 10 years of age) perform three of the dances including the penultimate and finale. As uneducated as I am in the discipline of dance, I can't help but be blown away. Each dance is between 5 and 10 minutes long. The choreography is relentless and ever-changing for each. To say that the dances are diverse is definitely an understatement. The precision and style that these girls exemplify is far beyond my uneducated grasp. I can say this - I know music and they are locked in!

As I sit in the crowded studio I think, "What is it that brings people out time and time again for these events?" These dances have been performed for hundreds of years. What is it that's so exceptional about watching these two particular young ladies perform? Why watch any of the dancers? Besides tradition, what sets these artists apart from the 20 or so rock/funk projects that I've been involved with? Throughout this recital I realized one HUGE difference. Discipline.

Last sunday I witnessed hundreds of years of discipline channeled through a 10 year old girl. The more than 20 performers represented thousands of hours of practice. More like hundreds of thousands! The dances themselves have endured enough interpretation to make Bob Dylan/Jimi Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower" a trivial musical footnote in comparison. The scope was/is beyond me.

This to me is music/culture incarnate. We need NEVER forget that.

INSPIRATIONS:

In an attempt to further educate myself in the ways of home recording I have ventured to the library (how out of character you might say) and begun research. A book that I've been wading through as of late is "Home Recording for Musicians" - it is a "For Dummies" book - Perfect! The final chapters are dedicated to promoting music on the internet. Author Jeff Strong lists a few host sites and a few online retailers that might interest the independent music enthusiast. Check out these sites - they can help you discover some really decent music with little or no cost.

Internet Host Sites:
www.ampcast.com
www.mp3.com
www.iuma.com
www.vitaminic.com

Online Retailers:
www.cdbaby.com
www.garageband.com
www.amazon.com

Some sites I've mentioned before but are well worth re-iterating.

I am very fortunate that I have friends that invite me to such events as Farahana's dance recital. If you have an event forward it to me - I'll be sure to pass it on. I mail out once a month so be sure to think ahead.

Maybe we can all be inspired?

Big Love,
i220

www.themusicalrevolution.com
themusicalrevolution@yahoo.ca

Posted by Mattay at July 03, 2004 07:59 PM