This is a repost of a previously published diary.
Three Traditions of Rhythm
Come Together to Beat Climate Change!
Saturday, November 6 — 7:00 pm
Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury Street, Boston
One of the most exciting concerts this year! Enjoy an evening of kinetic grooves, dazzling virtuosity and daring improvisation as three great drumming traditions join together to draw attention to the global climate crisis. Featured artists include: the solo performance of Hindustani tabla virtuoso Akshay Navaladi, the traditional Ghanaian repertoire of the Agbekor Drum and Dance Society, and the legendary Jazz master Bob Moses. The music begins at 7:00 pm, at Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury Street, Boston, MA. Tickets are $20; $15 students/seniors. All proceeds will go to the environmental organization www.350.org. For information, please call 781-396-0734 or go to the event website.
"Drumming For The Planet" was conceived as a way for creative musicians to contribute to the urgent struggle against global warming. Because the climate problem recognizes no national boundaries, the artists represent musical styles from three different parts of the globe. Moses, Navaladi and the members of the Agbekor Society may present different rhythmic concepts, but they share key musical values: listening, honesty, creativity, and respect. And, of course, all these artists are committed to raising awareness of the potentially devastating effects of global warming. Their choice of beneficiary, 350.org, is focused on building global consensus on reduction of atmospheric CO2 levels — action which climatologists agree is necessary to avoid catastrophic outcomes. It’ll be an evening of incredibly powerful music — from some of the finest drummers in New England and the world.
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About the Performers:
Rakalam Bob Moses
Rakalam Bob Moses is a living legend and one of the world’s greatest drummers. He began his immersion in the world of jazz as a small child, living in the same building as Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln, Elvin Jones, and Art Blakey. He was ten when he started drumming, and within a few years was playing duets with Charles Mingus; by seventeen he was gigging with Rahsaan Roland Kirk and playing with Jim Pepper in the Free Spirits, widely acknowledged as the first jazz rock band.
Over the past several decades, Moses has given his brilliant rhythmic support to scores of luminaries in jazz and contemporary music, including Dave Liebman, Pharoah Sanders, Sam Rivers, Gary Burton, Pat Metheney, Jack DeJohnette, the Brecker Brothers, Jaco Pastorius, Jim Hall, Terumasa Hino, Abbey Lincoln, Tsziji Munoz and countless more. His first large ensemble recording, "Bittersuite in the Ozone," was released in 1975, and received five stars from Downbeat Magazine. It is still regarded as a masterpiece, and has been re-released on Billy Martin's Amulet Records. In the 1980s, he did some of his most important large ensemble works, recording "When Elephants Dream of Music," "Visit with the Great Spirit" and the monumental double LP, "The Story of Moses," all on Gramavision Records.
In the late 80's, Moses formed Mozamba, applying his unique compositional style to funk and world music influences, creating a music that is great for listening and dancing. Mozamba’s members have included Stan Strickland, Tiger Okoshi, Bob Mintzer, Bob Gay, Darren Barret, Jacques Schwarz-Bart, Miles Evans, Bryan Carrot, Duke Levine, Dave Fiuczynski, Kai Eckhart, Matthew Garrison, Billy Martin, Ben Wittman, P.J.Adamson, Sa Davis, Phillip Hamilton, Alvin Roberts, and many others. These days, Mozamba features turntable wizard Mr. Rourke, and often sitting in is Moses' talented son, rapper Rafael.
In 1993, Moses recorded Time Stood Still, his last great large ensemble work for Gramavision/Rykodisc, which received 5 stars in Downbeat. In July of 1998, Moses recorded Nishoma on Grapeshot Records, a jazz ballads or "heart songs" album dedicated to his extraordinary mother, Greta Moses (1917-1997), featuring Abbey Lincoln, Luciana Souza, Steve Kuhn, Chris Wood, and master tap-dancer Jimmy Slyde, among others. This album features beautiful melodies, unusual harmonies, and is a heartfelt look back of some of the forces that helped shape Moses' life.
A widely respected teacher, Bob Moses is a faculty member at New England Conservatory of Music. His book "Drum Wisdom" is a near-legendary compendium of insights and suggestions.
The reviewers say:
About Bittersuite in the Ozone:
"A record so human, so goddamn bloody real, that you fully expect it to climb out of the jacket alone and lay down on the turntable for a ride. It is music that breathes, grunts, cries, sings, and laughs-it makes categories arbitrary and insignificant. Though the players involved are known for their jazz affiliations, the music made here is universal."
— John Sinclair, The Detroit Sun
About "When Elephants Dream of Music":
"Bob Moses has now emerged as the possessor of one of the grander imaginations in America's true classical music. No orchestral composer of this scope, mellow wit, and freshly distinctive range of colors has come along since Gil Evans."
— Nat Hentoff, Modern Recording and Music
About "Time Stood Still
":
"Leave it to Moses, a multi-directional shamanistic groovilator, to put all the pieces together. On "Time Stood Still", another sprawling production of DeMille-ian scale, he seamlessly blends Monk, funk, tap, hip hop, bebop, big band, blues, Bahia, Tanzania, and the avant garde into one organic package while paying homage to the spirits of Gil Evans, Charles Mingus, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and Jaco Pastorius."
— Bill Milkowski, Down Beat
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The Agbekor Drum and Dance Society
The Agbekor Society is a group of friends and colleagues who have been studying, teaching and performing the music and dance of the Ewe tribe of Ghana, West Africa for the past three decades. Under the direction of Tufts Professor Dr. David Locke, the members of ADDS present an energetic and tightly synchronized blend of drumming, singing and dancing. While pieces like the intricate "Adzogbo" and "Yeve" are multi-part suites of extraordinary richness and complexity, "Gahu" and "Kinka" are vibrant and kinetic dance music that gets listeners up and moving.
Agbadza
In frequent collaborations with Ghanaian master drummers like the late Godwin Agbeli, Gideon Foli Alorwoyie and Nani Agbeli, the Agbekor Society continues to renew its connection with its African sources. The Society has appeared in clubs, concerts, lecture-demonstrations and festivals throughout New England, and in collaborations with jazz and "world music" artists like Natraj, Antigravity and the Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra.
Gahu
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Akshay Navaladi
"Akshay has shown fantastic finger magic on the Tabla. By demonstrating his expert talent and exhibiting his own individual style, he won over the audience overwhelmingly."
"This Tabla thunder has truly made a mark for himself."
Eenadu, Andhra Pradesh, India
Akshay Navaladi has been a tabla player since he was seven years old, growing up in India. Currently a disciple of Ustaad Akram Khan of the Delhi/Ajrara gharana ("school" or "style"), he received the ‘Ugadhi Purashkar’ award for child prodigies by the Madras Telugu Academy at Chennai, in 2002.
The recipient of multiple national awards in India, Akshay has performed on Doordarshan, India’s national television network, and has appeared with both Hindustani and Carnatic music artistes in India, Europe and North America, including the 2002 Asian music festival in Kyrgyzstan. These include concerts, broadcasts and recordings with Shri K.N. Padmanabhan, renowned Mridangam exponent, the renowned Bharatnatyam danseuse Srimati Komala Varadhan, and vocalist Ustaad Iqbal Ahmed Khan, the Khalifa of the Delhi Gharana. A resident of Boston, he is currently performing extensively throughout New England.
At "Drumming For The Planet" he will be accompanied by Sri Ravi Torvi on the Harmonium.
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About www.350.org and the number 350:
Co-founded by environmentalist and author Bill McKibben, 350.org is the hub of a worldwide network of over two hundred environmental organizations, all with a common target: persuading the world's countries to unite in an effort to reduce global levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million or less. Climatologist Dr. James Hansen says, "If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm." (Dr. Hansen heads the NASA Institute for Space Studies in New York City, and is best known for his testimony on climate change to congressional committees in the 1980s that helped raise broad awareness of the global warming issue.) Activists involved in the 350 movement include Rajendra Pachauri (Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), Vandana Shiva (world-renowned environmental leader and thinker), Archbishop Desmond Tutu (1984 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and a global activist on issues pertaining to democracy, freedom and human rights), Van Jones, Bianca Jagger, Dr. James Hansen, Barbara Kingsolver and many more.
(complete list of "350 Messengers here)