Looking Back, Looking Forward

2010 went by in a flash and it's been over a year since my last post... Here are the stand outs from the past year. In the upcoming months I look forward to performances at The Stone, The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and The Houston International Festival. Please come back from time to time to check out new project and performance announcements that are on the horizon.

Highlights from this past year include recording Sacha Silva's upcoming release (March 2011) at The Hatch in the UK countryside (www.thehatchstudio.co.uk). The state-of-the-art recording facility is beautifully situated on an organic farm far away from the distractions of London and city life. I played a hybrid set-up of

drums and percussion, and enjoyed a great week of home-cooked food, wine and lettuce from the garden. Sacha's multi-national based ensemble will be in New York April 3rd to 9th for performances in Manhattan and Brooklyn--please check my calendar page for more details.

Red Baraat toured the U.S. and Scandinavia playing festivals in Norway (Molde Jazz) and Finland (Pori Jazz) to throngs of new Dhol n' Brass Bhangra-Funk converts. We shared flights and billings with Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Missy Elliot, Gil Scott-Heron, and Fly (Mark Turner, Jeff Ballard, Larry Grenadier). Lotus Fest in Bloomington, IN was a highlight of our midwest tour.

New 2010 releases:

alice. a.443

Jonathan Powell & Nu Sangha Transcend

Happy New Year...and Decade!

Happy New Year! These past fall/winter months were filled with various performances, new album releases, recordings and projects. Here are a few of the highlights:

NYC's darling of Bangin' Banghra & Brass Funk, Red Baraat, made appearances in September at the Chicago World Music Festival, Madison World Music Festival and Milwaukee's Global Fest. For Feather (though now on hiatus) travelled to Cincinnati for the MidPoint Music Festival, I recorded two new scores for acclaimed theatre director/composer Liz Swados, and the CineSamples sample library release "Drums of War" (on which I played percussion) is featured prominently throughout James Horner's score to the movie Avatar.

Red Baraat continues to garner rave reviews as we get closer to the official release of our debut recording, Chaal Baby. It's been over a year in the making and we'll be celebrating on Saturday, January 30th at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC. Mark your calendars, grab tickets in advance and spread the word! I hope you'll come out and support us and also hear some great music from opening acts hip-hop artist Gabriel Teodros and cumbia-rock band Pistolera.

Read the reviews:

- Village Voice

- All About Jazz

- Chicago Reader

- Music Connection Magazine

Some notable and recent album releases include:

D.B. Rielly Love Potions and Snake Oil

released November 30, 2009

Sasha Papernik Claremont

released late summer 2009

Knu Gmoon...Live!

Noah Jarrett's Knu Gmoon [New Moon] Project is making rare live appearances in NYC and Philadelphia next week.  We just played a CD release show at Zebulon in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (sharing the bill with Noah's other band, The Inbetweens) and will be at Chris' Jazz Cafe in Philly on August 26th and Nublu in NYC on August 27th.  Come on out!

Knu Gmoon Project is a Brooklyn-based sextet with a fresh and intuitive approach to modern jazz and improvisation.  A fusion of simple, straightforward musical ideas (folk/indigenous), with more propellent and/or complex musical ideas (environmental), both react to the other's different speed, intensity, and mood, forming and exciting and new mode for improvisation.  Featuring Noah on double bass/compositions, Loren Stillman on alto saxophone/flute, Mike Gamble on guitars/effectual matter, Tony Barba on tenor saxophone/soprano/flute, Rich Stein's percussive instincts and myself on tabla/batterie.

Red Baraat Festival! at NYC Fashion Week

Bangin' Bhangra & Brass Funk: Red Baraat Festival! melds the infectious North Indian banghra rhythm with brass funk and expresses the human spirit through improvisation and a powerful, live, raw sound.  I've been playing in this NYC-based band that plays fresh originals, traditional Punjabi songs and Bollywood numbers.  I can usually be found playing the South Indian tavil (a double-sided, barrel shaped drum similar to the dhol but played with a stick in the left hand and thimbles on four fingers in the right) and an array of other drums and percussion.

Sunny Jain leads the group on dhol with Tomas Fujiwara on drumset, Arun Luthra on soprano sax, Mike Bomwell on tenor, Mike Williams on bass trumpet, Sonny Suchdev Singh on trumpet, Dave Smith on trombone and John Altieri on sousaphone.

The band recently played at a runway show for Ports 1961 during NYC Fashion Week.  Designer Tia Cibani had traveled to India and was inspired by Mughal styles for the Fall '09 Collection.  Some video footage from the show has been posted here: 

Red Baraat Festival! NYC Fashion Week

Zanzibar, Tanzania: Sauti Za Busara Festival

After six flights and over 36 hours in the air I'm back in New York City from Sauti Za Busara Festival in Zanzibar, Tanzania where I was performing with Omega Okello's band.  The setting was enchanting: artists from across the African continent performed on the grounds of the Old Arab Fort in Stonetown (a UNESCO World Heritage site originally built in 1560) under the open sky.  Omega's set was well received by the packed crowd of locals and tourists; and the international band featured Andre Manga from Cameroon on bass, Uli G from Germany on keys, Andrew Reissiger from the U.S.A. on guitar, and myself on drums.  I'll be posting photos from the festival in the next few days.

New Band: For Feather

"They sound like an expensive orchestra for a silent movie about the perils of internet love and irrelevance--with sweet poignant, melodic verse and a penchant for extreme orchestral juxtaposition."

Since my last posting I've joined the creative Brooklyn ensemble, For Feather, fronted by Erica Glyn; with David Weintraub on guitar and Evan Silverman on bass.  An EP of new music is due out later this fall (recorded with former drummer Phil Kester).  I added percussion to the recording mixed by Joel Hamilton (Elvis Costello, Lou Reed, Tom Waits) and will be appearing with them at the BAM Cafe Live Next Wave series on November 1st.

Recent Performances & New Recordings

It's been a busy past few months and I'm fortunate to be working with some great musicians. Some recent performances I've been a part of have included Sunny Jain's Red Baraat performing to a joyful, dancing crowd at Drom in the East Village, Nels Andrews' band (with Jonathan Goldberger, Brian Drye, Rich Hinman and Peter Bitenc) in residence at Banjo Jim's, Omega Okello's New York City and Washington, D.C. performances (with Marvin Sewell, Fred Doumbe and Leo Traversa in the band), and a drive up to Cambridge, Massachusetts to play with Alice at the Lily Pad.

I'm also happy to announce that a number of recordings I played on over the past year are either available now or will be released later this summer/fall:

Alice elastic.hybrid.chamber.pop

released June 2008 (for download only)

Jesse Lewis Atticus

released April 1, 2008

Adam Niewood Epic Journey Vol. I & II

release date scheduled August 12, 2008

Vanessa Kafka Into Place

release date scheduled September 16, 2008

Noah Jarrett Knu Moon Project

release date fall 2008