Listening to Pakistani musician Arooj Aftab sing can feel a little like those first few drifting moments after you pop a bedtime melatonin. The edges of the world bleed like watercolors, and your mind weaves new tales from the frayed memories of your day. That makes sense, given that Aftab herself calls nighttime her “biggest source of inspiration.”
A vocalist, composer, and producer who has taken influence from artists as diverse as Billie Holiday, Abida Parveen, and Jeff Buckley, the 39-year-old Aftab has spent her career dreamily eliding the boundaries between jazz,...
A vocalist, composer, and producer who has taken influence from artists as diverse as Billie Holiday, Abida Parveen, and Jeff Buckley, the 39-year-old Aftab has spent her career dreamily eliding the boundaries between jazz,...
- 5/29/2024
- by Brenna Ehrlich
- Rollingstone.com
We are doing stuff that is indicative of fun,” Arooj Aftab says, quite seriously, in the flat staccato cadence of a test proctor.
The Pakistani-born, Berklee-trained, Brooklyn-based musician is talking about the singing on her new album, Night Reign, out May 31: the doubled vocals, the fresh harmonies, and especially the Auto-Tune that envelops her voice on lead single “Raat Ki Rani” and lends it that spectral pop aura. Aftab remembers asking the mix engineer, “Can you please put, like, T-Pain amounts of Auto-Tune on this and let’s see how it sounds?...
The Pakistani-born, Berklee-trained, Brooklyn-based musician is talking about the singing on her new album, Night Reign, out May 31: the doubled vocals, the fresh harmonies, and especially the Auto-Tune that envelops her voice on lead single “Raat Ki Rani” and lends it that spectral pop aura. Aftab remembers asking the mix engineer, “Can you please put, like, T-Pain amounts of Auto-Tune on this and let’s see how it sounds?...
- 5/24/2024
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Have you been paying attention to the Best New Artist class of 2022 lately? The highly talented group of 10, ranging from indie darlings to pop powerhouses, has been quite active recently, with a couple having music that is either out recently or is slated to be released in the coming months. As such, perhaps it’s a good time to keep an eye on these nominees, because you might end up predicting them for awards in 2024.
Best New Artist winner Olivia Rodrigo releases a new single, “Vampire,” on June 30 and is rumored to be dropping her highly anticipated sophomore album soon. Rodrigo’s debut album, “Sour,” became an instant sensation; it was the second biggest album of 2022 and earned Rodrigo four top-10 smash hits. The album also won Rodrigo two additional Grammys besides Best New Artist: Best Pop Solo Performance (“Drivers License”) and Best Pop Vocal Album. Since her win Rodrigo...
Best New Artist winner Olivia Rodrigo releases a new single, “Vampire,” on June 30 and is rumored to be dropping her highly anticipated sophomore album soon. Rodrigo’s debut album, “Sour,” became an instant sensation; it was the second biggest album of 2022 and earned Rodrigo four top-10 smash hits. The album also won Rodrigo two additional Grammys besides Best New Artist: Best Pop Solo Performance (“Drivers License”) and Best Pop Vocal Album. Since her win Rodrigo...
- 6/25/2023
- by Jaime Rodriguez
- Gold Derby
Kassa Overall’s music is a modern, often jarring synthesis of hip-hop and jazz. Overall is adept as both a rapper and jazz drummer, and the Seattle-based musician’s third album, Animals, features a bevy of underground hip-hop legends and jazz musicians (including pianist Vijay Iyer and trumpet player Theo Croker).
While Overall looked back on his past struggles with mental health on 2020’s I Think I’m Good, including a hospitalization during college, Animals is filled with unease about the objectification that comes with success in the music industry. “Ready to Ball,” for one, addresses the lure of materialism, as Overall’s malleable voice is sped up and slowed down, suggesting an alternate persona: “If he got more than me, I might have to make him bleed.”
The song structures on Animals are often chaotic. “Still Ain’t Find Me” mixes Latin rhythms and free jazz, as saxophones squeal over congas,...
While Overall looked back on his past struggles with mental health on 2020’s I Think I’m Good, including a hospitalization during college, Animals is filled with unease about the objectification that comes with success in the music industry. “Ready to Ball,” for one, addresses the lure of materialism, as Overall’s malleable voice is sped up and slowed down, suggesting an alternate persona: “If he got more than me, I might have to make him bleed.”
The song structures on Animals are often chaotic. “Still Ain’t Find Me” mixes Latin rhythms and free jazz, as saxophones squeal over congas,...
- 5/20/2023
- by Steve Erickson
- Slant Magazine
An open letter demanding that the Juilliard School take immediate action against composer Robert Beaser, the former chair of the institution’s composition department, for alleged “decades-long abuse of women and power” has been signed by more than 500 musicians and leaders in the classical music community. The letter was first published Friday.
Last week, the German-based Van magazine published the findings of a six-month investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct against several Juilliard faculty members. Beaser, the magazine states, “faces multiple, previously-undisclosed allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct...
Last week, the German-based Van magazine published the findings of a six-month investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct against several Juilliard faculty members. Beaser, the magazine states, “faces multiple, previously-undisclosed allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct...
- 12/20/2022
- by Charisma Madarang
- Rollingstone.com
The Mountain Goats, Los Lobos, and Rickie Lee Jones are among the acts set to appear at the always intriguing Big Ears Festival, returning to Knoxville, Tennessee, from March 30 through April 2, 2023.
The 2023 festival — which is held at a variety of venues around Knoxville — will also feature performances from Andrew Bird, Iron and Wine, Devendra Banhart, the Weather Station, Kvin Morby, Bonny Light Horseman, and Son Lux. Famed banjo player Béla Fleck will also be on hand, as will jazz artists Charles Lloyd, Christian McBride, and William Parker.
Additionally, Big Ears...
The 2023 festival — which is held at a variety of venues around Knoxville — will also feature performances from Andrew Bird, Iron and Wine, Devendra Banhart, the Weather Station, Kvin Morby, Bonny Light Horseman, and Son Lux. Famed banjo player Béla Fleck will also be on hand, as will jazz artists Charles Lloyd, Christian McBride, and William Parker.
Additionally, Big Ears...
- 9/12/2022
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
"We are now joined in feeling." An official promo trailer has debuted for a new music documentary titled in full Mixtape Trilogy: Stories of the Power of Music. Despite "Trilogy" in the title, it's just one full 93 minute feature film, but with different segments about three different artists. Mixtape Trilogy: Stories of the Power of Music is described as an entertaining, impactful documentary that explores the unifying power of music and examines the relationship between musical artists and their fans. Featured artists include Indigo Girls, Vijay Iyer, and Talib Kweli. Amy Ray of Indigo Girls states, "It is an absolute honor to be part of this poignant film that truly shows the power of music through the eyes of the artist and the receiver of that art. It sheds light on the alchemy that happens when music enters the public space and is a catalyst for healing, spiritual connection, activism and creative growth.
- 5/18/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Norah Jones, Esperanza Spalding, and Angelique Kidjo’s Remain in Light are among the artists set to perform the 2022 Newport Jazz Festival, which takes place at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island July 29 through July 31.
The lineup also includes the Fearless Flyers, Terence Blanchard, Pj Morton, the Ron Carter Quartet, BadBadNotGood, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Lettuce, and Cory Wong, among many others.
Christian McBride, who serves as the Newport Jazz Artistic Director, will also play his annual Jawn Jam featuring Makaya McCraven, Chris Potter, Vijay Iyer, and Brandee Younger & Mike Stern.
The lineup also includes the Fearless Flyers, Terence Blanchard, Pj Morton, the Ron Carter Quartet, BadBadNotGood, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Lettuce, and Cory Wong, among many others.
Christian McBride, who serves as the Newport Jazz Artistic Director, will also play his annual Jawn Jam featuring Makaya McCraven, Chris Potter, Vijay Iyer, and Brandee Younger & Mike Stern.
- 3/24/2022
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
The most demonstrative note that Andrew Cyrille played on Tuesday night — a resounding thwack on the snare — was also the last. The drummer, a key presence across the full spectrum of jazz since the early 1960s, was wrapping up more than four hours of largely improvised exploration on the opening night of New York City’s annual Vision Festival. For the concluding set, Cyrille duetted with Peter Brötzmann, a German saxophonist known for his sandpaper tone and raucous flow. Brötzmann opened the set with blaring doom-blues blasts, and instead of...
- 6/12/2019
- by Hank Shteamer
- Rollingstone.com
As a founding member of the pioneering Underground Resistance crew, Robert Hood is Detroit techno royalty, and thus, by definition, an Edm architect emeritus. His beats are so sublime, jazz composer Vijay Iyer wrote a tribute to him (see “Hood”). This hour-plus mix in the DJ Kicks series – dependably-curated by the Berlin-based !K7 label for nearly 25 years now – shows Hood remains a master of darkly minimalist dancefloor bliss. Compared to the bullet-train rub and tug of modern big-box Edm, this music is a tantric escalator, with tiered builds and rolls...
- 11/29/2018
- by Will Hermes
- Rollingstone.com
BooksTNM catches up with Krishna Trilok, the man behind Ar Rahman’s official biography. Prathibha Parameswaran rahman_biography_03_650.jpgYoung and upcoming writer Krishna Trilok will pen the first official biography on the Chennai-based musical maestro Ar Rahman. The 24-year-old writer, who had previously come out with a fantasy novel- Sharikrida, has been working on the book tentatively titled ‘Ar Rahman: The man in the music’ that will hit the stores early next year. Krishna is the son of renowned ad filmmakers Sharada and Trilok Nair, who had earlier collaborated with Rahman for several popular commercials and also introduced him to Mani Ratnam. The Rahman biography will explore the lesser known facets of the award-winning composer’s personality, his daily life and views on relevant issues. While Rahman has been busy composing music for films like Rajeev Menon’s Sarvam Thaala Mayam starring Gv Prakash, Shankar’s 2.0 with Rajinikanth and Majid Majidi’s Beyond The Clouds, he has also been recently exploring newer territories. He’s turned writer and producer for the musical 99 Songs and has also ventured into direction with a virtual reality film, Le Musk. What prompted you to work on this biography? Two other biographies have already been written on Rahman-Nasreen Munni Kabir’s ‘The Spirit Of Music’ and Kamini Mathai’s ‘Ar Rahman-The Musical Storm.’ What fresher insights do you hope to provide for his fans and music lovers? The earlier books written on him were either compilations of brief conversations with Rahman or collections of journalistic pieces, with the authors spending very little time with the person himself- if at all. Both the books chronicled the sides his life and career that many people were, up an extent, already aware of. With this biography, I have strived to get to the heart of the person behind the music, awards and films. He’s a man whose personality has not been explored—someone who’s very humorous, great and a gentle human being. It’s of course impossible to write about him without talking about his music and other works, but the aim has been to bring his personality to the fore. The book will feature some nice anecdotes from all the people that he’s worked with in his earlier years—Bharat Bala, Mani Ratnam, Sharda and Trilok Nair, who introduced him, Vijay Modi—who ran Audio Vision where he recorded his earlier jingles, Rajeev Menon, Rahman’s sisters Raihana and Fathima, Jyoti Nair Belliappa from Km Music conservatory, a few film directors, R Samidurai, his man Friday right from the 70s, his audio engineers, his business manager-Karan Grover and Vijay Iyer, his personal manager. They have all shared some interesting stories, like what he thought of Mani Ratnam and Tamil films before becoming part of the industry. Krishna Trilok There’s a lot of information on him out there, how do you think a biography will be relevant at this point? He’s pioneered the evolution of film music in India in a lot of ways. He introduced a lot of musicians to the technology and equipment they use in India today. He made film music composing lucrative for many upcoming music directors and with the help of his strong legal team pushed for procuring copyrights for his songs. I think he should be given his due. Right now, he’s becoming a lot more than just a musician and composer. He’s branching out into production and writing with 99 Songs, he’s directing a virtual reality film- Le Musk and he’s also come out with a concert film—One Heart. He’s becoming wider in his scope of activities. He has got the Km Music Conservatory going and he’s also set up a shooting floor and visual effects facility-ym Studios in Red Hills. From being an instrument player during recording sessions to composing jingles; to scoring music in Tamil and Hindi films; to going to Hollywood- he’s always been evolving. I wanted to write a book focusing on the turning points in his life. Your parents were some of the first people to discover his talent and introduced him to Mani Ratnam too. What have your interactions with Rahman been like before the idea of the book came about? What inspired you to write about him? It was a sudden plan. I’ve grown up with his music and I love his work. He was the only Indian artist from the film industry, who seemed intent to make a global impact. He has revolutionised his stage performances- moving from singers just standing with pieces of paper and mikes on stage, he’s brought in dancers and lights and made it a spectacle. He’s incredibly ambitious but also very humble and grounded—I find his persona very paradoxical. There’s a lot of information available on his work, but very little about the man himself and that was definitely intriguing. He’s never lost touch with anyone whom he knew earlier or been friends with. My parents would often talk about him and I would just be a disinterested listener because I never imagined myself becoming a writer one day and drawing on all this information. He would visit us once in a while or my parents would attend his closed-group Qawwali concerts that he conducted along with members from his music school. Unless I went with my parents, he couldn’t have recognised me earlier. There was an element of familiarity and it wasn’t like I met him for the first time when I approached him for the book, but I got to know him a bit during the course of writing this book. Poster of Le Musk, a virtual reality film directed by Rahman How did he react to the idea of a biography? What are the facets of his life and music that the book will be touching upon? He was very enthused by the idea of the book. I got a sense that he wanted someone other than a journalist or someone who would fit into the regular profile of biographer to interview him. He had glimpsed through my first book and he was on board. There’s a lot more to him than being a spiritual person or a composer who works late nights and wins a lot of awards-that’s often been written about. For example, his wife spoke to me about the kind of relationship that they share. He’s an extremely loving husband and father. She told me, “It’s a gift to have a husband like him.” It’s common knowledge that he does a lot of charity work. But you know, he remembers everybody who’s been connected with him in the past and calls them whenever an opportunity arises that could help them in anyway. He has a fantastic sense of humour and his one-liners and on the spot jokes are amazing. He loves technology and his mind is like sponge that can absorb any amount of information. He had to drop out of school early on, but he’s got that childlike curiosity to learn about stuff even other than music. '99 songs', a musical has been co-written and produced by Rahman How have you been finding the time to converse with him amidst his busy schedules and tours? Whenever he’s in the country, even if he’s in Mumbai, I would spend about a week with him following him around from morning to evening. So sometimes we have conversations while travelling in the car or I’d have meals with him in his house with others there. I think that most of the questions that could possibly be posed to him have already been asked and you can find almost anything about him on the internet. I wanted to observe him while he worked, interacted with others, his quirks and habits, the food he liked and his routine. I did that in Mumbai and Chennai. I have spoken to a lot of people connected with him over the years. Besides merely recounting the information gathered, I have tried to interpret them and put it in a larger context. Lot of people say that he arrived in the music scene with Roja in 1992. But we also need to see it in the context of the huge shift that the entertainment industry in India was going through post-liberalisation when western influences were setting in, cassettes were in vogue and the reach was more. His evolution as a composer is also in sync with the evolution of technology and the social sentiment at the time. In 2008, the global socio-political setting seemed just ideal for Rahman to win the Academy Award too. Were you allowed to observe him while he’s at work? He doesn’t let anyone in while he’s actually composing. Nobody is allowed to disturb him—it’s like prayer for him. But he comes back and is willing to share what went on and talk about it. He allowed me in during recording sessions though. He’s very chilled out and jovial for the most part but obviously if you mess up too much he’s going to get angry—just like any other human being. He cracks jokes to put new singers at ease. I think at heart, he’s still that boy who’s jamming with his band. There’s a lot of love and light-heartedness, but also a lot of passion. He always makes his singers feel like they’re part of a team; there’s absolutely no attitude. Was it hard to get him to open up? He was shier earlier on, but now he’s pretty talkative. He would not just answer my questions, but would touch upon various other things and I would often go back with more information than I had hoped to gather. The whole experience was just like two people chatting, so getting information was quite easy. Krishna Trilok’s biography on Rahman is nearing completion and is expected to hit the shelves in early 2018. Enanble Notification: NoTNM Marquee: No...
- 12/16/2017
- by Editor
- The News Minute
Today being international jazz day, there will be much celebrating of the greatness of its history. I’ve done that in the past; it is a great history. But it is not all back in historical times; jazz lives, and evolves, and continues to be great. Yet how many lists of the greatest jazz albums include anything from the current century?
That they do not is no indictment of them; only sixteen percent of the years when recorded jazz has existed (not counting the present year yet) are in the twenty-first century, after all, and some prefer to bestow the label of greatness after more perspective has been achieved than sixteen (or fewer, for newer releases) years.
Nonetheless, if people are to respect jazz as a living art form, a look back at the best of its more recent releases seems worthwhile. Here’s one man’s “baker’s dozen...
That they do not is no indictment of them; only sixteen percent of the years when recorded jazz has existed (not counting the present year yet) are in the twenty-first century, after all, and some prefer to bestow the label of greatness after more perspective has been achieved than sixteen (or fewer, for newer releases) years.
Nonetheless, if people are to respect jazz as a living art form, a look back at the best of its more recent releases seems worthwhile. Here’s one man’s “baker’s dozen...
- 4/30/2016
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
1. William Parker: For Those Who Are, Still (Aum Fidelity/Centering)
I have been an admirer and observer of William Parker for a quarter century, but nothing prepared me for the impact of this three-disc set's final CD, which features an orchestral composition, Ceremonies for Those Who Are Still, which ranks high among the best orchestral music of the 21st century, and I'm including classical composers. In other words, don't cringe while imagining the usual jazz-with-strings hack job. There are moments in Ceremonies for Those Who Are Still -- particularly when the choir is singing Parker's poems of life and loss and creation -- when the grandeur of the year's most fashionable jazz album, Kamasi Washington's The Epic (also a three-cd set) comes to mind, but the difference -- the reason Parker's set ranks much higher -- is that his orchestrations are vastly more contrapuntal, colorful, individual, and just plain daring.
I have been an admirer and observer of William Parker for a quarter century, but nothing prepared me for the impact of this three-disc set's final CD, which features an orchestral composition, Ceremonies for Those Who Are Still, which ranks high among the best orchestral music of the 21st century, and I'm including classical composers. In other words, don't cringe while imagining the usual jazz-with-strings hack job. There are moments in Ceremonies for Those Who Are Still -- particularly when the choir is singing Parker's poems of life and loss and creation -- when the grandeur of the year's most fashionable jazz album, Kamasi Washington's The Epic (also a three-cd set) comes to mind, but the difference -- the reason Parker's set ranks much higher -- is that his orchestrations are vastly more contrapuntal, colorful, individual, and just plain daring.
- 1/3/2016
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Radhe Radhe: Rites of Holi, a music and film collaboration by celebrated composer pianist Vijay Iyer and filmmaker Prashant Bhargava will be performed at Brooklyn Academy of Music’s New Wave Festival December 18-20th —featuring actress Anna George, and a live score performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble, conducted by Steven Schick. Preceding the performance, Bowery Arts+Science presents an exclusive Conversation with the Filmmakers of Radhe Radhe at Bowery Poetry 6:30pm on Monday, December 15th, moderated by Janet Elber, Artistic Director of Martha Graham Dance Company.
Inspired by the Holi festival, Radhe Radhe: Rites of Holi is one of the most exciting commemorations of last year’s 100th anniversary of Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Celebrated filmmaker Prashant Bhargava and composer Vijay Iyer have sculpted an original performance of live music and film upon the fundamental structure referenced by the famed Russian composer—but in an entirely new cultural framework.
Inspired by the Holi festival, Radhe Radhe: Rites of Holi is one of the most exciting commemorations of last year’s 100th anniversary of Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Celebrated filmmaker Prashant Bhargava and composer Vijay Iyer have sculpted an original performance of live music and film upon the fundamental structure referenced by the famed Russian composer—but in an entirely new cultural framework.
- 12/13/2014
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
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