Bobby Sanabria, Vijay Iyer at the Jazz Standard

I don't usually do this, but I like them both...
Normalmente no hago esto, pero ambos me gustan ...

BOBBY SANABRIA BIG BAND
AUGUST 5TH & 6TH AT NYC'S JAZZ STANDARD
The Jazz Standard
116 East 27th Street New York City
August 5th and 6th, 2008– Showtimes- 7:30 PM & 9:30 PM
Admission $25 - For information call (212) 576-2232

Plus Vijay Iyer (with Rudresh Mahanthappa) will be playing, also at the Jazz Standard, the 1st and 2nd.

Gaiteros de San Jacinto in Queens

LOS GAITEROS DE SAN JACINTO @ Queens Theatre in the Park

Saturday, August 2nd, 2008

8:00pm

http://queenstheatre.org/08latinofestival/los_gaiteros.html

Directions:

7 train to Willets Point-Shea Stadium.

Turn right after passing through turnstile, walk downstairs on the Shea Stadium side and wait by Theatre Shuttle sign for the free shuttle to theatre.

The shuttle runs one hour before shows and returns immediately after.

Philosophers doing ethnography?

"Apparently, making broad claims about “what a person would naturally think” have finally become so insupportable that even philosophers have started exploring the possibility of actually talking to people." (Hence the burning armchair).

Link

Radovan Karadžić - Folk musician?

Link
"Dabic had deftly erased Karadzic, along with the eight thousand victims of Srebrenica whose deaths he denied and obscured. Occasionally Dabic indulged himself in some gusle folk music (played on an archaic Serbian instrument), updated with verses praising ethnic cleansing of the Muslims and Serb racial superiority."

Planned film on Haitian Revolution "lacks white heroes"

Link

"US actor Danny Glover, who plans an epic next year on Haitian independence hero Toussaint-Louverture, said he slaved to raise funds for the movie because financiers complained there were no white heroes.

"Producers said 'It's a nice project, a great project... where are the white heroes?'" he told AFP during a stay in Paris this month for a seminar on film. "I couldn't get the money here, I couldn't get the money in Britain. I went to everybody. You wouldn't believe the number of producers based in Europe, and in the States, that I went to," he said. "The first question you get, is 'Is it a black film?' All of them agree, it's not going to do good in Europe, it's not going to do good in Japan."

Latino immigrant beaten to death

Link

"The youths goaded Ramirez and the girl, saying, "You should get out of this neighborhood" and "Get your Mexican boyfriend out of here," documents said."

[The victim's white fiancée, who grew up in Shenandoah and has two children with the murdered man, said] "I plan on moving out of this town as fast as I can. Not because I'm scared. I just don't want to see my children have to deal with what their father dealt with."

"I think any time there's a fight and any time you have one ethnic group fighting another, there's going to be racial slurs," [one of the defense lawyers] said. "I've seen that since I was a kid on a playground 20 years ago, but they never called it ethnic intimidation until very recently."

Zully!

Zully Murillo, cantantautora chocoana, de la Contundencia entre otros proyectos, en el blog chocoano Puro Revolú.

Colombia en concierto - Videos sobre música tradicional en El Tiempo

El Tiempo ha publicado un recorrido virtual en video por algunas músicas folklóricas del país, entre ellas la música de marimba (con los Torres en Guapi, el grupo Ancestros de Estéban Copete en Cali, y un señor que inventó una baterimba en Santander de Quilichao); la chirimía chocoana en Quibdó; el bullerengue (en Cartagena y el son palenquero en San Basilio); y el calipso sanandresano; todas músicas practicadas por los afrodescendientes colombianos, al lado de otras músicas como la llanera, la carranga, el vallenato, la música masificada de Medellín, y supuestamente la música amazónica, pero no funciona el video. Anyway... aquí está en enlace.

FARC suelta rehenes en el Chocó

Sin embargo, seguirán con su vacuna a los trasportadores del sector:

"Horacio Palacios, uno de los liberados, dijo a periodistas que los rebeldes dejaron claro que continuarán realizando secuestros en la región si los empresarios dedicados al transporte fluvial no negocian pagos con la guerrilla. "Les mandaron un mensaje a los de las empresas, que si no cuadran con ellos, barca que cojan, barca que hunden y el motorista (conductor) que se monte va bajo su responsabilidad porque lo matan," contó."

Enlace

James Brown on the Block

A handwritten break-up note from JB goes for $2400 bucks, a red Sex jumpsuit goes for $4750 in a James Brown auction at Christies.

Vallenato = Colombia = Uribismo

Talk about cultural politicking - Jorge Celedón, Colombian vallenato singer, and George W. Bush showed how semiotically slippery culture is as the vallenato slid easily into support of the Free Trade Agreement and the militarization of Colombia. It's one thing when a music equals a nation, but when a nation equals a political stance to the exclusion of others, something's wrong.

Uf, eso sí es políticacultural - Jorge Celedón, cantante de vallento, y George W. Bush mostraron lo semioticamente resbalosa que es la cultura cuando el vallenato se delizó facilmente al apoya al Tratado de Libre Comercio y la militrización de Colombia. Una cosa es que una música equivalga a una nacíon, pero cuando la nacíon equivale a una perspectiva política sin cabida para otras, algo está mal.

Links/Enlaces

CFP: Feminist Theory and Music

Feminist Theory and Music 10: Improvising and Galvanizing

Call for Proposals: Papers and Performances

The tenth meeting of the international, biennial conference Feminist Theory and Music takes place at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, May 27-31, 2009. The planned line-up of exciting plenary sessions includes Sherrie Tucker’s on-stage interview with former members of the “Darlinettes,” Greensboro’s “all-girl” band of the WWII era; Yolanda Broyles-González, author of Lydia Mendoza’s Life in Music; Tammy Kernodle, author of Soul on Soul, a biography of composer and pianist Mary Lou Williams; and a panel on Title IX, Music, and Academic Careers.

Other special features of FTM 10 will include an opportunity to participate in a pre-conference half-day workshop on feminist ethnography/oral history with members of the Darlinettes, led by Sherrie Tucker, author of Swing Shift: “All-Girl” Bands of the 1940s; and an exhibition of feminist visual art at UNCG’s outstanding Weatherspoon Art Museum.

We welcome proposals for scholarly papers from any disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspective addressing music in relation to feminism, gender, or sexuality. The organizers especially encourage proposals that relate music and gender to the distinctive characteristics and history of Greensboro, the Piedmont, North Carolina, and the American South, particularly with respect to musical traditions, social practices, cultural changes, political protest, and population shifts. Proposals relating music and gender to current social issues, such as environmentalism, international relations, and technology, are also encouraged, but we also welcome proposals on any other topic concerning music and gender.

Proposals for scholarly papers of 20 minutes’ duration should take the form of an abstract no longer than 250 words. Proposals for panels of three or four papers will also be considered. Please specify any equipment requests. E-mail your abstracts to Elizabeth L. Keathley, elkeathl@uncg.edu. Be sure to include “FTM10 Proposal” in the subject line. Proposals are due November 1, 2008.

In addition, we welcome proposals for musical performances and lecture-recitals. The School of Music’s new building offers excellent performance facilities, and a number of our talented faculty and student musicians will be available to composers submitting scores. Proposals for lecture-recitals not to exceed 35 minutes’ duration should take the form of an abstract no longer than 250 words. Please specify any equipment requests and the length of the lecture-recital, and identify works you will perform. E-mail your proposals to Elizabeth L. Keathley, as above.

Performances may be of varying lengths. Please provide the following in your proposal: 1) an abstract no longer than 250 words; 2) requests for equipment or other needs; 3) length of the work or program; 4) requests for UNCG performers; 5) brief biographies for any performers you will supply; 6) name(s) of work(s) to be performed; 7) if possible, links to mp3 samples of works. E-mail proposals to Kelly J. Burke, kjburke@uncg.edu. Proposals are due November 1, 2008. When requested, follow up by sending a score and, if possible, a recording (CD) via regular mail to Kelly J. Burke, Chair, Instrumental Studies Division, School of Music, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, P.O. Box 26170, Greensboro, NC 27402-6170. Send a postage-paid, self-addressed envelope if you would like your score returned. Please note that no funds are available to remunerate performers.

Please direct questions about the conference to Elizabeth Keathley: elkeathl@uncg.edu

Look soon for our conference website: http://www.uncg.edu/mus/FTM10

Revista Guaraguao busca artículos sobre conflictos medioambientales en Latinoamerica

Esto de Ulrich Oslender:

"Quiero invitarles a participar en un numero especial sobre conflictos medioambientales en Latinoamerica que la revista de cultura latinoamericana Guaraguao esta preparando para salir a principios del anho 2009. Por favor miren la pagina web para detalles sobre la revista:

http://www.revistaguaraguao.org/

En el numero especial se trata de examinar algunos de los conflictos medioambientales sobresalientes en Latinoamerica que han surgido (o estan surgiendo) como resultado de ciertas formas de desarrollo económico y que han afectado, por ejemplo, a territorios de comunidades indígenas y negras.

Un hilo analitico podria ser el de nuevos ciclos de acumulacion primitiva, como propuesto por David Harvey, pero en cada uno de los artículos hay libertad para que el autor propusiera la perspectiva que se considerara más relevante y clarificadora, lo que debería redundar en un enriquecimiento del debate y una mayor pluralidad en el tratamiento del tema.

Algunos temas de interes son los siguientes:

- La construcción de presas en los Andes chilenos por parte de Endesa y el conflicto con las comunidades indígenas.

- El uso creciente de biocombustibles y su relación con los problemas alimentarios.

- La construcción y consecuencias del gasoducto amazónico entre Bolivia y Brasil.

- El deterioro de las zonas caribeñas y su transformación en áreas turísticas gestionadas por las multinacionales.

Sin embargo, es una lista limitada y abierta a propuestas.

Por favor distribuyan este llamado a participar y ponganse en contacto conmigo sobre propuestas (o preguntas) concretas. Esperamos que se puedan entregar los articulos a mas tardar en octubre de este anho."

Black Portraiture in the Low Countries from Rubens to Dumas

Una nueva exhibición abre el sábado en el museo Nieuwe Kerk en Amsterdam, trazando las representaciones de las personas afrodescendientes en los Países Bajos desde el año 1300. Son 132 cuadras, dibujos y manuscritos con trabajos de maestros como Rubens, Van Maerlant, Rembrandt, Mostaert, Breitner, y Karl Appel.

A new exhibition opens at Amsterdam’s Nieuwe Kerk on Saturday, charting the portrayal of black people by artists of the Low Countries from 1300 onwards. The 135 paintings, drawings and manuscripts on display include works in oils by Rubens, manuscripts by the poet Van Maerlant and studies by Rembrandt, Mostaert, Breitner and Karl Appel.

Upside down and inside out in the Balkans / Bocabajo y al revés en los Balcanes

View from the exit of the Zagreb train station
Vista desde la salida de la estación de trenes en Zagreb

Sorry I've been out of touch the last few weeks, I was at a conference on applied ethnomusicology in Ljubljana, Slovenia and took about a week afterwards to check out Zagreb, Croatia and Vienna, Austria. I won't bore you with the details but let's just say it's super-interesting there, and a lot of issues that are pertinent for Colombia and Latin America (violence, racialization and space, the role of religion, vacuums of institutions, and such) are also present, in weirdly different but similar ways, in Croatia and the Balkans. Luckily, there are also a number of smart and prepared young ethnomusicologists working there.

Mis disculpas por no estar actualizando el blog en los últimos días. Estuve en una conferencia sobre "applied ethnomusicology" en Ljubljana, Eslovenia, y tomé unos días después para echar ojo a Zagreb, Croacia y Vienna, Austria. No te aburro con los detalles - no más diré que es super-interesante ahí, y muchos temas pertinentes para Colombia y América Latina (violencia, racializacíon y espacio, el papel de la religión, los vacíos de institucionalidad, etc.) también son presentes, en formas extrañamente diferentes pero similares , en Croacia y los Balcanes. Afortunadamente, hay una cantidad de etnomusicólogos, jóvenes y super-preparados, trabajando ahí.

McCain in Colombia

John McCain, with an entourage including senators Joe Lieberman, Lindsay Graham, and other sweaty white men in summer colors arrived in Colombia today to, among other things, take a ride in a drug interdiction ship with wife Cindy. Said McCain: “We have a long way to go to stem the flow of drugs into the United States of America, [but] the progress that I’ve seen since previous visits here has been substantial and positive.’’ The recent report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, however, found a huge leap in coca cultivation (different from the interdiction McCain was talking about, but you see where I'm going with this, right?) from 78,000 hectares [193,000 acres] to 99,000 hectares [245,000 acres] - despite fumigation and manual eradication totaling 219,512 hectares [542,426 acres]. Oh well.

Some recommendation for McCain on ways to signal US for support Colombian institutionality, and respect for human rights from the Center for International Policy here, although McCain seems more bent on getting the conservative Latino vote - and a lot of the US-Colombians, believe me, are some real zealots for Uribe.

That this gambit with the hostages (an incredible bit of intelligence work and infiltration involved in scooby-dooing the FARC commander to get into an army chopper with 15 hostages under false pretenses) seems to have paid off is great (and lucky - previous rescue operations have resulted in dead hostages) news for Igrid, the three US contractors, and the 12 Colombian military and police hostages who have apparently been freed, but it's definitely good news for Uribe, who is clearly itching to run for a third term and will probably enjoy even higher popularity after this liberation. The irritating presence of McCain in the country through all of this makes one wonder how Uribe's vistory will reflect on McCain's candidacy and on the Free Trade Agreement he, and Uribe, support.

Tristeza en Buenaventura - Liquidación de organizaciones de base de desplazados en el Valle?

Marta Ceciloa Obando, "Doña Chila" 45, dirigente comunitaria quien trabajaba con desplazados en Puerto, fue asesinada en el barrio San Francisco el domingo cuando caminaba con su hija. Eso poco después del asesinato de Julio César Molina, integrante de otra asociación de desplazados en el norte del Valle, el 13 de mayo pasado en el municipio de Ansermanuevo. Otro enlace