Art in Action
Welcome Reception: Beyond Fairtrade Fashion Show
November 7th
Vessel, SF.
featuring....
Damkianna Dance Company (pronounced dahm-key-anna)
The heart of Middle Eastern Dance fused with sacred dances of the World. Will perform "From Exile to Redemption" A journey through the Middle East, India and Spain. Remembering who we are. Dedicated to the Gypsy Trail.
The Tea Dancers www.theteadancers.org
We are a troupe of multidisciplinary artists, mainly dancers, with a show on tip toes. We bring inspiration to the un-touch by the art people. The company blends classical training with circus arts and African dance. The source of our art form is the soul. Childlike but imbibed with professional sophistication, nothing is left to chance. Our dance is our philosophy; it is caring, and formal, but also spontaneous. It speaks to the spirit, transforming the mind into a receptacle of fantasy, ethereal beauty and awareness.
Sophis is a Haitian-born singer/songwriter who has been performing in the Bay Area with his band Kalbass Kreyol since 2005. From Ashkenaz in Berkeley to Yoshi's in Oakland to The Independent in San Francisco, Sophis music has raised awareness about his Haitian culture and introduced Bay Area audiences to his unique cocktail of rhythms that bespeaks the many musical influences that inspire his songs, from Haitian, to Latin to R&B to Pop and Rock&Roll.
Like many of his fellow Haitians, life wasn't a welcoming place for Sophis in Haiti. But in music and singing he found refuge. "For me, music, being on stage is the only place where time still suspends today...where I truly feel what it’s like to be happy! I write and sing to connect with people and hopefully infuse their lives with a little bit of happiness, awareness and hope. That's what my music is about! That is why I do what I do!" confesses Sophis. A fan said it best when she said "Sophis music can make you cry, laugh and dance all in one embrace." http://www.sophismusic.com
~WE ARE THE BLESSING FOR THIS WORLD~
Starsinger singing the stars awake
Starsinger singing the stars awake. Liken to a tuning fork holding a divine resonance, creating and utilizing sound wave forms to move energy. As many others at this time I am assisting in facilitating planetary ascension, through Compassion, Love, Sound, and the many expressions of co- creation. The sound techniques that I work with set up a field of resonance, and those who are in the field, experience a very powerful, effect. If there are energy blocks held in the body I can see where the blocks are, and because everything is sound related, I can produce a sound frequency and literally move the block. When this is done with a large audience it is a most amazing catalytic experience that leaves one feeling elavated and illuminated.
The Global Summit Concert & Culture
Talent for Monday Nov. 8th
featuring ......
~m@o~ is the creative vision of Jason Collins and Ryan Beck, who have been brought together thru a deep love of hip hop beats, west coast bass and tribal gypsy music. Bringing elements of Arabic Oud and Flamenco guitar to new world beats and dynamic electronic soundscapes, ~m@o~ have set out upon the caravan to a once known future.
soundcloud link: http://soundcloud.com/user6695838
myspace link: http://www.myspace.com/mAOinhibitors
Bar Schectarman
developed a technique of sculpturing that imprints the experience of a “happening” in clay. In the process, he brings internal landscapes and architectures into the here and now of the moment.
In contemporary English, the suffix "scape" has detached itself from "land" and reattach itself to the idea of place/space internal as well as external, real as well as metaphorical: landscape, mindscape, soundscape, timescape etc. "-Scape" has a hint of capturing a whole of an experience/idea in a single representation. It suggests an open viewpoint between perspective and the horizon and allows us to point to the fluid, irregular shapes within this representation.
Terms with the common suffix -scape also indicate that these are not objective relations which look the same from every angle of vision but, rather, representations of a predefined perspective which may be influence by the personal, historical, or even political domains. This “sculpturing event” in music, time, space, audience – captures-defines-creates - my ClayScape.
Patrick Cress
Graduating with a bachelor’s in music at the University of Michigan in 1998, Cress has performed and composed with dance for over a decade. He started by forming his own music and dance improvisation company, the Pax Ensemble, at the University of Michigan in 1998. Since then, he has been muscic director for Dandelion Dancetheater’s Undressed Phase II and Octagon. In those experiences, and other cameos including Kunst-Stoff, Kara Davis’ Improv. Jam, and with Ledoh’s Salt Farm, Cress has performed or created scores to accompany a wide variety of choreography.
Using live loops and effects and two-decades of acoustic alto and baritone saxophone experience, Cress has performed in numerous electronic incarnations. In addition, Cress helps lead the Acá trio, an orignial ambient, experimental ensemble. He has also performed with Bulkleycress, an electro-acoustic duo that combines two intuitive improvisers who have worked together since March 2002.
Cress has played with an eclectic array of notable musicians and artists over the years including the String Cheese Incident, John Clayton, Nancy Ostrovsky, Scott Amendola, Boostamonte, Disappear Incompletely, John Shifflet, Tim Bulkley, and Aaron Novik. He has also lead or co-directed many ensembles in the Bay Area since 2002, including Telepathy, Ah LaRocca, Bulkleycress, Blicker, Acá, and Mercury Falls.
Cress’ compositions will appear on three 2008-09 recordings. Telepathy will release their fourth album of all new, original material recorded live at three different venues. Ryan Francesconi and Patrick Cress will release a debut record called Mercury Falls, combining the ambient/pop sounds of RF with the jazz/indie rock music of Patrick Cress. Blicker, an Indie rock/experimental project, is set to release their first album this Winter. http://www.telepathicmusic.net/
Tbird Luv is a great integrator of many talents. Building on a solid Classical Music foundation at Carnegie Mellon University and a World Music and Dance foundation at Cal Arts, Tbird has developed an enormously diverse way of conveying music through flute and voice. Her music is a constant evolution of melodious sound. With an avant-garde approach, she’s invented an accessible global style that blends the magical aspects of acoustic, ambient and indigenous music with edgy and soulful undertones of blues and indie rock. Her creativity, ethnicity and talent reflect diversity, integration and purpose. These three ingredients serve as her passport to access life’s infinite possibilities of creating whatever she chooses. By planting seeds of inspiration through my artistic expression, her intentions are to help others actualize their own purpose and serve as a strong role model that celebrates the beauty and diversity of life. www.tbirdluvmusic.com
Mahvash Guerami
was born on May 1945 in Tehran, Iran. As a child she was fascinated by the Accordian and wanted to learn to play it. So when at age thirteen her mother asked her if she wanted to study music she thought she would finally learn to play the accordian. But since the accordian was not considered an instrument worthy of being taught at the Conservatory of Music in Tehran, she chose to play the Santour instead. At the time studying music professionally was not regarded highly in Iranian society and certainly not fit for a women. But Mrs. Guerami was happy in her world of music and forgot the harrassement she sometimes faced in the streets for carrying a musical instrument. At the Conservatory, under the direction of Ostad Khaleghi followed by Mr. Dehlavi, Mrs. Guerami florished as a Santour student. There she met Ostad Faramarz Payvar who was her Santour teacher and continues to be her life long mentor. While a student at the Conservatory, she was invited to play with the Saba Orchestra at Farhango Honar (Culture and Art Ministry). This began her career with the Iranian National Television at the young age of sixteen. A shinning moment in her career as a student came when Mrs Guerami was asked to play the "Concertino", a difficult composition, as her Diploma final. She played this piece in front of Pahlbod (former Minister of Culture and Art) at Talareh Farabi. She was recognized as an outstanding performer and offered a grant by Pahlbod to study abroad. She turned down the offer however saying "My music is Classical Iranian Music. Where better than Iran to study and further my knowledge in this field." http://www.mahvashg.com/index.html
Laura Inserra
is a vibrant and talented composer, multi-instrumentalist, teacher, performer and artistic director. She is a classically trained musician with a strong improvisational background. She plays contemporary and world music in different projects as a percussionist, multi-instrumentalist and composer. She authors and performs music for theater, dance performances, exhibitions and soundtracks for movies with acclaimed musicians from all over the world. For more then 15 years she has been involved in the artistic direction of multi-disciplinary performances in Europe and in the US.
In 2007 she founded SAMAVESHA, a international multidisciplinary performing arts company based out of Berkeley but performing all over the world.
Audiences worldwide are not only mesmerized by this woman but captivated by her virtuosity, profound musicality and the passion she brings on the stage. http://www.laurainserra.com/en/Home.html
Talent For Tuesday Nov. 9th
7-10pm
AshEL Eldridge
Earth Amplifed EP out now!!! Free or Donate.
http://seasunz-and-jbless.bandcamp.com/
Seasunz, originally from Chicago, is an educator with the Alliance for Climate Education in Oakland, CA. He is a co-founder of Oakland's Green Youth Arts and Media Center and teaches music and meditation with Art in Action. He is a co-founder of CommuniTree, Oakland Resilience Alliance, and serves on the West Oakland Project Area Committee board. As a frontman emcee and vocalist, he has toured and performed extensively on the West Coast, including joining Bay Area hip-hop/reggae group, Wisdom and has collaborated with and toured with Bay Area breaks DJ and Producer Bassnectar on various recordings and performances. Additionally, Seasunz has either performed with or shared stages with the likes of KRS-One, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Zion I, Dead Prez, Ozomatli, Damien and Stephen Marley, Michael Franti, Midnite, Steel Pulse, and VP Records reggae artists Anthony B., Killah Priest and Warrior King. His second CD release, Earth Amplified, this summer, is a fierce tribute to the earth and peoples' struggles for justice. Download it now: http://seasunz-and-jbless.bandcamp.com/
Deja Solis and Agustus thElefant are reinventing a long forgotten art of male-female duo collaborative music. The two reside in the foothills of northern California where they've recently cultivated a blend of hip hop and soul seductive fusion. Deja Solis, former member of Hamsa Lila, a world fusion project that in 2004 reached number two on the world music charts, and Agustus thElefant, a solo hip hop artist who scored the music to Afro Samurai under the direction of Wu-Tang Clans The RZA, bring the alchemy of old school soul and conscious hip hop to modern electronic dance music. Their music is a unique balance, touching on topics such as love, struggle, and social uplift. While Agustus' sharp tongue captivates his audience with roll over word play and synchronictic precision, Deja compliments the arrangement with her powerful yet sensual enriched melodies. The result of this leaves its audience with a full body experience.
Naima Shalhoub
With a love for R&B, Arabic folklore, neo-soul, jazz and roots music, this soulful songstress brings a fusion of sounds to life on her baritone ukulele or piano, solo or with a full band. Naima's poignant lyrics emerge from a life of straddling cultural and national borders as an Arab-American born in the United States with familial roots in Lebanon and Sierra Leone. She has her master's degree in postcolonial anthropology focusing on gendered violence, immigrant and racial justice, and anti-occupation work in Palestine and Lebanon. Naima hopes her music will inspire social change, love and liberation.
