NYC Radio Live

Derek Gripper has miraculously discovered the ability to bring the dazzling polyrhythmic music of the West African Harp, the Kora, onto the classical guitar. Egberto Gismonti, Bach and Keith Jarrett are all elements of his musical DNA. We hang with Derek and he treats us to some live performances and stories of how he happened upon discovering this new world of music for the guitar. 
  Derek Gripper was in NYC performing as part of the ongoing World in Trance Festival which continues April 11th and 12th in NYC.  

In this incredible episode we capture Innov Gnawa performing the "Sebatayin" repetoire, Gnawa music performed traditionally in Morrocco for the Jewish Community.  They performed this for the end of Passover at Greenwich House Music School as part of the UNCHARTED concert series. The Jewish presence in Morocco dates back to over 2,500 years ago and upon interaction with the gnawa community, a bond formed over appreciation for gnawa music and its healing powers. Gnawa music pre-dates Islam and originally centered around animistic, spiritual, mystical concepts sung in sub-Saharan languages such as Bambara, Fulani and Sudani. Upon embracing Islam, gnawa songs began to incorporate Arabic language and themes around the Muslim prophets. Sebitiyin, meaning The Saturdays in Moroccan Arabic, is the collection of songs that grew out of the gatherings hosted by the Jewish community for the revered gnawa maalems whom they deeply respected. Themes of these songs still include the original elements of spirits and the natural world, and later came to incorporate shared saints from their Abrahamic traditions. Today, it is still rare to find a maalem that knows this full repertoire so we are especially lucky to have Maalem (Master) Hassan Ben Jaafer, son of the late Abdallah Ben Jaafer, lead us through a powerful moment of unity in music.   Personnel: Maalem (Master) Hassan Ben Jaafer - vocals and sintir Samir Langus - vocals and qraqeb (castanets) Amino Belyamani- vocals and qraqeb (castanets) Ahmed Jeriouda- vocals and qraqeb (castanets) Nawfal Atiq- vocals and qraqeb (castanets) Said Bourhana- vocals and qraqeb (castanets) David Lizmi - vocals and qraqeb (castanets) Uncharted is a concert series featuring New York-based artists premiering new projects or meeting with new collaborators for the first time on stage that has consistently drawn the attention of tastemakers and curators from across the city over the past three years. The Uncharted season delivers eclectic excellence in a broad selection of musical genres representing New York City’s diverse artistic community, including Mexican folkloric, ragtime, classical, electronic, jazz, ancient Moroccan devotional and contemporary R&B.  

The mindblowing Zlatne Ustne Goldenfest is returning this May 10-11, 2024  in a new home Astoria Queens! Here's a classic episode recorded during the 2019 festivalDuring the epic annual Zlatne Ustne Goldenfest, the crowd was worked into a frenzy by a rollicking set by LITVAKUS, Zisl Slepovich's klezmer band.  We get a chance to hang backstage with the maestro and renaissance man, Zisl Slepovich.  
Zisl Slepovitch (Dmitri Zisl Slepovitch) is an internationally renowned multiinstrumentalist (clarinetist, saxophonist, flutist, pianist, keyboardist, singer), composer, arranger, translator, and music and Yiddish educator. Slepovitch is the founder and leader of the Litvakus klezmer band, Zisl Slepovitch Trio, Assistant Music Director / Music Director / Music Coordinator in many productions by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, including the Drama Desk Award nominated operetta The Golden Bride (2015/16) and Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish directed by Joel Grey.
Zisl Slepovitch has taught Yiddish language and culture The New School, served as educator and artist in residence at BIMA at Brandeis University, guest artist at University of Michigan, Indiana University, and Amherst College and Vassar College, a teaching fellow and performing artist at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (New York City), Vienna Klezmer Workshop (Vienna), The Moscow Sefer Center, and Eshkolot Project (both in Moscow). Some of Slepovitch’s theater, film, and TV contributions include consulting and acting in Defiance (Paramount), Eternal Echoes (Sony Classical), Rejoice with Itzhak Perlman and Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot (PBS),  original scores for the documentary Funeral Season, children’s musical The King of Chelm, ballet Di Tsvey Brider, and many more.
See Zisl Slepovitch on    
Zisl Slepovitch has performed/ recorded / collaborated / worked with / wrote for Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Ron Rifkin, Joel Grey, Edward Zwick, Michael Alpert, Zalmen Mlotek, Paul Brody, Psoy Korolenko, Frank London, Lipa Schmeltzer, Yale Strom, Lev “Ljova” Zhurbin, Cantor Yaakov “Yanky” Lemmer, and many others.
Slepovitch brought over from his home country Belarus a rich ethnographic collection of Belarusian Jewish music folklore collected together with Dr. Nina Stepanskaya. The collection was used in Slepovitch’s his multimedia concert program Traveling the Yiddishland. Some of Yiddish poetry by Zisl Slepovitch has been set to music and published in Israel, Russia, and the US. Over the years, Jewish music and Yiddish culture have remained the core elements of his creative inspirations.
Get the music by Zisl’s LITVAKUS’ klezmer band: Bandcamp (also as CDs), iTunes, Amazon MP3, CDBaby, and more!

In anticipation of the Ragas Live Festival 2023 coming October 14-15 to Pioneer Works, we will be broadcasting this amazing set from 2022 featuring Kane Mathis on Kora and Roshni Samlal on Tabla.  Kane Mathis, a man of many talents, also mixed and mastered this and all the recordings from Ragas Live Festival 2022.   The radio broadcast will be at WKCR 89.9 FM-NY (www.wkcr.org) at 7PM on August 6, or you can enjoy here on the NYC Radio Live Podcast.  Tix and info for Ragas Live Festival are available at www.ragaslive.comYou can also watch a video of this performance on YouTube here.

In anticipation of the Ragas Live Festival 2023 coming October 14-15 to Pioneer Works, we will be broadcasting this amazing set from 2022 featuring Saraswathi Ranganathan on veena and Sriram Raman on MridangamThe radio broadcast will be at WKCR 89.9 FM-NY (www.wkcr.org) at 7PM on August 6, or you can enjoy here on the NYC Radio Live Podcast.  Tix and info for Ragas Live Festival are available at www.ragaslive.comYou can also watch a video of this performance on YouTube here.
 

We connect with Musekiwa Chingdoza from Zimbabwe for the Ragas Live Festival 

Bansuri maestro Eric Fraser with Mir Naqibol Islam on tabla at the 2021 Ragas Live Festival.
 
 

Hamid Al-Saadi with Safaafir
Hamid Al-Saadi - vocal Amir ElSaffar - santur and vocal Dena El Saffar - joza, violin, and vocal Tim Moore - percussion George Ziadeh - oud Zahra Zubaidi - vocal Zahra Ali - vocal Omar Dewachi 
 
Subscribe to NYC Radio Live to enjoy the full festival.

An interview with Parvathy Baul, conducted by David Ellenbogen, produced with the support of SACSA. for the Ragas Live Festival
Parvathy Baul is a practitioner, performer and teacher of the Baul tradition from Bengal, India. She is also an instrumentalist, storyteller and painter.
 
She has performed in over forty countries, including such prestigious concert halls and music festivals as the Noh Theater in Kyoto, the World Music Center in New York City, Melbourne Arts Center and the Festival of World Sacred Music in Fez, Morocco.
 
She has also collaborated with world’s leading theater director Eugenio Barba.
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She visits several dance, theatre and music institutions across the globe in the capacity of a teacher.  
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The depth of her mesmerising performance is rooted in her deep spiritual practice.
It is described by critics as “riveting” and “spellbinding.” 
 
Parvathy’s performance work emerges from a long lineage of master Baul singers, dancers, and spiritual teachers.
She studied closely with two of the most respected Baul singer-gurus of the previous generation, Sri Sanatan Das Thakur Baul and Sri Shashanko Goshai.
 
She was recognized by her gurus as both a musical and spiritual teacher in the Baul tradition, carrying forward their spiritual legacy. 
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Parvathy has co-founded Ekathara Kalari along with Sri Ravi Gopalan Nair, a non-profit institution promoting ancient Indian spiritual traditions, with an emphasis on Baul arts and practice. 
 
As per her Guru Sri Sanatan Das Baul’s vision, she has established Sanatan Siddhashram, a traditional learning center for the Baul tradition in Birbhum district, West Bengal, India.
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Recognising her unbroken commitment to the tradition, the government of India conferred upon her the most esteemed Sangeet Natak Akademi award in the year 2019. It is the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists.
She was felicitated by honorable President Sri Ramnath Kovind.

The opening set of the Ragas Live Festival 2021.  Subscribe for weekly updates with the following 24 sets...

This first live set is from Ragas Live 2020 Cape Town, South Africa
Derek Gripper - Guitar
Second live set is from Ragas Live 2020 Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Dr. Toumani Diabate - kora
Ahmed Diabate - kora
Balla Diabate - kora

This live set is from Ragas Live 2020 Rubin Museum of Art
Arun Ramamurthy - violin
Jay Gandhi - bansuri
Vivek Pandya - tabla
Kavichelvan Srinivasaragavan - mridangam

This live set is from Ragas Live 2020
Mangily, Madagascar
Monika Njava: voice, percussion
Teta: guitar, voice
Jean Piso: accordion, voice

This live set is from Ragas Live 2020 Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal
Prince Nepali - sarangi
Vibha Saran Nepali - tabla