How was the concept born? The concept for OneVoice was born out of an urge. I have great faith in that feeling of being moved toward something, and that is what I felt when I first encountered Samite. Samite is a Ugandan musician living in New York, and when I first heard his music I was spellbound. I also discovered that he made occasional trips back to East Africa to play music for children in refugee camps and orphanages and I lit up like a light bulb. At that time, I didn’t know how or when, but I knew with absolute certainty that this was what I wanted to do and how I wanted to put music to use in the world. Flash forward two years and I was sitting in a cubicle at Sirius XM Radio where I am the music director on the children’s channel. My boss asked what I wanted to create in the coming year (yes, he’s a good boss!) and I mentioned Samite and his work. My boss slammed the table and said, “that’s it! we should send you to Africa!”. We needed to come up with a more complete concept, and what came to me almost right away, was the beauty of connecting children from around the world through the language they so intuitively understand–music. Three weeks later, I was in Uganda, sharing music with the children at the Brain Tree Primary School.
How were you introduced to music and what impact has it made in your life?
I can’t remember a time when music was not in my life. My 92-year-old grandmother likes to tell a story about when I was 18 months old and would take out all the pots and pans from her kitchen cabinets and bang away. I’ve asked her why she didn’t just move the pots and pans to a higher cabinet where I couldn’t reach them. She shrugged and said, “you were making music”. That freedom to create without expectations is easily lost as we get older, and is therefore at the core of OneVoice. We want to remind children of their innate power and creativity. Anyway, when I was 7, I asked my parents for a guitar and it’s been my companion ever since. Soon after I started writing songs and even formed a band in elementary school. Most of our songs were called “Girl” or some variation thereof. We rocked the talent show like no one before or since.
How do you chose and find your sister schools?
For our first project, we found the Brain Tree School in Uganda through Samite. He had visited there before, and when I told him I was planning on a trip to Uganda, he insisted that I go there. They already had a sister school in Bryn Mawr, PA. The Shipley School had been pen pals with Brain Tree and had raised some money for them as well, helping them to build a library, among other things. So, I thought that a beautiful way to deepen that relationship would be through music. As for our upcoming project in 2011, things will work a little differently. We came into contact with the Shepherds Jr. School in Arusha, Tanzania though another non-profit called Epic Change, which will be partnering with us this Fall. We will be visiting and sharing music with them in September, but instead of connecting them with just one school in the U.S., our intention is to connect them with many. We will launch a project-specific website to contain all the music and videos from Tanzania, and then invite schools from all over the U.S. and beyond to contribute their own songs and videos of gratitude and love. We may even connect some of the schools one-on-one via skype! Then we will invite the U.S. schools to create fundraisers around their songs of gratitude in order to help build a secondary school for the children in Arusha. The beauty for me is that these children–all over the world–will be creating a school through the power of their own voices.
What have you learned so far in this journey?
Humility. I have learned not to assume that I know what the world needs or how our work will get done. Ask (every day) how I can serve and then devote myself to that. OneVoice, at it’s core, is not about me or our team or even our donors. It is about children and the truth and beauty found in their creative sparkle.
What are your future goals and how do you define success?
Wow. I have no idea (I’m sure that’s not an approved answer in the non-profit President’s handbook). But truly, as I said earlier–to assume I know how this is going to go is just hubris. Our plan is to embark on two projects for 2012–one in the Spring and one in the Fall. There are things I can see, such as the potential to include technology partners such as Skype or Cisco, and we have had some preliminary discussions about that. But my guess is what actually ends up happening next will be more exciting than any plans I can make. As far as success is concerned, a writing from the Talmud occurs to me: “to save one life is to save the world entire”. Music can transform a life. It certainly has transformed mine, and continues to do so.
“This one-man Middle East peace accord makes music that is an ambitious celebration of multicultural diversity. The ethnic elements are cleverly rewired with modern grooves to create an ambient journey that thrillingly bridges the traditional and the modern.”–The Times (London, UK)
The architect of this unique recording project, is keyboardist, producer and composer Idan Raichel. Originally from Kfar Saba,Israel, a small city near his current home of Tel Aviv, Idan was born in 1977 to a family with Eastern European roots, and although music was an important part of his upbringing, his parents did not place much emphasis on performing music from his particular cultural background. “I think the fact that I didn’t have strong family musical roots is what made me be very open to music from all over the world,” says Idan.
He started playing the accordion at the age of nine, and even at this young age was attracted to the exotic sounds of Gypsy music and tango. As a teenager, Idan began playing keyboards, and studied jazz in high school, honing his skills at improvisation and working with other musicians. In Israel, military service is mandatory for all young men and women, and at 18 Idan was conscripted into the Israeli army. Rather then heading to the front lines in this volatile region, Idan joined the Army rock band and toured military bases performing covers of Israeli and European pop hits. As the musical director of the group, he became adept at arrangements and producing live shows, making his Army experience productive and positive.
After completing his service, Idan started working as a counselor at a boarding school for immigrants and troubled youth. Notably, the school was filled with young people from Ethiopia who were part of Israel’s growing community of Ethiopian Jews. Idan developed friendships with members of the Ethiopian community and began to explore Ethiopian music and culture. He started going to Ethiopian bars and clubs and soon was invited to Ethiopian synagogues, weddings and ceremonies. Meanwhile, Idan had become a successful backup musician and recording session player for some of Israel’s most popular musicians. He decided it was time to pursue a project that reflected his musical ideals, and began working on a demo recording in a small studio he set up in the basement of his parent’s home. Idan invited over 70 of his friends and colleagues from Israel’s diverse music scene to participate in the recordings. He never expected his musical experiments to turn him into Israel’s biggest musical phenomenon in recent memory.
CONCERNING CHANGE
The Idan Raichel Project burst onto Israel’s music scene in 2002, changing the face of Israeli popular music and offering a message of love and tolerance that resonated strongly in a region of the world where headlines are too often dominated by conflict. With an enchanting blend of African, Latin American, Caribbean and Middle Eastern sounds coupled with sophisticated production techniques and a spectacular live show, the Idan Raichel Project has become one of the most unexpected success stories in Israeli music history…
“To say that everything that has happened was the fulfillment of a dream would imply that I even dreamed that any of this could happen,” notes the humble Raichel, whose rise to fame was as much a shock to him as it was the skeptical Israeli music industry executives who said his multilingual, cross-cultural fusions would never find mainstream acceptance.
In 2008, The Idan Raichel Project released the album Within My Walls (Bein Kirot Beiti) in Israel to tremendous acclaim. The album is to be released worldwide outside of Israel by Cumbancha in early 2009. Much of Within My Walls was recorded over the past few years while Idan was on tour, during recording sessions in hotel rooms, backstage dressing areas, private homes and other impromptu settings. His poetic lyrics reflect these travels and contemplations; sung in Hebrew, Moroccan Arabic, Spanish, Cape Verdean Creole and Swahili, the songs address the struggle for personal fulfillment and the true meaning of love in a conflicted and complex world.
For Within My Walls, Idan recorded and co-wrote songs with Colombian singer Marta Gómez, Cape luminary Mayra Andrade and the silken-voiced Somi of Rwandan and Ugandan heritage. Inspired by the lush, moody strings of Nick Drake, Idan assembled a 24-piece orchestra and worked with Israeli arranger Assaf Dar to transpose his engaging melodies into an orchestral format. Idan also invited some of his favorite musicians, such as Middle Eastern percussionist Zohar Fresco, traditional flute and woodwinds specialist Eyal Sela, Mark Eliyahu on kamancheh (a traditional Persion fiddle), and legendary bassist Alon Nadel to lend their talents to the recording. The result is a deeply moving recording, overflowing with rich melodies, engaging poetry, stunning vocal performances and intricate arrangements.
The album’s title track follows, featuring Idan on vocals. With its lyrics dealing with walls and the way they simultaneously protect and isolate people, it is easy to interpret the song as a commentary on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but Idan denies any overt political agenda in his songs. “I have a strong political view about the situation in Israel,” he points out, “But I refuse to say what I think about it because I still see myself as a representative for the musicians and singers of the Project in and out of Israel. We may have opposing viewpoints, but we can relate on an artistic level, and I don’t want differences of opinion on politics to come between us.”
However, Idan does admit “You cannot close people in walls. They’ll immediately want to break them. Even if you have a kid and you want him to stay away from something, you don’t build a wall around him to force him to stay away, you just explain to him why it’s important to stay away from this. If you just build a wall and say to stay away, he will break the wall and want to get there anyway.”
With the release of Within My Walls, the Idan Raichel Project embarked on their next great adventure by bringing their music to an even wider audience across the globe. The album released by Cumbancha, a record label founded by Jacob Edgar, the longtime head of the A&R and music research at Putumayo. Dedicated to presenting exceptional artists from around the world to a wider audience, Cumbancha has worked closely with the Idan Raichel Project since it released their eponymous first international release in the fall of 2006. With major tour dates planned in North America, Europe, Latin America and other regions, the Idan Raichel Project will be breaking down walls for years to come.
Sitting in a dusty refugee camp in Guinea in 2004, Reuben M. Koroma, the founder of Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, could not have imagined what the near future would hold for him and the members of his band. In just six whirlwind years, the group has gone from being unknown musicians languishing in various refugee camps to being the subject of an acclaimed documentary film, touring the world to support a critically revered album, appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and sharing the stage and studio with Aerosmith and other international stars. Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars have risen like a phoenix out of the ashes of war and enflamed the passions of fans across the globe with their uplifting songs of hope, faith and joy. The band is a potent example of the redeeming power of music and the ability of the human spirit to persevere through unimaginable hardship and emerge with optimism intact.
Throughout the 1990s, the West African country of Sierra Leone was wracked with a bloody, horrifying war that forced millions to flee their homes that forced millions to flee their homes. American filmmakers Zach Niles and Banker White encountered the band in the Sembakounya Camp, and were so inspired by their story they ended up following them for three years as they moved from camp to camp, bringing much needed joy to fellow refugees with their heartfelt performances. The film was a critical success, and introduced the world to the personalities and dramatic stories behind the band, not to mention their instantly appealing music. “As harrowing as these personal tales may be,” wrote The New York Times, “the music buoying them is uplifting.” Newsweek raved, “It’s as easy to fall in love with these guys as it was with the Buena Vista Social Club.”
The movie, album and eventual U.S. tours helped expand their following, and soon the band found itself playing in front of enraptured audiences of tens of thousands at New York’s Central Park SummerStage, Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival and the revered Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. They appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, contributed a song to the Blood Diamond film soundtrack, participated in the U2 tribute album In the Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2, and earned praise and backing from Sir Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Ice Cube, Angelina Jolie and others inspired by their life-affirming story and captivating music. In one of the most surreal moments of their climb to fame, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars opened for Aerosmith at the 12,000 capacity Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
CONCERNING CHANGE
The senseless deaths and illnesses of friends and family, and the slimming hope for great change in their country as a result of peace, has only strengthened the resolve of Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars to do what they can to turn their country around. Their weapon in this struggle is music, and their message, while offering critique and condemnation of wrongdoing, remains positive and hopeful. Optimism in the face of obstacles, and the eternal hope for a better future motivates their lives and music.
“It’s been a long struggle out of the war, out of miserable conditions,” notes Koroma, “So now we are trying to develop ourselves as a band and be based in our country. We are really moving towards finding ways of elevating ourselves somehow. But we do not just think about ourselves alone, we try to bring out sensitive issues that are affecting the world. It is all of our responsibility that the masses are suffering. We bring our positive messages into the world so we can expect a positive change in the world. And, most importantly, bring about peace.”
For their second album, the members of the All Stars knew that they needed to prove to the world that they had the talent to produce an album that would rise above their unique story and stand on its own musical merits. After recording some songs and demos in Sierra Leone, the group went to New Orleans, Louisiana to work on the album with veteran producer Steve Berlin, a member of Los Lobos who has produced for Angélique Kidjo and many others. The residents of New Orleans in turn could relate both to the All Stars experience of being displaced from their homes and to the important role music plays in healing spiritual and emotional wounds and bringing communities together. The result is Rise & Shine, a masterful collection of songs that reflects how much Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars have grown since their early days jamming around campfires in isolated refugee camps. The title of the album reflects the band’s desire to remain positive in the face of struggle, always greeting a new day with a spirit of excitement over what the future holds.
The band will be performing at Momo on May 15th & Celebrating Sanctuary on June 13th in London.
“Hip hop Palestinian style with DAM the leading Arab rap group” CNN
“Intifada Hip Hop” VIBE
“Very impressive. Hard to imagine how they managed to make such a good record in the current circumstances. Unlike many hip hop albums, each song is clearly different from its neighbour, some decorated with traditional Middle Eastern instruments like qanun and oud. There’s humour and beauty as well as pride, anger and defiance. Hearing the album wets the appetite for seeing the group play live ” BBC Radio CHARLIE GILLETT UK
“DAM lend their hip-hop beats a uniquely local flavour with the clattering use of indigenous Arabic percussion.” * * * *THE TIMES UK
“DAM address the big issues. Traditional Arabic strings and funky breaks help punch home the message * * *”THE OBSERVER UK(more…)
Singer and songwriter Razia Said’s nomadic life has taken her across Africa to France, Italy, Ibiza, Bali and New York City, but despite these wanderings, her heart and soul remains inexorably tethered to Madagascar, the land of her birth. Her musical explorations have also been wide ranging, and over the years Razia has experimented with French chanson, rock, jazz and even smooth, Sade-style R&B. But it took reaching back to her cultural roots for Razia to uncover her true artistic calling as one of African music’s most promising talents.
With the album Zebu Nation, Razia has created an inspiring collection of songs that draw deeply on the music she heard growing up in the town of Antalaha in northeastern Madagascar. The source for the world’s most prized Bourbon vanilla, Antalaha is one of Madagascar’s wealthiest communities, although there remains a great gap between rich and poor. Razia was born on December 1, 1959 when her mother was just a teenager and not yet ready for the role of parenting. To diffuse the scandal, her mother was sent to the Comores Islands and Razia’s grandparents raised her in a bustling household filled with relatives. Razia first heard the infectious rhythms of local salegy music blasting out of the town’s ubiquitous radios. It was one of Razia’s older uncles that first introduced her to French music as well as The Beatles, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and other Western stars. Her uncle even invited her to sing the latest French pop songs on stage with his band when she was just ten years old.
Believing that her grandparents were her parents, Razia was in for a shock when she learned at age eleven that “Aunt Hassanatte” who regularly visited from the Comores was actually her mother. In fact, by that time Razia’s real mother had married a French architect and wanted Razia to join them in the West African country of Gabon. Suddenly, Razia was uprooted from the world she knew and traveled on an epic journey through Dar Es Salaam, across the Congo River to a new life and family. In Gabon, Razia discovered that the local church had a choir, but one had to be Catholic to join, and Razia was raised a Muslim. Music was far more important to her then the details of which God she prayed to, so she begged her mother to allow her to convert…which she did. Razia was also exposed to the funky grooves of Fela, Pierre Akendengue, Papa Wemba and other African artists who were popular in Gabon at the time.
After three years in Gabon, Razia was sent to boarding school in southern France, where she first started learning to play guitar. Seeking economic stability, Razia received her doctorate in Pharmacology and moved to Paris. But her passion remained with the arts, and in Paris, Razia made a living through modeling, acting and occasional music gigs. In 1987, Razia moved with a lover to New York City, and they worked odd jobs in order to earn enough money to spend three months a year living in Bali, Indonesia. Over the years, Razia also lived in Ibiza and Milan, working as a stylist, an actor and in fashion, struggling all the while to find her own musical direction.
Eventually, Razia met and married Jamie Ambler, a musician, filmmaker and advertising creative director, and he worked with her to record her first album. While Razia was happy to have gotten some of her songs recorded, the pop-oriented, English-language R&B and jazz direction left her unfulfilled. Razia had been traveling often to visit her family in Madagascar, and after she had a chance meeting with members of Njava, one of the country’s best bands, she decided that she needed to record songs in the Malagasy language and inspired by the rhythms, melodies and instruments she fell in love with as a young child. Thus began the long and challenging process of recording Zebu Nation. Work began in 2006 In Belgium, where Njava was based, but Razia felt that the only way to truly capture the sound she was looking for was to bring the producers to Madagascar to record with local musicians in the right setting. For six weeks, they traveled around the island, and discovered along the way the environmental damage taking place as the result of unfettered slash and burn agriculture and climate change. Razia’s longing to protect and preserve the environmental and cultural heritage of her homeland permeates the songs on the album, and gives Zebu Nation a powerful, real- world significance. While it has taken her many years and life detours before she arrived at this musical destination, with Zebu Nation, Razia Said has finally returned home
CONCERNING CHANGE
Madagascar is home to thousands of plants and fauna unique to the island, which is the world’s fourth largest and situated in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. One third of its native forests and vegetation have disappeared in the last thirty years, and scientists predict that several species of amphibians and reptiles found in Madagascar’s mountainous north could become extinct in the next 50-100 years because of global warming. The loss of forests in Madagascar is what galls Razia the most. “To see my country stripped like this is heartbreaking.” Her song “Slash and Burn,” is an outcry against the rampant practice of clearing brush which devastates Madagascar’s fragile soil. “What I saw shocked and appalled me,” Razia says. “I found the decimation of what once made Madagascar unique in the world: its intense, vivid flora and fauna, its forests, its very essence. I saw an entire country being destroyed.”
In addition to delivering an urgent message, Zebu Nation creates a personal, soulful portrait of Madagascar. Razia says, “The songs of Zebu Nation let listeners journey to the magical place I have always known and loved.” Songs such as “Yo Yo Yo” and “Mifohaza” speak to the richness of Malagasy sounds and rhythms, while “Omama” sends a message of love and thanks to Razia’s grandmother, who still lives on the island. “As the strife and political chaos of the country are growing daily,” says Razia, “some of the Malagasy people are turning to art to inspire unity. We want to share in that movement and tie in with communities and organizations that are working on projects for change in Madagascar.
A lifelong performer with his roots on stage and screen, Core Rhythm took NYC by storm with his fierce debut album NAT TURNER RELOADED (Voted #6 on the Rapreviews.com Top 10 list of 2006) and in a few short years has become a force in the New York Independent Hip Hop Scene. A member of the Subphonik Sound System with musical luminaries Baba Israel and Yako 440, Core’s music is characterized by powerful thought provoking lyrics over earth-shattering beats. He has performed on the same bill with Hip Hop legends such as O.C.., Nice & Smooth and The Juggaknots, worked in the studio with pioneers such as Grand Mixer DXT, performed at prestigious events such as the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival in Washington D.C., the world famous Umea Jazz Festival in Umea, Sweden and rocked crowds in countries such as Serbia, Spain, The Czech Republic, Slovenia, The United Kingdom, Germany and China. With the release of Core’s second album RONIN (4 stars from HipHop Linguistics.com) he did not missed a beat, only further upping the ante in the world of Hip Hop music and modern Black expression. As a producer Core has been making noise as well, having done production for artist such as Highwater Music artist Homeboy Sandman, Embedded Records artist Bisco Smith (Bisc 1), underground street hustle legend Creature and many more. Currently Core has been touring with Milk & Jade by Dana Leong, the Barcelona based Jazz Quintet The Marc Ayza Group, as well as teaching youth Hip Hop education workshops both domestic and abroad. Core has just released his third and what he believes to be his work The ECOLOGY this January.
CONCERNING CHANGE
My whole aim in art is reinvention. Hip Hop’s basic principle’s are that, taking substances that where once used for one purpose and then utilizing that object, concept, etc to create something, new, vibrant, relevant to the now. Art is not a museum piece! It must be ever changing, that is why Hip Hop has to me the greatest potential, its very nature is of expressing individuality and personal expression, but stresses the need for authenticity and truth. As an Emcee and Beatmaker, I take existing sounds, compositions, language and idea’s, re-work them, re-mix them and find my voice within it, dig through my past, OUR past and find my present and define my future with the hope to inspire anyone who listens to frankly do the same. I could say hey I make music to enlighten or educate people, but frankly I don’t consider myself an authority on anything, not even myself, I just hope I can nudge them to aim towards personal, artistic and global analysis because I have taken that step within myself, in my own life. I am to be an example. ~ Mtume Gant
BR and TIMEBOMB combine R&B, jazz, rock and classical influences to make original live hip-hop music. Over the past five years, they have performed at venues including Studio 54, The Apollo Theater, Crash Mansion, Union Square Park and Webster Hall. “In our professional lives, we try to change the status quo through sharing what we’ve learned in music and project a positivity and family spirit that we feel is too often lacking in today’s hip-hop music. Our subject matter is often different from currently popular hip-hop artists: support for our families and communities, critical thinking and love for fellow human beings.” They have just released their new album, “Believe in Something (Greater Than Yourself).”
CONCERNING CHANGE
While the word “change” can be a rallying cry, it can also be left too vague and open-ended, in our opinion. We believe once you decide to change something, the next questions should be “how, why, what and, most importantly, when?” In our professional lives, we try to change thestatus quo through sharing what we’ve learned in music, art and physical fitness with children and adults of all ages. In our musical performances and recordings, we try to project a positively and family spirit that we feel is too often lacking in today’s hip-hop music. Our subject matter is often different from that of the currently popular hip-hop artists: support for our families and communities, critical thinking, love for fellow human beings, etc.
CONTRIBUTING TO CHANGE
Songs performed at Premier Event
“Making it” is about the conflict for artists between making commercially viable products and creating what they believe is right.
“1171″ is a semi-autobiographical song about growing up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and struggles with poverty and crime
“Outta da House” is about parents taking responsibility for their children and preventing abuse
“Tools” is, among other things, about how a charismatic leader can lead a nation into evil
Brandi’s premiere album “Debut” won her the 2008 JUNO and she’s already jammed her CV with concerts in Japan and Haiti, at jazz festivals in Vienna and Chicago, and has performed at Carnegie Hall. It is not only her fiery bass playing and charismatic performances that are making people take notice, but also her innovative writing style with influences all the way from Mingus to Bjork.
Oscar Peterson said, “She is what we call serious.”
A native of North Vancouver, this “up and coming artist” whose career began performing in her teens with her mother, jazz pianist from Chicago Fran Jare, has since studied with jazz legends Neils Henning Orsted Pederson, Rufus Reid, Don Thompson and Danilo Perez. Presently she has relocated to New York City to study with the legendary bassist from Miles Davis’ band, Ron Carter.
Opening for top acts including Diana Krall, Dave Brubeck, and Chris Botti, and performing as a featured soloist with the Canada Pops Orchestra at age 21, Brandi has earned both critical acclaim and the title “Rising Star” for her charismatic performances. “Her music is picturesque and enticing…as she grabs the blues, dips into bebop, lays down a cool ballad…and will even have the listener dancing! Disterheft comes into her own and shows why she has been creating a stir …a remarkable talent!” – Jerry D’Souza, AllAboutJazz.com
Brandi’s sophomore disc was released in September, 2009. Featuring guests Holly Cole and Ranee Lee, her stunning new album “Second Side” uses lively, swinging grooves combined with touches of lush atmospheres with influences all the way from cool jazz to brazilian pop.
CONCERNING CHANGE
Brandi Disterheft passionately combines classic jazz and blues with the theme of change. Influenced by the legendary bassist, Charles Mingus, jazz has been an art form that historically brought racial and social issues into the public eye, and has since freed black Americans of the many prejudices brought about from the times of slavery. A powerful communicator and performer, Brandi performs original material that demands positive change for social justice in North America.
For our first project, we found the Brain Tree School in Uganda through Samite. He had visited there before, and when I told him I was planning on a trip to Uganda, he insisted that I go there. They already had a sister school in Bryn Mawr, PA. The Shipley School had been pen pals with Brain Tree and had raised some money for them as well, helping them to build a library, among other things. So, I thought that a beautiful way to deepen that relationship would be through music. As for our upcoming project in 2011, things will work a little differently. We came into contact with the Shepherds Jr. School in Arusha, Tanzania though another non-profit called Epic Change, which will be partnering with us this Fall. We will be visiting and sharing music with them in September, but instead of connecting them with just one school in the U.S., our intention is to connect them with many. We will launch a project-specific website to contain all the music and videos from Tanzania, and then invite schools from all over the U.S. and beyond to contribute their own songs and videos of gratitude and love. We may even connect some of the schools one-on-one via skype! Then we will invite the U.S. schools to create fundraisers around their songs of gratitude in order to help build a secondary school for the children in Arusha. The beauty for me is that these children–all over the world–will be creating a school through the power of their own voices.
Wow. I have no idea (I’m sure that’s not an approved answer in the non-profit President’s handbook). But truly, as I said earlier–to assume I know how this is going to go is just hubris. Our plan is to embark on two projects for 2012–one in the Spring and one in the Fall. There are things I can see, such as the potential to include technology partners such as Skype or Cisco, and we have had some preliminary discussions about that. But my guess is what actually ends up happening next will be more exciting than any plans I can make. As far as success is concerned, a writing from the Talmud occurs to me: “to save one life is to save the world entire”. Music can transform a life. It certainly has transformed mine, and continues to do so.
Sitting in a dusty refugee camp in Guinea in 2004, Reuben M. Koroma, the founder of Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, could not have imagined what the near future would hold for him and the members of his band. In just six whirlwind years, the group has gone from being unknown musicians languishing in various refugee camps to being the subject of an acclaimed documentary film, touring the world to support a critically revered album, appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and sharing the stage and studio with Aerosmith and other international stars. Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars have risen like a phoenix out of the ashes of war and enflamed the passions of fans across the globe with their uplifting songs of hope, faith and joy. The band is a potent example of the redeeming power of music and the ability of the human spirit to persevere through unimaginable hardship and emerge with optimism intact.
CONCERNING CHANGE
Singer and songwriter Razia Said’s nomadic life has taken her across Africa to France, Italy, Ibiza, Bali and New York City, but despite these wanderings, her heart and soul remains inexorably tethered to Madagascar, the land of her birth. Her musical explorations have also been wide ranging, and over the years Razia has experimented with French chanson, rock, jazz and even smooth, Sade-style R&B. But it took reaching back to her cultural roots for Razia to uncover her true artistic calling as one of African music’s most promising talents.
With the album Zebu Nation, Razia has created an inspiring collection of songs that draw deeply on the music she heard growing up in the town of Antalaha in northeastern Madagascar. The source for the world’s most prized Bourbon vanilla, Antalaha is one of Madagascar’s wealthiest communities, although there remains a great gap between rich and poor. Razia was born on December 1, 1959 when her mother was just a teenager and not yet ready for the role of parenting. To diffuse the scandal, her mother was sent to the Comores Islands and Razia’s grandparents raised her in a bustling household filled with relatives. Razia first heard the infectious rhythms of local salegy music blasting out of the town’s ubiquitous radios. It was one of Razia’s older uncles that first introduced her to French music as well as The Beatles, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and other Western stars. Her uncle even invited her to sing the latest French pop songs on stage with his band when she was just ten years old.
Believing that her grandparents were her parents, Razia was in for a shock when she learned at age eleven that “Aunt Hassanatte” who regularly visited from the Comores was actually her mother. In fact, by that time Razia’s real mother had married a French architect and wanted Razia to join them in the West African country of Gabon. Suddenly, Razia was uprooted from the world she knew and traveled on an epic journey through Dar Es Salaam, across the Congo River to a new life and family. In Gabon, Razia discovered that the local church had a choir, but one had to be Catholic to join, and Razia was raised a Muslim. Music was far more important to her then the details of which God she prayed to, so she begged her mother to allow her to convert…which she did. Razia was also exposed to the funky grooves of Fela, Pierre Akendengue, Papa Wemba and other African artists who were popular in Gabon at the time.
After three years in Gabon, Razia was sent to boarding school in southern France, where she first started learning to play guitar. Seeking economic stability, Razia received her doctorate in Pharmacology and moved to Paris. But her passion remained with the arts, and in Paris, Razia made a living through modeling, acting and occasional music gigs. In 1987, Razia moved with a lover to New York City, and they worked odd jobs in order to earn enough money to spend three months a year living in Bali, Indonesia. Over the years, Razia also lived in Ibiza and Milan, working as a stylist, an actor and in fashion, struggling all the while to find her own musical direction.
Madagascar is home to thousands of plants and fauna unique to the island, which is the world’s fourth largest and situated in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. One third of its native forests and vegetation have disappeared in the last thirty years, and scientists predict that several species of amphibians and reptiles found in Madagascar’s mountainous north could become extinct in the next 50-100 years because of global warming. The loss of forests in Madagascar is what galls Razia the most. “To see my country stripped like this is heartbreaking.” Her song “Slash and Burn,” is an outcry against the rampant practice of clearing brush which devastates Madagascar’s fragile soil. “What I saw shocked and appalled me,” Razia says. “I found the decimation of what once made Madagascar unique in the world: its intense, vivid flora and fauna, its forests, its very essence. I saw an entire country being destroyed.”
In addition to delivering an urgent message, Zebu Nation creates a personal, soulful portrait of Madagascar. Razia says, “The songs of Zebu Nation let listeners journey to the magical place I have always known and loved.” Songs such as “Yo Yo Yo” and “Mifohaza” speak to the richness of Malagasy sounds and rhythms, while “Omama” sends a message of love and thanks to Razia’s grandmother, who still lives on the island. “As the strife and political chaos of the country are growing daily,” says Razia, “some of the Malagasy people are turning to art to inspire unity. We want to share in that movement and tie in with communities and organizations that are working on projects for change in Madagascar.
A lifelong performer with his roots on stage and screen, Core Rhythm took NYC by storm with his fierce debut album NAT TURNER RELOADED (Voted #6 on the Rapreviews.com Top 10 list of 2006) and in a few short years has become a force in the New York Independent Hip Hop Scene. A member of the Subphonik Sound System with musical luminaries Baba Israel and Yako 440, Core’s music is characterized by powerful thought provoking lyrics over earth-shattering beats. He has performed on the same bill with Hip Hop legends such as O.C.., Nice & Smooth and The Juggaknots, worked in the studio with pioneers such as Grand Mixer DXT, performed at prestigious events such as the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival in Washington D.C., the world famous Umea Jazz Festival in Umea, Sweden and rocked crowds in countries such as Serbia, Spain, The Czech Republic, Slovenia, The United Kingdom, Germany and China. With the release of Core’s second album RONIN (4 stars from HipHop Linguistics.com) he did not missed a beat, only further upping the ante in the world of Hip Hop music and modern Black expression. As a producer Core has been making noise as well, having done production for artist such as Highwater Music artist Homeboy Sandman, Embedded Records artist Bisco Smith (Bisc 1), underground street hustle legend Creature and many more. Currently Core has been touring with Milk & Jade by Dana Leong, the Barcelona based Jazz Quintet The Marc Ayza Group, as well as teaching youth Hip Hop education workshops both domestic and abroad. Core has just released his third and what he believes to be his work The ECOLOGY this January.
