FORRO ON THE ROCKS .....

Forro were on the rocks today . Meaning they were basically rockin it . Davie Vieira was out of town today but Aaron Johnston of the Brazilian Girls , and other cool bands around here, played his part instead. And ofcourse , rocked it !! What else to do ??

Here are some pic's of the evening ..not the full Forro in the Dark, almost , next 3 members next week....here is Mauro, Jorge , Aaron ( special guest tonite) and a pic of Forro i the dark in action . ( I know very dark.... soon come ). And some brilliant Nublu art be our man Petar !!

MUSICIANS NITE WHEN BLOOMDADDIES PLAYS !

Tonite was a real musician nite here. Matt Penman and Aidan , both bassists, Jojo Meyer and Chinas hottest drummer, Mico ,in the picture. Then more great drummers , Jochen Rueckert , Dan Rieser and Tony Mason, the latter 2 from the Bloomdaddies. Saxophonists Seamus Blake and Chris Cheek , and bassist Jesse Murphy are also in that band . It was kinda the first band out around here that started messing with pedals and making it electric in a diffrent kinda way. I think the band started playing already back in 1993. Bloomdaddies sounds to me something like an elecctric mix with Warne Marsh/ Lee Konitz kinda melodies with Led Zeppelin kinda releases all played on the above mentioned instruments. . Psychadelic but very organized and the players being so good, it just makes everything flow like its the easiest normal song you ever heard.

NUBLU ORCHESTRA CONDUCTED BY BUTCH MORRIS !!

We all had fun in the Orchestra tonite. I think it's time to soon make a new cd. There were 4 horn players, 2 drummers , 2 bassists and 1 vibraphonist. Butch is expanding the music in general . Pushing the boundries in every way , rhythmically, sonically, harmonically, ye pretty much in every sense. Like pushing art in general to a new dimension , not necessarily always to higher dimensions, although that does happen , but more to another dimension. Lots of new faces in the room explored it as well.

Here in the pic's are DJ Alexis , Brandon Ross who was playing guitar with us and Butch Morris . The Man !

SUNDAY NITE IN DA CITY .....

NUBLU vibing on Sunday nite back in New York City. Just back from the Nublu jazzfest in Istanbul , it was great !!! The fest happened at Babylon and Nublu Istanbul .We also did 2 nites of dj sets at cool lounge Lucca , with dj's Alex from Tokyo and DJ Logic . Thanks to all of you who came out and thanks so much to all staff and organizers and all the musicians who participated. It was just great !!

2800 people came out over the week to check the Nublu jazzfest in Istanbul !! . .....and now back here again , Sunday nite at Nublu Nyc with Dj Vladi, vocalist Vandana and drummer great Jojo Meyer. Raja just finished playing a great set with the percussion man from Ziggy Marley's band. Artist in residence Petar and Sarah were also hanging out . Nice to be back !!

SATURDAY IN ISTANBUL, LAST NITE OF THE NUBLU JAZZFEST AT BABYLON AND NUBLU ISTANBUL.

. More then 800 people came out to Babylon and Nublu. Vocalist from Paris Laika started the nite at Babylon with a great band including Hamid Drake, Craig Harris, Robert Irving and Jeribou.

Their set was followed by a jam started off with Love Trio and we were joined by Craig Harris on trombone , Bilal on guitar, talented vocalist Bora Uzer , Can Cankaya on keyboards, actor Ugur Yucel sat in on percussion and some vocals. Alp Ersonmez played the bass since Jesse had to go back to NYC this same morning to play with Regina Carter. Kenny Wollesen, Arto Tuncboyaciyan , Dj Logic and me Ilhan on keys and sax. After playing at Babylon for awhile I sneaked off stage when Can came and sat in on keyboards, to Nublu , which is next door, and you can access it through a door in between the 2 clubs.

Here in the pics are Laika, Bora Uzer, Love trio, Kenny Wollesen and Baris K, the doormen at Nublu . Last pic is the after spot we ended up at every nite late nite having lentil soup !!!

SATURDAY , RECORDING FOR THE PROJECT WONDERLAND WITH MASTER MUSICIANS HUSNU AND AYTAC !

Saturday afternoon after hanging out with great Turkish rockers called Duman, I went over to Husnu Senlendirici's studio to record some clarinet and kanun for the album and project called Wonderland , in Turkish " Harikalar Diyari". Husnu sounded so amazing and Aytac who plays the Turkish instrument Kanun, sounding just great. 2 true virtuose.

Here in the pic's are also great percussion man Izzet Kizil and Husnu's manager Sirac. Husnu listening while Aytac is recording . Arto Tuncboyaciyan came by and laid down some magic's over 1 track. Then Aytac there takin it easy , he just came back from playing some shows in Dubai. These guys are quite well known all over this region . The recordings are sounding real good ! Soon I'll post a track ... Kenny Wollesen and Logic were also there hanging out .

FRIDAY NITE AT THE NUBLU JAZZFEST IN ISTANBUL !!

Love Trio with Arto, Jesse Murphy and Eugene from Gogol Bordello, Dj's Yakuza and Alex from Tokyo and Dj Logic was spinnin in a cool lounge called Lucca, which was also a part of this fest . We held 2 nites of dj sets there.

Love in da house !!!

SNOWSTORM IN ISTANBUL...


It's not a very common thing here to see a snowstorm in Istanbul.
But hey , weather is changing everywhere.....but despite the storm around 250 people came out to see the premiere of Love Trio with masta Arto Tuncboyaciyan and Dj Logic. Love trio played 2 sets and it was Jesse Murphy's birthday , bassplayer of Love Trio. Kenny Wollesen was on drums and Ilhan Ersahin on rhodes and sax . Arto the magician on sounds and percussion and DJ Logic sitting in with us on turntables/sounds and beats. It was real cool, felt fresh and strong , one guy said , this is the new Weather Report..I duno about that but it was a nice comment. .Others were dancing all night long so I guess it was dancy ...and ofcourse dubby.

Next door to Babylon , at nublu Istanbul, were 2 great young piano players...Can Cankaya and Emir Ersoy. Both I heard rocked it , i didnt hear since I was playing next door. ...then the after party was at Nublu and then the after after party was at good friends Nevzat and Erol's spot called Otto . Which is a place that serves great pizza til 11 then turns into a great dj thang....


We had some fantastic dj's in the house, DJ Emekcan , who by the way has the biggest collection of Turkish psychadelic and funk from the 70's. Which is getting lots of attention around the world right now.I mean when I say collection....he has thousands and thousands in his apt and he is on his way to open a store . Dj Logic, who arrived today with Jesse and Alex from Tokyo is still in town . Istanbul great dj Baris K. Baris K was the one spinnin at Babylon inbetween and before Love Trio. Nublu records will release 3 12" vinyls of his edits of Turkish 70's funk. It's scheduled to be released in June. I will post a track here as soon as I get back to NYC , because here all blogs are closed down at the moment . You have to log into some secret websites to be able to access cause government here has shut down all blogs !!! Kinda crazy right...

awrite then....tomorrow is another day ...lots of new fresh music. The Nublu sound " the music of now "....

peace out...

in the pics you see. DJ Baris K, DJ Alex from Tokyo and his wife, Arto and Dj Logic, and then Kenny Wollesen . DJ Emekcan and Logic.

Snowstorm, mellow music and good vibes...

Nublu Istanbul Jazz Festival..... Tonite at nublu , the first set was by pianist Selen Gulun. She sounded great , always tasteful and interesting...Then as second band we had the lovely Natalia Mann on Harp and her band. Arto Tuncboyaciyan and Kenny Wollesen sat in . Kenny on darbuka !!! it was super cool. The music was so perfect for a day like today .... was calm and mellow and that harp makes everything sounds so dervishy .... i loved it !

...and there's a snow storm right now here in istanbul... Kinda crazy , its not very usual for this city.

Tomorrow Jesse Murphy and DJ Logic arrive in the morning and tomorrow nite we hit as Love Trio with Arto Tuncboyaciyan and Dj logic...

Here's a picture of Husnu . We went to the National TV's music award show, It was kinda odd. Natalia Mann with her harp. Ozan Musluoglu with his bass who played a great set Sunday nite . Other pics are from the jam session on Monday night which was hosted by a new magazine in Istanbul called drum and bass.

dont be late..
i.

2nd day at the Nublu jazzfest !! Junip , 123, Trio Mrio, Alex from Tokyo...

2nd day of the nublu jazzfest in istanbul was real cool. Cool in the real sense because the opening band was Istanbul local band 123 followed by Jose Gonzales' Junip.. both mellow , groovy and melodic...was a perfect fit. Alex from tokyo was spinnin in between and after. Next door, at Nublu istanbul Trio Mrio played with Alp Ersonmez from Istanbul Sessions, Sarp Maden and Volkan Oktem . followed by late nite set of Love Trio...this time istanbul version because jesse murphy is just coming on wednesday for the real love trio show. Joel from Junip came and sat in which was cool.. and the late show kinda went on for 2 hours or so...600 people came ....

Today we had a daytime vinyl market, with lots of vendors that had all kinds of music including ofcourse Turkish psychadelic and funky stuff from the 70's....

for now peace out from istanbul...

pics are Alex from Tokyo, Dilara from 123 , Jose Gonzales from Junip and bassist Alp Ersonmez.

M. Henry Jones & The Downtown Scene

On Thursday night I went to see my friend Atticus’, dad’s movie screening at Anthology Film Archives. His dad is M. Henry Jones and the show was titled “M. Henry Jones & the downtown scene”. I have know Henry for a very long time since Atticus and I were friends for what seems like forever. Henry has always been such a character, one of the most crazy and cool dads around. Henry and Atticus are always at Henry’s crazy, disorganized and fun animation studio, SnakeMonkey. And it gets even more fun when Rachel Amadeo, (Atticus’ mom) a film maker and another downtown character drops in. This movie screening really showed what New York was like back in the day where what Henry calls “Aggressive Hipsters” ruled the scene. Henry hung out with Dee Dee Ramone (from The Ramones), Cindy Sherman, Harry Smith and other hipsters in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Henry has been creating animation movies, the most artsy television commercials and experimental 3D art work.... all done in the East Village where he still resides in today. Henry mixes sound, color and investigates motion in his genius short films. Some of my favorite films of the night were Soul City (an artsy music video of the Fleshtones), The Three Fertnuckles ( a film based on a book Henry wrote in the 3rd grade...), Brand New Cadillac ( a great music video of The Zantees) and I completely loved his unique “America’s Best” TV commercials. I also enjoyed The Book and Go Go girl. The show was packed and what seemed like the whole east village was there. It was so packed that Anthology Film Archives opened another screening later on that night. After each movie played, Henry told stories about what influenced his movies and stories that revolved around them. This continued in the discussion after wards with DJ Spooky and Henry’s college teacher and film critic, Amy Taubin. I was thrilled to be there!
You can see some of Henry's 3D art work on the walls of Nublu...
-- Revolutionary Cat