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Music in Dakar
Wednesday, Feb. 13 was a starry and perfect night on Île de Gorée, just off the coast of Dakar, where my colleagues and I saw Youssou N’Dour (top photo) perform in a temporary structure that sat about 200 people max. N’Dour is a magnetic performer, as audiences well beyond Senegal have known for a while (the classic live clip of
China persecutes baby; Galloway unmoved
Human rights advocate Hu Jia was recently jailed by the Chinese government. His wife and newborn daughter are under house arrest. Just a hint of things to come as China turns the screws on dissent in preparation for their whitewash Olympics. But along comes George Galloway, supposed defender of the oppressed, writing under the headline “China’s Olympics Will Light the
“Wake up, good morning, this is Dakar calling”
[From the lyrics to “Wake Up (Africa Calling),” by Youssou N’Dour.] This was the view from my hotel window on the dreary jet-lagged morning after arrival in Dakar (click to enlarge). My impressions of the city quickly grew more positive, although the grinding poverty to be found in this, a cosmopolitan hub in one of Africa’s most stable democracies, gives
Out of Africa
I’m just back from Senegal, after a long and nearly sleepless haul on trains, planes, automobiles back to Philadelphia. The plane may have landed, but my brain has not. I’ll post details of the trip in the coming days after I’ve sorted them out. Meanwhile, I thought I’d post this hasty pic of a North Korean tanker in the port
On Pat Metheny
I have the featured CD review — Pat Metheny’s Day Trip — in the March issue of Jazz Times. Leaving town now, back on February 15. But watch this space; I might be able to post while away.
Housekeeping and departure…
I’m leaving imminently for a brief trip to Dakar, Senegal, where I’ll be part of a press contingent learning about Youssou N’Dour’s micro-credit initiative called Birima. This is modeled of course on the Nobel Peace Prize-winning efforts of Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, whose concept of the “social business entrepreneur” is very much worth checking out. Yunus’s explanation of his Grameen
The week on disc (12)
In case you missed the last one… Matt Davis’s Aerial Photograph, Before the Stars Burn Out (Vandolah Sounds, 2006)Howard Alden & Ken Peplowski, Pow-Wow (Arbors)Mark O’Leary, On the Shore (Clean Feed) Herb Robertson NY Downtown Allstars, Real Aberration (Clean Feed) Paul Hanson, Frolic in the Land of Plenty (Abstract Logix) Ryan Blotnick, Music Needs You (Songlines)
Head scarf drama
Turkey’s parliament has lifted the ban on womens’ head scarves in universities, a politically fraught move that nonetheless should be welcomed. “Secular” protesters are taking to the streets with their flags and fervor, which is why I put “secular” in quotes — these folks are under the sway of a competing religion, Kemalism, the near-deification of Kemal Ataturk and the