MFM Presents “Music Is Essential,” a Zoom Roundtable Discussion Among MFM Members – Musicians with a Deep Connection to African Music – Speaking on the Value of Studying Music in Africa.

Date: Monday, October 7^th, 2024

Time: 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm. ET
Venue: ZOOM                        

Ticket: $5 for non-members

Register and pay here: t.b.a.

Zoom Host and PR Campaign Manager: Adam Reifsteck

I don’t want to jive you here tonight. I want you to look at me at something you have never seen before. Because 99% of the information you hear about Africa is WRONG.” Fela Kuti

Event Description:

This event is produced by MFM President Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi aka SoSaLa and the round table host will be David Gilden.

This MFM event is the first time to bring together musicians who have spent a significant amount of time in Africa to further their artistry. The panel will discuss their experiences in Africa and deep immersion in a foreign culture, experiences that can be realized no other way.

The MFM members on the panel will share not only their anecdotes and achievements but talk about the value of learning and experiencing African music at its origin. This is why we should encourage young musicians and academics to travel and gain exposure to African culture, firsthand, and develop lifelong friendships and collaborative partnerships.

The Speakers are:

David Gilden (David Gilden has been playing the West African kora for four decades since he first heard it at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in 1978.  With ten trips to West Africa (including Gambia, Mail and Senegal) to study the kora directly with local Mandinka musicians and a deep proficiency in electronic music Gilden is one the few artists to blend traditional world music traditions with modern electronica.

ZOOM Webinar #13: https://youtu.be/qGLCGe9rRq8

Banning Eyre (author, guitarist, composer, photographer and radio producer, and Senior Producer for the Peabody Award-winning public radio series Afropop Worldwide. Eyre has traveled to over 30 African countries to research music, and especially, study guitar styles. He performs and records both traditional and original music, both solo and in collaboration with ensembles, including Timbila and Voyagers. He has written four books on African music.)

MFM ZOOM Talk Event #7: https://youtu.be/NmboReIcpUU

MFM ZOOM Webinar #5: https://youtu.be/JjAOyIIUnII

MFM ZOOM Webinar #9: https://youtu.be/Rq_tNqf2r8o

MFM Podcast: https://mfmspeaksout.simplecast.com/episodes/banningeyre-efhQKoA_

Sylvain Leroux (a saxophonist, flutist, band leader: and player of the Fula flute (tambin) who brought traditional West African music to Zankel Hall with his Fula Flute Ensemble and curated the Griot Summit series that featured 25 New York City area griots from five countries. He has played with many Guinean stars, such as Sekouba Kandia Kouyate, Mbady Kouyate, Lama Sidibe, Missia Saran Diabate; and Abdoulaye Diabate. He invented and patented the “chromatic tambin” that brought the traditional instrument into full chromatic functionality. This led him to initiate L’Ecole Fula Flute, a music literacy project in Guinea, an effort that contributed to a revival of the instrument in Guinea. Several excellent young artists have emerged from the program. His 2002 cult record Fula Flute stimulated a worldwide interest in the instrument.

MFM ZOOM Talk Event #7: https://youtu.be/NmboReIcpUU

MFM Podcast: https://mfmspeaksout.simplecast.com/episodes/sylvian-leroux-D48wf1Gl

Royal Hartigan (percussionist, pianist, tap dancer, educator, activist, and author. His connection to Africa began in 1981 and he has been to Ghana over 20 times, often bringing students to learn firsthand the cultural visions and music/dance expressions of the people. He was a visiting faculty and J. William Fulbright scholar to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumase (Ghana) from 2013-15.
He has done 3 films related to West Africa, written 5 books on aspects of African music, numerous CDs and videos (at his royalhartigan youtube channel/africa), and performed there with jazz ensembles, including his blood drum spirit quartet, with master drummers and dancers form the Eve, Ga, Asante, Dagara, and Dagbamba peoples.

He has produced an award-winning film, We Are One, directed by Sara Pettinella, from his blood drum spirit 2015 and 2017 tours of Ghana, sponsored by the U.S. State Department. Its theme is the historical, musical, and personal connections between African music and jazz, and by extension, the world’s peoples.

MFM Zoom Webinar #8: https://youtu.be/hyMiF0GMcj0

MFM ZOOM Webinar #15: https://youtu.be/PzNUCApgmYQ

Duke Amayo (Nigerian musician, singer, and composer who grew up in Fela’s Lagos neighborhood and former frontman of the Brooklyn Afrobeat band Antibalas for 23 years. He composed and performed on the GRAMMY nominated “Antibalas Fu Chronicles” album for “Best Global Music Album of the Year” 2021.)

Noel Smith (saxophonist and audio engineer. He spent 1972-1973 working in Lagos, Nigeria, assembling and running a multitrack studio owned by Cream drummer Ginger Baker. Smith worked with top musicians, mostly Fela Kuti and his Africa 70 band; and recorded some iconic songs in that era, including “Lady” and “Shakara (Oloje).”)