Mandingo Trio is to perform at Smeltedigelen Jazz and Blues Festival in Mo i Rana, Norway, 12th October this year. The trio, consisting of highly talented and innovative artists from East and West Africa, fuses the sounds of ancient and modern Africa in a way that is has been described by critics as groundbreaking. In a spate of a short time, Mandingo Trio has managed to build a reputation as a hard working trio that always delivers. Last year, the trio performed both at Zanzibar International Film Festival (together with the Norwegian blues musician, Knut Reiersrud) and Oslo Mela Festival among others.

The trio consists of Aliou Cissokho, a kora player and singer from Senegal, Ali Jabang on djembe and vocals, and Tanzanian poet and musician Nasibu Mwanukuzi aka Ras Nas on dun dun, kenkeni and vocals. With a mix of rhythmic poetry, kora, dun dun, djembe and vocal harmonies, Mandingo Trio is definitely moving into uncharted waters in World Music. In September this year, Mandingo Trio took part in Sogndal

The Heron’s Secret: Maxine Syjuco as Performance Artist

"Modern art touches a sore spot, or several sore spots, in the ordinary citizen of which he is totally unaware. The more irritated he becomes at modern art the more he betrays the fact that he himself, and his civilization, are implicated in what the artist shows him." (William Barrett, Irrational Man)

When the heron* walks before sundown on the rice field during summer, it is like a mythic figure from a distance. The dainty steps, the delicate white plumage, the well-defined long neck with tapering bill – creating an elegant step on the carabao** sludge as though it were a goddess coming down from her celestial garden.

Gentle and placid, the heron would woo the carabao to let it ride on its back and pick the insects feasting on the latter’s skin covered with mire. After completing its seem

Jazz legend Lyttelton dies at 86

Veteran jazz musician and radio host Humphrey Lyttelton has died aged 86. The chairman of BBC Radio 4's comedy panel show I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue recently had surgery in an attempt to repair an aortic aneurysm. The latest series of the quiz programme was cancelled after Lyttelton was admitted to Barnet Hospital in north London on 16 April. BBC Director General Mark Thompson described "Humph" as "a unique, irreplaceable talent".

quote:

Hello, & welcome to I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.

In the 19th century, the docks became central to Bristol's industrialisation, and two great monuments to this period remain today - the Clifton Suspension Bridge, and the SS Great Britain. With its mighty stone block towers and steel rope construction, it's little wonder the ship sank on her maiden voyage, after she was hit by a huge paddle-wheel that fell off the bridge. In those days, clocks in Bristol and the West Country were between 10 and 20 minutes behind London, but with the coming of

Celebrated writer Charles Bukowski's last two live poetry readings - were captured on video in 1979 and 1980 and have just been released by mondayMEDIA on two DVDs: There's Gonna Be a God Damn Riot in Here! and The Last Straw. (PRWeb Apr 22, 2008) Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/bukowski/dvd/prweb875564.htm

Western Canada's Top Corporate Entertainment Agency is honored to present the Military Thank You Comedy Tour 2008. Boasting a Great Canadian Comedic Line-up of Mike MacDonald, Andrew Grose and Erica Sigurdson all of who have paid tribute to our troops abroad and now have the opportunity to pay tribute at home. This tour will deliver a sophisticated, unpredictable, entertaining and outrageous night out to all comedy fans. (PRWeb Apr 29, 2008) Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/04/prweb896634.htm

Former White House correspondent and current MSNBC host David Gregory just may be taking over for Chris Matthews once Matthews' very expensive contract is up next year. It is hoped, by MSNBC brass, that the kinda well-liked Gregory will be less of a headache than the notorious diva Matthews. But maybe he'll be just as bad! We asked for your stories about Gregory, and you delivered. As we said yesterday, his reputation in DC was not particularly bad for a TV "star." But that town is sycophantic enough to forgive a lot. So far, you all agree that David Gregory is, in fact, a jerk. Your personal stories of jerkdom, after the jump (and feel free to send more). I was an intern for Charlie Rose back in '03, and at that time David Gregory was a frequent guest, usually on remote from Washington. I would watch the less-than-congenial, highly abusive, and generally abrasive Rose do the usual pre-show banter with Gregory; whereby they'd both bask in their own sense of self-satisfaction for a while, then make jokes a

Walking home past McCarren Park in Brooklyn last Sunday evening, I witnessed something that I felt must be important, some sort of cultural shift or at least an indication of the Way We Live Now. The park was swarming with people, young people, milling around, shrieking, and blasting music. They were drinking beers outside, which is illegal. Some were chasing their scruffy dogs. Most were dressed up in crazy little outfits with components from American Apparel, headbands and shiny leggings. The men mostly had beards and were skinnier than the girls, somehow. Suddenly, a ball flew through the air, very close to my head. Oh my God: this was it. This was the famed Brooklyn hipster kickball league, in action. Now a kickball league member informs us: "There was some sort of scuffle last night..." "I only saw folks swarming on the main field, but I don't know any details about what happened." Oh noes! Apparently, the team that calls themselves Prison has been kicked out of the league: "[They've been] stigmatized si

Principles Of Geometry are the French duo of Guillaume Grosso and Jeremy Duval, two bearded cosmic hippie-nerd twins who are obsessed with vintage analog synths, moustaches, NASA videos and the woods. This should already give you an idea of what you're about to listen to. Their second record Lazare is an ambitious album that synthesizes decades of electronic music: incorporating John Carpenter's dramatic minimalism, Terry Riley's smoky loops, Wendy Carlos' synthetic melodies, hip-hop urbanism and Aphex Twin-esque avant-garde electronic tweaking. Nevertheless, there's no nostalgia here - instead, you are propelled into a future where Sebastien Tellier sings Italo luv music (a new kind of slow-motion Italo disco), MCs like Cannibal Ox and Hangar18 ride wild beats towards Wagner's Walkyrie, and Jackson meets Boards of Canada on a boat. Here, songs are like pictures -- detailed encephalograms of Principles Of Geometry's moods -- complex and beautiful geometric patterns, a poetry of the infinite. But for them, the

“Street Poetry” Tour

More Info: http://www.rod-gau.de/termine/eintrag~2320.html