Tag Archives: Music

Tales from the Archive: Whining, Grinding, and a Lot of Gouyad

Posted on 09/09/2015 by makandal1758

West Indian Carnival was probably the farthest thing from the minds of Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux when they designed the world’s first parkway: Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. At work on Prospect Park at the same time (circa 1866), … Continue reading →

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Tales from the Archive: Fire Dancing in the Ballroom

Posted on 02/09/2015 by makandal1758

Sometimes the line between the lurid and the divine is not so apparent. So I didn’t know how to react when Frisner told me we were doing a “voodoo” midnight show at a West Indian ballroom in Flatbush, that the … Continue reading →

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Tales from the Archive: Frisner’s Souvenir

Posted on 26/08/2015 by makandal1758

We weren’t the kind of people who stressed over holiday gifts. Frisner had come up out of a struggling community—he literally slept on a dirt floor as a child. I had developed an aversion to the annual shopping mania, and, as … Continue reading →

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Tales from the Archive: Vodou in Church

Posted on 19/08/2015 by makandal1758

We finally got a gig with World Music Institute! Founded in 1985, WMI, in 1986, was already on its way to becoming one of the world’s leading presenters of contemporary music and dance from around the world. I had spoken … Continue reading →

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Tales from the Archive: Telling the Roots

Posted on 12/08/2015 by makandal1758

How did it all start? With a wish, a worry, a dream, maybe a phrase of music? Yes, yes, yes, yes… An interview I set up more than thirty years ago gets it in a nutshell. I say “set up” … Continue reading →

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Tales from the Archive: The Spirits Rock The Town Hall

Posted on 05/08/2015 by makandal1758

I had never been inside The Town Hall before, not until today, September 22, 1989. I was impressed by its monumental aura. Maybe not as grand and elegant as Carnegie Hall, but arguably more noble in purpose than all the world’s highbrow houses … Continue reading →

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