RockOm

RockOm Round-up is a quick glance at what's going on around the world in the areas of music and spirituality...

• Swing, Africa, Swing! - "To say that music is a part of life in Africa is an understatement. In many African cultures, music has a greater significance than human life. It is often believed to have predated the existence of man and remains the main conduit for communication with gods. With this emphatic beginning, author Graeme Ewens plunges us into a fascinating journey into the world of African music." (thepatrioticvanguard.com)
• Sing your stress away - "Whether singing in the shower, the car, with a choir or a small child, “sound therapy” is linked to health benefits for body and spirit. Since ancient times singing has been considered a healing tool especially chanting and we all know that countries have created national anthems to generate patriotism. Sound can influence brain wave frequencies and promote well-being by doing the following..." (examiner.com)
• Healed by the power of music - "It is one of the most remarkable and inspirational stories in music: how Philadelphia singer-songwriter Melody Gardot rose from a near-fatal car accident five years ago to become one of the biggest jazz artists in the world. How she got there is a story of perseverance, hope and the healing power of music. Not only did music enable her to walk and talk again, it has set her up with a career many would crave." (news.yahoo.com)
• Questing After Coltrane’s Messy Transcendence - "The dauntless, combustible energies of jazz’s 1960s avant-garde have long held a deep attraction for the guitarist Marc Ribot. His public profile may involve a great deal of tact and concision — he works widely as a gun for hire, often infusing low-gloss pop albums with a proper hint of twang — but as a bandleader he tends to reach for a messier, more transcendent ideal. In recent years he has expressed that impulse best through his band Spiritual Unity, inspired by the free-jazz firebrand Albert Ayler." (nytimes.com)
• Old Faith Innovates in a New Land - "About 50 singers had gathered on Sunday morning in the senior center across the street from the Ganesha Temple, operated by the Hindu Temple Society of North America, in Flushing, Queens. They would be performing on the busiest day of the temple calendar — the first day of the festival dedicated to Ganesha, the elephant-headed god." (nytimes.com)

Today we bring you three new feature interviews with celebrated artists whose music is very distinct, but who are nonetheless connected by a burning desire to share their joy through music.

"I was given the gift of devotional song from birth, raised with the music of the temple, taught to sing and play beautiful instruments and dance... for love and for God," says Gaura Vani, the heralded musician and leader of As Kindred Spirits (which Jai Uttal calls, "Simply the most wonderful kirtan band in the Western world"). See RockOm's interview with Gaura, An Instrument of God's Peace.

The New York Times says, "Liking Brooklyn Qawwali Party doesn't depend on if you know what Qawwali is. Nor does it depend on how you feel about Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, its most revered practitioner. This is an 11-piece band... that piles texture into Mr. Khan's melodies, ultimately transforming them; it's joyous music, and this band adds all the extra fun and funk it knows." Get ready to rocket into musical orbit as we get, High on Sufi Jazz Grooves.

You could say that Sara Watkins' solo debut has been a lifetime in the making. The 27-year-old singer-songwriter, fiddle player and one-third of the Grammy Award winning group Nickel Creek sets out on her own and as you'll discover in her interview with RockOm. Watkins can't quite explain music's ability to bring us all together, she only knows that it does and that music is unavoidable. For Watkins, "Music is everywhere."

by Brooklyn Qawwali Party

BQP's Website

Paying tribute to one of the world's great vocalists, Brooklyn Qawwali Party formed to honor the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, reworking his thunderous songs for an eclectic, eleven-piece orchestra comprised of groundbreaking jazz musicians. Funky, smart, and loving, BQP captures the joyful spirit of this Pakistani folk music in a unique instrumental blend of jazz and Qawwali. With five horns, guitar, bass, harmonium, and three percussionists, this band's buoyant rhythms will be sure to get you on your feet and clapping.

The New York Times says, "Liking Brooklyn Qawwali Party doesn't depend on if you know what Qawwali is. Nor does it depend on how you feel about Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, its most revered practitioner. This is an 11-piece band with brass, reeds, harmoniums, drums and percussion that piles texture into Mr. Khan's melodies, ultimately transforming them; it's joyous music, and this band adds all the extra fun and funk it knows."

Featured Track: "Mustt Mustt"

"For BQP, the meanings of the songs we perform are illuminated within each individual performance. We're not sufis, we are jazz musicians who hold a deep appreciation for this particular music and the spirit within it. Our music is instrumental, not lyrical; we hope to allow the melodies that we play to inform us of the spirit of the Sufi poetry in the moment of performance, and are always discovering through that process." (Brook Martinez, founder and percussionist)

Singer-songwriter Danielle Howle has garnered much critical acclaim throughout her career and has emerged as one of the preeminent voices of the South. The New York Times calls her "an extraordinary mind, a southern storyteller with a gorgeous sense of melody that should be pouring out of stereos everywhere. She is one to be treasured."

RockOm is happy to have Danielle Howle's song "Foot of the Mountain" featured as this week's RockOm Featured Track.

Over the course of her six- album career Howle has evolved and reinvented herself not from an explicit desire to innovate but from tapping into an inexhaustible and dynamic force moving inside her that transpires with a grace, honesty and ease that is rarely seen  today.

Howle’s uncanny abilities were crafted from her days performing in Columbia, SC at various clubs and night-spots serving the students of the University of South Carolina. She was soon signed by Daemon Records (Amy Ray of The Indigo Girls) and began performing across the country opening and performing with the likes of The Indigo Girls, Steve Earle, Gillian Welch, Ani DiFranco, the late Elliott Smith, Bob Dylan and Hootie and The Blowfish.

Danielle's exceptional vision and sensibility are captured best to date on her new album, Thank You Mark, which was produced by musical peer Mark Bryan of Hootie and The Blowfish. Her expression is both classic and beautiful and the new record stays focused on her unique vocal ability. This album is a pure crystallization of Howle’s essence and personality. Skillfully accompanied by top-notch musicians Sam Bush, Byron House, Tim Vaill, John Young (Spottiswoode and His Enemies) and Les Hall of Howie Day, the music is a timeless blend of Americana, with the freedom of jazz, and a little modern swing.

When not touring Howle can be found as artist in residence at Awendaw Green, a new music venue located in Awendaw, SC. Founded by a group of music philanthropists, the vision of Awendaw Green is to network local artists and bands with each other and music enthusiasts and fans. Howle also composes for the screen.  "The Station Agent" (winner of three major awards at the Sundance Film festival) featured one of her songs and Howle has several other indie films under her belt as well.

Watch for a feature on Danielle Howle upcoming soon in Southern Living magazine.