Diamanda Galas - " Gloomy Sunday "

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Diamanda Galás (born August 29, 1955) is a Greek American born avant-garde performance artist, vocalist, keyboardist, and composer.

Known for her expert piano as well as her distinctive, operatic voice, which has a three and a half octave range, Galás has been described as "capable of the most unnerving vocal terror" .Galás often shrieks, howls, and seems to imitate glossolalia in her performances. Her works largely concentrate on the topics of suffering, despair, condemnation, injustice and loss of dignity. She has worked with many avant-garde composers, including Iannis Xenakis, Vinko Globokar and John Zorn. ( Wikipedia )

"Saint Of The Pit" - Part 2 (Mute Records, 1986) (Restless, 1989) - Phoenix/Nomadism TV
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Jason Hawkes' Aerial Night Photography : New York and Las Vegas .

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The legendary photographer Jason Hawkes sharing at Boston.com some of his latest images of American cities seen from above at night: New York City and Las Vegas , both cities that undergo significant transformations after the sun goes down.

Jason Hawkes says: ..." We flew from heights of just over 500 ft up to 2,500-ft with no doors on, it was very very cold. The images of Las Vegas were shot for a separate project, using a range of helicopters .... ″.

Check out Hawkes’ newly-released book “London at Night”. A book of his New York at night photos is due for publication in the Autumn. Captions provided by the photographer.

Posted by Siarhei Karotki, " www.theblogismine.com "

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Dafnis Prieto Sextet

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"Taking the Soul for a Walk", New Album released by Dafnison Music, 2008.

Born and trained in Cuba, Dafnis Prieto is a drum virtuoso, a masterful composer, and a rising star on the international jazz scene. His driving, mesmerizing music, which twists folk motifs into next-generation Latin jazz, is widely respected for its sophistication, its structural and harmonic complexity, and its polyrhythmic punch. His accomplished sextet includes Peter Apfelbaum (sax), Ralph Alessi (trumpet), Felipe Lamoglia (sax), Manuel Valera (piano), and Charles Flores (bass).

Dafnis Prieto, drummer and professor of Percussion at the New York University's Steinhardt School, master class videos in Latin percussion .

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Susan Hauptman's Self portraits

Susan Hauptman’s haunting self-portraits repeatedly explore the theme of identity while demonstrating her technical mastery of drawing. For the past twenty years, she has focused almost exclusively on self-representation, documenting the aging process with attentive honesty. Her surreal use of light and color, the large scale, and juxtaposition of symbolic elements produces psychologically charged portraits.

The Artist

A native of Michigan, Susan Hauptman is one of America’s most sought-after teachers of drawing, and conducts workshops throughout the States. She has had two solo exhibits in New York’s Forum Gallery, is the recipient of numerous awards, and her work is the subject of many articles. She has work in major collections in the US, including the Museum of Modern Art, NY and the Corcoran Gallery, DC.

The self-portraits were begun in the early 1980’s as a communiqué for her husband while they were living on opposite sides of the country. Over the past 20 years, they have unfolded as a chronicle of her identity as a woman, and of the aging process that most people prefer to ignore rather than document. ( Avampato online Gallery )

Reblogged from " Figuration Feminine "

Kasai Allstars "Mbuji Mayi"

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Kasai Allstars filmed in Kinshasa during the recording of the album "In the 7th moon, the chief turned into a swimming fish and ate the head of his enemy by magic". Posted by "CrammedDiscs "

Using a spectacular mixture of traditional acoustic instruments, electric guitars, distortion-laden thumb pianos and soulful vocals, Kasai Allstars is a collective revolving around 25 musicians all based in Kinshasa, DR Congo, but originating from five different ethnic groups, each with their own language and musical tradition.

Kasaï Allstars' music is powerful and sophisticated, driving and raw. Compared to Konono N°1 (whose minimal and effective sound has been massively adopted by the international electronica, world music and alternative rock scenes), Kasai Allstars use a broader array of instruments & textures, and wilder, more complex, polyrhythms. They often sound like some kind of retro-futurist primeval rock band. ( Crammed Discs )

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Arild Andersen - Hyperborean (live, Til Radka, 2009)

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Composed by Arild Andersen. From the concert "Til Radka" (tribute concert to Radka Toneff), August 10, 2009, at the Opera House during Oslo Jazz Festival, Norway. Arild Andersen, double bass, with Elin Rosseland, vocal, Arve Henriksen, trumpet and vocal, Steve Dobrogosz, piano, Jon Eberson, guitar, Jon Christensen, drums, and Alex Riel, drums. Posted by kaarekjohnsen .

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