NDNs from All Directions

Wednesday 27 November 2013

JANE AND FINCH EMERGING ARTISTS TO RELEASE THEIR CDs EN MASSE….

Greetings!  



If you are in the Toronto area...and if you are a believer that people power lies in the artistic expressions of a community, you need to follow what's happening in the Jane-Finch music scene, aka the Palisade Music Arts Academy (PMAA). Artists with skill and accolades in audio production, live instrumentation, film, video, photography and more provide the training. Ruben ‘Beny’ Esguerra, of A New Tradition, a conscious and innovative sound of Toronto’s latin and spoken word and hip hop union, is one of the professional artists involved and he is excited to present the work of his students at an upcoming event this Friday November 29th.  More on this below.  

PMAA  has teamed up with Youth ‘N’  Charge,a drop-in studio music program, training youth to produce an original EP.  Youth ‘N’Charge is a youth-driven initiative out of the San Romanoway Revitalization Association, which houses a fully operational recording studio, as well as a safe space for youth to access social services and referrals.

Those involved, create an original album to be marketed through media arts, getting a "hands-on" experience of producing and promoting their own music.  All of this inspires aspiring artists from the community to pic up the mic and pass it along.  

Get a sample here:


CDs DEBUTS ON FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29TH..15 SAN ROMANWAY CINEPLEX SCREENING ROOM...8PM...$5 COVER CHARGE

You are best to come on out to PALISTYLEZ COMPILATION VOL.2 THIS FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29TH to support and hear the productions of the artists who have worked so hard, and so persistently to see this project through. The artists/graduates will receive their diplomas and will release their debut album.  I am intrigued by this project and urge you to come out and support!  Everyone who's ever made it started somewhere.it would not be the first time that the Jane and Finch community turned out some gems for the T-dot, and the world.


Peace!

Wednesday 6 November 2013

Jungleespacegirl goes to Ithaca, NY

Clap your hands errebody if you got what it takes........... Well jungleespacegirl's back and wants you to know that these are the breaks............... enter bassline of MCs act like they don't know...nod your head....and join me as I slow down and look back to last April.


I took a 6-hour bus to Ithaca and all I got was an endless wave of nostalgia and inspiration.  Not to mention a real education. Yes, I was primarily on the campus of Cornell University, a place recently attributed with producing the smartest people in America, according to a study by Luminosity. But on one weekend, although, I did get a special tour of the archives including original documents, my mind and spirit were on a whole other trip.  One that sounded like Trans Europe Express echoing over the Bronx.  Nothing special, I just got to see the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address, some Egyptian Books of the Dead, you know, small stuff (super shout out to Katherine Reagan). 


What else happened?  Time came full circle as I witnessed the reunion of many of my childhood music and cultural icons and ambience, among lucky Ithacites in "Unbound from the Underground:  an Ithaca Community Celebration of Hip Hop Culture."  Say what?

This 3-day celebration kicked off Cornell's hip hop collection of everything from film, such as the actual reels of Charlie A'Hearn's Wild Style, to items worn in the Planet Rock video, to dj mixers, JJ Fad vinyl, vintage aerosol cans, and more, all of which were  framed and popping out with the blown-up photography of legendary Ernie Paniccioli and Joe Conzo. Imagine life-size pics of Biz Markie, Ice T, extra-large shots from the Self-Destruction video, not to mention pics of Queen Latifa looking at you.  And...a listening centre!  When do you ever get to see the grassroots honoured like this?  And on top of it, in a prestigious university campus! It was incredible to see that not only was this culture, art form, way of life, movement, that came out of nothing,  being celebrated, but with such deep respect.  I was truly touched by the university, represented by Katherine Reagan and Ben Ortiz who worked together in curating the collection, as well as the public library's authentic accolades given to the original creators of hip hop, (since griots and indigenous elders of course...) 


View of Now Scream from the balcony



First encounter with the work and the people's photographer, Joe Conzo


I was lucky to document the preservation of early hip hop artifacts, and was honoured to meet many of hip hop's architects like Rahiem from the Furious Five, Grandmaster Caz, Sha-Rock, of the Funky Four + 1, Jdl of the Cold Crush Brothers, Popmaster Fabel, Rock Steady Crew's Crazy Legs, Joe Conzo, Ernie Paniccioli, who has since become the recipient of the Universal Zulu Nation Human Soul Award, an award which has only been given a few times over the 40-year history of the Zulu Nation.  I could go on and on.  But when I was introduced to Afrika Bambaataa by Ernie P, it was a rap. No pun intended. 


For those who like to moov

What always brings me back to my blog is the link between where I was and where I'm at. The community I grew up in, with the music that pulls me, the random and rare cultural nuances that formed me as a youngster, appearing in the people I meet today. I heard that Afrika Bambaataa was into natural treatments, including ones from India. Well, my mom and him, and Ernie P have the same preferred cream for sore muscles,  ironically called moov

I'll leave you with some pics to give you a sense of the fantastic collection and celebration.  The exhibit runs til February 2014.  Plan your visit!


Many thanks again to Katherine Reagan and Ben Ortiz. Additional respects to Jason Corwin, Antithesis, Dajahi Wiley, Carol Kalafatic, Ansley Jemison and family, the beautiful building Akwe:kon and Ernie Paniccioli. And in the process, people who I've known in cyberspace and met again in person like Mr. Green Arrow and Helen Kuveke and family and Khaled Hussein El-Hakim.

Classic cds
Listening Centre:  told ya


Documenting the documentation of a legendary photographer who documented the early days of hip hop and beyond...
The Wild Style poster, which is next to the original Wild Style artwork. Down low are the Wild Style 16 and 33 mm reels safeguarded in the vault. Again, shout-out to Katherine.



The Mayor of Ithaca, aged 26 begins the unveiling of a civic landmark, with a talk of hip hop being "of the disenfranchised, but not the disillusioned."


An incredible panel called ""Unbound from the Underground: An exploration of Hip-Hop activism and social change from Indigenous and other cultural perspectives" featuring Double-Barrel Darrel and Prophecy of Antithesis (deadly,) Kiwi, a Pilipino emcee who talked and Brother Ernie P. The common thread: using hip hop ad a tool to decolonize the spirit. Moderated by Jason Corwin, comrade of many moons. 
Ernie P and Kenny Dope...I was once a house fiend...street sounds swirling through my ....and there's  Ben on the right




The ladies:
With Debrah Koffler, producer of Beats, Rhymes and Life (the Tribe Called Quest movie)
Ernie P and Carol, who hadn't seen each other in years..
Sha-Rock and I...first female emcee (not me, Sha-Rock)
Ernie, Deb and Katherine, curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts at Cornell - with the vision for the exhibit.
The sweet archetypal-looking library staff, who welcomed hip hop to Ithaca at the graffiti event. 



http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/hiphop/exhibition.html http://aip.cornell.edu/