July 27, 2006

News | Tatsu Aoki's re:ROOTED Project, with special guests Jon Jang and Francis Wong |

Here's where I'll be tonight, as described by participant/drummer Mia Park:

Made In Chicago : World Class Jazz; Asia-Chicago
Date: 7/27/2006
Time: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Chicago's Millennium Park: Jay Pritzker Pavilion

Tatsu Aoki's re:ROOTED Project, with special guests Jon Jang and Francis Wong

What do Korean rock musicians, Japanese Taiko drummers, Chinese folk singers and African-American jazz musicians have in common? They are all united by the drum. Tatsu Aoki's Re:ROOTED Project is the culmination of an exploration of Asian identity and cultural integration in three different communities. Marrying traditional and unconventional musical instruments and forms, the Re:ROOTED Project also blends the unique perspectives of older and younger generations of musicians. The concert features pianist Jon Jang and saxophonist Francis Wong.

http://www.millenniumpark.org/parkevents/

July 18, 2006

News | Chinese Lunar Probe to Kick Out the Jams |

The Chinese space agency is taking musical requests. The lunar program Chang'e (named for a mythical goddess who flew to the moon) will launch a lunar probe as early as next year and plans to broadcast Chinese music to the Earth from lunar orbit. You can vote online for one of 152 patriotic songs and pieces that represent China's many regional and ethnic groups. The list includes nu metal hit "The March of the Volunteers," Broadway show-stopper "The East is Red" and the classic slow jam "I Love You, China."

It's not the first time China's space program has launched an orbital jukebox. Its first satellite beamed down "The East is Red" from Earth orbit in 1970. And when it comes to kicking out the jams in the vacuum of space, the Middle Kingdom is not alone. NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 space probes carried gold records for the listening pleasure of extraterrestrial life (not realizing that all life in the universe would soon succumb to Apple marketing and buy an iPod).

It seems fitting that China, with its history of using loudspeakers to transmit the party line, would use music and space technology to symbolize its national strength and (by including regional and ethnic minority tunes) geographical unity. But I think that what future Chinese spacemen and women do with music won't be nearly so political... zero-G karaoke sounds like a blast.

July 02, 2006

News | Can Live feat. Damo Suzuki in Red Velvet Jumpsuit |

What more is there to say?