The Abaqondise Brothers - Kobanga Te

(Click on the left button - Turn up the volume on your computer - Wait for the sound file to load.)



Text: "Kobanga te , ibe kanta la" - "Hab' keine Angst, es gibt jemand, der passt gut auf dich auf." - "Don't be afraid, someone is watching over you."

Die südafrikanische Gruppe Abaqondise wird in ihrer Heimat bereits als die Nachfolger der weltberühmten und wesentlich mehr kommerziellen "Ladysmith Black Mambazo" angesehen.

Ihre rhythmischen Lieder mit den unnachahmlichen Klängen gehen einem sofort ins Blut.

"Abaqondise" bedeutet Freundschaft in der Xhosa-Sprache und man fühlt es deutlich. Es kommt in ihren Auftritten und in ihrer CD mit dem Titel "Kobanga Te" die ganze Lebensfreude Afrikas zum Ausdruck.

"Rhythmus hat keine kulturellen und sozialen Grenzen. Rhythmus kann von jedem Menschen erfahren werden."

.

Music For Your Eyes

~ ~ ~
Enter a new Dimension of Sight and Sound

This is a unique multi-media fusion of computer-generated 3D animations and audio, based on MIDI music which is processed to simultaneously drive the audio and the on-screen visualization. As we hear the sounds, generated with software synthesizers, we see each virtual instrument in the act of producing them.

.

A Tribute to TONY VAUGHAN by Ana Elsner

:

On the night of September 27, 2008, the San Francisco literary community lost one of its most forthright, giving, gentle and beloved members, the poet, artist and musician

Tony Vaughan
(July 14, 1947 - September 27, 2008).

Cancer struck him down and took him from us, but his courageous spirit and his compassion for all living things lives on in his legacy of poems and paintings and in the hearts of all who knew him. We publish here a poem that was written by his fellow poet ANA ELSNER and is a tribute to Tony, his life and work, and his sojourn on this earth.


(Photo above: Tony Vaughan performs at the UCSF Cancer Center, Healing Garden Music Series)
::

TONY VAUGHAN
by Ana Elsner


so much
so much
LIFE,

so much
so much
LIVED;

hard
jabs
heart
break

the tyranny
of love and tenderness
transcended,
transcending,
and lapping
at the shore of consciousness;

this valiance
of gingerly rebelling against
the intimacy
of a merciless reality

in soft words
in gentle song
in pastels
on paper;

drifting

on a whiff of the herb,
on a whim of the soul,
on the threadbare sole
of street-corner anonymity
and bus-stop penance;

retracing your footprints,
embedded
in the un-cured clay of mind,

and always seeking by feel,
by feel;

wagering in the currency
of song,
of poem,
of shape and color,
pinned-down,

at times half-veiled in riddles
and distant echoes,

yet decoded to all those
who hold the key of
shared mysticism and wonderment.

You navigated
the un-fathom-able BEING of it all
with stubborn tenacity

while doing battle with the ever-present
specter of resignation.

You kept on moving,
kept on riding the rails,
kept on strumming your guitar,
perhaps to an inattentive crowd,

kept on sketching and re-sketching
the outer reaches
of self.

I call you POET

I call you FRIEND

I call you BROTHER


I RECOLLECT YOU


© Ana Elsner

One of the poems that Ana Elsner reads
in this video recording
is her poem Tony Vaughan
[Click image above to play video]

-:-

At a gathering of friends Ana Elsner reminisces:

"I see Tony sitting across from me at a table outside Café Trieste. I don't remember him ever sitting inside the café. Always outside, with his hat on. He has just taken his guitar out of the beat-up case and cradles it in his lap, while continuing our conversation. Then, almost subconsciously, he fingers a few riffs. He tells me about his novel and the ongoing struggle he has with it, a sort of love/hate relationship with (his) life. I buy him a glass of wine. Later we walk a few steps up Vallejo Street to where the steep alley goes down to Broadway and share a smoke. We are not in a hurry. It's only late afternoon. A fogbank is pouring over the top of Russian Hill. We shiver just a little. But we don't care."

-:-

Ana Elsner remembers George Tsongas, another poet who was dear to her.

.

Visual Vibrations

:

Here is a treat for both eye and ear:



Description:
_______________

This a multi-media fusion of computer-generated 3D animations and audio, based on MIDI music which is processed to simultaneously drive the audio and the on-screen visualization. As we hear the sounds, generated with software synthesizers, we see each virtual instrument in the act of producing them from beginning to end.

Enjoy!

.

Hikikomori by Shahar Golan

© Shahar Golan
From 'Almost Finished'
(via Frgdr)

Hikikomori, a Japanese term for "acute social withdrawal" is a noun that describes both the problem and the person suffering from it and is also an adjective, like "solitary"). It defines a societal group of reclusive individuals, primarily young Japanese males, who feel uncomfortable in public, are suffering from social anxiety, and have chosen to withdraw from normal life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement in small spaces. This seclusion and lack of interpersonal stimulus results in the gradual loss of the social skills and reference points that are necessary to integrate and interact with the outside world.

[Read the NY Times Article about Hikikomori and their families, by Maggie Jones]



-About the Poet-

Shahar Golan was born and lives in Israel. He is an emerging photographer and digital artist and recent graduate of the Musrara School of Art in Jerusalem who decided to leave a comfortable IT position in order to fulfill his lifelong passion for poetry and the arts.
In July of 2007, Shahar Golan published his first book titled 'Almost Finished'. It includes mainly Hebrew poems and short stories.

-:- -:- -:- -:- -:- -:- -:-


[Check out Other Voices]


.

Mustapha Tirkaa Cek a bu cekrudh

Mustapha Tirkaa is a young and dynamic star of Arabic Chaabi (popular) music also known as Chaâbi, Sha-bii, or Sha'bii. Chaabi comes in numerous varieties which are descended from the multifarious forms of Moroccan and Algerian folk music. These songs are characterized by a swift rhythmic beat accompanied by syncopated clapping. Lately, a new generation of vocal artists and bands is experimenting with incorporating western elements such as rap and hip-hop.

presenting:
Cek a bu cekrudh
(via NODAR - Berlin, Germany)

[Note: The link opens the Adobe Flash Player and runs the x-shockwave-flash application. It will open in a new window. To activate hit > play button. To stop anytime hit the pause button or close the window. If you don't have this player installed or if you have the Adobe player blocked you will not be able to receive this audio file.]


CROSS CULTURAL OUTLINE
is dedicated to showcasing
newly emerging and groundbreaking World-Music
that is not as yet well known internationally.

.

Pavarotti unparalleled

The World of Music Mourns



A Reflection about a Man
and his Voice

By Ana Elsner


Luciano Pavarotti (October 12, 1935 – September 6, 2007), the world-famous Italian tenor, was one of the most charismatic, talented and celebrated vocal artists of opera stage and concert stage alike. Born in Modena, Italy, Pavarotti studied voice and gave unpaid recitals for several years before embarking on a professional singing career that proved to be of stellar proportions. In 1961 he made his opera debut as Rodolfo in 'La Boheme' in the footlights of a small regional Italian opera house.

Soon he debuted at the most distinguished opera houses of Europe and eventually became a beloved regular in the international world of opera and concert, garnering the affections of thousands of devoted fans.
His perfect pitch and the unique brilliance and deeply resonant beauty of his voice, reaching far into the upper register, earned him the title of "King of the High Cs" and made him one of the most successful recording stars.

Pavarotti, like no other, brought his signature arias and brilliant performances, previously limited to the trained ears of the opera crowd, to a far wider audience.

Hearing him sing, one cannot help but open one's heart to the man and his voice.

Beyond his fame as a tenor, he is noted and remembered as a humanitarian hero for his tireless charity work, raising millions for hunger, HIV/AIDS and refugee issues and for countless other charitable causes.

This is a man who was large in life.
His legacy is and will always be larger than life.

Pavarotti passed away in the early morning hours of September 6, 2007, from pancreatic cancer. He is survived by his first and his second wife and by four daughters.

Many tears will be shed in his memory.


Pavarotti in his own words:

"I think an important quality that I have is that if you turn on the radio and hear somebody sing, you know it’s me. You don’t confuse my voice with another voice."

"I think a life in music is a life beautifully spent."

[See also: 'Luciano Pavarotti Is Dead at 71' by Bernard Holland of the NY Times]

.