Ravish Momin

(click on photo to enlarge)

We had an amazing tour of Mexico!!  I opted for a ‘brassy’ version of Trio Tarana, and took Rick Parker (trombone) and Aakash Mittal (Alto Saxophone) with me.  We played in Mexico City at the amazing Zinco Jazz Club, Centro Cultural Espana, and Fundacion Sebastian.  Then, we played two shows at Cafe Central in Oaxaca, and ended the tour with L’Arrosoir D’Arthur in Cuernavaca.

In additional to those amazing venues and audiences, we were deeply honored to have been guest of the Mexico’s greatest living Sculptor Sebastian, and were treated to amazing hospitality that we’ll never forget!  Deep thanks also to Eugenio Elias, Matias Carbajal, and Oscar Adad in Mexico City for their support as well.  Finally, a big big thanks to Yadira Castenada down in Oaxaca for showing us true southern hospitality (and the super-amazing audiences too!)

The music of Ravish Momin & the Trio Tarana

“From the Art Ensemble of Chicago to John Coltrane, from Sun Ra to William Parker, from the world music experiments of Don Cherry to the sound of the Ravish Momin Trio Tarana, from the best british jazz to the Swedish folk jazz, we take your ears on a trip around a Creative Planet.  An around-the-clock journey through Great Black Music, European or asian jazz and global sounds.” Read More…

Having worked on a SOLO hybrid drums-meets-electronics concept for over a year now, I finally decided to take the plunge and embarked on a SOLO tour. While it was frightening at first, to be all alone on stage, with no one to ‘fall back’ on, I embraced it, and went for it !!!
It was definitely difficult to categorize, musically I wasn’t billing it as a hour-long ‘drumistic’ drum-solo, suitable only for other drummers, but as a TOTAL musical experience, a live improvised DJ set, if you will. Resistance from all sides followed, naturally. In hind-sight, this music would have been better served at venues featuring deep-bass sound-systems. Well, it was a deep learning experience, and I’m inspired to keep it developing, not afraid to take chances with it.

I was invited by the terrific up-n-coming saxophonist Aakash Mittal to conduct various workshops in a few cities/towns in Colorado.  In Colorado the eastern half, where a lot of the cities/towns seem concentrated  (Greeley, Boulder, Loveland, Denver, Colodaro Springs, Pueblo, etc), goes by the name of the “Front Range.”  While college-level workshops can be very technical, focussing on the traditional and mainstream very often, I was fortunate to have been given a chance to present my unique blend of  integrating live-electronics, composition, Jazz-improvisation, and exploration of odd-time-signatures.

The clip presented below is excerpted from a workshop conducted at the University of North Colorado (on 4/15/11) , which focussed on the creative use of Ableton Live in an improvisational setting, which was constrained by a 7/4 time-signature, and a compositional form/arrangement that also relied on live interaction with the saxophonist.

I am pleased to report that my band, Tarana, was recently awarded a grant from “Meet The Composers” (METLIFE CREATIVE CONNECTIONS PROGRAM ), in conjunction with the Erie Art Museum, to engage in a week-long residency, from March 1-4, 2011.
The residency will include workshops (for students of varying levels), and concerts.  The scope of the workshops will range from discussing the role of technology in modern music, to globalization in music, to simply sharing the basics of music-making!
I’ve  never undertaken a residency of such a vast scope before, and am excited by the challenge it poses!

After completing the residency, we return to Pittsburgh, PA (my home-town!) for a concert at The Spot, on March 5th, followed by a return to The Bop Shop in Rochester, NY on March 8th.  I’ve performed in both those cities on several occasions, and have always believed in returning to the same places to strengthen musical and community ties.

All photos copyrighted by Carlo Dainese