It’s become a tradition to send out New Year wishes from Olin Place and Funketabla. This year we did not do so. Neither the end of the 2009 nor the start of January arrived as sweetly as we had hoped. The Taliban bombed a volleyball game in Pakistan, a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, and people passed away both near and far. It was not the sort of fresh start we had been hoping for. So we decided to delay our good wishes for the new year.
Fortunately the solar New Year is not the only New Year’s option available! The Lunar New Year is coming on Valentine’s Day February 14th, 2010 and we will delay our good wishes no longer!
And since talk is cheap and wishes without will can be feeble, we are actually doing something to make this year better. We are giving away a track by James Whetzel! It’s a happy little ditty called “Days In Black Satin.” It’s based on an out-take from the Sarod & Beats album. The song began as a joke. At Remedy Teas they make a tea called “Black Satin, “ and James joked, playing off of the name of the Moody Blues song “Nights In White Satin,” that he would make a track called “Days in Black Satin.” Well now he’s done it and now you can enjoy it. For the record “Beauty” is the name of another tea they make at Remedy Teas.
You can listen and/or download the track at ilike or soundcloud at the following links:
Eduardo Mendonca is a Seattle based musician who is one of twenty Music Corps fellows in the U.S. Music Corps is a part of the Music National Service project. Eduardo interviewed Funketabla’s James Whetzel asking questions about music, its meaning and value and music education and its relationship to creating community.
Here is also a link to the video at Eduardo’s blog at the Music National Service project:
The trailer to the documentary film “Sit Beside Me” by Linda Jandejskova. The film tells the story of the Loreto school in Kolkata, India, and music to the film is by Funketabla’s own James Whetzel.
Mixed Metaphors features photographer Claudia Smith, fiber artists Bo Young Choi and Hye Young Kim, and opening night music by James Whetzel and Sebastian Lange with special guest Viren Kamdar.
Bo Young Choi and Hye Young Kim, both recent fiber-art graduates of MFA programs at University of Washington, Seattle, and Washington University, St. Louis, respectively, will present their new work. Hye Young Kim’s paintings offer an interpretation of our daily routines with brightly colored yarn applied to canvas in circular patterns.
Bo Choi will install the piece seen below titled “Second Skin” that she terms “action art”. These large pieces represent a removable skin that are the first barrier to the naked body and which contain the individual’s desire for social connection.” Dancers will wear her skins as they perform.
Live music will be provided by James Whetzel and Sebastian Lange who will perform a set of sarod, violin and beats, happily mixing Indian classical ragas, electronica, African polyrhythms, and Western Classical music, with improvisatory gusto. They will be joined by percussionist Viren Kamdar from the group Mangis Khan for a second set which will include material from their groups Mean Deep and Das Dhoom.
Claudia Smith’s ephemeral photography disembodies objects from the natural world rendering them in the abstract. Mundane seed pod become a beautiful abstract mosaic. Through the use of color negative processing her landscape images become otherworldly.
The One Night Stand Series is a sequence of mini exhibitions showcasing emerging artists.
An instrumental excerpt from Das Dhoom’s performance at the 2009 Diwali Ball at Seattle Art Museum. Shree D on dhol, Sebastian Lange on violin, James Whetzel on sarod.
“My Road to Somewhere: Sarod & Beats” is James Whetzel’s new album. The CD release party for it is happening October 4th. James says: “You should come if you can. It will be very cool and will rock you like a whoop of hurricanes.”
About the disc? It’s an instrumental disc which features James’ sarod playing. It lives on the upbeat edge of downtempo, with tracks based on classical Hindustani ragas and taals. He applies his hard earned, DJ Baba James, electronic music production skills and his love of African polyrhythms to keep the sound both fun and funky.
Preview the album online at CD Baby:http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/whetzeljames5
To repeat the CD release party is going down Sunday, October 4th. It will occur at Remedy Teas on Capitol Hill in Seattle, WA, USA, from 8pm - 10pm James will open the night with a solo set of sarod & beats. After a short break in which James says: the new CD will be “relentlessly hawked, flogged, and sold,” violinist extraordinaire Sebastian Lange will join James for a set of sarod, violin, and beats. Deepayan Acharjya aka Shree D. will join at the very end (he’s coming all the way from Montreal!) and bring some manic live dhol energy to finish the evening in high style. Not only will this event be cool and rock like a whoop of hurricanes, but it’s free! and all ages! Who loves you? Clearly it’s JW and funketabla. . .
We hope to see you there, peace, cheers, and musica!
James Whetzel and the funketabla family
btw: Remedy Teas is located at 345 15th Avenue East on Capitol Hill in Seattle, USA.
http://www.remedyteas.com/
Photos below, special guests: Shree D and Sebastian Lange:
It’s time for the end of the summer Points of Departure project show. It will be happening in Issaquah at the Issaquah Farmers Market. The performance will begin at 11am and go til 12:30pm Performers for the show are: Yaw Amponsah, Viren Kamdar and James Whetzel.
Special thanks to 4 Culture and the City of Issaquah.
That’s right good people! Not only is the Tandav club night back, but it’s in Canada! Rocking the nights of Montreal, Quebec, Tandav will present the usual eclectic mix of acoustic, electric, electronic and electro-acoustic music.
It will take place at June 12th at 3 Minots, 3812 Boulevard St-Laurent, phone: ((514) 844-8543). The fun begins at 9pm, no cover before 10pm, $5 thereafter.
Presented by Funketabla and Rike Productions Tandav will be happening on a monthly basis.
Here’s the line up for June 12th:
Zentai Worriers of Verdun
(Montreal Duo, Theatrical beats)
A good time was had at Skylark’s 3rd anniversary party June 6th!
West Seattle Blog shot a couple videos which featured Sebastian and James’ performance:
Check ‘em out, The first is from the start of our set where we are playing vilambit teen taal in Raag Kafi:
The second one is a short excerpt of a performance of the track “Washington State” [from The House of Good Juju], props to the Skylark public for singing along with the chorus so well!
Here’s the lowdown on an amazing Funketabla show happening Saturday, June 6th in Westlake Park in downtown Seattle, 12pm to 4pm.
Taking part are:
James Whetzel: sarod, beats, percussion and throat singing.
Sebastian Lange: violin and beats.
DJ Collage: dancehall reggae vocals and original dancehall beats
Shree Deepayan: live virtual dhol and tabla direct on the wifi from Montreal, Canada
The music will begin at 12:05pm and go until 4pm
There will be solo sets by James Whetzel, Sebastian Lange, and DJ Collage, and then Virtual Shree Deepayan will join Whetzel, Lange and Collage for a finale set of DJ Baba James, Mean Deep, and Das Dhoom music.
Here’s the tentative schedule:
12:05 - 1pm James Whetzel, Sarod & Beats set
1pm - 1:30pm Sebastian Lange solo set
1:30 - 2pm James Whetzel and Sebastian Lange collab. set
2pm - 2:30pm DJ Collage solo set
2:30pm - 4pm DJ Baba James, Mean Deep, and Das Dhoom set with James Whetzel, Sebastian Lange, DJ Collage, and Virtual Shree D.
There will have an excellent sound system thanks to our friends at the City of Seattle and at the Transcendent Church of Bass. This will be an amazing one of a kind show right in the heart of downtown Seattle!
Special thanks to the Transcendent Church of Bass, Ingrid Lahti, Carrie Bodle, Victoria Schoenberg, Adrienne Caver-Hall and the City of Seattle, Department of Parks and Recreation.
Hope to see you there, cheers, best musical wishes,
Funketabla
