Saturday, June 5, 2021

After Kamloops Discovery, Indigenous Music Summit Refocuses - The New York Times

For a lot of people, the discovery at Kamloops of the remains of 215 Indigenous children will be top of mind for a long time. So when the world gathers (virtually) in Ottawa for the International Indigenous Music Summit on Tuesday, it will be a part of the conversation.

Amanda Rheaume, a Métis musician based in Ottawa who is the summit's operations manager, told me that after consultation with elders, the virtual gathering will include ceremonies to commemorate the children, including starting each day with 2 minutes and 15 seconds of silence.

The idea of bringing Indigenous musicians together first came to Ms. Kish, who performs with her husband, Raven Kanatakta, as the band Digging Roots, while performing in Australia.

"The colonial experience is not unique to Canada," she said. "There's something really powerful in being able to share those stories and histories. We're coming together around our artistry and the creative, innovative things people are doing in their communities all over the world to revitalize language, to keep their stories strong and to keep their traditions strong."

With help initially from the Folk Alliance International , the first summit was in Montreal. The second, in New Orleans, squeaked through just before the pandemic shutdown.

But 150 or so musicians aren't going to get together without there being music. Performances will take the form of videos, with 16 of them being short documentaries. As well as Indigenous people from Canada, the lineup includes performers from Sweden, the United States, Latin America and Australia.

After the summit ends on June 12, the videos will be available for everyone to view on its website. After previewing four of them, I can't wait to watch the entire series.

Ms. Kish said that Canada's Indigenous music scene in some ways showed that the residential school system failed in its assimilation objective.

The few hundred remaining North Atlantic right whales are not only struggling to survive, but new research shows that they are also shrinking. Entanglement in fishing gear is an ever-present threat for the mammals in their migration routes and feeding grounds in Canada and the United States.




Lara Downes Interviews Tayari Jones : NPR

I first read Tayari Jones' 2018 novel An American Marriage on a plane, cover to cover. It seemed like half the people on that plane were reading it too. So were President Obama, Oprah and anyone who follows The New York Times Best Sellers List. It's a beautifully written book, a portrait of a complicated couple and their navigation of an American tragedy. There's an operatic plot to this story of race and class, inequity and injustice, but our attention stays focused on the love duet that is being sung at center stage, the intimate human relationship of two small people in a big, loud world.

Tayari has that special gift shared by the greatest writers and musicians, the ability to illuminate the importance of the smallest things: the inner voices of a chord, the tension of a fleeting dissonance, the span of the silence between the notes. Tayari and I talked about crafting stories, in words and music, to focus on what's at the center, what Tayari calls "a little tiny bird heart just fluttering away" — a heart that's powerful enough to animate a bird and let it fly.

I asked Tayari to share with me some music that she loves, music that inspires her. Her choices are delightful, from the O'Jays song that broke her heart when she was a little girl to those exhilarating flashes in Rossini 's William Tell Overture when the tiny piccolo shines amid the roiling orchestra, and we lean in to listen to its meaningful moment.

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From Publisher: NPR.org



New Music Friday: The Top 8 Albums Out On June 4 : All Songs Considered : NPR

Rostam. His second solo full-length, Changepobia , is on our shortlist of the best albums out on June 4. Olivia Bee/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Five years after leaving Vampire Weekend, Rostam is back with Changephobia , a beautifully transfixing mix of songs that reflect on the ways we over romanticize the past while fearing the future. We open this week's show with the song "Bio 18" from the album and explore Rostam's ever-evolving sonic wonders.

Also on the show: Japanese Breakfast's Jubilee , Liz Phair's first new album in more than a decade, the U.K. singer Poté, The Avalanches and more. WNXP's Jewly Hight joins NPR Music contributors Christina Lee and Cyrena Touros, Radio Milwaukee's Tarik Moody, NPR's Lars Gotrich and host Robin Hilton as they share their picks for the best new albums out on June 4.

Other notable releases for June 4 : August Fannon and Defcee — We Dressed The City With Our Names ; Hailu Mergia and The Walias Band — Tezeta ; Joy Oladokun — In Defense Of My Own Hapiness ; Lil Baby and Lil Durk — The Voice Of The Heroes; Wolf Alice — Blue Weekend .

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From Publisher: NPR.org



Rediscover your lost Apple Music songs with 'Next' for iPad - 9to5Mac

The Next app, developed by Sorcererhat, has been updated with version 1.5, which now brings iPad support for the first time. Whether you want to rediscover lost Apple Music songs or create Magic DJs and playlists, now you can on a bigger screen.

The version 1.5 of the Next app brings everything you’d expect from a great iPad app: a sidebar with access to your Magic DJs and playlists, Split View and Slide Over for multitasking while listening to your mixes, widgets to quickly open Next and remember your forgotten songs right from iPad's Home screen, and more.

Next for iPad makes it easier to explore your favorite artists and genres from your music library, with up to four-column design to take advantage of all the different iPads available. You can combo Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana, and Ashley O. in the same playlists with the Magic DJs feature. Or you can combo the BTS boys with the girl group BLACKPINK.

Next also has full support for the iPadOS Dark and Light modes and everything you do on the app, stays on your device with no tracking.

A few months ago, Next brought a feature called #tbt , which every Thursday, the app reminds you of a song you loved but you haven’t listened to it for a long time.

Apple's tablet debuted in 2010. Since the original version, it's expanded into multiple screen sizes and Pro and non-Pro options.

Brazilian tech Journalist. Author at 9to5Mac. Previously at tv globo, the main TV broadcaster in Latin America.

From Publisher: 9to5Mac



Dan Tepfer Plays Bach Like You've Never Heard It Before: Upside Down : NPR

Pianist, composer and coder Dan Tepfer confronted pandemic isolation with ingenious technological solutions. Josh Goleman/courtesy of the artist hide caption

Sitting at the Yamaha grand piano in his Brooklyn apartment, surrounded by two laptops, an iPad, a monitor, a video camera and studio lights, Dan Tepfer plays the first of Bach's "Goldberg" Variations. The piano is a Disklavier, which can record and play back. When he finishes, Tepfer taps a button on his iPad, triggering the piano to play back what he's just recorded with the notes inverted, as if the score were turned upside down.

It helped that the 39-year-old musician could also write code to program his piano to invert the familiar Bach work. "When you describe what he's doing, it sounds like a gimmick," says New York Times chief music critic Anthony Tommasini . "But then when I actually heard them, I thought, oh no no no: it's beyond gimmick. It's really interesting. Ultimately, I think the point of the upside down stuff is to make us hear better, or in a new way, Bach's 'Goldberg' Variations."

"Necessity is the mother of invention," he says. "I discovered this software, JackTrip , that's actually about 10 years old, this pretty obscure academic piece of software that's brilliantly written. And it ferries musical information over the internet as quickly as possible—much, much more quickly than something like Zoom, for example."

"He teaches people who are completely technologically inept like me how to set it up and make it work—that's one thing," Salvant says. "But then to bring it in with his beautiful piano playing, his incredible taste, his sensitivity as a musician, and then he writes his music... it's just so exciting to see somebody that bold with how they blend their interests."

The son of an opera singer and a biologist, Dan Tepfer pursues connections among music, math and science. Maria Jarzyna/courtesy of the artist hide caption

Dan Tepfer was raised with blended interests. He was born in Paris in 1982 to American parents: his mother sang at the Paris Opera, and his father was a biologist. He started classical piano lessons when he was six, but spent his summers in Oregon with his grandfather, who was a jazz pianist. He started writing programs for his father's Macintosh Plus when he was nine.

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From Publisher: NPR.org



Make Music Day returns to Las Cruces June 21

Held annually on June 21, Make Music Day is part of the international Fête de la Musique, taking place in 1,000 cities across 120 countries. The daylong, musical free-for-all celebrates music in all its forms, encouraging people to band together and play in free public concerts. This year, more than 100 U.S. cities are organizing Make Music celebrations, encompassing thousands of music making opportunities nationwide.

"Music has a special way of lifting spirits, bringing people together, and making things better," said Assistant City Manager Ikani Taumoepeau. "Las Cruces welcomes all musicians to dust off your instruments and play loud and proud wherever you are June 21st. Our city is proud to be on the Make Music Day 2021 international roster, allowing us to showcase our talented individuals and diverse venues."

Later in the day, the Plaza de Las Cruces, 100 N. Main St., will host a showcase of local bands of varying genres which will perform on the main stage from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to bring water, lawn chairs and umbrellas for shade.

"We are excited to once again partner with community organizations to showcase the music and culture of Las Cruces," said Greg Smith, executive director of the Doña Ana Arts Council. "Make Music Day offers a chance for residents and visitors to enjoy a day centered around making music and discovering how the culture and history of Las Cruces continues to influence the artform."

In honor of Make Music Day, City Hall and the Visit Las Cruces building will both feature orange exterior lighting on June 21.

From Publisher: Las Cruces Sun-News



I Love West Dayton to hold first annual music festival Saturday | WDTN.com

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – I Love West Dayton is putting on its first annual West Dayton Summer Music Festival this weekend.

Organizers said the goal of the event is to promote a safe environment for all Daytonians, encourage community members to come out to community clean-up events throughout the summer, and expose the community to cultural arts through food trucks and vendors.

The reverse parade started at the corner of Patterson and Second Street Saturday morning. LGBTQ businesses and organizations in the greater Dayton area lined Second Street with handouts and candy.

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - A car hit a construction truck along I-75 near West Second Street in Dayton at around 3:00 Saturday morning.

The Dayton Police Department tells us a car driving northbound hit a work truck, then flipped on its top.

TROY, Ohio (WDTN) - Maiya Dilbone was only 16-years-old when she had an experience while volunteering at a local food kitchen that changed her .

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From Publisher: WDTN.com



Uplifting Moments in Latin Music This Week (June 5) | Billboard

From career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and more, Billboard editors highlight the latest news buzz in Latin music every week. Here's what happened in the Latin music world this week.

The Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF) unveiled that the 34th Hispanic Heritage Awards will be broadcast on Oct. 8 across PBS stations, the official website, and video app. The awards are presented by Target for the ninth year. "The Hispanic Heritage Foundation is thrilled to once again partner with Target and PBS to collectively celebrate and share the great promise, accomplishments, and cultural pride of the Latinx community through the 2021 awardees and powerful tributes by great performers," HHF president/CEO Antonio Tijerino said in a statement.

The awards, which were created by the White House in 1988 to commemorate the establishment of Hispanic Heritage Month in America, recognize the contributions and accomplishments of Latino leaders in various fields while celebrating cultural pride and the great promise to America. The 2021 honorees, performers, hosts, presenters, and other sponsors will be announced in the coming months.

From Publisher: Billboard



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