Rich Medina and DJ Spinna @ Giant Step’s 6th Annual MLK & Haiti Benefit Party – New York
Words and Photos by Quoc Pham
As everyone should be aware, a tragedy of unthinkable scale happened last week in Haiti. Considering that New York City has the largest concentration of Haitians in the United States, it was easy to feel the impact of these these events here in New York. Last weekend was also Martin Luther King weekend and this year, the traditional king day of service – day of citizen action volunteer service in honor of Dr. King – had a different meaning with community organizations, non profits groups and volunteers mobilizing with the relief effort.
The music world also did contribute to the cause with many popular artists using their star power to raise awareness of the tragedy and encourage action. Wyclef Jean, probably the most famous Haitian American, raised millions of dollars through his Yele organization with a clever text message campaign. In France, dozens of French rappers and pop stars joined renowned singers Charles Aznavour and Youssou N’Dour to record a music video which will be widely broadcasted on national television.
On the local grassroots level, it was great to see many improvised benefit shows and parties pop up in New York. Since here at SLF, we’re all about partying for a good cause, we attended Giant Step’s 6th Annual MLK tribute party which was a benefit event for Doctors Without Borders in regards to Haiti. For the occasion, seminal NYC party veterans Rich Medina and DJ Spinna delivered the goods to a packed audience at the ever trendy club Cielo. With a groovy blend of soul, funk, classics and house, the duo did not fail to turn the event into an entrancing dance party and get everyone in a collective mood of celebration.
Overall, it was a fun party with a positive message and it reminded me of this spirit of solidarity and community which I think is partly what makes this city truly great.
Tags: Afrobeat, Cielo, Dj Spinna, Events, Giant Step, Hip Hop, House, New York City, Rich Medina, Soul
SLF Presents AFRO-DUB SESSIONS with Special Guest TICKLAH @ Rose Live Music, Sat. 01/30/10 – Brooklyn
Jan 12, 2010 News
To start this new decade, we’re proud to announce the AFRO-DUB SESSIONS, a new monthly party taking place every last Saturday at Rose Live Music in Williamsburg.
Since you probably don’t want to hear our music nerd babbles about the concept behind the party, we’ll keep the academic details for SLF staff meetings. All you need to know is that you should come witness a unique blend of live dub music and DJs showcasing the latest in Afrobeat, Afro Groove, Reggae, Dub, Dubstep and more. There’s no cover so you have no excuse for not coming through!
Each month, we’ll feature a special guest DJ in addition to resident live band Super Hi-Fi and the Sound Liberation DJ’s. For our launch party on January 30, we called on our good friend and quintessential afro-dub advocate VICTOR “TICKLAH” AXELROD, to bless us with his many talents. If you’re not familiar with Ticklah, here’s a bit from his bio:
NYC based producer, keyboard virtuoso, and vintage Reggae wunderkind VICTOR AXELROD, aka TICKLAH, has been a continual and integral part of the NYC music scene for over a decade – as a performer, TICKLAH is a founding member of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Antibalas, the Easy Star All-Stars, and worked with Mark Ronson on both the Amy Winehouse and Daniel Merriweather albums. As a producer, TICKLAH was behind the boards for the Dub Side Of The Moon album (co-production, mixing), remixed Shaun Escoffery’s classic “Days Like This” (alongside DJ Spinna), produced 2001’s legendary Roots Combination album, and released his own critically acclaimed solo Ticklah Vs. Axelrod LP on NYC Reggae label Easy Star. The list goes on and on. … Victor is a man in very high demand from some very big players for his untouchable musical aesthetics, his intricate attention to detail, and a true understanding of our musical past.
Hope to see you all there! Here are some more details about the party:
==========
Sound Liberation Front + TheBRMG + buhbOmp presents:
[[ AFRO-DUB SESSIONS: Sounds of the Rhythm R(evolution) ]]
SATURDAY | 30 JAN 2010
(and every last Saturday of the month)
10p-4a | FREE | No dress code
@ Rose Live Music
345 Grand Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
- Between Marcy Ave. and Havemeyer St. in Williamsburg
- G/L train to Lorimer or the L to Bedford)
718.599.0069
featuring:
[[ TICKLAH aka VICTOR AXELROD ]]
( Easy Star Records, Antibalas )
+ facebook fan page | myspace.com/ticklah
w/ resident live Afro-Dub band:
[[ SUPER HI-FI ]]
( w/ members from Aphrodesia, Slavic Soul Party, The Superpowers and Blue Man Group )
and resident DJs:
[[ Q MASTAH ]]
( Sound Liberation Front, Music Nerd All-Stars )
[[ DJ LINH ]]
( Sound Liberation Front )
[[ DJ LIL TIGER ]]
( –=(] buhbOmp [)=–, Sound Liberation Front, touch&feel:radio, Music Nerd All-Stars, Soular Grooves )
more info:
+ facebook event page
+ going.com
+ eventful
maps:
+ google
+ hopstop
+ yahoo
Tags: afro groove, afro-beat, afro-dub, afro-dub sessions, Afrobeat, antibalas, aphrodesia, blue man group, brooklyn, buhbOmp, DJ Lil Tiger, dj linh, Dub, dubstep, mark ronson, Q-Mastah, Reggae, roots, rose live music, sharon jones, sharon jones and the dap kings, slavic soul party, Sound Liberation Front, super hi-fi, the brmg, the superpowers, ticklah, victor "ticklah" axelrod, victor axelrod, Williamsburg
