Re: Concert mini-review - Afro-Semitic Experience at Tufts

[Ari Davidow <ari...>]

Thanks for the review, Jonathan. I actually work at Tufts, and would 
normally have been in the front row, but we were out of town. I'm glad they 
got decent attendance. I did list the event on the KlezCalendar, but I 
don't know that enough people glance at it to see upcoming events in a 
given area. I didn't see anything in the local newspapers.

ari

At 09:50 AM 2/24/2004, you wrote:
>The Afro-Semitic Experience, led by Warren Byrd and list member David 
>Chevan, played a free concert at Tufts University last night.  This was 
>the band's Boston-area debut.  Attendance peaked at about 70, almost all 
>of whom looked to my middle-aged eyes to be undergraduate students.  I 
>didn't see any of the usual Boston area Jewish Music crowd - a pity, as 
>this was a memorable night.
>
>The band is clearly a group that has played together regularly, and that 
>just as clearly enjoys playing together.  They started with a wide-ranging 
>medley, going from _Sha, Shtil_ to the familiar shabbes nigun _Shalom 
>Aleichem_ through some tunes I either didn't recognize or don't remember, 
>and ending with a rambunctious rendering of _Honeysuckle Rose_.  The set 
>included one item from the high holy days cantorial repertoire, _V'Ani 
>T'filati_ (a duo played by David Chevan and Stacy Phillips), the full band 
>rendition of _Eiliyahu Ha'Navi_, and the closing number, _Let Us Break 
>Bread Together_.  For me, a particular highlight was their rendition of 
>Abdullah Ibrahim's _Water from an Ancient Well_.  They captured the feel 
>(if not quite the sound) of a South African qwela band that transported me 
>back in time and space to the South Africa I grew up in.
>
>I hope they will play the Boston area again, and soon.  Publicity for this 
>gig, apart from the one email David sent to this list, was 
>nonexistent.  Hopefully, the next time they visit, word will get out and a 
>larger audience will attend.
>
><j>
>
>Jonathan Delatizky
>
>
>

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