Shahrazad's Showcase returned on Sept. 27th at Alia Restaurant in Brooklyn

Okay, so by now you've probably noticed that I only post things in my blog that are positive in nature, well, get ready, here comes another one:

After our last show in Brooklyn and the sale of Sultana and the horrible way in which we were treated by the new owners, we weren't sure if we could land on our feet with a new venue............... well, we really really did!

Shahrazad's Showcase has a new home. It's Alia Restaurant on North 6th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY. It is beautiful!!!
There is no bar but patrons are invited to bring their own alcoholic beverages at no additional charge. So what is there? WOW! Some of the best Middle-Eastern cooking I've had the privilege of having (and I've had a lot). And y'know what? It's very inexpensive!! I had a falafel platter (the best felafel I've had) and the platter was only $8 (I had a bit more than that and Chrystine had the lamb kebobs which were out of this world, so our bill was a bit higher) but is was very reasonable, and delicious.
The decor is beautiful with a couple of curtained raised platforms with cushions for those wishing to sit in Middle-Eastern style and there are plenty of western-style seating for those less adventurous. There is a really nice waterfall down a stone wall in the back which cascades into a channel shaped pool that spans the entire back of the restaurant. A foot bridge over the pool will gain entrance to a back courtyard garden seating area (which also lent itself to dramatic entrances by some dancers).
Our line up for the evening was spectacular with a lot of our regular great talent as well as a few new faces. I have a very clear new 1200 Watt sound system that fills the room with volume and no distortion. We absolutely LOVE this place and will be continuing to host regular shows there.
Shahrazad as usual gave a spectacular show and a special thank you must go out to Teuta and Renee for helping this show and venue happen.
The restaurant was packed and unfortunately a lot of people were turned away because of the crowd (we needed a stadium for this show..................................... or maybe just a slightly bigger club :) ) so next time, please get there early............. and enjoy a great meal.
We are all very happy with how this event came together.

The End of an Era..... and a new beginning

Sultana has been the home of the monthly Shahtazad's Showcase ahows for the past year, but that has come to an end. Ayman who owned Sultana in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with his partner Coco, sold Sultana to a new owner and it is just not the same venue. We had our last show scheduled for June 21st (last week) and had an elaborate functioned planned (it was Shahrazad's annual birthday show) and when we got there to set up the stage at 7 pm we were informed by the new owner that she decided to book the night to two other private party venues that had signed a contract with her. She knew of our show and gladly agreed to continue to host the show on a monthly basis, but it seems that when someone crossed her palm with some more green, that agreement went out the window. Ayman would have never treated us like that and although they (Coco and the new owner) blamed Ayman for erasing our venue from the book the previous week, that didn't ring true because Ayman had surrended his keys to the place the previous month. Ayman is a great guy and actually got us placed in another hookah lounge in Astoria for that evening, but we decided to just take our show to Shahrazad's studio in Carroll Gardens (because it was closer for people that were showing up at the Sultana space). We text messaged as many as we could about the venue change (and not all people got the message) and we left accurate directions with the wait staff and bartender at Sultana (who always loved our show and hated what happened).
The show went on an hour later in the Albee Studios on the corner of Court St. and Carroll Street , and it was one of our best shows (although lightly attended). There was an outpouring of affection for Shahrazad and all of the dancers there in honor of her birthday (as well as Magdalena and Chrystine's birthday.............you missed Jon Hanley and I playing the Beatles birthday song for them :)).
This show was and is what a belly dance show is supposed to be. A "hafla"! A party that celebrates dance and joy. A very friendly gathering full of comraderee and affection. That's what happened!
We are taking a break for July and August (as usual) but Shahrazad's Showcase will be back in the fall at a new venue (either in Manhattan or Brooklyn) we are in the midst of finalizing the venue, but it will be in a bigger place for certain, So please keep an eye out for our announcements for the new shows. Shahrazad's Showcase is alive and well and will be back in full steam.
We look forward to seeing you there.

Shahrazad's Showcase May 24th, 2008

This show is and always has been a great show, but there was something just a little "extra special" about the May show. We were graced by the performance of that Tribal Fusion phenom Vorona. This magnificent dancer captured our hearts, and you know what? She is just about the most genuinely nice person you'll ever meet. She and Shahrazad hit it off immediately and Vorona instantly fell in love with the style and talents of young Julissa.(she dedicated her dance to her)
I had Jon Hanley join me again on the North Indian Sarod and my friend and ex-wife Mary Nagin sat in with us on violin.My girlfriend Chrystine was there and sat in on bass doumbek for Shahrazad's solo. My friend Captain Zorihk was on the door and everyone had a great time.
I had the opportunity to play drum solos for some of my very favorite dancers in the world all in one venue (I'm a fan as well as a performer).
Shahrazad, Shir-El, and Vorona were joined by Teuta, Magdalena, Julissa, Tanya, Heather, Jennie and Tara as well as Shahrazad's company Arabian Knights.
We do this show every month at Sultana at 160-2 North 4th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The next show will be on June 21st and I can promise that it will be a great one............. but it will be hard to top the May show. Shahrazad, Shir-El and Vorona on one stage on one night...........it was drummer's heaven.

Tribe has self-destructed, exploded, had a meltdown or just a compete mental breakdown!!!

Posts are lost. The server is frozen in one place and new topics aren't appearing, responses aren't appearing and I'm afraid that the cooling water isn't getting to the fuel rods................ run for your lives.
If anyone is reading this message, it's been a pleasure knowing you all.....................................................

Happy New Years to all my friends

I had a great New Years Eve celebration. My friend and drum mentor Amir Naoum needed somebody to fill in for him this past weekend at a Greek Restaurant on the upper east side so he threw the work my way. I saw New Years in at Trata Estiatoria on 2nd Ave and 70th playing with the Mylos All Star Band. If you've never been to a traditional Greek celebration then I suggest that you go sometime. It is no surprise to me that these wonderful people are the root of modern Western civilization and they stopped short of the nasty decadence that we seem to have added to it. Somehow we all got it wrong and got "off track" somewhere. The Greeks really know how to party. Everybody has fun. All people dance and dance and dance..... on chairs, on the floor, on tables, with handkerchiefs, throwing dollar bills all over the place. There was plenty of distilled spirits, yet not a one of them was sloppy drunk. This was like the kind of party you have dreams about, and OMG was the food ever wonderful. I got paid very well and I really feel like I came out ahead. These are some of the warmest and nice people that I've ever had the pleasure of working with and half the time I couldn't understand a word of what was being said (I don't speak a word of Greek), but they had no difficulty communicating their genuine joy of life. By the end of the night, there was a blanket of dollar bills in front of the band on the dance floor. By the time we counted it all, it was over $800 and after we tipped the wait staff, we each went home with over $150 in tips plus our very generous fee for the evening. We started playing at 9:45 pm and we didn't stop until 4:30 am. No break, and it flew by.
I hope that Amir continues to get higher paying gigs and needs me to sit in for him more often because I had an absolute blast.

AN IDEAL WORLD!

In an ideal world there will be people of different backgrounds joined together to act positively for a cause.
In an ideal world each person has individual talents and specialties that they can bring to that cause.
In an ideal world, each of those people will be respected and welcomed for their contributions.
In an ideal world, the populace can witness all of this and be welcomed participants in the cause or event.
In an ideal world, everyone will part knowing that they have been a part of something greater than themselves.....and long for the next time.
Last night I was part of an ideal world.

Night of 1000 Goddesses part 2 happened yesterday at 4:00pm and again at 7:00pm at Morrocco's studio at 6 West 20th Street in NYC.
Morrocco herself opened the show with an extremely moving and uplifting traditional blessing dance that brought everyon's energy up. She is an international treasure. If you missed it, you really missed it.
There were many individual companies and soloists performing and no two were alike..... and they all got along...... and they all helped each other..... and they all knew that they were a part of something special. It is possible to isolate favorites based upon personal taste, but it will be impossible and a lie to say that any one of those dance performances wasn't spectacular.
I cannot decide if I loved this performance of Night of 1000 Goddesses more than last years or just as much. I don't think that it is "right" to rate a performance such as this, it is just a force of nature to behold. That's what this was. A force of nature. Of human nature reaching its highest calling. Gone were the politics and intrigues of an evil society, gone was the greed and animosity, and what remained was a community of artists working together and allowing themselves to really love one another.
This show is the brainchild of Zan Asha (another treasure) and she and her company Chovexani performed perhaps their most powerful dance to date as well as hosting this event.
Every dancer shined. Every performance was an important brick in the fabric of the structure. All contributed much. All encompassed each other in good fellowship. When it works like this, it gives us a flickering view of what a perfect world can be, and it gives us hope. Both Casey and I were both honored and moved to be a part of it.




................................... There has to be a Night of 1000 Goddesses #3. Our world needs it!

Back from Pennsic War XXXVI

Okay, we finally made it back. Pennsic was great!
It was hot, sunny, humid, soaking wet. stormy, muddy, dry, raining cats and dogs, windy, still, but no snow.
Our tent went down and was trashed at the end of Pennsic. All of our thin gs got wet. Our air mattress leaked, our bedding sucked and we forgot to bring our clothes rack (a blessing in disguise we later discovered because we had much of our clothes in waterproof plastic tubs).
We had a great time.
We taught two classes on rhythm arrangements and creating a layered drum song and the students all "got it" and performed beautifully.
We played a couple of pieces in the Mid-East Dance Expo, one with one of our very favorite dancers: Shahrazad/Sage and another with a new friend from the Middle Kingdom that created a very moving and accurate Zar Trance Dance.
We played a whole bunch of parties.
Got to hang out with some of our favorite people.
I shot War Points for the first time with perfect vision.
Casey was able to attend the classes that Melissa and Carmine offered playing traditional Turkish melodic music and she absolutely loved it. There was a performance/hafla in the European Dance Pavillion and I've never seen her so energetic and alive. She was great.
We got to see people from all over the "known world" that we only get to see at Pennsic, and that alone is enough reason to go.
I got a chance to jam along with the first person to teach me doumbek, Master Salvanis/Billy Woods who was able to get to Pennsic this year after a 9 year hiatus.
We went on half a shoe-string and still managed to have a great time and ate very well.
Our Camp mates at House Crossbow are just about the best people that you can ever meet and we always enjoy just hanging out with them.
We played a private bachelorette party at Tuchux camp (What happens at Pennsic stays at Pennsic).
We had a roast venison one night at camp that Greg the Archer from Atlantia made.
We lost the war, We were outnumbered about ten to one and it was very close............. ah well.
I picked up a new Kaval and flute.
Our friend Ocean at Marrakech did real well this war and is giving the other merchants a real run for their money, YAY! I like to see good things happen for good people.
Touch The Earth remains one of the big supporters of Middle-Eastern Music and Dance and they did well also. another YAY!
I'm not 100% happy with the time change of the War but it certainly wont keep me away

If you were there, you know it was a great time. If you've never been, why not come on down next year, same "Bat-time, same Bat-station".

Sundays at Figaro

So, on our way back from Raquy's retreat, we decided that we would go to one of our favorite places: Cafe Figaro on the corner of MacDougall and Bleeker in Greenwich Village. Every Sunday Night there is a Bellydance night in the back room. This is hosted by Scott Wilson and his lovely bellydancer wife, Leni. Scott is the son of legendary dancer Serena (who recently passed on) and Scott is one of the most respected virtuossos on oud, saz and bazouki. Joining him on the stage are often Raquy Danziger on doumbek, Rami on riq and doumbek and Carmine on bass doumbek and sometimes lead doumbek. Also there are often a kanoon player, a clarinet and any other assortment of musicians. They are great no matter what the line-up. There are three dancers scheduled for each of these Sunday nights.
One of the dancers that was performing on the 8th was Samira from the DC area. She is am exceptional dancer and a real pro. She knows just how to work her audience and is very expressive in her movements. I have only seen her perform one other time at Pennsic and I was glad to be able to get back to NY in time to catch this show. She is a Tribe friend and everytime that she had a gig here in NY, I was out of town, but this time it all worked.Casey was quite taken with her dancing.
Raquy was playing doumbek and Rami was on riq (they also came straight from the retreat). Carmine played bass doumbek and played lead doumbek for a drum solo for Samira. This was a fantastic show. We sat with Sarah Skinner and Blanca (two of the sweetest people and great dancers) and traded quips with our new friend Ginger (who also came from the retreat).
Sundays at Figaro are more like a "house party" than anything else. Scott and Eleni are very generous and warm hosts and there is that family gathering feeling. They are very much mourning the passing of Scott's mom and he feels that continuing to play these Sunday night shows brings him close to his mom..... it must work, because there is such warm feeling there.
There is no cover charge, but a $20 minimum per person at a table. That's not bad and the food is always good........ and the coffee is good. You will see a world class performance of Mid-East music and dance and be well fed and it all costs about $20 per person (seldom more unless you drink a lot of booze........... Casey and I don't drink. so it is often very inexpensive). Try to get there, you'll thank me for it. :-)

Raquy's Retreat in the Catskills July 5th - 8th 2007

Okay.... we were there again. One of the main reasons for going to this type of retreat besides the wonderful rhythms and techniques that are learned, is for the people that are there.... we made good new friends and had the chance of visiting with older friends. Just check out the pictures I posted here. I dare you to tell me that those people aren't having a great time. :-)

We had a very rare privilege of learning a new rhythm/composition that Raquy had written for an original piece of music that was composed by her Rebaba teacher, it is called: "Saiidi Ana". On the Saturday evening performance, all of the workshop students performed the percussion part of the piece while Raquy played the melody on her Kemenshe. It worked out okay. We played it again on Wednesday Evening July 11th at Galapagos in Williamsburgh and it went even better.

These retreats are a real pleasure and very valuable. If you are looking to immerse yourself in the study of Middle-Eastern percussion under the tutelage of a very gifted and talented teacher, why not come to one of these retreats? You'll also meet a bunch of great people and make new friends