141. Interview with Caique Vidal, Greensboro, North Carolina (05:59)

Date:
2020-10-14
Main contributors:
Caique Vidal
Summary:
Caique Vidal (Greensboro, North Carolina) Caique Vidal is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and educator based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Born in Salvador, Bahia, he is steeped in the Afro-Brazilian tradition. One of his first performances took place with the ensemble of the Olodum Mirin project, participating in Michael Jackson’s “They Don’t Care About Us” (1993). Vidal studied at the Liceu de Artes e Oficios da Bahia and toured with the Balé Folclórico da Bahia. He participated in Mikael Mutti’s project Percussivo Mundo Novo. He has performed nationally and internationally, sharing the stage with artists including Suzana Baca, Carlinhos Brown, and Gilberto Gil. In 2012, Vidal moved to North Carolina, where he has taught Afro-Brazilian music and culture to professional musicians, publics school students, and universities. He leads the band Batuque, which uses Afro-Brazilian percussion in various contexts. Batuque has performed at venues including the Art of Cool-NC, Afro-Bahia Festival-NC, and Hardee’s Festival-VA. Interviewed by Tamar Sella, 10/14/2020.

142. Interview with David Reihs, Portland, Oregon (05:40)

Date:
2020-10-14
Main contributors:
David Reihs
Summary:
David Reihs (Portland, Oregon) Playing Arabic keyboard and accordion, Middle Eastern percussion, ud, and elektro-saz, David Reihs is a multi-instrumentalist turned producer and educator who currently focuses on music of Turkish and Arabic cultures. He has been studying a wide variety of Middle Eastern genres and instruments since 2001, including four years living in Istanbul, Turkey, where he learned and spent time with many of the country’s finest musicians. Aside from his work with Ritim Egzotik, David’s company produces concerts, workshops and instructional DVDs for Middle Eastern music and dance. He is the artistic director for Ritim Egzotik, a modern Turkish and Arabic music ensemble that respectfully plays classic and popular Arabic and Turkish compositions and tosses in prog rock and psychedelic spices to add their own twist and modernize the songs they love. Added to this feast of sounds are Greek and Turkish Roman favorites. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/14/2020.

143. Interview with J. Michael King, Greenville, South Carolina (06:01)

Date:
2020-10-14
Main contributors:
J. Michael King
Summary:
J. Michael King (Greenville, South Carolina) J. Michael King is a composer, writer, and accomplished Piedmont blues musician. He plays in the time-honored style of bluesman Reverend Gary Davis, a Laurens County native who played throughout Greenville and Spartanburg counties during the 1930s and 40s. The guitar stylings of South Carolina bluesmen like Blind Willie Walker, Josh White, and Pink Anderson are central influences. He apprenticed under Ernie Hawkins, who studied with Gary Davis in the mid-1960s. King has composed and performed music for four documentaries by filmmaker Stan Woodward, including Puddin' Pot, a short film produced in 2002 exploring the community-based foodways tradition. He was instrumental in co-producing a recording of Piedmont blues classics entitled Blues Haiku. King also produced his own albums, Carolina Bar-B-Q and Meat and Three, two collections of Piedmont blues and string band music featuring tunes about South Carolina's distinctive cuisine. King plays frequently with fellow musicians and Folk Heritage Award recipients Steve McGaha and Freddie Vanderford and has presented the South Carolina blues story to thousands of students and tourists throughout the state. He conducts educational programs about South Carolina Piedmont blues for Southside High School and the Upcountry History Museum in Greenville, Hagood Mill Historic Site & Folklife Center in Pickens, and the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia. King received the Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award in 2018. Interviewed by Holly Hobbs, 10/14/2020.

144. Interview with Jada M. Lark, U.S. Virgin Islands (06:13)

Date:
2020-10-14
Main contributors:
Jada M. Lark
Summary:
Jada M. Lark (U.S. Virgin Islands) Originally from Chicago, Illinois, singer Jada M. Lark relocated to the U.S. Virgin Islands, where she met her husband and performs as a singer in the reggae band Inity Reggae Xplosion. Interviewed by Holly Hobbs, 10/14/2020.

145. Interview with Kalyn Heffernan, Denver, Colorado (06:24)

Date:
2020-10-14
Main contributors:
Kalyn Heffernan
Summary:
Kalyn Heffernan (Denver, Colorado) Combining humor, playfulness, radical political perspectives, compassion, and undeniable musical chops, Wheelchair Sports Camp is Denver's biggest smallest band. Fronted by the wheelchair-using, rap-heavy, beat-making, freedom-fighting producer, educator, and foul-mouthed rebel rouser Kalyn, the band is a combination of live and electronic instruments with a more noisy, jazzy, and experimental combination for the traditional hip hop group. Raised by the DIY (Do It Yourself) spirit of experimental independence, the band has stretched itself into theatre, performance art, public television, politics, prison tours, permanent installations, and more to come. Kalyn led Denver's first disabled and queer artist campaign for the mayor’s seat in 2019. The tiny, happy mayor has long been advocating for herself and other marginalized communities through music, direct action, education, and art. Commonly known for fighting for access to human rights and calling out those in power who protect capital interests over the future, Kalyn makes herself heard with a very loud, distinct, and high-pitched sense of humor. The band unknowingly started the summer of 1997, when Kalyn moved back from California to her hometown. The band tours the States and beyond from their home in Denver. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/14/2020.

146. Interview with Kozue Matzumoto, Los Angeles, California (06:00)

Date:
2020-10-14
Main contributors:
Kozue Matzumoto
Summary:
Kozue Matzumoto (Los Angeles, California) Born and raised in the Tohoku (東北) area in Japan and having lived in Tokyo as well, Kozue is now based in the Los Angeles area. She has played the koto since she was three years old under Ikuta-ryu (生田流) Miyagi-kai (宮城会) and holds a semi-master title (準師範). She has also played the shamisen and the shinobue since she was very young. In North America, she has been collaborating with various musicians and movement, visual, installation, and other types of artists. Not only does she play traditional, contemporary, and experimental music, she also improvises, composes, and creates mixed media arts. She has contributed her koto sounds to 2020 Tokyo Olympics (postponed) as well as Ghost of Tsushima, a PS4 game released in 2020. She has participated in various projects and performances including at Center for World Music (San Diego, CA), SASSAS (Los Angeles, CA), Washington Street Art Center (Boston, MA), and Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble (Vancouver, Canada), to name a few. A Japanese music ensemble instructor at California Institute of the Arts, she has been invited as a guest lecturer by schools in California and also travels throughout the U.S. for lectures, master classes, and workshops. She studied improvisation, composition, and music technology, and graduated with a Performer-Composer MFA from California Institute of the Arts. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/14/2020.

147. Interview with Marlysse Simmons, Richmond, Virginia (06:01)

Date:
2020-10-14
Main contributors:
Marlysse Simmons
Summary:
Marlysse Simmons (Richmond, Virginia) Marlysse Rose Simmons-Argandoña is a first-generation Chilean-American pianist, composer and educator based in Richmond, Virginia. She is the band leader, arranger and pianist for the globally renowned indie-salsa band Bio Ritmo and the bolero-inspired project Miramar. With her projects she has toured North America, Europe, Russia, and Georgia. She is a recipient of the Mid-Atlantic Touring Arts grant, recorded for Brooklyn’s Daptone, Barbès, and Spain’s Vampisoul Records. She studied composition under Grammy Award-winning artist Arturo O’Farrill and has traveled the world to make independent studies of various musical traditions including Brazil, Cuba, Chile, Puerto Rico and country of Georgia. Simmons also works as a commissioned arranger, educator and lecturer. Interviewed by Tamar Sella, 10/14/2020.

148. Interview with Oscar Chirinos, Ogden, Utah (05:18)

Date:
2020-10-14
Main contributors:
Oscar Chirinos
Summary:
Oscar Chirinos (Ogden, Utah) Oscar Chirinos has been playing flamenco guitar since he was a little child. Born in Lima, Peru, his family moved to United States when he was nine. He picked up his passion for flamenco from his Spanish grandfather, a guitar player himself. He now lives in Ogden, Utah, where he works for an advertisement company so that he can pursue his passion, music. In 2019, Oscar and Romina Notaro formed the flamenco fusion band AmoRoma along with Rodrigo (percussion), Jaesi (violin), and Barbara (dancer). Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/14/2020

149. Interview with Queen Quet, Georgia Sea Islands (05:52)

Date:
2020-10-14
Main contributors:
Queen Quet
Summary:
Queen Quet (Georgia Sea Islands) Queen Quet Marquetta L. Goodwine is a singer/vocalist, author, computer scientist, lecturer, and cultural historian. She is the founder of the premiere advocacy organization for the continuation of Gullah/Geechee culture, the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition. Queen Quet was the first Gullah/Geechee person to speak on behalf of her people before the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and was also one of the first of seven inductees in the Gullah/Geechee Nation Hall of Fame. In 2008, she was recorded at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, at a United Nations Conference in order to have the human rights story of the Gullah/Geechee people archived for the United Nations. She worked with US Congressman James Clyburn to ensure that the United States Congress would work to assist the Gullah/Geechees. Queen Quet then acted as the community leader to work with the United States National Park Service to conduct several meetings throughout the Gullah/Geechee Nation for the Special Resource Study of Lowcountry Gullah Culture. Due to the fact that Gullah/Geechees worked to become recognized as one people, Queen Quet wanted to ensure that the future congressional act would reflect this in its name and form. As a result in 2006 the “Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act” was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by the president. Queen Quet has appeared in numerous documentaries and films, and in print and other media. She uses her voice and vocal performances as healing arts. Interviewed by Holly Hobbs, 10/14/2020.

150. Interview with Vanderford, Buffalo, South Carolina (06:39)

Date:
2020-10-14
Main contributors:
Freddie Vanderford
Summary:
Vanderford (Buffalo, South Carolina) Growing up in Buffalo, South Carolina, Vanderford first learned to play the mouth harp, or harmonica, from his grandfather, who played “old mountain songs” on the instrument. Initially, Vanderford blended the country style of his grandfather with the sound of the Chicago blues. However, an encounter with the Piedmont blues of Arthur “Peg Leg Sam” Jackson would forever change Vanderford’s musical style. As a knowledgeable cultural historian and traditional performer, Vanderford is highly sought after for his performing and recording talents. Vanderford received the Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award in 2010. Interviewed by Holly Hobbs, 10/14/2020.