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Japan on My Mind by Mairéid Sullivan
Photos by Roger Hammond
 The shakuhachi is Anne Norman’s voice. She ‘sings’ the pure voice of the shakuhachi with the sense of freedom and sheer ecstasy of a gifted singer! I don't remember ever hearing any instrument play such pure voice-like tones!
The shakuhachi first came to Japan during the Nara period (710-794) from Tang China, more than 1,000 years ago.
Many different approaches to playing the shakuhachi have evolved through highly refined musical styles and bear the names of the founders of respective schools.
Meian-ryu is the oldest school of shakuhachi playing and is inseparable from the original doctrine of ‘blowing Zen'. Zen-Buddhism practitioners often prefer to play the shakuhachi, rather than reading sutras, to achieve Enlightenment (satori). ‘Itton Jobutsu' - Buddha is hidden in one sound - is a saying of Fuke monks.
Anne's style is natural, looking for a quality and purity of sound in each and every note. She recently curated a brilliantly conceived mini-exposition on Japanese culture here in Melbourne, Japan on My Mind —an adventurous program of calligraphy performance’ set to music, dance, songs, spoken word and a traditional tea ceremony — a rare intimate insight into deeply cultivated artistic sensibility in Japanese culture. Read the entire article here.
Howard Marks to host Freedom Rally Celebration in memory of John Lennon
 To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the John Sinclair Freedom Rally & his release from prison, the author, poet and activist announces a special one-off London show in memory of John Lennon with 'Mr Nice' Howard Marks and other special guests at O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire on Thursday 14th June.
John Sinclair managed the hard-edged proto-punk MC5 from 1966 through 1969. Under his guidance the band embraced the counter-culture revolutionary politics of the White Panther Party, founded in answer to the Black Panthers' call for white people to support their movement.
Sinclair became a political prisoner in the early days of the 'War On Drugs' when he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1969 after giving two joints of marijuana to an undercover narcotics officer.
This sentence inspired Abbie Hoffman to jump on the stage during The Who's performance at Woodstock to protest. It also sparked the landmark "Free John Now Rally" at Ann Arbor's Crisler Arena in December 1971. Read the entire article here.
Musician 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 ...Developing Music Careers in Uncertain Time
A Psycho-Spiritual-Musical Manifesto by Peter Spellman
If you were to judge the health of the recording industry by the mainstream press you’d have to conclude things do look pretty bleak. Industry trade groups like the RIAA and the IFPI continue parading their woeful data on global CD sales and there are no signs of improvement. In real dollars the industry has been flat-lining for nine straight years.
And it’s not just the recording industry that’s ailing. Other sectors of the biz – music publishing, music products and the concert industries – are also registering declines. The key word here is “industry”. It’s important for those in the biz to make the distinction between the music “industry” and the music “trade.”
The former is primarily the domain of transnational corporations and organizations like the RIAA and the major music companies; the latter the domain of most musicians and a tremendous diversity of small music enterprises, most “under the radar” and perceived by the former as basically insignificant in the larger picture.
Full feature here.
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Howard Marks to host Freedom Rally Celebration in memory of John Lennon
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Musician 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 ...Developing Music Careers in Uncertain Times
A Psycho-Spiritual-Musical Manifesto by Peter Spellman
Chieftains and San Patricios
by Mairéid Sullivan
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A' Must See' Musical Journey
Time after Time, the ground-breaking, award winning film is now available on DVD.
"Rich, embracing and informative...
an exhilarating example of visual world music at its best." Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times
Click here to buy the DVD.
View YouTube Trailers
Click here for 90 second trailer.
Click here for 8 minute trailer.
A celebration of ancient Celtic, North American and Australian peoples.
There is magic here as sublime poetry and ancient song celebrate freedom and echo a world beyond ours. ... The result is as moving and affecting as all great art.
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