Sunday, June 20, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
NEWDradio
Christine and Mark Henegan, Duncan Irvine Interview - NEWDradio - Effects of the 2010 World Cup on the tourism, economy and people of South Africa.
Isn't it awesome when you think you're muted but turns out you're on LIVE?
(On from about 30 mins into the show)
Isn't it awesome when you think you're muted but turns out you're on LIVE?
(On from about 30 mins into the show)
Listen to internet radio with newd.radio on Blog Talk Radio
Monday, June 14, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Saturday, June 5, 2010
MADIBA - Taping of the Diski Dance for NBC's New York Non-Stop
June 11th @ 7:30 - 11pm
Join us, Ramon DeBruyn, Etienne Stadwijk, Mauricio Zottarelli and Time Out New York at MADIBA (195 Dekalb Ave - Brooklyn) for some great music to Celebrate South Africa & WORLD CUP Opening Day!! Learn the Diski Dance, Waka-Waka, Wavin' Flag - some Biltong, great food, Pinotage...you CAN'T go wrong!! ONE SIX DAYS TO GO!!
June 17th @ 8pm - CELEBRATE LIFE! - Fundraiser for school uniforms in South Africa - Riverside Theatre
June 22nd @ 9:30, 11, 12:30 - ZINC BAR - Celebrate South Africa & the World Cup
June 26th - FORT GREEN MUSIC FEST - with the South African All-Stars
Jack Rabid's "The Big Takeover" - REVIEW
The London-born, Johannesburg raised, and now New York based artist has an impressive resume, having studied at the Milan Conservatory and Boston's Berklee College of Music. But her music is ingrained in the South African jazz of her childhood, which she infuses with an energetic, invigorating blend of R&B, funk, and swing. She's assembled a first rate band, including jazz pianist Hiromi, hot percussionist Daniel Sadownick, members of Paul Simon's Graceland ensemble, and some sizzling horn players. And while Vaindirlis can easily out-diva the best of them, she displays a remarkably versatile range, whether throaty and commanding ("Call to Freedom"), velvety and effervescent ("Down by the River"), or sweet and soothing ("Dance Mama!", "Making it Home Someday"). You'll find it near impossible to sit still through this joyous, danceable debut LP.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Come celebrate South Africa and the FIFA World Cup at SOBs on Sunday - TOMORROW.....May 16th at 8pm!!
Come celebrate South Africa and the FIFA World Cup at SOBs on Sunday - TOMORROW.....May 16th at 8pm!!
Friday, April 30, 2010
"Dance Mama!" Soul Audio Review
Very often an artist’s debut recording is safe, easy listening. Christine Vaindirlis’ Dance Mama (excuse the missing exclamation mark) is anything but safe, easy listening – in fact, this debut project from the brilliant young artist is complex, challenging, meaty music designed to move your body, speak to your spirit, and engage your mind. Currently residing in Brooklyn, New York, Christine’s ten-song album reflects her South African roots but also incorporates a sophisticated command of urban American sounds.
In a musical landscape that exists somewhere between World Music, jazz, South African folk, pop and funk, you have Dance Mama. The very personal album starts off with “Indaba (Home)” inviting us to “a place where the music never sleeps – where there’s dancing and singing, and jamming ’till morning,” and dance you will, to tight, funky jams like the explosive “Call to Freedom,” “No More Drama,” the delightfully Afro-zydeco “Down by the River,” and, of course, the title-track.
Aside from the occasional penny whistle, accordion, talking drums, and unique percussion, the very impressive core band consists of guitar, drums, bass, and keyboards (listen for some stunning piano work by a young lady named Hiromi!) backed up by a sizzling-hot horn section that will delight fans of Tower of Power or Seawind.
Christine’s fine voice is featured on each track. Possessing a wide and flexible range, she handles lead and background vocals equally well, sounding joyful, powerful, sassy, or sensitive according to what each song calls for.
The infectious songs are structurally complex without being pretentious or over-indulgent. With tracks ranging from four minutes to over nine minutes in length, Christine gives you the best that she and her stunning group of musicians have to offer. It’s not unusual for songs – like “Fighting or Surviving,” for example – to take a surprising turn and get into some hard-core acid-jazz jams. Compositions venture seamlessly in and out of major and minor keys in support of the strong lyrics and melody lines, a technique heard to good effect on “Hear the Call to Freedom.” Of course, Vaindirlis has a softer, more introspective side as well, and shows that side on tracks like the jazzy ballad, “Making it Home, Someday,” which closes the project.
Lyrically, Christine’s soul is on display between the lines. There’s an obvious homage to her homeland throughout the CD, but this artist, after all, is now a New Yorker and shows us a feistier persona on songs like “No More Drama” and the show-stopping mega-jam, “Tell Me.” Trust me – once she tells you you’ll know you’ve been told…. Permeating everything, though, is a spirituality and acknowledgment of God that tempers even that strong track (“and how’s your soul? Don’t you know that you will reap back…”).
Vaindirlis pulls out all of the creative stops as producer, writer, arranger, and vocalist on this ambitious work – even to the point of creating the artwork for the beautifully packaged CD. Fans of Miriam Makeba, Ladysmith Black Mombazo, and Basia should look into this album, but fans of soul, r&b, and horn-fronted funk bands should enjoy it equally as well. The truth is, Christine Vaindirlis’ Dance Mama just isn’t easy to label.
And that’s exactly what I, for one, have been looking for.
In a musical landscape that exists somewhere between World Music, jazz, South African folk, pop and funk, you have Dance Mama. The very personal album starts off with “Indaba (Home)” inviting us to “a place where the music never sleeps – where there’s dancing and singing, and jamming ’till morning,” and dance you will, to tight, funky jams like the explosive “Call to Freedom,” “No More Drama,” the delightfully Afro-zydeco “Down by the River,” and, of course, the title-track.
Aside from the occasional penny whistle, accordion, talking drums, and unique percussion, the very impressive core band consists of guitar, drums, bass, and keyboards (listen for some stunning piano work by a young lady named Hiromi!) backed up by a sizzling-hot horn section that will delight fans of Tower of Power or Seawind.
Christine’s fine voice is featured on each track. Possessing a wide and flexible range, she handles lead and background vocals equally well, sounding joyful, powerful, sassy, or sensitive according to what each song calls for.
The infectious songs are structurally complex without being pretentious or over-indulgent. With tracks ranging from four minutes to over nine minutes in length, Christine gives you the best that she and her stunning group of musicians have to offer. It’s not unusual for songs – like “Fighting or Surviving,” for example – to take a surprising turn and get into some hard-core acid-jazz jams. Compositions venture seamlessly in and out of major and minor keys in support of the strong lyrics and melody lines, a technique heard to good effect on “Hear the Call to Freedom.” Of course, Vaindirlis has a softer, more introspective side as well, and shows that side on tracks like the jazzy ballad, “Making it Home, Someday,” which closes the project.
Lyrically, Christine’s soul is on display between the lines. There’s an obvious homage to her homeland throughout the CD, but this artist, after all, is now a New Yorker and shows us a feistier persona on songs like “No More Drama” and the show-stopping mega-jam, “Tell Me.” Trust me – once she tells you you’ll know you’ve been told…. Permeating everything, though, is a spirituality and acknowledgment of God that tempers even that strong track (“and how’s your soul? Don’t you know that you will reap back…”).
Vaindirlis pulls out all of the creative stops as producer, writer, arranger, and vocalist on this ambitious work – even to the point of creating the artwork for the beautifully packaged CD. Fans of Miriam Makeba, Ladysmith Black Mombazo, and Basia should look into this album, but fans of soul, r&b, and horn-fronted funk bands should enjoy it equally as well. The truth is, Christine Vaindirlis’ Dance Mama just isn’t easy to label.
And that’s exactly what I, for one, have been looking for.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Review - The Phantom Toolbooth - 4/15/2010
Dance Mama!
Artist: Christine Vaindirlis
URL: Http://www.christianevaindirlis.com
Label: Ubuntu World Music
10 tracks / 61:41
Christine Vaindirlis' wonderful debut release is one of those unexpected pleasures – a refreshing detour from the stream of sound-alike bands and drama-queen solo 'artists' that litter the musical landscape these days. Dance Mama (I hope that Christine will forgive me for leaving off the title's exclamation point in deference to this review making better grammatical sense) is a uniquely personal celebration of both the artist's physical homeland and her emotional journey from one culture to another. Never self-indulgent but self-aware enough to allow us to get a peek inside her soul, Vaindirlis also shares her observations about life from Johannesburg to Brooklyn – and this young lady has a lot to say.
Dance Mama combines elements of traditional South African music with a strong dose of jazz, funk, rock and soul. There's a sense of celebration that runs through the album starting with the opening track, “Indaba (Home),” where she sings, “A new day dawns in a brand-new world,...a place where the music never sleeps – where there's dancing and singing, And jamming 'till morning.” This is not to say that Dance Mama is a World Music party mix – far from it. Vaindirlis' music is far too complex, the jams too dense and intense, and her lyrics too deep and thought-provoking to simply call this a dance album, or feel-good music – Dance Mama encompasses much more than that.
Musically, you'll find traces of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Seawind, Basia, Miriam Makeba and others in Vaindirlis' eclectic blend of zydeco, Marabi, world-folk and jazz. Very much in control of every aspect of the project, Christine's imprint is on everything from the writing, arranging, production, and even the package artwork! The horn charts are Tower of Power crisp, the percussion and drum work always hot, the bass pumping and bubbling, the guitar alternately chunky and fiery, and the keyboard work stunning. Tying this all together are Vaindirlis' strong vocals – both lead and back-up – which soar, whoop, and whisper, where needed.
The songs are intricately structured, often shifting tone and tempo once or twice before they're through. “Call to Freedom,” for example, explodes into a tight, powerful jazz/funk groove with a hot horn section backing up the lyrics, “I could tell there was something going on / I know you knew it too... a little fear inside / Hear the call! Hear the call to freedom, hear the call.” The song surprisingly segues to a more hopeful tone at the end where the music dramatically shifts from a minor to a major key, making 'the call to freedom' more hopeful than fearful.
The Seawind-like “Fighting or Surviving” features a wonderful descending horn riff that leads to a stunning monster jam featuring some of the most impressive piano work I've heard in years (a young woman named Hiromi – watch out for her!) followed by some fiery acid-jazz guitar licks.
“Should I Make You Pay” follows with some cool, low-key jazzy playing and subtle, mature vocal stylings from Vaindirlis.
“Tell Me” is perhaps the album's show-stopper, and the first of two back-to-back relationship songs where Christine proves that she's not a lady to mess with. Funky, sassy and powerful, she could intimidate Janet Jackson singing these lyrics: “I don't know why you have to be so nasty / Tell me – what's up with that?,” or “ I'm not your mother, your father, your sister, your brother / and just 'cause you've got money, you think you can abuse me – No!” Once again, there's an impressive acid-jazz middle section powerful enough to scare any sane man into good behavior! The song finishes with a slow, almost-ominous coda: voice and bowed-bass only, intoning, “Don't you know / When the time comes you will reap what you sow? Does it cost you now to be kind? And how's your soul? Don't you know that now? You will reap back....”
The strong woman theme continues on five minutes of hot, funky soul that would make James Brown envious - “No More Drama.” This turns out to be the storm before the calm, said 'calm' being the Basia-like closing ballad, “Making it home Someday,” which brings us full-circle back to the main theme of the project.
Is it time to branch out and widen your musical palate? Dance Mama just might be what you need to experience a little bit of South African spice - by way of Brooklyn, NY.
Bert Saraco
http://www.myspace.com/expressimage
http://expressimagephoto.tripod.com
4 ½ TOCKS
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
My 2 cents
"Never make someone a priority when to them, you are simply an option"
A word of caution to those who are naturally inclined to be giving, generous and warm hearted to guard their hearts,
love your neighbor as much as you love yourself, not more than yourself!
A word of caution to those who are naturally inclined to be giving, generous and warm hearted to guard their hearts,
love your neighbor as much as you love yourself, not more than yourself!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
New Video
Christine Vaindirlis was born in London, grew up in South Africa and then moved to Italy to pursue her passion for music. From the “Conservatorio di Milano G.Verdi” whereafter she was awarded a full scholarship by the State of Lombardy to study opera under the supervision of “Teatro della Scala di Milano”, in 2001 she was endowed “The Berklee College of Music Achievement Scholarship” and graduated with Honors in 2004 with a dual major B.M. in Contemporary Writing & Production and Performance as a Voice principal. She also served as an ambassador of the College for the World Scholarship Tour Auditions and in 2003, her merits were recognized by the Solo and Ensemble Award for Outstanding Musicianship.
With extensive experience as a sideman and band leader in the many facets of the music industry over diverse stylistic approaches from classical to Funk, R&B, Rock, Jazz and World Music, she ventured into producing and directing “Shikisha!”, an entertaining twenty-three piece Boston based band promoting the Music of South Africa.
Privileged to perform with artists like Hiromi, Layla Hathaway, Esperanza Spalding, Leni Stern, Bakithi Kumalo, Abraham Laboriel, Tony Cedras, Wunmi, Morris Goldberg and The Tower of Power Ensemble among few, and in world renown venues and festivals like the Piccolo Teatro di Milano and Auditorium di San Fedele in Italy, the Epidauros Amphitheatre in Greece, the Cotton Club in Tokyo, the International Folk Music Festival in Boston and at the Miriam Makeba and Winston Mankuku Memorial Tribute Concerts 2008/9 in New York City, Christine in 2008 experimented with a different genre, produced and co-written with deepaGrooves, her single “What About You?” hit the House Music Charts and was remixed by Clive Mckenzie, Keith Blackstone and Brian Burnside in the US, and Charles Webster in the UK under Miso Records.
In 2009 Vaindirlis, the New York based global trotter released her debut album of original compositions and arrangements on Ubuntu World Music. "Dance Mama!" is a fusion of Funk, Jazz and South African influenced vocal and horn arrangements featuring an “All-Star”. Three of the tracks hit the finals, semi-finals and quarter-finals of the 2009 USA, International (ISC) and UK Songwriting Competitions respectively, while the album is receiving airplay on the in-flight World Music play-lists on Continental, Copa and United Airlines.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
NEWS!!
"Tell Me", "Indaba" and "This is My Place" hit the finals, semi-finals and quarter-finals of the 2009 USA, International (ISC) and UK Songwriting Competitions respectively, while the album is receiving airplay on the in-flight World Music play-lists on Continental, United and Copa Airlines.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
The African Hedonist
Mama Africa Dances across Continents:
Funky Global Citizen Christine Vaindirlis Channels the Spirit of Home
Born in London, raised in Johannesburg, trained in Milan under La Scala supervision and in Boston at Berklee, singer, composer and arranger Christine Vaindirlis is more than a mere globetrotter; she is the world. Yet wherever her free-spirited journey has taken her, she’s always yearned for home: Africa! Vaindirlis lets her global chops and love for her South African homeland shine on her vivacious debut, Dance Mama! (Ubuntu World Music; November 3, 2009), a shout out to South African jazz greats, as well as to an eclectic mix of R&B and funk icons from Chaka Khan to Tower of Power, all filtered through Vaindirlis’s unique worldly perspective.
School of Hope from Cape Town (Special Needs School)
Anyone have a spare PC lying around? Space/Property/land in Cape Town?
Donate to The School of Hope - 80 students, 10 staff members - they only have 3 computers for everyone and not enough space!!
http://www.activecompassiontransforms.org/
http://www.thembalitsha.org.za/
Singing with Tony Cedras
Anyone have a spare PC lying around? Space/Property/land in Cape Town?
Donate to The School of Hope - 80 students, 10 staff members - they only have 3 computers for everyone and not enough space!!
http://www.activecompassiontransforms.org/
http://www.thembalitsha.org.za/
Singing with Tony Cedras
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
New Release Mention in "The African Hedonist"
Mama Africa Dances across Continents:
Funky Global Citizen Christine Vaindirlis Channels the Spirit of Home
Born in London, raised in Johannesburg, trained in Milan under La Scala supervision and in Boston at Berklee, singer, composer and arranger Christine Vaindirlis is more than a mere globetrotter; she is the world. Yet wherever her free-spirited journey has taken her, she’s always yearned for home: Africa! Vaindirlis lets her global chops and love for her South African homeland shine on her vivacious debut, Dance Mama! (Ubuntu World Music; November 3, 2009), a shout out to South African jazz greats, as well as to an eclectic mix of R&B and funk icons from Chaka Khan to Tower of Power, all filtered through Vaindirlis’s unique worldly perspective as a classically trained opera singer, former English teacher, audio gear specialist, and corporate executive.
Funky Global Citizen Christine Vaindirlis Channels the Spirit of Home
Born in London, raised in Johannesburg, trained in Milan under La Scala supervision and in Boston at Berklee, singer, composer and arranger Christine Vaindirlis is more than a mere globetrotter; she is the world. Yet wherever her free-spirited journey has taken her, she’s always yearned for home: Africa! Vaindirlis lets her global chops and love for her South African homeland shine on her vivacious debut, Dance Mama! (Ubuntu World Music; November 3, 2009), a shout out to South African jazz greats, as well as to an eclectic mix of R&B and funk icons from Chaka Khan to Tower of Power, all filtered through Vaindirlis’s unique worldly perspective as a classically trained opera singer, former English teacher, audio gear specialist, and corporate executive.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Dance Mama! already on United and Continental World Music Airplay List!! -:)
Follow us on twitter at DanceMama2010!!
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