Terror Reflections
Monday, March 29 was just the start of another working week in Moscow. Huge crowds of people descended into the metro system – a rumbling, winding maze of tunnels, walkways and escalators. Within a single hour, two suicide bombers struck at the heart of the Russian capital. Blasts shook key stations on the busy red...
Christian Scott: Breaking Boundaries, Crossing Lines
ALL ABOUT JAZZ: The prodigious trumpeter pulls no punches in a vicious critique of the jazz establishment.
Barbacana / Troyka – Vortex, 5/3/10
The bassless Anglo-French quartet Barbacana made strong impressions right from the start: James Allsop’s supple tenor sax led the way, as the others gradually joined in to create a compelling collective improvisation with tight melodic interludes. This was the story of their set. A constantly shifting dynamic spectrum, ranging from full-volume, rowdy sax blasts and...
Downhill with a Difference: Moscow’s Real Wacky Racers
An unclassified dispatch from the 2009 'Tazovy Downhill' annual bowl race, a colourful event organised by Muscovites to raise their dreary winter spirits.
Acoustic Ladyland // Pete Wareham
Vortex, London, 6/2/10 myspace.com/acousticladylandmusic Click here to read my interview with Pete Wareham, published May 2008.
Requiem for a jazz great
George Garanian, 1934-2010 On January 11, Russian jazz icon George Garanian – a musician who nourished jazz as part of Soviet culture – suffered a fatal heart attack while on tour with his popular big band. He was 75. A productive career spanning more than half a century has ensured that Garanian, a highly renowned...
Moscow’s needy receive a gift of kindness
If you would like to support the OPORA cause, please contact Dr Gezahgn Wordofa on opora2003[at]yahoo.com. Any donations of clothes, food or time are always highly appreciated. Broadcast on Prime Time Russia (RT), 24/12/09 – click here for archive.
A Traveler’s Road to Enlightenment
Hitching rides became a way of life for Jack Kerouac’s Beat Generation. Decades later, Anton Krotov is leading a movement of Russia’s globetrotting “free travelers.” With over 30 years of travel experience and 17 books under his belt, Anton Krotov doesn’t lack in tales from the road. “One of my favorite stories comes from a...
Olympic challenge for Sochi games
Officially the Winter Olympics are non-politicised – but the reality is that wherever Russia goes, politics will follow. Russia will be holding a national referendum to select its mascot for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Contenders include a dolphin on skis, a potential revival of the 1980 games’ popular beaming bear, and a giant-eared...
Manuel Mengis – Dulcet Crush
HatHut Records / Hatology 684 Release: October/November 2009 Manuel Mengis – trumpet Reto Suhner – alto saxophone, alto clarinet Roland von Flue – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet Flo Stoffner – electric guitar Marcel Stalder – electric bass Lionel Friedli – drums 1. Plant Life 2. End Of A Record Breaker 3. Bling Bling Cowboy 4....
