Malika Zarra has had to negotiate the world of her heritage (Morocco) and the world she has found herself in (Europe, the USA) and has emerged with a strong musical identity that combines the structures of jazz with songs that come from her North African heart. She brought the music of her latest release "Berber Taxi" on Motema Records to the intimate NY club, the Jazz Standard, and from my perch on a bar stool, above the audience -- and the waiters delivering slabs of barbecue -- I caught the title track on video.

Zarra has a warm and caressing presence, and she introduced this traditional song that she learned from her mother by telling of how in remote villages, sometimes one hopes that a taxi will come from far away, bringing love. But the song also operates as a metaphor for Zarra's own inner journey through Morocco, France and New York City. She grew up listening to traditional music in her home, but was introduced to jazz after the family moved to France, where her formal musical studies began. Throughout the evening, the cadences of Arabic and Berber dialects sat easily within the sophisticated arrangements, as did the modalities of the melodies. By the end of her set, the audience was thoroughly entranced.

Musicians in the top-notch band that night, were Jean-Christophe Maillard on guitar, Etienne Stadwijk on piano, Mamadou Ba on bass, Harvey Wirht on drums, and Brahim Fribgane on oud and percussion.

I also liked the room. The Jazz Standard has a welcoming feel, and I found myself chatting with a very interesting couple who live on a boat, and make it a point to come to the club whenever they are in town. But when the music began, cell phones were off, and ears were turned on, giving complete attention to the music.

For more information about Ms. Zarra's upcoming performances, visit www.malikazarra.com

Once again, I am bringing you a performance from one of New York's many small venues which are outlets for all the talent that is attracted to the city. The Caffe Vivaldi is a tiny, informal place in the West Village of New York. It has live music regularly; mostly singer songwriters. On this night Neil Pearlman brought his ensemble, and proceeded to expand the palette of Scottish music with healthy injections of Jazz harmonies and Latin rhythms. I had gotten a shout from Rachel over at Rock Paper Scissors publicity, and so I grabbed my camcorder and hoped for the best.

The band played mostly songs from Pearlman's new CD "Coffee & the Mojo Hat" along with some new tunes they were working up. Regarding this performance, Neil says: "That set... in particular is centered around the tune called the Sailor's Wife. It is interesting because I alter a traditional jig (6/8 time) and turn it into a 2/2 Latin groove. In order to bring that alteration out for people who don't already know the tune I start it off in its traditional form before bringing in the rest of the band."

I found the music to be a sweet hybrid because Pearlman, who has been performing Scottish and Cape Breton music with his family since he was a kid, obviously truly loves the trad stuff. And though he has felt the need to break out of the strict interpretations of the melodies, that affection never departs. The ensemble also has an amiable sound, everyone plays well, and although my video does not quite capture it, drummer Alex Cohen's precise yet relaxed rudiments are real ear candy.

Neil can be reached at www.neilpearlman.com

Click here for another performance by Neil Pearlman.

For more of Michal's original world music videos visit inter-muse.com

At a choro concert I attended on New York's Lower East Side, I was clued in to an upcoming show with guitarist Douglas Lora backing up singer Verônica Ferriani. Lora gave me glowing reports about this young woman who is part of a new generation of great singers in the tradition of Música Popular Brasileira, or MPB. Based on the quality of Mr. Lora's last choro performance, I went to check it out.Ms. Ferriani is a petite woman, but listening to her sing is a very large experience. Her voice is warm, precise and powerful, and she has an impeccable interpretive style. She is on the rise in Brazil -- so remember, you saw her here first!

The evening's repertoire drew from mostly well known sources, Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque, Luis Gonzaga, Tom Jobim, and Milton Nascimento, to name a few. And Ms. Ferriani even ventured into American jazz standard territory. But sticking to the Brazilian side of the program, I've chosen two songs: "Canção do Sal," a soulful work song by Milton Nascimento that I was not familiar with, and the grand chestnut "Manha de Carnaval" also known as the Theme from Black Orpheus. Ms. Ferriani takes on this song that has been sung by just about everyone (No less an icon than Dinah Shore evidently did a cover in Portuguese!) and gives it an authentic and personal reading.

I was also fortunate to get an audio track off the board from the Living Room, as they were taping the show for "The Loft" series on Sirius Satellite radio, so the sound is nice and clean. And if you want to hear the whole show, mark your calendars, 'cause it's airing Sunday June 5th at 7pm EST, on Sirius XM channel 30, "From the Living Room to the Loft" with encore presentations on following Tuesdays at 12noon, for two weeks.

Contact for Verônica Ferriani: eric@mtalifetime.com
To see an exclusive performance by Doug and Veronica, go to: goo.gl/​xN6id

This post will be a little bit different from my others. Rather than simply reporting on the music from the Fes Festival (which I will do in other postings) I'm going to try to convey the experience of being there. I've taken everything I shot from my first full day and laid the most vivid parts out, travelogue-style. So you're getting a full day in under 9 minutes.

A word on the video quality: I went with my Flip camera which was fine for some things, and truly inadequate for others. So you are going to see some pretty grainy stuff every now and then (low light, fuzzy zoom, or both).  You are also going to see some very high quality video that was kindly supplied to me by a REAL filmmaker with a REAL camera. So all in all it will be a bumpy ride. But frankly, Fes is a bumpy ride. That's why I start out with a statement from my colleague Cindy Byram, who has attended the festival for 6 years in a row, and who speaks from experience. In the end I agree with her 100%.

There are four main venues for the festival: three paying, one public. One generally starts the day at the Batha Museum courtyard, an intimate setting with a magnificent Barberry tree that spreads its shade over 65% of the area. After a dinner break, you head on out to catch the "Big Act" at the impressive walled Bab al Makina (another paying venue) and then pass through the Bab Boujloud public performance area on your way to the last musical event, at the lovely Dar Tazi, where you can sit at a table under the trees, sip mint tea, and listen to Sufi chants. The public performances have been added in the last few years, and this is where you will find your everyday Moroccan, since the paying venues are too expensive for most. The music there is more local, and I was particularly taken with this venue, as you will see.

As to the music?  Everything I saw had merit on some level, and some even made my heart sing. But to put in my two cents, I believe that for the  most part making music and listening to music is a transcendent act, so what is NOT sacred music?  Still, I guess calling it "sacred music" makes it easier to give the Festival a theme, and since the event and the vibe are so dogma-free and tolerant, how can I complain?

Joseph Campbell's interpretations of humanity's various myths are popular because they ring true; he was remarkably effective in revealing their wisdom about life and even death. Coming from a very similar place (though perhaps somewhat more curatorial in her process) is Virlana Tkacz, the director of the Yara Arts Group. She has been researching ancient songs and poems from Ukraine, Mongolia, Central Asia and points further east for years, and her work with the troupe reflects her desire to re-integrate the ancient "ways of knowing," as she puts it, into modern life. 

I first caught Yara's work in 1999 when I was assigned to review their musical play "Circle." It blew me away with its combination of great singing, songs, inventive staging, and earthy humor. (It was also where I first met Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello, who had a role in the play.) Ever since then I've thought more people should know about Yara, and now that I am "vlog enabled" (!) I finally can not only write about it, but bring you an interview with Virlana, and present some excerpts from Yara's most recent production, "Scythian Stones."



Even if you missed this last production, the good news is that Yara continues to create these intimate theatrical pieces here in NYC (and abroad, in the countries from which much of the the music and myth come) and you can catch more of them in the future. And there is more to Yara than just theater, as a visit to the Yara Arts Group website will reveal.