Dizzy O'Brian

Anjan Shah FUSING INDIAN CULTURE WITH WESTERN SOUNDS For many musicians, drawing on their cultural background provides a wealth of material for creative inspiration. As a first-generation Indian American, saxophonist Anjan Shah of Locals 10-208 (Chicago, IL) and 40-543 (Baltimore, MD) understands this very well. However, it wasn’t an under- standing that came to him until much later in his life. “Growing up in Detroit in the 1960s, we were one of only 13 Indian families in the city,” says Shah, whose parents emigrated from Mumbai early in that decade following a love marriage—that opposed an expected arranged marriage—which ostracized them from their families. “My dad got an engineering job with General Motors and they settled in the Indian community in Detroit, which was very tight.” Like many children of immigrants, Shah says he spent much of his childhood trying to fit in. “I was constantly made aware of how different I was from not only the white kids, but also the Black kids,” he ...

  What time is it? It's time to make music. It's time to create art and write poetry. It's time to tell stories. Just as the song says; there is a time to every purpose under Heaven. Oh, but you might say; 'these are not the best times for music and art, this sort of creativity belongs to a more prosperous time, when people are happier and have more leisure time. Right now we need to focus on the world's problems!' May I submit to you that focusing on the world's problems has been pretty much all we have been doing since the dawn of time? There have been brighter moments for sure; artists such as Mozart and The Beatles beat the drum for life being about love, joy and fun. Literally living through the French Revolution and the ensuing bloodbath which followed, Beethoven penned the Ode To Joy. But the Blue Meanies will have their day, it seems.  After the careers of such as Mozart, Beethoven and The Beatles I thought, surely it's now been said. Surely peop...

    Avalon Omega ‘Had It All’ 'Had It All' Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtEGsshGqtU Song Link: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/avalonomega/had-it-all Summary: Los Angeles based singer and songwriter Avalon Omega is releasing a new single ‘Had It All’ February 22, 2022 - out today. The single will have an accompanying music video release. Biography: Tiny yet tremendous, the youthful electro-groove thrill brat Avalon Omega is a dramatically self-possessed artist. This defiantly untamed soul works an exhilarating brand of shiny rap-crackle-pop, one that's infused with the gaudy color and atmosphere of a wildly charged creative vision unique to herself. The Omega sound skips and skitters across the cerebellum, flinging generous handfuls of break-beat glitter and techno fairy dust that burst into shimmering clouds of aural extravagance. The effect is nigh on mesmerizing. This Atwater avatar of cool's kinetic presentation, taken with her star-spangled high gut...

My Recent Interview with Aleah Fitzwater on Blog Fusion I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Aleah Fitzwater who is a musician, writer, artist and blogger from the midwest. She runs a blog called Blog: Fusion  so, when she happened upon me while surfing the internet she thought I would be a great fit since I happen to be a fusion music composer. She is also a fusion artist, arranging pop-punk songs for flute choir. Flute is one of her main instruments and she says that most people find arranging pop-punk songs for flute choir a little strange. Obviously I don't, although I admit how surprised I was when she contacted me and I found out how many similarities we have as artists. Working in the fusion of classical and pop music elements, you often feel you are alone on a wide-open frontier.The nice thing about it, of course, is it tends to hit across many musical genres, as far as listeners are concerned. I was also surprised to hear how similar our formative experienc...

 Music As Culture Music As Culture There can be no doubt that music parallels culture. One only has to look back through time to find the connection between music and the society of that time to see the connection, so it is certain that we have always had music as culture. One can find a connection not only in the dancing of the time but also the fashion and even the very language used. Idioms and slang began noticeably appearing in the United States way back with the Beat Movement with words like ‘cool,’ ‘square,’ and ‘DaddyO.’ The fashion was very distinctive and identifying with black turtleneck sweaters and bangs. It was an artistic culture and people hung out in coffee shops, painting and composing poetry on the fly. We follow it into the sixties with tie dye, bell bottoms, sex and drugs. The real question, I suppose, is which came first; the chicken or the egg? Does music culture reflect changes already going on in society or is it a catalyst? An interesting question, since m...

Listen to Within City Limits Podcasts If you like to listen to podcasts and would like information about podcasts to listen to, check out the following information about a podcast called Within City Limits, created by Guillermo Delgado. Guillermo Delgado hosts and produces a podcast promoting and discussing music in Austin Tx. It’s very new and very up and coming.  The podcast is called Within City Limits, and can be found on Spotify and other popular platforms. Every episode features local Austin musicians for an interview and a general music discussion. Its aim is to strengthen the musical community and keep live music alive however we can this year! It is certainly one of the best podcasts on Spotify and one of the best podcasts to listen to! Here are a couple of examples; Episode 10 was with Emay Holmes. He is a veteran with a great voice who found success in the Navy culture after writing his original guitar ballad “Deployment Song.” He now lives in Austin, performing when he ...

 My Life Online; The Culture Underground We have a couple definitions of the word ‘underground.’ The first is; “A group or movement organized secretly to work against an existing regime.” "I got involved with the French underground" The next one is; A group or movement seeking to explore alternative forms of lifestyle or artistic expression. (Definitions from Oxford Languages) The next one is a bit more detailed; “A genre in music and other forms of media intended for an elite audience, that is often characterized by its high levels of originality and experimentation, and does not conform to typical standards, trends, or hypes as set by the popular mainstream media. The mainstream media has a tendency to steal new ideas from the underground.” by Essix April 16, 2005 ( https://www.urbandictionary.com ) Obviously, referring to The Culture Underground, the last definition is the most applicable and also we’re not talking about ‘a group or movement organized se...