LINKS
BADI ASSAD
www.badiassad.com
A very sweet Brazilian beauty with a wonderful and versatile
voice, Badi is an incredible classical guitarist. She also
dances,
plays percussion, and has a whole range of unique, percussive vocal
sounds all her own. And she does it all very well. Just give her something that makes a sound, and
she'll play it.
Among the many honors that she's had bestowed upon her
was being named as one of Acoustic Guitar Magazine’s top 15
artists of the decade. One of her on-going projects is a
trio collaboration with jazz legends John Abercrombie and Larry
Coryell. A list of the Brazilian musicians with whom she's
worked would be like a page out of the Who's Who of music.
It is absolutely no stretch to say that Badi is one of the most
gifted and versatile musical artists alive today. And,
I'm pleased to say, it's also no stretch to say that she's also one
of the sweetest ladies around.
If you
aren't familiar with Badi's music, do yourself a favor and discover
it. Her CDs cover quite a range of musical flavors, so if you've
heard one or two, don't think you've heard it all. And should
you ever have the opportunity to see her perform live... go!!!
She spends most of her time touring in Brasil and Europe, but
she has started doing more concerts in the US.
PATRICK MORAZ
Patrickmoraz.com
Patrick
is one of the finest keyboard players on the planet, and one of
the true musical geniuses of our time. Among his talents, he can
create and retain a full symphonic score almost entirely in his
head. Versatile and creative, he is equally comfortable and
masterful on a grand piano and / or electronics. Though it is
merely the tip of the iceberg, Patrick is most widely known for
his work with Yes and the Moody Blues.
In his
concerts, Patrick has a way of drawing the crowd in and making
them an active part of a spontaneous, creative process. If
you ever have the opportunity to attend one of his concerts, do
yourself the favor.
Be sure
to check out Patrick’s bio and extensive discography -- can you
say "prolific"? And yes, that cute little guy playing drums and piano
at the top of the bio page is Patrick as a child.
LITTLE KIDS ROCK
LittleKidsRock.org
Little Kids Rock is a non-profit organization that trains public
school teachers and provides instruments so that the teachers can
start music programs in their schools. It was created by a teacher
who began by starting an after-school program with 12 guitars that
he borrowed from some of his musician friends that owed
him favors. It's a sad social commentary that this
organization has a need to exist, and a blessing that it does.
TEACHING AND LEARNING FOR PEACE
FOUNDATION
Teaching and Learning For Peace
For
the sake of the children, their children and the generations to
follow, this site shares
peace-building stories, songs and activities for children and
adults.
Positive Music Association
Positive Music Association
The
Positive Music Association
is a large collection
of artists who are creating positive music. It
exists to promote and advance positive music, and its
overall
purpose is to create a better world through music. It also
provides resources and networking opportunities to help members to
grow and market their music.
The PMA’s
site includes a list of its members and links to their websites,
member spotlight, music resources, links to other positive media,
and positive music events. Along with this information,
some of the artist’s
pieces are presented for all to hear.
TONY FRANKLIN
www.tonyfranklin.com
If you appreciate
fretless bass and good people, then you just have to love Tony. He's creative, versatile, sensitive and powerful --- he can play
something so beautiful that it tenderly caresses your heart, and
then turn around and just blow your socks right off.
SAM JOHNSTON IV
www.samjohnston.com
A fourth generation
photographer who studied under Ansel Adams, Jammin' Sammin' has
recently expanded his scope to include web site construction, and is
doing an incredible job of search engine positioning. I'd like to thank him for his patience with me in the ongoing
process of building the musicalpeace site together, and
for his sincere desire to see it do well and help "increase the
peace".
Sammy's been playing mostly
guitar in recent years, but right now he's focusing more on the
bass.
H.E.A.R.
www.hearnet.com
How important
to the enjoyment of music is one’s hearing ? Yet in the
process of listening to music, many players and listeners destroy
this gift. If you enjoy the sound of music, and want to
continue doing so... and if you want to be able to understand what
others say to you... then you must protect your hearing! If
you subject your ears to excessive volume, you will destroy important parts of your hearing range. It is as simple as
that.
H.E.A.R. (Hearing
Education and Awareness for Rockers) is a non-profit organization
dedicated to increasing awareness of the dangers of repeated
exposure to excessive noise levels. Too much exposure can lead to permanent
(and
sometimes even debilitating) hearing loss and tinnitus. Also, H.E.A.R.
offers access to a range of personal hearing protection, including
attenuated filters, which are especially good for playing music, but
can be hard to find. The attenuated filters allow a flatter
response than regular plugs, so they give you the protection you
need, but without just eradicating all of the highs. They're
one item that I think all music stores should carry, but very few
do. H.E.A.R. has a variety of filters
available, including attenuated filters for less than ten dollars and custom
molded filters. These fine folks also have literature and
other resources available to help in sharing awareness with others.
Naturally,
having good filters is preferable, but stuffing pieces of toilet paper or napkin into
your ears can help if that's what you have available. And
remember, once the hearing is gone, that's it... no repairs or
replacement parts are available.
MOTHER RHYTHM DRUMS
www.motherrhythm.com
This is a great place
to find hand drums, percussion instruments, didgeridoos, flutes,
different types of drum bags, and other good things. I have one of
the djembes, and it’s finished much better than most of the djembes
that I’ve seen. One of the major assets of these drums is that they
have accurate bearing surfaces for the heads, resulting in greater
resonance and tone. Gregg, who brings these goodies to you, is
a drummer with a background in environmental protection, and he puts
his actions where his ideals are… the trees used for the drums are
plantation-grown. This means that sustainability, not deforestation, is
supported in the making of these drums.
ADAM NITTI
adamnitti.com
A fine person and
bassist, Adam is a multi-faceted asset to the music world. Not
only is he a band player, but also an educator, a touring clinician, a
first-call session player, a vocalist, a keyboard player, Chief
Learning Officer of MusicDojo.com, and more. Adam’s website offers
free lessons, including some that he wrote for Bass Player Magazine,
BassLessons.com, etc.
PLANET CD
Planetcd.com
Planet
CD is a site dedicated to presenting the music of independent
artists, and you’ll find plenty of it there. The CDs are presented
by genre, and along with info on the artists, there are samples of
their music for you to hear. If you believe in independent music,
this is a great place for you to go and support it. Planet CD is
also a supporter of Gifted Artist Records, which is a vehicle that
allows people with various disabilities to record professional CDs…
and top studio musicians participate in this project.
If
you’re an independent musician or group that would like to broaden
your horizons, here’s an established vehicle that could provide you
with instant planet-wide distribution of the fruit of your creative
efforts.
ANITA BEST
Anita is a
wonderful lady and a long-time top-drawer friend. She is also a
major element in the realization of the musicalpeace dream. She has
offered much belief and encouragement... even breathing life back
into the effort when, at one point, it had lost momentum and was
faltering.
Anita's
website isn't up at this time.
WORLD
MEDITATION ENSEMBLE
worldmeditationensemble.org
The World
Meditation Ensemble, given life through a Tibetan Buddhist lama in
1999, plays sacred and meditative music from various cultures (with
some fun thrown in)
on a broad range of instruments. With respect for the
universal spirit of humanity, they weave a bridge of sound to
provide a path for unifying without regard for differences.
Their music ranges from the ethereal to the pulsation of infectious
rhythmic flows. Also, the WME's website offers some very well
presented insight into various aspects of meditation.