| Fall '07: Back To Work | ||
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The severe winter/spring storms of 2007 brought with them enough water to inundate us twice - the second one capping off at 6". No gear was lost or damaged but the rooms didn't fair so well. So we've had a very "dodgy" operating schedule of late, but we're happy to report, all of the deconstruction/waterproofing/reconstruction is complete and we're back up and running good as new. Ema continues to work on his long awaited solo debut (much of which was recorded in South Africa)... more as it progresses. Little Hawk, is back with us working on his latest story telling CD. We attended AES in NY at the Javits center. Ribbons were definitely the buzz but we were focusing on mic pres. We were very impressed with the new Matrix Audio mic pres and purchased the HO-3 - 2 channel, transformer balanced i/o, hybrid (discreet & IC) very punchy and aggresive! Thassall fer now. |
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| Ikhaya Studios installs a Sony DMX R100 | ||
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We're very excited to announce the installation of a SONY DMX R100 digital console here at Ikhaya Studios. The addition of the "Baby Oxford" compliments current upgrades going on here at the studio and it will become the centerpiece of our newly configured control room. We're confident that this incredibly elegant work of technology with its BIG warm smooth sound, Oxford dynamics and intuitive workflow will significantly heighten our sonic profile and dramatically increase creative productivity for us and all of our current and perspective clients! As soon as upgrades are done, we'll start showing pix in the gallery. Hurry back (and then come make music with us)! |
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| EMA / LITTLE HAWK CD "RELATIVE" has been released!!! | ||
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After a number of unanticipated delays, Ema and Little Hawk's long awaited CD, "Relative" has finally been released and is available RIGHT NOW! Go on over to the "Artist Features" link to read about it and then hurry over to the "CDs" link and buy it! They have already been shipped out to all of you who pre-ordered (sorry for the wait and thank you for your patience). |
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| THULI DUMAKUDE GROUP LIVE - RARE NY / NJ APPEARANCE! | ||
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The Thuli Dumakude Group will be presenting their powerful brand of South African music in a rare NY/NJ appearance at the Union County Musicfest on September 17th. The 90 min. performance is FREE and it starts at 11:15 AM. The location is at Echo Lake Park in Westfield/Mountainside, NJ. Directions can be found here: http://www.unioncountynj.org/svcsgov/parksrec/program1.htm The current group lineup is: Thuli (voice) Ema (gtr, voice) Tiye Giraud (voice, shekere), Mar Gueye (sabar and djembe) Maciek Schejbal (drums) Jay Canfora (keys) and Vashon Johnson (bass). This is one fierce band folks. They will be doing songs from Thuli's CD "Senzeni Na?" (available on this website - click on the "CDs" link above) as well as some new contemporary and traditional South African material. Come on out and join in the music! |
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| Viva Thuli Dumakude!!! | ||
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Thuli and Ema just returned from a very successful tour in Mexico, starting off with a string of duo performances for the South African Cuisine Festival in Polanco. After that, they were joined by the entire group - George Farmer on bass, Mar Gueye on drums, Tiye Giraud on vocals and shekere, Barry Olsen on keyboards - for the South African Freedom Day show at the residence of South African Ambassador Malcom Ferguson and then off to the Ollin Kan World Cultures Festival in Tlalpan where the group gave two very powerful and engaging performances that simultaneously mesmerized and energized the audience. Thuli, Ema and the group received a tremendous reception all around and discussions are already in the pipeline for another tour next year. For those of you logging on looking for Thuli's CD: As we explained to many of you in Mexico, we ran out of CDs before we came to Mexico and our manufacturer could not get them pressed into production before we left. They will be ready for shipping by the first week of June. If you'd like to pre-order one (or multiples!) of our CD "Senzeni Na?", click on the "CDs" link above and you'll be directed to a page with all of the necessary info. Muchas gracias for all of your support and love of South African music. Thuli, Ema and the group hope to see you all again in Mexico next year! |
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| Printemps a New Jersey. | ||
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Hi Everyone. We had a little bit of downtime this winter due to a fairly significant technical crash. All is back in order now and we've resumed operations to full capacity here at the studio. Due to the tech. difficulties, the Little Hawk/Ema project was stalled for a bit but it's back on track now. The CD is going to be called "Relative". It goes to mastering in May and is scheduled for a mid-June release. Again we can't express how excited we are about this CD. We will be making it available through the studio as well as other e-commerce and brick n block outlets. In creating the liner notes for the CD Ema and Little Hawk found there were so many things that they wanted to talk about relating to the technical, musical and philosophical issues involved in the project, that they couldn't possibly fit it all on the liner notes. So, in the liner notes (and here) we're directing people to this site (and Little Hawk's site) for more in-depth information and discussions (see the discussions link) about the making of the project. We think it was pretty unique on all accounts. Also, South African singer Thuli Dumakude is teaming up with Ema to do several projects here at the studio this year including her own solo CD, a South African Christmas CD and a Thuli and Ema CD. All projects will be recorded here at Ikhaya Studios and in South Africa as well. Ema has also announced he will be commencing work on his solo CD starting this summer as well. That's all for now. Happy spring from all of us here at Ikhaya Studios |
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| Little Hawk / Ema Project | ||
| Tracking is finished. Mixing has commenced. All we can say is the material has far exceeded our expectations - a LOT of magical moments. Stay tuned. | ||
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| Actual news! | ||
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Yebo everyone! Sawubona, Nangadeef, Bonjour, Buonas Díaz... . We received a post on our discussions page asking about what's going on so here's "the skinny": Currently Micmac/Mohawk artist Little Hawk and producer/instrumentalist Ema are collaborating on a project slated for release in March/April '05 The project consists of a series of live improvised performances blending traditional Native American, Southern African and contemporary American instruments, vocables and sensibilities. Tapping into the notion that there are universal threads inherent in all traditional musics regardless of cultural origin, The artists give a respective nod to the root traditions and then set off exploring their areas of musical convergence. The artists are trying to maintain an organic and intimate "in your face" soundscape. "We want the listener to feel like he or she is sitting amongst us as we play" say's Ema. We are also hosting Salvadoran percussionist Nery Arevalo's "Mezclada" project. Like the Little Hawk project, "Mezclada" (Spanish for mixture) also explores cross-cultural composition, drawing from South American, African and Carribean musical traditions. The sessions so far have been just magical. Nery and fellow musicians Shanti and Mafu have continually demonstrated a wonderful creative symbiosis in the studio and the rhythmic tapestries they're creating are stunning. Noteworthy is a traditional Ghanaian piece that begins with a beautifully intimate vocal performance by Shanti and that gradually builds into a fierce cajon (cuban box drum) solo by Nery. Ema is again at the production helm and also contributes a lovely mbira piece to the stew. Also, NY based percussionist, Joe Cardello is recording his latest project with us. The project will feature Joe and select musicians from the NY metro area (Steely Dan pianist Ted Baker and NY heavyweight guitarist Kevin Kuhn to name-drop a few). The project will cover a wide range of material ranging from a beautifully complex traditional Ghanain drum piece to a loyal interpretation of the playfully frenetic jazz piece "Ha Gente Aqui" by Portugal's jazz treasure Maria Joao and Mario Laghina. We're almost done tracking this one and the rough mix is already killer. Hey gang, we share these projects with you not only because we are very proud of our involvment with them, but also because we have a strong affinity for the music and the cultural sensibilities that inform the work in each project. We cherry pick our projects first and foremost on the spirit and vibe of the music and the artist. Once the project has left our domain we're almost invariably emotionally vested in the music and want to do everything we can to share it with the rest of the listening world. We are unflinching in our belief in the power of music as a universal form of human expression. So come back once in a while and we'll keep you posted as to a project's status and where you can go to get the material once it's released. Two quick final notes: 1) In editing this news note, we realize we haven't offered much in the way of technical descriptions of the projects, but we get so caught up in the excitement of the music... . Anyone curious about the technical side of the sessions - gear, methods, etc, - please go on over to the discussions page and post a topic. We'll be more than happy to talk shop. We may spout off a lot about lofty notions of music and culture, but we're still gear sluts! 2) Eventually we plan to post video clips of sessions in the "Gallery" section so stay tuned. Later... |
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| Welcome to Ikhaya Studios! | ||
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OK kids, we're up! Welcome to the Ikhaya Studios website. There's still going to be a fair amount of uploading and tweaking going on for a bit longer, but we felt we had enough info to go ahead and launch. So bear with us as we try to button things up. Watch this page for updates on projects and "goings-on" here in the studio. That's all for now. Welcome again and thanks for checking us out. Oh yeah: come create music with us! |
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