Yesterday we wrapped another conversation for CEA’s ongoing series “The Intersection of Art & Innovation.”
(Previous discussions can be found HERE, HERE HERE and HERE.)
Kevin founded the record label The Royal Potato Family in 2009: more on them HERE.
I’ve had the welcome opportunity to write about some of the excellent albums this label has released: HERE, HERE and HERE.
A few bullet points about Calabro’s already impressive resume, thus far:
*Kevin has worked in the PR industry since 1996, where he was involved in media campaigns for musical acts ranging from A Tribe Called Quest to Joey Ramone.
*Calabro was nominated for a Grammy as executive producer for Vernon Reid’s production of Memphis Blood: The Sun Sessions.
*In 2009 he formed his own artist/label consultation company, Calabro Music Media, offering PR, marketing and management services. He has worked with many celebrated artists, including Living Colour, Medeski Martin & Wood and Soulive.
For anyone wondering what type of music we’re talking about here, check out the linked reviews, above, or consider these highlights, from those reviews:
It may (but shouldn’t) be surprising to know that, despite the aforementioned accolades, this music is never indulgent or self-consciously inaccessible. In fact, it’s remarkably straightforward, albeit in the sense that it won’t remind you of many things you’ve ever heard. Although if you have spent any time appreciating Morricone film scores and are at least acquainted with free jazz from the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, and won’t blink if those two source points get funneled through a distinctively funky filter, this may be something you want a part of. The compositions on this set are incredibly tight and most clock in at four minutes or less. If they were longer, that would, naturally, be okay as well, but the restraint demonstrated is clearly in the service of atmosphere and effect.
***
I have a dream.
If I could get some of what I envision, we would live in a world where peace, love, and understanding wasn’t funny. The Wall Street miscreants and the super-sized weasels enabling their machinations would be having a house party in the Big House. Reality TV would not be real, and Oprah Winfrey would be unable to infantilize millions of women looking for enlightenment in all the wrong places. A modicum of the bilious exhaust Rupert Murdoch spews would back-up and cause him to explode like a Spinal Tap drummer. Electric cars, solar panels, and science would be accepted (and venerated) the way billionaires, right-wing prophets, and camera-ready politicians are in our scared new world. A lot of other things, obviously, but not least of these that jazz musicians would get the attention American Idol contestants receive.
***
This is world music, envisioned and reimagined by musicians who instinctively stay a step (or two) removed from the safety and boredom of the mainstream. It is music that brings other worlds to your ears, and tells a story that has been a work-in-progress for many centuries. That Martin was able to gather this collection of visionaries, iconoclasts and rebels seems more like fate than fortune. Credit and kudos to all involved for their efforts to make a faraway place and culture a little less foreign, and open contemporary ears—and minds—to the magic of Jajouka.
