mick laBriola

This is a Hubble Space Telescope image (right) of a vast nebula called NGC 604, which lies in the neighboring spiral galaxy M33, located 2.7 million light-years away in the constellation Triangulum. This is a site where new stars are being born in a spiral arm of the galaxy. Though such nebulae are common in galaxies, this one is particularly large, nearly 1,500 light-years across. The nebula is so vast it is easily seen in ground-based telescopic images (left). At the heart of NGC 604 are over 200 hot stars, much more massive than our Sun (15 to 60 solar masses). They heat the gaseous walls of the nebula making the gas fluoresce. Their light also highlights the nebula’s three-dimensional shape, like a lantern in a cavern. By studying the physical structure of a giant nebula, astronomers may determine how clusters of massive stars affect the evolution of the interstellar medium of the galaxy. The nebula also yields clues to its star formation history and will improve understanding of the starburst process when a galaxy undergoes a “firestorm” of star formation. The image was taken on January 17, 1995 with Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. Separate exposures were taken in different colors of light to study the physical properties of the hot gas (17,000 degrees Fahrenheit, 10,000 degrees Kelvin.

Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances, and activism. He has released twelve regular studio albums, mostly through Virgin Records and has toured internationally.

Harper is a three-time Grammy Award winner, with awards for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album in 2005 and Best Blues Album in 2014.

Harper was born in Pomona, California. His late father, Leonard, was of African-American and Cherokee ancestry, and his mother, Ellen Chase-Verdries, is Jewish. His maternal great-grandmother was a Russian–Lithuanian Jew. His parents divorced when he was five years old, and he grew up with his mother’s family. Harper has two brothers, Joel and Peter.

Harper began playing guitar as a child. His maternal grandparents’ music store The Folk Music Center and Museum laid a foundation of folk and blues for the artist, complemented by regular patrons Leonard Cohen, Taj Mahal, John Darnielle, and David Lindley and quotes of William Shakespeare and Robert Frost made often by his grandfather.

Richard Bona (born 28 October 1967 in Minta, Cameroon) is an Cameroonian Grammy Award-winning jazz bassist.

Bona Pinder Yayumayalolo was born in Minta, Cameroon, into a family of musicians, which enabled him to start learning music from a young age. His grandfather was a griot – a West African singer of praise and storyteller – and percussionist, and his mother was a singer. When he was four years old, Bona started to play the balafon. At the age of five, he began performing at his village church. Not being wealthy, Bona made many of his own instruments: including flutes and guitars (with cords strung over an old motorcycle tank).

His talent was quickly noticed, and he was often invited to perform at festivals and ceremonies. Bona began learning to play the guitar at the age of 11, and in 1980, aged just 13, he assembled his first ensemble for a French jazz club in Douala. The owner befriended him and helped him discover jazz music, in particular that of Jaco Pastorius, which inspired Bona to switch his focus to the electric bass.

Glen Moore (born October 28, 1941 in Portland, Oregon) is a jazz bassist who occasionally performs on piano, flute and violin.

His performing career began at age 14 with the Young Oregonians in Portland, Oregon where he met and played with Native American saxophonist, Jim Pepper. He graduated with a degree in History and Literature from the University of Oregon. His formal bass instruction started after college with Jerome Magil in Portland, James Harnett in Seattle, Gary Karr in New York, Plough Christenson in Copenhagen, Ludwig Streicher in Vienna and Francois Rabbath in Hawaii. For the past 30 years, Glen has played a Klotz bass fiddle crafted in Tyrol circa 1715 on which he has made extensive use of a unique tuning with both a low and high C string.

Moore is a founding member of Oregon, but worked also regularly with Rabih Abou-Khalil, Vasant Rai, Nancy King and Larry Karush.

The Crescent Nebula (also known as NGC 6888) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, about 5000 light years away. It was discovered by Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel in 1792.
It is formed by the fast stellar wind from the Wolf-Rayet star WR 136 (HD 192163) colliding with and energizing the slower moving wind ejected by the star when it became a red giant around 250,000 to 400,000 years ago. The result of the collision is a shell and two shock waves, one moving outward and one moving inward. The inward moving shock wave heats the stellar wind to X-ray-emitting temperatures.

born 10-27-1967

Philip Catherine (born 27 October 1942) is a Belgian jazz guitarist.

Philip Catherine was born in London to an English mother and Belgian father and was raised in Brussels. His grandfather played violin in the London Symphony Orchestra. Catherine started on guitar in his teens, and by seventeen he was performing professionally at local venues.

He released his debut album, Steam, in 1970. During the next few years, he studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston and with Mick Goodrick and George Russell. In 1976, he and guitarist Larry Coryell recorded and toured as an acoustic duo. The following year he recorded with Charles Mingus, who dubbed him “Young Django”. In the early 1980s, he toured briefly with Benny Goodman. He was in trio with Didier Lockwood and Christian Escoudé, then in a trio with Chet Baker. During the 1990s, he recorded three albums with trumpeter Tom Harrell.

Catherine has also worked with Lou Bennett, Kenny Drew, Dexter Gordon, Stéphane Grappelli, Karin Krog, Paul Kuhn, Sylvain Luc, Michael Mantler, Charlie Mariano, Palle Mikkelborg, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Enrico Rava, Toots Thielemans, and Miroslav Vitous.

Henry “Mule” Townsend (October 27, 1909 – September 24, 2006) was an American blues singer, guitarist and pianist.

Townsend was born Henry Jesse James Townsend, in Shelby, Mississippi, and grew up in Cairo, Illinois. He left home at the age of nine because of an abusive father and hoboed his way to St. Louis, Missouri. He learned guitar while in his early teens from a locally renowned blues guitarist known as Dudlow Joe.

By the late 1920s he had begun touring and recording with the pianist Walter Davis and had acquired the nickname Mule, because he was sturdy in both physique and character. In St. Louis, he worked with some of the early blues pioneers, including J. D. Short.

Townsend was one of the only artists known to have recorded in nine consecutive decades. He first recorded in 1929 and remained active up to 2006. By the mid-1990s, Townsend and his one-time collaborator Yank Rachell were the only active blues artists whose careers had started in the 1920s. He recorded on several different labels, including Columbia Records, Bluesville Records, and Folkways Records

These bright rims and flowing shapes look ghostly on a cosmic scale. A telescopic view toward the constellation Cassiopeia, the colorful (zoomable) skyscape features the swept-back, comet-shaped clouds IC 59 (left) and IC 63. About 600 light-years distant, the clouds aren’t actually ghosts, but they are slowly disappearing under the influence of energetic radiation from hot,luminous star gamma Cas. Gamma Cas is physically located only 3 to 4 light-years from the nebulae, just off the top right edge of the frame. Slightly closer to gamma Cas, IC 63 is dominated by red H-alpha light emitted as hydrogen atoms ionized by the star’s ultraviolet radiation recombine with electrons. Farther from the star, IC 59 shows proportionally less H-alpha emission but more of the characteristic blue tint of dust reflected star light. The field of view spans about 1 degree or 10 light-years at the estimated distance of gamma Cas and friends.

IC 59 and IC63 near Gamma Cas

William Earl “Bootsy” Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American musician and singer-songwriter.

Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins’s driving bass guitar and humorous vocals established him as one of the leading names in funk.He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with 15 other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.

William “Bootsy” Collins was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on October 26, 1951. His brother Phelps “Catfish” Collins was also a musician.Bootsy Collins has maintained a strong connection with Cincinnati. He has said that his mother named him “Bootsy” saying “I asked her why and she just said, “Because you looked like a Bootsy.” I left it at that.

Eddie Henderson (born October 26, 1940 NY, NY) is an American jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of pianist Herbie Hancock‘s band, going on to lead his own electric/fusion groups through the decade. Henderson earned his medical degree and worked a parallel career as a psychiatrist and musician, turning back to acoustic jazz by the 1990s.

Henderson’s influences include Booker Little, Clifford Brown, Woody Shaw, and Miles Davis.

Emery “Detroit Junior” Williams, Jr. (October 26, 1931 – August 9, 2005) was an American Chicago blues pianist, vocalist and songwriter. He is known for songs such as “So Unhappy”, “Call My Job”, “If I Hadn’t Been High”, “Ella” and “Money Tree”. His songs have been covered by Koko Taylor, Albert King and other blues artists.

Born in Haynes, Arkansas, Detroit recorded his first single, “Money Tree”, with the Bea & Baby label in 1960. His first full album, Chicago Urban Blues, was released in the early 1970s on the Blues on Blues label.He also has recordings on Alligator, Blue Suit, The Sirens Records, and Delmark.

Detroit Junior began his career in Detroit, Michigan, backing touring musicians such as Eddie Boyd, John Lee Hooker, and Amos Milburn. Boyd brought him to Chicago in 1956, where he spent the next twelve years. In the early 1970s, Detroit toured and recorded with Howlin’ Wolf. After the death of Wolf in 1976, Detroit returned to Chicago, where he lived and performed until his death from heart failure in 2005.

World Music on Flamenco Fridays with Manolo Franco performing Solea.

Soleá is one of the flamenco palos with the highest number of traditional songs, and it is particularly appreciated by knowledgeable artists and audiences. It is very demanding for singers, as they have to strive to be creative and, at the same time, respectful of the tradition, and they have to succeed in finding a good balance between melodic and rhythmic sides, both extremely difficult. It demands great vocal faculties, and the singer should achieve a balance between passion and restraint.

The melody of a soleá stanza usually stays within a limited range (usually not more than a 5th). Its difficulty lies in the use of melisma and microtones, which demand great agility and precision in the voice. It is usual to start a series of soleares with a more restrained stanza in the low register, while continuing to more and more demanding ornaments in a higher register. The series is quite often finished with a stanza in a much more vivid tempo in the relative Major mode.

You are cordially invited to the 11th Abrahamic Traditions Dinner which will feature a presentation by Laurie Wohl, a textile artist, with musical accompaniment by Voices of Sepharad, an ensemble of musicians from the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim traditions on Thursday, October 25, 2018. The dinner will be held in Sabes Jewish Community Center Minneapolis (4330 S. Cedar Lake Road, Minneapolis MN, 55416).

Please CLICK for Directions and Contact info for the Venue :  https://www.sabesjcc.org/contact/

This event will bring community members from different cultures, religions, and experiences together to share the joy of friendship and universal values to learn the art of living together. More than 100 people from all walks of life of diverse communities, religions, and organizations will come together to discuss religious education today from different perspectives.

Niagara Foundation Minnesota Branch organizes this event in association with
Turkish American Society of Minnesota,
Jay Phillips Center Interfaith Learning at the University of St. Thomas,
Jay Phillips Center Interfaith Learning at St. John’s University.

Tentative Program
6:00 – Doors open
6:30 – Opening Remarks
Presentation by artist Laurie Wohl with musical accompaniment
by Voices of Sepharad
(A few of Wohl’s art pieces can be seen during the event, however, the full exhibit can be seen in the Gorecki Gallery in the Benedicta Arts Center at the College of Saint Benedict)
7:30 – Dinner and Round Table Conversations
8:30 – Adjourn 

Dinner – All meat is Halal; Vegetarian options served; Kosher meals ordered upon request.

This event is free and open to the public, however online RSVP is required.
Please click for the online RSVP form.

If you wish to donate any amount please use this link. 

[email protected] .

“Birds of Longing: Exile and Memory” by Laurie Wohl
This exhibit of Laurie Wohl’s stunningly beautiful “Unweavings,” as she calls her fiber art pieces, interweaves Christian, Jewish and Muslim spiritual writings from the Convivencia in Spain (8th-15th centuries) with contemporary Middle Eastern poetry, particularly Palestinian and Israeli. Wohl emphasizes the striking parallels between Arabic and Hebrew texts, with the common themes of love, exile, nostalgia, mistrust of enemies and yearning for reconciliation. An audio component includes readings in English, Arabic, and Hebrew and a specially-composed soundscape by composer Daniel Wohl, illustrating the commonality of the Middle Eastern languages. The exhibit will be in the Gorecki Gallery in the Benedicta Arts Center at the College of Saint Benedict from August 27-October 28.

Laurie Wohl is an internationally known fiber artist whose unique Unweavings® convey spiritual narratives through form, color, texture, and calligraphy. Her works are held in the collections of the Museum of Arts and Design, Constitutional Court of South Africa, Catholic Theological Union, and numerous other public and private collections. Among her special projects have been interactive set designs for full-length dance pieces by Callince Dance (New York City) and Jan Erkert & Dancers (Chicago). She speaks frequently on art and worship, as well as on text and textile.

Voices of Sepharad, a Twin Cities-based ensemble founded in 1986 and directed by David Jordan Harris, celebrates the rich multicultural world of Sephardic music, dance and storytelling.

David Jordan Harris is co-founder and artistic director of Voices of Sepharad. He has pursued study and performance of Sephardic music throughout North America, Morocco, Greece, France, Israel, Turkey, Poland, Bosnia, and Spain. He is executive director of Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council and interfaith arts special consultant for the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning.

Mick LaBriola is a freelance performer/percussionist, educator, residency artist, dance-theater accompanist, and founding member of Voices of Sepharad. He is a roster artist with a number of arts organization, including the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Nevada State Arts Council.

David Burk plays a variety of stringed instruments used in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Latin, African, Caribbean, and North American musical traditions. While maintaining a full private lesson studio for guitar, bass, banjo, and mandolin students, he has performed regularly with The Rose Ensemble (since 2005) as well as with Voices of Sepharad (since 1998).

Salah Abdel Fattah, a native of Egypt, has played the Arabic violin since the 1960s and has recorded in Egypt for television with Abdel Aziz Mahmoud. He currently plays with the Minneapolis-based classical Arabic music ensemble Amwaaj, which he founded more than 15 years ago.

Maryam Yusefzadeh received her early musical training in Iran at the Tehran School of Music, later earning a BFA in Art, Music, and Dance Performance at the University of Minnesota. A co-founder of the ensemble Roboyat, she is actively involved with Persian music as a vocalist, percussionist, educator, and guest lecturer.