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07.17.2008

A musical Ýstinye Park: Shop till you bop

American musician Raul Midón was onstage Monday as part of the 15th International Jazz Festival. The word of the night must have been 'amalgamation' as different types of people, different types of landscape and different genres of music merged together DIDE Siemmond ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News Three years after his breakthrough album, the ravishing Raul Midón made a welcome return to Istanbul for the 15th International Istanbul Jazz Festival Monday and substituted for the lack of stars in the clear night sky above Ýstinye Park with ease. The night demonstrated the capacity such extensive and ordinary shopping malls secretly hold to transform themselves into magical, musical abysses. Midón ensured the continuation of the flaccid and supportive aura that suffused over the reclining cushions, tables and chairs, and greenery that metamorphosed the luxurious Ýstinye Park shopping complex into a relaxed and simple backgarden or summer park-time concert with humility-steeped comic anecdotes sprinkled in between the genre-diffusing music. Humorously recognizing the nightmare he poses for the advertisement crew as a soul-funk-jazz-blues-pop-R'n'B -- and now folk -- musician, Midón's music was, surprisingly, anything but a chaotic fusion mess, parodying the success of the eclectic layout of the setting. Couples sat chewing away at tables, friends perched sipping their cool drinks, music lovers sprawled across the grass rolling up to the stage and the more socially-orientated murmured in the balcony above the bar. The word of the night must have been “amalgamation” as different types of people, different types of landscape and different genres of music merged together. Predominantly sprawling with people in their 20s and onwards, the open space on the highest floor of Ýstinye Park featured a low stage just in front of the stores of the big cheeses of the fashion industry – Jimmy Choo, Gucci and Louis Vuitton. Yet in front of the fashion forerunners pulsed a refreshingly humble, yet professional Midón, who, despite his blatant talent – embodied in the form of his percussive guitar playing, blues and jazz-influenced vocal acrobatics and extraordinary vocal imitation of the trumpet – appeared to be untainted by the music moneymaking industry. Dressed casually in jeans and a timelessly bohemian beret, he seemed to be a musician rather than a music businessman. Perhaps it is this very uncorrupted sincerity that is the reason why he is able to weld together many different musical genres without creating a stylistic fracas. By playing a pick-and-mix selection of songs from his first major album, produced and arranged by Arif Mardin and his son in June 2005, “State of Mind,” his next album from Sept. 2007, “A World Within A World,” and songs fresh out of his imaginative oven such as the tentatively-titled “Call my name,” Midón gave the audience a chance to familiarize themselves both with the audibly different influences already spoken of and his own idiosyncratic style. He seemed to favor a brittle, nail-based sweep of the hand, combined with a vaguely evocative African drumming technique along the side, and cheeks of the acoustic guitar. The beats and soulful vocals that followed perfectly suited the languid yet up beat setting, proving that shopping malls are far more multi-faceted than initially meets the label-filled eye.

06.23.2008

New York Times Review!

<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/21/arts/music/21wrig.html?ex=1371787200&en=9822f950d6dbacbe&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink">Check out this great review of Raul's music by the New York Times!</a>

06.04.2008

Check Raul out at World Cafe Live!

This month in the U.S. you can catch the mighty Raul Midon live in New York and Philly! Check out Raul on a double bill with Lizz Wright on June 19, 2008 at The Society for Ethical Culture and June 20, 2008 at The World Cafe Live in the great city of Philly! Head to the tour page for more dates in the U.S. and Europe!

05.02.2008

Live in Miami on WLRN!

If you live in Miami tune in to WLRN 91.3 check Raul out live in Miami with Ed Bell on South Florida Arts Beat at 1:00 P.M. EST OR tune in online to www.wlrnlive.org! After that Raul heads to South Beach for a gig at The Raliegh Hotel - Midnight on the Beach for the JVC Jazz Festival - don't be crazy - go check him out if you are in town... Peace, Crew of RSM

04.02.2008

Love and thanks to all!

Thanks to everyone from Korea to Africa who showed up and supported Raul on his recent tour in March! He had a blast eating his way through all of the native cuisines from curry to Korean Barbecue! Check out highlights on you tube! Raul collaborated in Korea and in South Africa and you were there to support him! Stay tuned for upcoming dates in the U.S. Canada, Europe and UK... Now he's going on vacation! Peace out! Crew of RSM

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