In celebration of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States of America, my remake of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech is being made available free from Global Noize (Global Noize is the blog of Six Degrees Records out of San Francisco).

Click on this link to visit the site and download the track.

http://globalnoize.blogspot.com/

Peace, respect and hope!

James Whetzel

Hey this is my record label's end of the year blog, please enjoy!  My personal end of the year blog is coming soon . . . peace!

Ladies and Gents it's been quite a year!   The election of Barack Obama and imminent departure of the Bush administration is a great cause for celebration.  At Funketabla we have additional cause to be jolly—the summer of 2008 was when we put out our two first funketabla releases.

The first was DJ Baba James (James Whetzel) "The House of Good Juju," the second was Mean Deep "Mean Deep."  Now it goes without saying if you do not yet possess these albums you must purchase them immediately; you can either download the music on itunes, amazon, rhapsody, or you can buy the discs here at funketabla:  http://www.funketabla.com/store.php or at CD Baby:  http://cdbaby.com/cd/whetzeljames3 http://cdbaby.com/cd/meandeep

Both albums came out this summer and have been getting a lot of airplay across North America.   Both albums also made it onto the charts!  "The House of Good Juju" was #10 on the September 23rd top thirty overall list of  KAOS radio in Olympia, WA, Evergreen College radio.  On October 19th "The House of Good Juju" was #5 on the World Top 10 of Toronto, Ontario, station CIUT.

Both Mean Deep and The House of Good Juju made the top ten weekly electronic chart for CJSF of Burnaby, BC.  Mean Deep was #7 and The House of Good Juju was #8.

Mean Deep went on to chart again on CJSF's electronic music charts at #3 on December 2nd, rating higher than Thievery Corporation!

Each record has garnered one review each so far.

"The House of Good Juju" was reviewed on October 25th by the interestingly named "Joel Shit" who is affiliated with KSCU radio in Santa Clara, CA.  Our favorite part of his review was his description of the song Kitten, which includes a Super Mario Bros video game reference:

"It is not clear to me why the song is called “Kitten,” but I am sure it is obvious to people that pay attention during the song. At any rate, I like it, because it is what Mario would be hearing if he touched a star and a mushroom at the same time. He’d be invincible and big together. It’s not just the Starman music. It’s got something extra. I bet Pee-Wee Herman would like this song too."

You can check his full review at: http://joelshitshow.com/2008/10/25/dj-baba-james-james-whetzel-the-house-of-good-juju/ or on The House of Good Juju CD Baby page.

Mean Deep was reviewed on November 21st by Sadie O at Stanford University's radio station KZSU in Palo Alto, CA.  We liked her description of what we do:

"Electronica/Indian/etc mashup – but probably not like what you’re thinking. First outing from a pair of guys (Shri Deepayan and James Whetzel), and tending towards the rave rather than trance end of club. Lots of energy and beat with layers of musical ideas from all over, although India is the strongest identifiable element. Most of the vocals are a bit goofy, but the music is killer."

Her description of the track "Minuit" is also worth noting:  "downtempo, deeply warped. Sort of the march of the large lopsided robots on opium."

"March of the Large Lopsided Robots on Opium" sounds like a good name for a Das Dhoom track . . . hmm.

You can check her complete review at the Mean Deep CD Baby page or directly at KZSU: http://zookeeper.stanford.edu/index.php?s=byAlbumKey&n=882299&q=10&action=search&session=

We've been getting great play at other stations around North America, including KBCS in Seattle/Bellevue, KUNM in Albuquerque, New Mexico, KALX in Berkeley, California, KSJS in San Jose, California, KWCW in Walla Walla, Washington, KDVS in Davis, California, WNCW in Asheville, North Carolina, KSER, in Everett, Washington, WMNF in Tampa, Florida, and KTRU in Houston, Texas.

Special thanks to Emch at WNYE in NYC, The Spice Route DJs at KBCS, Matt Kane at WZBC in Boston, and Darek Mazzone at KEXP.

We would like to thank James Whetzel and our unstoppable volunteer Anita Darbo for getting this music out to the world.  The work of sending the CDs out to radio is actually still ongoing and we look forward to connecting with more radio stations around the world in 2009.

2009 looks to be a good year for funketabla.   James Whetzel is working on two very cool new albums: "Sarod & Beats" and "Everything Strange."  Shree D. & James are collaborating with Sebastian Lange from EQlateral in a new project called Das Dhoom, which is making wild poly-rhythmic Indian Industrial music!

James W. is currently in Seattle, WA, USA.  Yas is currently in France, moving between Paris and Nantes and working with her new group Yas and the Lightmotiv.  Yaw Amponsah is in the Northwest and leading a new drumming ensemble, and is also in demand as a session musicians for NW African performers.  Shree D., pictured at top, is currently in Lyon, France acquiring new management skills and business acumen which he intends to apply to a several musical cultural projects when he returns to the Pacific Northwest.

Best wishes and good juju to you in 2009 from all of us at Funketabla!  May it be a good year for us all!  Cheers!

A collaborative World Premiere with (in alphabetical order): Nir Ben Gal (Choreographer) - Israel, Donald Byrd (Choreographer/Director) - US, Liat Dror (Choreographer) - Israel, Wissam Murad (Musician/Composer) - East Jerusalem with additional music by Muslimgauze and James Whetzel.


A Chekhovian Resolution represents a full collaborative work inspired by the on-going middle-East tensions and conflicts. Employing a literary analogy, writer and philosopher Amos Oz believes that tragedies "can be resolved in one of two ways: There is the Shakespearean resolution, and there is the Chekhovian one. At the end of a Shakespearean tragedy, the stage is strewn with dead bodies and maybe there's some justice hovering high above. A Chekhov tragedy, on the other hand, ends with everybody disillusioned, embittered, heartbroken, disappointed, absolutely shattered, but still alive. And I want a Chekhovian resolution and not a Shakespearean one for the Israeli-Palestine tragedy." International collaborators will join forces together in conveying their different perspectives and shaping their version of A Chekhovian Resolution to the Middle East conflicts.


http://www.theparamount.com/artists/?artist=773

www.wissammurad.com

www.adama.org.il

http://www.spectrumdance.org/company/featured-19.php

Anathem is a new novel by author Neal Stephenson.   It is set on Arbre a planet much like our own Earth except that on Arbre people are divided into two main groups, the saaecular and the avout.  The avout live apart from the saecular world and inside their monastic sanctuaries they preserve science and philosopy.  While the saecular world lives in the short term and goes about cycles of booms & busts, wars, religions, marketing, and fads, the monks live their lives based on a longer sense of time; time which is measured not just in fifteen minute intervals, but in millenia.  Many interesting things ensue in the book and suffice it to say the monks are called to leave their cloisters and interact with the saecular world because of  an unprecedented event in the history of Arbre. http://www.nealstephenson.com/anathem

Now you may ask how the heck does all of this relate to James Whetzel? Well, the monks on Arbre make music as part of their daily rituals and on the occasion of special events.  And this is where James W. connects with Neal S. via a musician/vocalist/composer named David Stutz. http://synthesist.net/music/

David Stutz composed several math based musical pieces to represent the music of the monks of Arbre.  http://synthesist.net/music/anathem/ He called funketabla's favorite throat singer aka yours truly to bring my throat singing skills to this recording project.  http://www.funketabla.com/jwhetzel.php

My low throat singing is featured in the piece called "Thousander Chant," which is a solo piece in which I play the role of Fraa Jad a thousand year old monk.  In "Quantum Spin Network," My singing is multi-tracked and arranged by David Stutz to emulate quantum mechanical effects.  i also did low throat singing for the piece "Deriving the Quadratic Equation" in which it plays the role of drone for the other singers.  You can listen to these pieces on my ilike page or my myspace page:  http://www.ilike.com/artist/James+Whetzel  http://www.myspace.com/jameswhetzel

These pieces along with other beautiful pieces of vocal music inspired by the Pythagorean Theorem, the numeral Pi, and cellular automata, are included on a CD called "Iolet: Music from the world of Anathem."  This music was originally used to promote the novel in advance of its release.  A promotional video was made also: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=41718483

The music is now available for purchase online.  All proceeds benefit The Long Now Foundation. http://www.longnow.org/about/

The CD can be bought directly from Long Now and also from CD Baby:

http://www.longnow.org/shop/longnow-merch/iolet-music-of-anathem/

http://cdbaby.com/cd/davidstutz

I hope you enjoy the music of the avout of Arbre.

Best literary, musical, and lengthy temporal regards,

James Whetzel

(Seattle, WA) Connecting the ideas of surviving as an artist in America with living as a global citizen, composer Byron Au Yong premieres 64 portable operas inspired by the ancient Chinese text I Ching (Book of Changes) and the environment.

Scientists and global leaders worry that the world’s future challenges revolve around water. Kidnapping Water emotionally addresses these aspects in a new way. “These Bottled Operas are meant to be carried through catastrophes. I think about straining water resources and compose songs of survival,” says Au Yong.

Opera singers and percussionists perform Au Yong’s Kidnapping Water: Bottled Operas in waterways throughout the Pacific Northwest this August. The 64 mini-operas explore operatic themes in an accessible format.

By taking opera out of the opera house, the Bottled Operas connect the power and beauty of traditional operatic voices with a musical experience intimately connected to nature. The site-specific performances allow Au Yong to take his music directly to places where people interact with many forms of water, creating opportunities for audience members from all walks of life to experience heightened awareness, understanding, and awe of the powerful forces of nature and humanity in a natural environment.

Percussionists play the water found at these locations with instruments that include wood, stone, bamboo, bone, rope, hide, plants, and metal. Libretti are written by eight writers from diverse cultural and artistic traditions not often represented in opera; the 64 Bottled Operas will be anything but a traditional operatic experience.

Kidnapping Water: Bottled Operas will be performed by opera singer/water percussionist duos in rivers, lakes, fountains, ravines, and other waterways as part of 4Culture’s Site-Specific Performance Network on August 4, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, and 26.

Funketabla’s James Whetzel is one of four percussionists taking part in KWBO. The other percussionists are Stuart McLeod, Dean Moore and Ben Morrow.

The opera singers include Josie Davis, Emily Greenleaf and David Stutz.

The music is by Byron Au Yong. The libretti were created by Eugenie Chan (San Francisco), Bret Fetzer (Seattle), Aaron Jafferis (New Haven), Archana Kumar (Chicago), Carola Luther (Yorkshire), Caroline Murphy (New York), Vivian Umino (Los Angeles), and Edisa Weeks (Brooklyn).
James Whetzel will be performing 8 pieces from KWBO Monday August 4th with singer David Stutz in locations in Bothell, Shoreline, Lake Forest Park: UW Bothell, Saltwater Park, Richmond Beach, Ronald Bog, North Lake Washington, Lake Forest Park Towne Center, and Echo Lake.

James will also be performing as part of Kidnapping Water: Bottled Operas as staged by Bret Fetzer at the Bumbershoot Festival, August 29 - 31st in the DuPen Fountain at Seattle Center. Telephone info 206 281-7788.
Production Pike Pin (Project Manager), Emily Carlsen (Costume Designer), Eric Rockey (Videographer), Ben Kasulke (Filmmaker), Jean-Stephane (Photographer, Multimedia), Erica Howard (Researcher, Writer)

There will also be a Light/Sound Installation of KWBO by Byron Au Yong and interactive media artist Randy Moss at the Jack Straw New Media Gallery from September 12 to October 10, 2008; Opening September 12, 7pm with Artist Talk September 25, 7pm. Telephone info 206 634-0919

To see the complete schedule of performances and to get additional information about Kidnapping Water: Bottle Operas please go to:

http://hearbyron.com/

Funketabla's Shri Deepayan and James Whetzel are acting as musical directors for the finale performance of the 2008 DANCE This.  James will be doing a live electronic set for the finale.  Music for the finale will feature Mean Deep's track “Lindjo Remix" as well as parts of James's tracks "Sympathy for the 4/4," "Everything Strange, "Color Me Impressed" and additional original beats, including kathak padhant by Shri Deepayan. Also featured will be live performers from the eleven (!) different dance groups participating in this special 10th anniversary edition of Dance This.
Featured live performers include Roberto Arguedas (guitar), Yaw Amponsah (percussion), Jon Lovrich (lijerica), and Evan Shay (sax).

The lead choreographer for the finale is Daniel Cruz.

Groups taking part in the 2008 Dance This include: Ethnic Dance Theatre, Fillipino Youth Activities Drill Team, Kalalaya School for the Performing Arts, Leela Kathak, Morning Star Korean Cultural Center, Northwest Tap Connection, Radost Folk Ensemble, Rainier Vista Cambodian Youth Dance Program, The Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team, Slieveloughane Irish Dance Company, & the Vela Luka Croatian Dance Ensemble. And the choreographers are: Etienne Cakpo, Lora Lue Chiorah, Daniel Cruz, Chris and Edna Daigre, Sonia Dawkins, Jamel Gaines and Creative Outlet Dance Theatre of Brooklyn, Petur Iliev, Amy O'Neal, and Luis Sandoval.

About Dance This:

DANCE This

brings together intergenerational performers from diverse communities and backgrounds for collaboration and to share their culture through the art of dance.More than 150 diverse youth, ages 13-22, participate in this multi-layered program each year.Program components include:

* Dance Training Intensive in diverse styles
* Cross-cultural workshops and rehearsals
* Youth matinee and public performances
* Year round opportunities to participate in master classes and attend dance performances at the Paramount and Moore Theatres.

Nationally renowned professional guest artists work with local youth and are significant to the program’s success and impact. Artists from past years include: Savion Glover, legendary tapper; Joffrey Ballet from Chicago; Abdel Salaam from Forces of Nature in New York; Jamel Gaines from Creative Outlet Dance Theatre of Brooklyn; Bahiyah Sayyed Gaines from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; Napoleon & Tabitha D’umo from Los Angelesand nationally recognized, Seattle-based choreographers Donald Byrd, Sonia Dawkins, Pat Graney and Amy O’Neal.

For more on dance this go to http://www.theparamount.com/education/dt_2008.asp

Dance This: July 19th at 7:30pm

The Paramount Theatre

911 Pine Street

Seattle, WA 981010

Tickets: Advance: Adults $23 Students $12. Day of Show: Adults $26, students $15

Mean Deep is doing a special show for the Fourth of Jul-Ivars celebration at Myrtle Edwards Park on the Seattle Waterfront.

Our set is from 4pm til 5:30pm

We’ll do some chill sarod and dhol, and also some downtempo beats, and of course we will not neglect to bring some high energy funkelectronik beats and tablificacion so that you may get your dance on!

Mean Deep (aka Shri Deepayan & James Whetzel)

Myrtle Edwards park is located at 3130 Alaskan Way on the Seattle Waterfront just below the Olympic Sculpture Park.

The House of Good Juju is my new album. It’s a summation of five years of my club oriented and electronic music. These are things I started out playing as James Whetzel and now spin primarily as DJ Baba James.

The CD is now available through Funketabla, exclusively:

http://www.funketabla.com/store.php

Here is a quick breakdown about the music. It has fifteen tracks!

1. “About Love” is a mix of Bollywood, and Bhangra vibes with Hip Hop and West African beats, and the words for love in Hindi, Urdu, Spanish, French and English. C’est a propos de l’amour bebe!

2. “Space Tekyuman” is a re-interpretation of American Swing via the Tekyuman rhythm of Ghana, West Africa. I love the unique rhythm in this track, also I am proud of the lyrics, which are:

Aliens send to me the mothership
I need to take a trans-galactic trip
My soul’s grown small living on oil and cash
I want to fly to the sun and use no gas

Nautilus, Captain Nemo, send her to me
I want to go ten thousand leagues under the sea
It’s time I made my life aquatic
Because living on land is not doing it for me

Solution for stopping the start of wars
Shift violence to reverse, take a new course
Builders of bombs no longer get paid in cash
Demolished by their products are weapons plants

Wars would work better if they were simplified
With musical competitions we could decide
Victory would not go to who can kill well
But to whoever makes the music that is most beautiful!

If there can’t be dance what purpose revolution?
We need some fresh grooves and we need evolution
And we sure could use another election
Because we need a reality-based correction

Oh Life is a free and a subtle phenomenon
Happening everywhere and in everyone
Infinite in number are the possibilities
Every moment possesses new opportunities

3. “Sympathy for the 4/4″ is an instrumental which has a four on the floor beat supplied by a tabla bayan tuned down low. I play funk beats on tabla and break out some talking drums, West African rumba box (for the super low chunky bass), chimta, and keyboards.

4.”Theme From Beat On!” is a track which was made in honor of the Beat On! artists collective that produces the monthly Beat Council nights at ToST in Seattle. This track starts off with a Nigerian fuji influenced intro and then changes into some break beat.

5. “Washington State.” Many already know this clever little break beat track that is made up of the names of cities of the Evergreen State from Auburn to Walla Walla. An essential track for WA state residents and also for those who are Washington residents of the spirit.

6. “Sympathy for the Sarod.” This is an uptempo remix of “Sympathy for the 4/4″ featuring sarod and throat singing parts.

7. “Capitol Hill” is an ode to the Capitol Hill area of Seattle, which is where I grew up. It references Sir Mixalot’s “My Posse’s on Broadway,” and is a break beat bhangra influenced track that was originally going to be called “my bhangra’s on broadway.”

8. “The Superstar Scene” is rocktronica track with a generous helping of tabla and sarod.

9. “From Freak to Freakshow,” based on a true story, this higlife-ified housey track song is about how it is OK to be freaky but how getting your freakiness in other people’s business can lead you to becoming a freak show. And should there be any doubt, it is always best to keep your clothes on at a dance party . . .

10. “Afro-Balkan House” is a track that mixes a snippet of the beautiful accordion playing of Erin Kurtz with a house beat made up of a mixture of acoustic and electronic sounds. A little bit of highlife and congolese music sneaks into the rhythm section and there is a clever bassline break down and also a pretty sarod solo.

11. “Kitten” is my own instrumental version of congolese electronica with sarod talking the place of the vocal part that appeared in the original version of this song

12. “Mr. Whetzel’s Extraordinary Intergalactic Fuji” is one of the more ambitious tracks on the album. Weighing in at Seven minutes and two seconds, it is an electronic version of Nigerian fuji music. The parts played by various drums and percussion such as bata, sakara, and shekere are all played as electronic drums and synthesizers. The parts interlock to create a very large melodic rhythmic composition (aka a delicious intelligent groove). Bringing in the western synth and electronic drum sounds makes the fuji ideas take on unexpected references. It begins with what may sound like polyrhythmic psytrance, and finishes up as 12/8 break beat.

13. “International Bossa” is brazilectro Whetzel style. This track began as music I made for Seattle Center for a video to promote the series of cultural festivals known as Festal. They specifically wanted a Brazlian style beat with sounds of music from around the world. So I started with the Brazilian beat on drums and mixed in North African/Middle percussion, playing the clave no less, and added touches of West African rumba box, South Asian dhol and sarod, and a little bit of retro flavored keyboards, bass and guitar. Definitely a fun one to chill out too!

14. “Hello (featuring Aaron Straight)” features the sounds and vocalizations of digeridoo player Aaron Straight. Aaron’s digeridoo is mixed with sarod, whale songs, and delayed out throat singing. The bass line is quite large and the beat is puncy with a suggestion of reggaeton.

15. “Goodbye” is a hip hopping instrumental with big strings, funky bass parts, and massively reverbed throat singing. I had wanted to end an album with this track for years and I am so glad I finally got to do it!

You can preview “The House of Good Juju” at Funketabla.

Here’s the link one more time:

http://www.funketabla.com/store.php

Alright, good juju to you! peace, respect, love, and cheers!

James

Friday April 25th, EQlateral and James Whetzel at Skylark, with Wolfgang Del Toro and DJ Baba James

Friday, April 25th presents a rare opportunity to catch an extended performance by psyche classical ensemble EQlateral and special guest James Whetzel.


EQlateral is John Ames on Cello, Susan Dumett on voice, Sebastian Lange on violin, and Peter Toms on upright bass and percussion.  All the members of Eqlateral mix their live sounds with electronic effects and beats.   The music ranges from funky electronica to ambient atmospherics and can sound like trip hop, european classical chamber music, or industrial music, hence the moniker "psyche-classical."  To this I, James Whetzel,  add my penchant for cleverly punchy Indian and African beats and my love for ragas and modal music.  For this show I will play sarod, darbouka, do throat singing, and also play selected fresh beats from my electronic repetoire.

For more info on EQ check:
http://eqlateral.com/

For more info on yours truly check:
http://www.funketabla.com/jwhetzel.php

This performance will take place at the eminently cool and intimate environs of Skylark in West Seattle.  Skylark is located at 3803 Delridge Way SW, zip. 98106 take the Delridge Exit from the West Seattle bridge, veer left and voila it's right after the ramp on your right.

http://www.skylarkcafe.com/

Also on the bill are the funky tripped out hopping sounds of Wolfgang Del Toro.  And likewise rocking you will be DJ Baba James (aka James Whetzel with his DJ hat on) who will be doing a DJ set featuring sounds from his soon to be released album "The House of Good Juju."

Tentative Schedule for the night is:

9 - 10pm Wolfgang Del Toro

10pm EQlateral & James Whetzel

11pm DJ Baba James

12am - ?? EQlateral & James Whetzel

And like all shows at Skylark the show is free!

This is definitely a show you don't want to miss!!!


Hope to see you there, best musical regards,

Cheers!

James Whetzel


Here's a link to some recordings from our live shows together:

http://eqlateral.com/music.html

And here's is a link to a video from October 5, 2007 Beat Council show that finds Peter (bass) and Sebastian (violin) and yours truly (darbouka, beats) playing over a surprisingly jolly DJ Baba James beat.

http://revver.com/video/425956/baba-james-with-eqlateral-at-beat-ons-the-beat-council-october-5-2007-at-electric-tea-garden-at-oseao/

Hey Ladies and Gents!

Tommorow is Saturday April 12th!  and the Beat Council is coming back to ToST.  We do it once a month on the second Saturday 9pm to 2am.  Cover is only $3.

I will be kicking off the night at 9pm - 10pm with a new project of African Electronic music.  I will be playing traditional Asante rhythms from Ghana, West Africa, on my laptop.  I will play the basic support drum parts of these complex beats while the lead drum parts are played live by Master Ghanaian drummer Yaw Amponsah and the awesome American drummer Greg Campbell.

For more about these gents check these links:




Yaw Amponsah
http://www.funketabla.com/yaw.php
(you can hear great samples of Yaw's drumming here, I recommend the "Tekyuman" track)



Greg Campbell
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=14753


And of course there is even more.   Following the set by yours truly Yaw and Greg  are our excellent Beat On! resident DJs:



Crispy
http://djmix.net/Crispy/mixes

&


Muad'deep
http://www.myspace.com/djmuaddeep
http://www.karunarecordings.com/


Plus our special guest DJ  B.FLY.  



She will  be spinning breaks. B.FLY http://www.myspace.com/whybfly

ToST is located at 513 N. 36th Street in Fremont, Seattle.http://www.tostlounge.com/

Best musical regards, cheers!

James Whetzel



http://www.funketabla.com/jwhetzel.php
http://www.ilike.com/artist/James+Whetzel
http://www.myspace.com/jameswhetzel


PS oh btw and the funketabla website has a calendar now!!!! So if you are ever curious to see what I am up to you can just go to Funketabla and you can see what I'm up to  on the main page.   http://www.funketabla.com