David Dalle
Thursday June 26th, 2025 with David Dalle
Guest, violinist and composer Gwen Laster joins me to discuss her new album "Keepers of the Flame" with the New Muse 4tet. Foday Musa Suso.
Gwen Laster is a jazz and new music violinist and composer. She is artist-in-residence at Bard College, and in April, was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. She has performed with many musicians and ensembles, including the Sun Ra Arkestra and Brooklyn Raga Massive, and has formed and led several ensembles, including the New Muse 4tet in 2015. The New Muse 4tet was originally a standard string quartet, but she has replaced the second violin with a percussionist for their new album "Keepers of the Flame" which features Gwen Laster on violin, Melanie Dyer on viola, Teddy Rankin on cello, and Andrew Drury on percussion. It features three compositions by Laster, one by violist Melanie Dyer, and three "spontaneous collective compositions" by the quartet. A gorgeous, expansive new album, "Keepers of the Flame" was inspired by African mythology. Gwen Laster joins me to speak about the new album and its creation.
| https://gwenlastergameboard.bandcamp.com/album/keepers-of-the-flame |
| Keepers of the Flame Gwen Laster New Muse 4tet - Keepers of the Flame - Muffymarie 
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| Speaking with Gwen Laster |
| Black Sun Shifting Gwen Laster New Muse 4tet - Keepers of the Flame - Muffymarie
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| Migration Trina Basu & Arun Ramamurthy - Nakshatra - Spinster |
| Asamondo Gwen Laster New Muse 4tet - Keepers of the Flame - Muffymarie
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| Naked (You Enter & Leave This World With Nothing) Fra Fra - Funeral Songs - Glitterbeat |
| When Peace Gwen Laster New Must 4tet - Keepers of the Flame - Muffymarie
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| Gambian-American kora master and Djali Foday Musa Suso died on May 25th. Foday Musa Suso came from a long line of griots in Gambia. He recorded his first album in Gambia in 1976 "Kora Music from the Gambia". In 1977, he emmigrated to the United States, settling in Chicago, where he formed the Mandingo Griot Society with Hamid Drake, Adam Rudolph, and Joseph Thomas. He performed with many jazz and classical musicians and recorded a number great albums, both exploring new fusions and rooted in his Mande traditions. We will hear from the second album he recorded with Herbie Hancock, a duet for synthesizer and kora, in 1985, and a traditional album he recorded in 1986 with visiting kora player Jarju Kuyateh and singer Tamba Suso. |
| Kanatente Herbie Hancock and Foday Musa Suso - Village Life - Columbia |
| Mamadu Bitiki Foday Musa Suso, Tamba Suso, Jarju Kuyateh - Mansa Bendung - Flying Fish |
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Wow. Looking forward to this music lesson from another artist I have never heard. Thanks, as always, Dave !!
2:00 PM, June 26th, 2025