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 September 17 & 26, 2012

WNYC – USA: Sound Check

Turning Veterans’ Dreams Into Music

Pianist Vijay Iyer and poet Mike Ladd delve into the minds of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

 At the heart of the latest collaboration between pianist Vijay Iyer and poet Mike Ladd are dreams — actual dreams experienced and retold by veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. Holding It Down: The Veterans’ Dreams Project, turns these fantastical and often horrific accounts into music and spoken word — which we got to hear live when the ensemble behind the project joined us in the studio. Along with Iyer and Ladd, poet and Iraq War veteran Maurice Decaul discusses the impact of modern-day warfare on the psyche and the decision to focus on veterans of color for this project.

 


Set List:

  • “Derelict Poetry,” by Maurice Decaul and Vijay Iyer
  • “My Fire” by Mike Ladd and Vijay Iyer
  • “Shush” by Maurice Decaul and Vijay Iyer

September 25, 2012 

SEQUENZA 21:

Holding it Down: Premiere of a New Multimedia work by Vijay Iyer and Mike Ladd

The most recent collaboration of composer/pianist Vijay Iyer and poet Mike Ladd, entitled Holding It Down: The Veterans’ Dreams Project, received its world premiere last week (September 19-22) at The Harlem Stage Gatehouse. This multimedia work, epic in scope, yet poignant in its emotional nuance, is the result of three years of interviewing and collaborating with veterans of color from the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Written by Cornelius Dufallo  READ FULL ARTICLE HERE: www.sequenza21.com/2012/09/holding-it-down-premiere-of-a-new-multimedia-work-by-vijay-iyer-and-mike-ladd/

September 21, 2012

NEW YORK TIMES:

Sleepless in Kandahar or Mosul, in Raw Verse

The jazz pianist Vijay Iyer and the poet Mike Ladd collaborated on poems and songs about the fears and desires of minority veterans who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. By BEN RATLIFF

A version of this review appeared in print on September 21, 2012, on page C16 of the New York edition with the headline: Sleepless in Kandahar Or Mosul, in Raw Verse.

Holding It Down: The Veterans’ Dreams Project: The poet Mike Ladd in this multimedia show at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/arts/music/holding-it-down-poems-of-war-veterans-at-harlem-stage.html?smid=pl-share

 

September 10, 2012 – Time Out NY written by Bill Murry

“Holding It Down: The Veterans’ Dreams Project,” the latest Iyer-Ladd endeavor, is an ambitious piece of musical theater based on the phantasmagorical waking visions of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. (“Sleep Song,” coconceived with Baghdad poet Ahmed Abdul Hussein, debuts here in November.) Both tribute and sociopolitical commentary, the project features verse by young veterans Maurice Decaul and Lynn Hill, with a cast that includes avant-jazz pros like Guillermo E. Brown, Liberty Ellman and Okkyung Lee. True to form, Iyer and Ladd continue to mix music and media, but always with the goal of telling a story that’s concise, accessible and as serious as the nightly news.—Bill Murphy

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE  www.timeout.com/newyork/music/vijay-iyer-and-mike-ladd 

July 20, 2012

SK* (Soul Kitchen) Sessions :

Ornette feat. Mike Ladd – Sur Le Sable

bit.ly/sksessions
+ infos : www.soul-kitchen.fr/31033-sk-session-ornette-feat-mike-ladd

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