Jim Duffy: Blog

Thanks to all of you who came out a couple of weeks ago at Clemente Velez to see and shake to Mitra Sumara, that rhythmic, psychedelic Persian band. We will be playing again on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 11 p.m. at Fontana's, 105 Eldridge St. in Manhattan.
We play Persian pop music of the 1960s and ’70s, tunes that shook the air before the Islamic revolution rolled into Iran.
This vibrant music has deep grooves and funky breaks and dark, keening melodies. This music is challenging and rewarding, and it all fits together like clockwork.
>>>>>>>Mitra Sumara<<<<<<<
Thursday, Feb. 9 , at 11 p.m.
Fontana's
105 Eldridge St., New York, NY
with ***Screentests*** at 10 p.m.
$7
///////Hot Farsi funk - Persian psych - bangin' dance grooves from beyond!\\\\\\
Mitra Sumara is an eight-piece super group of musicians dedicated to the vibrant sound of 60s/70s Persian funk & pop hits. The sound of pre-Revolutionary Iran mixes the beats of Fela Kuti, Salsa, [...]

Mitra Sumara, that rhythmic, psychedelic Persian band, will be playing on Wednesday, Jan. 18, at 9 p.m. at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, 107 Suffolk St., in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
We play Persian pop music of the 1960s and ’70s, tunes that shook the air before the Islamic revolution rolled into Iran. Did you know that such music existed? I didn’t, until Yvette Perez asked me to join.
We’ve been working on these tunes for several months now, working on the deep grooves and funky breaks and dark, keening melodies. And the band keeps getting bigger! There are nine of us now, and we make quite a sound.
Yvette can explain it better than I can, so take it away, Yvette:
>>>>>>>Mitra Sumara<<<<<<<
Wednesday, Jan. 18, 9 p.m.
Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center
107 Suffolk St, New York, NY
with ***Minerals Duo*** (Zach Layton & Bradford Reed!!!!)
$10
///////Hot Farsi funk - Persian psych - bangin' dance grooves [...]

I work in Lower Manhattan, and when the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations started on Sept. 17, they didn't look like much. Just a few young people were marching up Wall Street, carrying signs and chanting. Some of the signs were, frankly, a bit idiotic. The police had set up barriers, and I had to walk 200 yards out of my way to get to work. Good luck to the protesters, but their little march looked ineffectual and a bit annoying.
A week later came the widespread video of a high-ranking New York police officer pepper-spraying nonviolent protesters. The next day, I went to Zuccotti Park, and the protest had grown overnight to triple the size. Some of the protesters' signs were a little more intelligent. I said to one demonstrator, "Your message seems to be getting more focused."
He said, "It's been focused all along. Why don't you join us?"
Since I work nearby, I started going over to Zuccotti Park at lunchtime, to see what was happening. The protesters were becoming more organized. They [...]

(photo by Stephanie Woodard)
I'm involved in an exciting music project that has been brewing for several months and is just now seeing the light of day: a Persian rock band. Yes, you heard right. Iran had a vibrant pop music scene in the 1960s and '70s, before the Islamic revolution moved in. And now, 35 years later, vocalist/arranger/bandleader Yvette Perez is giving that music new life here in the Western Hemisphere.
The group, Mitra Sumara -- for that is our name -- had a test run at the Westbeth Center for the Arts last Sunday, and so far, all systems are go. Yvette sings all lyrics in Farsi. The lineup is as follows:

Yvette -- vocals (Birdbrain, H.E.R.)
Julian Maile -- guitar (Loser's Lounge)
Sam Kulik -- bass (Talibam!)
Jeff Hermanson -- trumpet (Stew and the Negro Problem, Yo La Tengo)
Peter Zummo -- trombone (Arthur Russell, Lounge Lizards)
Jim Duffy -- keyboard (Jim Duffy Combo, Martin's Folly, Rods and Cones)
Bill Ruyle -- hammer dulcimer and tabla (Arthur Russell)
Michael Evans [...]

As I write, the rain is beating against the windows. Here in New York, we're waiting for Hurricane Irene to roll in with gale force. We don't get too many hurricanes here in the city. I'm in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where the local businesses downstairs have boarded up their windows with plywood. The supermarket was crowded this morning, and in the bagel shop, people were buying bagels by the dozen. The news reports on the AM radio dial have come back into fashion.
So while I'm hunkered down, drinking too much coffee, let me tell you about about a band I'm in. It's an exciting project led by vocalist Yvette Perez -- a Persian pop and dance band. Yes, you heard right. We're called Mitra Sumara, and we've been rehearsing for a couple of months, getting ready to bust out and get you moving.
As I have learned from my involvement in this project, Iran had a vibrant pop music scene in the 1960s and 1970s. The Teheran nightlife was aglow with fast-moving, sinuous, sensuous music, some of [...]