I’ve always admired belly dancing. However, Sadie, is simply top-notch. She’s up there in the great ranks. The percussion drums and her movements are intricately timed. No need to say anything more. See her performance below. Here is her official website, and here is her bio.

I love Vintage Jazz. For some reason PTA had asked ISPs to block www.Live365.com – perhaps one of the most famous Internet Radio Stations aggregation websites on the Internet. I then found out this was because the Balachistan Liberation Army (BLA) had a couple of radio broadcasts on it (not anymore) and the government wanted to suppress it. A pity really as a lot of the Internet users in Pakistan were missing out on a great source of music.

No matter what your taste or mood, I am sure Live365 has a radio station just for you. The sound quality is amazing and if you spend a little bit of money (why not spend money on yourself), you can get the commercial-free subscription for it. Very much recommended.

PTCL is still blocking the site. However, ISPs that route traffic through TWA can still access the website. One of the most favorite radio station stream that I listen to is Bop-City Vintage Jazz.

The Web Widget is below – and you can click and listen to it.

Drums have been in existence in mankind for a long time. I guess when the Neanderthals needed entertainment – the drum was invented right besides the spear and fire. Almost every culture / nation has a drumming history. The American Indian had drums used for celebration and war, the British and American had drums for their marching armies. The Edinburgh Military Tattoo or any other Military Tattoo uses drums. The Africans are credited to perhaps being the inventors of the drum. The Indian sub-continent used drums in many forms. So have our neighbors in China, Korea and Japan.

Which bring me to Taiko. The traditional Japanese drum – is an amazing musical instrument. Taiko when literally translated mean ‘drum’ in Japanese. The art of Taiko drumming is called “kumi-daiko”.

Taiko drumming is big – very big. Not only in economics and entertainment factor, but the drums themselves also vary in sizes.

One of the best known groups in the world that does kumi-daiko is Kodo! (Official Site – Wiki). These guys are fantastic.

Here are some YouTube Taiko Video drumming

One of the most famous kumi-daiko was done by Kodo and made famous by the Buddha Bar collection (Volume 3). The song Strobe’s Nanafushi (Satori Mix) by Kodo became an instant hit worldwide.

In 2003 – a long time running play made it into a movie called “Zatoichi” (IMDB – Wiki) – towards the very end, there is an amazing dance sequence by The STRiPES that incorporates Taiko drumming with some excellent footwork. You can watch it here below.