Cuban music researcher Ned Sublette (of “Afropop Worldwide” radio show and Qbadisc records fame) sends BoingBoing these snapshots he took on a recent trip to Cuba. Ned leads escorted tours of Cuba with other experts on the music, culture, and history of the island; listen to sounds from their latest trip here. Next month, he’ll be participating in the EMP pop music conference in Seattle (admission for non-members is $55). This annual event is put on by the Experience Music Project, a museum founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen that combines “interactive and interpretive exhibits to tell the story of the creative, innovative and rebellious expression that defines American popular music.” From the event website:
EMP’s annual Pop Music Studies Conference celebrates the diversity of ways one can talk about music, bringing together leading academics and writers, thoughtful musicians, and dedicated listeners for a jampacked long weekend of panels. This year’s conference theme, “Skip a Beat: Rewriting the Story of Popular Music,” has produced work on a range of topics, including politics and pop; rock’s avant-garde; Bob Dylan; African music; riot grrl; jazz fusion; and the Ego Trip collective spinning a wheel of topics that includes “Will the Real ‘New Tupac’ Please Stand Up?” About 100 papers or other presentations will be given at the conference, which begins with a welcome reception and keynote by Greil Marcus the evening of Thursday, April 10; continues all day Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12; and concludes with early panels and a wrap-up session the morning of Sunday, April 13.
Link to EMP conference details, More of Ned’s Cuba snapshots: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Discuss
