Sunday, January 26, 2020
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Weehawken resident Charu Suri fuses Jazz and Sufi music
Hudson Report, January 2, 2020
By Daniel Israel
Standing at the intersection of jazz and Islamic Sufi music is Charu Suri.
Born in Madurai, India, Suri began learning the piano at age of 5. By age 15, she’d won an international piano competition.
Suri says her love and feel for music inspired her to continue playing piano.
“I just love music, it was basically everything that kept me going,” Suri said. “It was the vehicle that kept me inspired and motivated.”
Suri said music brings her comfort when she needs it. She always turned to music when she had a bad day.
“It was the one thing in my life from a very, very early age that made sense to me.” Suri recalled. “It was the only thing that made complete sense.”
To attend Princeton University, Suri moved to New Jersey, settling in Weehawken. At Princeton, she composed several pieces for orchestra and chamber orchestra, but never recorded commercially until recently.
From the classics to jazz and Sufi
While Suri has been a pianist for most of her life, she didn’t always play jazz. Trained as a classical pianist, Suri recalls her natural transition into jazz followed by her jazz-sufi music fusion.
Her sound came from longing to do something more modal. For most of her career, Suri had been playing western classical harmonic music using tonal music.
“I wanted to create something more modal because it was very nostalgic, more ancient sounding, and I love the ancient sounds,” Suri said. “I majored in the classics in college and also did music, so I’ve always been drawn to history and to historical sounds.”
“The use of the raga scales to create jazz work was something that has been on my mind since I listened to the modal experiments of Miles Davis,” Suri said, referring to the albums “Kind of Blue” and “Bitches Brew” by Davis.
Suri said her musical inspirations beyond Davis include Bill Evans and Dave Brubeck. She describes them as her triumvirate of inspiration, alongside Oscar Peterson and Canadian pianist Kris Davis.
These jazz artists, in addition to her Carnatic music upbringing in India, laid the groundwork for Suri to breakthrough into jazz-Sufi fusion music. Carnatic music is a style native to southern India that focuses on voice, with instruments mimicking singing.
“I discovered [Peterson’s] work fairly late because I wasn’t a jazz musician,” Suri said. “I was a classical musician, and I just fell in love with his virtuosity because I’m a virtuoso performer on the piano, or I like to think I am. But he made everything make sense; it wasn’t too over the top, but just right.”
Suri’s first album, “Lollipops for Breakfast,” was scored for a traditional jazz trio and won a Global Music Award. Her next traditional jazz album, “The New American Songbook,” has been well received, Suri said.
The album, featuring vocals by Danielle Erin Rhodes, focuses on traditional jazz. Suri said she’s always loved Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.
Then Suri met Apoorva Mugdal, her vocal counterpart throughout the album “The Book of Ragas.” The duo connected through a gig, and Suri discovered that Mugdal was a specialist in ghazals, or Arabic poems, and Sufi music. This is where Suri began her journey into newer, fresher jazz.
Sufi music is traditional devotional prayer music based on Sufi Islam and its poems. Suri had heard of the music, but never thought it was possible to create jazz using it.
“The journey of ‘The Book of Ragas’ was one of discovery,” said Mudgal, who chose the text and improvised sargams based on the musical framework. A sargam is when a vocalist sings a musical note instead of the words of a composition.
Suri said her favorite piece so far in her career is from “The Book of Ragas.” The composition is titled Raag Kalyani, featuring guest guitarist David Ellenbogen.
In Indian translation, Suri explained that Kalyani means “Queen of Indian ragas.” Kalyani inspired the piece “Raag Kalyani,” written in response to the quiet beauty of the countryside, with the sounds evoking a deep sense of calm and peace.
The poetry is “Ae Ri Aali,” a traditional bandish, or composition whose lyricist is not known. It embodies the yearning for the beloved in this surreal peace-inducing raga.
“It’s very, very peaceful because the core of Carnatic music and Hindustani music is to find that peace.” Suri said of the composition. “When you listen to the ‘Raag Kalyani,’ just at the end after finishing it, you are so at one with yourself. It’s a momentous journey from the beginning to the end. That raga is what people turn to for the ultimate experience or for peace.”
The album artwork was created by Upasana Asrani, an abstract artist based in Chennai, India. A friend of Suri, Arsani’s works are a reflection of a journey of self-discovery expressed throughout “The Book of Ragas.”
“The album artwork has been receiving a lot of praise, and that has been done by my longtime high school friend, who is an amazing artist herself,” Suri said. “I think she nailed the moods of the ragas in the cover. My other friends who have seen it say that they are getting the spirit and the vibe of India just from the cover.”
Making history at Carnegie Hall
Suri became one of the first Indian-American women to premier at Carnegie Hall with her double bill “Book of Ragas” and “The New American Songbook.”
“First of all, to perform at Carnegie Hall is a dream,” Suri said, describing the surreal nature of her performance. “But to perform one’s own music at Carnegie Hall is sensational.”
She hopes to inspire other jazz musicians to follow their passion and pursue their dreams through her performance.
“A couple of people have written me and said this is just a wonderful inspiration,” Suri said. “I think jazz in India is definitely taking off, but it’s very hard to find female composers and female jazz artists in India. I didn’t know of any growing up. Maybe it’s my own ignorance, or maybe this will inspire more women.”
Suri said that she and her band received a standing ovation, demonstrating that the audience enjoyed the show as much as she enjoyed performing.
“Honestly, [it was] a thrilling experience,” Suri said. “It’s very intimate. Weill [Recital Hall] is perfect for jazz. I felt completely connected to the piano, and to the audience. It was very freeing and not stuffy, and the Steinway concert grand there gets tuned daily, so the tones were velvety and perfect.”
During the show, Suri said that she was trying to just have fun, noting that she didn’t want her performance to feel like a “stuffy experience.”
“For me, it was the best stage I’ve performed on, and a lot of audience members felt the same way,” Suri said. “You can hear just about everything. My band was really thrilled to play on that stage.”
2020 World Tour
Next stop, India.
Suri said she plans on taking her music home during a potential 2020 tour, first making stops in Miami for Valentine’s Day as well as Chicago.
“We’re looking at September for a tour to India,” Suri said. “Right now it’s tentative, but we are looking at Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore which are great music cities. We 1000 percent are going to tour India and take our albums, ‘The Book of Ragas’ and ‘The New American Songbook’ on the road.”
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
Weehawken Luxury Apartment Project Secures $100M in Financing
GlobeSt.com, 5-Dec-19
By John Jordan
The Harbor 1500 riverfront apartment project has secured $100 million in financing from M&T Bank.
The 236-unit apartment building extends 765 feet into the Hudson River, developed by Hartz Mountain Industries and The Maxal Group. The financing came in the form of a $100-million syndicated loan from M&T Bank for the project that was completed in July.
The Harbor 1500 project marks an additional phase of Hartz Mountain Industries’ Lincoln Harbor Complex, which features a recently constructed Whole Foods Market, residential and office space as well as retail, hospitality, and service businesses. Apartments at Harbor 1500 are now available for lease.
Formerly serving as an office building and pier that provided warehousing and transshipment, the redeveloped Harbor 1500 property offers approximately 30,000 square feet of amenity space including a sky pool, spa, BBQ with bar seating, sunset lounge, fitness center, indoor and outdoor yoga studios, cinema screening room, children’s playroom, as well as rooftop decks offering views of the New York City skyline and George Washington Bridge.
“Having developed over 1,500 residential units over our history, we’re committed to providing residents with well-located, luxury rental communities that offer shorter commutes and a wealth of amenities,” says Gus Milano, president and COO of Hartz Mountain Industries. “We are excited to have closed on this financing with M&T Bank and The Maxal Group, which brings us another step closer to fulfilling that commitment.”
Monday, January 21, 2019
Weehawken resident donates $10 million to Palisades Medical Center
Hudson Reporter, 17-Jan-19
By Mike Montemarano
John C. Meditz has donated $10 million to Hackensack Meridian Health Palisades Medical Center, the largest gift to date.
Hackensack Meridian Health is the parent company of Palisades Medical center. Meditz serves on the boards of both Hackensack Meridian Health and Palisades Medical Center.
Meditz, a Weehawken resident, is co-founder of Horizon Kinetics, investment advisers.
The Weehawken residents’ contribution will go toward expanding the Palisades Medical Center Emergency Department.
“I am committed to making a positive difference on behalf of Palisades Medical Center’s patients and their families as the medical center expands even further though Hackensack Meridian Health,” Meditz said. “It is my pleasure and privilege to do what I can to help.”
“We are deeply grateful for John’s motivational leadership and inspirational generosity,” said Hackensack Meridian Health CEO Robert C. Garrett. “John cares deeply about leading by example in order to elevate and enhance the health and well-being of others.”
Years of service
Meditz was appointed to the Palisades Medical Center Board of Governors in 1997, serving as chair from 2009 until 2011. He helped establish the Palisades Medical Center Foundation, which relies on volunteers and contributions made by residents and local businesses to establish new clinical programs.
Meditz is currently on the boards of two foundations that raise funds for healthcare services: The Hackensack University Medical Center Foundation and the Palisades Foundation.
In 2014, in recognition of Meditz’s role in establishing the hospital’s philanthropic arm, Palisades Medical Center renamed its main building the John C. Meditz Medical Pavilion.
“John’s leadership and outstanding example will strengthen our outreach as we work to fund our strategic priorities,” said Joe Burt, Palisades Medical Center’s vice president of Development.
Sunday, January 6, 2019
Friday, November 16, 2018
Snow Causes Commuter Chaos at Port Authority
NYT, 15-Nov-18
By Patrick McGeehan
The snow that fell as forecast on Thursday caused havoc for commuters, whether they were trying to get home by train, bus or car. Even travelers at local airports experienced delays.
By 5:30 p.m., officials at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan were advising commuters to take trains or ferries. With few buses able to get there, the terminal became so overcrowded that access to its second and third floors had to be blocked. The line of people waiting to get into the terminal stretched for a full block, all the way to Seventh Avenue.
Train service in New Jersey and on Long Island was also delayed as the wintry weather froze switches on the rails.
New Jersey Transit warned that train delays could last for as long as an hour and suggested taking ferries or the PATH train to get across the Hudson River. By 8 p.m. N.J. Transit told commuters at Port Authority that delays for buses could be as long as three hours.
“Listen, we’re getting clobbered,” New Jersey Gov. Philip D. Murphy told News 12 New Jersey. “No forecast — none — predicted this. This is slower, it’s deeper, it’s colder.”
Mr. Murphy said his own commute, which would normally take 45 minutes, had taken closer to three hours.
“The plows are out, I’m on the Turnpike and it is relatively clear,” he told the television station. “But admittedly, it depends on what road you’re on.”
The waiting areas in Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan also became dangerously crowded, commuters reported.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said on Twitter that some subway lines were delayed because of snow-related switch and signal problems.
At 6 p.m., Marlyne Page, an executive assistant who works in Midtown, had already been in line for an hour but was still a block away from the entrance to the bus terminal and the bus to Passaic. “And this isn’t even a real storm,” she said. “Someone didn’t plan.”
She was wet, cold and quietly furious, but exuding calm. “I’m not going to explode, because what would be the point?“ she said. “Unless someone cuts in front of me.”
Many commuters wondered how a minor snowfall that came as no surprise could disrupt the transportation network in the nation’s biggest metropolitan area. Drivers complained that they had not seen any plows or salt trucks. Some complained of being stuck for hours on the roads.
The Bayonne Bridge was closed in both directions for more than an hour.
“We had several vehicles that had difficulty getting up the incline,” said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority. “We had to do heavy duty salting and sanding to get it safe.”
The incline of the bridge was raised two years ago to allow for bigger container ships to pass under.
In a tweet, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that plows and salt spreaders would be out all night to clear roads before the morning commute. “First storm of the year hit hard and right at rush hour, downing trees and causing delays,” he wrote.
Representative Adriano Espaillat, a New York Democrat, expressed his frustration on Twitter and demanded answers from public officials about how such a meager snowstorm was able to undermine the city’s transportation systems.
“Moms are stranded with their kids, people are running out of gas,” he wrote. “This is unacceptable.”
Max Rose, a Democratic Representative-elect for New York, tweeted that there was “no excuse” for this kind of response to an expected snowfall. “I may not be sworn in, but I will be demanding answers,” he wrote.
The storm had not caused widespread power failures. At 8 p.m., PSEG reported 260 failures on Long Island that affected about 5,600 customers. In New Jersey, PSEG reported that about 1,600 customers had lost power.
On social media, many travelers complained about being unable to leave Newark Liberty International Airport because of infuriatingly slow transportation.
Ron Marsico, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said ground transportation to and from the airport had been “severely curtailed” by traffic stemming from icy roads. He said that AirTrain Newark was up and running, but its service was less frequent because of icy tracks and that N.J. Transit trains that connect to AirTrain were significantly delayed.
Other travelers reported that they could not even get off the planes. One said he was stuck on a plane at Newark Airport after being diverted en route to La Guardia. He said the tarmac was crowded with a sea of planes.
In Newark, officials closed off several highways late Thursday night because of icy roads and collisions. Routes 280, 78, 21 and 22 were closed for the night, according to a news release from the Newark Police Department.
Schools throughout the metropolitan area had trouble getting students home on the clogged, slippery roads. In West Orange, N.J., the school district had to order buses to “shelter in place to address the road conditions.”
At 6 p.m., school officials tweeted out a picture of an auditorium filled with middle-schoolers, adding that “snacks are being provided, as well as activities and entertainment.”
Monday, November 12, 2018
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