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Bruce Lee's Masterpiece Enter the Dragon with Live Original Music by Karsh Kale and his Band - June 13, 2008
 | | Photo Courtesy of MASS MoCA |
North Adams - Described by Billboard Magazine as a "visionary composer and producer", Karsh Kale (pronounced "Kursh Kah-lay") is one of global music's brightest stars. Kale has created a live original score to the classic Kung Fu film Enter the Dragon starring Bruce Lee, which will make its world premere at MASS MoCA on Saturday, June 28, at 9 PM, screening outside on the Berkshires biggest screen (the event will move inside the Hunter in the event of rain).
Kale will be joined by his band which Indianelectronica describes as a "diverse group of artists who drape their intertwined melodies against the backdrop of [Kale's] inimitable rhythmic signature." MASS MoCA's galleries will remain open until 8 PM with special reduced gallery admission for Enter the Dragon ticket buyers.
Building on his own obsession for Bruce Lee movies Kale has composed a new score for Enter the Dragon. The film has been an international sensation since its 1973 release when it was number one at the box office. Enter the Dragon was the first Kung Fu film to have been made by a major Hollywood studio and is often regarded as one of the most influential films of all time, kick-starting the Kung Fu movie genre of the 1970s and establishing the international fame and pop culture icon status of Bruce Lee. Lee wanted to use the film as a vehicle for expressing what he saw as the beauty of his Chinese culture, rather than it being just another action movie. In 2004 Enter the Dragon was selected by the National Film Registry for preservation and was granted "culturally significant" status.
In the film, Lee, a member of a Shaolin Temple, is a master of the physical and spiritual disciplines of the martial arts. He is invited to a tri-annual martial arts tournament held on an island owned by Han, a reclusive billionaire and former Temple member who is now a renegade. British authorities believe Han uses his tournaments as cover for narcotic and prostitution activities and recruit Lee to spy on him. Also attending the tournament are two American martial arts experts, Roper and Williams, who served together in Vietnam and took differing paths toward martial arts upon their discharge -- Roper is on the run from Mafia gambling debt collectors, while Williams was accosted by two racist cops whom he'd dispatched before stealing their car to escape. All three find themselves at the mercy of Han and his army of martial arts fighters as he protects his underground factory of narcotics and prostitution.
Raised in New York by Indian immigrant parents, Karsh Kale's abilities on the drums and the tabla, a traditional instrument from north India, were apparent at a very young age. Growing up, Kale had a vision of unifying the sounds and the cultures that were divided in the West. While his contemporaries view Kale as a force of nature on both tabla and drums, he is an equally innovative songwriter, producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and DJ. As ethnotechno.com stated: "by using modern incarnations of classical elements, such as dhol programming, electric santoor, and effected ethnic vocals, Kale packs both cultural, emotional, and underground energy into his music." Whether playing his own creations or spinning a set of dance floor crushers, Kale has brought his infectious global sound to almost every major city on four continents.
In the past 11 years as a composer and performer Kale has released five critically acclaimed solo albums -- his latest Breathing Under Water was released on Six Degrees Records in 2007. Kale is a founding member of the super groups Tabla Beat Science, Realize Live, Material and Breathing Under Water and has appeared on countless recordings worldwide collaborating with musical legends and pioneers such as Bill Laswell, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Sting, Norah Jones, Ustad Sultan Khan, Lenny Kravitz, Pharoah Sanders, Ustad Shujat Khan, Paula Cole, Herbie Hancock, Francois K, DJ Logic and many more. The New York Times points out that his music could be a confusing collaboration of cultural sounds, lyrics, beats, and languages but manages to be concise and clear. "Mr. Kale had thought through the way each tune evolved. The band layered its music by ear, not by preconception, so Indian melodies were supported by Western chords, and meditations could gradually solidify into marches. The musical hybrids weren't stunts. They were the sound of musicans who listen widely and well."
Tickets for Enter the Dragon with music by Karsh Kale are $15 in advance and $19 day of show. Dinner, snacks, and full bar are available before and during the performance from Lickety Split. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Adams, open during gallery hours from 11 AM until 5 PM, closed Tuesdays through June 27 or 10 AM - 6 PM every day from June 28 through September 2. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413-662-2111 during Box Office hours or purchased on line at www.massmoca.org. |
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