At the Tribal Soundz reunion

An array of musicians gathered last night to celebrate the legacy of Tribal Soundz, the community-oriented world music store that had a 10-year run until 2008 at 340 E. Sixth St.

Nora Balaban (pictured below), who opened Tribal Soundz in 1998, invited the musicians and speakers to perform at the East Village Playhouse — the site of the former music shop between First Avenue and Second Avenue...



EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by the packed playhouse for part of the nearly four hours of music...




[Akim Funk Buddha]


[Rima Fand]


[Deer France]


[Francis Jacob]

... and here's a clip of an ensemble featuring members of the bands Timbila and mbiraNYC ...

A musical reunion to celebrate Tribal Soundz,

In 1998, musician Nora Balaban opened Tribal Soundz, a community-oriented world music store that had a 10-year run at 340 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

The shop's legacy has endured since closing in 2008. Tomorrow (Thursday) night, Balaban is hosting a Tribal Soundz musical reunion with a variety of performers in the space, now the East Village Playhouse.

Per the invite:

The space is now a wonderful small theater and we've been invited back to reunite, play some music, hang out, brainstorm & imagine what we can do together in the future. Come early for seating! Doors 5:30 p.m. Limited Seating.

The free performances will run until 9:30 tomorrow night.

I asked Balaban about what made the store special.

"Our tagline in the Tribal Soundz days was 'Bringing you the world's music, and everything you need to play it,'" she said. "Tribal Soundz was more than just a store — it was the nerve center for global music action in NYC. We sold instruments from around the world, CDs, held music workshops and performances. All kinds of musicians and people from the neighborhood were brought together, centered around global music."

And for one night, that will be happening again.

The sound of storage on East Sixth Street

Yesterday, EVG reader Bill Stepp noticed some activity at the long dormant storefront at 340 E. Sixth St. ...



... most recently the home of Tribal Soundz, the world music shop that closed in the fall of 2008.



Since then, the storefront has sat empty. Bill saw three men "unloading and moving what looked like kitchen equipment."

New business?

"One told me it will be used as storage."



Perhaps it will be a storage unit for the Schwimmers across the way.

Anyway, there aren't any new work permits on file with the DOB to provide any further clues here. Meanwhile, for a little more history, Jeremiah wrote about Tribal Soundz back in the fall of 2008 here.