audiologo

My favorite sports writer (after J's Theater)...

2009-09-02T10:53:00.000-07:00

...Dave Zirin, that is... from 
The Nation, 21 August 2009...

Caster Semenya and the Idiocy
 of Sex Testing
By Dave Zirin & Sherry Wolf

World-class South
African athlete
Caster 
Semenya,
age 18,
won the
800 meters
in the
International
Association
of Athletics 
Federations
World Championships
on August 19. But her victory was all the more remarkable in
that she was forced to run amid a controversy that reveals the
twisted way international track and field views gender.
(photo, Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters: Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei of Kenya, left,
Caster Semenya of South Africa and Jennifer Meadows of Britain display
their medals from the women's 800 meters at the world championships
on Wednesday [August 19, 2009]). 

The sports world has been buzzing for some time over the rumor that Semenya
may be a man,or more specifically, not"entirely female." According to the
newspaper The Age, her "physique and powerful style have sparked
speculation inrecent months that she maynot be entirely female." From all
accounts an arduous process of "gender testing" on Semenya has already
begun. The idea that an 18-year-old who has just experienced the greatest
athletic victory of her life is being subjecting to this very public humiliation
is shameful to say the least. Her own coach Michael Seme contributed to
the disgracewhen he said, "We understand that people will ask questions
because she looks like a man. It's a natural reaction and it's only human
to be curious. People probably have the right to ask such questions if
they are in doubt. But I can give you the telephone numbers of her
roommates in Berlin. They have already seen her naked in the showers
and she has nothing to hide."

The people with something to hide are the powers that be in track and
field, as well as in international sport. As long as there have been womens'
sports, the characterization of the best female athletes as "looking like men"
or "mannish" has consistently been used to degrade them. When Martina
Navratilova dominated women's tennis and proudly exposed her chiseled
biceps years before Hollywood gave its imprimatur to gals with "guns,"
players complained that she "must have a chromosome loose somewhere."

This minefield of sexism and homophobia has long pushed female
athletes into magazines like Maxim to prove their "hotness"--and
implicitly their heterosexuality. Track and field in particular has always
had this preoccupation with gender, particularly when it crosses paths
with racism. Fifty years ago, Olympic official Norman Cox proposed that
in the case of black women, "the International Olympic Committee
should create a special category of competition for them--
the unfairly advantaged 'hermaphrodites.'"

For years, women athletes had to parade naked in front of Olympic
officials. This has now given way to more"sophisticated" "gender testing"
to determine if athletes like Semenya have what officials still perceive
as the ultimate advantage--being a man. Let's leave aside that being
male is not the be-all, end-all of athletic success. A country's
wealth, coaching facilities, nutrition and opportunity determine
the creation of a world-class athlete far more than a Y chromosome
or a penis ever could.

What these officials still don't understand, or will not confront,
is that gender--that is, how we comport and conceive of ourselves--is
a remarkably fluid social construction. Even our physical sex is far
more ambiguous and fluid than is often imagined or taught. Medical
science has long acknowledged the existence of millions of people
whose bodiescombine anatomical features that are conventionally
associated with either men or women and/or have chromosomal
variations from the XX or XY of women or men. Many of these
"intersex" individuals, estimated at one birth in every 1,666 in the
United States alone, are legally operated on by surgeons who force
traditional norms of genitalia on newborn infants. In what some
doctors consider a psychosocial emergency, thousands of healthy
babies are effectively subject to clitorectomies if a clitoris is "too large"
or castrations if a penis is "too small" (evidently penises are never
considered "too big").

The physical reality of intersex people calls into question the fixed
notions we are taught to accept about men and women in general,
and men and women athletes in sex-segregated sports like track and
field in particular. The heretical bodies of intersex people challenge
the traditional understanding of gender as a strict male/female
phenomenon. While we are never encouraged to conceive of bodies
this way, male and female bodies are more similar than they are
distinguishable from each other. When training and nutrition are
equal, it is increasingly difficult to tell the difference between some
of the best-trained male and female Olympic swimmers wearing
state-of-the-art one-piece speed suits. Title IX, the 1972 law imposing
equal funding for girls' and boys' sports in schools, has radically altered
not only women's fitness and emotional well-being, but their bodies as
well. Obviously, there are some physical differences between men and
women, but it is largely our culture and not biology that gives them
their meaning.

In 1986 Spanish hurdler Maria José Martínez-Patiño was stripped
of her first-placewinnings when discovered to have an XY chromosome,
instead of the female's XX,which shattered her athletic career and
upended her personal life. "I lost friends, my fiancé, hope and energy,"
said Martínez-Patiño in a 2005 editorial in the journal The Lancet.

Whatever track and field tells us Caster Semenya's gender is--
and as of this writing there is zero evidence she is intersex--it's
time we all break free from the notion that you are either "one or
the other." It's antiquated, stigmatizing and says far more
about those doing the testing than about the athletes tested.
The only thing suspicious is the gender and sex bias in
professional sports. We should continue to debate the
pros and cons of gender segregation in sport. But right here,
right now, we must end sex testing and acknowledge the fluidity
of gender and sex in sports and beyond.

[Dave Zirin is the author of A People's History of Sports
in the United States (The New Press) Receive his column every
week by emailing dave@edgeofsports.com.
Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com.]

[Sherry Wolf is an independent journalist the author of
the new critically praised book Sexuality and Socialism
(Haymarket Books). She is currently organizing for the
October march for Marriage Equality in Washington DC]


Endnote:
• "Gold Awarded Amid Dispute Over Runner’s Sex" 20 August 2009, NYT.
•  "Inquiry About Runner Angers South Africans" 25 August 2009, NYT
My favorite pull-quote from this article. I read this over the back of a seat
while on the train to NY and had to find the article:
"We are not going to allow Europeans to define 
and describe our children.” said Leonard Chuene, 
the president of Athletics South Africa, 
speaking about the case of Caster Semenya." 
• "Runner Caster Semenya has heard the gender comments all her life"
LA Times reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa,  21 August 2009

E. Lynn Harris: R.I.P.

2009-08-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

Writer E. Lynn Harris (1955 - 2009)

I'm going to leave this to J's Theater, 'cause while I know in my bones death often comes in threes, this time my brain wasn't listening to my bones and I'm just out of words (and clearly out of my usual loops not having already heard about this). Plus J, as usual, has some seriously thoughtful and considered words on the subject.

Endnotes
• CNN's coverage (July 24, 2009)
• NPR's Michel Martin remembers Harris (July 27, 2009).
• "E. Lynn Harris: An Appreciation" from the Arkansas Times (July 30, 2009)
• Coverage from Essence.com (July 24, 2009)
• New York Times Arts Beat listing (July 24, 2009)
• New York Times obituary listing (July 24, 2009)

George Russell: R.I.P.

2009-08-01T18:29:00.001-07:00

It's a hard week for the arts, people. Ned Sublette passed on the information that jazz composer and music theory innovator George Russell (1923 - 2009) passed away from Alzheimers on July 27, 2009.

Ned was kind enough to pass on this listing from The International Review of Music.

Russell was a long-time professor at the New England Conservatory in Boston. IRoM writer and former student and writer Fernando Gonzalez writes of his teacher:

"Composer and theoretician George Russell died on July 27th at a hospice nursing facility near his home in Jamaica Plain, MA from complications to Alzheimer’s. He was 86. He was probably the most influential figure in jazz over the past 60 years whom the general audience never heard of. But musicians knew.

"I thought I knew him because I knew some jazz history and had recordings of his compositions. Then I became one of his students and I discovered a remarkable teacher, one who pushed and made me listen with fresh ears."

Read the rest here.

I've written previously about Russell in relation to Ornette Coleman in an extended post on Harriet Tubman the band. Check that here. Cincinnati, Ohio-born Russell grew up singing in the choir at his childhood AME church, attended Wilberforce University, and was a drummer by training. Along with authoring compositions for Dizzy Gillespie, leading his own groups with musicians such as John Coltrane, Art Farmer, Bill Evans and Eric Dolphy, Russell also developed an approach to composition and performance based on modal forms that maintained the centrality of equal temperament while opening up various harmonic and tonal possibilities. Russell's work influenced both Miles Davis and Coltrane: Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization (1953), Lydian Concept – The Art and Science of Tonal Gravity (2001). I can't do Russell's biography justice here, I hope folks will read about his work on his website, and take time to listen to his recordings some of which are still in print. (pictured right: Coltrane and Russell)

Endnote
• Boston Globe listing of Russell's passing here.
• New York Times obituary listing.
• Guardian UK obituary listing.

Charles Huntley Nelson: Goodbye

2009-08-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

I am deeply saddened to report that Atlanta-based artist and educator Charles Huntley Nelson passed away on Thursday, July 30 after a battle with stomach cancer. I hadn't been in contact with Charles for about a year and didn't know he was ill. He was a thoughtful, talented and enterprising artist--whose work often mined a unique path through afro-futurist terrains that was insistent on culling from a range of artistic forms and lineages, and wrestled variously with questions of masculinity, the maternal symbolic, paterfamilias legacies both aesthetic and cultural, pop culture and elements of the avant garde. Charles was a husband and father of two sons, and an assistant professor of art at Morehouse College. I don't believe Charles was even yet 40 years old. (note: Charles was born in 1970)

As artist/curator/writer/computational urbanist Cinque Hicks stated in writing of Nelson's passing: "Charles was integral to the afrofuturist art movement and an important part of many art communities." Charles was active up until his passing, with a scheduled artist talk for the day he passed in conjunction with the preview of his video and installation Alphaville based on the 1965 Jean Luc Goddard sci-fi/noir film Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution, on exhibit at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center June 26 - August 16, 2009. Alphaville was scheduled for a full opening at the Contemporary in the Fall of 2010. There is no information at this time on the status of that exhibition. (Above right, from the series Invisible Man 2.01, watercolor, 2006; based on Nelson's interstitial conception of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man (1952) and H.G. Wells' 1897 novella The Invisible Man, as well as the 1933 film adaptation of Well's story by the notably wry horror director James Whale, who had his own issues with otherness.)

I previously wrote about Nelson's work when I was in the Atlanta area, after first meeting him when we were in a group show in 2005. You can read about the 2006 Carbonist exhibition at Eyedrum here and here, and Nelson's 2006 show with New York-based artist Kalup Linzy at the Romo Gallery here. You can also read about Charles ethos regarding life as an Atlanta-based artist in a 2006 feature from Code Z that includes profiles of fellow Atlanta artists Kojo Griffin, Eric Mack, and Fahamu Pecou: "Points of Entry: Four Artists Reconsider Atlanta." His installation, Welcome to Atlanta, is also considered in scholar Kimberly Wallace-Sander's study, Mammy: A Century of Race, Gender and Southern Memory (University of Michigan Press, 2008). Nelson submitted the work in response to a call for images reflecting Atlanta for the city's renamed and renovated Hartsfield-Jackson Airport which claims the status of the world's busiest airport. The image is of an African American madonna figure, whose face carries a beneficent expression, holding a Caucasian baby who is suckling at her exposed breast. The image was rejected. Part of the story, of course, is that the airport had been renamed adding the name of Maynard Jackson (1938-2003), the first Black mayor of Atlanta, to that of William B. Hartsfield (1890-1971) Atlanta's longest serving mayor. Both Hartsfield and Jackson were responsible for creating and maintaining the airport's status as an a international aviation hub during their terms. Hartsfield was also known for having tagged his home as, "the city to busy to hate," as a way to continue to attract business and investments during the Civil Rights Movement. You can see the image and installation here.(Nelson, who was an appreciator of sound design, employs a sound design partly inspired by Brian Eno's Music for Airports).

At present the family has asked that no calls be made, but a trust will be set up for the family at a later date to which people will be able to contribute.

(photos: middle-right image from the video Mutropolis (2005)--a collaborative reworking (with Kevin Sipp) of the iconic imagery and foundational political binaries/paradigms of director Fritz Lang's classic dystopian-utopian [not the binaries to which I refer] socialist cinematic exploration, Metropolis (1927)--note the Haitian voudun symbols and the phenotype modeling and aesthetic decorating of Mutropolis's robot Maria/Mother. Lower-right images: stills from Nelson's current Alphaville exhibit)

Endnote:
• Posting on Nelson's passing from Counterforces (July 31, 2009)
• Note on Nelson's passing on the Atlanta-based visual arts blog Burnaway.org (July 31, 2009)
• Funeral Service information from ARTlanta (August 4, 2009)

Upcoming...Incoming...July 2009: Films + Music

2009-06-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

Long time away, woodshedding takes what it takes, and it takes, and makes, and makes, and takes...

Some stuff in July I'm wanting to keep in the forefront of the memory bank:

• Newark Black Film Fest in Trenton
Thursdays, June 25 through July 31, 2009
New Jersey State Museum
FREE
Pre-Screening Receptions at 5 pm
Feature Films at 6pm
Youth Cinema at 1 pm

Filmmaker Q&A follows each Feature Film screening
Includes a Youth Film Festival!
Some Highlights:
This is My Africa
Dreams Deferred: The Sakia Gunn Film Project
Medicine for Melancholy
and more...!

• Afro-Punk Film Festival at BAM
July 3-8, 2009
Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAMcinématek)
BAM Rose Cinema
Adult Tix $11, BAM Members, $7
Showtimes Various, check schedule for details
Some Highlights:
The Night James Brown Saved Boston
Medicine for Melancholy
What's On Your Plate?
Favela Rising with Hoods to Woods
Eventual Salvation
A Man Named Pearl
Adjust Your Color: Petey Green with Fauboug Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans

...and a lot more!

• Afro-Punk Concerts In the skatepark (converted parking lot) next to BAM
Saturday, July 4
Live music by Whole Wheat Bread, Pure Hell, Game Rebellion, American Fangs, The Objex, Funk Face, oOohh Baby Gimme, Jesse Nobody.

Sunday, July 5
Live music by Earl Grey Hound, Tamar Kali, The London Souls, Apollo Heights, Sabatta, Sweetie, Peekaboo Theory, Blackie.

Monday, July 6
Live music by Saul Williams, Janelle Monae, Elevator Flight, Millsted, Chewing Pics, Echo Jinx, Blackie, The Freshman.

Sunday, July 12
Block Party: Closing Event
Clinton Ave btwn Myrtle & Willoughby
Brooklyn

• Friday, July 3
Dionne Farris
Joe's Pub
Price: $15.00 in advance; $20.00 at the door
9:30pm

BelO (Haitian vocalist)
Joe's Pub
Price: $15
11:30pm

• Sunday, July 5
Allan Toussaint
Joe's Pub Monthly New Orleans Brunch Series
Price: $30 / $15 for children 12 and under
12pm noon

JACK Quartet: Iannis Xenakis: Complete String Quartets CD Release
Joe's Pub
Price: $12
7:30pm

Astillero Tango Orchestra
Joe's Pub
Price: $15
9:30pm

Summer Reading & Listening 2009

2009-06-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

Usually I try to read one book at a time. But if my mood changes,or as deadlines approach a book may be put aside for another. Then of course there's also the thrill of finding something you'd wished for and didn't even know existed. So far my reading has encompassed young adult (the British kind, for which I refuse to feel embarrassment), summer/winter mystery, and a book it'll likely take the whole summer to read. Once again Fran Ross's Oreo, was on my summer reading mental list, but I haven't even taken it out of the library (and now I find the only circulating copy has been lost!)...

In no particular order:

1. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2008) - Stieg Larsson (trans. Reg Keeland). Intriguing mystery. The late Larsson's work as an investigative reporter publishing exposés of Nazism and publisher of an anti-racism magazine in Sweden. I had to keep myself from reading it in one day. Even though the male protagnist happened to have an easy-going manner that made him the object of desire (misplaced, tragic, and shared) of each of the major female characters in the book which seemed a bit over-the-top, yet Larsson worked this major staple of the genre in a manner that wasn't just about sex, but primarly allowed for character development and some insight into the emotional culture of middle and upper class Swedes.

2. Dead and Gone: A Sookie Stackhouse Mystery (2009) - Charlaine Harris. Yep, I'm addicted to this series. I blame my friend Q who got me started. Harris' narrative capabilities are getting richer. The last installment focused on familial dynamics sacrificing some of the action and hotness that typifies the series. In this installment Harris found a bridge between the two, and wrote what is probably the best of the lot.

3. The Broken Bridge (1995) - Philip Pullman. Who would have imagined that the guy who wrote the His Dark Materials series would have an ear for the inner thoughts of a biracial black girl and aspiring visual artist living in Wales. This is one for any young artist because it gets inside that mindset like few works I've ever read.

4. The World that Made New Orleans (2007) - Ned Sublette. Still reading, so not writing until I've finished.

6. My Life In the Bush of Ghosts (195 ) - Amos Tutuola. I'd been meaning to read this for about 20 years, but it took a new multi-media performance by Mendi + Keith Obadike, 4 Electric Ghosts, based on Tutuola's novel and designer Tōru Iwatani's legendary Pac-Man video game (designed with the help of Shigeo Funaki (programmer) and Toshio Kai (sound design and music), and I believe called Puck-Man in Japan) to get me to finally read it.(Read J's Theater's write up here.) I can see the link between a game set up as a maze of consumption and Tutuola's sometime humorous, often surreally horrifying epic trip or bildungsroman through various towns and countries of ghosts of varying type and character collectively known as the bush of ghosts into which his barely adolescent Yoruba protagonist accidentally stumbles in his attempt to escape the advancing civil war in 1950s Nigeria. I read this mostly on train trips, it somehow seemed appropriate to always be in motion as I was reading, as the protagonist is constantly traveling between towns and some terrifying sensorial experiences (which speak to the incredible imagination of Tutuola and/or some truly inhuman war memories) as he attempts to find his way back to the world of the living, and his own village. Much was made of Tutuola's "Nigerian English" or his "primitive English" both assessments underestimate the rich new meanings, layers of meaning, and simultaneously varied perspectives that Tutuola is able to bring to the fore that wouldn't be otherwise available through an employ of "standard English" in the novel's narrative. I wouldn't hesitate to read it again.

5. Open the Door: The Life and Music of Betty Carter (2002) - William R. Bauer. This is on the 'books that I dreamed of and didn't even know existed' list. Yes, there's a lot to be said for perusing library shelves. Still reading, so not writing until finished.

6. Kinky Gazpacho: Life, Love, and Spain (2008) - Lori L. Tharps. This book operates in layers. I think Tharps' sometimes understated writing must be the Midwestern influence emerging as Tharps was born and raised in Wisconsin, though now claims Philly as her home. It was definitely a richer experience reading the book a second time. I do think this understated quality, especially when it comes to issues of race and identity and racism are what has made this memoir a success: no one need feel alienated from or implicated by hurtful episodes in Tharp's narrative if you don't read it too deeply. However, the flipside of this is some people may not readily identify with her experiences, or her response to them. The story amiably follows her development from invisible chameleon into a woman comfortable with herself, and the life she builds with her husband, a Spainard who rediscovers his country through her journey.

6. Goodbye, Little Rock and Roller (2004) - Marshall Chapman. This memoir by prolific songwriter Chapman, a would-be southern debutant gone bad, made clear to me particular aspects of the dynamics of gender, sexuality, race and rock 'n' roll in the southern United States.

7. Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music (2005) - Blair Tindall. I read this in one day, and finally began to comprehend the bitterness I sometimes pick up on from western concert music conservatory trained musicians. Whew!

8. Shadow in the North: A Sally Lockhart Mystery (2008, reprint) - Philip Pullman. (see below)

9. The Tiger in the Well: A Sally Lockhart Mystery (2008, reprint) - Philip Pullman. A "penny-dreadful" romp. This revisit of a bygone era of British-spawned pulp-fiction is enjoyable escapist fare, except--and this is the big exception--the casting of the "strange man from the orient" or the "Chinaman" in the role of evil villian. Oddly, Chinese women come off a lot better, and there is a finely nuanced portrait of socialism and the emerging Jewish immigrant community in London at the turn of the 20th century evidencing Pullman as capable of better than resorting to tired stereotypes to create plot twists and drama.

10. Rythm Oil: A Journey Through the Music of the American South (2000) - Stanley Booth. Another good text for insight into 'particular aspects of the dynamics of gender, sexuality, race and rock 'n' roll in the southern United States.'

10. 2666 (2008) - Roberto Bolaño (trans. Natasha Wimmer). Let's see if I can get through this by the end of the summer. Not sure if I can maintain focus for 912 pages of layered and sometimes experimental narrative, but I'm game to try!

Listening In: Haitian Music Roundtable

2009-04-04T22:16:00.000-07:00

The inestimable music writer and musician Ned Sublette hipped a bunch of us to this 24 March 2009 roundtable on Haitian music at The New Yorker moderated by writer Sasha Frere-Jones on his New Yorker blog. Here's Frere-Jones description of the roundtable and its origins:

The idea for this roundtable started with Madison Smartt Bell, and a post he
wrote about Haitian music for the New York Times’s Paper Cuts blog.
I knew Wyclef’s music and a few other names on Bell’s list, but I found
myself feeling woefully short on context. I wanted to know what’s going on
now in Haiti. What are the big struggles within and behind Haitian music?
What should people be listening to? To answer these questions, and others, I
enlisted the help of music scholar Garnette Cadogan and brought together
Bell with:

Laurent DuBois, who is the author of “Avengers of the New World: The Story
of the Haitian Revolution,” and is working on a history of the banjo.

Elizabeth McAlister, who writes about Haitian music and religious culture.
She is the author of “Rara! Vodou, Power, and Performance in Haiti and its
Diaspora,” and produced the Smithsonian Folkways CD “Rhythms of Rapture:
Sacred Musics of Haitian Vodou.”

Ned Sublette, the author of “The World That Made New Orleans,” “Cuba and Its
Music,” and the forthcoming “The Year Before the Flood.”

Edwidge Danticat, a novelist and author of the memoir “Brother, I’m Dying.”

Garnette Cadogan himself, who is at work on a book about rock-reggae
superstar Bob Marley.

The conversation is theirs. I’m here only as student and moderator

Read on... Frere-Jones indicates there's "More to come." I certainly hope so!

Film/Video, Acting & Writing Workshops - NYC

2009-03-30T21:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's that time when the ice melts and similarly thoughts and creative energies start to unthaw, and one's mind turns to that project that's been nagging at the back of the brain. Or the one that's sitting on shelf somewhere, waiting for when there's more time...

Well, if you're in the NYC-area the time might be now since both Third World Newsreel (TWN) and The Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center are starting their Spring workshops in filmmaking, acting, directing for the stage, and creative writing (including playwriting, writing for television, and screenwriting). It's a long listing, but dive in...you won't know if you like it until you get a little wet! If after reading you're still hesitant, or holding your cash to pay for essentials, you can still read about the filmmaking side of things at The Independent (formerly the Independent Film & Video Monthly, published by the Association of Independent Video & Filmmakers).

• Spring TWN Evening Workshops
"The Spring TWN Wednesday Night Workshops are starting on March 25th! Register now!"

Wednesday Night Workshop Series (But not always on Wednesdays!)
Walk-in seminars on production topics you need - from production management, podcasting and new media production, sound recording and new camera technology. All classes are $20 ($10 for low income) unless otherwise noted. The workshops take place at Third World Newsreel. Package rate available: $80 for all six sessions ($40 for low income). Register now atworkshop@twn.org.

The Spring season starts March 25th with 2 Free Work-in-Progress screenings. The goals of the screenings are to solicit feedback and lively discussion with the filmmaker to help shape the films' direction before final cuts. Limited seating, so you must RSVP at workshop@twn.org by March 21. Screenings begin at 6:30 PM at the TWN office, 545 Eighth Avenue, 10th Floor.

Wednesday, March 25, 6:30 PM
Work-In-Progress Screening: White: A Study in Color by Joel Katz
Please join TWN Board member Joel Katz (director of Strange Fruit, 2002) for a documentary/essay about what it means to be white in America. Both a personal memoir and a sociological study, White: A Study in Color will put the notion of "post-racial" America under a critical lens. From the Obama ascendancy to the predictions of population demographers that by the year 2042 whites will become America's largest minority, the very notion of being white is ripe for scrutiny. Where has 'white' come from, and where is it going? FREE, Limited Seating, RSVP Req.

Wednesday, April 1, 6:30 PM
Work-In-Progress Screening: Changing Face of Harlem by Shawn Batey
TWN Production Workshop alumna, Shawn Batey presents a one-hour documentary that reviews development in Harlem over the last twenty years and ponders the future of the community. From the voices of residents, business owners, politicians, developers and clergy, this documentary reveals feelings of betrayal and hope, deferred dreams, and struggles of a neighborhood. The film illustrates how, in the years of the 1980s and 1990s, the New York City government along with non-profit faith based organizations saved and revamped the abandoned vacant housing stock that became synonymous with Harlem. FREE, Limited Seating, RSVP Req.

Wednesday, April 8, 6:30 PM
Sound Recording: Tips for better results, and a look at New Gear! With JT Takagi
One thing that a lot of indie projects suffer from: problematic sound. An intro to getting decent sound and a look at some of the most popular mixers, hard drive recorders and radio mikes, courtesy of Professional Sound Services. $20 ($10 for low income).

Tuesday, April 28, 6:30 PM
Guerilla Web 2.0 with Andreas Jackson
Do you have an intriguing message, product, or service but don't know where to start to connect to the global audience of the World Wide Web? Andreas Jackson, Director of On-Line and Business Development for the Hip-Hop Association presents a one-stop shop of social media and technology to create and disseminate a compelling campaign throughout the blogosphere. Topics including blogging, podcasting, RSS, e-mail blast, search engine optimization and more are discussed and demonstrated in an interactive environment. A must for filmmakers! $20 ($10 for low income).

Wednesday, May 6, 6:30 PM
Vision, Cinematography and the RED Camera with Arthur Jafa
You can get 35mm quality with this camera - at a fraction of the cost. Features like CHE have been shot with it. But, as always, it's not just the gear - it's your vision and concept that makes the difference. Jafa, cultural critic/worker and visual artist - is also a DP and filmmaker with credits ranging from Spike Lee's Crooklyn, to his and Julie Dash's Daughters of the Dust and Manthia Diawara's Rouch in Reverse. He'll show his RED, but also talk about envisioning the captured image. $20 ($10 for low income).

Wednesday, May 13th, 6:30 PM
Master Class with Thomas Allen Harris: Presenting His New Film and Multimedia Project Through The Lens Darkly
Thomas Allen Harris, the founder and President of Chimpanzee Productions, will discuss the evolution of his work and the new direction of his company into the realm of new media. Chimpanzee's innovative and award-winning films have received critical acclaim at International film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Toronto, FESPACO, Outfest, Flaherty and Cape Town and have been broadcast on PBS, the Sundance Channel, ARTE, as well as CBC, Swedish broadcasting Network and New Zealand Television.

To Be Scheduled:
Producing New Media with Ann Bennett
Production Planning and Budgeting
NYSCA Application with Don Palmer

All classes at:
Third World Newsreel
545 Eighth Avenue, 10th Flr
between 37th and 38th Streets
1, 2, 3, A, C, E to Times Square

Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro Workshop - 6 week course on Saturday Afternoons - Class begins in mid April
Learn to edit through examining films, exploring media literacy principles - and learning Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro, in a 6 week course on Saturday afternoons from 1-3 PM. The class costs $300 and pre-registration is required. Register today! Deadline is March 31st. Email: workshop@twn.org.

All editing classes on Saturdays at 1 PM at:
Third World Newsreel
545 Eighth Avenue, 10th Flr
between 37th and 38th Streets
1, 2, 3, A, C, E to Times Square

• The Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center
"Spring is here with an Open Houses, Readings and Workshops. Hoping you can join us! As part of our Open House, we will be hosting aCelebration of the Life and Work of Ihsan Bracy. A short bio for Ihsan is at the bottom of this e-mail."

Saturday, April 4th, 2009
From 12:30 to 2:30, Celebration of the Life and Work of Ihsan Bracy
From 3:00 to 6:00pm Open House for Spring Workshop Cycle
Spring '09 Open House
An opportunity to learn more about the 8-week workshops and classes being offered this Spring beginning the week of April 13th and meet some of the instructors.
more info at www.fdcac.org
Wednesday, April 15th
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Free Staged Reading of Prodigal Blood By Jaymes Jorsling at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture located at 135th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard.

More Info at http://www.classicaltheatreofharlem.org/future-classics..html
Monday, April 11
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Writing and Re-Writing the Novel
Led by the award winning author Grace Edwards
An emphasis in this class on those who have already their first draft but also open to those looking to get started. Sponsored in part by NYSCA/ Literature Grant.

Monday, April 13
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Advanced Acting Workshop
Led by the award winning director/co-founder of the Classical Theatre of Harlem
Alfred Preisser. Monologue, scene study, and audition technique. Includes play and character analysis, and uses of improvisation and theatre games to explore character and encourage creative freedom.This workshop is sponsored in part by funding from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.

Monday, April 13
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Writing for Daytime Television
Sojourna Collier
A workshop for those interested in drafting a daytime television pilot or with an interest in learning to write for that field. This workshop is made possible in part by support from NYSCA/Electronic Media and Film.

Monday, April 13
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Advanced Playwriting
Leslie Lee
A workshop directed to those who have at least begun the first draft of their play or have a good idea of what they want to write and have finished a draft of a play previously. This class is supported in part by funding from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.

Tuesday, April 14
7:00 - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Creative Writing
TBA
Prize-Winning author and editor and also former FDCAC student, Ms. Thomas takes the class through a selection of writing exercises that include the short story and non-fiction essays, with an eye to assisting in the process of selecting the style of writing most appropriate for the individual students goals. This workshop is sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.

Tuesday, April 14
7:00 - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Short Story
Nathasha Brooks-Harris
A workshop involved in not only writing and polishing your short stories, but also in offering guidance in where and how to get your stories published. This workshop is sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.

Tuesday, April 14
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Shakespeare Performance Workshop
Led by the award winning director/co-founder of the Classical Theatre of Harlem
Alfred Preisser. An intensive class dealing with Shakespearean text from the actor's viewpoint. Introduction to scansion and script analysis, the style and form of Elizabethan Theatre, and in-depth scene and monologue work.This workshop is sponsored in part by funding from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.

Tuesday, April 14
7:00 - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Childrens Books
Laura Pegram
This fiction workshop AND craft class includes a close reading of excerpts from diverse voices within the genre (e.g., Angela Johnson, Cristina Garcia, Sherman Alexie, Christopher Paul Curtis, Karen Hesse, etc.), as well as a structured written commentary. Emerging writers at all levels will learn to develop their craft and the language of critique during this intensive workshop. This workshop is sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.

Tuesday, April 14
7:00 - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Acting Jacqueline Wade
A workshop for all levels of actors. Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.

Tuesday, April 14 (tentatively scheduled)
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Fusion Film Writing
Alan Zatkow
In this workshop for which the Screen 1 workshop is a prerequisite, the class will work on reworking their film scripts, and get an understanding of how the industry works. This workshop is made possible in part by support from NYSCA/Electronic Media and Film.

Wednesday, April 15
7:00 - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Poetry
Jacqueline Johnson
A workshop devoted to the structure and creation of the poem with insight on where and how to get published. Made possible in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.

Wednesday, April 15
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Screenwriting
Alan Zatkow
In this workshop the class will begin the first draft of their screenplay getting feedback from both the class and the instructor with insights into what to do once the screenplay is completed. This workshop is made possible in part by support from NYSCA/Electronic Media and Film.

Wednesday, April 15
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Beginning Playwriting
Sophia Romma
In this workshop the class will begin the first draft of their play getting feedback from both the class and the instructor. There will also be discussions of individual goals for the completed works. Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.

Wednesday, April 15
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Literary Non-Fiction/Memoir
Michel Marriott
In this workshop the class will explore all forms of non-fiction writing, including journalism. Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.

Wednesday, April 15
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Beginning your Novel
Jaira Placide
In this workshop the class will begin the process of taking that idea for a novel and transfer it onto the page. Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.

Thursday, April 16
6:00 pm - 8:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Directing
Led by the award winning director/co-founder of the Classical Theatre of Harlem
Alfred Preisser. An introduction to the role of the director in creating work for the stage. Covers choice and analysis of play, working with the actor to shape a performance, use of physical elements (scenic, costume, music) to strengthen interpretation and expression of the "director's voice". Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.

Thursday, April 16
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Advanced Screenwriting
Myla Churchill
In this workshop the class will edit their screenplay, getting feedback from both the class and the instructor with insights into what to do to improve their work. Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.

Thursday, April 16
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Crafting the Novel-From Concept to Publication by Donna Hill
This class is for those who have a story concept or draft of their novel and those who wish to flesh out their novel in progress. Made possible in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.

Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center
270 West 96th Street
New York, NY 10025
212-864-3375
Fax 212-864-3474
E-mail: Fdcac@aol.com
Web Site: www.Fdcac.org

About ihsan bracy
Paths of Sanctuary is author Ihsan Bracy's second work of fiction with Cool Grove Press (Feb. 2008). His first book Ibo Landing: an offering of short stories, (CGP 1998) is scheduled to be work-shopped by NYU in preparation for an upcoming Broadway run by The Mirror Repertory Company where Ihsan is the Arts and Education Coordinator. As artistic Director and Founder of The Tribe Ensemble, a multi-ethnic theatre repertory company based out of the Jamaica Arts Center for thirteen years, Ihsan authored and directed Against the Sun, the Southampton Slave Revolt of 1831. A former member of The Family (La Familia) Inc., his credits include prolonged theatre workshops at Bayview Correctional Facility for Women, the Spofford Home for Juveniles and Riker's Island, which culminated in a forty prison inner city tour. Ihsan directed Juan Shamsul Alam's Benpires which received a Pulitzer Prize nomination in theatre.

A graduate of Bennington College, Ihsan Bracy was former member of the New York State Council on the Arts and former chair of the Theatre Department of Talent Unlimited High School, NYC's second largest performing arts high school. Ihsan's major educational credits include directing five Manhattan, three NYC and a third place National Shakespeare Championship as well as an ARTS National Finalist in Theatre. As a Brooklyn based spoken word artist, Ihsan performed all across the city including a long running appearance at The Triad as part of composer Michael Raye's Soul Gathering. Author of two volumes of poetry, cadre and the ubangi files, Ihsan has twice been a CAPS Finalist and has been elected to the New Renaissance Writer's Guild.

Coming Up...Jazz Fest & Odetta Tribute

2009-03-28T18:53:00.000-07:00

You know summer is around the corner when the month-long Jazz Festivals start occurring. Do jazz and summer go together? Well, probably no more than the idea of music, fun, and hot nights going together. So here comes the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium's 10th Annual Jazz Festival April 1 - 30, 2009.

CBJC's 10th jubilee celebration of an American original art form will feature: Opening Day Free Community Concert (April 1st), jazz drum legend Roy Haynes (April 4th), Brooklyn Jazz Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Dave Valentin (April 16th), Houston Person (April 17th), Jazz: The Women's View Point (April 18th), Melba Moore (April 18th), Ronnie Mathews/Freddie Hubbard Tribute (April 19th), Jazz & The Fine Arts concert, BAMcafe Live weekend (April 24/25), Youth Jazz Jamboree/Wellness Day (April 25th), educational symposiums, programming for senior citizens and individuals with development disabilities, jazz performances, and conferences in churches, restaurants, clubs, and cultural institutions throughout Brooklyn.

A note: I don't see Melba Moore on the festival calendar on 4/18, a featuring "Jazz: The Women's View Point Panel Discussion & Performance with Ntozake Shange, Mickey Davidson, Akua Dixon, Carline Ray, and Camile Yarborough. However, I do see The Melba Joyce Quartet on 4/24, so I don't know if that's a typo or what.

The name "Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium" does beg the question of if there's also a non-Central Brooklyn Jazz organization with a competing festival--well, it's Brooklyn, home of a lot of musicians and other artist. So yes, there's the six year old Brooklyn Jazz Festival
(formerly Williamsburg Jazz Festival) and the Brooklyn Jazz Underground which also has a two-year old festival. What's notable about these other two festivals is their emphasis on featuring both work by younger artists and work that pushes the boundaries of jazz, as well as their ethnic make-up. There is a greater European and European American presence in both organizations and as well as in their festivals, particularly in the membership of the Brooklyn Jazz Underground. Generational and multi-national and multi-ethnic tensions are a part of the history of jazz, although that wasn't always the case. Still it's no surprise to see these elements evidenced and/or responded to in the ethos of various organizations. Arguably, no one organization should have to bear the responsibility for defining what jazz is--past, present or future--since the history of what gets/got counted as jazz and who gets/got counted as jazz musicians is so complicated anyway.

Odetta Tribute: Princeton University, Thursday April 9, 2009
Perhaps not the most obvious locale for an Odetta tribute, but the way was paved with the James Brown Symposium in 2007. Plus Princeton is becoming a hotbed of performance studies scholars. Filmmaker Ela Troyano was just there with her "documentary bolero" on the phenomenal La Lupe: Queen of Latin Soul, hosted by Alex Vazquez, performance studies scholar, new faculty in English and Oh! Industry blog founder/contributor. Dr. Judith Casselberry, cultural anthropologist and currently a visiting scholar at the institution, also is a long-time member of Toshi Reagon's band Big Lovely. (Odetta Memorial image by Stephen Alcorn ©2008)

This Odetta event is a two-parter, with an afternoon symposium and an evening concert featuring Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, Sonia Sanchez, Lizz Wright and Toshi Reagon, among others. Tickets to the concert are free, but you have to get them in advance, and I'm not sure they're going to be available online. You may have to bribe a New Jersey friend or relative to go over to the Princeton, New Jersey campus and get them. Here's the info:

A TRIBUTE TO ODETTA
APRIL 9, 2009

4:30pm • McCosh Hall 10 • Panel Discussion

“Odetta, Folk Music, and Social Activism”

• Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon • Professor Matthew Frye Jacobson • Mr. Oscar Brand • Ms. Olivia Greer • Professor Albert J. Raboteau • Dr. Judith Casselberry • Moderatored by Professor Judith Weisenfeld

8:30pm • Richardson Auditorium • Concert*

• Professor Matt Frye Jacobson • Geoffrey Holder • Lizz Wright • Ruby Dee • Guy Davis • Sonia Sanchez • Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon • Toshi Reagon

*Tickets are complimentary and required for admission to the concert.

Ticket Availability:
• General Public
Frist Campus Center Ticket Office
Available: Friday, March 27
Limit of two tickets per person.

Doors open at 8:00pm for ticket holders. Open admission at 8:20pm for any remaining seats.

R.I.P. John Hope Franklin

2009-03-26T04:58:00.000-07:00

John Hope Franklin, Scholar of African-American History, Is Dead at 94 [1915 -2009]

By ANDREW L. YARROW
Published: March 25, 2009
[from NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/us/26franklin.html?ref=todayspaper ]

John Hope Franklin, a prolific scholar of African-American history who profoundly influenced thinking about slavery and Reconstruction while helping to further the civil rights struggle, died Wednesday in Durham, N.C. He was 94.

A spokeswoman for Duke University, where Dr. Franklin taught, said he died of congestive heart failure at the university’s hospital.

During a career of scholarship, teaching and advocacy that spanned more than70 years, Dr. Franklin was deeply involved in the painful debates that helped reshape America’s racial identity, working with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., W. E. B. Du Bois, Thurgood Marshall and other major civil rights figures of the 20th century.

“I will always think of John Hope as the historian of the South who grasped the complexity of Southern public life as shaped by the horror of personal slavery,” said Nell Irvin Painter, the Princeton University historian. “Franklin was the first great American historian to reckon the price owed in violence, autocracy and militarism.”

It was a theme Dr. Franklin wrestled with into his last years. In an article in The Atlantic Monthly in 2007, he wrote, “If the American idea was to fight every war from the beginning of colonization to the middle of the 20th century with Jim Crow armed forces, in the belief that this would promote the American idea of justice and equality, then the American idea was an
unmitigated disaster and a denial of the very principles that this country claimed as its rightful heritage.”

Dr. Franklin combined idealism with rigorous research, producing such classic works as “From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African-Americans,” first published in 1947. Considered one of the definitive historical surveys of the American black experience, it has sold more than three million copies and has been translated into Japanese, German, French, Chinese and other
languages.

Robert W. Fogel, a Nobel Prize-winning economist at the University of Chicago, called it “a landmark in the interpretation of American civilization.”

Dr. Franklin also taught at some of the nation’s leading institutions, including Harvard and the University of Chicago in addition to Duke, and as a scholar he personally broke several racial barriers.

He often argued that historians have an important role in shaping policy, a position he put into practice when he worked with Marshall’s team of lawyers in their effort to strike down segregation in the landmark 1954 case Brown v. Board of Education, which outlawed the doctrine of “separate but equal” in the nation’s public schools.

“Using the findings of the historians,” Dr. Franklin recalled in a 1974 lecture, “the lawyers argued that the history of segregation laws reveals that their main purpose was to organize the community upon the basis of a superior white and an inferior Negro caste.”

Dr. Franklin also participated in the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., with Dr. King.

“One might argue that the historian is the conscience of the nation, if honesty and consistency are factors that nurture the conscience,” Dr. Franklin said. Still, he warned, if scholars engage in advocacy as well as scholarship they must “make it clear which activity they are engaging in at
any given time.”

President Bill Clinton, in awarding him the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 1995, said Dr. Franklin had never confused “his role as an advocate with his role as a scholar,” adding that he had held “to the conviction that integration is a national necessity.”

Yet even on so august an occasion, Dr. Franklin could not escape the legacy of discrimination. In a talk he gave in North Carolina 10 years later, he recalled that on the evening before he received the medal at the White House, a woman at a Washington club asked him to fetch her coat, mistaking him for an attendant, and that a man at his hotel had handed him car keys and told him to get his car.

Dr. Franklin’s prestige led Mr. Clinton to select him in 1997 to head the Advisory Board to the President’s Initiative on Race, which was formed to promote dialogue about the country’s race problems.

The panel, however, drew criticism. White supremacists protested at some of its forums, and at others American Indians and other minorities complained that they were being left out of the process. A group of conservative scholars repudiated the panel and formed their own.

And when Dr. Franklin’s group finally issued its report after 15 months, the document was criticized as, in one disillusioned scholar’s words, “a list of platitudes.”

The controversy did little to dim Dr. Franklin’s standing as a groundbreaking historian, however. He was the first African-American president of the American Historical Association; the first black department chairman at a predominantly white institution, Brooklyn College; the first black professor to hold an endowed chair at Duke; the first black chairman of the University of Chicago’s history department; and the first African-American to present a paper at the segregated Southern Historical Association, one of many groups that later elected him its president.

John Hope Franklin was born on Jan. 2, 1915, in Rentiesville, Okla., the son of Buck Colbert Franklin, a lawyer, and Molly Parker Franklin, an elementary school teacher. His parents had moved to Rentiesville, an all-black town, after his father was not allowed to practice law in
Louisiana.

In the 1920s, the family moved to Tulsa, and at age 11 he was taken to hear the great civil rights leader W. E. B. Du Bois, with whom Dr. Franklin later became friends.

His youth was marked by frequent brushes with racism. He was forced off an all-white train and made to sit in a segregated section of the Tulsa opera house. He watched black neighborhoods of Tulsa — including the one where his father had his office — being burned during the infamous 1921 race riot, and he was barred from admission to the University of Oklahoma.

Instead, Dr. Franklin attended historically black Fisk University in Nashville, receiving his B.A. in 1935. There he met Aurelia E. Whittington, who would become his wife, and sometime editor, of almost 60 years. They had one son, John Whittington Franklin, who survives him. Mrs. Franklin died in 1999.

In 1997, Dr. Franklin and his son edited an autobiography of his father, Buck Franklin. The book told the tale of free blacks in the Southwestern Indian territories in the late 1800s. Buck Franklin’s father, a former slave owned by Indians, became a cowboy and rancher, while Buck, who taught himself law by mail, was an advocate of black pride and nonviolence.

Before graduating from Fisk, Dr. Franklin considered following his father into law but was persuaded by a white professor, Ted Currier, to make history his field. Professor Currier was said to have borrowed $500 to help Dr. Franklin pursue graduate studies at Harvard. There, Dr. Franklin later recalled, he felt the isolation of being one of only a handful of blacks on campus. He received his master’s degree in 1936 and his Ph.D. in 1941.

Two years later he published his first book, “The Free Negro in North Carolina, 1790-1860,” which explored slaveholders’ hatred and fear of the quarter-million free blacks in the antebellum South. Almost 20 other books followed, either written or edited by Dr. Franklin.

In “The Militant South, 1800-1861” (1956), he described Southern whites’ “martial spirit” and “will to fight,” which he said gave the pre-Civil-War South its reputation for violence. He approvingly quoted Tocqueville’s observation that, because of slavery, “the citizen of the Southern states becomes a sort of domestic dictator from infancy.”

In “Reconstruction After the Civil War” (1961), he wrote that the end of Reconstruction reforms left “the South more than ever attached to the values and outlook that had shaped its history.” He lamented that “in the postwar years, the Union had not made the achievements of the war a foundation for the healthy advancement of the political, social and economic life” of the nation.

“The Emancipation Proclamation” (1963), written a century after the proclamation was issued, examined how it evolved in Lincoln’s mind and its impact on the Civil War and later generations. Dr. Franklin concluded hopefully, “Perhaps in its second century, it would give real meaning and purpose to the Declaration of Independence.”

And in “The Color Line: Legacy for the 21st Century” (1993) he argued that race would remain America’s great problem in the 21st century.

Despite his acute awareness of the South’s troubled racial history, Dr. Franklin was often angrier about Northern racism and frequently defended his adopted home state, North Carolina.

His major biographical project was a 1985 study of George Washington Williams, a self-educated black Civil War veteran and author of a 1,000-page 1882 history of blacks in America from 1619 to 1880. He said he spent nearly 40 years of intermittent research on the project, calling Williams “one of the small heroes of the world.”

Dr. Franklin’s first passion was teaching, and he continued to log classroom time despite his increasing prominence. His teaching career began at Fisk in 1936 and continued over the next 20 years at St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, N.C., North Carolina College in Durham and Howard University in Washington.

As his first books drew national notice, Dr. Franklin left the world of historically black colleges and went to Brooklyn College, where from 1956 to 1964 he served as chairman of what had been an all-white department.

“Having John Hope Franklin at Brooklyn College in the 1960’s was like having a real star in our midst,” said Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, who was a student of Dr. Franklin’s. “Students who were lucky enough to get into his class bragged about him from morning until night.”

Dr. Franklin later taught at the University of Chicago before returning to North Carolina in 1982 to teach at Duke and at the Duke Law School.

Dr. Franklin was also a Fulbright professor in Australia and had teaching stints in China and Zimbabwe. He taught at Cambridge University in England; Harvard; Cornell; the University of Wisconsin; the University of Hawaii; the University of California, Berkeley; and other institutions. Since 1992, he had been James B. Duke professor emeritus of history at Duke. A John Hope Franklin Research Center was established in his honor at Duke.

At his home in Durham, Dr. Franklin continued a lifelong hobby of cultivating hundreds of orchids; one species was named for him, the Phalaenopsis John Hope Franklin.

His honors, awards, and professional and civic affiliations were so numerous as to fill several single-spaced pages of a long curriculum vitae. He received more than 100 honorary degrees.

In 2006, he received the John W. Kluge Prize for the Study of Humanities in a ceremony at the Library of Congress. In his prepared remarks he said he had long struggled “to understand how it is that we could seek a land of freedom for the people of Europe and, at the very same time, establish a social and economic system that enslaved people who happen not to be from Europe.”

“I have struggled to understand,” he went on, “how it is that we could fight for independence and, at the very same time, use that newly won independence to enslave many who had joined in the fight for independence.

“As a student of history, I have attempted to explain it historically, but that explanation has not been all that satisfactory. That has left me no alternative but to use my knowledge of history, and whatever other knowledge and skills I have, to present the case for change in keeping with the
express purpose of attaining the promised goals of equality for all peoples.”

More on Love...

2009-02-15T12:32:00.000-08:00

This week I received Jonathan Baumbach's lastest novel YOU or The Invention of Memory (Akron, Ohio: Rager Media, 2007).

It was a free gift sent as part of The New You Project started by public relations innovator Lauren Cerand, which Cerand engineered to give the novel a second lease on life as its initial release turned out to be rather underwhelming, receiving very little press coverage. Apparently Baumbach is something of a writers' writer, with his "underappreciated" status confirmed by none less than the Gray Lady (The New York Times Book Review).

Cerand took on Baumbach's novel in defiance of the notion that after the initial release there's nothing that can be done on behalf of book that's fallen through the cracks. Instead Cerand created The New You Project which started with 200 books, and an offer to send one free of charge to anyone who requested one. You weren't assigned the onus of any specific action--you could read the book, sell it at your local used bookstore or on Amazon or Powells, or give it away to a friend. Cerand just felt the book was valuable and that it should be "out in the world," she details her ethos in the website's first post: "The Rules of the Game in Paris (and Publishing)." She started a regularly updated blog to document any interesting news associated with the book, new public readings for Baumbach, reviews, the furthest the book had yet traveled, etc. (Thanks to writer Tayari Jones for the heads up on this!)

The success of Cerand's efforts really shows what a difference love, for a book about love and its various complexities, and a willingness to think outside of the box can make. The free book giveaway ended at midnight on Valentine's Day. But the book is available in bookstores, and you can always lobby your public library to buy a copy.

Spread the love!

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-15T10:59:00.000-08:00

But seriously, my first love was a Pee Wee League football player. So it's true that I haven't forgotten him. Well, not completely; I still can't remember his name.

It may say something about my warped sense of humor that I deeply appreciate Al Green's tender and vulnerable songs about love (with all their tension and inner conflict jonesin'), as well as a thoughtful Quiet Storm mix, and the verité love shots of the president and first lady, and yet still find the below image rather hilarious (courtesy 33 Jones), and feel for Fresh at 33 Jones who penned the accompanying blog entry, "I Used to Love H.E.R." at Souled On - a contemporary music scholar's philosophical and audiophilic haven (above image thanks to Souled On).

That hip hop love can be a hot mess...

Coming up for air...

2009-02-11T20:44:00.000-08:00

...for a hot minute. I was fortunate to get one of the last 7 tickets to Obie-award winning Zimbabwean American actor/playwright Danai Gurira's Eclipsed, produced this February as part of the In-Festival 2009 at McCarter Theatre on Princeton University's campus. Some folks may be familiar with Gurira from Tom McCarthy's recent film, The Visitor (2007), where she plays Zainab, the Senegalese artist girlfriend of a Syrian musician (Haaz Sleiman) who is detained by immigration, both characters are in the US illegally. Zainab is an internal character as compared to her more outgoing boyfriend, still Gurira plays her in a way that shows her complexity--her guardedness, her intelligence, and wondrously her strength and then her sense of unmoored loss that surprises us because her hard-won guardedness seemed to ground the more spontaneous and life-embracing Tarek, but it becomes apparent that there's more balance in the relationship than was immediately obvious, Gurira communicates this in a scene not with Tarek, but in her first meeting with his mother (Hiam Abbass).

But I digress, Eclipsed knocked me out. The play focuses on the lives of five women during the last year of the Liberia's Second Civil War. The characters are based on multiple interviews Gurira conducted with Liberian women in 2007 while she was there on a TCG New Generations Grant in November of 2008. When she asked one interview subject "what she felt must be included in a story about Liberian women during this time. Without hesitation she said 'Rape'. That was the main thing. You were either fearful of that most of all or living in its devastating aftermath." Gurira directly references the vulnerability of having a vagina: "I remembered Wanda Sykes talking about how much better life would be for a woman if the vagina were detachable. If sometimes we could hide it or leave it at home." The play is about more than that violation, it centers on the resiliency of these women, facing impossible choices and how war effectively devastates those caught up in it physically, emotionally, economically, psychologically, and intellectually: women dealing with the aftermath of rape, of children barely out of "knee pants" and barrettes lost to forced military conscription, women who lost opportunity to attend school, and as a result are illiterate and have grave difficulty being economically self-sufficient. But I'm not really doing it justice. It's focus is on women, as Gurira is committed to telling the stories of African women. Still the story deals with our common humanity and how complex maintaining it in times of extreme struggle can be.

Update 2/12/09 : MacArthur Award winning playwright Lynn Nottage has just opened her play, Ruined, about women living during the current war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where similar to Liberia rape has become a tool of war. According to an NPR profile of the play Nottage and her director started work on this project several years ago and went to neighboring Uganda which shares a border with the Congo to interview women affected by the war, and again the key issue was rape and its aftermath both physical and emotional. You can hear/read the NPR story here. Ruined is playing off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club you can see scenes from the play and an interview with Lynn Nottage about writing the play here.

I just finished Kirsten Dinnall Hoyte's novel Black Marks (Akashic Books, 2006) which I believe I found indirectly through Reggie H.'s Noctuary. I just felt called to track down this book, so I did. Probably what got me was its focus on memory. The protagonist is Georgette, a young woman of Jamaican and African American descent who has lost her memory and is attempting to piece together her life from assorted artifacts. The novel moves around in time and voice. Georgette's voice and life come into greater and lesser focus depending on when in her history the narrative takes place and her corresponding psychological state. What I really appreciate is that Hoyte doesn't create any easy A + B = C equations when it comes to Georgette's troubled emotional terrain. There are gaps in her memory, but also gaps in her stability, plenty of instances of protective silences, passive aggressive destructive behavior, and a history (and histories) at odds with itself, the contradictions of human beings and within that powerful human aggregate, family, are all in effect here. All through one is aware of Hoyte's skill and intelligence as a writer. Nothing is simple in this novel, but that's never expressed in a belabored or self-conscious manner. I almost read this whole novel in one day, and yeah, I shoulda/coulda been doing a bunch of other work. But I couldn't put it down.

Endnotes:
In preparation for the play's run, the McCarter Theatre put a number of resources online for people to educate themselves about various subjects pertinent to the work: Liberian History, War and Sexual Violence, and the playwright Danai Gurira and her creative process.
• Danai Gurira, Liberian Journals Part I, Part II, Part III
• Essential Knowledge: Women, War and Sexual Violence in Liberia (and Other Conflict Zones) by Paula Alekson
• Contemporary Liberian History by Patrick McKelvey
• A collection of Articles About Liberia by Partick McKelvey
• Interview with Danai Gurira, by Carrie Hughes

What more can be said...?

2009-02-11T20:40:00.001-08:00

OK, a lot, but really isn't this picture worth a thousand words? The president and first lady on a freight elevator on their way to an inaugural ball, while the secret service agents attempt to fade into the background. Click on image for the large view.

Pictures of the Day: January 20, 2009

2009-01-21T18:18:00.000-08:00

Despite watching and talking about it, this unprecedented event still hasn't sunk in. So here are some of my favorite images thusfar, since I'm rather speechless on the subject.

Then President-Elect Obama approaching the podium (Damon Winters/New York Times)

The millions of attendees stretching a full 2 miles from the podium witness the swearing in. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Taking the Oath of the Office of the President of the United States of America (Damon Winters/The New York Times)

The younger of the First Daughters, Sasha Obama, giving her father, President Barack Hussein Obama, a thumbs up after his swearing in. First Lady Michelle Obama holding Abraham Lincoln's bible. Eldest First Daughter Malia Obama smiling and facing the podium crowd. (Susan Walsh/Associated Press)

Surviving Tuskegee Airmen bear witness to history. (Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times)

The Anniston Star, which proudly declares itself "A home-owned newspaper" on its masthead. Published in Anniston, Alabama. Click on the image to get the full effect, and read the eloquent text.

James Moody's "Moody's Mood for Love"

2009-01-16T15:46:00.000-08:00

A great video of saxophonist/flautist/composer/bandleader James Moody giving a playful and animated performance of his composition "Moody's Mood for Love" with Dizzy Gillespie and a rather sober United Nations Orchestra. I can only imagine that given the presence of Gillespie and Moody, the musicians were too terrified of messing up to even crack a smile during the song.

And from blackademics.org an instructive August 15, 2008 interview with then 82-year-old James Moody. (Sometimes you really need a musician to interview another musician, still the young interviewer admirably keeps recouping, staying open, and going forward with the interview). Informative and humbling. Note Moody's comments about why he doesn't like gospel:

Countdown... 3 Days...

2009-01-16T00:45:00.000-08:00

OK, clearly I'm being playfully reductive.

After all, the Bipartisan President may crank up the George Clinton after all the staff has gone home for the night, but it's not going to be a 24-7 "One Nation Under A Groove" kind of a party.

But let's hope there'll be at least a dose-a-day of "Free You Mind (And Your Ass Will Follow)" to keep the audacious hope and openness to innovative approaches flowing.

Secretary of the Arts: Ask Obama for What You Want

2009-01-15T22:33:00.000-08:00

Yes Viginia, folks still do listen to Public Radio, at least the programs that haven't yet been canceled. How do I know? Because Quincy Jones was interviewed on November 14, 2008 in conjunction with the publication of his new book, The Complete Quincy Jones: My Journey & Passions (Insight Editions, 2008) by John Schaefer on WNYC's Soundcheck. During the interview Jones apparently said, "...next conversation I have with President Obama is to beg for a Secretary of Arts."

Bassist Jaime Austria took Jones seriously and created a petition asking soon-to-be President Obama for just that. Austria plays bass with the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra and the New York City Opera, the latter which recently suffered through some major personnel changes and like other companies, great and small, is struggling with a sharply declining annual budget resulting from the current international economic crisis.

Austria's effort seems to have the blessing of Quincy Jones. Jones' homepage indicates as of January 15, 2008, the petition's signatures have surpassed the 100,000 mark, and gone global with coverage from Ireland and Norway.

To sign the petition, go here

Listen to the Jones interview here:

the local and the global...

2009-01-15T15:21:00.000-08:00

I was going to write that I don't usually write about politics, but that's not really true. I just think others do it better than I do. Often I prefer to read what they've written and learn something.

But this week I realized there were three issues that people had sent me info about, and I wanted to put them down here, so I can think about them. Or at least give them a moment of silence.

•••

• Proposition 8 Backlash in Northern California
Richmond, California: On December 13th of last year, a twenty-eight year-old Black lesbian was gang-rapped by four Black and Latino young males. She was originally sexually assaulted after getting out of her car. After someone was heard approaching, the 4 males forced the woman back into the car and drove her to a second location and continued to take turns raping her. Finally, they left her beaten, robbed, and naked outside an apartment building, and drove off in her car. The car was later recovered. The woman is an out lesbian and her license plate had a Rainbow Pride sticker.

This story has been circulating via email, online forums, blogs, websites such as GLAAD, and AfterEllen, as well as Facebook. The young males ages 31, 21, 16 and 15 have all been arrested by Richmond police. The 21-year old male, Josue Gonzalez, turned himself in to police after his mother "saw TV coverage of the police announcement, which included the arrests Wednesday of three other suspects in the case, and his family brought him to the police station." The police are considering this a hate crime as a result of the comments the males made during the assault.

This woman's identity is being protected for the time being. It seems that details she remembered from the assault, like the nicknames of the some of her assailants, their physical descriptions, and their use of negative comments about her sexual orientation aided in apprehension of the assailants. The Richmond Police Department's offer of a $10,000 reward for information leading to arrest, probably helped as well. On December 27, there was a candlelight vigil held in support of the woman near the scene of the crime. You can see video of the vigil here. Various sites (Queers United and notably public scholar Melissa Harris-Lacewell on The Kitchen Table) and a Facebook page have listed efforts organized to address the survivor's need for support, both of words and of funds:

The woman will need months to recover physically and years and years to recover psychologically. She needs our emotional and financial support.

If you would like to send a card, please mail it to:

Richmond Police Department
Attn: Sgt. Brian Dickerson
1701 Regatta Blvd.
Richmond, CA 94804

If you can send a financial contribution (even a few dollars) to help her pay her medical bills and other costs associated with her recovery, please mail a check payable to Community Violence Solutions to:

Community Violence Solutions
2101 Van Ness Ave.,
San Pablo, CA 94806
Attn: Mrs. Joanne Douglas

In the memo section of the check please write: Richmond Jane Doe.
For details and to show support join the Facebook group.

It has been argued that this is fallout from California's Proposition 8, which seems ironic since the measure seeking to "restrict the definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples" actually passed, rendering null the same-sex marriages that had previously taken place in the state. But perhaps just the fact that same-sex marriage has become a public question that isn't going away, was enough to discomfort these males. Is it the case that these boys and men were so insecure about their masculinity, and so out of touch with their own humanity that they felt this ritualized brutality would result in some affirmation of their manhood? Perhaps their motives will be revealed in court if their case goes to trial, or in their signed confessions if it doesn't.

I wish this were only the bad B-movie the title seems to suggest. Sadly there are children in economically depressed areas of south-east Nigeria who are being murdered and abused, because some Pentacostal Christian leaders are supporting belief in witchcraft, specifically the existence of "child witches". The resulting violence against randomly accused children, some only infants, and enacted during the course of "excorcisms" has left children mutilated, abandonned by their families, and in some cases dead. One man, Sunday Ulup-Aya , who has given himself the moniker of "Bishop" claimed to have killed 110 "child witches." He recanted after he was arrested, and "reportedly told the police he had only killed the 'witches' inside, not the children." The so-called "child witches" are deemed responsible for a range of hardships: e.g. unemployment, failed crops, etc. The government has taken legislative action, following the airing of a British documentary on Channel 4: Dispatches: Saving Africa's Witch Children. However, there seems to be little implementation of the measures meant to protect children at risk. The documentary indicates that the problem has also emerged in the UK Nigerian community, with 6o cases of child abuse related to witchcraft having been reported to Scotland Yard in the past two years.

In the midst of conflicting reports of this New Years Day tragedy in Oakland, California: 'the suspect was harassing passengers' 'the officer in question mistook his gun for his taser,' one thing does seem clear, the 22-year-old Black male suspect, Oscar Grant III, was "prone, unarmed, and detained" when the White police officer, Johannes Mehserle, discharged a fatal bullet into his body. J's Theater has written about it briefly and thoughtfully here, and supplied a link to what he calls "an engaging, aggregating post" by Tobin Harshaw in last Saturday's New York Times. J's Theater links to video of the murder, as does Harshaw, but please note that by watching it, you will be signing on to watch the extinguishing of the life of another human being--those images can't always just be blinked away.

Or at least they shouldn't be.

• Update January 16, 2009:

Color of Change.org is circulating an online petition demanding justice in this case. Oakland has a long history of police brutality and abuses against African American men, history that made it one of the places where the phrase "Driving While Black," or "DWB" for short, came into common usage to describe the police practice of pulling over drivers, particularly males, just for being African American.

On January 14, the initial pressure from local Oakland activists and community members, as well as the national outcry led to the District Attorney to arrest officer Mehserle and charge him with murder. Reportedly District Attorney Tom Orloff admitted that the external pressure led him to take these steps. Mehserle was off-duty at the time of the shooting, apparently, this is the first time in the DAs 14 year tenure that he's charged an off-duty officer in a shooting case.

Color of Change.org has gotten more than 20,ooo signatures and is asking that people continue to apply pressure to secure justice in this case. If you want to read and sign the petition go here.

Upcoming January: Live Music...JACKPOT!!

2009-01-04T17:39:00.000-08:00

Wow, OK, the New Year is bringing some promising musical tidings. Some of this is the result of the annual Association of Professional Arts Presenters (APAP) conference which results in a deluge of arts bookers from around the US, and sometimes other countries as well, descending on NYC to check out various musicians playing their hearts out (and butts off) in specially arranged showcases at various venues across the city. If between January 9-13, you notice your favorite hot spot having a greater number of different shows in an evening, then you know they're probably hosting a showcase. The show may be shorter, but it'll be one hot show as artists work to seduce audiences and bookers alike--hopefully securing a number of advance engagements and allowing for a less tenuous economic picture for the upcoming year.

So get out there and support artists you admire and love! Show that love to the bookers so those artists can keep working.

A few showcases of interest are happening the same night (JazzFest & Mondo Music Fest--what happened there??), but not everyone is playing at the same time:

• Friday, January 9, 2008 •
Export NOLA @ Sullivan Hall
8pm Paul Sanchez, John Boutte & Leroy Jones
9:20pm Jonathan Batiste Trio
10:40pm Christian Scott Quintet 11:40pm Big Sam's Funky Nation* (bandleader Big Sam Williams pictured right, courtesy Monstersandcritics.com)
Followed By A Late Night NOLA Jam!
Sullivan Hall
214 Sullivan Street (between Bleeker & W. 3rd St.)
Evening starts @ 8pm
Tix $18

*Noted music writer/musician Ned Sublette just gave BSFN's new release Peace, Love & Understanding a rave (but don't expect any Elvis Costello covers on the CD).

•••

• Saturday, January 10 •

• MONDO MUSIC FESTIVAL •
Melvin Gibbs' Elevated Entity (w/ John Medeski, Vernon Reid and Amayo of Antibalas)
The amazing bassist/composer Melvin Gibbs (Harriet Tubman, Rollins Band, Sonny Sharrock, etc.; pictured right playing with Cindy Blackman and Jean-Paul Bourelly ©Dargan Tasic) plays with his group as part of the Mondo/Mundo Music Festival presented by Highline Presents (a project of the Highline Ballroom) at the Hiro Ballroom. The festival line-up includes:

• Groupo Fantasma
• Melvin Gibbs' Elevated Entity
• Nation Beat
• SoCalled

Hiro Ballroom at the Maritime Hotel
371 W 16 St.
New York, NY 10011
A, C, E, and L lines
Doors open @ 7pm Bands go on @ 8pm, 9pm, 10pm, 11pm (order TBD)
Tix $17 in advance, $20 day of the show

• 2009 NYC WINTER JAZZ FEST •
For complete info go to the JazzFest site.
$25 Winter JazzFest pass
$45 THE WATTS PROJECT + Winter JazzFest pass (pictured right, Jeff "Tain" Watts, photo ©R.Cifarelli©phocus)

Here's the schedule in brief:

(Le) Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street (btwn Sullivan & Thompson)

6p: Claudia Acuña
7p: Gary Bartz-Ommas Keith Project (Jill Newman Productions)
8p: Jason Moran's Bandwagon
9p: Dafnis Prieto Sextet
10p: Don Byron Ivey-Divey Trio
12:00am The Watts Project feat. Jeff 'Tain' Watts, Terence
Blachard, Christian McBride, Prometheus Jenkins

Sullivan Hall, 214 Sullivan (between Bleecker & W. 3rd St.)
7:20pmTheo Bleckmann 'Berlin-Las Vegas'
w/ Todd Reynolds String Quartet
8:20pm Jonathan Batiste Trio
9:20pm Toshi Reagon & BIGLovely (pictured right)
10:20pm Marco Benevento Trio
11:20pm Will Calhoun Native Land ExperienceGroup
12:20am Robert Glasper Trio
1:20am Sarah Morrow 'Elektric Air'
2:00am Aaron Parks

Kenny's Castaways, 157 Bleecker Street (between Sullivan & Thompson): 6:30pm-3am
6:40pm Ayelet Rose Gottlieb
7:40pm By Any Means
8:40pm Sex Mob plays Sexotica
9:40pm Lafayette Gilchrist
10:40pm Tar Baby
11:40pm Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey
12:40pm Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber**
1:40am Taylor Ho Bynum Positive Catastrophe

**This should be a great show. The line-up includes: Jared Michael Nickerson: electric bass, Karma Mayet Johnson: vocals, Moist Paula Henderson: baritone sax, Will Martina: cello, Ben Tyree: guitar, Greg Tate: conduction, among a host of stellar performers. (pictured right, Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber)

•••

• Sunday, January 11th, 2009 •
Export NOLA @ Sullivan Hall
8pm Kirk Joseph's Backyard Groove feat. Big Chief Monk Boudreaux
9pm DJ Soul Sister
9:50pm Christian Scott Quintet
11pm Big Sam's Funky Nation @
Meet-And-Greet with New Orleans Treats
(Gumbo, Hubig's Pies, Pralines, and more!)
w/ DJ Soul Sister Spinning - 7pm

Sullivan Hall
214 Sullivan Street (between Bleeker & W. 3rd St.)
Evening starts @ 7pm
Tix $15

•••

• Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 •
Yes, INAUGURATION DAY, and for those not traveling to Washington, D.C. (Le) Poisson Rouge is hosting:
The Inauguration Concert featuring:
Apollo Heights
24-7 Spyz
HR (of Bad Brains)
(perhaps this booking is an acknowledgement of Rob Field's February 2007 assertion: "Barack Obama is Black Rock"?

(Le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker (btwn Sullivan & Thomson)
Doors open @ 7:30pm, show @ 8pm
Tix $15

•••

And if all that black rock retro-to-the-future nostalgia isn't enough for you, here's some more, also at (Le) Poisson Rouge:

• Saturday, January 24, 2009 •
ESG (aka "the legenday South Bronx Scroggin Sisters no wave, post-punk, hip-hop beat goldmine band" pictured right, photo courtesy Soul Jazz Records)
(Le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker (btwn Sullivan & Thomson)
Show @ 10pm
Tix $20

Audio Geek: Happy New Year + Herbie Hancock's Head Hunters

2009-01-03T10:43:00.000-08:00

¡Prospero Año Nuevo! Happy New Year!

With thanks to music writer/musician Ned Sublette, I got informed about the fact that Herbie Hancock's Headhunters (Columbia, 1973) was selected for the 2007 National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress. They select twenty-five recordings every year, and announced the 2007 selections in 14 May 2008. NPR has been doing a series on the 2007 selections; the final installment was about Headhunters. Although it's only a 7.5 minute segment, the information presented is truly fascinating touching on the innovative instrumentation, the engineering of the album, and Hancock's artistic influences in creating the album's sound with the participation of the musicians, the newly formed The Headhunters, particularly percussionist Bill Summers (check his recreation of the Ba-Benzélé (Central African Republic) ethnic group's Hindewhu flute sounds on the opening of "Watermelon Man"), and the legendary engineer David Rubinson, who all contribute to this profile. Check it out here.

Endnote:
Steven F. Pond, Head Hunters : the making of jazz’s first platinum album (Ann Arbor : The University of Michigan Press, 2005). Pond also contributes to the NPR profile.

Make the Healing Where You Are: Harriet Tubman @ Nublu

2008-12-29T07:42:00.000-08:00

My thoughts, which I'm a bit delayed in posting--blame it on ole man winter... (thanks to J for the nudge)

• • •

I should probably say this isn't a review. Truth be told what I write in this blog is never meant as a "review" per se. Arguably my best writing here is an attempt to recreate my wholistic (visceral/aural/visual/emotional/intellectual, etc) experience of being in a certain place at a certain time.

Maybe I'm thinking about my response to being at Nublu this weekend. The East Village spot was for me a disorienting intersection of the popular, the profane, the sacred, the jam band, and the NY downtown legendary, along with a record company: Nublu Records (located a few doors up from the club). For those not in the know it's a popular neighborhood spot, where you're as likely to find would-be young hipsters snogging on a couch behind reformulated beats that vinyl-heads will remember from their crate-digging or high school days (nod to Mr. G). Those old vinyl-heads will recognize the connection between Nublu and Wax Poetics, and the avant garde-minded among them the fact that multi-talented drummer Kenny Wollesen (Tom Waits, Fred Frith, etc.) often engages his more experimental side there, with Love Trio, and the composer/conduction pioneer Lawrence "Butch" Morris leads the Nublu Orchestra which also includes members of recent performance art/ "it" band phenoms The Brazilian Girls, members of which who are also fixtures at Nublu. Nublu is a big supporter of Brazilian music, international jazz, and DJ culture with both established folks and emerging spinners dropping whole sets and/or beats in between sets by other artists.

Basically, this means you've got serious music-heads, musicians, and artists, along with frat boys and sorority girls, and art school denizens all hanging out in the same room. It makes for an interesting inter-generational and cross-cultural mix of folks.

It took a while for things to get started, so Harriet Tubman (l-r above: Melvin Gibbs, bass; JT Lewis, drums; Brandon Ross, guitars, banjo, vocal) didn't go on until midnight. They set up in a performance space that faces and is located maybe two feet from the bar, doing a sound check simultaneous with the DJ doing his thing about two inches away from them. The musical pulse is at a constant at Nublu, and in between sets the DJ's mix is almost louder than your thoughts. That effectively keeps the energy at a certain plateau while people wait for the next act to come on, though it can complicate a set up and sound check.

HT began their set with one of their few cuts that feature vocals, "Can't Tarry," which is also on their MySpace page. The song specifically comes out of their field research into Mississippi Delta blues, and reads like a gospel blues, with guitarist Brandon Ross plaintively calling out, "Lord, can't tarry here no more." Trippy, I had been playing that song on my iPod earlier that day. For a while, and perhaps still, you could download the track from their MySpace page as long as you were a MySpace subscriber.

The rest of the set was transcendent for me, but that's my experience listening to Harriet Tubman play, particularly live. It's a bio-chemical spiritual reaction. I was mightily aware of this on the third cut when JT Lewis was carving out the beat in that awe-inspiring way he has. You can tell he can hear multiple meter options in what's going around him as well as various sequences of accents; he's a master grammarian on the drums. At some point he hears where he needs/wants to go and locks that meter and a sequence pattern in, and then after about 8-10 measures begins to switch it all up. Interestingly, I always found his choices ones my ear could fall right into it--but they were never obvious. Lewis' MySpace page prominently displays his credo: "RHYTHM IS LIFE!/TIME IS NOT MY ENEMY!" I've long been fascinated by this sentiment. I have no problem with the first part, but the second... While I don't think time is my enemy, I never feel like I have enough of it. I guess I think of it as that fascinating aunt or uncle whom you wish you could see more of, and never seems to stay long enough when they visit.

But during the third song in the first set Lewis stopped playing, and I realized that I was so bound up in the rhythm he was creating that I stopped too. Breathing that is, and I was seriously heels over tail, or however that saying goes when you're suddenly just hanging in space, nothing below and nothing beneath, until he brought the beat back in and I knew where to land. It reminded me of jumping off the high dive into a pool as a kid, or flipping off the uneven bars--those few seconds when it feels gravity has no power. It's just your consciousness and your body in space and time. In retrospect I wish I had asked Lewis about it after the set. But who knows if my experience would have resonated for him. Lewis was also more vocal this show, talking in between cuts, in one instance about artists and gentrification--a great riff on how artists see possibility where city power brokers see the castoffs or detritus of urban development, but that when artist organize and manifest that possibility then those other folks suddenly notice the value and want it back (I think acknowledging the displacement of Gibbs and several other artists from the 475 Kent warehouse-lofts in Brooklyn in January 2008), in another asserting the importance of what I'd like to think was constructive anger, and lastly the originating ethos of Harriet Tubman: healing (hence the title of this post) in this 10th anniversary year of their founding. (pictured right poster image for an April 2008 mixed media show by 475 Kent artists featuring performances by Melvin Gibbs, and other residents)

What I noticed this time hearing them was how much they listen to each other. This was probably a function of being quite closer than at their Joe's Pub gig last year, and my own intent listening. There were times when I was listening to Melvin Gibbs and hearing him create patterns and then switch up and change the accents, sometimes creating an accent through an absence of a note. It made me really want to hear him talk about rhythmic and harmonic counterpoint, and reminded me of an anecdote he told about guitarist Sonny Sharrock at his solo show in the Out on A Limb series at Rose Cafe last year in Brooklyn. Gibbs played with Sharrock for a number of years. He shared that over that time Sharrock only held one actual rehearsal--he preferred to teach Gibbs about playing through telling jokes, "because it was all about the timing." (this made me think about Sharrock's playing on his own composition "John's Children"--apparently inspired by John Coltrane--which I recently heard on saxophonist Byard Lancaster's album, It's Not Up To Us, with Sharrock on guitar, the connections keep going...) Other times when Brandon Ross would start layering a sound bed, Gibbs would create a layer and then Ross would put down another layer using loops and effects pedals, and as usual hitting those high sonics with a fleshy sensual feel rather than an effect that made you curse having forgotten your earplugs. Interestingly too, Ross laid back when Gibbs explored the high end which was kind of fascinating since I hadn't heard Gibbs go there so extensively previously. Ross was creating varied textures, some simultaneously full and porous, others high and keening, as well as series of cyclical voicings (this last aspect more apparent to me than when hearing them live previously) with those high keening tremelos abruptly falling as if to their knees (in prayer? in emotional rapture?) only to rise slowly, again ambulating into some other voice, some other layer.

Notably none of HT's members were calling out songs, one or two would start and then another would listen and decide when and how to come in. At a couple of points Lewis and then Ross specifically asked Gibbs to call out a piece, which he did by starting to play a series of rhythms and note motifs. This absence of the traditional "count off" resonated for me when I was watching a clip of jazz pianist/theorist/educator George Russell talking to Ornette Coleman, and the late music writer/musician Robert Palmer about that same absence with Coleman's musical ensemble with Don Cherry (trumpet), Ed Blackwell (drums) and Charlie Haden (bass)--Russell was asking the composer/musician how the players knew when to come in. Coleman's response, "...instictive insight." Following up on this Russell talks about the heart as the highest intellect, and how this view--which he suggests as predominant in "Third World" considerations, naming it as a "Third World technology"--is ignored in much of the West which primarily considers music as "entertainment" and has failed to understand this distinct technology (which can only be accessed by being engaged and accessed, i.e.: mindful practice-mindful practice-mindful practice...) instead reducing it to the stereotype of the naturally (read: racially) gifted but non-intellectual black musician. The clip ends with the detailing of an interesting exchange between Russell and renowned architect/visionary Buckminster Fuller (1895 -1983) (Coleman wrote a work for Fuller, Prime Time/Design Time (for Buckminster Fuller) (1984)). You can check out this conversation in Shirley Clarke's (woefully out-of-print) documentary Ornette: Made In America (1985). Unfortunately, the embedding option has been removed from the YouTube video clip, but you can go directly to the YouTube clip to check it out. But if you ever get a chance to see Clarke's documentary in its entirety, which sometimes plays film festivals or at art house revivals. Go.

The same goes for the increasingly rare Harriet Tubman stateside performances, for the entirety of 2008: 2 shows in NY. Hear about a show. Go.

Endnote:
• American Film Institute's (AFI) 2000 response to a query about commercial availability of Clarke's documentary.
• bio for filmmaker Shirley Clarke (1919 - 1997)

Eartha Kitt: R.I.P.

2008-12-28T08:35:00.000-08:00

I've long had a special place in my heart for Eartha Kitt (1927 - 2008). She was so undeniably a unique presence. Kitt mesmerized as Catwoman, on the 60s Batman TV show, and couldn't be contained by even by the multiple significations suggested in the kitsch of that show. The all-black cast version of Anna Lucasta (1959)with her in the title role, is one of the few times she got to show her complex range on screen (thank goodness, MGM finally decided to release it on DVD). She was outspoken and had her convictions, which led to her career being derailed after some frank and none too positive comments about the Vietnam war at a White House luncheon.

Whenever I think about Ms. Kitt, I'm reminded of a friend from high school who was a profoundly talented actor and writer. Few people knew what to do with her abilities either. She wasn't just outside the box, she exceeded the box's measurements and labels.

Basically, she was ahead of her time. Life isn't easy for those who are ahead of their time. After all, the US has barely caught up to Ms. Kitt.

Saw the above photo at Tayara Jones' blog, where she's listed a few colleagues' tributes to Ms. Kitt.

Endnote:
• Chicago Tribune notice: "Eartha Kitt: The patriot who was right all along."
• Telegraph UK: "Tributes paid to Eartha Kit"
• Michael Sleznak on EW.com talking about how unforgettable Kitt was "[i]n an era when manufactured 'celebrities' are as common as drab backyard sparrows."

Have A Merry Merry: Audio Geek in Space

2008-12-24T14:03:00.000-08:00

Via New Black Man and Professor Kim comes an interview with Professor Tricia Rose (African Studies, Brown University, pictured right, photo © Frank Stewart) on Sun Ra (pictured below, courtesy Perfect Sound Forever), hip hop and Afrofuturism.

Plus, there's a 1927 song "The White Flyer to Heaven" which Studio 360 lists as "featuring Reverend A.W. Nix, a black preacher. Some consider this the earliest example of Afro-futurism. (Courtesy of Kevin Nutt.)"

Black Rock - Urban/Alternative Grammy?

2008-12-11T20:00:00.000-08:00

OK, I'm so deep in some other alternative space I didn't even know there WAS a category called Urban/Alternative. But then again I stopped watching the Grammys moons ago, and have been mostly listening to out-of-print Latin, Funk, and some Hip Hop vinyl for the past few weeks.

Thankfully Mr. Fields over at Bold As Love has my back, and yours too if you want to see/hear offerings from the nominees in this category, who are listed at left. I guess this means Kenna has accomplished his goal of making himself more memorable in the public's imagination (hence the Make Sure They See My Face, album title).

I have to agree with Bold As Love on this one. Janelle Monae owns this category, and should take home the statue since there's no real competition aside from Kenna. Michele and Wayna have great voices, but the arrangement on Chrisette Michele's cut isn't particularly alternative--and the subject matter: been done, to death. I found a version of Wayna performing Minnie Riperton's "Loving You" live, with hip hop breaks and polyrhythms, as well as some new lyrics, but not the one featuring Kokayi (and yes, Ethiopian vocalist Wayna can hit the all the high notes). It basically feels like the Grammy's and music industry are just catching up with actual music-heads, but years late. I mean if Georgia Anne Muldrew were nominated, that'd be some serious competition. But this Kenna cut just can't compare to what Monae is reaching for: something simultaneously retro and futuristic in a way that isn't wholly easily categorizable as either.

Check out Bold As Love for the rest of the nominee's clips as well as the traditional holiday season Gap ads, this year featuring: Janelle Monae (prominently), The Dixie Chicks, Trey Songz, Flo Rida, Jon Heder, Sandra Bernhard, Weed's Romany Malco, Freddie Rodriguez (Nothing Like the Holidays, "Ugly Betty," "Six Feet Under") Selma Blair, and that guy from "The Office" whose name I forget.

Wayna singing Minnie Riperton's "Lovin You" live at the Cadavez in Washington, D.C.

Upcoming: For Living Lovers and Harriet Tubman

2008-12-07T10:51:00.000-08:00

I've been neglecting the posting of upcoming shows, but still going to them. Like Taylor Ho Bynum and SpiderMonkey Strings last month at the Jazz Gallery--which was intriguing, and at points amazing--but unfortunately missing Henry Threadgill's ZOOID (argh!).

This I just found when I was looking up BAM's offerings, an increasingly rare US appearance by Brandon Ross (right) and Stomu Takeishi. Ross' ensemble/experiment For Living Lovers (think on the name for a while, not just the literal implications) features Ross on guitar/banjo/vocal, Takeishi on acoustic bass guitar, and Tyshawn Sorey on drums. Ross is known for his work with Henry Threadgill, Leroy Jenkins, Lawrence "Butch" Morris, as well as being musical director for Cassandra Wilson, and his co-leadership of the power trio Harriet Tubman (with Melvin Gibbs, bass; and JT Lewis, drums). Takeishi has also played with Morris and Threadgill; Sorey has led his own groups and recently released an album with the trio Fieldwork: Vijay Iyer, piano; Steve Lehman, saxophone, and Sorey on drums. You can read my thoughts on one of Ross' other projects, Theorema, here, also featuring Takeishi on acoustic bass guitar, and Gerald Cleaver on drums.

For Living Lovers is appearing next week at BAMCaféLive's BAM Jam series, which I understand as an improvised music performance series (I guess "BAM Jam" is a more marketing friendly term--or younger demographic inviting? Hmm, well could be...).

Details:

For Living Lovers - Brandon Ross, Stomu Takeishi, Tyshawn Sorey
BAMCaféLive
30 Lafayette Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Friday, December 12, 10pm
FREE
more info

For those who have been missing the Harriet Tubman sound while its members were playing various gigs as a trio, or as sidemen, in Europe, they're back playing a wintertime gig at Nublu.

Harriet Tubman - Brandon Ross, Melvin Gibbs, JT Lewis
Nublu
62 Ave C, between E.4 & E.5th St
East Village, Manhattan
~~Friday, December 12, 11:45pm~~
!!CORRECTION!!
Friday, December 19, 11:45pm
$10

Video excerpt of Harriet Tubman performance in the Netherlands, November 24, 2008 at Cafe Wilhelmina. The clip starts with what sounds like the beginning of "Of Passage" (from Prototype, (Avant Japan, 2000)--now a collector's item) and then there's a cross-fade edit into the first part of the recent work, "I'll Overcome Someday" which begins with a spoken invocation by Brandon Ross.

R.I.P. Odetta

2008-12-02T21:56:00.000-08:00

Really, I have tears in my eyes.

Odetta (Odetta Holmes) December 31, 1930 - December 2, 2008

from the New York Times:
"Odetta, Voice of Civil Rights Movement, Dies at 77" by Tim Weiner

Odetta, the singer whose deep voice wove together the strongest songs of American folk music and the civil rights movement, died Tuesday. She was 77.

The cause was heart disease, said her manager, Doug Yeager.

He added that she had been hoping to sing at Barack Obama’s inauguration.

Odetta — she was born Odetta Holmes — sang at coffeehouses and Carnegie Hall and released several albums, becoming one of the most widely known and influential folk-music artists of the 1950s and 60s.

Her voice was an accompaniment to the black-and-white images of the freedom marchers who walked the roads of Alabama and Mississippi and the boulevards of Washington in quest of an end to racial discrimination.

Rosa Parks, the woman who started the boycott of segregated buses in Montgomery, Ala., was once asked which songs meant the most to her. She replied, “All of the songs Odetta sings.”

Odetta sang at the August 1963 march on Washington, a pivotal event in the civil rights movement. Her song that day was “O Freedom,” dating back to slavery days.

Born in Birmingham on Dec. 31, 1930, Odetta Holmes spent her first six years in the depths of the Depression. The music of that time and place — in particular prison song and work songs recorded in the fields of the deep South — shaped her life.

“They were liberation songs,” she said in a videotaped interview with The New York Times in 2007, for its online feature “The Last Word.” “You’re walking down life’s road, society’s foot is on your throat, every which way you turn you can’t get from under that foot. And you reach a fork in the road and you can either lie down and die, or insist upon your life.”

Her father, Reuben Holmes, died when she was young; she and her mother, Flora Sanders, who later remarried, moved to Los Angeles in 1937. Three years later, Odetta discovered she could sing.

“A teacher told my mother that I had a voice, that maybe I should study,” she recalled. “But I myself didn’t have anything to measure it by.”

She found her own voice by listening to blues, jazz and folk music from the African-American and Anglo-American traditions. She earned a music degree from Los Angeles City College. Her training in classical music and musical theater was “a nice exercise, but it had nothing to do with my life,” she said.

“The folk songs were — the anger,” she emphasized.

In a 2005 National Public Radio interview, she said: “School taught me how to count and taught me how to put a sentence together. But as far as the human spirit goes, I learned through folk music.”

In 1950, Odetta began singing professionally in a West Coast production of the musical “Finian’s Rainbow,” but she found a stronger calling in the bohemian coffeehouses of San Francisco. “We would finish our play, we’d go to the joint, and people would sit around playing guitars and singing songs and it felt like home,” she said in the 2007 interview with The Times.

She began singing in nightclubs, cutting a striking figure with her guitar and her close-cropped hair. (She noted late in life that she was one of the first black performers in the United States to wear an “Afro” hairstyle — “they used to call it ‘the Odetta,’ ” she said.)

Her voice plunged deep and soared high, and her songs blended the personal and the political, the theatrical and the spiritual. Her first solo album, “Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues,” resonated with an audience hearing old songs made new.

“The first thing that turned me on to folk singing was Odetta,” Bob Dylan said, referring to that record, in a 1978 interview with Playboy . He said he heard “something vital and personal. I learned all the songs on that record.” It was her first, and the songs were “Mule Skinner,” “Jack of Diamonds,” “Water Boy,” “ ‘Buked and Scorned.”

Her blues and spirituals led directly to her work for the civil-rights movement. They were two rivers running together, she said in her interview with The Times. The words and music captured “the fury and frustration that I had growing up.” They were heard by the people who were present at the creation of the civil rights movement, people who “heard on the grapevine about this lady who was singing these songs.” She played countless benefits; the money she raised underwrote the work of keeping the movement alive.

Her fame hit a peak in 1963, when she marched with Martin Luther King in Selma and performed for President John F. Kennedy. But after King was assassinated in 1968, the wind went out of the sails of the civil-rights movement and the songs of protest and resistance that had been the movement’s soundtrack. Odetta’s fame flagged for years thereafter. She recorded fewer records, although she performed on stage as a singer and an actor, during the 1970s and 1980s. She revived her career in the 1990s, and thereafter appeared regularly on “A Prairie Home Companion,” the popular public-radio show. In 1999 she recorded her first album in 14 years, and that year President Bill Clinton awarded her the National Endowment for the Arts Medal of the Arts and Humanities from. In 2003 she received a “Living Legend” tribute from the Library of Congress and the Kennedy Center Visionary Award.

Odetta was married three times: to Don Gordon, to Gary Shead, and, in 1977, to the blues musician Iverson Minter, known professionally as Louisiana Red. The first marriages ended in divorce; Mr. Minter moved to Germany in 1983 to pursue his performing career.

She was singing and performing well into the 21st century, and her influence stayed strong through the decades.

In April 2007, half a century after Mr. Dylan heard her, she was onstage at a Carnegie Hall tribute to Bruce Springsteen. She turned one of his songs, “57 Channels,” into a chanted poem, and Mr. Springsteen came out from the wings to call it “the greatest version” of the song he had ever heard.

Reviewing a December 2006 performance, James Reed of the Boston Globe wrote: “Odetta’s voice is still a force of nature — something commented upon endlessly as folks exited the auditorium — and her phrasing and sensibility for a song have grown more complex and shaded.”

The critic called her “a majestic figure in American music, a direct gateway to bygone generations that feel so foreign today.”

Musician/writer Ned Sublette suggests listening to this Odetta performance of "House of the Rising Sun" from 2005, and keep listening past the 1:53 mark when the piano accompaniment temporarily ends.

World AIDS Day 2008

2008-12-01T21:49:00.000-08:00

J's Theater has a number of great links to people thinking, writing, postulating about the history of the AIDS epidemic and where we are now.

The theme for World AIDS Day 2007 and 2008 is "Leadership" which is being forwarded by continuing the call to "Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise."

Also, NPR has featured a number of stories on the subject:

• AIDS Epidemic Grows Among Children
• Battling Pediatric AIDS, Saving Lives in Africa

• Many Americans With HIV Don't Know They Have It

There was also an interesting series of stories about the complexities of setting up a sustainable infrastructure for the delivery of Anti-RetroViral medications to patients on the African continent.

Update : December 2, 2008

Today I was checking out one of my fav bloggers Tayari Jones site. Recent United States Artist Foundation Awardee (Congratulations Ms. Jones!), and birthday celebrant (again: Congratulations, 38 is looking good on you!) posted about World AIDS Day and linked to some good stuff, including a post from one of my other fav bloggers, Reggie H. But most important was the title of the post: "World AIDS Day. Get Tested. I Did."

I sometimes forget how important it is to say this. Not the "get tested" part, but the "I did."

So let me add my voice to the chorus of folks of African descent encouraging others to take care of their health: Get Tested. I Did.

In response to the question Jones herself poses on her site, why did I get I get tested, I can second Ms. Jones' response: "Why? Because I needed to know, just like you need to know." That's the truth folks. Most African Americans get diagnosed with full-blown AIDS, not HIV which means they get often get diagnosed after they're already an an acute stage of illness. Full-blown AIDS has fewer treatment options, can necessitate more extreme intervention, and has a shorter life-expectancy than HIV. Also with diagnosis and effective treatment at the HIV stage, the advancement to AIDS and serious opportunistic infections and illness can be delayed considerably. So at the risk of sounding like a parrot on Ms. Jones shoulder, "find a testing site near you" and get tested. This is not a situation where no news is good news, folks. Along with getting tested find out about how best to protect yourself from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

• Scarleteen: sex education for teenagers, young adults, parents and their allies; now celebrating their 10th Anniversary providing "Sex Education for the Real World."
• San Francisco Sex Information (SFSI): providing "free, confidential, accurate, non-judgemental information about sex" since 1972. Accessible via phone or email.
• American Social Health Association (ASHA): "The American Social Health Association is a trusted, non-profit organization that has advocated on behalf of patients to help improve public health outcomes since 1914. We are America's authority for sexually transmitted disease information."
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National STD-AIDS Hotline
Hours: 24 hours
(800) 342-2437 (English & Spanish)

Some additional thoughts....
• From Susan Campbell's brief commentary in the Hartford Connecticut Courant:

"Today, on World AIDS Day, remember the 33 million people living with HIV worldwide. Remember also that in this country, AIDS is the number one killer of African American women between the ages of 25 and 34.

"And remember the HIV rate in our nation's capital rivals that of sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in 20.

"More here."

• The "here" referenced by Campbell is an August 2008 report from the Black AIDS Institute a national non-profit policy center located in Los Angeles, California. Some excerpts from the report:

"The number of people living with HIV in Black America exceeds the HIV populations in seven of the 15 focus countries of the U.S. government’s PEPFAR [The United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief] initiative. Many of the factors that make HIV so challenging in other countries are the same ones that drive the epidemic in Black America."(p.5)

"If Black America was a country, its AIDS epidemic would be nearly the size of the AIDS
epidemic in Côte d’Ivoire."(p.6)

"If Black America was a country, its economy would be almost as large as that of South Africa."(p.9)

"If Black America were a country, it would have about the same population as New York, Massachuetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont and
Maine combined."(p.18)

"Representing about one in eight Americans, Blacks account for one in every two people living with HIV in the U.S., and notwithstanding extraordinary improvements in HIV treatment, AIDS remains the leading cause of death among Black women between 25-34 years of age and the second leading cause of death in Black men between 35-44 years of age." (p.11)

"Global AIDS leaders should break the silence on AIDS in Black America. Although the U.S. government should be lauded for its landmark PEPFAR initiative, it should also be held accountable for its failure to address the epidemic within its borders. The fact that the U.S. is one of about 40 countries that failed to submit national AIDS progress reports to UNAIDS in 2008 is telling."(13)

You'll note AIDS/HIV is still an issue in Latina/o communities and white/European American communities as well. Here's a chart from the CDC for 2006 numbers (the available rates as of June 10, 2008). The CDC Fact sheet for "HIV/AIDS Among African Americans" was revised August, 2008. See Endnote for rates among other ethnic groups.

One of the concluding messages of the report is a call to action, see below:

Endnote:
• AFP coverage: "South African observes silence for World AIDS Day"
• MSNBC story "New hope on AIDS in Africa" includes profile of Cape Town Fertility Clinic, and "Access to Life a multimedia project funded by The Global Fund to document efforts to fight HIV/AIDS in nine nations."
• CDC Factsheets revised August 2008: HIV/AIDS among Asians and Pacific Islanders ,
• National HIV/AIDS Hispanic/Latino Response: Presentation from the 2008 HIV Prevention Leadership Summit, includes CDC statistics.
• Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) HIV/AIDS webpage

Audio Geek & Turkey...

2008-11-29T00:32:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. Like a lot of folks, I have my ambivalence about this holiday. It's a time for people to come together, sometimes family, sometimes chosen family, other times new friends who find themselves far from home. There's an opportunity for genuine thankfulness and gratitude in these gatherings and sharing of food, stories, laughter, etc. At the same time the popular story of the holiday that most of us get taught in school is problematic to say the least. The arguable victor gets to write the history, and that history has its definite omissions concerning indigenous people on the American continent. So in the spirit of engaging history, and moving towards a more inclusive historical portrait (small pox blankets, genocide, and all), I've included some links in the Endnote section. I'm sure there are others of which I'm unaware; if there are other better sites it would be great to learn about them.

The Third Coast International Audio Festival takes place each Fall in Chicago, Illinois. Even if you can't get to middle of the USA, the hosts, Chicago Public Radio, post audio and video from a number of the events on the festival website. Also, during the Thanksgiving weekend various NPR stations broadcast the winners of the eighth annual TCF / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition "represent radio at its finest: moving, insightful, surprising and sometimes even life changing." If you find yourself hooked, no worries. Chicago Public Radio hosts, Re: sound, a weekly program of radio stories "culled from around the world ranging from personal narratives to investigative documentaries, experimental sound art to humorous essays" and is hosted by "independent producer and essayist" Gwen Macsai (yea! women in radio/audio! The TCIAP festival staff is comprised of four women, with Macsai among their number). (above a shot of the vintage Studer A807 Professional reel to reel tape recorder - simply gorgeous!)

Endnote:
Re-examining the popular Thanksgiving Story: the "theme" of Thanksgiving versus the mythologizing of questionable history.
• "National Day of Morning" from the Pilgrim Hall Museum in Massachusetts (hotbed of Pilgrim pride)
• "Mistakes, Lies & Misconceptions: The Thanksgiving Myth" by John Two-Hawks from Native Circle.com
• "Thanksgiving Information" a highly informative and thoughtful collection of information directed towards educators. From the Fourth World Documentation Project , later re-organized as Fourth World Docu-Program a searchable research database and archive of documents related to indigenous peoples worldwide, and a publications division, Fourth World Papers Program, both coordinated by The Center For World Indigenous Studies (CWIS).

Audio Geek: Get on the Love Train...

2008-11-27T00:40:00.000-08:00

Two of my favorite composer/producers, crafters of the Philly sound (The O'Jays, Billy Paul, Patti Labelle, Phyllis Hyman, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Teddy Pendergrass, The Three Degrees, T.S.O.P., Soul Survivors, The Trammps, Stylistics, etc.) creators of the classic "Soul Train" theme, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff are true originals. They couldn't be contained by Barry Gordy's Motown (though they politely demur on the question of that short-lived association), and founded their own label, Philadelphia International Records, to allow the development of their more expansive sound. The name says it all, produce the music locally, disseminate the love globally.

As Gamble says, "Philadelphia International was about spreading love." Gamble and Huff have a new box set coming out called Love Train: The Sound of Philadelphia which includes work from both before and during the Philadelphia International era.

Check out the November 26, 2008 NPR interview of Gamble and Huff with Fresh Air's Terri Gross. (above the contemporary Gamble and Huff, below, the "legendary duo" back in the day)

Endnote:
• "The Sound of Philadelphia: Heard Around the World" CNN profile from November 20, 2008
• Gamble and Huff, 2008 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees profile.
• Profile of Gamble and Huff from ThatPhillySound.com
• BrotherMen, a "performance-based documentary" featuring "five African American men who through their art transmit the historic, political and cultural realities of the African American experience." Includes profiles of Gamble & Huff, documentary photographer Chester Higgins, Jr, musician/songwriter Pops Staples (The Staple Singers), and choreographer/performer David Roussève.

Change...

2008-11-24T22:32:00.000-08:00

In honor of the mood this month, on axes that speak to me individually and from the global framework--all the Clinton era appointments notwithstanding. Obama clearly knows his weaknesses, and is aware of the successes of the Clinton team, it would be foolhardy not to

Afro-German soul vocalist Joy Denalane with a little help from Lupe Fiasco singing about "Change."

I realize that youtubers are linking Seal's rendition of "A Change Gonna Come" with the Obama presidential election, but from that first line "I was born by the river," you have to commit to the song not just as a conceptual performance for a soul album collection as Seal's new release is being touted. The other rendition that speaks to me is Aretha Franklin's rendition which was more tribute to her lost friend, Sam Cooke, than cover recording and the piano and organ work is heartbreaking, as is Franklin's vocal. Of course Otis Redding can't be ignored, the way he lands on a note hard and wrenches everything out of it in just a quarter note in a common time meter--and melisma wouldn't be so painful to hear all the time if some people had the skill to give it texture the way Redding did. Tina Turner's live performance from the late 80s (from the Break Every Rule video, initially backed up by a synth sample choir of "ah's" until someone realized continuing that throughout the song would sound rather soulless, though it unfortunately returns after the break) is worth a listen as well. Though there's something almost incongruent in the performance. She seems so much the Tina Turner of the Ike & Tina Turner review, or Annie Mae Bullock/Nutbush City Limits in the performance, while most of her musicians (except for the young Robert Cray-look-alike, or wait, that's actually Robert Cray: Turner says, "Take it Robert" at the start of the break, and I recognize his gestures, plus she shouts him out at the end) are doing back up for the re-designed, and re-branded Tina Turner (enough with the sax already!). I felt like I was watching two different, yet simultaneous performances. I have to give it up for Leela James' version which opts for understated, restrained delivery with her cracked honey tones that remind me of Toni Childs, but with more flexibility and range in the vocal instrument.

Ultimately, this one I have to give to the original songwriter and interpreter, Mr. Sam Cooke.

This is another one of my favorite renditions, by the Neville Brothers off their Yellow Moon album (another fav).

Miriam Makeba: RIP

2008-11-10T19:19:00.000-08:00

Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 - 10 November 2008)

I am really without words. I still remember wearing out the grove on my mother's Pata Pata album. It was an album Makeba did circa 1967, which included some live cuts, and one of my favorite albums to play. I would jam out to the title cut, and look at the image of the beautiful Makeba whose spirit always seemed victorious no matter what. With her voice she made you know joy, wonder, sorrow, grief, hope, and faith. I always remember her singing "Ring, Bell" with its refrain of "all is well." Every time I heard that song, I was uplifted. Makeba was and is a wonder. She will be greatly missed.

Makeba collapsed while performing at a benefit in support of Italian writer, Roberto Saviano, who is facing death threats from the mafia. Thanks writer/musician Ned Sublette for explaining that in the below report the Sicilian organized crime syndicate Cosa Nostra or Mafia, is spelled with an upper case "M," while the lower case "mafia" refers to the Camorra, which is Neopolitan, but apparently no less dangerous.

Here are two reports one from AfricaAsia.com's Rome coverage, and the other from Johannesburg AFP.

AFP: "South Africa mourns Makeba, musical 'mother' of the nation"

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — Miriam Makeba, the musical symbol of black South Africans' struggle against apartheid, has died at the age of 76 after collapsing at a concert in Italy.

Nelson Mandela led tributes Monday to the singer who had international hits with songs such as "Pata Pata" and "The Click Song" while she was banned from entering her homeland.

"She was South Africa's first lady of song and so richly deserved the title of 'Mama Africa' . She was a mother to our struggle and to the young nation of ours," Mandela said.

Ever the activist, Makeba collapsed after singing in support of an Italian author facing Mafia death threats. She was treated while the audience shouted for an encore but died in hospital from a heart attack, officials said.

Makeba "died performing what she did best -- an ability to communicate a positive message through the art of singing," said South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.

He called her "one of the greatest songstresses of our time."

Born in Johannesburg on March 4, 1932, Makeba became one of Africa's best known singers and while Mandela was in prison took up the battle against apartheid through her music.

South Africa revoked her citizenship in 1960 and refused to let her return for her mother's funeral. Makeba spent more than three decades in exile, living in the United States, Guinea and Europe.

Her music was outlawed in her homeland after she appeared in an anti-apartheid film. But she was an international success, winning a Grammy award for Best Folk Recording with US singer Harry Belafonte in 1965 for the album "An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba".

"I kept my culture. I kept the music of my roots," she said in her biography. "Through my music I became this voice and image of Africa, and the people, without even realising."

But she also met controversy abroad. The third of her five marriages -- to civil rights activist and Black Panthers leader Stokely Carmichael in 1968 -- provoked anger in the United States and some of her concerts and contracts were cancelled.

She was also briefly married to trumpeter Hugh Masekela, another famous South African artist who spent long years in exile under apartheid.

Makeba was the daughter of a Swazi mother and Xhosa father.

She started singing professionally in the early 1950s with a group called The Manhattan Brothers, with whom she toured the United States in 1959.

Her career at home took off in the same year when she appeared in a musical version of the film "King Kong". She also made a brief appearance in an early anti-apartheid film "Come Back, Africa" which earned an invitation to pick up an award at the Venice film festival.

Once there however, it became clear that her life would be in danger if she went home, where harsh apartheid laws had been enacted in 1958. South African authorities revoked her citizenship.

Makeba had her biggest hit in 1967 with "Pata Pata" -- Xhosa for "Touch Touch", describing a township dance -- but unwittingly had signed away all royalties on the song.

She was often short of money and could not afford to buy a coffin when her only daughter, Bondi, died aged 36 in 1985. She buried her alone, barring a handful of journalists from covering the funeral.

According to her biography, she also battled cervical cancer and a string of unhappy relationships. She denied rumours of alcoholism.

While she was still in enforced exile, she performed with Paul Simon in the US singer's 1987 "Graceland" concert in Zimbabwe, neighbouring South Africa.

She finally returned to her homeland in the 1990s after Mandela was released from prison and the apartheid system began to collapse. It took six years to find someone in South Africa to produce a record with her. She entitled it "Homeland".

Sunday's benefit concert was at Castel Volturno, near southern Naples, to support Roberto Saviano, author of the best-selling mafia expose "Gomorrah."

Makeba was the last on stage, performing for the 1,000 crowd for half an hour before collapsing, according to Carlo Hermann, an AFP photographer at the concert in the town which is considered a stronghold of the Camorra mafia.

"There were calls for an encore and at that moment someone asked if there was a doctor in the house. Miriam Makeba had fainted and was lying on the floor."

ICPublications/AfricaAsiaNews: "In last act, Makeba leant voice to anti-mafia struggle"

Ever the activist, South African legend Miriam Makeba, the musical symbol of the struggle against apartheid, died after singing in support of an Italian author facing death threats from the mafia.

The benefit concert in Castel Volturno, near southern Naples, on Sunday was staged to show solidarity for Roberto Saviano, author of the best-selling mafia expose "Gomorrah."

Underscoring the uphill struggle against the Camorra, the workers who set up the stage for the concert were forced to pay extortion money, said Castel Volturno mayor Francesco Nuzzo.

"The concert organisers are going to lodge a complaint in the coming days," Nuzzo told AFP.

About 1,000 people attended the concert in Castel Volturno, a stronghold of the Camorra mafia that was denounced in Saviano's "Gomorrah," whose film version won second prize at the 2008 Cannes film festival and is now in the running for an Oscar.

Castel Volturno was the scene of the shooting deaths in September of six African immigrants by a suspected Camorra commando unit in circumstances that remain unclear. An Italian businessman was also killed in a separate attack the same day.

The town plans a memorial service for Makeba in the coming days, the mayor said.

The 76-year-old Makeba died of a heart attack after collapsing onstage while fans were shouting for encores.

Makeba had been the last to go onstage, performing for half an hour before collapsing, according to Carlo Hermann, an AFP photographer who covered the concert and witnessed fellow singers rush to her aid.

Last month, six Nobel prizewinners including Makeba's compatriot Desmond Tutu launched an appeal to urge the Italian government to assume its "responsibility" to protect Saviano, 28.

Altogether some 100,000 people have joined the petition, prompted by Saviano's announcement that he would flee Italy after learning that the Camorra want him dead by Christmas.

Signatories also include Nobel peace laureate Mikhail Gorbachev and literature prizewinners Orhan Pamuk of Turkey, German author Guenter Grass and Italian playwright Dario Fo.

If Saviano leaves Italy, he would become the first writer to do so because of mafia death threats.

Endnotes:
• NPR coverage and past interviews and profiles
• Guardian UK notice.
• TimesOnline UK notice, "Mandela leads tributes to 'Mama Africa', songstress Miriam Makeba." (this links to article in which Makeba's former husband, famed trumpter Hugh Masekela, asserts that the South African government is fearful of the power of music as a catalyst for social change)
• In the New York Times Fashion and Style blog Alexandra Marshall remembers "The Style of Miriam Makeba." I take offense at her characterization of "Pata Pata" as "more of a rump-shaker than an overt indictment of the sicko regime ruling her country at the time." Say What??! (OK, somebody send this Ms. Marshall some of the writing of Emma Goldman, and Thomas DeFrantz, please!) Wisely Marshall resists editorializing any further, writing, "[w]e’ll let others do the heavy lifting on singing Makeba’s full praises, and simply take a moment here to bask in the joy of her style." (phew)Thank you!
• The New York Times coverage proper, which indicates the cause of Makeba's death as cardiac arrest.

Below check Miriam Makeba performing "Pata Pata" on Brasilian television in the mid-60s. The guitarist is the great Brasilian musician Sivuca (1930 - 2006) who was better known for playing the accordion, and perhaps in this country for his work with Makeba, Harry Belafonte, and Oscar Brown, Jr. (1926 - 2005). According to one biography, Sivuca arranged "Pata Pata" for Makeba. In Makeba's narration of "Pata Pata" I saw the revolutionary power of music and dance, and the strength of a community renewing its bonds with a weekly communal gathering, and yes the power of the sensual to reconnect each of us with our own and other's humanity in the face of devastating oppression. That's how I account for the luminous spirit radiating from Makeba in this performance.

"Khawuleza" (1966) recorded in Stockholm, Sweden with Sivuca on guitar.

"Mayibaye," again in Switzerland circa, 1966. Sivuca, guitar and accordion; William Slater, bass; Leopoldo Fleming, Jr., percussion. From the DVD, Miriam Makeba - Live At Berns Salonger, Stockholm, Switzerland, 1966. Available at Tower Video.

More Election 2008 Cover pages

2008-11-09T05:32:00.000-08:00

More 5 November 2008 newspaper covers from around the globe...

Another one of my favorites from The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana. You have to click on the image to get the full effect of the thumbnail portraits of the previous 43 presidents of this here "perfect union" states, with a pointed RGB choice for the 44th thumbnail.

From a "too-close-to-call" state, The Fayetteville Observer, Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Diario de Pernambuco, Pernambuco, Brasíl. One of the many covers from Brasíl acknowledging the historic precedent in relation to the racial history of the United States.

From La Tribune, Paris, France. A headline in English.

A couple of odd-seeming images from Austrian newspapers. On the left the Salzburger Nachrichten, Salzburg, Austria; on the right Kurier, Vienna, Austria. Perhaps if I read German it wouldn't seem so strange to see a black child representing, um, who? Black American voters, Barack Obama? What about those hands on the presidential seal? They couldn't just use an AP image of Obama? Clearly those aren't his hands, coming out of an ill-fitting suit, holding a fake presidential seal...

Back to images that make sense...and I don't even read Hebrew. Maariv, Tel-Aviv, Israel...

... or Portuguese, Diário de Notícias, Lisbon, Portugal

I'd like to think their jubilation over Obama's victory might give Jamaica's journalists and other "mainstream" public voices impetus to consider his more tolerant stance on gays and lesbians (yes on civil unions, waffling on marriage, but a definite NO to sanctioning assault, rape, and murder as a public policy for accommodating some people's insecurity with sexual difference). The Gleaner, Kingston, Jamaica.

Newpapers capture the election results...

2008-11-07T15:37:00.000-08:00

There's a great site, Newseum "the interactive museum of news," where you can access newspaper covers from 66 countries: 730 newspapers.

Go here for the covers from 5 November 2008.

I'll be posting a few samples over the next few days from various locales:

Oakland Tribune, Oakland California (where Proposition 8 banning gay marriage unfortunately passed) tooting "A New Era"

The Times, Johannesburg, South Africa

La Presse, Montreal, Canada

An-Nahar, Beirut, Lebanon
(Unfortunately, I can't read Arabic.)

The Gray Lady herself, The New York Times, proclaiming "racial barrier falls." They aren't the only one to advance this notion in their election results reportage. I mysefl wonder what journalists mean by this declaration?

'Now it's official, a black man can be elected to the highest office in the nation'? Hmm, well, when Harold Washington assumed the post we found 'a black man could become Mayor of Chicago.' But it's worth noting that history hasn't yet repeated itself in Chicago. Yes, a particular and singular black man can be elected to an office that previously excluded all black men--and black women for that matter--in a particular and singular moment in history. I think for a racial barrier to have truly fallen the result cannot be summed via a single, albeit mind-blowingly historic, victory. Black male and female elected officials would have to be serving in greater numbers as governers and congress-persons, really all through government. And they'd have to be allowed the priviledge of being as mediocre and ineffectual as some of their white counterparts, and for the same mundane reasons as their white counterparts OR of being as or more exceptionally skilled as their white counterparts without white people calling them arrogant, or making surprised statements as to the quality of their elocution and/or hygiene. Most importantly they wouldn't have to carry the almost unimaginable weight of being the first, this late in the game. But for the failure of the United States to follow through on the Reconstruction of the country, during and after the Civil War, it is entirely possible that neither President-Elect Obama nor Mayor Washington would have been "firsts." What a nation that might have been.

The Huntsville Times, Huntsville, Alabama. Interesting how the paper's photo choices foregrounds both the Obama family dynamic, and the obviously deep bond between wife and husband.

Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois both choose variations on an iconic presidential /statesman image.

There were plenty of headlines shouting, "Yes He Did!" and variations on "Change Has Come." But one of my personal favorites comes from the Sioux City Journal, in Sioux City Iowa. It's direct and to the point: BELIEVE IT.

Yes We Can...

2008-11-05T19:26:00.000-08:00

Still hasn't sunk in. So glad I have grandparents who lived to see this. So amazed to see this happen in my lifetime.

Matt Bai, political writer for the New York Times Magazine, from NYT's November 4, 2008 election coverage videos:

"It will be represented tomorrow as this huge victory for African Americans. But I really believe in the long view of history it is more than that. It is the breaking up of a 220-odd year monopoly on the presidency--with one small incursion by John Kennedy--but really a monopoly of white protestant men that I think all groups, women, Jews, Asian, Italians whoever else, I think all groups can look at this as a breach of a monopoly. And I think it's a huge generational moment, your and my generation [speaking to colleague Michael Cooper, political writer for the New York Times]--the generation after the boomers--kicks down the door of of American politics after a very long and unproductive governing period."

Tavis Smiley on MSNBC: "We are a better nation..." Smiley talks about this historic event and the weight of expectations that now surround President-elect Barack Obama.

Yes I Did!

2008-11-04T03:54:00.000-08:00

...VOTE, that is...

I got to the polling location at 6:09am and there was already a line, fortunately it was only a 30 minute wait. The black woman ahead of me on line had brought numerous forms of identification, as had I. The white female pole attendant joked, 'didn't want to be challenged, hunh?' In triumph, the black woman raised her fist a little when the other white female poll attendant found her on the roll. I was similarly thrilled when I was on the roll and didn't have to file a voter complaint.

I took my time voting, though there were only two referendums on the ballot and I already knew all the candidates who were getting my vote. Really it was a moment to savor. But I kept my cool until I got back home, when did a little happy, hopping dance with gleeful giggles.

Lines may be long, but don't let complacency and poll-based assumptions set in. I overheard a woman who used to work as a pollster indicating how misleading they can be--as far as getting people's confidence up so they take victory for granted. Bad idea.

Very, very, bad idea.

I'll let Ill Doctrine break it down...

Vote, Baby, Vote...!

J's Theater: VOTE for CHANGE

2008-11-03T20:45:00.000-08:00

J's Theater saying it better than I can with Flash slide show that I wish I could post here, but it's just a click away...

The same could be said about the future of the United States: It's just a click, or a punch(card), or a check mark, away depending on your county or state's voting technology.

It's your VOTE, USE IT, DON'T ABUSE IT.

Pictured left Christia Adair, Texas, 1920. Adair was "approached by suffragists to enlist the support of black women for the vote. Adair states: Back in 1918 Negroes could not vote and women could not vote either. The white women were trying to help get a bill passed in the legislature where women could vote. I said to the Negro women, 'I don't know if we can use it now or not, but if there's a chance, I want to say we helped make it.'"

Despite the success of the suffragist efforts Black women in Texas were still refused the right to vote based on race. During her work with the NAACP Adair continued to pursue this struggle and became "one of the first black women to vote in the Texas Democratic primary in 1944."

Below images from Freedom Summer 1964 Voting Rights activism, right McCabe County, Mississippi activists

Below, Lowndes County, Alabama Voting Activism, 1960s:

Today...

Endnote:
• Selma to Montgomery National Voting Rights Trail, established by Congress in 1996.
• January 2008, NPR StoryCorps Facilitator weblog on traveling "Highway 80 through 'Bloody Lowndes'" Lowndes County, Alabama, one of the sites on the National Voting Rights Trail.
• NPR's StoryCorps where you can hear the podcasts of the interviews with some of the "everyday" Lowndes, Alabama voting rights activists who made possible the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and for African Americans to vote for the first time in that county in 1966.
• From Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement, a website focused on documenting the ordinary people who made up the majority of Civil Rights Movement activists, an informative historical timeline: "Voting Rights History: Two Centuries of Struggle"

It's All About the VOTE, Baby!

2008-11-02T18:26:00.000-08:00

Just two days to change the part of the world we live in--at least if you're a U.S. citizen--otherwise you're biting your nails like my neighborhood librarian who is hoping for change.

Need to know where your voting location is? Go to Vote411.org's Polling Place Finder.

What is Vote411.org?

"Launched by the League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF) in October of 2006, VOTE411.org is a "one-stop-shop" for election related information. It provides nonpartisan information to the public with both general and state-specific information on the following aspects of the election process:

Absentee ballot information
Ballot measure information (where applicable)
Early voting options (where applicable)
Election dates
Factual data on candidates in various federal, state and local races
General information on such topics as how to watch debates with a critical eye
ID requirements
Polling place locations
Registration deadlines
Voter qualifications
Voter registration forms
Voting machines

"An important component of VOTE411.org is the polling place locator, which enables users to type in their address and retrieve the poll location for the voting precinct in which that address is located. The League has found that this is among the most sought after information in the immediate days leading up to, and on, Election Day."

If you're nervous, you can double-check at Google's polling place locator: http://maps.google.com/vote

Talk about making it easy! And remember, do not, do not, DO NOT, wear any hats, buttons, shirts promoting your candidate, or any other election paraphernalia to the polling place or you could be turned away and legally refused the right to vote (as opposed to the illegal forms of voter refusal that are occurring throughout the nation).

Also, if for any reason you cannot vote on Tuesday, November 4th, in some states you can still vote the day before the election via absentee ballot. Check to see what your options are; in some states you must vote IN PERSON at the Office of your COUNTY CLERK.

A little motivation from Lady Kier of Dee-Lite...circa 1991...voting is always relevant, baby!

Black Rock Abundance....Vote for Change...826 Valencia

2008-10-30T20:19:00.001-07:00

Over at Bold As Love... while I was woodshedding, Mr. Fields was hosting his own Black Rock Coalition co-sponsored CMJ show at BAMCafé on October 25th. Dang! How did I miss hearing about this?

Plus there are a few new interviews over at Bold As Love as well, with the Hendrix loving headliners Red Lotus for one, and Chewing Pics , another act on the Bold As Love bill (I'm digging the latter's "The Matter of Glass" at the moment). After listening to the interview with Red Lotus lead singer/guitartist Rozz Nash-Coulen (who is also a personal trainer; unh-hunh, how do rockers keep working it night after night, um...they WORK IT...) and guitarist Jean-Marx Sentel (the name definitely gives you cause to pause), where they spoke about influences, creative process, and working on an inclusive sound that results in a rich melange rather than an indescriminate stew, I was really intrigued about their music. Plus they appreciate the melodic and timbral aspects of Hendrix's writing--which doesn't get as much recognition as it should in relation to the sonic pyrotechnics. Listening on their MySpace page didn't really do it for me, but then I found the track that had Mr. Fields trying to see them live for two years, finally he just had to book them himself (Mr. Fields is dedicated ya'all...). Anyway, then I got it, yep, "Firecracker" (I think that's the name, there's no credit listed on the post) it reminds me of Sophie Ramos' work, songs that need to be out there complicating the musical/songwriting landscape.

I'm still waiting to hear all about the Bold As Love CMJ event. I hope that report is coming soon...(paging Mr. Fields...)

Speaking of BRC events Burnt Sugar Arkestra is going to have a post-election celebration in Brooklyn (because, they're in "Yes We Can!" mode, and "Either way, we're gonna rise up and make some noise.")

Wed. Nov 5, 2008
10:00 PM
Zebulon Cafe
258 Wythe Avenue (between Metropolitan and North 3rd St.)
Williamsburg, BROOKLYN, New York 10012
No cover -just a pass of the hat

Also, courtesy of J's Theater, the cast of The Wire reunites to urge North Carolinians to "Vote for Change":

Lastly, in the "Six Degrees of Separation" category, writer Tayari Jones linked to a TED video of writer Dave Eggers talking about 826 Valencia, the San Francisco-originated non-profit he started which is "dedicated to helping children with their reading and writing." Eggers was received the 2008 TED award. There are now 826 chapters in Chicago, Boston, Seattle, NYC, Los Angeles, and Michican, about 826 National the website adds, "826 is especially committed to supporting teachers, offering services and resources for English language learners, and publishing student work. Several locations offer unique retail experiences as well." Earlier this week Tayari Jones's "Lunch Break Links" also linked to my previous blogpost on Toni Morrison's new book, the AACM celebration, etc. which included a list of short story collections I have enjoyed or am now considering reading. One of these is The Book of Other People, edited by writer Zadie Smith (White Teeth, Autograph Man, On Beauty). All of the royalties from this anthology are being donated by the writers to 826 Valencia. I have only just started it, so I'm not saying anything, OK, I will say I really like Edwidge Danticat's story "Lélé". Smith's only direction to the 20+ writers she assembled was "make somebody up."

Dave Eggers' TED Award acceptance speech, and TED wish, where he talks about the community changing effects of helping children with their homework, and supporting your community's teachers in the work they do to educate the nation's children. Basically as Jone's blogpost title puts it "Dave Eggers Wants to Change the World"(one of the best parts are the unique storefronts a number of the chapters have set up, based on the original 826 Valencia model, meant to fulfill the building's zoning requirement) :

Slight Return...AACM + Toni Morrison + Black Bee Women + Short Stories to Live By

2008-10-26T22:36:00.000-07:00

So I was woodshedding, and then I was hibernating, catching up on much needed sleep. It's bad when your body forgets how to sleep. Did my grandparents have those kind of experiences? Or is that a product of the modern/contemporary age?

In between I had the following wonderful experiences...

• Early October: Going to the A Power Stronger Than Itself, AACM Celebration at the Kitchen curated by George E. Lewis and performer/curator/composer Christopher McIntyre: including:

§ Hearing the chamber music of AACM musicians Leroy Jenkins, Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, Wadado Leo Smith, George E. Lewis, and Nicole Mitchell performed by the Wet Ink Ensemble (accompanied by George Lewis on laptop for his piece, with video by the late video artist Kate Craig)

§ An improvised piano duet between Amina Claudine Myers--who moves her hands even when not producing notes, anticipating perhaps chord changes, counterpoint possibilities, rhythmic/harmonic accents?--and Muhal Richard Abrams, who hums louder than Cecil Taylor when playing and has a mean percussive left foot when he wants (and whose chamber work I missed)

§ A panel discussion on George E. Lewis' book and the legacy of the AACM with interdisciplinary scholar Brent Hayes Edwards, music journalist (and long-time AACM chronicler) Ted Panken, flautist/bandleader/current AACM Chicago-chapter co-president Nicole Mitchell, and AACM members composer/trombonist/scholar George E. Lewis, pianist/composer Amina Claudine Myers, and alto-saxophonist/composer Matana Roberts

§ A multi-movement improvisational collaboration between Nicole Mitchell (who pulled otherworldly sounds, and full conversations, whispers, mutterings, and elsewheres out of her flute), Matana Roberts (who was masterful, and intensely gentle with her instrument), pianist/composer Craig Taborn (amazing engagement with the piano), and drummer Chad Taylor (who did much with little). (pictured above, AACM circa 1960s)

• Early October: Toni Morrison reading from her forthcoming novel, A Mercy.

§ Some wonderful opening remarks from Morrison where she stated that she doesn't write novels to explore characters, or geographical regions, or historical period, but to answer a question: what would it be like if "x" were the case, what would it feel like, taste like, smell like. "It" being the world, and/or a life if "x" were a factor, an element, a truth.
(If you want to hear an interview with Morrison as well as the author reading from her forthcoming novel, check out the NPR Book Tour series which is having a 4-installment feature on A Mercy, October 27-30)

§ Getting to hear Morrison's reading before reading the Poets & Writers profile of Morrison which included engagement with the supposed conflict between writer Charles Johnson and Morrison over the appropriate content of contemporary black narrative. (Johnson's article, "The End of the Black American Narrative," published in The American Scholar [Summer 2008], which is credited with starting the apparent conflama: notably, Johnson and Morrison sound basically respectful of each other. From the sound of the article it's mainly their respective academic supporters who are stirring up a less than constructive rivalry).

• Early October: Hearing improvisational pianist Charity Chan

§ Amazing

• Late October: Hearing black gospel scholar/music writer/archivist Baptist deacon/drummer Robert Darden

§ Darden talked about his Black Gospel Restoration Project at Baylor University which emerged from the research done for his book. During that process he determined that 77% of the songs cited as major influences by the gospel artists he interviewed, have been lost. He also played some of the lost gospel songs located by the project that can't ever be released for purchase, or even accessed in their entirety on the archive webpage. This is due to the complicated copyright history that makes impossible verifying the true copyright holder of much of the gospel music from the golden age (1945-1965).

• Late October: Seeing The Secret Life of Bees

§ Not being horrified by what could have been a 21st-century mammy/"magic negro" picture was great. It's ostensibly the story of the white young female character Lila that's at the center of the film. Yet African American woman director Gina Pryce-Bythewood's (Love & Basketball, Disappearing Acts) script and direction made a huge difference in the realization of the lives of the African American women, and a few men too, who largely people her world. I'm sure we have producer Will Smith and executive producer Jada Pinkett Smith to thank for that as well. Perhaps for the first time we hear the a black woman professional caregiver talking about the complex relationship between herself and a white charge in the segregated south, with its unequal power relations and atmosphere of hate. We are aware that these women have lives outside of their dynamics with white people; they have complex family histories and desires. Not only does the film's narrative recognize the child Lila is an outsider to that world, but allows that her arrival precipitates particular choices on the part of each of the black women in the film, but those choices aren't about altering the axis of their world to enable its spin around Lila. From the time of her arrival to the end of the film, her relationship with these women is never easy and simple. Plus the work of Queen Latifah is solid, she can be quite good in understated moments and characters, as was evident in Stranger Than Fiction. Alicia Keys was restrained much of the time, appropriately for her character, and did well except in one instance when she had to be more emotive. Jennifer Hudson definitely proved she earned her Oscar; she doesn't need to sing to own the screen (what a sad time for her, I couldn't help but think about her loss watching the film given its subject). Sophie Okonedo is one of my favorite actors and I'm glad she's getting the recognition she deserves. Her character provides much of the heart of this film during her time on screen, Okonedo disappears into her. Her face is a wonder--what an instrument, and how Okonedo uses it, wow. There are also some amazing vocal moments enacted by Okonedo, ways she subtly, but decisively shifts the energy or focus of a scene with her line delivery. A reminder that as much screen presence as music stars have, that presence and camera rapport doesn't, cannot, consistently substitute for certain kinds of training. Dakota Fanning is turning into an actor, not a mid-career child actor, but an actor to be reckoned with--she already knows something important about acting: how to respect silence, and how to do nothing in a vulnerably human manner; which is doing everything without announcing it loudly and/or repeatedly. (pictured above L-R: Dakota Fanning, Sophie Okonedo (back to camera), Gina Prince-Bythewood, and Queen Latifah on the set)

• Unfortunately, I missed all the CMJ Music Marathon goings on last week. But I hope to catch up on what I missed from Bold As Love, and other blog locales. I don't know if I'll get any music next week. It's probably back to woodshedding...

But...

Short Stories to Live By?
Funny, now that I've listened to all this music (AACM as well as a bunch of contemporary classical and liturgical works). I find myself wanting to read: literature. Well, I did finally finish A Power Stronger Than Itself. After reading what Brent Hayes Edwards has called a collaborative/collective autobiography, I find myself wanting to read fiction; I think it's all those voices. But short works. I recently saw a short-story collection list compiled by Powells Books Q&A subject David Taylor whose collection Success: Stories, has just come out. I thought his compilation looked intriguing, but I didn't see any U.S.-based writers of color on it. So I came up with a list of my own of works I've enjoyed in the past and ones I still want to read:

Here’s My Multi-Culti List (brown, black, ochre, pink, gold, etc.)

Junot Díaz, - Drown (Riverhead, 1997, pbk)
Victor LaValle - Slapboxing with Jesus (Vintage, 1999)
Kristin Hunter (Lattany) - Guests in the Promised Land (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973)
Toni Cade Bambara - Gorilla My Love (Vintage, 1992, pbk)
Dana Johnson – Break Any Woman Down (Anchor, 2001)
Tim O’Brien – The Things They Carried (Broadway, 1998, pbk)
Jhumpa Lahiri – Interpreter of Maladies (Mariner Books, 1999)
Achy Obejas – We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? (Cleis, 1994)
ZZ Packer – Drinking Coffee Elsewhere (Riverhead, 2004,pbk)
Edwidge Danticat - Krik? Krak! (Vintage, 1996)
James Joyce - Dubliners (Penguin/Viking/Signet, various publication dates)

Edited Collections:
Zadie Smith, ed., The Book of Other People (Penguin, 2008)
ZZ Packer, ed., New Stories from the South: The Year’s Best, 2008 (Algonquin, 2008)
Junot Díaz, ed., Beacon Best of 2001 (Beacon Press, 2001) out-of-print, still available used.

But I'm open to other suggestions....

Hair + Gender = Hair-a-Genda?

2008-10-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

This past week I had two strange hair moments. If just one of these had happened I wouldn't have felt the need to write about it. OK, actually I wasn't going to write about it. But then I was looking for that old shampoo commercial where the tiled images of white girls with long shiny hair keeps multiplying as they chirpily intone "and you tell two friends, and so on, and so on..." I thought it was for Breck shampoo, but it turns out to have been a Faberge Organics shampoo (was it really "organic"? Uh, it had wheat germ and honey, but I don't think that really counts!) My commercial search had nothing to do with these two prior events, but yet on Youtube I found the below video made by some young girls who parents were perhaps their same age, or younger, when the Breck commercial spots were most ubiquitous in the early-mid-1970s. Commercials of these sorts elevated white girls with long silky blonde hair to some kind of goddess stature. Not a speaking, independent-thinking type goddess, but the kind that makes for a superficial ego-boosting acquistion among certain men, and envy-enducing arm candy among similarly-minded males across ethnic and racial lines.

Anyway, I was walking down the street a little after the local grammar schools let out, and a group of boys were behind me challenging each other: "I'm going to race!" "I'm not racing!" etc. One started to race but his less-interested friends were in the majority and they ended up a substantial distance behind me. Then I started to hear shouts behind me, "Nice 'fro!" "Hey dude, nice 'fro!" In rather sarcastic tones, I shook my head realizing they were likely addressing me, and kept walking. This was followed by the inexplicable, "Hey, you should eat some tater tots!" My mind absurdly lept to a vaguely remembered descriptive passage by E. Lynn Harris, and I turned around shocked to find four boys maybe the oldest was ten years old, and two of them--the shocking part for me--were of African descent, with 'fros of their own, but much shorter than mine. I stood there for a moment, speechless, as the boys slowly inched their way behind a narrow tree, as though it could hide them from view. This would have been hilarious if the whole thing weren't so sad. I didn't want to shame those two boys in front of their white friends; clearly they were dealing with some internalized issues already, and I didn't want to add to that. Instead I called out "Is that how your parents taught you to speak to strangers?" and then turned on my heel and walked away, feeling mighty sad for those little boys and their parents, and a little for me too.

Two days later I'm walking down the street a few streets up, but in the same direction and I see two grown white women having a conversation. Where I live people do actually say hello to each other. White and black. (But some younger black folks haven't quite gotten the hang of the black people saying hello to each other thing yet.) The women were coming in the opposite direction, I smile, no response. Not a big deal. I see two little girls maybe 5 and 6 years old far behind them, like about 25 yards behind them, but I get the sense they're all together. That sort of thing makes me nervous; anything could happen when your kids are that far behind you--it's like a movie-of-the-week in the making--but it's also none of my business. Anyway, as I get closer to the little girls I'm smiling as I normally do with kids, and the older one moves herself and the younger one off the sidewalk--quite gracefully--into the grass in order to get away from me. I look back at them incredulously, and then look ahead again as I shake my head ruefully and my eyes lock with those of a young Asian woman who I can tell has seen the whole thing. She smiles back at me. And I telegraph my thanks to her--y'know: "thanks bearing witness to that mess, and for seeing my humanity." I don't know if you should have to thank people for seeing your humanity, but you surely can be thankful that they do.

You gotta wonder what people are telling their children about big afros and black men--lately with my bigger hair I've been getting mistaken for one.

If I had short-Obama length hair would I be OK?

But, gee, then maybe no one would mistake me for a guy? Cause when I think back to an episode last month, I seem to be getting this treatment predominantly from little white kids, and then secondly from white women. Last month's last little white kid however was just enthusiastically announcing her notice of my big hair, to her mother's slight embarrassment, and her older sister's amusement--she was laughing at her younger sister's mistaking me for a guy, despite some obvious (on that day) evidence to the contrary.

Here is the Breck commercial remake, just a little reminder of how disparagingly some people are taught to view nappy hair. BTW, the little girl who is initially wearing a wig is identified as "_____ (in the afro)" (I'm not going to name the child here).

Endnote:
• Oh, and what about the Faberge Organics Hair Shampoo ads? You can find them on YouTube, (one even stars Heather Locklear) along with a host of comments that read: "Happy Fat N****r Day!"
• Draw whatever conclusions you will. In the meantime, I'll be writing a note to Youtube.

Van Lier Fellowships for African American & Latino Composers

2008-10-04T18:24:00.000-07:00

The age cut-off for this fellowship is 32 (believe me, I resisted the urge to make a cartoon about that). But for all those younger folks who are New York City residents (any borough), aren't enrolled as students in a degree-granting program in an institution of higher education, and can demonstrate need (ahem, you're living in NYC) here's your chance:

"The Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund of the New York Community Trust provides support for talented, culturally diverse young people who are seriouslydedicated to a career in the arts. Meet The Composer administers the Van Lier Fellowship on behalf of the Van Lier Fund of the New York Community Trust.

"The purpose of the Fellowship is to provide financial support for young composers in the early stages of their careers, working in any style of music or sound art. Funds can be used for any purpose including the creation of new work, the purchasing of music/tech equipment, travel, or research and development.

"The Fellowship is open to African-American and Latino composers thirty-two years of age or younger. The applicant must be a full-time resident of New York City (any borough) and show financial need. The applicant must not be enrolled in a degree-granting program at the time of application (i.e. no students). The one-year fellowship award is $8,500. Additional monetary support will be provided if the composer develops and participates in an educational outreach program with students and/or youth groups. This educational component is optional.

The next deadline for applications is December 8, 2008.

Download the guidelines and application from the fellowship description page.

This year's recipients are Gilbert Galindo and Majid Khaliq.

Gilbert Galindo is an emerging young Mexican-American composer that is increasingly being performed across the country. He has received commissions from the Chicago Fine Arts Society, Duo Petrarca, and the Lone Star Brass with additional premieres and performances from the Midland Odessa Symphony, Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, Bard Institute Composers Orchestra, and the ai ensemble of dal niente group. Read more at www.gilbertgalindo.com .

Majid Khaliq is a musician native to the New York area. His musical palette ranges from the roots of American-jazz music through the greats of the European-classical tradition. Mr. Khaliq has been described by legendary musician Wynton Marsalis as having "a unique blend of improvisation, groove and technical sophistication." Composition and arranging are serious
interests of Mr. Khaliq. His compositional teachers are Mexican composer Samuel Zyman and great American violinist/composer Jonh Blake, Jr. Not just a performer and composer, Mr. Khaliq is a teacher of the highest caliber. He has written many essays on the art of violin playing and has recently finished the first volume of a method book detailing the topic.

Past recipients of MTC’s Van Lier Fellowship include César Alvarez, Cristian Amigo, Valerie Coleman, Mario Diaz de León, Dafnis Prieto, Sherrise Rogers, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Julio Santillan, Manuel Sosa, and Emilio Teubal.

Endnote:
• To keep your wits about you in this age-a-rama-competition-whirligig, go to writer Tayari Jones' previous post about these award age-cut-offs, here.
• To keep your sense of humor about you (rueful though it might be) in relation to the same, go to writer Erin Fitzgerald's cartoon post, here (substitute "composer" for "writer" and "32" for "35").
• And to tie it altogether with a bit of history check out Malcolm Gladwell's New Yorker article, "Late Bloomers: why do we equate genius with precocity?"
• If you need a musical example check out the life of French composer Erik Satie (1866-1925) who went back to school at 40 years old to study composition and counterpoint after having been labeled as "'the laziest student in the [Paris] Conservatoire'" in his youth. School reports characterize Satie "as a gifted pianist who was utterly lacking in motivation and poor at sight-reading." But apparently as a self-motivated adult Satie's progress was "impressive." Tellingly the composer's recollection of the Paris Conservatoire where he studied for seven years (partly to decrease a mandatory stint in military service) was as "a sort of local penitentiary." Presently, Satie's work is considered a major influence on various contemporary musical genres and aesthetics, and to have foreshadowed the development of film music. The most accurate online biography is at Oxford Music Online, unfortunately only available to subscribers, but if you can find a hard copy of Grove Music Dictionary (which was purchased by Oxford) you can read it there.

The Canadian "electro/ambient/alternative" band Patrick Watson, fronted by musician/vocalist Patrick Watson performing Satie's composition for piano Gnossienne No. 1 (written 1890-1893) live in Edmonton, Alberta, December 1, 2007 (Watson sounds eerily like Jeff Buckley on some of the band's recordings).

Sociologist Walden Bello's "Primer on the Wall Street Meltdown"

2008-10-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

For those of us who still don't fully comprehend the details of what occurred--even if we're not surprised, but still horrified at what has come to pass.

Walden Bello writer/activist/scholar, "is president of Freedom from Debt Coalition, senior analyst at Focus on the Global South, and professor of Sociology at the University of the Philippines" where he teaches political economy. Bello's article was originally published in Inquirer.net "Philippine News for Filipinos" on October 1st, and reprinted "for educational purposes" in the Monthly Review's online publication on October 3rd, as well as on Focus on the Global South's website. (Of course once you have a better grasp of globalization, it becomes plain that Philippine news isn't only relevant for Filipinos.)

Check out the primer here. Bello does a great job, using a Q&A structure with the questions most people are likely to ask, and his responses for the most part accessibly identify all the threads, and explain how they've combined to tear the US economy apart; and how it isn't over yet. (If you want more you can also read Bello's "The Wall Street Meltdown: the View from Asia".)

Audio Geek: Charlie Haden: Living the Dream and Goin' Home

2008-09-29T00:22:00.000-07:00

Yep, catching up on my NPR.

Charlie Haden, a jazz icon with bluegrass roots, a child singing radio star who peformed with his parents and siblings singing until polio impacted his vocal chords. He started playing bass due to a crush on Anita, the then fifteen-year-old female bassist for the Carter Sisters. Haden remembers, "When she picked up the bass and started playing, I said 'man, oh, man, that's it!'"

Women bass players, a powerful force--look what that talented girl set into motion!

Haden comes home to this first love with his latest release, Charlie Haden Family & Friends - Rambling Boy. This record is an inspiration for doing what you love, and demonstrates music can be an important part of a family's expression of the relationships between its members, and a profound legacy of love. This is a family of performers, musicians, and songwriters--vocalist/musicians triplets Petra, Rachel, and Tanya; songwriting son Josh who sings his own song, previously covered by Johnny Cash; Tanya's husband actor/musician Jack Black who supplies vocals, and of course Charlie Haden, who modestly says: "All I did was play bass." Plus there's a host of world-class musicians from the country and jazz arenas who guested on the album out of their deep respect for Charlie Haden.

Live your dreams, live your dreams!

NPR interview with Haden and his children.

Audio Geek: Going Back to the Woodshed - Flea at USC

2008-09-28T22:56:00.000-07:00

I'm just posting this because frankly, sometimes you need a little inspiration.

Flea, the bassist for The Red Hot Chili Peppers, has enrolled as a freshman in the University of Southern California program in Music. Not some radical ersatz program, USC is fairly traditional from what I've heard. Flea always wanted to expand his knowledge of harmony and music's building blocks and now he's doing it. Studying Bach chorales; four-part harmony from the mid-18th century.

Why at 45 years old, with money and fame, and a successful professional musical career pursue the academic study of music?

"I love it!" Flea replies.

Get the full story on Flea going back to school, and the seven-year old Silverlake Conservatory of Music. The bassist founded the conservatory after discovering the eradication of his Los Angeles high school's music program as a result of California's passage of Proposition 13 in 1980. From the September 27, 2008 NPR profile: "Flea Goes Back to School."

Audio Geek: Rupa and the April Fishes

2008-09-28T17:41:00.000-07:00

I gotta give it to a someone who is a doctor and professor in one of the most competitive medical/science research institutions in the US, University of Californian at San Francisco, as well as an accomplished songwriter/musician touring nationally and internationally with the San Francisco-based band Rupa and the April Fishes. How does Rupa Marya do it?

She asked for it.

(Yes..., let that sink in...'cause there's a lesson there, people.)

Marya recounts: "...so after my first year of internship [at UCSF], I went into my program director and said, 'Listen, I'll be a terrible doctor if I'm not an artist, and I'll be a terrible artist if I'm not a doctor,'" Marya says. "'And I need to find a way to do these things.'"

Well, after her conservative older male program director solemnly informed Rupa she was "pushing the envelope" they found a way to make it work. According the NPR profile: "She was able to take advantage of a flexible residency track designed for female doctors who may be expecting children, which allows her to spend six months working and the other half of the year touring." Marya writes lyrics in Spanish, English, French, and Hindi, but most of the songs on the band's debut album are in French. Gotta listen to the profile to get the background on that choice. Once she finished her residency this past July, UCSF took Marya on as faculty. Obviously they agreed that being an artist made her a better doctor and teacher, and valued her unique contributions both to the institution and the field.

I was really moved by her story of how many of her songs are inspired by stories from her patients in a way that captures the spirit of the story and doesn't exploit the details. In that manner puts those stories, that human connection back into the world instead of absorbing all that energy and just internalizing it in relatively silence. Maybe more doctors need to find a creative outlet of that type, maybe that would help some of the unfortunate bedside manner out there.

I think the part-time appointment arrangement is a wonderful option. It sounds so smart for those of us who can't plug ourselves into one discrete life path--but instead find ourselves on a couple of intertwining ones. Something about this reminds me of Toni Morrison's Sula, the way the character Sula was an frustrated thrwarted artist, and that thrwarted energy became something of a destructive rather than creative and constructive force in her own life and that of her community. But that's another thread...

Definitely listen to the NPR profile to hear the story of the band's name, another inspirational conception...

Endnote:
• April 16, 2008 NPR profile of Rupa and the April Fishes
• Rupa and the April Fishes website for the album eXtraOrdinary rendition, from Cumbancha Records
• Rupa and the April Fishes' MySpace page
• NPR September 12, 2008: Song-Of-the-Day Pick: "Poder" by Rupa and the April Fishes, commentary on everything that can cross the US-México border (fishes, wind, money, "pero yo no"/"I cannot")

Audio Geek: Films to Hear and Watch...

2008-09-27T23:38:00.000-07:00

• The Wrecking Crew (2008) documentary by Danny Tedesco. From the 2008 Seattle International Film Festival program guide: "What do the Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, Sonny and Cher, The Monkees, and The Mamas and Papas have in common? Aside from hit songs, they all recorded with The Wrecking Crew. Meet this extraordinarily talented gang of Los Angeles studio musicians who helped create the soundtrack of America."

The SIFF note neglects to mention the Wrecking Crew also played on historic tracks by band leader/trumpet player Herb Alpert ("A Taste of Honey") and producer Phil Spector (The Ronnettes' "Be My Baby"and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"; Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High" which the site (erroneously?) credits to both Ike and Tina, but as I recall, Spector didn't want Ike to perform on the track). Danny Tadesco's father was Wrecking Crew session player guitarist Tommy Tedesco who passed away in 1997.

Normally licensing the film's soundtrack would have put Tedesco in debt so large his great-great grandchildren would still be paying it off. Instead the companies who own the songs (yes, Ray Charles and James Brown are among the few major recording artists who owned their own masters) saw the importance of having the documentary out there (hmm, anticipating increased sales of back catalogues?). I'd like to think the companies wanted to demonstrate their respect of and appreciation for the work of these highly trained, talented players who turned to session work when jazz fell on hard times and used their skills and musicality to transform the sound of popular music. (top photo, Wrecking Crew musicians at a Phil Spector recording session; right, the well-respected bassist Carol Kaye, the only woman to break the gender barrier of that eras session musician arena.)

The Gits (2005/2008) documentary directed by Kerri O'Kane. From the Calgary International Film Festival: "In a pre-Nirvana Seattle, The Gits were the resident musical underdogs. With the unparallelled vocal power of front woman Mia Zapata they set the bar for indie rock in the Pacific Northwest. After inspiring such incendiary bands as Seven Year Bitch to pick up their instruments, they caught the ear of major label record execs who heard the muscular riffs and soulful hooks and realized what fans already knew – The Gits were anything but your typical street punk outfit. Because of this, the tragedy that struck in 1993 was that much harder to swallow. With intimate live footage and interviews with the surviving members,director Kerri O’Kane explores the mystique and digs into the mystery of one of the rock world’s most enigmatic bands. One part THE FILTH AND THE FURY, one part CSI: SEATTLE, THE GITS is a rock doc as engaging and powerful as the music that inspired it."

I know what the tragedy is, but won't get into that here. The documentary is about the music, the fans, the Pacific Northwest punk-inflected music scene before the hyperbole of "The Seattle Sound". The Gits really had something, I never saw them live, but they clearly were a gifted outfit of misfit artists who loved playing and creating together. (pictured right; The Gits, publicity photo)

Endnote:
• Check out this September 9, 2008 profile of The Wrecking Crew by musician/producer and NPR commentator David Was (Was Not Was) on NPR, appropriately titled, "When Overqualified Jazz Musicians Go Rocker."
• Advance coverage of The Wrecking Crew, with trailer(!), from the Monday, May 19, 2008, 90.3 KEXP FM Blog.
• More coverage of The Wrecking Crew over at Fusion 45, with a list of even more profiles of the documentary.
• September 5, 2008 multiple profiles of The Gits (the band and the film) on NPR.
• The Gits (band) official website.
• The Gits film website.

Spike Lee on Miracle At St. Anna

2008-09-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

Multimedia with Spike Lee narrating his experience of adapting James McBride's book for the screen with script by McBride. (pictured l-r: Matteo Sciabordi, Omar Benson Miller, Michael Ealy, Derek Luke and Laz Alonso; photo: David Lee/Disney Enterprises)

Guide to Starting a Career in Audio + Jazmine Sullivan

2008-09-27T18:55:00.000-07:00

B&H Photo offers a variety of interesting guides. Here's their technical version of "letters to a young artist" for students of audio aspiring to a career in the field.

I don't mean to be a hater, not at all. But I think at some point I feel popular music needs to address more than the various topics that operate under the rose-colored umbrella called love. So we get an album of songs that touch on:
• falling in love
• love betrayed (from the pov of the betrayer as well as the betrayed)
• second thoughts about love left behind
• being a fool in love
• fear of love
• the tragedy of being the other woman, in love.

≈ I think I want a soul song about having to take 3 trains to a job to put food on the table, keep your kids in Payless sneakers, and/or pay your students loans.
≈ How about a love song about finally finding your heart's calling and it not being a romance, but some way you get to meaningfully contribute to your community and feed your soul at the same time?
≈ What about an R&B song about not getting tenure, or not getting that promotion you worked your posterior off for a year to achieve? What about the broken-heartedness suffered by a family getting their house foreclosed on? Or the disappointment in finding a respected supervisor or elder is busy sexually harassing junior co-workers, and not taking care of the emotional needs of his/her family?
≈ What about a love song about a community pulling together to confront corporate environmental injustice? Roxbury Environmental Empowerment Project, anyone?

So, really, this isn't hating on Jazmine Sullivan, though I think the Phyllis Hyman comparison might be pushing things (Hyman didn't push that melismatic vocal technique to such a great degree; her technique allowed her to put her emotions right at the front of voice with velvety textures). Sullivan just comes to mind because Giant Step is featuring her release this week. I gotta give props to anyone who can get Missy Elliot to team up with Salt N Pepa on their first single "Need U Bad," plus she's got those richly dense, almost orchestral, horn arrangements on "Lions, Tigers, and Bears." After all, I'm really just musing about the general state of soul music/R&B. Every few years an article comes out lamenting the state of soul, hip hop soul, neo-soul, etc. It's a fair area of contemplation. But it occurs to me that if people want the music to change, it's not just about whether the instrumentation harkens back to Motown or the Philly Soul, or Memphis Stax sound and resultant questions of authenticy, nostalgia and originality. The questions should also deal with how to incorporate new themes, and how to employ instrumentation and arrangements to create works that don't sound banally expository or didactic. But, hey that's just my opinion.

While I'm thinking on music and transformation, here's almost the entirety of Fela Kuti's 1970s hit single about the Nigerian military "Zombie":

Zombie no go go unless you tell him to go
Zombie no go stop unless you tell him to stop
Zombie no go turn unless you tell him to turn
Zombie no go tink unless you tell him to tink

National Book Foundation's "Five Under 35" commentary

2008-09-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

The always incisive Tayari Jones reiterates her previous comments on the links between class privilege and early achievement, while still graciously congratulating this year's winner her fellow MacDowell Writers Colony alum, and "nice guy and fine writer," Nam Le. She also points us to writer Erin Fitzgerald's great cartoon response to the NBF's age ceiling at Rarely Likeable.

I don't Fitzgerald think is going to Hades for this as she fears. As the old folks say: "Tell the truth and shame the devil..." (see image at left, or click on her blog title for full sized image).

Audio Geek: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler Nail It...

2008-09-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

Because somebody had to go there, and thank goodness they came with it when they did: Tina Fey & Amy Poehler doing Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton on a recent Saturday Night Live:

FELA! + Reginald Shephard + Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival

2008-09-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

Haven't been writing lately, such is the nature of woodshedding. Sometimes you gotta have extreme focus to unlock the doors of possibility. Of course I can't shut everything out, or I'd forget why I'm doing what I'm doing.

So today was FELA! The musical staged by Bill T. Jones. It's just been extended through October 5, go if you can. The show is truly something else. There are elements I wanted more of, but arguably the show isn't operating either as a straight -up "biopic" or critical biography--though you'll definitely learn a lot about Fela Kuti and post-colonial Nigerian history. It's primarily a celebration of one very complex and charismatic man, and his similarly complex love for his mother, his country, his people, the many women around him who influenced him, performed with him, worshiped him, and even married him en masse, and of course music.(above, the fantastic Sahr Ngaujah as Fela. Photo by Monique Carboni)

This weekend I was also gifted with Itinerary, the 2006 chapbook from poet Reginald Shepherd, who recently passed away. I look forward to reading it. Thanks to Reggie H. over at Noctuary, for the word on the chapbooks, and for a touching entry about his namesharing poetry dopplegänger.

Oh yeah, want more poetry? Check the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival coming up this weekend. Huge banquet of poetry as far as the eye and ear can perceive...

Newsweek Culture Feature: "Slavery After the Civil War"

2008-08-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

Newsweek is featuring a multimedia presentation on post-Civil War re-enslavement of African Americans, "Slavery, After Freedom." The presentation includes a photo slideshow and narration by journalist/writer Douglas A. Blackmon based on his recently published book Slavery by Another Name: The Re-enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to WWII. This photo appears in the slide show, as well as on Blackmon's website dedicated to the book and the history it details. It shows men in a barracks cell in an Alabama slave camp where they lived when not working as slaves. Note that they are shackled together; they wore those shackles 24-7, and often developed infections where the metal dug into their flesh.

The audio isn't great (what's up with that, Newsweek?). It sounds like instead of getting him into a studio, they recorded Blackmon speaking on the phone with a cheap piezo mic. But still, it's an important feature. I blogged about Blackmon's book earlier this summer, here.

Audio Geek...the acousmatic world...

2008-08-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

Acousmatic sound is sound "one hears without seeing their originating cause - a invisible sound source. Radio, phonograph and telephone, all which transmit sounds without showing their emitter are acousmatic media." (from FilmSound.org)

In the U.S. we don't have much access to the discussion of this idea, or related areas of sound such as phonography, which doesn't refer to the study of phonographs, or a type of stenography, but field recording. Field recording is the recording of ambient sound or "the technique for capturing the audible illustration of an environment, produced outside of a recording studio." (from Wikipedia.org)

Not surprisingly phonography has affiliates in the sound art, sound design, interdisciplinary art, and environmental activist arenas. There are whole libraries devoted to field recordings used by film sound designers and others. There are also festivals and organizations devoted to this field. One, The Elements: A Festival of Nature in Performance, is happening right now, August 20 - 23, 2008 on Gabriola Island, in British Columbia. Canada and Europe have traditionally provided a more welcoming home to sound arts than the U.S. (but that's another story). The festival features a host of artists' works developed from recordings of the natural world of Gabriola Island (pictured above right with Henry Miller quote). Fortunately you don't have to actually be there to hear, and in some cases visually experience, the work. If you go to the festival link listed above and click on the "artists' projects" link on the left-hand side menu, you'll see a listing of the work. Anything that's already premiered may have audio as well as video available. I just listened to Darren Copeland and Andreas Kahre's commissioned project, Fish on Air. Copeland and Kahre used a "Dolphin Ear" commercial underwater recording system to record the marine sounds at five coastal locations on Gabriola Island. My favorite is Silva Bay, where you can hear the air bubbles made by various small marine life such as crabs, and small fish, along with the human and marine sounds of this active port.

Endnote:
• Check this CBC (Canadian Broadcast Corporation) excerpt from The Idea of North (original airdate in 28 December 1967) the first installment of acclaimed Canadian pianist Glenn Gould's Solitude Trilogy a "contrapuntal radio documentary" for the CBC. The trilogy's production represents a key moment in Canadian broadcast history, and provides a compelling marriage of audio documentary, musical composition, spoken word text (Gould's introduction), and phonography.
• Article on the Solitude Trilogy and Gould's philosophy from Hermitary.com.
• Video of Gould talking about The Idea of North, and relating its composition to fugue, and the work of composer Anton Webern)

Audio Geek...Singer/Songwriter/Iconoclast...Betty Carter

2008-08-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

I LOVE BETTY CARTER.

I just wanted to get that out of the way.

Betty Carter was my favorite jazz vocalist when I was a kid. And still is.

Yeah, I listened to Cleo Laine, Carmen McRae, Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Annie Ross of Lambert, Hendricks, & Ross, as well as the more experimental Jeanne Lee. I hadn't yet found pianist/vocalist Shirley Horne. I also listened to the more pop-sounds of Nancy Wilson (she could break my heart every time I heard her sing, "Guess Who I Saw Today"; no question mark needed (sigh...)) and Dinah Washington. I thought they were all wonderful in their own way.

But Betty Carter, aka ...But She's Betty Carter... (now out-of-print) blew my mind with her phrasing and arrangements. How she used her voice, worked a note and sang all around the meter, behind it, in front of it and "tight" on top of it (e.g. the classic, "But Beautiful, and her own, "Look What I Got"). Then there was Carter's work as a band leader, she also produced her own records, and ran her own label, Bet-Car when she got the reputation for being "difficult" i.e., knowing what she wanted, and couldn't get a label to release her work. She started with Lionel Hampton's band, their frequent disagreements being smoothed over by his wife Gladys, who was apparently a, if not the, major managerial power behind the band. Carter recalls that Gladys Hampton wanted the young singer to stay long enough to give her chops a solid foundation before she went solo. After going solo in the sixties, getting married, having two children and starting her record label she also she started mentoring young musicians, whom she recruited for her band. They called it, "The University of Betty Carter." Both she and Abbey Lincoln have been renowned for this mentoring over the decades, as well as their songwriting skills. As one critic noted, most jazz musicians are known for their compositions as well as their musicianship and performance work, with the notable exception of vocalist. Lincoln and Carter (and to a lesser degree Billie Holiday) have been exceptions to this during the 20th century. Younger jazz vocalists Rene Marie and Cassandra Wilson have both carried on this songwriting legacy in their careers.

NPR produced an audio documentary of almost a full hour's length, Betty Carter: Fiercely Individual, narrated by the singularly voiced Nancy Wilson. They recently re-aired the documentary(airdate 14 August 2008). Betty Carter was seriously fierce, and a true original. Check it out.

Endnote:
• Verve Music Group's Better Carter page.
• Betty Carter page on JazzSingers.com.
• Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead Music Residency program for young people at Kennedy Center.
• BBC - Radio 3 Jazz Profile of Carter.
• Tim Cramm's Unofficial Betty Carter page.
• BettyCarter.org

Audio Geek...Fiction...week of August 18

2008-08-18T06:09:00.000-07:00

A few gems from NPR...

Junot Díaz interviewed by Terri Gross in 2007 (airdate 18 October 2007) regarding his debut novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Gross starts off going the autobiographical conflation route which is somewhat problematic, but Díaz navigates it well. Eventually, she begins to approach the interview from the perspective of fiction writing, and Dominican Republic history, as well as the complicated history of individual Dominican's and Dominican neighborhoods in Santo Domingo in relation to the Trujillo dictatorship. As usual Díaz's love of history comes through in this part of the interview. There's also a thoughtful response from Díaz regarding language, the immigrant experience, and speaking in a multiplicity of idioms in relation to the language of the novel. Includes Díaz reading a selection from the book. (pictured above, Junot Díaz; photo credit: Lily Oei)

Chris Abani interviewed by Farai Chideya (airdate 19 May 2006) about his novella Becoming Abigail. Abani explains the impetus behind the work, the experience of writing from the point of view of an adolescent Nigerian girl who has immigrated to London, the Nigerian (specifically the Igbo) obsession with and silences concerning the dead, and questions of displacement and recovery. Includes a link to Abani reading an excerpt from the work.

More Audio Geek out...Poetry

2008-08-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

This is and older bit of audio, but I wanted to be able to track it. It's ~ QUEST ~, edited by poet/scholar Evie Shockley as a special 2007 issue of MiPOesias Magazine. Artwork by artist/poet Krista Franklin.

The list of guest poet-readers is:

.

By the way, even though Shockley's work doesn't appear in this collection, you shouldn't pass it by. Check out her 2006 poetry collection, a half-red sea (Carolina Wren Press, 2006). Definitely worth any extra leg-work you have to do to get to it...