Giovanni Russonello from Capital Bop just wrote a fine piece on the jazz scene in Harlem in Jazz Times. Click here to read it.
Filed under: Jazz , Ben Williams, Christian Scott, Gerald Clayton, Harlem, Jamire Williams, Joe Sanders, NYC
January 25, 2012 • 8:45 am 1
Africa Speaks, America Answers by Robin D.G. Kelley
Africa Speaks, America Answers: Modern Jazz in Revolutionary Times is an upcoming book by Robin D.G. Kelley. If you recall, Mr. Kelley wrote Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original.
In Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, pianist Randy Weston and bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik celebrated with song the revolutions spreading across Africa. In Ghana and South Africa, drummer Guy Warren and vocalist Sathima Bea Benjamin fused local musical forms with the dizzying innovations of modern jazz. These four were among hundreds of musicians in the 1950s and ’60s who forged connections between jazz and Africa that definitively reshaped both their music and the world. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Video , Africa, Ahmed Abdul-Malik, book, Guy Warren, literature, Randy Weston, Robin D.G. Kelley, Sathima Bea Benjamin
January 24, 2012 • 3:00 pm 2
Julius Hemphill – Dogon A.D.
The Dogon people are an ethnic group that primarily live in Mali, although some also live in Burkina Faso and Niger. They are known for their elaborate masks, masquerades and assorted art sculptures. The intricate artwork of the Dogon people is second to none, and it showcases a level of innovation that was only attributable to them. Julius Hemphill deciding to name his album and first track after them, is quite fitting. It should be noted that the A.D. does not stand for Anno Domini, but adaptive dance instead. The Dogon people usually altered their creative rituals to suit the tastes of tourists who came to see them. So there is a deeper meaning to the title. Make of that what you wish, but it’s pretty clear. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Video , Abdul Wadud, Baikida E.J. Carroll, Burkina Faso, Julius Hemphill, Mali, Niger, Ornette Coleman, Phillip Wilson
