she real cool

Be Advised

2009-06-29T23:52:00.005-04:00

My MacBook broke and the good folk at the Genius Bar had it, which is why I stopped blogging. Thanks be to them (and valid AppleCare) I have a shiny repaired laptop burning up my legs right now. Final Black Music Month Post demain.

Photo Credit: DJ Eucalyptus

The Listening: "Be Thankful for What You've Got"

2009-06-21T11:38:00.005-04:00

My job is to listen to people. 2-3 days a weeks I sit in a recording studio with strangers and record oral histories. I have heard the most disturbing and heartwarming things. I can't say I am always cheered by the heartwarming. Sometimes I'm jealous but I mask it with a polite pleasantness I pride myself in exemplifying and think about how I can move towards eradicating those petty feelings.

So today I want to shift towards thinking about the good in my Dad because there is a good deal of it. There is nothing I can do about his failings but wallow in them and that's proven toxic.

So although there are wonderful aspects of myself that are products of his influence, it's still hard to sincerely say Happy Father's Day, I will say to those equally torn, via William DeVaughn, be thankful for what you've got.

"Be Thankful for What You Got" [MP3]
William DeVaughn

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good."

The Listening: "Welcome to the Colored Section" & "Cloud 9"

2009-06-19T09:38:00.005-04:00

I knew when I began this exercise that Donnie would make my Juneteenth post but I couldn't decide between two songs from his debut, The Colored Section.

"Cloud 9," I listen to most often. It celebrates features of Blackness, like nappiness, that many of the most prideful seldom trumpet. Where much is made of us being hard on each other to preview and prepare for racism, "Cloud 9" takes the opposite approach.

Now "Welcome to the Colored Section" lands in exactly the same triumphant spot but takes a different journey. Soberly gospel from the opening piano solo on through, "Welcome..." distills our story, from that Black Atlantic valley through Black pride and comes to the most satisfying apogee.

So here are both but BUY THIS ALBUM. I got it for free years ago but since have bought multiple copies as gifts. It's brilliant.

"Cloud 9" [MP3]
"Welcome to the Colored Section" [MP3]
Donnie

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good."

The Listening: "Beyond"

2009-06-18T23:30:00.000-04:00

Intellectually, I understand that hip hop music can cover the waterfront but instinctually, when I hear the piano loop, JS-1's apt scratchwork and O.C.'s businesslike flow on "Beyond" I think, "Now, this is what hip hop is supposed to soundlike." Seriously, I've got doubles of this record. It goes hard.

"Beyond" [MP3]
OC & DJ JS-1

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good."

The Listening: "Why"

2009-06-17T08:00:00.009-04:00

Me and L'Erin used to sing this joint ALL THE TIME. I mean we were socially conscious kids but our performances were more hyperbolic than heartfelt. And looking at the video, the hard dancing, the Cross Colours, the HBCU sweatshirts, the earnestness, its everything those video soul/teen summit days were and those were some of the best times of my life.

You know, as No I.D. noted, albums aren't as cohesive as they had long been, I might argue that where the production is mish mash, the thematic content has narrowed. A lot of Black pop when I was growing was socially conscious without the stigma. Fashion too. Remember Cross Colours was "Clothing without prejudice." Maybe it was newness of crack, gang violence and HIV/Aids that made Black artists sing some occasional uplift.

Oh and peep the "tall" one from The Boys in the video.

"Why" [YouTube]
Small Change

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good."

The Listening: "Expect Your Miracle"

2009-06-16T11:34:00.005-04:00

My childhood church had four choirs: the Chancel Choir, which favored a classical repertoire, the Angel Choir comprised of the babies, the L.F. Greene or teen choir and the sanctuary favorites, the eponymous F.A.M.E. choir.

They along with their guitar & bass players, pianist, organist and multiple percussionists were in the loft two Sundays a month two services a day and ripped congregants from their red pews regularly. Off the top, I don't remember much of their repertoire except for "Move Mountain" and Clark Sisters' classic, "Expect Your Miracle." I loved how they'd break down the chorus by vocal range. The sopranos would hit, "I expect a miracle every day. God will make a way out of no way." Then the altos and so on until they reached the lowest register, which was the menfolk and maybe Sandra Jackson. That really got people hollering. We sort of expect a "feminine" voice in gospel so those deeper tones really made an impact.

More than that, the song was so simple and very uplifting in a vaguely Christian Joel Osteen way. You didn't feel bad about your faults, or anxious of evil or fearful of hell. It was about uplift and positive thinking and, of course, miracles. I'm thinking I should sing this each morning when I rise. Meet me in Riverside Park.

(I can't find an MP3 of this. If you have it, message me & is TVOne gonna replay their Unsung?)

"Expect Your Miracle" [YouTube]
The Dynamic Clark Sisters with Mattie Moss Clark

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good."

The Listening: "Azucar de Cana"

2009-06-15T21:36:00.004-04:00

I just finished watching American Experience's documentary on Roberto Clemente. His story is one of import to sports historians and Afro-Latinos. A Puerto Rican, his parents cut cane and as much as cotton, cane, or in Spanish, azúcar de caña, has helped define so many Africans and their descendants lives in America. Songwriters recognize this. My favorite song by Les Nubians is "Sugar Cane" and a dozen years ago I was introduced to Afro Peruvian music through Eva Ayllón's "Azúcar de Caña" from the compilation The Soul of Black Peru.

In 2008, I finally saw Eva Ayllón live, in Carnegie Hall of all places. She now lives in Jersey but is considered the Whitney Houston of Peru. And however dated that comparison is, the point is, she's a diva. I left with some photographs, a commitment to learning how to play the cajón but no memory of her singing this here song as it didn't make the set list.

"Azúcar de Caña" [MP3]
Eva Ayllón

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good."

The Listening: "Peace of Mind"

2009-06-14T22:04:00.003-04:00

I saw "UP" today. It's a love story. A life story too. Living well is really all about perspective and with it comes... Julie will sing you the rest.

This EP sounds nothing like her later output. She's now more on the nose R&B. I still like her but not like I did when I copped this from Earwax.

"Peace of Mind" [MP3]
Julie Dexter

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good."

The Listening: "Po' Folks"

2009-06-13T13:56:00.004-04:00

I know a little something 'bout being broke but this don't make me feel bad about it.

"Po' Folks" [M4A]
Nappy Roots

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good."

The Listening: "Love Poems"

2009-06-12T00:33:00.000-04:00

So I get star struck. I've shared a word with Andre 3000 back when he was Dre from Outkast, Big Boi too. I've run into Tracy Chapman, Maxwell and DJ Premier and each and every time I see someone whose music means something to me I get geeked.

I was relatively unselfconscious about it until I moved to New York. I believe it was the summer after my first year of graduate school at NYU and I went to see Bilal perform at the Jazz Standard.

I had long pledged allegiance to D'Angelo and still do but then it seemed like B was the heir. In fact, at first I thought it was D singing on "Soul Sista" when my friend Marcia played it off the Love & Basketball Soundtrack in her Spelman dorm room one evening.

So sitting through an intimate performance at Jazz Standard where he was joined by N'Dea Davenport was a treat. At show's end, he was loitering a few feet from me so I decided to get him to sign my program. I walked up to him, greeted him and made my requestst to which he screwfaced "why?"

I didn't have an answer. I wanted something to take home but can't imagine I articulated it all that well. I wasn't blogging then. I didn't have a camera. The program would have been my souvenir. Anyway, he laughed at me, signed the program and I walked away determined to throw it in the closest trash receptacle once I made it outside. I was embarassed and it felt wierd to feel shame about loving someone's music.

It's so New York to get played for fandom. I wish I hadn't kowtowed to the 5 boro endemic cool posturing but I have 'cause I don't like to feel bad.

But unfortunate encounter aside, I can't shake his music and I don't want to. I've his seen him performe countless times since and I've always been entertained and frequently catapulted to stratospheric heights. Dude's a force, a tremendous creative whose circle is just as strong.

I've always like "Love Poems" despite the spoken word breakdown. The vocal performance. The vocal arrangment. Here it is.

"Love Poems" [MP3]
Bilal

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good."

The Listening: "Set Me Free"

2009-06-11T23:29:00.002-04:00

My colleague Jeremy and I hopped on the F train after Joe Schloss' incredible book party at Powerhouse Arena this evening. He took it to Delancey to transfer to the J and I to 14th to hop on the 1. For the two stops we were together, he pulled out his iPod, cued it up, placed the buds in my ear and played this here song.

Now he watched me as I listened. I smiled expectantly as to not disappoint but wasn't optimistic. The beat dropped, I nodded and was quickly astounded by the caliber of soulfulness.

It's not often that I hear a new soul singer that impresses me but Blaire done did it with this one.

"Set Me Free" [MP3]
Monica Blaire

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good."

The Listening: "Strugglin"

2009-06-10T20:44:00.005-04:00

I reviewed First Contact last year for eMusic and I fell in love with "Strugglin."

When one is going through it, acknowledgement is comforting, so is help, better it be unsolicited.

I don't ask for help. As I've seen it, folk can't disappoint you if you don't provide them with opportunity. And so here the band sings what I'd love to hear but won't request.

You know, It's been one of those days. I don't know that anyone I know I could help but my help receptors are so weak that I don't even know how to apply it when offered so I went to church and took a mini walk with "Casa Bey" : "...miracles and answered prayers."

"Strugglin" [MP3]
Stone Mecca

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good."

The Listening: "Millions"

2009-06-09T23:44:00.003-04:00

All my Facebook friends are commenting, liking and/or unliking Jenée Desmond-Harris' recent opinion piece at the Root, "What Single Women Can Learn From Michelle." I didn't care for its suggestion that single Black women need to get more realistic about their romantic prospects. It would be an insult to me to know that it took a dose of 'reality' for a guy to pursue me. I don't think that God intends us all to chase after the Gabrielle Unions/Morris Chestnuts and finding oneself with, let's say, an Alfre Woodard or a Joe Morton isn't a fail. We are individuals with unique chemistry and desires that we sublimate for other people's pretty sexy, cool.

As for Muhsinah's "Millions," I crack up every time I hear her begin with "You're close to spectacular." Style would call that a neg. Close to? Why qualify? Of course, Muhsinah follows with, "how on earth did you land next to me?" which empties it of all the funkiness. It's flattery. We get it. But it's also self-deprecating. Not that I haven't or couldn't still feel the same but why wouldn't mr. "close-to-spectacular" be right there next to her or me for that matter. Why wouldn't he chose her out of all of those seeds?

I think we can be present to superficiality, the standards of attractiveness and gender roles most of us have been bred to want, and still call shenanigans.

If I fall for dude with a penchant for highwaters and a less than regular appointment at the barber shop, that's not lowering my standards, that's love. And I love how the beat flips.

"Millions" [MP3]
Muhsinah

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good."

The Listening: "360° (What Goes Around)"

2009-06-08T21:12:00.011-04:00

"I don't dis' nobody to be be somebody. I just like to kick the flavor to make the people party."

I love everything about this song and accompanying video: the young men dancing (Brand Nubian always had the BEST dancing in their videos), the colorful polo shirts, the knapsack before backpacks had baggage, the jubilant party scene. I want to say Puba was a style icon but I used to see plenty of models in the style section of the Source in similar apparel. I read it faithfully and I still want a Helly Hansen jacket; I think it would set off a casual fall 'fit quite nicely.

More can be said of the video's party scene. The girls are clothed but that was the style then. What's most important is that they are not in great number gesticulating while paunchy rap entourages bust champagne bottles all over their baby oil gelled bodies (irrespective of Grand Puba admission that he "usually busts records on getting buck naked.") They're bopping from side to side like everyone else and the camera is rightly not trained on their physical assets. I don't think we should take the visual disparity between Puba's debut solo single and what we have been looking and listening to regularly since 'round about "Vivrant Thing"." Videos like this made me want to be a part of something, made me feel apart of something with no bitter aftertaste.

And then there is the music. Shit is straight buoyant (and it sourced Natural Resource's "Negro League Baseball.") Puba's a longstanding master wordsmith from penning Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth's "The Creator" right on through his work with Brand Nubian. He integrates politics and play seamlessly and not only is his nasally voice distinctive but his judicious intonation too. His sense of humor and confidence seal the deal. I love Grand Puba.

"360 (What Goes Around) [MP3]
Grand Puba

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good." - Common

The Listening: "I Need You"

2009-06-07T00:53:00.005-04:00

I remembered I loved this song when I heard it today in Atomic Wings. Fret not, veteran vegetarian I remain, I just had to pee.

I've never purchased an Alicia Keys album even as I saw incoming freshman at Spelman crib her style and blast her debut from the campus' brick dorms many evenings, it wasn't 'til "You Don't Know My Name," that I was even compelled to download an mp3. Although I've seen her kill at Radio City Hall and sang along to "Unbreakable" on many a car ride with the fam or dusk walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, it might have taken hearing this song this sunny weekend workday to make me a believer. Maybe it's where I am right now. Maybe it's my penchant for the passionate or just a little latent neediness but "north needs south, east needs west and no needs yes, yes, yes. Up needs down, life needs death and no needs yes, yes, yes. I need you..."

I love the drums and keyboards.

"I Need You" [MP3]
Alicia Keys

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good." - Common

The Listening: "Someday I'll Find You"

2009-06-06T18:00:00.001-04:00

I can't provide context. I just learned who Noël Coward was courtesy of Wikipedia. As for biracial British soul singer Shola Ama, this is the only song I have heard by her and I have loved it since spending half an afternoon at a Sha Tin HMV listening station being enveloped by her voice.

What I can say is how distinctive Ama's nineties version (see the video here) is from this thirties version, that although I bought Twentieth Century Blues that afternoon, I don't think I have ever listened to the album in full and I don't know if believe Shola's "I'll find you," but I like hearing her claim it.

"Someday I'll Find You" [M4A]
Shola Ama

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good." - Common

The Listening: "Uhuru Sasa"

2009-06-05T00:00:00.003-04:00

A couple of years ago, the manager of and up & coming woman producer picked me up from my Park Slope apartment and drove me to Staten Island to interview her client. As we headed south on seventh avenue in her SUV, I huffed at daily annoyance. In a neighborhood overrun with white children, the nannies seemed to be almost exclusively Black. It pissed me off and I let it me known. The manager, pretty damn riled up herself, then questioned what better job is available to immigrant women, many older and undocumented, with little formal education. And she revealed that her mother, a Jamaican immigrant, long worked as a nanny.

Now my disdain for seeing little white babies suckling at Black teets had never been directed toward the women, or entirely the babies (maybe a little towards the babies), but a positioning. The bile that rises in my throat is shot there in anger over all the life generations of women who look like me couldn't live for tending to the families of others. Sometimes I think I would live outside of the law before I ever tended to a white child but that is spoken from the pivilege of never having had to consider such employment. So many Black women, past and present, didn't/don't have much of a choice.

Walking through Macy's today, Andy Bey, in his old gig as the voice of Gary Bartz NTU Troop, came through my headphones singing what I felt that day, what I feel most days about this subject.

"Hell no! I won't raise your children and you no more. Hell no! Because I've got some children of my own to raise up."

I'm not going to be able to do it. Love to the children of the world but we can't always be the ones to dispense it. But when some of us do, be certain that your snarl doesn't wound who it aims to liberate. Uhuru Sasa ("Freedom Now" in Kiswahili).

"Uhuru Sasa" [MP3]
Gary Bartz NTU Troop

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good." - Common

For more on Gary Bartz, see my VIBE interview.

The Listening: "Do You Remember"

2009-06-03T22:17:00.009-04:00

In my first semester at NYU, I took a course taught by Robin Kelley on the African Diaspora. There was an assignment, a written response, a journal entry or maybe an annotated bibliography, that I was to complete on the subject broadly and I invoked this here song. It took the form of a question as if no one else could recognize the tentacles extending from Scott's music to negritude broadly. Kelley noted in the margins on my paper that he heard where she was coming from as well and it learned me how easily one's "aha" can be another's "oh yeah."

"Do You Remember" gives voice, multi-octave assured and playful Black woman voice, to a shared past and taut, sometimes tenuous partnerships. Common put it this way, "It's the Black upon each other that we love so much."

"Do You Remember" [MP3]
Jill Scott

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good." - Common

The Listening: "Soul Clap"

2009-06-03T04:32:00.009-04:00

Early this morn, A.G., of Showbiz & A.G. fame, took part in the Roots Jam Session at the Highline Ballroom in New York City. The veteran Bronx emcee was accompanied by two equally light skinned (I don't know about their hair) hype men and performed a song off of the new Jay Stay Paid album. I sat at my balcony table frightened. I was concerned that in his cornrowed and grown stance he might just pass on performing stellar throwbacks for his new shit.

And then the Roots crew and guests segued into "Soul Clap" and I hopped up, cupped my palms together in appropriate frequency and commenced to rapping most every line. I was never as fastidious about memorizing lyrics as boys still are so I tripped up a few times. Despite my euphoria, I noticed that few others were on my level. There was barely a head nod in the sea of folk below. I mean, I guess they're young and I'm not mad at them for being born later but it just didn't feel right to hear something so spectacular and foundational fall on dumb ears.

I'm also linking "Next Level" 'cause when and where I make it, whatever shape that takes, I will ascend whatever rostrum/dais to "Brothers can't believe how the skills have gotten." Not to mention, I've always thought it would make a good ring tone. (The video was the business too. Ain't it make New York look appealing?)

"Soul Clap" [MP3]
Showbiz & A.G.

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good." - Common

The Listening: "Everlasting Love"

2009-06-02T20:43:00.009-04:00

I know it sounds dated but that doesn't take away from its strength or that of the burly-voiced Tony Terry and it's not just nostalgia. While the late eighties/early nineties soulsters style has not preserved its cool, I think there is something to that brand of love song (See my earlier Tony Terry post at VIBE). It's unselfconscious. It's without hedge or posture. It's wedding song material, perfectly crafted for exaggerated slow dance. And, yes, I do like the opening horn solo.

"Everlasting Love" [MP3]
Tony Terry

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good." - Common

The Listening: "Be There"

2009-06-01T10:42:00.009-04:00

I became interested in the late Donny Hathaway's catalog after Common's One Day it Will All Make Sense with all that talk of a stolen tape. "Be There" took a while to adhere but now it's a daily necessity. When I listen, I see a young woman on screen circa 1971 skipping through a lunch hour Manhattan people jam in a tawny skirt suit with embellished blouse, pirouetting to a stop at a Don't Walk sign and lifting her arms skyward in abandon as a camera closes in on her chestnut face. And with that, I'll make a plea for more wistful Black film.

Since this song considers the mechanics of romantic relationship, I must call attention to the second freshest event of this year so far, following and embodied by Obama's ascent, and that was Black Love in Public.

"Be There" [MP3]
Donny Hathaway

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good." - Common

The Listening: Black Music Month

2009-06-01T07:42:00.013-04:00

It is out of sleeplessness that I am unmuting this blog. Fortuitous that schemes of coming up on Pro Tools for cheap, scheduling/recording interviews for my forthcoming podcast and securing a freelance gig or two should wake my weekend worn body early on Black Music Month morn.

I will be leaving New York soon for New England and if there has been one grand Gotham achievement it has been consumption. I mean the culture is what brought me here. It certainly wasn't the grind, the brusqueness, the cold.

The only way I know how to catalog my life here is in (relationship to) shows: Wingate Field, SOB's rap reunion concerts, Apollo theatre revelations, Blue Note supergroups.

But I wasn't cool. I had drama at the doors and there have been so many where I comprised a 1/4 or more of the audience. Still I wrote to record not just where I was and what I heard but that I was there.

This month I'll spotlight some of the music that I've walked with. For every day of this transitional month, I'll share a song for download/stream.

"...Black music is Black music and it's all good..." - Common

jet lag

2009-05-14T01:45:00.003-04:00

so plying my memory for folks to plug into search engines. how is it that in this day and age there are some people who are ungoogleable?

Sitting Up in Her Room

2009-05-04T17:11:00.008-04:00

I have spent the last 6 days in a hospital room on a reclining chair to the right of my mom's hospital bed. I cried briefly when her colleague called me from the Virginia Mason ER 7 days ago and a few minutes later on the phone with one of her good friends to relay her condition and location. She told me to pull it together and I haven't let a tear fall since.

I sleep a couple hours of interrupted sleep a night in the reclining chair. The nurses visit nightly to check vitals, replaces IV's and perform other medical rituals. The chattier one tells us about the sharecropping farm her family owned in the south and her family's generosity to the Blacks that worked it or the Haitian woman in a New Jersey hospital she once worked who wouldn't allow her to insert an IV into her faintly visible veins.

In the morning, I help her get ready because in addition to the pulmonary emboli that landed her here, she has a broken ankle and twisted knee. It's a crack of dawnish start but she's an early riser.

I walk to Madison Market for lunch most days, tracing my way back downtown through the gentrified blocks encircling the old Black church that raised me looking for drunks, the raggedy white vegans that ran my favorite cafe and Black folks but finding nothing colored but blooming tulips.

Otherwise, I sit at her right and ask how she's doing, set up her tray for meals, ask her to to turn the channel from MSNBC and hand her gossip rags since they're better hospital reading than the Seattle Times my uncle brings or the TIME and Newsweek's her friend Dee drops by.

There are a lot of flowers in here. A monstrous arrangement for her colleagues, roses from Auntie Lynn, multicolored tulips from me, orchid and other species I don't know from folks I can't right now recall.

There are a lot of visitors too. My mom's warm and chatty and civically and ecumenically involved. On a phone conversation a few weeks ago I asked her what she did that day. She said she had taken organic lemonade to some local firefighters or construction workers, I can't recall which, 'cause it was hot.

I snapped at her this morning. I had just washed my pimply face with some Cetaphil I picked up from the Bartell's down the street. As I made way back to the reclining chair, she summoned be back to the basin to dry it. When I told her to chill on the nagging, she said that her request didn't warrant such a snippety response. It was hard to press my point, her being in a hospital bed and all.

Now I'm watching over her things, the credit cards and couple hundred dollars of cash in her wallet, blackberries, cellphones, this laptop that I'm blogging on courtesy of Virginia Mason's free wifi, while she gets a stress test. Her EKG is slightly abnormal and she had tightness in her chest last night but they say she'll be home tomorrow. My uncle, here three days from Kansas, is preparing to welcome her back with some Nigerian dish she apparently likes and I've never heard of. It probably won't be vegetarian and even if it is, I probably won't eat it.

We are trying to get her to move from her old rental on an unlit, tree-canopied, Lake Forest Park dead end street to a small 1 story centralized condo. We've been trying. Now she seems with it. She's too far from her friends. My sister and I been left. She can't be out there by herself.

I wanted to blog 'cause I was tired of reading celebrity's business on the gossip blogs I gave up for lent or trawling twitter for something to reply to. I wish I had had a transcript of an interview to work from, notes on a concert or a film, to spark some admiration or outrage but it's just me. I'm hoping she gets back soon so I can take a passport photo before the rain comes. My curls won't last and I want a half-decent picture.

Dip Dip Dodge

2009-01-24T00:06:00.003-05:00

Let me be so clear. The serenity prayer is serious and I ain't said it in I don't know how long. I feel really blessed to be at peace in the '09 in spite of my bad habits and short temper and the uncertainty circling my personal and professional life. I feel my notoriously poor judgement improving and ever present to the opportunities that continue to come by way. As the sanctified say, I'm too blessed to be stressed. Inhabit that. Pass it on.

Emancipation

Corncob constellation,
oyster shell, drawstring pouch, dry bones.

Gris gris in the rafters.
Hoodoo in the sleeping nook.
Mojo in Linda Brent’s crawlspace.

Nineteenth century corncob cosmogram
set on the dirt floor, beneath the slant roof,
left intact the afternoon
that someone came and told those slaves

“We’re free.”
~Elizabeth Alexander

And then there is Tuesday's.

Joy to Be

2008-12-04T17:05:00.006-05:00

Barry hasn't turned out to be the leader I'd hoped he'd be but I'm still happy and eager to bear witness to history. DC is gonna be complicated though. As of now, we are planning to come down that morn from Philly Philly since driving from NY is just too much. Hoping to catch a glimpse of 'Chele in one these ensembles:

I like this silhouette from Koi Suwannagate although I suspect it won't be colorful enough for the former ms. robinson.

I like what MJ did too. She's got space enough for her hips but its still streamlined.

The Food

2008-11-26T00:53:00.002-05:00

There is comfort in calories and therapy in the little triangle between my stove top, fridge and island. Glad that Thanks' is upon us though I don't have but the holiday off and a backlog of things to do. As I shared il ya deux ans, voici le menu.

Thanks' 2008 chez Burrell

Collard Greens (Although a melanin-forward negress, I've never made them)
Apple Cranberry Cornbread Stuffing
Mashed New Potatoes w/ Fresh Mint
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cranberry Brown Soy Butter
Quorn Turk'y Roast (A thousand times "No!" to nasty ass Tofurkey)
Vegan Gravy
Tofu Cheesecake with Shortbread Crust
Moscato-Roasted Pears and Cider-Poached Apples

Paired w/
Corbières Premier Pas Domaine des Deux Anes
Colombelle Vin de Pays des Cotes de Gascogne

Hate to tell the story again and again but even in tryptophan's absence I can get sluggish. Here's hoping some grateful meditation and a Black Friday evening with Gothenburg's finest will coast me through the rest of blessed '08.

The Egrets Are Landing

2008-11-25T20:30:00.000-05:00

If there is a hint of the splayed white glove we hear in so many euro soulsters in Little Dragon, I can't tell. I'm shamed it took a July assignment and Moya for me to find them. (Yes, listening to new music has for some time become arduous.) I wish I would have stumbled upon the fresh quartet on my own so that I could turn my flat nose to the ground at all you ne'er heard of thems. But be dears and see them at (Le) Poisson Rouge Black Friday. With "Pushing Daisies" downed, I need something quirky to take flight (other than my peoples).

Made of 'Steem

2008-11-05T00:33:00.003-05:00

So this great day in a drizzly day after I'm cursing my personal history. Blame it on the 'book. Those updates invite peeks in on former friend's lives and all the fun they are having. I don't communicate with but a handful of my 363. Mostly, they serve as little e-reminders of my own shit and isolation.

Change is good. I get it. I am ready to be rerouted but even if I were to dump my baggage, I may not be able to cocoa butter away the bruises caused by all those years of haphazard toting . It's not that I wish I was better, there are plenty worse who are living golden, but that I felt better.*

*(I am not depressed. Thanks.)

Fulton Was Going Nuts

2008-11-05T00:11:00.002-05:00

as was Lafayette and S. Portland.

Illadelph...

2008-11-02T22:38:00.002-05:00

FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING – OBAMA NEEDS YOU IN PHILLY ON ELECTION DAY….

Three buses on Election Day from Brooklyn straight to our work location in Philly-- tickets $21 at www.cbidems.org

Three times during the day -- 5:45, 7:45, 10:45, back by 6 pm, 8 pm, and 11 pm respectively.

All buses leave from Pacific Street between Flatbush and 4th Avenue (behind the Modell's/PC Richards parking lot). If the bus must move at police request, the driver will wait on 4th Avenue, alongside PC Richards. Nearest subways: 2,3,4,(5 on Tuesday only), M,N,Q,D (B on Tuesday only) to Atlantic/Pacific. C to Lafayette; G to Fulton.

Source: Kim Smith PR

Clowning

2008-10-28T04:11:00.003-04:00

My 'hood. See pull quote...

One Dead, 4 Hurt in Brooklyn Hair Salon Shooting

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Two armed men stormed into a beauty salon on Monday with their guns blazing, shot a man to death and wounded four other people, including an off-duty police officer who was getting her hair done, authorities said.

The man who died had been standing outside a bakery on a busy commercial strip in Brooklyn on Monday afternoon when the two armed men jumped out of a sport utility vehicle, charged toward him and started shooting, police said. The man, who was 19, fled into the nearby De Lux Gallery salon on Fulton Street, and the armed men followed and kept shooting, they said.

At least 10 shots were fired, witnesses said.

The 41-year-old off-duty officer was shot in the right foot. A 29-year-old stylist at the salon, which is next to a restaurant and other stores in the Fort Greene neighborhood, was shot in the legs. Two bystanders, both 52 years old, also were shot in their legs.

The wounded victims were hospitalized in stable condition.

The shooters escaped and were being sought, police said. No motive for the shooting was cited.

A city councilwoman who saw the shooting said people on the crowded street ran and ducked for cover.

"It was just pandemonium,'' Councilwoman Letitia James said.

The hair salon's Web site calls the neighborhood "idyllic.''

Cococurious: Maxwell at Radio City Music Hall

2008-10-10T09:53:00.004-04:00

This is the listing I wrote, which for whatever reason didn't run.

Maxwell introduced a new vocabulary with his nineties soul excursions: 1996’s Urban Hang Suite, the inaugural and most impressive and “Luxury: Cococure,” from his sophomore album Embrya, the most representative of his whimsical iteration of Black intimacy unbound and masculinity unwound. The man and his “mellowsmoothe”—to whom it may be slipped is of elaborate fantasy to fans still seizing at his rendition of Al Green’s “Simply Beautiful” at this year’s BET Awards—disarmed before disappearing. This resurgent performance promises to impress and preview some of the music his label’s been sitting on and supposedly poised to release.

I'll post a full review at VIBE by the end of the day but in the meantine, check my flickr slideshow below.

Invisible and/or Subordinate: Barry O. and Blackness on the Verge of the Presidency

2008-08-29T16:07:00.008-04:00

"No, not the stiff arm."

I posted my disappointment over Barry O's acceptance speech over at VIBE and then I came across this post at Sandra Rose. Apparently, Cornel West and I are kindred in our evaluation of Obama's address.

"...the Black freedom movement is at the core of American democracy. It has been the major means by which democratic possibilities have expanded for every citizen. So you can't think that somehow you're being American by holding blackness somehow invisible or subordinate."

-Cornel West in conversation with Julianne Malveaux on "Tavis Smiley Show."

For my thoughts, see Hello, Babar.

"The new moon rode high in the crown of the metropolis..."

2008-08-26T02:09:00.003-04:00

"...shining like, 'Who on top of this?!'"

In response to Ferentz's post about New York.

Also Rises

2008-08-24T01:44:00.002-04:00

I work on weekends now and its the pits. I would love to see one of my favorite singers, Gretchen Parlato, today at the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, not to mention Randy Weston, but I'll be at work.

Saturday's are my Sunday's these days and I got nothing done. I got into a funky mood early afternoon and didn't want to be myself and I write alone so I didn't write.

2008-08-21T23:57:00.003-04:00

I don't like the overly manicured, ever poised, fastidiously groomed, hollow handshake types. Pristine voices don't do much for me either. That's partly why I love Joi so damn much. Check this pic swiped from Bossip. From the the shiny blemished forehead, to the dookie braids to the oversized, poorly adhered faux eyelashes. I LOVES IT.

Pic Source: Bossip

Bad Meaning Bad

2008-08-03T22:22:00.000-04:00

Step Brothers

An Unlikely Pair

2008-07-25T23:57:00.003-04:00

I should know these things but '76 predated me and my big sis and Mom and Dad weren't big into Funkadelic. I like reflective pools and rhetoricals when short on the saccharine, so this is right up my alley. I'll probably dl and zen out across the BK Bridge early tomorrow before I tether myself to the laptop for the rest of the day in service of these deadlines.

Ba.ha.ma.dia

2008-07-22T00:56:00.000-04:00

Demain. Brower Park. Free. 7pm. Gyeah!

2 for the Show...

2008-07-19T23:01:00.002-04:00

Anyone see Jeff Redd and Horace Brown at the South Street Seaport Thurs? That was so the place to be but I was at work.

Grrrrreat!

2008-07-06T00:40:00.001-04:00

More here.

Little Gestures

2008-07-04T23:08:00.008-04:00

So the super-calafragilistic-espialadocious stylist at my neighborhood salon, Keith, walked up to damp haired me during a particularly busy pre-Fourth of July Thursday evening stretch and remarked, "You have a beautiful mane." He added, "It's inspiring." Then my extra-professional and no-nonsense stylist Eric flat-ironed and layered my hair for free to my great surprise in return for me picking up some Ledisi tickets for him a few weeks back. I was bone tired and hadn't eaten all day but it gave me enough energy to see my cousin off at her going away party in the meatpacking, for a few minutes at least. I tried to banter from my perch at the end of the baquette but I couldn't hear anything and I was too tired to yell small talk. They tried their best to integrate me into the fold but I slurred my anecdotes like I'd been drinking and sounded a hot mess. I'm pooped.

PS-"Wanted" was kind of wack.

Sojourners Still

2008-06-25T10:08:00.003-04:00

"Children Playing London Bridge," William H. Johnson

It seems, we spend so much time, as a community, worrying about saving our young black males, that we often forget about the young black females. Many of them are just as angry as the young black males that everyone is focusing on. And many of them are being impacted -- greatly -- by the anger of young black males.
~Lynne d Johnson

I had to call attention to this important point, one of many, from Lynne d Johnson's recap of one of the panels in the to be aired as part of CNN's Black in America series. Black girls and women are persistently marginalized, even in their own minds, in public policy and public discourse for the hysteria over the very real threats to Black men. But what about the very real threats to us (some by them)?!?!

Max Factor

2008-06-24T22:25:00.009-04:00

So full disclosure: I stalked Maxwell for 5 minutes. I was on East Houston street. I spotted him in front of Indochine. Some chick he knew and her friend stopped to say hello. He stopped and greeted her. Her friend offered her hand in introduction, he kissed it. He's just that type of guy (he's also tall unlike your average celebrity). So I followed him down Elizabeth street and telephoned/texted many. I stopped around Café Habana when I regained my senses.

In the dry spell since his last release, I've heard rumors that he worshipped the devil and required all his dates to submit to tarot readings. I've also heard rumors that he was gay. Let it be known that whether he be gay or straight, a devil-worshiper, Christian, Sufi or Buddhist, folk are pining for good soul music. Compared to the staid and so so Rev. Al Green covers by Jill Scott and Anthony Hamilton, two talented performers in their own right, Maxwell murdered "Simply Beautiful" tonight on the BET Awards and reminded me so much of his absence. Cococure! More on the BET Awards at VIBE.

Update. The video of Maxwell's performance below:

Pic Source: Concrete Loop

The Purpose-Driven Loss

2008-06-22T20:22:00.013-04:00

Having in one life quadrant learned little and known better, my mind clings to bold declarations: “My next move could possibly be the end of you”. “I’m gonna find you and make you want me too” was the puffed out tween iteration. History seems to have proven that Ms. Hill was faking it just long enough to collect a Grammy in loc extensions and hysterics, begging the question, who made it? But I’m not gonna call on Ma’at, oh or woa. Life doesn’t respond to query but action. I’ve been learned just loathe to apply, fearful, complacent.

That was yesterday. Today I'm stuck on the 8:00 AM service for which I was predictably tardy (second offering late, not benediction late). Pastor, not mine--I'm in limbo since Dr. Forbes retired at Riverside--had us recall those instances where we were pushed out, fired, dumped, vanquished. No hands were raised or heads nodded 'cause it's just not that type of borough, in the same way that passers-by don't smile or speak. But then he suggested that if not for the shove, for the door hitting what the good lord split, we wouldn't move. Thanks to the push out, we can press on.

Sweets in the Streets

2008-06-20T17:17:00.005-04:00

Vegan brownie
Originally uploaded by Mitsooko

MoveOn.org has organized over 700 Bake Sales across the country this Saturday to help fund their efforts to elect Barack Obama, or as I like to call him Barry O. I am baking vegan treats for one of the Fort Greene Bake Sales. So come check it out. I or my sweets will be at the corner of South Elliott Place and Fulton Street, which is just a block down Fulton from Habana Outpost, from 11:30 AM on.

Since I'm a Francophile pining to get back to Paris, I must note how NYC has finally jumped on the Fête de la Musique bandwagon with its ~~inaugural~~ 2nd annual Make Music New York all day free festival happening SATURDAY as well. I've got a few acts I got to check out for work but intend to roam the city pretty willy nilly. Sadly, in Paris me and the crew decided to trail after our French/African homie who had a knack for leading us to parties/performances just as they were dissipating. So our fête was spent on the RER, and the po po's predictably acted a fool damn near hemming me up, thank God for the closing train doors, for taking pictures of them harassing coloreds.

Check the Calendar here. Maybe I missed it, but wouldn't it make more sense to offer the schedule in a matrix format and make it printer-friendly?

Speaking Freely

2008-06-17T21:34:00.007-04:00

"And that's when I knew I had transcended the peanut butter and jelly sandwich over to the Boston Celtics."
-Kevin Garnett tonight on ABC sports commenting on Ray Allen's adoption of Garnett's pre-game PB&J snack.

Garnett, God bless him, but I think he meant "transferred", "transported" even. He's still better than Jordan and certainly, an improvement over Magic "he thowed the ball" Johnson. I'd be willing to tutor NBA basketball players. I think I have unique insight as a recidivist and self-aware malapropper. I'd charge reasonable rates. I think speech coaches, or better yet a finishing school for athletic overachievers, are a much more valuable investment than Zegna suits for the league's image. I imagine even the athletes with sensible parents were so preternaturally successful as to preclude home training. Now, all I need is an audience with David Stern.

And I'm ecstatic over the Celtic victory. Who would have ever thought, late eighties/early nineties Lakers fan that I and my fam was, that I would ever root for the Celtics. Blame it on Kobe.

Help

2008-06-17T11:38:00.004-04:00

I've been googling for a few minutes and came up with nothing. Could anybody direct me to where I can report a triflin' landlord/management company and thus compel them to fix the problem? The wiring in our bldg has proved faulty and therefore in half my apt the outlets don't work and haven't since I left for Philly damn hear two weeks ago. (I swear if one more person tells me to fiddle with my circuit breaker it's gonna be some shit. It's NOT an issue that can be resolved by fiddling with the circuit breaker.) They are unwilling to address this issue and send an electrician. Cheap bastards! To whom do I report them? How can I get them to fix it? It has to be against the law to not provide access to electricity through faulty wiring. Right? Somebody help.

Duly Noted

2008-06-15T19:53:00.004-04:00

Photo credit: J Dubbya

I was at Wonder-FULL. I jumped on stage with Stevie. Yes. Stevie. He was there as many of you may have heard. I sweated out my hair and danced barefoot even though I'm a germaphobe. Good shit. More on it over at VIBE. Also check my thought on Kells.

Pas une bonne idée

2008-06-15T19:39:00.004-04:00

Photo credit: AP Photo/Bill Waugh

Coyle's rundown of Rock's act isn't any different from mine at the turn of 2008, still it's impressive that Rock rocked sixty thou at Bonnaroo (maybe next year) and depressing that he hasn't cut that dumb ass joke at which I took umbrage about Black women being too ball-bustingly aggressive to be first lady. The Tiger Woods reference is new though. Still love Chris.

Chris Rock performs for Bonnaroo masses

By JAKE COYLE

MANCHESTER, Tenn. (AP) — Comedians will often talk about "the room" — how it feels, whether it's good or not, how to work it.

Chris Rock played to a room Friday night that few comedians could command. Rock performed his act in front of tens of thousands on the main stage of the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Following him was Metallica, who had the benefit of screeching guitars, a dynamic light show and pyrotechnics.

Rock had only himself and a microphone, but nevertheless appeared to have the festival crowd hanging on his every punch line. Addressing the Bonnaroo crowd, which has traditionally been on the hippy side since it was founded in 2002, Rock mock-chastised them for taking what he called "performance enhancing drugs."

"You all should be ashamed of yourselves for taking an antidepressant to see a comedian," said Rock. "I am an antidepressant!"

For Bonnaroo, Rock didn't do much to tailor his act, which he's lately been touring. He recently took the "No Apologies" tour abroad where he in London set a record for the largest standup performance in the United Kingdom with a crowd of about 14,500.

However many were there for his show Friday it was surely more than the London audience; the festival typically draws nearly 80,000 and the majority of Friday's festival-goers watched Rock perform. Metallica's Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett introduced Rock while many of the other comedians performing at the festival — Zach Galifianakis and Brian Posehn among them — watched from backstage, naturally curious at how Rock would work the outsized room.

Rock quickly launched into politics and the presidential candidates' false claims of modesty.

"How many Kanye injections must you endure" to decide you should be president, Rock joked, referring to Kanye West, who was to perform late Saturday night at Bonnaroo.

Some of Rock's best material was about the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, who Rock supports. The comedian said he was impressed by Obama's unmistakable blackness, joking that his name makes him sound like "the bass player for the Commodores."

Though Rock thinks America is "ready" for a black president, he doesn't think it's ready for a black First Lady. When the crowd oohed, Rock insisted, "Yeah, I said it. At Bonnaroo I said it." His reason? Rock believes a black woman could never be in the background of a relationship, and that Obama would have been better off marrying a white woman: "Look what it did for Tiger Woods," he said.

One of Rock's best bits came while discussing rising gas prices despite the war in Iraq, which some predicted would help keep oil under control.

"Let me tell you something," said Rock. "If I invade IHOP, pancakes are going to be cheaper in my house."

EXTRA Wonder-FULL Ticket

2008-06-12T09:27:00.001-04:00

Got an extra one, message me if you want to buy.

Vision Festival

2008-06-10T16:09:00.003-04:00

These panels and performances look stellar. I was gonna see Thurgood tomorrow but might postpone to go to the panel tomorrow on New Orleans.

Vision Festival XIII: The Premier American AvantJazz Festival

At Clemente Soto Velez
107 Suffolk Street
between Rivington and Delancey
Take F to Delancey or J, M, Z to Essex Street

For more info visit Vision Festival
For advance tickets visit at Brown Paper Tickets
or 800-838-3006
To support our $100,000 matching grant visit our Contribution Page
http://www.visionfestival.org/

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC - PANEL DISCUSSIONS
Wednesday, June 11th at 5pm / Friday, June 13th at 5pm / Sunday, June 15th at 3pm

Wednesday, June 11th at 5pm
NEW ORLEANS: Culture, Crisis, and Community

Moderator:Larry Blumenfeld – journalist

Panelists: Kalamu ya Salaam - Poet/activist; Kent Jordan - Musician/educator; Josh Neufeld - Cartoonist/Red Cross volunteer; Emmanuel Pratt - Urban planning researcher/digital media artist

Friday, June 13th at 5pm

JAZZ FACTIONS: Exploring ways that we can build bridges and strengthen our creative musical community

Moderator: Michael Heller

Panelists: Onaje Allan Gumbs - Pianist; Christian Mcbride - Bassist; Craig Harris – Trombonist; Connie Crothers – Pianist; William Parker – Bassist; Jim Staley – Trombone; Pauline Oliveros – Accordion; Rick White - Producer

Sunday, June 15th at 3pm

NYC: Building Arts in the Community

Moderator: Taylor Ho Bynum – Musician and Organizer

Panelists: Paul Bartlett - Community board 3 cultural liaison; Esther Robinson – Founder of ArtHome, an advocacy group for artist housing; Patricia N. Parker – Producer of Arts for Art and RUCMA; James Keepnews - Arts organizer *Other panelists TBA

PERFORMANCES

Day 1: Tuesday, June 10th
Main Stage 7:00 p.m.
Opening Invocation featuring Hamid Drake, Patricia Nicholson and William Parker

7:30 p.m.
Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet
Taylor Ho Bynum, cornet
Matt Bauder, tenor sax and clarinet
Mary Halvorson, guitar
Evan O'Reilly, guitar
Jessica Pavone, violin and bass
Tomas Fujiwara, drums

8:30 p.m.
Dave Douglas & Magic Circle
Dave Douglas, trumpet
Uri Caine, piano
Bryan Carrott, vibes

9:30 p.m.
The Nu Band
Mark Whitecage, alto sax and clarinet
Roy Campbell, trumpet
Joe Fonda, bass
Lou Grassi, drums

10:30 p.m.
Mark Dresser Duo
Mark Dresser, bass
Denman Maroney, piano

Milagro
8:15 p.m.
Vision of New York: Projections of Vision Festival XII photos by Luciano Rossetti

9:15 p.m.
K.J. Holmes & David Moss (within "Lunar" by Kazuko Miyamoto)
K.J. Holmes, dance / David Moss, bass

10:15 p.m. "Untitled Durational Painting," video art projection by Bill Mazza

Day 2: Wednesday, June 11th
Lifetime Achievement Celebration of Edward "Kidd" Jordan

Main Stage
7:00 p.m. Jordan/Bluiett/Burrell
Kidd Jordan, tenor sax
Hamiet Bluiett, baritone sax
Dave Burrell, piano

7:45 p.m.
Bang/Jordan/Parker/Drake
Billy Bang, violin
Kidd Jordan, tenor sax
William Parker, bass
Hamid Drake, drums

8:30 p.m.
Jordan/Fielder Ensemble
Kidd Jordan, tenor sax
Clyde Kerr, trumpet
Joel Futterman, piano
William Parker, bass
Alvin Fielder, drums

9:15 p.m.
New Orleans Pays Tribute to Kidd Jordan
Kent Jordan, flute
Marlon Jordan, trumpet
Donald Harrison, alto sax
Darrell Lavigne, piano
Brian Quezergue, bass
Alvin Fielder, drums
Maynard Chatters, piano strings

10:15 p.m.
Anderson/Jordan/Parker/Drake
Fred Anderson, tenor sax
Kidd Jordan, tenor sax
William Parker, bass
Hamid Drake, drums

Milagro
5:00 p.m. [Free Admission]
Panel: The Role of Art in the Healing of New Orleans

7:30 p.m.
Projection of photos of Kidd Jordan by Michael Wilderman

8:15 p.m.
Spoken word by Kalamu Ya Salaam

10:00 p.m.
Projection of photos of Kidd Jordan by Michael Wilderman

Day 3: Thursday, June 12th

Main Stage
7:30 p.m.
Oliver Lake's New Quintet Project
Oliver Lake, alto sax
Peck Allmond, trumpet
Jared Gold, organ
Jonathan Blake, drums
Jahi Sundance, DJ

8:30 p.m.
James Spaulding's Swing Expressions
James Spaulding, alto sax and flute
Gregory Porter, voice
Richard Clements, piano
Eric Lemon, bass
Reggie Nicholson, drums
Sabor, percussion

9:30 p.m.
Bluiett's Bio-Electric
Hamiet Bluiett, baritone sax
Billy Bang, violin
Harrison Bankhead, bass
Hamid Drake, drums

10:30 p.m.
Ensemble of Possibilities
Whit Dickey, drums
Rob Brown, alto sax
Daniel Carter, reeds and trumpet
Jason Kao Hwang, violin
Eri Yamamoto, piano
Joe Morris, bass

Milagro
8:15 p.m.
Steve Dalachinsky, spoken word; Tom Chiu, violin

9:15 p.m.
Dance by Kazuko Miyamoto (within "Lunar" by Kazuko Miyamoto)

10:15 p.m.
Louis Reyes Riviera, spoken word; Ahmed Abdullah, trumpet; Radu, bass

Day 4: Friday, June 13th

Main Stage
7:30 p.m.
Ullmann/Swell 4
Gebhard Ullmann, reeds
Steve Swell, trombone
Hilliard Greene, bass
Barry Altschul, drums

8:30 p.m.
Sonny Simmons/Bobby Few
Sonny Simmons, alto sax
Bobby Few, piano

9:30 p.m.
Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quintet
Wadada Leo Smith, trumpet
Vijay Iyer, piano
John Lindberg, bass
Famoudou Don Moye, drums
Pheeroan akLaff, drums

10:30 p.m.
Connie Crothers
Connie Crothers, piano

11:30 p.m.
Sabir Mateen/Henry Grimes Quartet
Sabir Mateen, reeds
Henry Grimes, bass and violin
Rasul Siddik, trumpet
John Betsch, percussion

Milagro
5:00 p.m. [Free Admission]
Panel discussion: Jazz Factions

8:15 p.m.
Yvonne Meier/Saco Yasuma (within "Lunar" by Kazuko Miyamoto)
Yvonne Meier, dance
Saco Yasuma, alto sax

9:15 p.m.
Budbill/Parker
David Budbill, poetry
William Parker, bass

10:15 p.m.
Projection: Lili White video installation

Day 5: Saturday, June 14th
Emerging Artist showcase (1-6 p.m.)

Milagro, 1:30 p.m.
Poetry by Hila Ratzabi, Chaedria LaBouvier and RonAmber Deloney

Main Stage, 2:00 p.m.
Jeff Arnal Trio
Jeff Arnal, percussion
Godron Beeferman, piano
John Dierker, tenor sax and bass clarinet

Milagro, 3:00 p.m.
Nabaté Isles' Imagination
Nabaté Isles, trumpet
David Gilmore, guitar
Sam Barsh, keyboards
Jaimeo Brown, drums

Milagro, 4:00 p.m.
Kioku
Wynn Yamami, Taiko, percussion
Ali Sakkal, saxes and percussion
Christopher Ariza, electronics

Milagro, 5:00 p.m.
The MazzMuse Trio
Mazz Swift, violin, voice and electronics
James Peter Lee, lap steel
Vernon Reid, guitar and electronics

Saturday Evening

Main Stage
7:30 p.m.
P Nicholson's Celestial Moon Beams Funk
Lewis Barnes, trumpet
Sabir Mateen, reeds
Rob Brown, alto sax
Jason Kao Hwang, violin
Todd Nicholson, bass
Gerald Cleaver, drums
Patricia Nicholson, dance
Miriam Parker, dance
Jason Jordan, dance
Julia Wilkins, dance
Amon Bey, dance

8:30 p.m.
Matthew Shipp Trio
Matthew Shipp, piano
Joe Morris, bass
Whit Dickey, drums

9:30 p.m.
Dunmall/Grimes/Cyrille
Paul Dunmall, tenor sax and bagpipes
Henry Grimes, bass
Andrew Cyrille, drums

10:30 p.m.
George Lewis/Joëlle Léandre
George Lewis, trombone and electronics
Joëlle Léandre, bass

11:30 p.m.
Marraffa/Braida/Borghini/Spera
Edoardo Marraffa, reeds
Alberto Braida, piano
Antonio Borghini, bass
Fabrizio Spera, drums

Milagro
8:15 p.m.
Vision of New York: Projections of Vision Festival XII photos by Luciano Rossetti

9:15 p.m.
Spoken word by Bill Zavatsky

10:15 p.m.
Sanchez/Carr (within "Lunar" by Kazuko Miyamoto)
Dolores Sanchez, dance
Maurice J. Carr, drums

Day 6: Sunday, June 15th

Main Stage
6:00 p.m.
Lewis Barnes' Hampton Roads
Lewis Barnes, trumpet
Rob Brown, alto sax
Darius Jones, alto sax
Todd Nicholson, bass
Warren Smith, drums

7:00 p.m.
Roy Nathanson's Sotto Voce
Roy Nathanson, alto sax and voice
Curtis Fowlkes, trombone
Sam Bardfeld, violin
Tim Kiah, bass
Napoleon Maddox, voice

8:00 p.m.
Abdoulaye Alhassane Toure's Deep Sahara
Abdoulaye Alhassane Toure, guitar and voice
Kali Z. Fasteau, soprano sax, nai, piano and voice
TBA, bass
TBA, drums

9:00 p.m.
William Parker's Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield with Youth Choir
William Parker, bass
Amiri Baraka, voice and words
Leena Conquest, voice
Lewis Barnes, trumpet
Darryl Foster, saxes
Sabir Mateen, reeds
Dave Burrell, piano
Hamid Drake, drums

Milagro
1:00 p.m. [$10 Admission]
Youth Performancce Humanities Preparatory HS / Tompkins Middle School / H.S. student band at York College

3:00 p.m. [Free Admission]
Panel: Building Arts in Community/NYC-RUCMA

6:45 p.m.
Dance & Music Improvisations, Part I featuring Yoshiko Chuma and friends

7:45 p.m.
Dance & Music Improvisations, Part II (within "Lunar" by Kazuko Miyamoto)

8:45 p.m.
Video Projection: "By Night No Stillness"
Video by Katy Martin and Miriam Parker featuring Hamid Drake, frame drum

The Roots Picnic

2008-06-08T23:51:00.004-04:00

More later...

Edit: I posted a review yesterday at VIBE. I'll add some more thoughts about Philly and fandom here later.

Pass the Al Dente Pigeon Peas

2008-06-05T09:36:00.002-04:00

I finally posted a Black Music Month post I'd drafted this weekend over and then I hopped over to MAN's blog and he's got a great Black Music Month playlist, the first of a series he'll unveil throughout the month. Check it, check it out.

PS-Dale looked extra fly last night, n'est-ce pas?
PSS-I might be in Philly this weekend for the picnic and I'm not familiar with area 'round Festival Pier. Any insights?

Funny...

2008-05-30T15:52:00.001-04:00

H/T: America Blog

Chef Sucks

2008-05-22T13:04:00.003-04:00

Photo Credit: Minxeats, which has a great recap, with annotated screen caps, of last night's ep.

As I told my bud E.B. and later my sis, I don't think Dale would have got the boot had Tom Colicchio been at the judges table or Gail Simmons for that matter. Tom notoriously brings a chef's technique and history into play and Dale won a lot of challenges and is a fantastically skilled chef who admittedly suffers when paired with idiots and assholes (Spike and Lisa respectively). And although the other team performed well enough, they certainly should have had points deducted for ease of menu and for not being a gastropub. The judges were just lax. They didn't ask enough questions or any of the right questions and they certainly should have interrogate Spike's "I had to hang Buddhas" explanation of his work load. They didn't bring their staff to the judges table to speak freely and reveal who exactly made what, as they have in the past (as my sister noted, Steph sort of lied about the fresh pasta. Would it have been as good if not for the help of Nikki?) Anyway, I'm pretty crushed by Dale's loss although some of my folk felt it was inevitable as Bravo wouldn't let an Asian dude win two years in a row. Anyway, I guess I'm pulling for Steph or Blaze now. I don't care for Antonia and all her little ignorant ass quips about the purported narrowness of Dale's expertise and digs at Asian cuisine. I don't recall her having much breadth to her cooking repertoire; It all seemed pretty American Nouveau to me. She is extra wack.

I encourage you all to go vote for Dale (I just voted for him 10x) as your fan fav so he can win the 10G's. Here is the link.

B-Day Blues

2008-05-21T13:00:00.002-04:00

So Sun is my b-day and I don't know what to do. I don't know what I want or rather I want/need a lot of things and can't figure out what I want more so I haven't communicated nan pref. to my fam (my dad would call this the paralysis of analysis) and I get super duper depressed when people get me shit I don't like 'cause then I feel grossly misunderstood or worthless. Worse still, I cloak this malaise to make people feel better and that's just plain arduous. A friend from college shares the same b-day and is doing drinks on Sunday. I don't know if I'll go. Two groups of friends are bbqing Mon. but I don't know if I'll roll to either although they both sound fun. If not for Facebook, I figure most people would forget it except for a tried and true few who reliably text and ring e'ry year, often at the stroke of midnight. We'll see. I can't say that I've ever been super jazzed about my b-day but I don't recall being this melancholic. I mean the best gift would be a new venture that I won't specify but that I have attempted to make real in the past two months. I don't so much want a gift but a yes instead of a no. Seriously. World, don't let me down. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

WONDER-Full '08

2008-05-19T11:17:00.002-04:00

Photo credit: Erik the Artist

It would have been ideal if this would have jumped off under the Taurus sign but whatever. This Gemini will be in attendance. PS-Nice choice of venue.

Saturday June 14, 2008
KeiStar Productions Presents
WONDER-Full™(X) - An Annual Tribute To The Wonder Of Stevie
@ THE MANHATTAN CENTER GRAND BALLROOM
311 West 34th Street (Btwn 8th & 9th Aves) NYC / 9PM
w/ The Incomparable DJ SPINNA & BOBBITO aka Kool Bob Love

Tickets Will Be On Sale At:

Fat Beats (NYC) 406 6thAvenue (Corner of 8th Street) 212.260.8729
Pieces (BKLYN) 671 Vanderbilt Ave (Corner Of Park Pl.) 718.857.7211
Academy Records (NYC) 415 East12th Street (Btwn 1st Ave & Ave A) 212.780.9166
Harriet’s (BKLYN) 293 Flatbush Avenue (Corner Of St. Marks Pl.) 718.783.2074
Addy & Ferro (BKLYN) 672 Fulton Street (Btwn South Elliot & South Portland) 718.246.2900

For More Info:
keistarproductions@gmail.com
www.myspace.com/keistarproductions
www.myspace.com/djspinnafrombrooklyn
www.myspace.com/bobbitogarcia

"Deep, Deep, in the Shag: Bits of Broken Glass You Can Never Get Out"

2008-05-14T19:39:00.006-04:00

I needed to loosen so I walked speedily downtown. 'Round about City Hall I called it a an evening, hopped on the R, and still tight, swung by Greene Grape for a bottle. I opted for a red for my heart's sake. Now home, my head's a bowling ball and I don't know if I'll get around to transcribing any tape. Phil squared is all in my head. Their duet doesn't make sense. Shouldn't she have been hard, the most arduous of lovers?

I preferred the caesar to the current dread pony on Mr. Bailey. Ditto that, since we're on the subject, for A.G.

I guess ease suggests deceptiveness but I'd have gone the other way and probably written a bad song but it would have hit the nail on head. That's for sure. George Benson got the me other day too, in a Jesus Juice free state of mind. "Turn Your Love Around"? To whom was that charge directed. A woman of the night? A gold digger? I'm trying to construct a cogent narrative out of it, after it popped up on my iPod one sleepy morning commute and had me confused. There are certainly better allocations of my brain power, I know.

Think on it.

2008-05-14T16:36:00.004-04:00

I reviewed Lionel Loueke's show from last night earlier today (where I snapped the above photo). I've heard him a few times but never in trio. He performed two of my favorite songs, "Benny's Tune" and "Nonvignon," the latter with invited guests Gretchen Parlato and Gregoire Maret, who had one of those network anchors' jaw stuck on the floor accompanying Marcus Miller on a weekend morning show performance not to long ago. I didn't much care for his cover of "Body & Soul" not so much 'cause it was bad but I just think his original compositions are so good and better reflective of his talents. Anyway, check the review out here.

Gotsa to be cool...

2008-05-12T13:03:00.006-04:00

Someone take away Paul Kix's laptop immediately. My "Hip Hop" Google alert directed me to this inane, offensive, simple-minded and grossly misinformed piece for Salon. I don't know why idiocy like this still surprises me! Kix gets everything wrong about hip hop. Where Kix finds success is in demonstrating his ignorance of the past and present American musical landscape (he'd be well served to look into how dance crazes have figured into popular music before and beyond hip hop) and his narrow and demeaning demands on Black cultural production, e.g.,

"Since when did young black men, heretofore the arbiters of pop culture, become so lame?"

I guess that's supposed to be funny. It's folly to think of racism as just white hoods and nooses it's also the strictures, institutional or structural on Black life. Shuffle, shuffle, pose and cackle. Good lawd, give us free.

Kix attempts to provide a critical history of hip hop's alleged demise and make aesthetic judgments but he proves woefully unsuccessful at those basic tasks,

It's an amorphous thing, to chronicle hip-hop's decline, but I trace its genesis to the sound every fan loved: Atlanta at the turn of the century, repelling what New York and Los Angeles did, finding its own way with krunked-out beats and slurred lyrics. Atlanta (Outkast and Ludacris mostly) begat the Cash Money Millionaires of New Orleans (think Juvenile and "Back That Ass Up." The music then evolved, except that T.I. and his ilk in Atlanta and Lil Wayne and his in N'Awlins were neither as clever with the rhymes as Ludacris nor as adept in the production as Outkast. A sound that was already simpler than what Dre out west or Puffy out east would have allowed became lazy, less crisp, and the lyrics were all that much harder to decipher, hiding behind drawls and weighed down by bling.

He'd need look no further than his beloved Outkast's ATLiens to find a preemptive defense of their rap colleagues and I am no great fan of Weezy or Tip but neither completely lacks wit or dexterity. And what Kix means by "hiding behind drawls" and how that differs from the earlier vaunted "slurred lyrics" is as unclear as it is unsettling. So Black rappers, be advised that you are failing in your duty to sate Kix's lust for that authentic cool, embedded in Negro genes along with athleticism and rhythm, we are to suppose. If you want to raise your blood pressure, click here to read the foolish rest.

Claws Out

2008-05-11T23:01:00.002-04:00

More on Star Kitty here. More of Star Kitty here.

Summer Soft

2008-05-08T21:27:00.004-04:00

So Stevie's globe trotting spectacular continues. He's hitting up a variety of venues, across the country in addition to his festival stops. He'll be at Jones Beach, Wednesday, June 18th and tix go on sale Sat. They are pricey as usual and I really shouldn't drop the dough. I would have loved to catch him and Al in N.O. for a much more reasonable $50 but alas it wasn't to be. Can someone book Stevie again at the Apollo or why don't they let him have free reign over Central Park a la Dirty Diana in the rain years ago?!? That would light up my life!

Check out Live Nation or Ticketmaster for additional Stevie dates. They all go on sale on either Fri, Sat or Mon. He'll also be in Auburn on July 11 for my folk in the NW.

"..and he smokes with cigarettes"

2008-04-29T22:35:00.004-04:00

Latarian Milton and his grand "If I thought they wouldn't take me to jail, I'd whip his behind right now" ma are hilarious. Umm, but to the Palm Beach Gardens Po Po's you don't need to get him in the system to get him help. It's clear that he's got some issues with his mother (stole grandma's car 'cause he was mad at his mother, asked if mom could pay for damages instead of grandma) that could probably be resolved or mediated in therapy. No one was hurt. Latarian can still have a bright future.

Source: DListed

Tonight!

2008-04-29T10:42:00.002-04:00

I'll be at the Belasco this eve but for those in my 'hood,

COUNCIL MEMBER LETITIA JAMES, THE FORT GREENE ASSOCIATION, AKILA WORKSONGS LLC
& KEVIN POWELL PRESENT:

A TIME TO HEAL AND ACT

A Town Hall Meeting on the Sean Bell Verdict

This Tuesday, April 29, 2008, doors open at 6:30 pm

Brown Memorial Baptist Church
484 Washington Ave. @ Gates Ave.
Fort Greene/Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
Subway - C to Clinton-Washington Aves.

All in the community are invited.

We will begin a dialogue that will
move beyond words to positive actions.

Disclaimer

2008-04-27T23:59:00.004-04:00

From Friday's Sean Bell verdict-centric 106th & Park

I grabbed this screen shot of video posted at Nahright

I wouldn't have expected anything less punkish from the cursed house Bob Johnson built.

I appreciated many of the comments from the show but Mos was especially on point.

Unjust. Untenable. Unbelievable.

2008-04-25T09:54:00.006-04:00

Given the precedents, I don't know why I'm surprised.
Edit: Earl Ofari Hutchison is not surprised.

April 26, 2008
3 Detectives Acquitted in Bell Shooting
By MICHAEL WILSON

Three detectives were found not guilty Friday morning on all charges in the shooting death of Sean Bell, who died in a hail of 50 police bullets outside a club in Jamaica, Queens.

Justice Arthur J. Cooperman, who delivered the verdict, said many of the prosecution’s witnesses, including Mr. Bell’s friends and the two wounded victims, were simply not believable. “The testimony of those witnesses just didn’t make sense,” he said.

His verdict prompted several supporters of Mr. Bell to storm out of the courtroom, and screams could be heard in the hallway moments later. The three detectives were escorted out of a side doorway. Outside, a crowd gathered behind police barricades, occasionally shouting, amid a veritable sea of police officers.

The verdict comes 17 months to the day since the Nov. 25, 2006, shooting of Mr. Bell, 23, and his friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, outside the Club Kalua in Jamaica, Queens, hours before Mr. Bell was to be married.

It was delivered in a packed courtroom and was heard by, among others, the slain man’s parents and his fiancée. The seven-week trial, which ended April 14, was heard by Justice Cooperman in State Supreme Court in Queens after the defendants — Detectives Gescard F. Isnora, Michael Oliver and Marc Cooper — waived their right to a jury, a strategy some lawyers called risky at the time. But it clearly paid off with Friday’s verdict.

Before rendering his verdict, Justice Cooperman ran through a narrative of the evening, and concluded “the police response with respect to each defendant was not found to be criminal.”

“The people have not proved beyond a reasonable doubt” that each defendant was justified in shooting, he said, before quickly saying the men were not guilty of all of the eight counts, five felonies and three misdemeanors, against them.

Mr. Bell’s family sat silently as Justice Cooperman spoke from the bench. Behind them, a woman was heard to ask, “Did he just say, ‘Not guilty?’ ”

Roughly 30 court officers stood by, around the courtroom and in the aisles. Detectives Isnora and Oliver had faced the most charges: first- and second-degree manslaughter, with a possible sentence of 25 years in prison; felony assault, first and second degree; and a misdemeanor, reckless endangerment, with a possible one-year sentence. Detective Oliver also faces a second count of first-degree assault. Detective Cooper was charged only with two counts of reckless endangerment.

During the 26 days of testimony, the prosecution sought to show, with an array of 50 witnesses, that the shooting was the act of a frightened, even enraged group of disorganized police officers who began their shift that night hoping to arrest a prostitute or two and, in suspecting Mr. Bell and his friends of possessing a gun, quickly got in over their heads.

“We ask police to risk their lives to protect ours,” said an assistant district attorney, Charles A. Testagrossa, in his closing arguments. “Not to risk our lives to protect their own.”

The defense, through weeks of often heated cross-examinations, their own witnesses and the words of the detectives themselves, portrayed the shooting as the tragic end to a nonetheless justified confrontation, with Detective Isnora having what it called solid reasons to believe he was the only thing standing between Mr. Bell’s car and a drive-by shooting around the corner.

Several witnesses testified that they heard talk of guns in an argument between Mr. Bell and a stranger, Fabio Coicou, outside Kalua, an argument, the defense claimed, that was fueled by bravado and Mr. Bell’s intoxicated state. Defense lawyers pointed their fingers at Mr. Guzman, who, they said, in shouting for Mr. Bell to drive away when Detective Isnora approached, may have instigated his death.

Detective Isnora told grand jurors last year that he clipped his badge to his collar and drew his gun, shouting, “Police! Don’t move!” as he approached Mr. Bell’s Nissan Altima.

Other witnesses, mostly friends of Mr. Bell, said they never heard shouts of “Police!” Mr. Guzman and Mr. Benefield testified that they had no idea that Detective Guzman was a police officer when he walked up with his gun drawn.

And this is why I do not smile at or in any way acknowledge the police.

Worth Noting: Geri Allen Snags a Guggenheim Fellowship

2008-04-23T13:22:00.005-04:00

I became more familiar with pianist Geri Allen's work due to her retreading/resuscitating the late great Mary Lou Williams' compositions but I still, despite many well intentioned plans, have not seen her live. I'll have to correct that soon. I just learned from Greg Tate's talk at this years great EMP conference that she was a founding member of BRC. I'm gonna have to find a way to write about her soon.

Geri Allen, the pianist, composer, and arranger has received a Fellowship from The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for Musical Composition. She has begun a work to be titled, "Refractions, inspired and informed by three mighty pianists, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, and Cecil Taylor.

Ms. Allen has this to say:

I am honored that The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has recognized my work and awarded me a Fellowship which will give me the freedom to create without restriction. As a working mother of three children, this encouraging honor will most certainly fuel the 'creative intention' that all artists need to do their best work.

My composition (a work in progress) celebrates and embraces the continuity of innovation as personified by the three individual, yet connected, universes of modern music's seminal pianist-composers: Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, and Cecil Taylor.

I call my composition 'Refractions' because I will allow the music of these three great artists to pass through me, as through a prism, in order to make something new through my creative imagination.

"Refractions" will be a celebration about what is most inspiring about humanity. Jazz is a music of continuity, a direct outgrowth of the spirit of a people who rose, thrived, and innovated in spite of seemingly impossible odds.

This music will speak to freedom, and the right each and every one of us has to aspire to that ideal.

Source: Jim Eigo

You've Got Mail

2008-04-21T13:22:00.004-04:00

I just read today's unfunny drivel from Nora Ephron at HuffPo and before I could get too worked up about her unsubstantiated (if slightly tongue in cheek) thesis that,

"this is an election about whether the people of Pennsylvania hate blacks more than they hate women,"

I was comforted my the sharp and funny critiques in the comment section. My favorite:

Well at least you've managed to create a cringe-inducing blog posting that's embarrassing to read regardless of your gender or race. Congrats!
-Ninthlevelmonk

Read the offending post in its entirety here.

Also, I quite like Andy Borowitz's post, "Democratic Race 'Too Mean,' Say Swift Boat Veterans." The pull quote:

"When you try to destroy a member of another party, that's swiftboating," said Mr. Klugian. "When you do it to a member of your own party, that's cannibalism."

Switching gears, last week Newsweek's Jonathan Alter and Fareed Zakaria both commented on the Beijing Olympic mess. I read the Alter piece and liked it, especially the oh so appropriate idiomatic remix, "I wouldn't bet the subprime mortgage on it." But Zakaria's piece, which I lost interest in a paragraph or so in and didn't finish, makes this very good point,

The vast majority of Chinese have little sympathy for the Tibetan cause. To the extent that we can gauge public opinion in China and among its diaspora, ordinary Chinese are, if anything, critical of the Beijing government for being too easy on the Tibetans. The real struggle here is between a nationalist majority and an ethnic and religious minority looking to secure its rights.

This is entirely anecdotal but a few weeks ago I brought up the Tibetan situation with a mainland Chinese born, partially Hong Kong raised friend of mine, a budding international affairs expert living back east (in the global sense). In our extended Google Chat, she responded by relaying her cousin's disappointing trip to Tibet last year, a trip which left him with negative view of the Tibetan people's mode of life. I followed up with question after question, careful to demonstrate an impartial curiosity. Tired of elaborating at my behest, she finally said of the Tibetan people, "Basically, they are just lazy." I IM'ed back "LOL"* as I was literally laughing out loud, aghast, at first, but upon some thought, unsurprised. Globally, the same orientations/perspectives inform the way many people interact with the disempowered and or the outnumbered.

*I do not know any Tibetans but I am quite confident that they aren't all lazy. I didn't not speak up on this issue in this conversation due to the tragic circumstances (terminal illness of my friend's family member) that precipitated our Google Chat.

On the Media...

2008-04-18T12:33:00.005-04:00

I only started reading HuffPo when Ferentz began contributing (although I've been aware of it since its launch) and I kind of like it.

Here is filmmaker Bob Cesca on the debate I didn't watch and my mom and everyone but Tony Kornheiser hated (besos to my sis for introducing me to Kornheiser's radio show) :

We like to joke about the "very serious" traditional media. The truth is that while they claim exclusive lordship over integrity and professionalism -- not to mention a corner on the world's supply of pants made of smarty -- they're really a freak show with serious haircuts and suits. They're a wing of the Republican corporatist conspiracy against America. And the very serious moderators of last night's Democratic debate couldn't have been less serious if they had been wearing clown suits made of dildos while simultaneously tickling each other with monkeys. (Click here to read the post in its entirety.)

Take that Charlie Gibson and former W.J. Clinton aide George Stephanopoulos (who, btw, spun the eve as a success) and gracias to Cesca for making my day. On a related note, I think I'm gonna phonebank for Barry O. this weekend but probably solo since I failed to sign up for one of the fêtes.

Things to do...

2008-04-17T22:20:00.006-04:00

The 24th is a must. Love Peven. "Surely Shorty" made my bestof list for 2006.

This too. I had the best time when 9th spun at APT a while back. I'll probably hit up Habana's opening earlier.

I can't see myself going to this. I've seen Van 2 or 3x and I'm done. He's fine but not life changing and just doesn't have much stage presence. That said, curious if he'll address his labellessness. Oh and he needs to put his kerchief back on.

Tomorrow!!

2008-04-15T16:54:00.007-04:00

NYC: Wednesday, come hear scholar/writer/blogger Ferentz Lafargue discuss his exceptional memoir, Songs in the Key of My Life, at 7:30 PM at the Brecht Forum.

Ferentz Lafargue discusses his new memoir, Songs in the Key of My Life. Inspired by the seminal Stevie Wonder album, this book explores connections between memorable songs and memorable moments in Lafargue's life. Moderated by blogger and music critic Jalylah Burrell, this event will also include a book signing, and brief listening party featuring many of the songs from "Songs in the Key of Life."

Ferentz Lafargue is an assistant professor of literature at Eugene Lang College, The New School for Liberal Arts. He holds a PhD in American and African American Studies from Yale University. Born in Haiti, Ferentz moved to Jamaica, Queens in 1981 at the age of five, joining his parents who had immigrated to the United States in 1976. His essays have appeared in the collections Starting With I (Persea Books, 1997) and Strong Teens, Strong Neighborhoods (2007), the inaugural issue of Bronx Biannual (Akashic Books 2006), and at 215mag.com. Ferentz currently shares his thoughts on contemporary events and politics at The Huffington Post.

Suggested donation: $6/$10/$15
Free for Brecht Forum Subscribers

Directions:
A, C, E or L to 14th Street & 8th Ave, walk down 8th Ave. to Bethune, turn right, walk west to the River, turn left

1, 2, 3 or 9 to 14th Street & 7th Ave, get off at south end of station, walk west on 12th Street to 8th Ave. left to Bethune, turn right, walk west to the River, turn left.

PATH Train to Christopher Street north on Greenwich St to Bank Street, left to the river.

#11 or #20 Bus to Abingdon Square, west on Bethune

#14A or #14D Bus to 8th Ave & 14th Street, walk down 8th Ave. and west on Bethune to the river

#8 Bus to 10th & West Streets

More at Hello, Babar...

Racism, Sexism & the 2008 Elections

2008-04-09T10:28:00.005-04:00

I would so be at this but I'll be out of town. On a related note: HuffPo has this piece on if/how feminism informs the decisions of women superdelegates.

Consciousness Raising for Women of Color-Racism, Sexism & the 2008 Elections

Women of Color Caucus Presents

Racism, Sexism & the 2008 Elections

A Consciousness-Raising for Women of Color

Did you vote in the primary? Why or Why not?

Did the race or gender of the candidates factor into your decision?
When: Thursday, April 10, 2008, 6:30-8:30
Where: Joseph S. Murphy Institute / CUNY
25 W. 43rd St., 18th floor (bet. 5th & 6th Ave.)

Join us to compare and analyze our experiences with voting in the 2008 primary. This meeting is open to women of color.

The Women of Color Caucus (WOCC) is an organizing think tank composed of women of color associated with Redstockings of the Women's Liberation Movement and (Florida) Gainesville Women's Liberation. We believe that women of color involved in women's liberation must also meet separately in order to address problems specifically affecting women of color.

I'm F***ing tired of Seth Rogen

2008-04-05T21:03:00.008-04:00

The 40 year Old Virgin was entertaining in spite of itself but Judd Apatow et al are the absolute worst with the exception of Paul Rudd, whom I love* and just now realized was Cher's step-brother in Clueless. No more Seth Rogen (and I agree with the hedging Heigl about the gender trouble in Knocked Up), Jonah Hill and for God's sake, failed rapper Romany Malco. How long is he gonna play the hysterical Negro?! Both the gay and misogynist incarnations are stale and oh so problematic. And Tina Fey, who I never thought was funny on SNL, briefly redeemed herself on "30 Rock," has now demonstrated just how limited her comedic skills are as Baby Mama looks to be inane classist drivel and very very unfunny. Woe unto the fraternity and tiny sister sorority that is Hollywood and the asinine derivative views brought to life by its members.

Edit: Oh and this was my joint back in the day...Oh, the irony! Malco def. knows better:

* Rudd's performance in The Shape of Things and cameos on Reno 911 were particularly charming.

The King & I: Notes on the Civil Rights Martyr and My Body Politics

2008-04-04T09:05:00.003-04:00

Camptown Ladies, Kara Walker, 1998. Cut paper and adhesive on wall. Overall size 9 x 67 feet.

So just a few minutes ago, I arrived at my office building on Fifth Avenue in the Union Square Area. I stood in front of the third bank awaiting an elevator. Seconds later, the third bank opened and as I was standing directly in front of it, I stepped in, only to be cut off by a South Asian women to my right, who blithely bumped me hard and entered first.

A few months ago, I washed my hands in the office restroom just after arriving at the office as I had held firmly onto the subway pole on my way in and God knows all the germs nasty Gothamites deposit on them each day. I turned to leave, opened and half-stepped through the door when a white Hispanic office mate, a few paces away, blithely strode through the door blocking me out of my own exit.

A few weeks ago in Battery Park I was blithely bowled over by a white guy on the southern sky bridge connecting the World Financial Center to Church Street.

In all instances, no excuses, apologies or acknowledgments of my existence were proffered. I intervened calmly but firmly. I called attention to my corporeality and the incongruity of what had transpired before inviting dialogue. The elevator woman said, "some people have issues," and laughed with the white elevator riders when I exited. The bathroom women giggled nervously, returned to her cubicle and complimented my brightly colored ensembles in each and every future encounter. The sky bridge man bristled and barked, "What's your problem?!" while the mostly white tourists nearby stared at me like I was stone crazy.

I am not a elevator attendant. I am not a door woman. I am not pavement. I am a person.

Trapp Star

2008-03-22T21:04:00.004-04:00

What do you all think of Black baby named Liesl? I'm watching the Sound of Music now, for the umpteenth time, but not for a long time, and I'm just as swept away as when I saw it as a child. Assuming my tbd baby father's agreement, my first born girl will be Aishwarya, in honor of my sister Aisha, a Bollywood buff nonpareil, but I think Liesl is quite a nice name for her little sister or Brigitta or even Marta--(the Velasquez version) à la "Arrested Development." N'est-ce pas?

I Can Go Anywhere?

2008-03-13T23:14:00.005-04:00

Strand smells like homelessness but they got good prices so I spent my lunch hour over there today. I picked up 3 books: Pearl Cleage's Baby Brother's Blues, Peter Guaralnick's Dream Boogie and Carlo Rotella's Good with Their Hands. I hadn't bought a book in a while. I was utilizing the NYPL until I ran up too many fines. I paid them off but I'm pretty sure I still owe the BPL a good chunk of change hence I don't venture anywhere near Grand Army Plaza. I don't return library books in a timely manner although I breeze through them. I've also had the same three Netflix DVD's since mid December. Go figure. (That's an imperative.)

Anyway, I'd like to read something transformational, preferably lit, but self help will suffice. Any suggestions?

2008-03-13T22:46:00.006-04:00

Um so did anyone go see the negro lineup last night at SXSW? My Googling and blog searching has turned up nothing. I've written up half the folks on that bill. Does anyone even care? I know most Black musics made by, wait for it, Black people, are no longer viable but shit, I'm still listening.

Whoop Dee Whoop Phobic

2008-02-19T00:18:00.000-05:00

Pic swiped from YBF. Photog: Wargo

Erykah Badu absolutely murdered "Appletree" this evening during a taping for VH1 Storytellers. Building off a classic booty shake beat that will surely come to me later she revved up the ethical declamation, a longtime favorite of mine, to knee knocking exuberance. Standing up and dipping low were proscribed for the duration of the taping but I did as much seated as possible, swaying, foot tapping and clapping vigorously to the beast and hopefully that will win me and my verdant green scoop neck a millisecond of screen time.

I tell you its as if Badu crafted the set list especially for me: Dilla's "Dolar" (technically Steve Spacek's), a searing "...& On," that sick Girlfriends joint, "I Want You," "Honey," "Otherside of the Game", and the Karriem Riggins produced "Soldier." She also threw in "Didn't U Know", "Danger", new joint "Annie", a Madlib Production and a Shafiq of Sa-Ra production. I'm probably forgetting something. The band was tight especially the flautist/woodwind dude. Her outfit was cute. She had a red tee emblazoned with something about overdrafts and checks and cute purple pants. Can't wait till this airs. I hope it airs on regular VH1 'cause I don't have VH1 Soul.

In other Badu news: Tom Ford is charmed.

An Ember in the Hole

2008-02-17T22:36:00.003-05:00

With music, there is what you are weaned on and then there is what you stumble upon. Both are valuable but the former carries more weight as it seeps in the self during the formative years. There is nothing like engaging someone whose life was intimately informed by an artist or a song way back when. That dating and placing holds the ultimate significance. I can't overstate being and sentiment especially when so much of the writing and public consumption of music today concerns watching and self-aggrandizement or in some case just straight up self-pleasuring. This is not the getting off the afkap had in mind.

Steely Dan is a band I properly came to later, just 4 years ago actually but pre-Kanye West "Champion" sample, and I can't believe they were once relegated to the Warm 106.9 ghetto of the car radio dial. You see, that was the station in Seattle that played Steely and Heart and seventies and 80's white pop-friendly rock or sandpapered jazz-lite for commuters' consumption. My mom generally allowed me the run of the dial but occasionally demanded we listen to less aggresively loud and grating music than played by the other radio stations I favored. I even got chided one day for playing D'Angelo's first CD, which she adored, on account of foolishly not skipping "Shit, Damn, Motherfucker" in her sanctified presence. So Steely is sort of slowly blowing my mind having thankfully transcended soft rock radio in my eyes.

Ah Um: Mia Mingus on Activism and Ableism

2008-02-11T23:22:00.000-05:00

The Tom Tom Gesticulates?

2008-02-09T09:57:00.000-05:00

Given a few spottings of X hats, one on the stoop of an adjacent Brownstone, and my recent deep desire for one the those mid-nineties Black college sweat-suits, I'll now reconsider that infamous tee-emblazoned pronouncement, "It's a Black thing. You Wouldn't Understand." The statement, however simplified and essentialist, has/had/will always have something to it. I recognize some folk's reticence to lend it any credence like the self-righteous white woman quoted in this 1989 Letter to the Grey Lady's Editor,

Who but an avowed racist would wear a T-shirt that reads: ''It's a Black Thing - You Wouldn't Understand!'' Blacks have had masterful white role models for racism. It's easy to justify the building of pride based upon it. But let me dream of a time when at least our better-educated children know better.

Who but an avowed racist would wear a T-shirt that reads: ''It's a Black Thing - You Wouldn't Understand!'' Blacks have had masterful white role models for racism. It's easy to justify the building of pride based upon it. But let me dream of a time when at least our better-educated children know better. Please make me a T-shirt that says: ''It's a Human Thing - We All Understand!'' - Lois Atkinson

Now, I imagine Lois thought she was really saying something with that tie-dye trite motto and by indicting white racists as originators of American racism before she indicted Black youths in kind but she was sadly and commonly mistaken. Her misapprehension was/is the thing.* The lack of understanding of how and what that statement resonated amongst us evinces a lack of understanding of us, which is what the damned t-shirt said quite clearly in the first place. That the uneventful course of confusion made Atkinson angry and ready to paint Black youth biased, instead of embarking on the team tasks of working to conquer her own racism, sincerely engaging Black people in relationship, and humbly acknowledging those things about the Black experience that she would never understand, is unsurprising.

I get how Blacks could have balked at the statement too. As Maya Angelou gravely enunciated on "African American Lives II" the other night, we range in color from "plum blue to milk white" and our experiences and judgements are just as vast. But I don't think the statement has to preclude difference, it just suggests a common thread amongst a complex and colorful tapestry.

And I get that many people across the spectrum think that everything is all good these days what with all the interracial familes, multi-hued crews and some Black people allowing their close non-Black associates to call them nigger, I'm sorry nigga, and what not. But the dream was not to repurpose the epithets undergirding racism but eradicate them and their informing ideologies. The dream was not for Black people to exploit their exploitation for financial gain but for parity, for the opportunity to not have to coon or mule for dough. That the reward for acting a fool is greater and more widely parsed, although still enriching but a sliver of our population, doesn't make it right.

A central feature of white privilege is an unchecked cognitive audacity, such that most white people, especially the earnest, are unwilling to accept that there exist people and places and things that they don't understand, that they might not ever get: bi-racial offspring, lifelong Wu affinity, 2 year Tibetan sojourn or Teach for America stint notwithstanding.

Sometimes white people just don't know what its like, that's why I detest canons. They exists to perpetuate a feigned monopoly of knowledge: the we only know what it's like. The misled of us work or fingers to the ashy knuckles for token inclusion. The wiser often toil in obscurity. And neither is a fulfilling fate.

Black things and understanding weigh heavily on my mind this morning as I just read at Variety that Martin Scorsese has signed on to direct a Bob Marley biopic. Discouraged just strikes the surface of my sentiment at this news. Recently, I have seen too many, in some cases well-funded, big name directed, one dimensional studio takes on Black life to hold much hope. Just as the mainstream media culture has no empathy for Black female abduction victims, the mainstream film culture has no empathy for the Black female character. Gesticulating or greasy stark-naked female bodies stood in for Black female character in both the Last King of Scotland and American Gangster. They had no purpose other than sassy advisory, or titillation, or earthy spirituality despite the admirable efforts of skilled and perpetually underemployed Black actresses. And the virile stoicism of Washington or Blackfaced buffoonery in Whittaker's case was little better but at least them two had a bit of screen time. Black interiority is but the dream of dusky film buffs, excepting the underfunded undercirculated work of some Black independent filmmakers so I am not excited for this new Marley biopic or eager for the mass advent of 3D theatres. I haven't picked up them goofy glasses since an elementary trip to the Pacific Science Center. We don't need any more distortion.

*The genius of the statement was that the author(s) repurposed this white deficiency as a source of affinity amongst Blacks.

You Gotta Love TJ

2008-02-07T01:04:00.000-05:00

Quick notes on Henry Louis Gates' (I can't in good conscience call a Black man Skip) PBS Special "African American Lives II"

+I almost didn't watch but I'm glad I did. Unlike last year, this year was about historiography, not suspect pseudo-scientific estimations of Black people's racial composition.

+How crunk upon it was I for my favoritest Black public figure, Chris Rock. I loved the way he specified that this unknown family history would have precluded, "the inevitability that I was gonna be nothing." More on this as it relates to me another day.

+As to Don Cheadle's people's lot, DAMN!

+And the quote of all eternity goes to Tom Joyner: "I love loving black people and the way that black people love me back."

Now, I got to e-mail my cousin Beverly to fax me the family tree.

2008-02-05T01:50:00.000-05:00

Saturday, I spent my afternoon in Bed Stuy with a civil rights vet, teen siblings, a videographer, a neighborhood everyman, a woman named Ocean who let me use some of her peppermint oil to reduce the ash on my hands and some other remarkable individuals in a cluster of housing projects over on Pulaski. We were all campaiging, for the first time ever mind you, for Barack Obama. We provided literature and enthusiasm to the tenants and were met with a range of responses. My favorite was the stone-faced young woman we met in the lobby of one building and later encountered on a upper floor as we went door to door. Before she hopped on the elevator on her way back out, she hollered if we would like her to put up some flyers in another project she was heading to. Of course.

More on the civil rights vet later. She asked me to write her story. In the meantime, many folks' polling stations may have changed. I know mine did. New Yorkers can looks their polling stations up here.

Sticky Thing

2008-01-31T00:01:00.000-05:00

Although somewhat comfortable with baldheadedness and cropped naps (exempting the weave loc years), a sufferer of 5%ers and a follower of Queen Afua, her son Supa Nova Slom and other Afrocentric health nuts, Erykah Badu is no outsider. Born Erica Abi Wright in Dallas, according to most accounts she was a popular gal, an emcee who later became a beauty queen, a comedy writer, a sanger, seductress of a number of lithe rappers and inarguable winner. As Badu's bio suggests, prototypical Bohos are not Black awkwards but often Black plastics either post existential crisis or just in need of a new scene. So Badu, on the strength of her demonstrated wiles and wit, was well equipped to make otherness seem viable. She transformed the quirk Negress by virtue of being a Black beauty queen. She synthesized Suge and Celie, remember? There she was in Celie's station, without her infuriatingly silent aggrievement, smirking with Suge's self possession, minus the sparkle, unless you count those eyes. Badu always reminds us of her eyes. Her core audience, us Black girls who auntie's borrowed Dodge Caravan'ed to Lilith Fair at the Gorge in George to see her, understand light brown, hazel, blue, grey, green's significance. Many of our friends stacked their allowances and weekend job checks for colored contacts and then expectantly attended the boys. Many of us also sport upper arm ankh tattoos (see "Next Lifetime"); Our hearts sunk when we realized hers was just Henna. And fabric stores certainly lost revenue when she unwrapped her towered geles for good.

Now Badu, yeyo to this and other Bohos, is back. The music is smart and good but will never hit as it did then when my mama sent it cross the Pacific with my best friend who so eager to listen denied me the privilege of tearing that staticky CD wrapping off, when we mini-bused and KCR'ed and Star Ferry'ed ourselves to a rank tattoo parlor in Wan Chai for a ditch day's worth of hemming and hawing over the size and placement of potential ankh tattoos, when we believed that the world would indulge us as it had that green-eyed winner.

More is on the way....

PS-I really, really, really ~~want~~ need to review this record.

2008-01-25T01:36:00.000-05:00

Sathima Bea Benjamin at Sweet Rhythm Wednesday Night.

I uploaded a clip of her daughter, Jean Grae, performing a verse during her mom's set to YouTube and embedded it in my related VIBE blog post.

2008-01-17T15:36:00.000-05:00

Since my well-being isn't where I'd like it to be, I've been attempting to cut wheat from my diet. This is in addition to shifting to veganism again. Vegetarianism has been easy for these past 11 years; it's the veganism that's been difficult. I've never made it more than 6 months due to the anti-social nature of not eating flesh or dairy and an occasional taste for cheese. This gluten-free veganism is difficult. Many of your packaged veggie protein options are, in part, comprised of wheat gluten, so I'm just eating tofu. I'm not much of a bean eater but I'll throw some cannelinis in my salads. As to nuts, well I'm trying to lose weight too and they are just entirely too caloric.

I'm gonna hit the gym again come Sat. I've been neglecting my health and feeling the consequences. I am also looking for T'ai Chi practicioners in Downtown Brooklyn and environs.

Music Makes the Bourgeoisie & The Rebel

2008-01-16T22:24:00.000-05:00

Idolator's year end poll is up. As I said elsewhere, in the first weeks of '08 I heard some incredible songs from '07 that I would certainly add to my singles list today but hey you can't hear all the music all the time. You won't see Wino as I heard that in '06 or my beloved Lloyd as that also dropped in '06. Few of my selections appear very high on the master list but I like what I like.

Here's my ballot and here's a mix cd I put together for the occasion.

Another reason to hate Bob Johnson

2008-01-14T11:46:00.000-05:00

What's worse: the occasional teenage toke/snort or pedaling [fill in the the foolishness] by proxy on your "entertainment" channel? Johnson's eagerness to do the Clinton's dirty work... Well, let Malcolm tell it.

"Lord I gotta thank ya for putting me in Smokin' Aces and American Gangster..."

2008-01-09T20:14:00.000-05:00

I referenced Obama's pastor in my last post and then I stumbled upon this video of watchnight service at Pastor Jeremiah Wright's church in the Chi. I used to bemoan going to watchnight every new year's eve 'cause it wasn't nothing but old people testifying about the trials and tribulations God brought them through and although the message was the grace of God what stuck was the bad shit they'd endured but Trinity was crackin'. Here's Common freestylin' in the pulpit at Trinity's watchnight service.

Source: YBF

Love & Theft

2008-01-09T14:26:00.000-05:00

Not "OBummed" to borrow from Alex Blagg about Obama's second place finish in New Hampshire on account of Obama's inspiring "si si puede" speech to borrow from Jeff Chang. White mom and absentee Kenyan father aside, Obama has adopted the rhetorical devices of the African American church and according to this article borrowed heavily from his longtime Chicago pastor, Black liberation theologian Jeremiah Wright and it was awesome (Hillary Clinton, who likes to ape Black liturgical styles when she's pandering to negroes, offered up a speech that was pretty bland on its own. Comparatively, it was doo doo.) Obama chose to publicly distance himself from Wright on account of the fuss made by some white people extra paranoid about so called "reverse racism," which in many cases equals all that is not eurocentric, as they practice the regular kind relentlessly. But I'm posting because AmericaBlog linked this opinion piece by Stanford University professor Jon A. Krosnick, who asserts the discrepancy between the results and polls was because of "the order of candidates' names on the ballot and in the surveys." Read it for yourself.

And let me add that I'm one negress who don't care much for the Clintons. Remember Lani Guinier! With respect to our refusal to stand behind a viable Black candidate in the same way that by and large other ethnic groups (he mentioned Jews and Italians) stand behind their own reflections, on New Year's eve Chris Rock reaffirmed that we Black people are a bunch of self haters. And due to this collective low self-esteem brought on by institutionalized exploitation we stay getting seduced by interlopers. So Clinton is the first Black president 'cause he smoked weed, plays the sax and keeps an office in Harlem and a bevy of sideline hoes?! It's because so many white people so act the fool to Black people that when any white person (see Clinton, Justin Timberlake...) expresses an affinity for our communities or cultural production, we fall head over heels.

Now, I know that Obama's melanin doesn't promise anything, just look to Bush's sideline she-devil Condi Rice, but Obama's vision of America appeals to me despite his blindspots. I'm still reeling over him saying that his daughters shouldn't benefit from Affirmative Action 'cause they were privileged. Racism is no respecter of breeding or bank accounts and I'm tired of negroes saying this. It can help insulate but be advised fool ass bigots abound and will find you on the golf course, refuse you entrance to Hermès or trail you at Saks so blatantly that when you report the shoe salesman the store begs you to continue your patronage with sweet words and a gift certificate (true story. mine own.) As to the chi chi boutique saleslady who didn't want me to touch the clothes (for what I imagine was fear that my digits secreted chicken grease) as white browsers nearby tugged roughly at her precious merchandise, I received no such apology. That said I believe with a proper historical context on the Black experience and history of black thought in America, which even many Af-Ams don't have due to persistent black outs in our educational system, public and private, Obama will be straight.

In conclusion, I gave some more moolah to Obama yesterday. OBAMA '08!

Black President

2008-01-04T09:52:00.000-05:00

So I'm as geeked as anyone else about Barack Obama's win in Iowa but confused about why so many people are calling Obama African American. Black would be more appropriate to acknowledge Obama's--like many West Indian immigrants and African Immigrants to America and their spawn's--racial identity in distinction from his ethnic identity. It has long been my understanding that African American is a word that was coined to acknowledge the African ancestry and history of the descendants of the enslaved Africans hypertensive (thanks Dr. Oz) and sturdy enough to make it cross the Atlantic to cut cane, harvest indigo, pick cotton, farm rice, endure physical and psychological torture and serve white people (and later the occasional colored slaveowner) in what was to become the United States of America. It seems like many white people use this phrase to describe all Blacks born or living in America to err on the side of caution and not offend any nationalists in the room. I am in no way questioning Barack Obama's racial authenticity--I have frequently drawn from the little bit of money I have to give to his campaign--but suggesting how the misuse of terminology obfuscates diverse Black ethnic identities. Race is one thing, ethnicity is another. Also let's not pretend that there aren't many Black Americans (descended from American slaves) who do not care for the term African American as they don't readily see a connection between themselves and the continent.

And in parting OBAMA '08!

Black Ambition: The Redux

2008-01-01T23:01:00.000-05:00

A promo for "Everybody Hates Chris," one of my fav shows on TV

Today we chilled and welcomed the new year with some vegan Hoppin' John and tomorrow I'm back to work after a glorious week off but Monday night we were situated in the second row of Madison Square Garden for the Chris Rock show. Jilly from Philly's opening set was made unbearable due to the internal organ rattling bass. My eyelids literally hurt by sets end. It felt like I was in a stereo blaring hooptie.

“There were moments you could hear a pin drop, and that’s really what it’s all about,” he said. “Anybody can just say stuff and get people to scream. If you’re really good, you can get them to be quiet. Quiet is true ownership of the room.”

Chris Rock on seeing Eddie Murphy at MSG back in the day (Source)

Chris showed his rust tripping over a line or two and put me off by spouting some tired foolishness about Black women (I don't care that it was in jest) but many a pause you could have heard a pin drop. In fact, I was so eager for the punchlines I often found myself leaning in. Not too many celebrities in the building from where I could see other than the Rabbi from some Discovery Channel show seated next to my sister and Q-Tip with Amanda Diva and Pharoahe Monch and date who I later spotted separately on the way out. More at Hello, Babar.

Oh yeah and ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! Feeling good about 2008. Hoping to make that feeling last...

The Seed in The Bush

2007-12-20T12:37:00.000-05:00

Paul Robeson Theater has got a crumbling rinky dink interior but excellent if EXTREMELY sporadic* and underpromoted programming. The attendance of the last show I hit up there included me, Laylah and friends of the band. The Paul Robeson concert series kicks off this evening. I'll probably check out the Cody Chestnutt/Emily King early show ~~Sunday~~ Saturday 'cause, I really like Emily, I've never heard Cody live, and this spot is beyond close to the residence.
Source: Green Brooklyn

*Makes sense since as their sandwiched between an apartment building and residential brownstones.

mas x-mas

2007-12-19T21:31:00.000-05:00

I really want to go caroling. I told L'Erin. She told me to post a MySpace bulletin but I don't MySpace. I mean I'm on there on gp but I don't really do it. And I don't think anyone would respond anyway or probably not anyone whose caroling company I would enjoy. Facebook neither. I don't think I have any friends who would carol, which is pretty wack. I need to make more friends (.) who want to do shit like carol through Brooklyn for fun. I've also long wanted to play freeze tag in Fort Greene Park. If you're down, let me know. Maybe when the weather warms up. Ideally, I'd like to play tag in the dark like we used to Christmases in L'Erin's basement or nightime on camping trips but I don't know if it would be safe. I mean I've never felt unsafe in BK (nota bene: I've never been to east new york) but per my Fort Greene Google alert, it seems folk are getting mugged on the semi regular. I'm an amateur racewalker and apparently look "so mean" if we are to rely on the opinion of the city's male loiterers so I imagine I'm not the ideal muggee. So I guess the plan for the news is to translate the wants no matter how minor into ~~memories~~ moments. Memories don't live like people do.

Also I'm looking into becoming a tambourine lady. Please advise.

música viva

2007-12-18T12:41:00.000-05:00

So yesterday after Courtney and I met with Juan Flores and Miriam Jimenez Roman to discuss their groundbreaking and oh so necessary Afro Latin Forum, I L-trained it west to the Highline Ballroom for the Robert Glasper Experiment with special guest Q-Tip (only after stopping by Better Burger for some vege grub and hogging their sole bathroom while trying and failing to apply liquid eyeliner. Although I was once an expert, the skills have spectacularly devolved. But air kisses to the physically fit gay clientele for not evil-eyeing me when I finally emerged, liner smudges and all.) I interviewed show openers HEAVy Friday-the Q&A, featuring great photos by Rich, is up over at my VIBE blog -and they delivered a hyperkinetic, polished and confident performance that the Bad Plusish seated crowd didn't entirely seem to get. I enjoyed it though. I would have liked to get up and dance but the energy of the set up thwarted that impulse. Still, I rocked in my seat and thumped my arm rest from "p.r.i.tt.y Boy" to their cover of Pharoahe Monch's "Body Baby." Joshua Alston accompanied and likened Nicky, who contorted, posed, air cycled, and kicked off her shoes for a lap around the ballroom, to an aerobic instructor you cross your fingers that you don't get (I don't relay quotes well but it was fun-ny (that's a The-Dream dash btw). Anyway, whether the Highline bought it (and HEAVy were selling CD's), them two, as Joshua noted, sold it. After a good pause, Robert Glasper and his experiment-Casey from HEAVy on saxophone, keytar and vocoder, Derrick Hodge of Terence Blanchard's quintet among other groups on Bass and Chris Dave on drums-took the stage. Hodge kicked it off with some flamenco ish, the gang joined in and eventually transitioned into loose interpretation of "Canvas", if I'm not mistaken, and then birdcalls figured in, supplied by whom or what I don't know. Dave's crowd pleasing drumming and Benjamin's vocodering were prominent but both I could have done with less (Dave's musical voice is overpowering, to me at least). 'Tip, whose mohawk I like despite their overness 'cause it's loose and sort of napped and probably 'cause he's Q-Tip, joined the fray by spitting a lil' vintage ODB and tore through "Find A Way," "Electric Relaxation," "Higher" (choice ad lib: "They so pimped up and angry-no bush neither") and "Fever." Mos Def, for whom Glasper has served as sideman and maybe musical director, was beckoned to perform by 'Tip and briefly did his thing and came back and performed "Black Radio" lovely for the encore. He also dared Glasper to rap: "When you gonna kick a verse hardcore jazz style?" Glasper acquiesced and had Mos, who kept yelling "Give it to 'em Rob" in stitches. And the highlight would be Bilal and Mos performing "Reminisce"; I don't ever get tired of that bassline. Bilal popped out his booth and just MURDERED IT.

PS-I spotted Algebra in Bilal's booth. What the hell is going on with her project?

2007-12-18T12:22:00.000-05:00

..."'burkas for boys', are the latest craze." Read more here.

Announcement

2007-12-11T20:53:00.000-05:00

VIBE blogs has relaunched and my blog url has changed to: http://blogs.vibe.com/babar

Here's a link. Do update your bookmarks/subscriptions.

Là-bas

2007-12-07T10:54:00.000-05:00

Slow here. A bit busier over there. New stuff over at VIBE...

+Grammy gripes.

+So you want to be a soulsinger?! Be advised, increasingly negresses need not apply.

+Dave Chappelle and I sorta go back. BTW, I been meaning to somehow incorporate Chappelle into my Black middle class work. I knew his mom to be a cleric and scholar of note but was unaware of his maternal grandfather's accomplishments.

+For the first time since I left the nest, I'm not going home for Christmas. I'm a miss my mama 'n dem but I need the vacation time to chill and regroup, and the ticket money to get my finances straight (tix are sky high, I won't ~~borrow~~ take more money from my sis and mom for this and I'm saving my frequent flier miles for London). So I bought a tree, put up lights and made a little list of Christmas songs to keep me in the right frame of mind.