Tag: Noname

Happy Hour in Excelsior Springs: Not Feeling Tardy Delivering My Favorite Records of 2023, January 1 – September 1

Comin’ atcha from one of Al Capone’s old haunts! Nicole’s gettin’ a CBD massage in this haunted hotel’s famous spa, we got kicked out of the pool for some reserved loud wedding strutting, and I’m sippin’ Blue Moons to the tune of my $100 worth of Bandcamp Friday investments. School’s in for me, so with three freshman comp classes and tutoring, I haven’t even been able to read–man, when that happens, I’m like Antaeus without his feet on the ground. BUT…I made it, smellin’ like chlorine and all.

Suite Sweets:

*In 2009, at 75, Bobby Rush played a show at the school I taught at, to an audience composed mostly of our black students, their parents, and even grandparents. Though it fell into my lap, I still had to do some legwork; in the end, it’s one of my Top 3 greatest experiences as an educator. AT 89, Rush just delivered his best album since Live at Ground Zero and Folkfunk (if anyone’s keeping track)–a team-up with Willie awaits, and I am not joking. Their people need to think about it.

*I was starting to think Noname was too good to wax rap records, and that’s a statement of respect. I am glad to see her back in the game, elegant, concise, and powerful.

*The year’s most gorgeous jazz album might be Miguel Zenon’s second record of boleros.

*St. Louis’ best rock and roll band (Americana, if you prefer) is Money for Guns. They just released their very best record, so if you still recognize those two genres, you might wanna sniff it out. I must admit that their co-lead singer and songwriter substitute-taught at my school over a decade ago when he was a Frustrated Bachelor, but as sharp as he was, I figured he’d be teaching at this point. He wisely keep his shoulder to the musical wheel.*

*Those of you that are free jazz fans might still be processing all those Zoh Amba records from 2022. Her new one with Orcutt on guitar might be THE ONE you need if she hasn’t hooked you yet.

*I’ve been lucky enough to see Sonic Youth live at their peak (I’m calling that the Goo tour) and in their admirable, um, dotage (2002, maybe?). The new live-in-Brooklyn document is a lovely gift to us, and does it open with some painful honesty.

*Ember. Who the funk are they? Well, they just released the most fascinatingly responsive jazz record of the year. I need to do more research, but I played it out of obligation and ended up hypnotized.

*Steve Pick, my man! Thank you for pointing me to That Mexican OT. If you miss fun and outrageous rap, and maybe like Mexican wrestling, please don’t hesitate. Unless it’s to helmet-polish for a bit.

*It might set you back some, but The Village’s six-decade overview of the great Horace Tapscott’s musical world of Watts is well worth it. He is the most underrated figure in jazz history (mostly because he chose to devote his efforts to local musical work rather than pursuit of fame), and his accomplishment has never been better documented than on the Pan Afrikan Peoples Orchestra set.

*I am standing firm on my feeling that Anohni’s My Back was a Bridge for You to Cross is the most powerful (and therefore best) record of the year. I’ve been told the vibrato is too much (tell that to the ghost of Sarah Vaughan) and that the quality tails (I think it simply shifts in kind of quality), but it still haunts me, and I know I am not alone.

BONUS TIP: If you happen to love balls-out drums (especially drums)-and-guit Devotion-like wailing…check out Spiritual Drum Kingship. Sometimes you just need your ass kicked by surging plugged-in improv.

(Bolded items are new to the list)

  1. Anohni: My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross (Secretly Canadian)
  2. Gina Burch: I Play My Bass Loud (Third Man)
  3. 100 gecs: 10,000 gecs (Dog Show/Atlantic)
  4. boygenius:the record (Interscope)
  5. Bettye LaVette: LaVette! (Jay-Vee)
  6. Buck 65: Super Dope (self-released?)
  7. Jessie Ware: That! Feels Good! (Universal)
  8. Noname: Sundial (AWAL Recordings America)
  9. billy woods & Kenny Segal: Maps (Backwoodz Studios)
  10. Liv.e: Girl in The Half Pearl (Real Life / AWAL)
  11. Kelela: Raven (Warp)
  12. Big Freedia: Central City (Queen Diva)
  13. National Information Society: Since Time is Gravity (Eremite)
  14. Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: In the Dark (ESP-Disk)
  15. Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Spirit Gatherer—A Tribute to Don Cherry (Spiritmuse)
  16. Jason Moran: From the Dancehall to the Battlefield (Yes Records)
  17. London Brew: London Brew (Concord)
  18. Fire! Orchestra: Echoes (Rune Grammofon)
  19. Wadada Leo Smith: Fire Illuminations (Kabell)
  20. The Mark Lomax II Trio: Tapestry (CFG Multimedia)
  21. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah & Chief Adjuah: Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning (Ropeadope)
  22. Janelle Monae: The Age of Pleasure (Bad Boy)
  23. Dropkick Murphys: Okemah Rising (Dummy Luck Music)
  24. Isach Skeidsvoll: Dance to Summon (Ultraani Records)
  25. Miguel Zenon & Luis Perdomo: El Arte del Bolero, Volume 2 (ArcArtists)
  26. Wild Up: Julius Eastman, Volume 3—If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich? (New Amsterdam)
  27. Parannoul: After the Magic (Poclanos/Top Shelf)
  28. Yaeji: With a Hammer (XL Recordings)
  29. The Urban Art Ensemble: “Ho’opomopono” (CFG Multimedia 16-minute single)
  30. Felo Le Tee & Mellow & Sleazy: The Ill Wise Men (New Money Gang)
  31. Brandy Clark: Brandy Clark (Warner)
  32. Rodrigo Campos: Pagode Novo (YB Music)
  33. The Necks: Travel (Northern Spy)
  34. Kali Uchis: Red Moon in Venus (Geffen)
  35. Bobby Rush: All My Love for You (Deep Rush / Thirty Tigers)
  36. Marina Sena: Vicio Inerente (Sony)
  37. Young Fathers: Heavy Heavy (Ninja Tune)
  38. Willie Nelson: I Don’t Know a Thing About Love—The Songs of Harlan Howard (Legacy)
  39. Peso Pluma: GENESIS (Double P)
  40. Ice Cold Bishop: Generational Curse (Ice Cold Entertainment)
  41. Allen Lowe and The Constant Sorrow Orchestra: America—The Rough Cut (ESP-Disk)
  42. Tyshawn Sorey:Continuing (Pi Recordings)
  43. Nourished by Time: Erotic Probiotic 2 (Scenic Route)
  44. Walter Daniels: “From Death to Texas” / “Seems Like a Dream” (Spacecase Records 45)
  45. Tyler Keith & The Apostles: Hell to Pay (Black & Wyatt)
  46. Algiers: Shook (Matador)
  47. KAYTRAMINE: KAYTRAMIUNE, Amine, & KAYTRANADA (CLBN)
  48. Withered Hand: How to Love (Reveal)
  49. Lori McKenna: 1988 (CN Records / Thirty Tigers)
  50. ensemble 0: Jojoni(Crammed Discs)
  51. Henry Threadgill: The Other One(Pi)
  52. Kari Faux: REAL BITCHES DON’T DIE (drunk sum wtr records)
  53. Zoh Amba & Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt: The Flower School (Palilalia)
  54. Lewis Capaldi: Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent (Vertigo Berline)
  55. aja monet: when the poems do what they do (drink sum wtr)
  56. Knoel Scott (featuring Marshall Allen): Celestial (Night Dreamer)
  57. Ember: August in March (Imani)
  58. Meshell Ndegeocello: The Omnichord Real Book (Blue Note)
  59. Taj Mahal: Savoy (Cheraw S.C.)
  60. corook: serious person (part 1) (Atlantic)
  61. Haviah Mighty: Crying Crystals (Mighty Gang)
  62. Rome Streetz: Wasn’t Built in a Day (Big Ghost)
  63. Jaimie Branch: Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)) (International Anthem)
  64. Kiko El Crazy: Pila’e Teteo (Rimas)
  65. Islandman (featuring Okay Temiz and Muhlis Berberoglu: Direct-to-Disc Sessions (Night Dreamer)
  66. Edward Simon: Femeninas (ArtistShare)
  67. Kill Bill—The Rapper: Fullmetal Kaiju (EXO)
  68. Money for Guns: All the Darkness That’s in Your Head (CD Baby)
  69. Rough Image: Rough Image (WV Sorcerer Productions)
  70. Ingrid Laubrock: The Last Quiet Place (Pyroclastic)
  71. Rob Mazurek & Exploding Star Orchestra: LightningDreamers (International Anthem)
  72. Kaze & Ikue Mori: Crustal Movement (Circum/Libra)
  73. DJ Black Low: Impumelelo (Awesome Tapes from Africa)
  74. Belle and Sebastian: Late Developers  (Matador)
  75. Satoko Fujii & Otomo Yoshihide: Perpetual Motion (Ayler Records)
  76. feeble little horse: Girl with Fish (Saddle Creek)
  77. Rocket 88: House of Jackpots (12XU)
  78. Taiko Saito: Tears of a Cloud (Trouble in the East)
  79. JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown: Scaring the Hoes (self-released)
  80. Water from Your Eyes: Everyone’s Crushed (Matador)
  81. Lakecia Benjamin: Phoenix (Whirlwind)
  82. Amaarae: Fountain Baby (Golden Angel/Interscope)
  83. Blondshell: Blondshell (Partisan)
  84. Satoko Fujii: Torrent (Libra Records)
  85. Javon Jackson: “With Peter Bradley”—Soundtrack and Original Score (Solid Jackson)
  86. YMA & Jadsa: Zelena (Matraca)
  87. Palehound: Eye on the Bat (Polyvinyl)
  88. J Hus: Beautiful and Brutal Yard (Black Butter)
  89. Das Kondensat: Anderen Planeten (Why Play Jazz)
  90. Iris DeMent: Workin’ On a World (FlariElla)
  91. David Mirarchi: Ink Folly, Orchid Gleam(Unbroken Sounds) (coming soon….)
  92. Baaba Maal: Being (Atelier Live/Marathon Artists)
  93. Bob Dylan: Shadow Kingdom (Columbia)
  94. Lana Del Rey: Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd (Polydor)
  95. Romulo Froes & Tiago Rosas: Na Goela (YB Music)
  96. Buselli – Wallarab Jazz Orchestra: The Gennett Suite (Patois Records)
  97. Florian Arbenz: Conversation #9—Targeted (Hammer Recordings)
  98. James Brandon Lewis: Eye of I (Anti-)
  99. Sexyy Red: Hood Hottest Princess (Open Shift)
  100. Joanna Sternberg: I’ve Got Me (Fat Possum)
  101. Tracey Nelson: Life Don’t Miss Nobody (BMG)
  102. Etran De L’Air: Live in Seattle (EP) (Sahel Sounds)
  103. Everything But the Girl: Fuse (Buzzin’ Fly)
  104. Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double: March On (self-released EP—coming in March)
  105. Ice Spice: Like…? (10K Projects / Capitol Records EP)
  106. otay:onii: Dream Hacker (WV Sorcerer Productions)
  107. Sylvie Courvoisier & Cory Smythe: The Rite of Spring—Spectre d’un songe (Pyroclastic)
  108. Itamar Borochov: Arba (Greenleaf)
  109. Nakimbembe Embaire Group: Nakimbembe Embaire Group (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
  110. Shirley Collins: Archangel Hill (Domino)
  111. Karol G: Manana Sera Bonito (Universal Music Latino)
  112. Hollie Cook: Happy Hour in Dub (Merge)
  113. Andrew Cyrille: Music Delivery / Percussion (Intakt)
  114. Kate Gentile: b i o m e i.i (Obliquity)
  115. Yves Tumor: Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) (Warp)
  116. Open Mike Eagle: another triumph of ghetto engineering (AutoReverse)
  117. Yonic South: Devo Challenge Cup (Wild Honey)
  118. Rudy Royston: Day (Greenleaf Music)
  119. Basher: Doubles (Sinking City)
  120. That Mexican OT: Lonestar Luchador (Good Talk)
  121. Staples Jr. Singers: Tell Heaven (EP) (Luaka Bop) Note: the vinyl gets you more great minutes of testifying.
  122. Brandee Younger: Brand New Life (Impulse!)
  123. Babe, Terror: Teghnojoyg
  124. Heinali: Kyiv Eternal (Injazero)
  125. Tri-County Liquidators: “Flies” / “Weep Then Whisper” / “Bitter” (self-released)
  126. Vinny Golia Quartet: No Refunds (Unbroken Sounds)
  127. Kresten Osgood / Bob Moses / Tisziji Munoz: Spiritual Drum Kingship (Gotta Let It Out)
  128. The Art Ensemble of Chicago: From Paris to Paris (Rogue Art)
  129. Clarence “Bluesman” Davis: Shake It For Me (Music Maker Foundation)
  130. The War and The Treaty: Lover’s Game (Mercury Nashville)
  131. Aroof Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad, Ismaily: Love in Exile (Verve)
  132. Asher Gamedze: Turbulence and Pulse (International Anthem)
  133. Normal Nada the Krakmaxter: Tribal Progressive Heavy Metal (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
  134. Natural Child: Be M’Guest (Natural Child Music)
  135. Tanya Tucker: Sweet Western Sound (Fantasy)

Excavations and Reissues

  1. Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens: Music Inferno—The Indestructible Beat Tour 1988-89 (Umsakazo Records)
  2. Kashmere Stage Band: Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974 (Now-Again)
  3. Dorothy Ashby: With Strings Attached (New Land Records)
  4. Walter Bishop, Jr.: Bish at the Bank—Live in Baltimore (Cellar Live)
  5. Various Artists: Yebo! Rare Mzansi Party Beats from Apartheid’s Dying Years (BBE)
  6. Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra: 60 Years (The Village)
  7. Nina Simone: You’ve Got to Learn (Verve)
  8. William S. Burroughs: Nothing Here But the Recordings (Dais Records)
  9. Balka Sound: Balka Sound (Strut)
  10. Sonic Youth: Live in Brooklyn (Silver Current)
  11. John Coltrane: Evenings at The Village Gate (Impulse!)
  12. Various Artists: Playing for The Man at The Door (Smithsonian Folkways)
  13. Hiatus Kaiyote: Choose Your Weapon (Flying Buddha / Sony Masterworks)
  14. Dream Dolphin: Gaia—Selected Ambient & Downtempo Works (1996 – 2003) (Music from Memory)
  15. Eddie & Ernie: Time Waits for No One (Mississippi Records)
  16. Various Artists: Purple Haze from East, Volume 1 (WV Sorcerer Productions)
  17. Various Artists: Purple Haze from East, Volume 2 (WV Sorcerer Productions)
  18. The Southern University Jazz Ensemble: Goes to Africa with Love (Now-Again)
  19. Sonny Rollins: Live at Finlandia Hall, Helsinki 1972 (Svart)
  20. Various Artists: The Best of Revelation Records 1959-1962 (NarroWay)
  21. Shizuka: Heavenly Persona (Black Editions)
  22. Jacqueline Humbert & David Rosenboom: Daytime Viewing (Unseen Worlds)
  23. Bob Dylan: Time Out of Mind Stripped Naked (Columbia)
  24. Various Artists: Blacklips Bar—Androgyns and Deviants / Industrial Romance for Bruised and Battered Angels 1992-1995 (Anthology Recordings)
  25. Various Artists: Ecuatoriana (Analog Africa)
  26. RP Boo: Legacy Volume 2 (Planet Mu)
  27. Les Raillizes Denudes: ’77 Live (Temporal Drift)
  28. Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Shirley Scott: Cookin’ With Jaws and The Queen (Craft)
  29. Professor James Benson:The Gow-Dow Experience (Jazzman Records)
  30. Little Bob and The Lollipops: Nobody But You (Mississippi Records)

Rockin’ Records–Check These Folks’ Rock Records!: A Weeded-Out, Rearranged, Expanded Top 120 for 2018 (and Not Just Rock) (October 3, 2018, Columbia, MO)

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I’ve updated my sprawling list of very strong records released in 2018 with some really sharp new releases from September (see the above slideshow for most of those–plus I’ve bolded them below), plus I’ve trimmed some items that just weren’t hanging through further listening. Highlights?

A new record by the Aussie band Tropical Fuck Storm that may assist you with your stored rage and despair.

JLin’s terrific follow-up to the amazing dance record Black Origami, a bit of a soundtrack entitled Autobiography.

A stunning exhibition of lyrical flow and shining intelligence, riding atop a sparkling stream of beats, by the Chicago rapper Noname: Room 25 (approved by my students, who are no dummies).

The latest entry by the Nigerian-American MC Fat Tony, representing for Houston, TX, as well, 10,000 Hours, which stands with Room 25 as a bit of a shot across the crowded hip-hop bow. Mother Wit, in full effect, in both cases.

A haunting, raging, energized Cajun-rock slab from south Louisiana, courtesy of Lost Bayou Rambler fiddler Louis Michot’s Melody Makers side project: it’s called Blood Moon, and it’s storming up my chart.

A desolate, beautiful release by an old soul-music vet who’s never been associated with that first adjective and has a complicated relationship with the second: Swamp Dogg’s Love, Loss, and AutoTune. It’s a joke–and it’s not.

…and the second record from an exciting, smart band from Brisbane (just kids–including one with a Go-Between pedigree), The Goon Sax. It’s called We’re Not Talking:

  1. Tracy Thorn: Record
  2. CupcaKe: Ephorize
  3. Bettye LaVette: Things Have Changed
  4. Tropical Fuck Storm: A Laughing Death in Meatspace
  5. JLin: Autobiography (Music from Wayne McGregor’s Autobiography)
  6. Zeal & Ardor: Stranger Fruit
  7. Noname: Room 25
  8. Sly & Robbie and Nils Petter Molvaer: Nordub
  9. Orquesta Akokan: Orquesta Akokan
  10. Michot’s Melody Makers: Blood Moon
  11. Pusha T: Daytona
  12. Elza Soares: Deus É Mulher
  13. John Prine: The Tree of Forgiveness
  14. Blood Orange: Negro Swan
  15. Chloe x Halle: The Kids are Alright
  16. The Internet: Hive Mind
  17. Janelle Monae: Dirty Computer
  18. Parquet Courts: Wide Awake!
  19. Berry: Everything, Compromised
  20. JD Allen: Love Stone
  21. Superchunk: What A Time to Be Alive
  22. Mary Gauthier and Songwriting with Soldier: Rifles and Rosary Beads
  23. Toni Braxton: Sex & Cigarettes
  24. Joe McPhee: Imaginary Numbers
  25. Nidia: Nídia É Má, Nídia É Fudida
  26. Fat Tony: 10,000 Hours
  27. Swamp Dogg: Love, Loss, and Auto-Tune
  28. Subtle Degrees: A Dance That Empties
  29. Daniel Carter: Seraphic Light
  30. Alice Bag: Blue Print
  31. The Necks: Body
  32. Young Fathers: Cocoa Sugar
  33. Quelle Chris & Jean Grae: Everything’s Fine
  34. Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis: Wild! Wild! Wild!
  35. James Brandon Lewis: Radiant Imprints
  36. Mitski: Be the Cowboy
  37. Sons of Kemet: Your Queen is a Reptile
  38. Lisbon Freedom Unit: Praise of Our Folly
  39. The Goon Sax: We’re Not Talking
  40. Grupo Mono Blanco: ¡Fandango! Sones Jarochos from Veracruz
  41. Ken Vandermark / Klaus Kugel / Mark Tokar: No-Exit Corner
  42. Knife Knights: 1 Time Mirage
  43. Angelika Niescier: The Berlin Concert
  44. Young Mothers: Morose
  45. No Age: Snares Like a Haircut
  46. Kids See Ghosts: Kids See Ghosts
  47. Sidi Toure: Toubalbero
  48. Wynton Marsalis & Friends: United We Swing–Best of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Galas
  49. Jonghyun: Poet / Artist
  50. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever: Hope Downs
  51. Dave Holland: Uncharted Territories
  52. Halu Mergia: Lalu Balu
  53. Mekons 77: It Is Twice Blessed
  54. Jeffrey Lewis: Works by Tuli Kupferberg
  55. Bombino: Deran
  56. Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids: An Angel Fell
  57. Rapsody: Laila’s Wisdom
  58. Sarayah: Feel the Vibe
  59. Maria Muldaur: Don’t You Feel My Leg—The Naughty Bawdy Blues of Blu Lu Barker
  60. Jinx Lennon: Grow a Pair
  61. The Thing: Again
  62. Tierra Whack: Whack World
  63. Lori McKenna: The Tree
  64. Nas: Nasir
  65. Speedy Ortiz: Twerp Verse
  66. Courtney Barnett: Tell Me How You Really Feel
  67. Car Seat Headrest: Twin Fantasy
  68. Makaya McCraven: Where We Come From (Chicago x London Mixtape)
  69. Evan Parker, Barry Guy, and Paul Lytton: Music for David Mossman
  70. Salim Washington: Dogon Revisited
  71. Beats Antique: Shadowbox
  72. Jon Hassell: Listening To Pictures (Pentimento, Vol. One)
  73. Charge It to The Game: House with a Pool
  74. JPEGMAFIA: Veteran
  75. The Beths: The Future Hates Me
  76. Various Artists: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun…and Rights!!!
  77. Apolo: Live in Stockholm
  78. Mdou Moctar & Elite Beat: Mdou Moctar meets Elite Beat In a Budget Dancehall
  79. Willie Nelson: Last Man Standing
  80. Wussy: What Heaven is Like
  81. Kiefer: happysad
  82. Meshell Ndegeocello: Ventriloquism
  83. Freddie Gibbs: Freddie
  84. Kamasi Washington: Heaven & Earth
  85. Cardi B: Invasion of Privacy
  86. Shopping: The Official Body
  87. Cypress Hill: Elephants on Acid
  88. Dana Murray: Negro Manifesto
  89. Shame: Songs of Praise
  90. Henry Threadgill: Dirt..and More Dirt
  91. Ceramic Dog: YRU Still Here?
  92. Marc Ribot: Songs of Resistance 1942-2018
  93. The Coup: Soundtrack to the Film Sorry to Bother You
  94. Van Morrison & Joey DeFrancesco: You’re Driving Me Crazy
  95. Various Artists/Sahel Sounds: Field Recordings
  96. L.E.S. Douze: The Stoned 1
  97. Kendrick Lamar, et al: Black Panther—Music from and Inspired by the Film
  98. Tal National: Tantabara
  99. Rodrigo Amado (with Joe McPhee): History of Nothing
  100. Hop Along: Bark Your Head Off, Dog
  101. MAST: Thelonious Sphere Monk
  102. Tirzah: Devotion
  103. The Chills: Snowbound
  104. Eddie Daniels: Heart of Brazil
  105. Big Freedia: Third Ward Bounce
  106. Old Man Saxon: The Pursuit
  107. Amy Rigby: The Old Guys
  108. Busdriver: Electricity Is On Our Side
  109. Lonnie Holley: MITH
  110. Del McCoury Band: Del McCoury Still Plays Bluegrass
  111. Dr. Michael White: Tricentennial Rag
  112. Migos: Culture II
  113. Yo La Tengo: There’s a Riot Goin’ On
  114. The Carters: Everything is Love
  115. Sleep: The Sciences
  116. The English Beat: Here We Go Love
  117. Princess Nokia: A Girl Cried Red
  118. Santigold: I Don’t Want—The Gold Fire Sessions
  119. Nicki Minaj: Queen
  120. Chad Popper: A Popper People

OLD MUSIC NICELY OR NEWLY PACKAGED

  1. Sonny Rollins: Way Out West (Deluxe Reissue)
  2. Neil Young: Roxy—Tonight’s the Night
  3. Erroll Garner: Nightconcert
  4. Various Artists: Voices of Mississippi—Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris
  5. Prince: A Piano and a Microphone
  6. Various Artists: Listen All Around–The Golden Age of Central and East African Music
  7. Gary Stewart: “Baby I Need Your Loving” / “Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yester-Day”
  8. Peter Brotzmann and Fred Lonberg-Holm: Ouroboros
  9. Oneness of Juju: African Rhythms
  10. Bruce Springsteen: 1978/07/07 West Hollywood, CA
  11. The Revelators: In which the Revelators perform live renditions of selections from the Billy Childish songbook
  12. Against All Logic: 2012-2017
  13. Grant Green: Live at Oil Can Harry’s
  14. Entourage: Ceremony of Dreams—Studio Sessions & Outtakes 1972-1977
  15. Kuniyuki Takahashi: Early Tape Works 1986 – 1993 Volume 1
  16. Various Artists: Africa Scream Contest, Volume 2
  17. Wussy: Getting Better
  18. David Bowie: Santa Monica ‘72
  19. Mulatu Astatke & His Ethiopian Quintet: Afro-Latin Soul, Vols. 1 & 2
  20. Various Artists: Two Niles to Sing a Melody—The Violins & Synths of Sudan

Holiday (September 11-17, 2018, Columbia, Missouri)

I am on a Billie Holiday tear. John Szwed’s revelatory book, Billie Holiday: The Musician and The Myth is the culprit. Szwed’s intent–to strip away calcified notions about the great singer, examine the concrete artifacts (musical, literary, historical), close-listen to her art and rebuild a fuller, more complex and authentic picture of her–is pretty largely realized (though Szwed admits to mysteries that are unlikely to be successfully parsed), and the book’s clearly and passionately written as well. Among the many surprises is Szwed’s “rehabilitation” of Lady Sings the Blues, Holiday’s memoir written with (some say by) William Dufty; of course, I’m about to crack it today after years of turning my nose up at it due to its professed disconnection from truth. Also, I loaded the CD changer with multiple Holiday disks, primarily my favorites from Columbia’s Essential series and the argument-starter Lady in Satin.

Listening to Holiday for hours on end Friday, I thought back to an experience I once had in the classroom. We were reading a text that featured a lynching, and I thought my students might be stimulated to interesting thoughts and feelings by Holiday’s studio version of “Strange Fruit.” These were 10th graders who had not previously succeeded in English, and they’d self-segregated themselves when choosing seats on the first day; the class was roughly 50% white kids and kids of color. For my part, I was utterly convinced the Holiday was not only the greatest jazz singer of all-time, but impossible to dislike; I was equally convinced the subject matter would be powerful to both “halves” of the population.

I played the track on a clunky portable CD player I’d checked out from the media center, but the sound was pretty good. “Strange Fruit,” in the unlikely case you haven’t heard it, does not exactly produce exuberant moods in the listener. It creeps out of the speakers and its horror unfolds funereally—Holiday doesn’t enter until relatively late, and this delay had the students looking quizzically at each other: “Did dude play the right track?” Also, pre-WWII jazz was not and is not high schoolers’ music of choice; I sensed a stiffening in the ranks. But then Billie took over, and the students’ turned their eyes to the song’s lyrics, which I’d copied for them. I was hypnotized by the precision of her delivery as it was applied to the subject matter–and of course, since I was still a green idiot, I assumed they were, too.

I paused a couple of beats after the song ended, then launched a very broad query: “So, what did you think of her singing?”

“SHE’S THE WORST SINGER I’VE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE!!!!!”

The answer, yelled angrily by one of my quietest students, a young lady named Toni, froze me in my pedagogical tracks. I am sure my eyes bugged, and that my jaw slackened. I had been punched in the face, and I’d been leaning into the punch to begin with. Sadly, I was also expecting that, since she was a woman of color, she had to like Holiday’s singing. (I’ve evolved.)

I was so stunned that I have little recollection of my response. I ‘d become reasonably reliable in dignifying students’ responses (that now sounds to me like a condescending enterprise), so I’m sure I tried to figure out, or have her help me figure out, what she meant, but she was adamant, much snickering abounded, and the next thing I clearly remember is getting (desperately) to the actual lesson. But later, at home, I sniffed to Nicole, “The kid thought Billie Holiday was the worst singer she’d ever heard–can you believe that?”

So what’s the point? Well, Szwed’s sharp analysis of Holiday’s hard-to-pinpoint style makes clear that Holiday was not always easy on the ear: her delivery was frequently sharp, raspy, crying. Her timing was consistently eye- and ear-popping, but that’s a subtler thing to hear unless perhaps you’re a musician yourself. It occurred to me that, actually, young Toni was in fact listening intelligently and had no need of her response being dignified. From a reasonable perspective, her assessment had an anchor in fact–well, not that she was a horrible singer, but that, in the context of what Toni had listened to, the worst she’d heard. 28 years later is not a satisfactory response time for recognizing a teaching mistake–but better extremely late than never. Sorry, Toni! (We’re Facebook friends.)

Tony's

Friday nights, Nicole and I often head out to Tony’s Pizza Palace, a family-owned pizza joint we’ve been patronizing for most of our nearly 30 years together. We always sit in the booth that abuts the window with a bullet or pellet hole in it (look closely at the above photo and you can spot it). We always order a cold pitcher of Bud, two small Greek salads, and a Tony’s Special (green pepper and sausage). We always get a little caught up with the server, and check in with the head honcho, a charming young man named Daniel whom I taught the same year as Toni, featured above. Then we grab an additional libation, go back home, sprawl out on the couch, and meditate upon three of four specially selected tracks. It’s relaxing, stimulating, fun, and the perfect transition into the weekend. True to form, we followed our ritual last Friday, and selected the following three tracks, the first two of which we’ve worn out in the past, the third indicating I still couldn’t get Szwed and Lady Day off my mind.

To evoke our beloved NOLA, and to electrify our ears, minds and bodies:

To revisit a romantic favorite from our days of penury:

To engage with pure desolation–but also with an alert artistic mind at the end of its rope:

 

During the weekend, I chose to explore the work of a young Chicago MC one of my current students had begged me to check out. Perhaps still feeling guilty from my earlier revelation, my conscience was the driver, but this young lady, from Oklahoma City by way of Salt Lake City, was, like Toni, right (only less problematically). I loved her recommendation so much I bought some of the artist’s work. She goes by the handle of Noname, and she’s something–smart, mischievous, funny, and skilled. I’ll go out an a limb and say she’s gonna be a star. Thanks for the tip, Juniper!

The new one (soon to appear way up on my annual list):

The previous one:

 

Coming attractions: I’ve assigned my comp class the following listening, reading and viewing for our next semi-Socratic (you’ll recall my reportage on our Mitski’s Be the Cowboy lesson last post). Feel free to engage if you need some homework!

How Dev Hynes Became a Miracle Worker for R.&B., Pop, and Everything Else You Can Imagine (Lizzy Goodman, New York Times Magazine)

Premature Evaluation: Blood Orange, ‘Negro Swan’  (Briana Younger, Stereogum)

Blood Orange builds a refuge for black stories on the exquisite Negro Swan (Judnick Mayard, The Onion AV Club)