Richard Pryor Tribute

This weekend was the Richard Pryor Tribute at the Museum of Moving Image. We went to all three events, curated by Warrington Hudlin, that included a panel discussion and two screenings of Richard Pryor films. The experience stayed with me throughout the day today, especially the skit where a young Richard tries to rob his Mafia boss in Live on Sunset Strip. Too fuckin' funny. Ehhhh, it's a stick up, bwahhhhhhh haaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaa!!! No audio with this brief post today, just this little moment of rememberance.

Today is the Future of Yesterday-Black History Month pt. 3

Of course, I never saw Sun Ra play live though he only died in 1993 (he probably isn't dead but playing at some lounge on Saturn). But when we had the chance to hear the remaining members of the Arkestra play at Central Park with the MC5 and DJ Spooky last summer (2005) for free, we decided to go. Some people find Spooky annoying, but as an MC I thought he was kind of endearing and always remained very humble, humorous, and down to earth. The MC5 were fun too, but somehow, even without their leader, the Arkestra was a sight to behold. I am posting a couple of utterly stupid videos I took by holding my camera aloft and swinging it around (I wasn't even high!) but at least you get to see some live Arkestra! I am also posting a couple tracks from when the maestro was still gracing our lowly earth. These tracks are fairly well known to Ra fans: the opening track Mu from Atlantis, and We Travel the Spaceways. Definitely outter space kinda stuff that hardly could be confined by the term "jazz" in its most conventional and deadened sense, though the term seems quite appropriate in its initial spirit. Finally, I am putting up a recent Madvillain track featuring Lord Quas and Doom making reference to Sun Ra (and Steve Reich too) and appropriately juggling past, present, and future over a pretty sick beat.


Sun Ra Mu Mp3
We Travel the Spaceways MP3
Madvillain Shadows of Tomorrow MP3 File

Man Next Door- Dennis Brown

Now this song I had heard covered by the Slits and Horace Andy (maybe as Massive Attack?). And then I ran into this, what may be the original? Composed by John Holt so I don't know if there's another one still. But anyway, it's a great cruising on two feet song and one of those I put on repeat. It's also a great anthem to living in NYC in one of these apartment buildings. Fuck, the man downstairs, the couple upstairs, the woman next door, all screaming and/or moving shit around into the night. i wear earplugs just about every night now and i'm sure it fucks up my ears. it definitely fucks with my sleep. sometimes i get real mad, sometimes i shrug and think...ahhhhh new york city. now if i could just get a gun... no i'm just kidding, really. really i am.


Dennis Brown Man Next Door MP3

Are Black People from Outer Space? Black History Month pt. 2

Continuing with the celebration of Black History month and musical cosmonauts we come to Rahsaan Roland Kirk. While he might not be as outlandish (in appearance) as George Clinton or Sun Ra, his famous talent for playing multiple horns at once (and well, at that) suggests that he could have been from another planet, a more musical galaxy. I had heard a bunch of Kirk's stuff before that I enjoyed (particularly his playing with Jaki Byard), but once I listened to the live album Compliments of the Mysterious Phantom, I finally began to see what it was all about. I'm just sorry I didn't get to see him. There is a bunch of "Rahspeak" on the album, but unlike most skits that litter hip hop albums, his speech is pretty funny, sometimes sharp and sometimes seemingly random. Listen for the judgements of the lips and the power of the nose in the Rahspeaks below. The image here, painted by Nancy Ostrovsky (live) is worthily far out. B.L.A.C.K.N.U.S.S. Ya dig...Feel free to sing along!

Rahsaan Roland Kirk Live-Blacknuss mp3

Rahspeak 1
Rahspeak 2

Black History-Black to the Future

OK, It's Black History Month and now that I have figured out how to post these tracks as downloadable MP3s, I am reposting the prior Pryor (ahem) track-a great kickoff for the celebration. I was listening to some Sun Ra stuff a bit ago and the chanting chorus about wanting to get the hell out of here (the whole planet, no less) and travel the spaceways from whence they came. It struck me how I could identify with the feelings a little reading day after day of horrible fucking news. And then I Anne and I went to see the doc From Mambo to Hiphop which chronicles the crazy mix of people and music that make up the Bronx and Africa Bambaataa appears towards the end all funked out colors and outerspace sonic lunacy. Bambaataa was about using music to help overcome gang barriers and entropic violence in the neighborhood when hiphop was not yet a global cash cow. To me, the link between outer space utopias and black experience in America is fascinating. In any event, I will be posting a bunch of stuff to celebrate, from black history to black sci-fi stuff (Bambaataa, George Clinton, Sun Ra, Sly, possibly some readings of Samuel Delaney) and other far outs that have made not just black history, and not just history, but future too.

Richard Pryor-Bicentennial Ni**er MP3