The Dissident Arts Orchestra playing a live improvised score to 'Battleship Potemkin' at the Dissident Arts Festival 2014 (photo by Andrea Wolper)
REPORTS ON DISSIDENT ARTS FESTIVAL 2014
My report on this year's DISSIDENT ARTS FESTIVAL came in the form of a group email to everyone involved. A love letter. And then a series of email replies followed. I am including some of that here to expand on my own description. One thing that is obvious to all in the room: this was one hell of a special Festival!
Dearest Dissident Compadres,
I woke up at 8:45 with a headache, a sore back and a stuffed nose. Rolled over to try to get more sleep and "L'Internationale" kept rolling through my head! And then I'm hearing "Blue Monk" like mad. Can't stop that. This was only followed by the swarm of mental pictures of the entire evening running through my mind, like a montage section of an early 30s Soviet film! This all going on as the gentleman in the upstairs apartment's television bellows out Sunday morning service. Halleluiah just don't work with Monk and dissidence. Time for a coffee and some head-clearing....
My greatest thanks goes out to each and every one of you for staging what
must be the finest of the nine thus far Dissident Arts Festivals. The evening
quickly moved into the dark of late-night and then Battleship Potemkin took us
to about 1:30. I don't know, I stopped counting. But the overwhelming positive
vibes from everyone in the room prevented any of this from feeling like it went
on too long!
First off, hats off to Anthony and Mark and the other guys of El Taller for
not only hosting this event but keeping everything running so smooth. Anthony I
cannot find Mark's email address so please pass this on to him. His sound
work was exemplary, as it always is, but in the frantic pace of trying to adjust
sound for each act, run the computer for the live feed, shoot photos, all I can
say is "wow". In the thick of madness, everything went so smoothly and at one
point as I was sitting down next to Laurie, trying to catch my breath between
acts, he was running by but stopped long enough to reach out and ask how I was
doing. Anthony, too, was always available for any and everything. Gentlemen,
this is a partnership I hope to keep active for many years.
And a very special thank you to Denise Iacovone, out tireless artist. She
created a powerful piece in honor of the sounds, the faces, the energy before
her and reflected it all back at us with such expression, such an artful eye.
And did this from the stage, yet another great Fest performer. I look forward to
posting a photo of this on the Dissident Arts Festival FB wall. What a thing of
pride!
Now to the musicians, poets, performance artist. What can I say? Most of
you showed up early and stayed for a long time, some just not leaving after
their gig was over. At one point I noticed Lou Grassi still sitting in the back
long after his set (as the drummer of Upsurge!) was past. Lou is an amazing
drummer that I played with for a year or so every Monday night at the Stone,
when Karl Berger's Improvisers Orchestra first came together. I wasn't going to
pass this opportunity up, so asked him if he wanted to play drumset for the last
segment, the score for "Battleship Potemkin". What a wonderful outcome! THat's
the kind of night it was. But I am getting ahead of myself...
The show opened up with a beautiful set by Truth to Power!
- Juan Quinones, Michael Bisio, Michael Wimberly. Juan I must ask you to please
send this to Mike W - I neglected to save his address. But as the set started I
was so moved by this strong, personal, radical poem that spoke of the police
brutality and crimes that are so easily overlooked when they are
institutionalized. Juan's blue harmonica wailed mournfully--but not
complacently. These were blues to march on a picket by! And the rest of the set
followed with a mélange of emotions, from gentle swaying to thick crunches of
Downtown sounds. What an opener.
Chris Butters' poetry was so strong that even after that
amazing trio, no one thought the room was too quiet, to static. Not possible.
The first piece, all about John Coltrane (one of my own greatest musical
heroes--probably all of yours too) moved into a series of others that took us
along on the social justice train. Thank you Chris. Comrade.
Bernardo Palombo's set was truly neo-nueva cancion.
Threading stories through song, bringing us a Spanish language version of an
amazing song like Woody Guthrie's "Plan Wreck at Los Gatos". And of course
shaking the house with one of the great anthems of the peace and progressive
movement "Guantanamera". Bernardo, I am so glad that you chose to come out of
performance retirement right about this time.
My brothers of the Red Microphone never fails to move me
into contortions of new sounds I didn't think I could play---the inspiration is
only rivaled by the great time we have together. With all due respect to
modesty, I must say that we played one hell of a set last night. It just gets
better. Every time we perform as a unit, it just gets stronger so I say, let's
just keep going with this mission. We can adapt many more Leftie anthems to our
sound. I have about 100 more in mind. Thank you Ras, Rocco and Phil.
Sana Shabazz' s poetry is more like the output of a story
teller, a griot, than the average spoken word artist. Sana lived in Beacon NY
during the same period as Laurie and I did (we were there 2005-10) and I was
sure to book her to read her work several times on that stage at the Howland
Cultural Center. We stayed in contact after Laurie and I got back to Brooklyn
and was surprised to learn that she'd moved back to uptown Manhattan. So Sana
was with us to celebrate number 9 and was also there last year for 8 and also
performed with the Dissident Arts Orchestra a couple of years ago at a spot in
Ditmas Park Brooklyn. My thanks Sana for your socially conscious words and
beautiful spirit.
Upsurge! is another entity that brings politically radical
words to the stage, albeit woven into an amazing fabric of jazz. LAst night
Raymond Nat Turner and Zigi Lowenberg stood side by side with Ras Moshe, Ken
Filiano and Lou Grassi to produce a set that was more akin to modern theatre
than anything else. This is the kind of theatre that I would pay Broadway prices
for. And we got to enjoy it as a part of this Festival. Thank you all for
something so special.
Sadhana featured the great compositions of Will Connell, a
gentleman of jazz whom I have come to know and love. But to know Will is to love
him. Here's a man that should have all of the attention given to other folks who
came through some of the tumult of the 60s and shined in the Black Arts
Movement. His work with Horace Tapscott alone should put him in the incredible
history of the music, let alone his own jazz compositions that take us on a
chase through 20th century classical music and back to free improv. Last night's
set was exemplary. And having Vincent Chancey miss the gig, with all of his own
cache, might have been a problem if Will sought to get a mere mortal to replace
him. Instead he found Marshall Sealy, whom I had not met before. OMG this combo
of he and Will, in tandem with the youthful rhythm section of Max Johnson and
Jeremy Carlstedt, was a jewel. I have had the honor of performing with Will at
one of his large ensemble sessions at Arts for Art and we are going to work
together again in the winter. I am there---but glad I got to enjoy all of that
from the audience last night.
Crystal Shipp's performance art digs into the soul. I
first met Crystal in 2002 when I began working as a rep at District Council 1707
AFSCME. Most union reps tend to be activists and some have a certain flair that
tells me that they are also artists. Usually they are writers and the flair is a
kind of bookish one, more like John Reed. But Crystal walked over to say hello
on my first day at that job and I made her immediately as some sort of actress.
I was basically right. She has brought her performance art, poetry and paintings
to many such gatherings and was a performer on an event I organized as a
fundraiser for United for Peace and Justice around 2003. It was the night before
that first big anti-war march that took back the street. Well for a while at
least. She also was a part of this fest a couple of years ago. Thank you Crystal
for doing it. Again.
Andrea Wolper and Ken Filiano. THANK YOU BOTH. Shit, they
never fail to simply nail it. Married couples are expected to be in sync but
watching these two create together is a treat. Ken's bass playing is a magic
carpet ride---the night was dedicated to Charlie Haden and Fred Ho and Ken's
presence throughout so much of it made it clear that Haden was being celebrated.
Even in a room full of incredible bassists! And Andrea carries her vocal
training with her wherever she goes, but so easily wraps that around avant pops,
clicks and yowels, cabaret song, free jazz excursions, serious story telling and
more traditional poetry too. And there's not only art in all this but also
humor. New York Stories. Yeah. Keep 'em coming, Andrea. All that and she curates
a series of her own, down at the Why Not? Jazz Room in the West Village that has
scored so many great musicians. Matt Lavelle and I will be there in
Oct.....
Harmolodic Monk is the duet of Matt and I. It has been in
existence for about 14 months now after being debuted at Ras' series Music Now!
at the Brecht Forum (we all continue to mourn the loss of that incredible venue
and institution). We have a unique duo in pairing Matt's trumpets and alto
clarinet with my vibes and percussion---constructing a bridge between Thelonious
Monk and Ornette Coleman. Or something like that. We are told it works and
that's about right. Jack DeSalvo, the brilliant guitarist, runs the Unseen Rain
record label. He recorded us in January in his studio and the download version
is available now---disc come out in a few months. We are very proud of this work
and I have been loving creating so much good music with Matt. He also put me in
his 12 Houses band and around this time we must be up to like 15 or 16 houses,
but what the hell. The music carries it all. Muchos gracias Matt for HM and for
bringing it all together last night.
The Dissident Arts Orchestra has been a part of this event
for several years now, though some of the players keep changing around. Nora McCarthy-vocals, Cheryl Pyle-flute, Will
Connell-flute, Rocco John Iacovone-reeds, Ras Moshe-reeds/flute, Matt
Lavelle-trumpet, Gil Selinger-cello, Ken Filiano-upright bass, Laurie
Towers-electric bass, Lou Grassi-drums. Such an aggregation! Nora has
been on every DAO gig save for the first, and we never want her to leave. The
drama added with voice--one which combines a free and trained voice, poetry and
more. She was also a special guest on the Red Microphone's album--turning
L'Internationale into a faraway place anthem for all time. Cheryl Pyle
was a mainstay and then missed the last one but she is back. The icy, sinewy
sound of her flute always reminds me of that cool theme music for 'The Open
Mind' television show. Yeah. Gil Selinger, cello monster and a hell of
a photographer. Before the DAO performance Gil was that guy in the cap running
around shooting pics of everyone. So we have not only documentation but some
very special shots as his angles are always the one we wished we took when we
have a camera in hand. Great stuff and great cello playing. How many cellists
have revolutionary themes off the top of their head?
My much better half Laurie Towers is such a
powerful electric bassist; she brings bits of James Jamerson and Carol Kaye and
a swath of colors into these gigs and so I always insist she be there. Laurie's
work schedule (running two businesses of her own, stressfully but so positively
and increasingly successful!) has kept her from playing as often as she once
did---but there's always an electric bass chair for her ion DAO And in my life.
So much gratitude, baby. And then there's Ken again. We had tandem
basses as I always like to have and to include you in this line-up on the
acoustic side was a treat. I should say that I walked over to Ken and whispered
in his ear that during the Odessa steps scene I would call on him to play some
heavy solo sections---I am sure all agree that this was the best depiction ever.
And having Will join in---man. And last minute addition Lou
Grassi---thank you Lou! Not only as a soloist but as an accompanist this
was a bubbling brew of hip sounds.
And of course my mainstays Ras (explosive,
Ayler-esque inner anguish/soft breezy and beguiling. At the damned same time.
Pure art. ---that's Ras), Rocco (long-held tones that soar above it
all, funky bar-room vibes, West Coast Konitz meets Eastern religion meet the
West and East Villages. In style), Matt (trumpet calls to herald in the
revolution, the spirit of Louis rolled into Don Cherry, barks, blasts,
high-flying birds, mellow soul, ahhhhhh). What a band. What a
night.
Be on the alert, all. Next year is the 10th anniversary of the
Dissident Arts Festival. Anthony: if possible I would like to
split this panoply of rad artists into two--a Sat night and a Sunday afternoon.
This way everyone has a good audience and we don't need to run into OT.
Especially when we have no funding and I cannot pay folks union rates. These
folks deserve extra time to perform in and I hope to at least give them that.
Let's talk as we get closer to next year, okay??
Much peace and love to everyone who made this possible. I SURE
AS HELL HOPE I DIDN'T LEAVE ANYONE OUT OF THIS.....YOU all are why there is a
Festival.
Keep the art burning with passion for social
change.
jp
******************
ANDREA WOLPER:
Aug 17, 2014 11:43 AM
John, first,
of all . . . WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP??! You were supposed to be sleeping in
this morning.
Next, you
beat me to it: I was just about to write to thank you. Seriously. And I
can't believe your mind is clear enough to have written this beautiful recap. I
was so inspired last night by your vision and commitment (not to mention your
organizational skills), and, now, even more so ('cause you're coherent this
morning, ha!).
I'm cc'ing this to everyone, because: thank you to everyone. Damn, that was a long evening, but in the very best way -- long and strong! I'm still a bit high from the great music, words, performances, energy, love, strength, beauty.
Thank you so
much, John, for doing this, and for inviting me to be part of it. And thank you
to all the artists, Taller, and everyone involved!
Love,
Andrea
******************
CHERYL PYLE:
Aug 17, 2014 12:06 PM
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