©️FoBo_

The Soul Jazz label easily proves how smart they are with excellent Studio One Groups, an almost overwhelming set of killer cuts from bands and singing groups affiliated with Cocsone‘s „University of Reggae.“ His label saw the Jamaican sound go from ska to rocksteady to roots reggae. One disc isn’t enough to tell the whole story, but this collection functions as a enchanting mixtape – a wonderful mix of tracks you might know, tracks you should know, and a couple of wonderful rarities that should have never fallen through the cracks. The sweet harmonies, spiritual roots music, and soul-influenced ballads are all intoxicating. Whether you’re being introduced or getting reacquainted, the vinyl / cd simply named Studio One Groups puts a spell on you overflowing with kindness.

participants so far: M.E., B.W., O.W. (deadline for players, October 15)

the thematic field: chapter 4 of Joe Boyd‘s book (from Ravi Shankar to Sinti/Roma, flamenco, and beyond, starring John McLaughlin, Leonard Cohen and Federico Lorca, Pandith Pran Nath, Silverio Franconetti, Jon Hassell, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, John Coltrane, ECM, and many more)

click: LATCHO DRUM

on each november weekend (see parallel reading lines at the end), every player has to answer four questions … at the end, one of us (not including me, the winner of the lottery) will get a package of five excellent albums (cds / vinyl, your choice) related to the far reaching horizons of chapter 4. one of these albums will be part of my next Klanghorizonte evening, in late March 2025)

questions:

1. What did really take you by surprise! (Describe one, two, or three „wow“-factors!)
2. How do you experience to listen to an album you can choose freely from the pages you‘ve been reading?
3. What is an interesting connection you haven‘t been conscious about before?
4. How do you respond to Joe Boyd‘s writing (content / style, whatever)?

reading intervals:

subchapter 1-12 (pages 283-307 – until nov. 2/3
subchapter 13-21 (pages 307-330) – until nov. 9/10
subchapter 22-32 (pages 331-357) – until nov. 16/17
subchapter 33-45 (pages 357-382) – until nov 23/24

es ist so wohltuend, beim ansehen des films „music for black pigeons“, musiker sprachlos zu erleben,

wenn sie ihre kunst reflektieren. da rauscht kein engel durch den raum, da wird nicht das „spirituelle“ beschworen,

da wird bestenfalls gesagt, dass man, manchmal dem nahe käme, „what this is all about“. und so habe ich meine ganz eigenen

lieblingsplatten von und mit paul motian, zu denen seit neuestem, der dokumentation sei dank, „once upon a room“ zählt, von jakob bro,

obgleich auf dieser platte allein der „spirit“ des drummers anwesend ist, ohne alles raunen, ohne jedes ergriffenheitsvokabular,

und hier dann die anderen alben von und mit Motian, die zu meinen ganz privaten favourites zählen, „conception vessel“, „dance“, „the survivors‘ suite“, „fort yawuh“, „tribute“, the paul bley quartet“. nichts fehlt mir hier, weil nichts denkmalgeschützt formuliert ist, und nur unvergessliche „blue hours“ gelistet sind, von den teenagerjahren mit dem hineinkriechen in den klang von “conception vessel“ (der gong!), bis hin zu der ecm-edition einer lang als bootleg gehandelten magie von jarrett, motian und haden, ein abend bei naura im ndr anno 1972, siehe den schnappschuss oben. das bill evans trio, live im village vanguard, ist bei mir nie wirklich „gelandet“, – weiss der kuckuck warum, aber meine favourites brachten mich nah an, ähem, „what this is all about“. tiefe, geteilte zeit. ein menschliches potential, ohne fabulierten spirituellen überbau. perfect empathy. Unerhörtes finden.

once upon a time, in 1986 or 87, brian got the key for a big church in cologne, and i could hear him play the big organ. precious, not pompous. in those days, too, he produced michael brook‘s masterpiece hybrid. the woman on the photo is the woman eno later married, anthea norman-taylor. like so many old photos, there‘s a backward glance in it. i stumbled on this picture by chance, and then looked for my old vinyl of hybrid. no one would be surprised to hear some jon hassell ghost trumpet on it. there‘s a lake, too, like on henning‘s video, – on the album, it‘s called „pond life“. (m.e.)

on land – that would be my favorite eno album. a timeless piece of music, highly inventive and enough room for the listener to create our train of thoughts. wonder if some of the reasons of its success simply has to do with it having almost no high end in the instrumentation, apart from the trumpet lifted from (was it „dream theory“?). same thing with brook´s „hybrid“ – only low, low / high mid areas involved. if you listen to „dream logic“ or „cartography“ – or for „poppies“ for that matter – it´s hardly anything going on in the treble (as if such word belongs in the analog world). when something do enter that frequency (voice, trumpet, the odd sine wave) area, it can be performed so softly and will still be extremely present in the recording. (j.b.)

Once again I’m annoyed by film criticism. As a family excursion we went to see ‘Lee’, showing in German cinemas as ‘Die Fotografin’ (‘The Female Photographer’), with Kate Winslet as Lee Miller. The reviews I had read beforehand, admittedly only skimming through them, were largely very negative, so I was hesitant as to whether it was worth watching the film at all. It’s a mystery to me how movie critics can be so unjust in their treatment of a film that is – by objective standards – good, especially given the way other films I’ve seen in recent months have been reviewed and often ‘waved through’ in a very complimentary manner and without any major criticism. Nothing wrong with that for the time being, but when compared to ‘Lee’, I’m astounded and upset. And it annoys me even more when I compare this with similar films with historical themes that are screened for a very similar, more or less middle-class Charlottenburg audience in the same theatres. 

Certainly, ‘Lee’ is not radical art cinema like ‘Zone of Interest’ or a harrowing war thriller like ‘Civil War’. But at no point is that its intention. Yes, well, the film is by and large a conventional ‘biopic’ about a famous person of the 20th century, with the usual historically accurate buildings, costumes and hues, produced with the mainstream appeal of shining a light on a person from history and telling an emotional and psychological drama about life and art. So far, so good. But the fact that the film is written and directed with a great deal of subtlety and numerous well-judged decisions – as are many others – does not warrant any disparaging criticism. 

And then it seems that it has been completely ignored that anyone who hasn’t just started watching films yesterday, but has already seen dozens, if not – like me – hundreds of comparable films about more or less similar subjects, themes, characters and stories, i.e. anyone can easily see that in this film, from front to back, so many major and minor screenwriting and directing decisions were made by female screenwriters and a female director; countless details differ from the viewpoint that dozens of male writers and directors have shown in comparable films for decades. The difference is so striking throughout the film that it carries far more weight than the question of whether this is the umpteenth historical biopic set during the 1940s in Central Europe. 

Ellen Kuras, who has shot many award-winning and outstanding feature films and documentaries as a cinematographer over decades, with countless (very) big directorial names, many works that have remained in my memory without me realising that they were all captured by the same person’s camera, demonstrates in countless creative decisions, that even topics that we seem to have seen until we’ve fallen asleep can be told with a respectful perspective that takes the audience and the treated ‘material’ (= themes as well as historical figures) seriously, so that attentive viewers are continuously captivated and can actually witness a female gaze. What’s more, the director and the film succeed in addressing present-day issues without making a big fuss and in tackling the topic of depicting, documenting, looking away from or at horrors in a confident and respectful way. 

I am astounded that these issues are not acknowledged and certainly not appreciated. 

At first (superficial) glance, the film looks no different from ‘all the others’ – but if you just pay attention, you will see so many things that differ from ‘all the others’ that you can’t even begin to name them. And it’s not as if these are all wrong decisions that make no sense. 

In the famous Neapolitan song "Tammurriata Nera" many influences got merged in a fascinating way and also the performances have many fascinating variations and extensions. The most outstanding are the versions of Peppe Barra. Here is a highly captivating version with him 

V  I  D  E  O   Tammurriata Nera w/ Peppe Barra 


But would we then call this a musical hybrid? I don't think so. So, when do we speak of musical hybrids and when not? 

In the comment links to more versions for those who got turned on by this music.