Mystery / Mr. Ra

In some far-off place,
many light-years in space -
We’ll wait for you!

Where human feet have never trod,
where human eyes have never seen,
we’ll build a world of abstract dreams.
And wait for you!

- "We’ll Wait For You", recited by June Tyson, composed by Sun Ra

They’re gone now, both.

I cannot actually prove that at this very moment they are building a world of abstract dreams for us in a distant galaxy.

But it comforts me to think that they might be, plus you can’t prove that they’re not.

Lord knows they built a world of abstract dreams when they were here on earth. As someone who had the honor of visiting that world several times through the vehicle of live music, I can tell you it was strange and beautiful and idiosyncratic and, at its best, somehow scary and comforting at the same time. Scary and comforting like when someone who loves you tells you the whole truth about something.

It didn’t matter whether you liked it or even understood Sun Ra and his Cosmo Love Adventure Arkestra, it still worked. He had his story and, incredible as it might seem, he stuck to it. Whether it was describing Star Wars to a reporter as "accurate" (as reported in John Szwed’s excellent biography), telling an overzealous customs official that "this is the most unfair planet I’ve ever been to," (as reported by my jazz-musician cousin) or convincing the U.S. State Department to issue him a passport that listed his place of birth as "Saturn" (reported in numerous places), the guy gave credibility to his mythology by sheer force of will. His life would have been a lot easier if he let people treat his theories and attitudes as an elaborate joke or shtick, but he never did. How could you not be inspired by that?

Sun Ra once put out an album called Holiday for Soul Dance. It is my all time favorite album title, despite the fact that I have no idea what it means. I don’t care; I can feel what it means. Which was the case with many of Sun Ra’s contributions to our planet; they were beyond language but not beyond thinking, which is a tough place to get to and an even tougher place to stay.

But I did always feel like it was one of the hallmarks of true genius: thinking of something that nobody has ever thought of before, that you may not even be able to explain in words, but that, when people experience it, they say, "Oh yeah, of course. Obviously. Why didn’t we think of that?"

The first time I saw Sun Ra and his Myth-Science Arkestra in the late eighties, my first reaction was, "Of course a swing band should have six drummers. It’s so obvious! Why didn’t every other big band that has ever existed think of that?"

Of course a spacesuit is the proper attire to wear when playing Fletcher Henderson tunes from the twenties. Of course you should do free jazz versions of songs from Walt Disney movies. Of course African American music is the missing link between ancient Egypt and Outer Space. Of course we live on a backwards planet. Of course spaceships can be powered by music. Of course of course of course.

Some may say that Sun Ra was a figment in the imagination of one Herman "Sonny" Blount of Birmingham Alabama.* They may believe that Blount was just a lonely man who discovered that rather than hide from his true nature, he could use mythology and music to explain why he didn’t fit in. But isn't that ultimately just another way of saying that he was from Saturn? If his destiny was to be an introverted, brilliant, Black man in the segregated south of the 1930's, if his destiny was to work in a factory or a field, if his destiny was to live a life of quiet desperation, why shouldn't he seek an "alter-destiny"? Why shouldn't we all?

Your destiny is in the hands of fate

And all you have to do

to change your destiny

is

find fate

when fate is in a pleasant mood

And change your destiny

find fate
when fate is in a pleasant mood

find fate

when fate is in a pleasant mood

na na na na na na

na na na na na na

"Fate in a Pleasant Mood" - Sun Ra

*It just occurred to me that Birmingham, Alabama is actually home to two world-famous African American pianists, Sun Ra & Condoleeza Rice. I am, however, unwilling to speculate on the significance of that fact, beyond noting that they both appear to hold a worldview that sees Earth as a small, possibly expendable, planet in a grand universe.

Consider Seeing This Movie

Byron Hurt's excellent documentary Beyond Beats and Rhymes is playing this Saturday, August 19th at 8:30 in Ft. Greene Park for free! It's a hip-hop movie in a park with a deejay all for free! Come on!

I saw this movie several months ago and found that Hurt is really able to get at issues of gender in hip-hop without being either sanctimonious, defensive or sanctimoniously defensive. So you should see it because it's just good, really progressive, really thoughtful, and just the kind of thing that we need more of in hip-hop: people taking the initiative to publicly question their own assumptions.

But if that doesn't convince you, here are two other arguments:

1. Regardless of where they stand on the issues, some well-known artists seem comfortable talking to Hurt about sexism and homophobia and some seem REALLY REALLY uncomfortable, which I think in many ways is actually more telling than what they actually have to say. But regardless of the deeper insights it can give us into human nature, it's also really fun to see tough-guy rappers become awkward and tongue-tied when asked to explain themselves. Without ruining it, there's one former native tongue who could carry the whole movie himself in that regard.

2. Halfway through the last event I attended in this park (a deejay set by Bobbito and Rich Medina a few weeks ago), I noticed that Rosie Perez and Lee 163 were standing next to me.

No Easy Props…

…is the name of Asia-One’s b-girl crew & I’ve always loved it, both because 1) I feel like it sums up the entire hip-hop attitude in three words; and 2) because of that, it puts b-girls at the center of hip-hop, where they belong.

With that in mind, I have some stuff for you to read & do:

I found this great essay about the changing meanings of the word "b-girl" via a link from Julianne (who still owes me an uprock battle).

On a related note, the Prophet Jalylah weighs in on issues of Beyonce.

One thing that’s always intrigued me about Ms. Knowles is the strange contrast between her raw, sexual performance persona and her sweet, innocent, "real" persona. Am I the only one that finds that weird? It’s almost as if we’re expected to believe that either 1) she just doesn’t understand what she’s doing in those videos; or 2) the video world is so compartmentalized from real life that you can actually promote a completely different value system in each and no one even thinks it’s strange. Just to be clear: I don’t really buy into either of the worldviews she’s promoting, so it’s not a moral question for me. It’s just weird.

But there is hope! If you want to see how real women dance, come to We B*Girlz: A 25th Anniversary Breakin' Event at Lincoln Center Out of Doors, this Thursday, August 10th (on the Josie Robertson Plaza) at 5:30 p.m.

It’s free, and here’s the line-up:

Emceed by Toni Blackman (New York),
featuring music spun by DJ Sparkles, (Philadelphia)

3-on-3 battle between four crews:
Fox Force (New York City);
Natural Born Killahz (New Jersey);
Style Comes First (Philadelphia); and
Flowzaic (London)

Judges include:
Rokafella (New York);
Asia One (Los Angeles); and
Aruna (Rotterdam).

performances by:
popper/locker Rowdy of Flowzaic
KR3Ts, a dance troupe based in Spanish Harlem.
Toni Blackman and members of her Cipher Workshop.
Tribute by Henry Chalfant to the original b-boyz from the 1981 event.
The backdrop will be painted by graffiti legend Lady Pink along with Toofly and Muck.

Hipsters

Correction 12/5/06:

In the original version of this post, I referred to Deth Killers as “a clothing company that utilizes [seventies] gang motifs”. It has been brought to my attention (see comment #3) that they are actually a contemporary motorcycle club that makes clothing. This was simply a misunderstanding on my part, and I apologize for it.

I’d also like to be clear that the post itself was never directed at them as a club (since I did not know that they actually existed), but at people who adopt colors as a fashion accessory without having any understanding of what those colors represent. As a real club, that wouldn't apply to Deth Killers in any case.

When I went to see The Warriors the other night, there were some (young, white) folks wearing the colors of fictional gangs (including genuine fake Warriors vests that could be purchased for a mere $100...a $25 discount off the internet price!).

On the one hand, I cut them a little slack because it is a movie, after all, and they were just trying to have some fun on a hot summer night. And, let's be honest, the Warrors vest is kind of cool...

But the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me. As with many things onto which hipsters latch, the reason they're able to be cute about gang colors is that they know they’ll never have to explain themselves to an actual gangster. Because, in their world, gangsters don't really exist. In other words, the whole thing is less about being into gang culture than about being proud of one’s cultural or social isolation. Which is not something to be proud of.

Now don’t get me wrong, I romanticize seventies gang culture as much as anybody. I admit that. But I don’t disrespect people when I do it.

Those old cats didn’t pay for their colors with Paypal – they paid with blood. That’s real. You don’t have to agree with the choices they made, but to take the symbols of their sacrifices is the worst kind of theft, because you’re stealing the meaning of their lives. Which is not hip. At all.

I happened to be reading Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl" on the way back from the movie, and as I read that second line...

"angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night"

...it really struck me how different today's hipsters are from those of the past: It's hard to imagine a contemporary hipster "burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night" (unless of course "the starry dynamo" was the name of a club frequented by Lindsey Lohan).

And that's what's been lost, really. Did you know that when true school hipster Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (the Grateful Dead's original lead singer) died in 1973, he was buried wearing Hell's Angels colors? Do you know how he got those colors?

They were given to him by the Hell's Angels.

That's what I'm talking about.

[For more information about hipsters, visit your local library or check out this blog post I made last year]

Come out to play-ee-ay...

C’mon…are you seriously telling me you have something better to do tomorrow night, in the hundred-degree heat, than to see The Warriors outdoors AT CONEY ISLAND with members of the original cast in attendance?

I didn’t think so.

The Warriors (1979)
Wednesday August 2
8:30 PM
Asser Levy Park amphitheater
between Sea Breeze and Ocean at 2nd street
Coney Island, NY

After the Movie

Members of the cast and crew will conduct a Q&A session. Netflix is pleased to announce the following cast members' attendance at the screening and Q&A: Deborah Van Valkenburgh (Mercy), Michael Beck (Swan), David Harris (Cochise), Terry Michos (Vermin), Brian Tyler (Snow), Dorsey Wright (Cleon), Tom McKitterick (Cowboy), and Thomas G. Waites (Fox).