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Volume 10 Issue 21…Dedicated to the
Dialogue on Race…May 25, 2007
Charles Mingus: Beneath
the Underdog
One of the most original and influential
composers of the twentieth century, Charles Mingus was born on April 22, 1922
in Nogales, Arizona, but he was raised in Watts, California. He is second only
to Duke Ellington in his volume of jazz work. Mingus is the first black
American composer to have his work acquired by the Library of Congress.
Attempting to reconcile jazz improvisation with
orchestration, Mingus was a virtuoso bass player, accomplished pianist and
bandleader. He liberated the bass, which prior to his contribution only kept
time. He utilized its versatility to state the theme like horns. Incorporating
a wide range of styles, from big band to gospel, as well as early New Orleans jazz,
Mingus generated an avant-garde feeling in his music.
Mingus made great strides in developing his style
of composing and playing during the 1940s while touring with bands like Louis
Armstrong, Kid Ory and Lionel Hampton. In 1949, he moved to New York, where he
met drummer Max Roach, who got him big time gigs with bebop legends, including
Charlie Parker, Bud Powell and Dizzy Gillespie. He formed his own publishing
and recording companies in the mid-50's to protect his growing legacy.
Mingus made several important aesthetic and
technical advances in the 1950s. Introducing the "jazz workshop"
concept allowed him to compose, work with new musicians and incorporate new
influences into jazz, such as gospel music. Attending his stepmother's Holiness
church as a child, gospel became a strong influence on Mingus' compositions.
Of the experience, Mingus said, All the music
I heard when I was a very young child was church music . . . . My father didn't
dig my mother going to the Holiness church. People went into trances and they
were wilder and more uninhibited than in the Methodist church. The blues was in
the Holiness churches - moaning and riffs and that sort of thing between the
audience and the preacher.
Radio also inspired Mingus. He heard a broadcast
of Duke Ellington's East St. Louis Toodle-oo at age six, and he was smitten by
the brassy, orchestrated big band sounds. Mingus recalled, It was the first
time I knew something else was happening besides church music.
Mingus began as a trombonist, but his father
traded the instrument for a cello after a few years. An itinerant music teacher
taught him the fingerings, after realizing Mingus was naturally talented.
Advised by his friend at seventeen, You're black. You'll never make it in
classical music no matter how good you are. You want to play, you gotta play a
Negro instrument. Mingus switched to the bass, and taught himself to play
listening to radio.
The "Jazz Workshop" allowed Mingus to work with fresh, undiscovered talent. Paradoxically, Mingus had strong feelings about free-form jazz, . . if the free-form guys could play the same tune twice, then I would say they were playing something . . . . Most of the time they don't even know what's going to come out.
Mingus was extraordinarily creative; he produced
more than a hundred albums and over three hundred musical scores. His works
include Pithecanthropus Erectus, The Clown, Tijuana Moods, Mingus Dynasty,
Mingus Ah Um, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, and Let My Children Hear
Music. His autobiography Beneath the Underdog lists his many
accomplishments and awards. Mingus died in 1979 at age 56. He said, My
abilities as a bassist were the result of hard work, but my talent for
composition came from God. (Source: www.mingusmingusmingus.com)
Copper John
By Yohannes Sharriff
On the corner of Euclid and Colquitt sits the Bazaar,
home for artisans and entrepreneurs.
Nestled next to the Five Spot,
a block from the Inman Park Train Station,
7 Stages, 89.3, Sevanda and the Free Market.
Working hard not to be swallowed by Target,
Starbucks and Barnes and Nobles,
We find our hero,
Superman in a world with no phone booths.
Forced to transform right before their eyes
Un-pasteurized jazz, silent horn player
waiting for his solo -- quietly shaping metal.
Ancient as his practice, his glasses tell the story.
The lens remain the same,
but copper wire now replaces
the missing parts of the frame.
The location of his family
and from whence he came remain mysteries.
Speaking in rhyme
Clearly a veteran of the changing times
Villain or valiant
Vice or virtue
Victim or victor
Shaman or sinner
He would probably say all of them
Transfixed by the clash of creation and consumerism
The conflict diamond between trend and tradition
He sits gathering young and old unto him
Like Buddha would butterflies
Tattered clothes and shoes
Most of the salt and pepper Afro is missing
Missing teeth in a crooked smile
He reminds narrow minds to refine our value system
Virtually invaluable his presence
more a healing service
than a means of survival.
And, this may be a romanticized version of his works.
But, if Ronald Reagan gets immortalized
for raising taxes and putting crack on the curb
then this is only a tenth of what Copper deserves.
And, if you heard his words
back in the day at Yin Yang Café
you would concur
The verse about his battle with crack cocaine
powerful as a pastor testifying in church.
He ministers to the needs of the people.
Mystical as that place he goes when he goes
similar to David Blaine
Out of nowhere he appears right on time.
Right before their eyes never wearing a watch
But you can bet Copper knows the time
energy radiating from a wrinkled brow
his sanguine mind
Same as the copper
John is his name,
same as my father's
Inventive as George Washington Carver
telephone wire in hand
skillfully stripping away the façade
bringing thought into form
artfully conducting the love in his heart.
Copper John's Healing Jewelry
By John Burl Smith
A will-o'-the-wisp in Atlanta's hard core poverty areas, where young slave
descendants struggle desperately to slice through the maze of lies that keep
their minds on lock-down, an intelligent force moves. Steel trap wrapped so
tightly that free thinking is a straight jacket for institutionalized racism.
Amidst this concrete kudzu garden grows a free spirit, like dandelions breaking
through the sidewalk, Copper John resides.
Artist, jewelry maker, philosopher, poet and
prognosticator, the copper man speaks in rhyme with the poetic flow of a
natural MC. Disguised as a derelict, Cooper John moves undetected through the
murky, shadowy underworld of Goth and punk rockers, drug users and abusers,
pimps and predators, infamous and informants, as well as various other bottoms
feeders, that frequent "Little Five Points," a well-known Atlanta, Georgia
commercial and entertainment district. An urban legend in his own right, Cooper
John describes himself as a middleman with a story to tell; is anybody
listening?
Some time in the distant past, he says, I was
hustling copper jewelry just trying to get by when my way one day a great
spirit chanced to fly, giving me a mission with real tradition -- healing sick
souls across the world as a whole. Touching the copper wire held in my hand
that spirit transferred ancient knowledge that blew me away like an electric fan.
With just that touch healing energy flowed and I became a live wire as the
future unfolded. The spirit said through me his energy flows to heal the world
was his goal. From that day to this, I've been the middleman and nurse helping
to maintain the balance in the universe.
Strange as it may seem, one would never suspect
that such a tattered individual could divulge ancient secrets for free, yet
some swear by Copper John and his healing jewelry. They say late at night when
Copper is in the zone, he sends out healing energy over the mental airways of
WCJR (Copper John Radio). Ordinary radio comes from the outside, but WCJR
transmits through the copper wire of his healing jewelry. He's got a story to
tell; is anybody listening?
While fashioning pieces of his art, Copper John's
knowledge flows. His flavor is not his own, but like a crown it covers your
dome. From his hands through the copper wire, his energy flows to the young
fans and he says, Pay me when you can! So, if you are in Atlanta, sick
or low in spirit, check out the Five Spot for Copper's energy. If your mind is
on positive and your spirit is open to truth, finding Copper John is like
searching for your roots. He's got a story to tell; is anybody listening? On
most days, you can find Copper John at Euclid and Colquitt in Little Five
Points.
Discipline Disparity
Gwinnett County Public Schools is Georgia's largest school system. For most of
its existence, the system has been predominantly white. Since 2004, the system’s
demographics have changed; whites no long make up the majority of the student
population. According to 2005-2006 school enrollment figures, 144,599 students
attended Gwinnett schools. The student body demographic breakdown for that year
was blacks (25.1%), Asians (10%), Hispanics (19%), Others (3.5%) and whites
(42.4%).
During the 2005-2006 school year, 2218 Gwinnett students appeared before
district level discipline panels. Typically, these panels handle violations
involving chronic discipline problems and violent acts. While black and
Hispanic students made up 44.1% of the student population, they accounted for
nearly 68% of these discipline cases.
Gwinnett Schools Superintendent J.Alvin Wilbanks created a 49-member task force
in November 2006 to review the school systems disciplinary policies to
determine whether changes could eliminate this disparity. In charging the task
force, school administrations elected not to include race as a factor in school
discipline disparity. Yet, according to Georgia State University professor Eric
Freeman, who has research equity issues, "You can make your code of
conduct as detailed or exhaustive as humanly possible, but because it is
enacted by humans and humans are not infallible, you will have problems."
And, these problems are expected to increase as Gwinnett's student population
becomes more diverse, meaning more Hispanic and black.
In April 2007, the task force presented its final report, which included the
recommendation to clarify the code violations that should be handled at the
school level and those that should be referred to discipline panels. School
officials have already indicated that they may eventually need to talk about
ways to address societal biases. (Sources: www.ajc.com
and www.gwinnett.k12.ga.us)
Disgruntled says: On
Tuesday, May 15, 2007, former Deputy Attorney General James Comey dropped a
bombshell when he testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee about
the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program. Apparently, the
Department of Justice had already ruled the program illegal when then White
House counsel Albert Gonzales and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card,
presumably under orders from the White House, went to the hospital room of
ailing Attorney General John Ashcroft in early March, 2004 to have him sign off
on an illegal program. Ashcroft refused to overrule acting AG Comey, who
threatened to resign, if the program continued without changes Comey's dramatic
testimony sounded like scenes from a thriller. It brought home just how low the
US has sunk since Bush took up residence in the White House. For all practical
purposes, with no effort by Congress to impeach and remove him from office, the
US has become one of those banana republics it has been infamously known to
prop up to further some business interest.
Disgruntled feels:
Uninspired! Indoctrinated to believe commencement addresses are supposed to be
inspirational - calls to graduates of institutions of learning to go forth and
use their knowledge to make the world a better place for themselves, their
families and the rest of humanity. The speech delivered by George W. Bush at
the US Naval Academy did not fall into this category. If inspirational at all,
it could only appeal to those that relish the thought of killing. Declassifying
two-year-old intelligence, his speech rehashed the debunked justifications for
the war in Iraq peppered generously with 9-11. Uninspired, Bush beats drums from
more death and instilled fear based on nebulous threats; his commencement
speech did nothing to inspire graduates to do good works.
Disgruntled wants to know: The US is
openly saber-rattling in the Persian Gulf. Its actions have gone well beyond enforcing
UN sanctions and appear to be geared toward provoking a confrontation with
Iran, ostensibly over its nuclear weapons ambitions. Ironically, if the shoe
was on the other foot and the US was faced with such an overt threat so close
to its shores, the US would not hesitate to develop every weapon possible to
repel and/or deter such an aggressive adversary. During the Cuban Missile
Crisis, it came to the brink of WWIII in forcing Russia to remove its missiles
from Cuba. As a Christian nation, the US is supposedly guided by the creed to
do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Yet, this creed does not
seem to apply when it comes to those oil-rich Middle East nations. Is the US
only interested in war and occupation to control this vital resource?
Bebop Past and Future
Amidst prayers and dances for rain, Hot-lanta continued to bake, while cloudy
skies threatened to obscure the stars over Chastain's candlelight supper club
atmosphere (5-12-07). More necessary than for the usual rock concert,
starry-eyed Atlanta fatefuls eagerly welcomed the return of three down-homers.
A close and intimate return to music more reminiscent of an earlier time, but
still a joy to hear, Freddy Cole opened the show. A resident of Atlanta, who
regularly tours the US, Europe, the Far East and South America, Freddy is less
famous than his older brother, Nat "King" Cole. Although his voice is
raspier than Nat's and his timing swings more, Freddy, nevertheless, brought a
smooth, sophisticated bebop sound to the stage.
Headliner, Joe Sample is a hard bebopper that went electric during the fusion
era in the late '50s. Originally a Jazz Crusader (The Crusaders in 1971), he
remained with the group until 1991. Since then, Sample has enjoyed a successful
solo career and has appeared on recordings that include Miles Davis, George
Benson, B.B. King and Steely Dan. His very lyrical introspective hard-swinging
jazz-pop piano was definitely favored by the enthusiastic Atlanta Jazz Festival
crowd.
Closing out the performance, Macon native Randy Crawford, who skyrocketed to
fame with her smash hit Street Light, enjoyed a real homecoming. Very
personable with hugs for fans, Crawford's raspy voice reminded everyone why
Atlanta loves her so much. Having recorded and toured with The Crusaders,
Crawford and Sample are currently on tour to promote their new album Feelin
Good.
Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and
Telephone Calls
Email www.msnbc.msn.com...LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -
Former President Carter says President Bush's administration is "the worst
in history" in international relations, taking aim at the White House's
policy of pre-emptive war and its Middle East diplomacy. The criticism from
Carter, which a biographer says is unprecedented for the 39th president, also
took aim at Bush's environmental policies and the administration's "quite
disturbing" faith-based initiative funding.
Email canizar@verizon.net ...Impeach
Bush or Get Rid of the Impeachment Clause...By Dave Lindorff 05/11/07
"Baltimore Chronicle" -- -- What is it about impeachment that has the
Democratic Party leadership so frightened? Talking with members of Congress,
one hears the same refrain: "I know Bush and Cheney have committed
impeachable crimes, but impeachment is a bad idea." The rationales offered
are many, but all are either specious or based upon flawed
reasoning....Democrats need to step up to their responsibility. If this
president is not to be impeached, Congress may as well amend the Constitution
to remove the impeachment clause. It will, in that case, have become as much an
anachronism as prohibition.
Email www.washingtonpost.com...Voter-Fraud
Complaints by GOP Drove Dismissals….By Dan Eggen and Amy
Goldstein...Nearly half the U.S. attorneys slated for removal by the
administration last year were targets of Republican complaints that they were
lax on voter fraud, including efforts by presidential adviser Karl Rove to
encourage more prosecutions of election- law violations, according to new
documents and interviews. Of the 12 U.S. attorneys known to have been dismissed
or considered for removal last year, five were identified by Rove or other
administration officials as working in districts that were trouble spots for
voter fraud -- Kansas City, Mo.; Milwaukee; New Mexico; Nevada; and Washington
state. Four of the five prosecutors in those districts were dismissed.
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