Ode to Sean Hannity
by John Cleese

Aping urbanity
Oozing with vanity
Plump as a manatee
Faking humanity
Journalistic calamity
Intellectual inanity
Fox Noise insanity
You’re a profanity
Hannity

from The Guardian, Sept 26, 2008

Collaboration with every nation

Africa Express’ cross-continental jams insist on spontaneity, so what will happen at their Fela Kuti tribute is anyone’s guess, says Robin Denselow

Fela Kuti will be “dancing in his grave.” That’s what his son, Femi, says. The reason for the late Afrobeat pioneer’s posthumous pleasure? An event that perfectly captures the spirit of the old Afrika Shrine, the celebrated nightclub that he ran in the Nigerian capital in the 70s. On October 18, as the climax of this year’s Felabration festival in Lagos, there’s to be a very special concert outside Femi’s own Afrika Shrine. A crowd of 10,000 will be there for an all-night show that’s just the start of the bravest, most high-profile venture yet by Africa Express, the ever-expanding group of African and British musicians who specialise in lengthy shows and bravely spontaneous collaborations.

So who will be taking part in this latest event? As ever, AE is making no announcements in advance. But Fela’s sons Femi and Seun will certainly be present, with Femi “jumping on the stage and playing with anybody. It will be my duty to work with as many people as possible.” His guests will include Baaba Maal, Amadou and Mariam, Damon Albarn and Tony Allen, the percussion genius who worked with Fela and recently collaborated with Albarn in the Good, the Bad and the Queen. Jon McClure, formerly the leader of Reverend and the Makers, is “very much looking forward to it”, and it’s likely that the cast will also include Bassekou Kouyate and Rachid Taha. Ginger Baker, the former Cream drummer, who was also one of the first British rock musicians to work with his African counterparts (he played with Fela), has accepted an invitation, while Franz Ferdinand – who took part in the last AE event in Liverpool – are “hoping to go and pretty excited”, according to Alex Kapranos, and the same goes for the Magic Numbers. According to Ian Ashbridge, one of AE’s founders, “We won’t know who will be there until the last minute – it’s all voluntary and there are no contracts.”

When the Lagos show is over, Femi Kuti will stay behind to wind up Felabration while the rest of the AE lineup heads for London and two more wildly experimental shows, with Souad Massi joining the troupe. On October 22, they will be at Koko in London for another set of impromptu collaborations that is scheduled to last until 4am. This will be the fourth AE show in the UK but will reach a far bigger audience and far more attention than their earlier, low-key outings because it will be broadcast on Radio 1 as part of the Electric Proms, which presents a rare opportunity for African stars who might normally expect to appear on Radio 3. It won’t just be a passing snippet either: Radio 1 is to broadcast all five hours of the Koko show live, from 11pm until the show finishes at around four the following morning, and the show will also be on BBCTV, through the interactive red button.

The following night many of the African artists (but not the British stars) will head across town to the Barbican, for the Africa Now show. This event is somewhat more conventional, simply because the lineup – part of it, at least – has actually has been announced in advance. It will include Baaba Maal, Rachid Taha, Amadou and Mariam and Senegalese rappers Daara J.

What’s extraordinary about Africa Express is that it defies all the normal rules of pop promotion. There’s no product to plug, the artists aren’t paid, and there’s only a rudimentary running order for the shows, allowing as much spontaneity as possible. The aim is to present African and western musicians on an equal footing, encourage collaboration, and allow new audiences to discover African music. The man unwittingly responsible for all this was Bob Geldof, who infuriated African musicians (and African music fans) by assembling an almost exclusively non-African cast for the massive London Live 8 concert in July 2005. A second concert for African artists at the Eden Project in Cornwall enjoyed far less TV coverage, and led to mutterings about musical apartheid.

Africa Express was as an attempt to put that right. The initial aim was for two concerts, in London’s Hyde Park and in Bamako, Mali, and according to Ashbridge “Albarn was keen on collaboration from the start.” The first AE outing, in September 2006, took Albarn, Martha Wainwright, Norman Cook and beat-boxer Scratch to Mali to meet the likes of Salif Keita, Amadou and Mariam and Toumani Diabate, with the western musicians joining in the musical sessions. Back in London, they tried to repeat the experience at Jamm in Brixton, where the audience didn’t know what to expect but were treated to an improvised show with no set list, involving Albarn, Souad Massi, Amadou and Mariam and others, with the Kaiser Chiefs in the audience.

Last year, the experiments continued at Glastonbury, with Billy Bragg, Toumani Diabate, Amadou and Mariam, Norman Cook, the Magic Numbers and others collaborating on a stage well away from the television cameras or the crowds who had clearly not heard of Africa Express and didn’t know what an historic show they were missing. Albarn said he didn’t want publicity in advance, “because I love that word of mouth thing”. So it continued, with a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo last October followed by a another lengthy experimental show this March in the fading splendour of the Liverpool Olympia, where a remarkable line-up turned out to play in front of a small audience who clearly didn’t expect Franz Ferdinand to be collaborating with Baaba Maal.

The experience of working with African musicians has had a startling effect on the British bands involved. Alex Kapranos says the Liverpool show was “the most exciting gig that Franz Ferdinand played this year. The best thing about it was that there was no planning at all, and that’s what really turned me on. We had about five minutes to rehearse, and it was a complete contrast to the average indie gig you go to, where the band has been playing the same songs over and over for weeks. Safety is the enemy of any musician”. Jon McClure agrees: “It’s an amazing experience and sharpens your game as a musician. It’s good to get out of your comfort zone”.

The Africans also approved. Baaba Maal says he enjoyed performing with Rachid Taha and with Franz Ferdinand (“I want to push that one if I get the chance. I love Take Me Out and I love the fact that they come from a different environment”), while Amadou Bagayoko, of Amadou and Mariam, enthuses about the attraction of working with “hundreds of musicians, from Damon Albarn to K’Naan or Son of Dave”. But he reckons playing with Romeo Stodart of the Magic Numbers was “the best collaboration so far because we have similar ways of playing the guitar”. The on-stage collaborations are moving to the studio, with Albarn appearing on the forthcoming Amadou and Mariam album, and McClure inviting the Malian ngoni star Bassekou Kouyate to record with his new band Mongrel, including former Arctic Monkey Andy Nicholson.

There have been collaborations in earlier pop eras, of course – the Stranglers joined the Burundi Drummers at an early Womad festival, Peter Gabriel has worked with the likes of Papa Wemba, and Ginger Baker played with Fela Kuti back in the 70s. So the idea is not new, but as Ashbridge says: “We’ve gone backwards since those days, and we are trying to redress the balance and treat African and western artists the same way. It’s not about sales, but kids who are into Franz Ferdinand will ask, ‘Who is this Baaba Maal they are playing with?'” Stodart agrees: “If I read an interview with Johnny Marr saying he likes Bert Jansch, I go out and buy a Jansch album. So this could bring our followers to African music.”

Africa Express may change British music, but the aim is to bring change to Africa too. The Lagos concert will be the first major event AE has staged on the continent, and Femi Kuti predicts “this event will make things happen. Sponsors will come who might want to build concert halls, so that bands can tour in Africa. We need more concerts in Africa and it will show solidarity to the African cause.”

“In centuries gone, they had called him a myth, a creature formed of stone and clay and the blood of a people’s oppression – a moving monolith who rose before the voice of tyranny – shattered it in his monumental fists – then vanished into the sands of time – there to be almost forgotten – until today! Now, once more, he rises – summoned from his eons-long sleep to protect those he loves. Now for the first time in untold decades – there walks the Golem!”

More.

(photo courtesy No Age and Stereogum)

From Arthur editor/publisher Jay Babcock:

Last week I got a call from Randy Randall, guitarist for Los Angeles rock duo No Age, who are currently on the Sub Pop record label. Randy was flustered, talking a mile-a-minute, about what had just gone down. The band had just finished performing a song for some sort of Craig Ferguson/CBS TV thing that was to be broadcast October 27–just over a week before the presidential election. Cameras were about to roll when suddenly they were told by an on-set CBS underling that something needed to go: Randy’s pro-Obama t-shirt.

continues…

Shivastan Press Woodstock Mountain Poetry Festival
“In the Spirit of Allen Ginsberg”
At the Woodstock Mothership – 6 Hillcrest Ave, Woodstock NY
info 845 679 8777

Saturday Oct 11 ~ 7 to 9pm:
Political Poetry of Change with
Janine Pommy Vega :: Andy Clausen
Peter Lamborn Wilson :: Eliot Katz
Vivian Demuth :: Diana Ayton-Shenker

9:30 to 11pm: Alternative Sexuality Poetry with
R. Dionysus Whiteurs
Followed by Open Mic

Sunday Oct 12 ~ 6 to 8pm:
Home Planet News Benefit with
Donald Lev + Special Guests & Open Mic

8 to 10pm: Buddhist Poetry Love-In
& Wildflowers Anthology Release Party with
George Quasha :: Shiv Mirabito
Ziska :: Loren Standlee + Special Guests
Shivastan Press Woodstock Mountain Poetry Festival

Event & Poet Info:
Political Poetry for Change, Sat Oct 11, 8pm: this event emphasizes (as Ginsberg proved) that poetry can change the world by raising awareness of political issues such as inequality, environmental issues, the current elections, etc, etc.

Janine Pommy Vega: Poet who teaches in local schools and in prisons and with migrant farmers in Upstate NY. Author of Tracking The Serpent & The Green Piano.
Andy Clausen: Ginsberg said “I would take my chance on a President Clausen…”
Author of 40th Century Man.

Peter Lamborn Wilson: Poet Provacatuer & an editor at Autonomedia, which publishes the magazine Semiotext(e). He is also a writer, teacher and New York radio personality, as well as a longtime student of the history of politics & religion. Author of Sacred Drift: Essays on the Margins of Islam.

Eliot Katz: A major inheritor of Ginsberg’s political activism & author of When the Skyline Crumbles: Poems for the Bush Years (Cosmological Knot Press, 2007). He & Andy Clausen were coeditors of Poems for the Nation (Seven Stories Press, 2000), a collection of contemporary political poems compiled by Ginsberg. Katz is also cofounder and former coeditor of Long Shot literary magazine.

Vivian Demuth: Fire lookout poet who hosts an annual Poetry on the Peaks event in the Canadian Rockies. Author of the poetry collection, “Breathing Nose Mountain,” & the environmental novel, “Eyes of the Forest.”

Diana Ayton-Shenker: Poet who is author of numerous articles on human rights, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), sustainable development and culture. Her most recent book, A Global Agenda, analyzes contemporary issues facing the UN. Her book of poems is entitled Tumbalalaika.

Alternative Sexuality Poetry Reading, Sat Oct 11, 9:30pm: The rights & freedoms of those who are not in the mainstream will be discussed, debated & celebrated through the poetry of the sexual revolution exemplified by Ginsberg.

R. Dionysus Whiteurs: A New Paltz legend – “One of the most humorous & rhythmic poets around”
+ Open Mic.

Home Planet News Benefit, Sun Oct 12, 6pm:
For decades this important literary journal/magazine/newspaper/review has published the best poets in the Woodstock & NY area.

Donald Lev: Has published HPN with his late wife, poet Enid Dame (who was an expert in “Midrash” poetry) and continues to publish and read his poems around the Northeast.
+ Open Mic.

Buddhist Poetry Love-In & Wildflowers Anthology Release Party, Sun Oct 12, 8pm: this 9th annual edition of Woodstock’s only poetry magazine has a Buddhist theme featuring poems by some of America’s most accomplished poets such as Diane DiPrima, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, H.H. Karmapa and several local poets.

Printed on handmade paper in Nepal by Shivastan Press (Woodstock~Kathmandu) – which has published almost 50 different poetry chapbooks, anthologies & broadsides over the past 10 years.

George Quasha: His 15 books include poetry: Somapoetics, Giving the Lily Back Her Hands, Ainu Dreams [with Chie Hasegawa], Preverbs [forthcoming]; anthologies (America a Prophecy [with Jerome Rothenberg], Open Poetry [with Ronald Gross], An Active Anthology [with Susan Quasha], The Station Hill Blanchot Reader [with Charles Stein]); and writing on art (Gary Hill: Language Willing; with Charles Stein: Tall Ships, HanD HearD/liminal objects, Viewer). Awards include a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in poetry. He has taught at Stony Brook University (SUNY), Bard College, New School University (Graduate Anthropology Department), and Naropa University. With Susan Quasha he is founder/publisher of Barrytown/Station Hill Press.

Shiv Mirabito: Poet, Publisher & Editor of Shivastan Press (Woodstock & Kathmandu) & author of Transcendental Tyger.

Loren Standlee & Ziska: Poets who have hosted great lamas such as H. H. 16TH Karmapa, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche & Kunsang Dechen Lingpa at their Woodstock home.

“Please join us at Desert Island this Wednesday, October 8th from 7:00–9:00 PM for “Happy Accident,” a book signing, slide show and party with Dash Shaw, Ken Dahl, Jesse Reklaw, and Trevor Alixopulos. Don’t miss this chance to purchase a limited-edition Monster Face screenprint—a collaborative artwork by all four artists. The artists will be here to sign the prints and their recent graphic novels, and several will present slide-shows of their work.”

Happy Accident: Dash Shaw, Ken Dahl, Jesse Reklaw, and Trevor Alixopulos

Wednesday, October 8th, 7:00 – 9:00 PM

Desert Island
540 Metropolitan Ave, between Union and Lorimer
Brooklyn NY 11211
(718) 388-5087
http://www.desertislandbrooklyn.com

Dash Shaw, whose comics are known for their emphasis on emotional, lyrical logic and innovative design, was named one of the top ten artists to check out at the 2002 “Small Press Expo” when he was just 19 years old. He is the author of Love Eats Brains (Odd God Press; 2004), Goddess Head (Teenage Dinosaur Press; 2002-04), The Mother’s Mouth (Alternative Comics; 2006), and most recently The Bottomless Belly Button (Fantagraphics; 2008). His comic short stories have appeared in multiple anthologies, newspapers and magazines. In
addition, Shaw is a member of the weirdo pop band Love Eats Brains! and has co-written and acted in various short film projects.
www.dashshaw.com

Ken Dahl is the name Gabby Schulz uses to make it harder for his relatives to connect him to the comics he draws. Born in Honolulu, Ken has spent most of his adult life in a dreary transit about the continental United States. In May of 2007 he completed a one-year Fellowship at the Center for Cartoon Studies, and is now living in a truck in Vermont, figuring out how to continue to draw comics while avoiding inconveniences like paying rent or working a job. Ken is the author of Monsters (Secret Acres), which won the 2006 Ignatz Award for Best Minicomic.

Cartoonist Jesse Reklaw turns the dreams submitted by strangers into insightful, humorous, and clever four-panel comic strips in Slow Wave, which appears in alternative newsweeklies all over the country, and was nominated for a 2008 Ignatz award. The Night of Your Life, the
recently released collection of over five years of Slow Wave, is a testament to the ability of comics to illuminate the corridors of the imagination with wit, sincerity, and delight. www.slowwave.com

After completing the two lengthy, ambitious comics Dread and Mine Tonight earlier this year, Trevor Alixopulos released The Hot Breath of War (Sparkplug Comic Books), which filters the cartoonist’s romantic, restless nature and growing political consciousness through a style reminiscent of the magazine cartoon essay of decades past. www.alixopulos.com