Text by Bruce Gallanter (Downtown Music Gallery, December 26th, 2021)
“Brown Shoes Don’t Make It” Written by Frank Zappa,
Recorded by The Mothers of Invention for Absolutely Free
Brown shoes don’t make it
Brown Shoes don’t make it
Quit school, why fake it
Brown shoes don’t make it
Artist: Evelyn Laurie
Title: My Scottish Heart
Label: Evelyn Laurie
Genre: Scottish jazz/folk from the UK
CD & Digital release: August 6, 2021
Review by Fiona Mactaggart
Paisley, the Scottish town that is famous for its textiles and ‘Paisley pattern’ has over the years produced more than its fair share of creatives, from weaver poet Robert Tannahill, to folk popstar Kenneth McKellar and artist John Byrne. From this rich cultural background Paisley buddy Evelyn Laurie released her debut album A Little Bit of Me in 2018 to a very positive reception, and it is likely her charming follow-up album My Scottish Heart will be similarly popular.
Text by Dawoud Kringle
Vernon Reid, Bruce Mack & Greg Tate (photo by Petra Richterova)
On Tuesday, December 7th, 2021, musician, journalist, author, activist Greg Tate died.
Tate was one of the most unique and influential individuals in the New York Music scene. As a brilliant guitarist, leader of Burnt Sugar (a.k.a. Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber, where he employed Butch Morris’ process of “conduction” – a method of conducted improvisation), he synthesized the entire spectrum of African American rock music. His music had a quality that held the suggestion of a man who did music out of love, and who was a man of peace who could be a formidable warrior when necessary.
Wednesday, December 8th, 2021, seven days before what would have been his 92nd birthday, Barry Harris was called home.
It’s difficult to quantify the impact he had on the jazz scene. How do you measure the influence of a man who’d played with Miles Davis, Sonny Stitt, Max Roach, Yusef Lateef, Lou Donaldson, Dexter Gordon, Cannonball Adderly, Coleman Hawkins, Tommy Flannigan, Illinois Jaquette, Bud Powell, Lee Morgan, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker?
Text by Bruce Gallanter (Downtown Music Gallery, December 10th, 2021)
“And When I Die” Written & Performed by Laura Nyro (in 1967)
Covered by Peter, Paul & Mary & Blood, Sweat and Tears
And when I die and when I’m dead, dead and gone,
there’ll be one child born and a world to carry on, to carry on.
I’m not scared of dying and I don’t really care.
If it’s peace you find in dying, well, then let the time be near.
If it’s peace you find in dying, when dying time is here,
just bundle up my coffin cause it’s cold way down there,
I hear that it’s cold way down there, yeah, crazy cold way down there.
And when I die and when I’m gone,
there’ll be one child born and a world to carry on, to carry on.
My troubles are many, they’re as deep as a well.
I can swear there ain’t no heaven but I pray there ain’t no hell.
Swear there ain’t no heaven and pray there ain’t no hell,
but I’ll never know by living, only my dying will tell,
only my dying will tell, yeah, only my dying will tell.
And when I die and when I’m gone,
there’ll be one child born and a world to carry on, to carry on.
Give me my freedom for as long as I be.
All I ask of living is to have no chains on me.
All I ask of living is to have no chains on me,
and all I ask of dying is to go naturally, only want to go naturally.
Don’t want to go by the devil, don’t want to go by the demon,
don’t want to go by Satan, don’t want to die uneasy,
just let me go naturally.
And when I die and when I’m gone,
there’ll be one child born, there’ll be one child born.
When I die, there’ll be one child born.
When I die, there’ll be one child born.
When I die, there’ll be one child born.
When I die, there’ll be one child born.
