Category Archives: Commentary

A Homage to Colonel Bruce Hampton and the Hampton Grease Band

Text by Bruce Gallanter (Downtown Music Gallery, October 22nd, 2021)

“Halifax” By the Hampton Grease Band
From ‘Music to Eat’ – 2 LP Set on Columbia (rel in 1971)

Wouldn’t you like to come to Halifax
Air mass is moving eastwardly
Wouldn’t you like to come to Halifax
Air mass is moving eastwardly
The land is fertile and filled with life
We wish you would come there and spend some time
Yes, We wish you would come to Halifax
You like to spend some time there
We wish you would come to Halifax
Come and breathe some of our air
You can worship at the church of their choice, the church of your choice

Colonel Edward Cornwallis
He founded the home of Englishtown
He established a civil government
He brought strength to the English position
He established a civil government

We wish you would come to Halifax
You like to spend some time there
We wish you would come to Halifax
Come and breathe some of our air

We have many refreshments and entertainment…
We have the largest ships and vessels also
Six thousand six hundred thirty eight miles of grated roads
Six thousand six hundred thirty eight miles of grated roads
And alot of gravel too, and alot of gravel too
Every city has an airport and alot of gravel too
The telegraph stations, their owned and operated
By the federal government.
The telegraph systems, their owned and operated
By the federal government.
There are no TV stations,
First radar is to protect
Set up as the engine number two
To maintain the level of the dew…


From the fall of 1969 until it closed in June of 1971, I attended nearly 20 shows at the Fillmore East. It was located at the corner of 2nd Ave & 4th St, right around the corner from the first location of DMG on East 5th St (1991-2003). It was my favorite rock music performance venue ever and I’ve been to hundreds of others (places & gigs) since. There were usually three bands starting at 8pm (and later at 11pm) and the ticket prices were $5 (orchestra), $4 (mezzanine) & $3 (upper mezz)!

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An Editorial: Concerns About Technology – Big Tech Backs Us Into A Corner

Text by Dawoud Kringle

In 2016, the World Economic Forum released a Facebook video with predictions it had for the world in 2030. One of these is that by 2030, technology may, in all likelihood, have advanced to the point that owning physical devices may become obsolete.

TechnologyThere are advantages to owning less things. There are fewer commitments and responsibilities, and have the freedom to sever ties whenever you want.  But the downside is that when you buy a device that requires proprietary software to run, you don’t own it. The money you pay does not offer actual ownership; it is a lease where you  agree to a life defined by terms you had no part in deciding. When hardware is merely a vessel for software and not a useful thing on its own, you don’t really get to decide anything. The company or corporation that built it will decide when to stop pushing vital updates and what you do with the product after it’s dead or obsolete. Anyone who owns an older computer will recognize this. The power has shifted so that companies set the parameters, and consumers are forced to choose the lesser of several evils.

Much of this can be traced back to Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA https://www.copyright.gov/policy/1201/) makes it illegal to circumvent digital locks that protect a company’s proprietary software. Manufacturers have exploited this loophole brilliantly. It allowed software developers to essentially lock up the whole world behind software with the intent to turn the entire planet into a permanent renting class. The oligarchy / elite who actually own everything will, inevitably, make you pay money to access the things you use and own.

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Jerry Garcia

A Homage to Jerry Garcia of the GREATFUL DEAD

Text by Bruce Gallanter (Downtown Music Gallery)

Cream Puff War (Written by Jerry Garcia for the Grateful Dead. And appearing on their first self-titled album in 1967)

No, no! She can’t take your mind and leave
I know it’s just another trick she’s got up her sleeve
I can’t believe that she really wants you to die
After all it’s more than enough to pay for your lie

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A Homage to the Legendary Jimi Hendrix

Text by Bruce Gallanter (Downtown Music Gallery)

Jimi Hendrix1983, A Merman I Should Turn to Be – Composed & Performed by the Jimi Hendrix Experience
Recorded for Electric Ladyland, 2 LP set released in October of 1968

Hurrah, I awake from yesterday
Alive, but the war is here to stay
So my love, Catherina and me,
Decide to take our last walk through the noise to the sea
Not to die but to be reborn,
Away from lands so battered and torn
Forever, forever

Oh say, can you see it’s really such a mess
Every inch of Earth is a fighting nest
Giant pencil and lipstick tube shaped things,
Continue to rain and cause screaming pain
And the arctic stains from silver blue to bloody red
As our feet find the sand, and the sea is …
Straight ahead, straight up ahead

Well it’s too bad that our friends,
Can’t be with us today
Well it’s too bad
The machine that we built,
would never save us’, that’s what they say
That’s why they ain’t coming with us today
And they also said
It’s impossible for a man to live and breathe underwater
Forever, was their main complaint
And they also threw this in my face,
they said: Anyway…
You know good and well it would be beyond the will of God,
and the grace of the King (grace of the King) (Yeah, yeah)

So my darling and I make love in the sand,
To salute the last moment ever on dry land
Our machine, it has done its work, played its part well
Without a scratch on our bodies and we bid it farewell
Starfish and giant foams greet us with a smile
Before our heads go under we take a last look at the killing noise
Of the out of style, the out of style, out of style …oooh…

I can vividly remember the first time I heard a song by Jimi Hendrix on the radio (FM radio, mostly). It was the Spring of 1967 and the song that erupted from my speaker was “Purple Haze”. That opening two-note riff and the chorus of “Scuse me while I kiss the sky” were almost too much for my 13 year old mind to deal with.

I was astonished by it and felt like Jimi Hendrix had come from another (psychedelic) dimension or planet! I became a Hendrix fan-addict right then & there and remain that way more than 50 years later! The Jimi Hendrix Experience (with Noel Redding & Mitch Mitchell) recorded just three albums in around two years before Mr. Hendrix’s untimely demise in September of 1970, just before his 28th birthday.

For me and many Hendrix fans, all three albums are essential masterworks. Aside from being one of the most singular, pioneering and brilliant electric guitarists of all time, Jimi Hendrix was also a great songwriter, singer, producer and performer.

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A Commentary: A Zeitgeist of Insignificance – The Problem with Our Musical Values

We are the ones who hold the means to reverse this destructive and dehumanizing trend – and all humanity will suffer if we fail.

By Dawoud Kringle

The economics of the digital age have had an unfortunate effect upon the music business. Digital piracy and the futility of competing with free downloads, and the payments offered by streaming services such as Spotify or Apple Music have contributed to a constant economic devaluation of music. Progress is being made toward new models for rights and royalties in the new music economy that favor the professional musician as equally as the non-musician in the music business.

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