This is the third part of Early Years of Jazz. Neither ragtime nor the blues were born in New Orleans, but they met here. One rag was called Dance of the Lunatics (An Idiotic Rave). And Branford Marsalis says the blues are about freedom. Axé.
This is the second part of Early Years of Jazz, and my favorite part so far, focusing on nineteenth century New Orleans, our Caribbean city. I would have loved to visit then, and hear the accents in Creole and French. Axé.
“Jazz music objectifies America. It is an art form that can give us a painless way of understanding ourselves,” says Wynton Marsalis at the beginning of Early Years of Jazz – Part 1. This film is a Florentine Films production about which I am trying to discover more. Part 6, which we have already seen, … More Early Years of Jazz
Now it is said that rap music has eroded our moral fiber, but in 1914 Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., proclaimed that “the Negro race [was] dancing itself to death” with ragtime. The white race was doing the same, and lessons had to be given on how to dance without moving the shoulders or the hips. … More Roads to Perdition
This video of the Faroes was made in August, 2006. The Hilaro choir of Estonia, which visited then, is singing an abstract song on the soul. Axé.
I saw this excellent photograph, of an audience member at Alberto Gonzales’ testimony last Thursday, chez Life’s Journey. Meanwhile at Nezua’s, we can actually watch Gonzales equivocate. William Rivers Pitt says [t]here can be little doubt […] that Alberto Gonzales was elevated to his position by Bush to effect a political takeover of the Justice … More Our Continuous Coup d’état
Walter Benjamin says that ‘translatability’ is one indicator of a work’s quality, that neither the work nor its translation was created for the reader, and that translation is a ‘mode’. From his famous essay: 1. Translation is so far removed from being the sterile equation of two dead languages that of all literary forms it … More The Task of the Translator
As it is April, and as I am dreaming of ancient languages and points north, we will read in Middle English of sweet showers, and listen to the original sounds while reading a modern translation of Chaucer right here. I do not read Middle English well, but I am hoping to read Faroese at least … More Here bygynneth the Book of the tales of Caunterbury
From Sorvagur on the isle of Vágar, the ferry takes you to Mykines to walk and look at puffins. The Vestmanna Cliffs, also reachable by boat, are a good place to hike and see Arctic birds. Walks you can take from Tórshavn include the village of Kirkjubour. Other good walking bases are Viðareiði, reachable by ferry, and Oyndarsfjørður, Funningsfjørður, … More Hiking in the Faroes
It is the weekend, so we will sing. Now Erkin Abdulla is singing in Uighur. There is a solo on his website. Besides being an international-style pop singer from East Turkistan, Abdulla is an associate director of the Chinese Flamenco Association. Here, for instance, he sings in Chinese, with Flamenco rhythms and dancers, about Ali … More Nime Boldi
coldhearted scientist وداد 