The WSU Artists’ Society’s fall concert/reading series is now set and will continue with a concert by the Contemporary 4 at the Community Arts Auditorium Thursday, November 3, at 8:30 p.m. Charles Moore will introduce his new band, featuring Kirk Lightsey, piano, and Ron Johnson & John Dana, the regulars. Former pianist Stanley Cowell left Michigan for New York City in August and has been working with Marion Brown (including a recent recording session for Pixie) among others. The concert will be introduced by yours truly. There is no admission charge per se, but a donation of $1.00 will be appreciated.
Next in the series is a reading by Detroit poets Jim Semark, Jerry Younkins, Allen Van Newkirk, and hopefully Bill Harris, in the Lower DeRoy Auditorium on Thursday, November 10, at 8:30 p.m. Again there will be no admission charge, but a donation will be put to good use. AND on the following Thursday, November 17, at Community Arts, pianist BURTON GREENE will make this first midwestern appearance, performing in a quartet. (with C. Moore, John Dana & Ron Johnson), a trio (less Moore), and in solo contexts. Burton has given concerts recently at Town Hall, for the Woodstock Music Guild, and in a series produced by ESP records for the New York State Council on the Performing Arts given last spring at a group of New York colleges and universities where he was in company with Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra, the Guiseppe Logan Quartet, and vocalist Patty Waters. Burton’s first recording, THE BURTON GREENE QUARTET, with Marion Brown, Frank Smith, and Henry Grimes among others, is on ESP-DISK 1024 and can be got at the 5th Estate Bookstore. He also recorded with Patty Waters: BLACK IS THE COLOR OF MY TRUE LOVE’S HAIR, on ESP 1025, mentioned in this column a little while ago.
Following the Burton Greene concert will be a reading by the Finnish poet ANSELM HOLLO, who has been based in London for the last few years. Anselm will be in the US and Canada for a reading/lecture tour and will be in Detroit MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, at De Roy Auditorium, 8:30 p.m. Among Anselm’s books are & IT IS A SONG (Migrant Press, 1965), HISTORY, HERE WE GO, LOVERMAN, and translations of Rolf Gunter Dienst, Andrei Vosnesensky (Grove Press), and the anthology RED CATS (City Lights), among others. This will be his first reading tour in the United States.
OTHER THINGS: two very funny layouts in this issue: the “Negro music” poster, passed out by Christian White Citizens for Morality & Repression in Louisiana somewhere, and the ad for the “only record ever made by musicians under the influence of LSD.” Wow. The white folks are right about Negro music, tho—it does tend to draw youngsters away from the American ideals their authorities are trying to drown them in. Because black music is magic & will turn people around, as most of us know. I owe my life to a number of those black musicians, and you KNOW how twisted I am. And as far as that ad is concerned, it’s only another typical example of the fascist capitalist conspiracy to bring everything down to their level, i.e. rank greed.
What I mean is there are a lot of records around these days “made under the direct influence of LSD” etc., and it takes some money-grubbing finks to make that the term of the record’s release. Check out some of the records I talk about in this column & see if you can detect the influence of consciousness-expanding agents, if you’re still playing those games. The musicians aren’t, only the merchandisers. And the significant thing about that ad is that nowhere are the musicians’ names listed, nothing about the music at all, but only the stupid disclaimers “the record company has no stand on LSD but…” etc. etc.
The Jefferson Airplane finally has a record out, on RCA Victor of all places, but the engineers obviously don’t know how to record this music yet and fucked up the band’s sound. I just hope that when the MC5 records they get a decent engineer so EVERYONE can hear how strong they are. Don’t miss this band at the GRANDE BALLROOM, every Friday & Saturday night. I love them.
There was a little confusion in the last issue, and perhaps our readers were given the wrong idea of where I’m at, but there’s really no need for any Aristotelian bullshit here, for any divisiveness, and I’m sorry all that happened. Forget it. Hear the MC5 and the Southbound Freeway & really, any music you can. Everything is everything, as long as you can hear it. The world is ours, and moves as we move, if we move with it. And if you’ll take Robin Tyner’s remarks in Frank’s column last time, as a guide to what the JAZZ I’m talking about is doing, then everything’s all right too. Screaming & sweating, real human energy. That’s where it’s at.
Sidebar
NOTICE.
STOP
Help Save The Youth of America
DON’T BUY NEGRO RECORDS
You don’t want to serve negroes in your place of business, then do not have negro records on your juke box or listen to negro records on the radio.)
The screaming, idiotic words, and savage music of these records are undermining the morals of our white youth in America.
Call the advertisers of the radio stations that play this type of music and complain to them!
Don’t Let Your Children Buy, or Listen To These Negro Records
For additional copies of this circular, write
CITIZENS’ COUNCIL OF GREATER NEW ORLEANS, INC. 509 Delta Building, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112