““Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.””
In the history of American Soul Music, there are a plethora of contributors who toil either largely out of the limelight or forgotten altogether. Enter the extraordinary vocalist from Gause, Texas, the dynamic and joyful Ms. Ruthie Foster. Here she covers a Donny Hathaway 1969 classic. Ruthie is still playin !
Cover Painting, “Winter Sunday In Norway Maine,” by an unknown artist is used courtesy of Fenimore Museum in Cooperstown, NY. It appears on the Felice Brothers most recent 2021 release.
Somerset, England
Mike Glier, painter, photographer
Aretha live @ 14 years old.
The hardscrabble Peter Case with his optimistic homage to the merits of just showing up. I hope you live to 120 bounding thru life’s trepidating blessings.
High quality works of the Ms. Denny have gradually been trailing out over the years since her passing.
Her unique fervor is to me what poignance looks and feels like.
Mr. Cohen moves perfectly on the edge of Talk-Sing. So well its hard to tell one from the either. The gliding talk-sing!
“Sun Ra & His Arkestra
Carnegie Hall July 6th, 1973
Herman “Sonny” Blount was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1952 while living in Chicago, he legally changed his name to Le Sony’r Ra, shortened to Sun Ra. I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Ra and his band about twenty times. This concert was the first. Fire eaters, dancers and slides from their recent tour of Egypt were just a small part of the show that Sun Ra and his 24 piece Arkestra featuring John Gilmore on tenor sax, Marshall Allen on alto sax and June Tyson on vocals put on at Carnegie Hall as part of the Newport in New York Jazz Festival.
This mind blowing Carnegie Hall concert featured a number of the bands anthems and concludes with another, “Discipline 27-II,” which features the enigmatic leader engaging in cryptic spoken word call-and-response with Tyson, claiming that he was not from Earth but from Saturn: “What planet is this?/I’m just visiting here myself/Just a touch of the myth/Walking around in your reality/What kind of reality is this?/This is not my planet. Sorry that it’s yours/What planet is this?” 1
That evening following Sun Ra & His Arkestra, there was a sold-out performance by Cab Calloway also at Carnegie. As Ra’s performance started late and went long, the crowd for Calloway was waiting outside eager to get in. Aware of this, the Arkestra led by Sun Ra and June Tyson slowly marched up the main aisle and out the front entrance continuing to play. The crowd for Ra’s performance followed the band outside while the audience for Cab Calloway, huddled outside the entrance, parted in the middle, and must have been stunned to see and hear the entire band and audience parade by. I followed the musicians for about four blocks till they began to dissipate. I then walked about four miles with two heavy packages containing LPs.
When I arrived at my friend’s place in Soho and put down my packages, I became aware for the first time that both my hands were bleeding from where the paper rope had cut through my skin. What planet had I been transported to?
1 - The concert can be heard in its indoor entirety at
https://www.wolfgangs.com/music/sun-ra-and-his-arkestra/audio/20020484-51043.html?tid=4844351
And, if you also wish to hear the Cab Calloway concert
https://www.wolfgangs.com/music/the-cab-calloway-orchestra/audio/20020485-51085.html?tid=4762202”