Paraphernalia Springs 7.17.22

Pattern Shingles, Worcester, MA. 2018

“When sorrows come, they come not as single spies, but in battalions”

— William Shakespeare

Thanks to our good pal Natasha for offering this sobering quote in reaction to political observations made in last week’s post!

“Writing is like getting married. One should never commit oneself until one is amazed at one’s luck.””

— Iris Murdoch

Buffalo Tom cover of 1992 record “Let Me Come Over.”

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From 1967 through the early seventies concerts were held during the summer months at this very popular skating rink. The concert I attended was part of the Newport in New York festival.

“We lost a fortune in the Wollman Amphitheater,” George Wein said, referring to the seven-noontime concerts that played to rows of mostly empty seats in the 8,000‐seat open arena in Central Park in 1973.
The idea of the Wollman dates was to get back to the “outdoor flavor of the old Newport festival” in Rhode Island, a staff member said, but it did not work.
“That is the big disappointment of the festival,” Mr. Wein acknowledged. “In all my years as a promoter, I’ve never been more wrong. It hurt the festival terribly. I could have filled Carnegie Hall three or four times with the artists we had there.
Mr. Wein was not referring to the Art Ensemble of Chicago or Sam Rivers when he mentioned a sell out at Carnegie Hall. Tito Puente, I trust, could have sold it out.

I can’t vouch for how many empty seats there were during the Art Ensemble of Chicago or Sam River’s performances, but my guess is that less than 500 seats were occupied. When Tito and band hit the stage I am guessing there were 5,000 in attendance. It felt like a complete change of audience and it probably was. It now was a concert full of Latin dancing and most of those folks left when Archie Shepp and band took the stage.

I was one of the few that attended all four shows. I believe it was the first performance for the Art Ensemble of Chicago in New York. As with all their performances from this time, each member (Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, Lester Bowie, Malachai Favors and Don Moye) was costumed and face painted. As Joseph Jarman said, “So what we were doing with that face painting was representing everyone throughout the universe, and that was expressed in the music as well. That’s why the music was so interesting. It wasn’t limited to Western instruments, African instruments, or Asian instruments, or South American instruments, or anybody’s instruments. “

Cecil McBee on bass and Norman Connors on drums accompanied Sam Rivers on tenor. It was a powerhouse of a performance. A similar performance from this time was well documented in the Impulse live album, Streams.

Of Puerto Rican descent, Tito Puente grew up in Spanish Harlem. While he is best known for his composition “Oye Como Va,” He was a god among Puertorriquenos in New York and beyond.

After most of the crowd had departed, Archie Shepp and his band mates – whom I can’t recall – gallantly performed for the committed few.

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— Alan West

Over the years I have queried why there aren’t more female guitarists evident in all areas of music ? Given the male dominated nature of so much of almost any culture you can name, is that perhaps the answer. Whatever the reasons I want to uncover the scores of women playing and pepper the posts for the rest of the year with their wares. As the Fugs reminded us in their long neglected record “Tenderness Junction,” “The garden is open!”