A repeat -my annual Harlem X Mas poem-but it could be anywhere

Was The Night Before Christmas ( and all through the hood) A Daniel Carlton Joint

Harlem Christmas

By Daniel Carlton

It was the night before Christmas

All through the hood

Things were type quiet

You could say all good

The crack fiends were chilling

The weed heads and alkies too

It was so chill

Like the whole block took medicine for the flu

Windows were blinging

With colorful lights

It was like being in Times Square at midnight

The kids sleeping hard

But keeping their cool

On none of their mouths could you see any drool.

Dreaming about X boxes, dolls, and play stations too

Don’t Dreaming make the world feel brand new?

My shorty who is as fine as can be

Was looking flavalicious delicious

Hanging lights on the tree

I was about to give a hug you know, get me some love

When I heard this sound on the fire escape above

I grabbed my bat and ran to the window

Somebody is trying to get hurt messing with my flow

I looked up and saw this dude who was big like fat Joe

Or was it a pimp?

I kept hearing ho, ho,ho

Below on the street was a raggedy ride

I must of been tripping

It looked like it could fly

It was tagged up with some crazy names

Like dancer and prancer and does that say Rick James?

I needed a closer look to see what was up with this dude

But my Grandma would pop me if she saw me being rude

Then he looked at me with bight shiny eyes

I could tell that it wasn’t because he was high

He had on a red suit that looked real nice

His white belt was so big -on me- it would wrap around twice

His beard game was smooth

His sideburns were tight

Something about him was chill

Not looking for a fight

Then it hit me

I swear that it did

I hadn’t thought about him since I was a kid

He said “I see that you recognize who I am”

Then he rubbed his big belly full of mac and cheeses, fried chicken and ham

“ It’s good to be back in Harlem

This much is true”

“The Schomberg, Apollo, and Lenox Avenue too.

I,ve got to get over to Slyvia’s and get some soul food for my boo.”

“But first it ‘s time to pass out these gifts”

“The folks of Harlem need things that uplift”

“I can’t give out apartments that people can afford.

Somebody better get it together before they become null and void”

“I can’t teach the children how to read

Recognize that in your house video games aren’t a need”

“A book is the way to travel real cheap

You don’t even have to leave your couch and the stars you can reach”

“Everybody in life wants to have fun

How does that work if you have a gun?”

“Parents when they take time with young ones

Become the youth’s connection to the sun”

“Kids need to be kids

They’ll grow up soon enough

They’ll find out that without love

Life can be rough”

“Love has to work two ways though

Or you’ll find yourself in a hole face down and covered with snow”

With that said I have to bounce-you know time to go”

“Ho, Ho , Ho”

He was gone like a ghost.

Without leaving toys his presents were still the most

The gift of knowledge was what he dropped

If we use them and share them

We can’t be stopped.

Sing with me( To the tune of Good Times) "Aint We Lucky we got It "Gentrified"

A friend posted the lyrics to the theme song from the show "Good Times" the other day. This got me to thinking about how much I loved this show as a little kid." Sing with me y'all "

Just looking out of the window watching the asphalt grow"-huh? Thinking how it all looks hand me down" Good times "Temporary layoffs- Good Times- Easy Credit Rip Offs - Good Times- Scratching Surviving - Good Times. Hanging In a Chow Line( was just told what that lyric was after all of these years) " Aint we lucky we got em-good tiiimes -Yeah!

" On paper (now) we could all read those lyrics and go wtf? The plots were kind of heavy too. James the father would finally get a job after searching for months -only to then get laid off on his first day before his lunch break. The Kids would get mugged in the elevator (when it worked) , child abuse across the hall ( Micheal Jackson's little sister no less), gangs ( who could be intimidated by one hard look from the dad), teenage pregnancy, broken dreams,e.t.c. Oh and the word ghetto was used so often that it felt like an alternate/parallel universe where hard times were always still good times in the end. Man , did I love their" ghetto" much more then I did my own various "hoods" thats for sure. Maybe it was the laugh track.

Neighborhoods change from ghettos to hot and happening properties that's for sure.

Today the kids on "Different Strokes" could be adopted by a rich white man who moves them ....right across the street.

Cue laugh track:

My pitch for a new TV show: "Gentrified" Watch the wacky shenanigans of a family trying to hold on to their apartment as they try to get their kids through a failing school, budget an unemployment check, and sip mojitos at the new in spot in their suddenly hip neighborhood.

Episode # 1 - We see our head of household mother ( named after a state of course) staring at the bills. An R Kelly inspirational song is playing in the background

cue laugh track :

A knock is heard on the door. It is her 22 year old neighbor-who shares the apartment with 10 other 22 year olds straight out of college (and new to the up and coming area renamed by hip downtown newspapers). She is here to apologize to our head of household single parent for not recognizing her while she (the mother) was standing at the door with her hands full of grocery bags fumbling for her keys. "I mean but really , it was an honest mistake when I let the door slam in your face instead of holding it for you and letting you in" said our fresh from Idaho innocent neighbor. "This hood can still be a bit dicey if you know what I mean" She adds for good measure. The mother slams her door. A loud rap song can be heard from the apartment of our "anyone could have made the same mistake" perplexed innocent neighbor as she exits into her great "deal"( for hundreds of dollars a month more) apt . The last sound is of her roommates chanting along to the chorus" I keep it real son/ Got my Gun/ I keep it real son/ In my hood we never run. Or " Wu Tang Clan aint Nothin to $%#% with"

Cue :Laugh track*

Scene 2 : We see a tall and dark young man walking down the street. He is dressed in a shirt and tie. He is wearing a fitted baseball cap. we don't know where he is headed , but based on the attention that he is getting from the various police who stop and frisk him every 20 yards or so, he is clearly an important person of interest.

Cue laugh track as he empties his pockets and assumes the position for the 15th time.

Scene 3 : A crowded cafe. Well heeled patrons are enjoying wine and various culinary treats. One of the original neighborhood residents walks in-Dead silence

Cue Laugh track

Scene 4 - Her daughter who is working 2 jobs shows up to her first gig which is a bank. The manager tells her that she is being laid off. He does an exaggerated " What can I do?" shrug. Camera pans in on the stimulus check sitting on his desk.

cue laugh track

Aint we lucky we got it? Gentrifiiiiiiied -yeah!

It's the laugh track right?

Scottsboro Boys The Musical/ Double Consciousness In The Theater and even In This Review

Saw a play last night on Broadway aka "The Great White Way called The Scottsboro Boys Musical. The premise : A minstrel show performance to tell the tale of 9 young Black men who were charged with assaulting and raping two white women in a train car during the year 1931 in the state of Alabama. I couldn't help but think of W.E.B Dubois and double consciousness as I took in this mode of a storytelling device .

Some definition in the actual quote before I go on:

From W.E.B Dubois

"It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness,--an American, a Negro; two warring souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder"

I watched the show from double perspectives.

Two-ness:

Consciousness 1) In terms of the art of it all -The acting was flawless. The staging was clever. The history accurate. The props and minimal set -brilliant . The songs-wonderful and touching. I would make a terrible critic, because I usually get what the creators are trying to do and say . In this case I believe that it was showing through the minstrel show how ridiculous the dehumanizing imagery appears in the context of a story that shows what the inside lives of these innocent victims of American stereotyping and fear of the Black man looks like if you changed the lens in which this was viewed. The cultural diet that fueled the hate and violence perpetuated against us for so long was fortified by images on stage, film, visual art and even toys that presented us as comical savages who could on a dime into wild beasts that had to be contained by any means necessary. Minstrel shows were very popular forms of entertainment for folks who liked a good , fun, and safe coon show. In this production by using the Black actors to play the white folks in all their ridiculousness , hatred, manipulations, and negative contribution to the narrative of a justice journey reenacted from the prospective of the wronged using the tool(the minstrel show itself), a reversal was the intent.

Consciousness 2 ) The first 15 minutes of this show was such a tour de force coon show that it left a knot in my stomach that stayed the entire show. As many of the non blacks laughed hardily at the depictions of exaggerated showmanship . bad jokes, rubbery faces , I had to keep telling myself that there was a bigger point to the whole thing. Sheer will kept me from just walking out. My logical self kept telling my emotional self that any non Black person who bought tickets to a show titled The Scottsboro Boys was probably not a member of the KKK-but what was so damn funny about Tambo and Bones? The clothes, makeup, dancing, singing , were painful reminders that entertainment first-history 2nd was the priority order. I could have absorbed so much more of the story without having to calm myself down throughout when the cooning would become to much. The ending tried to tie all of it together by bringing all of the characters on stage in blackface for the finale; They then wipe it off in an act of defiance against the White ringmaster. I get it. I would have gotten it anyway( without the final trip into degradation). The history of this gross miscarriage of justice is enough of a story-it doesn't need to be guided by a white man, buffoonery as a guide into the real storytelling, or anything else but the truth of it all.

I am not the art police. I know how tricky intent and final execution can be in the creation of art. I have a character in my show " Memories of Self: Timeless Journey To Weeksville who is a minstrel performer. The premise is that you are the first white visitor into his house. This performer bought his house from the proceeds of his "entertaining" He quotes Shakespeare and Plato often. When he believes that he is exposing to much , he slips back into the dialect that he believes is the only way that the visitor can accept all of his story. Why ? I will quote that great poet Dunbar; We Wear the Mask

WE wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!

The show is closing soon. I suggest that you see it -so that we can talk about it( From either or both layers of our consciousness.

Shadows In The Dark- World Aids Day 2010-a repeat posting

This came out of an exercise that I did with a group of young people around H.I.V.

Shadows In The Dark

By Daniel Carlton

I am

A shadow in the dark

In need of a spark

Ask me no secrets

Or I’ll tell you all lies

I’m all about creeping

It’s you who need the alibis

Fluids flow through intertwined bodies above below, and between the sheets

Hidden for the temporary blindness provided by lust and it’s heat

Denial and wishful thinking meet on this dead end street

Blinded by orgasms that bind instant gratification

Passport less I travel through nations

Reality on vacation

Guarantees new patients

Believing that protection is akin to castration

Gives chance after chance for me to stream through a cell creating mutations

I pursued /stalked/ trailed:

a player known as Magic

Arthur Ashe’s blood transfusion turned tragic

A kid who would never grow old named Ryan White

In addition to me there was fear and hate that he had to fight

Not only celebrities pretend that they don’t love who they love

Word from the pulpit “ Punish them freaks with justice from above”

Junkies on lines trying to ease some kind of pain

A short trip for all via mainlines to their veins

Babies seeking food from the gift of the breast

Mothers who never suspected that they needed a test

Not just some dude locked up and down low

A Hint Of Something :

I ‘m potentially everyone that you know

Synonyms: stalker, tail, tracker, pursuer

For Colored (Blank) Who've Considered Suicide when the ( Blank) wasn't enough

Image via Wikipedia
So Tyler Perry will soon release the movie Version of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf is a 1975 play by Ntozake Shange. It's such a classic for so many folks( particularly Women Of Color) that it's hard for some to imagine what in the world is Tyler Perry going to do to it?

The writer herself chimed in recently saying something to the effect of telling him that he'd better not bring Madea into it. I am reserving judgement of course until I see it on cable. I'm sure that it will be a girls night out for women all over the Diaspora the way that Waiting To Exhale was ( and Sex In The City too) . I'm not particularly interested in sitting for two hours of AmenCorner bonding over the "Brutha's aint sh%$%&^T" See how bad they do us" bonding. I don't however deny the value and need to hear Sistah's voices. When I was a kid , I hated the Color Purple because I thought that the message was Black Men aint no damn good. As an adult , I see both the pathos and triumph in the story Perspective can and does change.. Maybe one day I'll actually see "How Stella Got her Groove back

.

In the meantime, here is my list of For Colored (Blank) Who've Considered Suicide when the ( Blank) wasn't enough :

For Colored contact wearers.Who've Considered Suicide …When the blonde weave wasn’t enough
For Orange Colored Jump Suit wearers who've considered suicide when parole wasn't
enough
For multi colored suit wearers who've considered suicide when rainbow gators weren't enough
For National Association For The Advancement of Colored people who considered suicide when Black members of the tea party were too much
enough
For Color Tv watchers who've considered black and white or cable suicide when the BET awards were too much
For Rose colored glasses wearers who considered suicide when The tea party’s rainbow coalition attacks were enough

For Sun colored Brown Indigenous People who’ve considered Suicide when The Nina , Pinta, and The Santa Maria wasn’t enough

Langston dreams/the nightmares of war

Many of us know the great and prolific Langston Hughes because of his dream poems. His ability to capture the voices of the people of Harlem in my opinion is unparalleled. The plays, poems, and short stories are the essence of Black America. Mr Hughes had some less publicized themes in his work too: He was crystal clear in his verses about war and it's cause /effect on the world.
(War by Langston Hughes)
The face of war is your face/ the face of war is my face
What color is the face of war?
Brown, Black.,White- your face and my face.
Death is the broom I take in my hands/ To sweep the world clean
I sweep and I sweep/ Then mop and I mop
I dip my broom in blood/my mop in blood/ and blame you for this
Because you are there/Enemy/
It’s hard to blame me, because I am here
So I kill you/ and you kill me
My name/like your name
Is War

Or: Comment On War
"Let us kill off our youth/For the sake of truth/ We who are old know what TRUTH is/ Truth is a bundle of vicious lies/tied together and sterilized-A war makers bait for unwise youth/To kill off each other /For the sake of TRUTH"

and: “Poem To A dead solider”

We who sent you to your doom/ now we make soft speeches/and sob soft cries/and throw soft flowers/and utter soft lies

But of course this is Mr Hughes, solutions and demands from the people's perspective are always available in his huge canon:
: (Give Us Our Peace
Give us a peace equal to the war Or else our souls will be unsatisfied/
And we will wonder what he have fought for/and why the many died
Give us a peace accepting every challenge
The challenge of the poor, the black of all denied/ the challenge of the vast colonial world that long has had so little justice by it’s side.
Give us a peace that dares us to be wise/Give us a peace that dares us to be strong
Throughout the peace our battle against wrong
Give us a piece that is not cheaply used
A peace that is no clever scheme/ A people’s peace for which men can enthuse/A peace that brings reality to our dream
Give us a Peace that will enlist a mighty army serving all mankind
Not just an army geared to kill/ but trained to help the living mind
An army trained to help the common good/and bring about a world of brotherhood

A few years ago, I wrote a play with some high school students around these poems ( titled Love And War) The students added their own poems around the theme of the heart as a battlefield.
These poems are from the excellent : The Collected Poems Of Langston Hughes.
Peace!

Kool Aid Smiles-or Let's reclaim it before it becomes what the Tea Party has become to tea and parties

Word Association: Tea Party? What comes to mind? Palin, racists, President Obama haters, people spitting on freedom fighting/peace loving icons from the civil rights movement. Maybe even the whole Boston thing back in Colonial times is where it is for you( although Crispus Attacks* is the only part of that scene that interests me). Just a few years back : Little girls pretending that there Barbie dolls were having a pleasant afternoon,or genteel gatherings to discuss arts and culture. Or just the Brits being anti coffee snobs.


Kool Aid : Jim Jones and The Jonestown Massacre-which probably led to folks believing that it is synonymous with a fatal last drink because you believed in a false prophets' demand that you take a sip as your final ambrosia before an awaited next life paradise.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Let us reclaim our drinks as good times/ liquid fun.
We better do it (heaven forbid ) before it happens to lemon aid too.

Ok lets visualize: Picture yourself on a hot summer day during your childhood. You've just come from outside soaked in sweat; You open the refrigerator door and see that pitcher just glistening. What's in it. KOOL AID ( insert flavor)! Sure, there is enough sugar in that one plastic picture to give half of China diabetes( but that's not the point here). You were on your way to a kool aid smile. Why you probably wouldn't have been shocked if while you were sipping on the bomb drink-the Kool aid giant smiling pitcher with legs and arms came crashing through the walls! Today he would be called the multi flavored terrorist for doing that. Reclaim Our Drinks Folks!
It may be too late for tea. Let's not let Kool Aid get shifted into propaganda in strawberry, celebrity gossip in cherry, war against terrorism/military industrial complex in lime,police brutality/justified law enforcement homicide in grape, or anything else that could corrupt:
Apple, Bunch Berry, Blastin' Berry Cherry, Blue Berry Blast, Cherry, Cherry Cracker, Chocolate, Cola, Eerie Orange, Frutas, Frutas Vermelhas, Golden Nectar, Grape, Grape Blackberry, Grape Tang, Melon Mango, Strawberry Splash, Great Blueberry, Great Blue-dini, Groselha, Guaraná,Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade, Incrediberry, Kickin-Kiwi-Lime, Kolita, Lemon, Lemonade, Lemonade Sparkle, Lemon-Lime,Lime, Man-o-Mangoberry, Mango, Mountainberry Punch, Oh-Yeah Orange-Pineapple, Orange, Orange Enerjooz, Pina-Pineapple, Pink Lemonade, Pink Swimmingo, Purplesaurus Rex, Rainbow Punch, Raspberry, Roarin' Raspberry Cranberry, Rock-a-Dile Red, Root Beer, Scary Black Cherry, Scary Blackberry, Sharkleberry Fin, Slammin' Strawberry-Kiwi, Soarin' Strawberry-Lemonade, Strawberry, Strawberry Falls Punch, Strawberry Split, Strawberry-Raspberry, Sunshine Punch, Surfin' Berry Punch, Tangerine, Tropical Punch, Watermelon-Cherry, Shaking Starfruit

Maybe I'll start the Kool Aid Party! Daniel Carlton says " You are the flavor that you savor". Reclaim Your Drinks!

* Crispus Attacks ( A Black Man) was considered by many historians to be the first person to die in the American Revolution

Teaching Artistry: A bit of my past year/recording and justifying the magic/ thanks

This past year was very fruitful for me as a teaching artist. As many of you know, I am always trying to strike the balance between my active artistry, and work as a teaching artist. Whenever I perform as an actor or storyteller, the response is immediate in the form of applause or the feedback immediately after. The teaching artist stuff is a little trickier. Because many of these gigs are funded by grants that have very specific criteria,the work is evaluated more in terms of the goals of the grant being met more than anything else.Oftentimes you wonder if evaluators have any sense of the magic that is not always apparent from the way that they quantify success. For example,I took a group of young men from a High School in Harlem to do a community clean up this spring. These young brothers came up with this idea themselves. How did we travel to that point of self determination? Poetry, monologues, discussion, role plays, and brainstorming by using the arts as a foundation. I remember one of the evaluators during a site visit asking me what these activities had to do with their academic development ? My answer was "everything."
I made several short films documenting some of my projects this past year, because I've come to the conclusion that for many folks it's easier for them to get it if they see it through process. The film of the Community clean up is called"Harlem Me".
I also have "Future now" that I filmed of some teens in a Harlem Homeless Family Shelter, and "Haters No, Dreamers Yes" filmed with a 9th class with mostly English as a second language speakers in Bushwick , Brooklyn. What I have captured probably wouldn't pass anybody's test of pristine camera, sound, etc., but they do serve as a record of the magic.
Like all years, I've had some administrators who get it, and some who don't(such is the nature of teaching artist work) One principal was very angry with me, because prior to showing a video of some teens in Brownsville Brooklyn doing poetry, that I didn't explain to an audience of their peers what they were about to watch. I honestly didn't know what to say. I felt that the poems would speak for themselves. There are those, however who see us and what we are trying to do even when we don't think that people get it. The following is an email that I received recently from a school that like many in NYC is suffering budget cuts , and therefore won't be able to use me after a 3 year relationship. The wonderful woman who wrote this was just laid off. She captures me working in a moment that I didn't even realize she was paying close attention to.

Dear Daniel,

I hope the summer is going well for you and that this email finds you in good health.
This is to formally let you know that SSR will not be granted the Extended Day/Violence Prevention grant that enabled to school to take advantage of your excellent services and it is unlikely, given the school's tight budget, that there will be sufficient funds elsewhere to retain your services.

I would like to thank you and Blackberry Production for your years of service at this school. Of all the talents that you brought to the school Daniel, I think your greatest was the ability to inspire students. You have such a friendly, warm way with students, At the same time you didn't try to become a peer so that they would like you, you would not accept anything but their best, pushing them to expect more of themselves and to do more. This resulted in so many wonderful performances at the school, most of which has been written by the students.
I remember the last interaction that I witnessed with you working with a student. It was Ramshah, she refused to perform her poem at Brooklyn College because she didn't think that she could do it effectively - she was upset. You didn't try to persuade her to go, you just calmly asked her to read her poem to you. Then you asked her to read it again. You pointed out a few areas where she could put emphasis and where to pause. She read it again and again; each time you suggested something new that she could do to improve her delivery. Within an hour she felt confident enough to perform on stage, now she is unstoppable. So many SSR students have benefited from your talents and your ability to bring out theirs. You have been with them in the classroom, on stage, making videos, teaching them the history of blacks in Brooklyn and so much more. You gave of your time, way beyond what was paid. You gave us the gift of yourself and we are grateful. Allow me to wish you the greatest of success for you and your organization. I pretty sure I will be seeing you on the big screen in the future.

With love and respect

Joan Vendryes

and one more. This was a tour that I gave of Harlem to some young folks


The Leaders-In-Training had a GREAT time on Saturday. Daniel Carlton is a dynamic, engaging, very fun person to be around! The teens were on the quieter side, but I know they got a lot out of the film, the discussion, and walking tour. Please let Daniel know that we were thrilled to have him as such an important part of our day. And having posters and information packets to give to all of them was very generous. Thank you!!!
Many thanks again!!
Best,Gaby

Gaby Moss
Executive Director, Camp AmeriKids

My fellow teaching artists-some folks do get it

It's Hotter than.......

We are experiencing a heatwave in New York City. How hot is it? It's :

Hotter than……..
A fresh lie
A new truth
A Black Panther FBI file in the 60’s
An overrated rapper
Willie the Wino’s breath
A reciprocated lustful gaze
Grandma’s kitchen in August when she insists on frying that fish.
A prison cell in the Congo
A crack head’s television set
Benyonce’s thong
A hidden s.t.d
The movie “Do The Right Thing” in a movie theatre without air conditioning in July
A Rasta’s scalp
Misplaced pride
An idea ahead of conventional wisdom
Daniel Carlton’s thoughts

by Daniel Carlton

Remember The Time -The Black Soldier

: The You Tube Clip is from the excellent PBS documentary "For Love of Liberty: The Story of America's Black Patriots"

Happy Memorial Day : Here is an excerpt from my show "Memories Of Self Journey to Weeksville" The character has just returned home from WW1. He is missing an arm that he lost in battle. This is a fictional character -but a very real history.


"Don’t mean to sound bitter, but Brooklyn is a long way from Germany where my brothers died. so that Europe could be free while we fight for every inch that we can get here at home.
Funny thing is, there was a whole lot of folks who doubted us from the beginning. See, we Men out of New York and Brooklyn was all a part of the National Guard. How we became part of the French Army is all part of the story. Before we even left the States, they had us segregated from the Whites. Many of the Men had left the South thinking that they had seen the last of old Jim Crow. Basic training put a stop to that wishful thinking. On some days during training we were treated like the soilders that we dreamed of being. On other days we were given equipment including guns that didn’t work right. Things were explained to us as if we were too dumb to understand what they really meant. Sometimes we would have Colored Officers, but they suddenly wouldn’t be there. We were told to ask no questions. Every man to a fault in spite of this was still ready to show the world that our race was just as qualified as ANYBODY else. We was even more determined after they gave all of the troops leaving for the war a big parade on fifth Avenue; all of the troops except us the 369th. We was only good enough to die in some people’s eyes. I guess that they had to eat their words when we came back known as The Harlem Hellfighters.
We were sent to the Western Front. At first we had to do all of the dirty work that the White Boys wasn’t being asked to do like dragging dead bodies out of the way while bullets flew over our heads. Lots of times we was asked to match parts that were separated from the bodies. Digging graves or trenches, no job was to dirty for us. Mr. Williams would have been proud to see that we did everything with pride. We had a feeling that the whole world might be watching us. When the orders came for us to fight, we fought like hell. That’s how we got our name. Although just as many of us was from Brooklyn, Harlem was getting a reputation as the home of the Negro. Didn’t matter to us. Race is a strange thing aint it? At first the Europeans was cheering us dark fellows whenever we would go into a town. We was taking care of business when it came to stopping the Germans. Everybody knew it. The children would run after us just so they could touch our uniforms. Then all of a sudden the look in their faces changed. We couldn’t figure out why until one of our men who spoke French told us that the White American troops was telling them that we had tails and other animal parts. We was also being told by our Superior Officers not to fraternize with civilians. Meanwhile lots of them were taking up with their women. I forgot to mention that we fought so well that we were given to the French army. We spent 191 days in combat. That was longer than any other American unit. We were the first troops to reach the Rhine. One time we were defending an outpost and were attacked by the Germans. So many of our men were wounded that it looked like a blood bath. We didn’t surrender, but kept on fighting. I killed two men with my bare hands. We finally won that battle. Take that Jim Crow. The French gave us their highest award called the Croix de Guerre. If that didn’t show them what we men can do then nothing will.
So here I am home in Brooklyn. I hope that Mr. Williams can come to our parade tomorrow. It’s going to be on 5th Avenue. I hope that he feels that we did our race proud."
by Daniel Carlton -copyright 2007

All That Jazz courtesy of Wynton and The Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra

Lonnie Liston Smith via last.fm

I must admit to something that I have probably never admitted out loud : Prior to my attendance at Jazz at Lincoln Center Performances here in NYC, I was not that big of a fan of Jazz pre 1970 ( Bebop , Free , Post Bop, Swing , Dixieland, e.t.c.). The exception being Miles's stuff (particularly "Kind Of Blue, "Sketches Of Spain" , "In A Silent Way , and songs like My Funny Valentine). Miles's notes through his horn have always spoken a beautiful language that seems to come from another universe. But in most cases I have always found the bios of the musicians more fascinating sometimes then the music itself. The history of Jazz itself is enough to fill a history head like myself up with stories of triumph, tragedy, race, class, genius, transcendence, dope, hope, migration, internationalism, poetry, aesthetics, style, and grace under pressure. Mingus, Ellington, Dizzy, Satchmo, Charlie "Bird", Coltrane, Max Roach, Philly Jones, Bud Powell , and so many giants that I haven't mentioned all have epic tales to go along with their mastery of the art form.
My taste in terms of jazz though was formed by a more funky genre bending mash up of guitars, synthesizers, amplification, and groove put down by folks like Herbie Hancock(Headhunters), Miles (On The Corner/Bitches Brew/Live/Evil/Jack Johnson/ Get Up With It/ e.t.c), Stanley Clarke ( School Days/his Return To Forever Work / Journey To Love/e.t.c) George Duke, Jaco Pastorius, Marcus Miller, Roy Ayers, Lonnie Liston Smith, Weather Report, and many of the "fusion" artists. Steely Dan, Earth Wind and Fire, Santana, Mandrill, and other rock/pop/soul/funk artists who were influenced by the muscians that I just mentioned were also Jazz to me.
What does this have to do with Jazz at Lincoln center and Wynton Marseilles? Attending the concerts there have given me a musical education though the music it'self of the masters. Every concert that I have seen there has been a tribute to a past master. In some cases the master him/herself is present.He(Wynton ) not only plays the idea with the orchestra ; he also gives you a story anout the artist and the tune. The orchestra itself is a marvel and treat to the ears. All accomplished players who also do some of the arrangements too. Dig if you will this picture : 12 or more horn players-multi racial, various ages, and in suits on a bandstand, Upright Bass, Grand piano, Drum Kit-sometimes two drummers , and guest masters. Try to imagine all of those horns in syncopation and solos. Wynton Marseilles just by himself can sound like Gabriel blowing from heavens gates.
Memorable and Educational Moments for me there:

Ahmad Jamal was a discovery for me( his playing made me go into his discography and learn about a living legend

The Women Of Ellington
"Satin Doll", Black Beauty" from 1928!, Portrait of Mahalia Jackson," from the composer’s 1971 New Orleans Suite , "Gal From Joe’s" , Red Roses For A Blue Lady,",All Heart"(dedicated to Ella Fitzgerald), Shout ‘Em Aunt Tillie," "Miss Lucy," and "Country Gal." Each song had an incredible story. The span was over 50 years.

Basie & The Blues:special guest pianist Cyrus Chestnut

Ask Your Mama featuring Joe Lovano, The Roots, Jessye Norman and Nnenna Freelon
A Concert to Benefit Haiti

This what I dug last year
:Eddie Palmieri’s Latin-jazz big band (Feb. 6 to 7); a 50th-anniversary concert in honor of two landmark albums, John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” and Miles Davis’s “Kind of Blue” (Feb. 12 to 14); and a run of concerts by a quintet led by the keyboardist Chick Corea and the guitarist John McLaughlin (April 23 to 25).

I could go on because there is so much more going on there. The touch screen exhibit/tribute to the masters alone is worth it.

I once had issues with Wynton Marseilles because I thought that he was trying to control the idea of what good Jazz is. As much as I learned from Ken Burns excellent PBS Jazz series, I was bothered by what I perceived as his( and Stanley Crouch's) rejection of the type of jazz that turned me on. I will admit that his vision for the orchestra and concert hall has expanded my appreciation for the past that I missed in terms of the music.
Jazz at Lincoln center, I walk in feeling like the mud of the week is on me. I walk out feeling bathed in cleansing notes. Like I'm wearing a fresh new suit and a shape up

Alberta Hunter =Sustained Excellence=Don't Call It A Comeback, I was here for years

Alberta Hunter via last.fm

Last week( April 29th,2010), I had the pleasure of being a part of the wonderfully talented singer/actress, and writer Queen Esther's tribute to the incomparable Alberta Hunter( Harlem Stage/Jazzmobile sponsored). My role was to narrate/ through storytelling within the spaces in the music the life of this legend. In order to do this I not only had to know the songs, but I also had to really know the her-story of the journey. Queen Esther was very generous in terms of the execution of the delivery. She did suggest to me that I watch the excellent documentary called Alberta Hunter: My Castle's Rockin' (1998), a documentary written by Chris Albertson and narrated by pianist Billy Taylor.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364775/ I was able to to both enjoy her voice, and to get a strong sense of the story from the archival footage. And what a story it was:

From Wikipedia
"Alberta Hunter (April 1, 1895 – October 17, 1984)[1] was an American blues singer, songwriter, and nurse. Her career had started back in the early 1920s, and from there on, she became a successful jazz and blues recording artist, being critically acclaimed to the ranks of Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith. In the 1950s, she retired from performing and entered the medical field, only to successfully resume her singing career in her eighties

This Lady did it all with such excellence for a long tine. From songwriting Downhearted Blues( a major hit for Bessie Smith) and many others, to Showboat with Paul Robeson. Singing in 7 different languages and USO tours during WWII and The Korean conflict, lying about her age to become a nurse in her late fifties-she said that she was 43-retiring after 20 years, and then making a comeback at 79!
Queen Esther and I haven taken on the joyous act of telling this story. She through the music and her incredible band-and me through interwoven storytelling and rhyme. We plan to put this show back up( so stay tuned) Meanwhile here is a piece(not from the show) that I wrote from the fictional voice of a piano player who was at The Dreamland Cafe hoping to play for her:
Brothel piano player in Chicago 1915

So this pretty little thing walks into a bar where there were more bullet holes in the walls then notes on the piano and she says like she is a woman ten years older , stronger and wiser than she probally was “ I’m a singer”. Now I knew who she was cause I always wanted to play for her. Something about her was bigger , tougher and sweeter then all of the dark clouds of gloom disguised as cigarette smoke in this promised land called Chicago. Why do I say it like that that? I aint got to tell nobody about the gangsters , pimps, and whores that love nothing more than to see somebody elses’ throat not they own after a night of good timing in these buckets of blood. Hell, I even knew who she was cause of where she used to sing- Dago Frank’s. That was around 1911 , so she must have been around 16 years old when she first started out. Don’t nobody ask to many questions about these things when somebody got talent if you know what I mean. And Alberta had it for sure. It’s a shame that the coppers shut that place down cause of one more murder that they couldn’t overlook. Sporting men piano players like myself hear about who’s got the goods when it comes to music, so I wasn’t surprised when she got that gig at the Elite Café on State Street with that Ragtime Sissy out of New Orleans Tony Jackson . He sure got a hit with her singing his songs like “Pretty Baby” Now I see why they got on so good. See she had a husband that nobody ever seen her kissing and hugging on. Hell after a while nobody seen him at all . Seen her plenty with her( sarcastically) “friend Lottie , Bert Willams niece. And Lord Knows who Pretty Baby was meant for. We still talking about Chicago in about 1915 or so by then, which means them shootings and carrying ons was still closing the even the best of joints down. Alberta couldn’t even get away from it when she was playing clubs that was just for White folks like The Panama , Deluxe Café or even Dreamland Café. Now the Dreamland Café was so special that King Oliver’ Creole Jazz band would have them waiting on lines down the block just to get in. They started calling her “ The Sweetheart of Dreamland.” She was getting real big, but one more time this is Chicago . You already know what I’m about to say . The piano player was shot and killed while they was on stage. This was my chance. I know how to duck. But before I could play one note she upped and moved to New York City. Damn