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Wanda's picks by Wanda Sabir Ladysmith Black Mambazo Twenty years after Paul Simon’s “Graceland” album featuring the sensational South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo appeared, the nine-member all-male ensemble, headed by Joseph Shabalala, continues to challenge America’s perception of a cappella music. Just two decades ago, South Africa was still in the grips of Apartheid – Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s work a score for the liberation movement. “Long Walk to Freedom” reflects this march and is a retrospective of hits from this era, with a roster of special guests singing Joseph Shabalala classics off that seminal recording. Paul Simon’s popularity was an opportunity for western audiences to get to know this music – a traditional style called isicathamiya (is-caot-a-me-ya), a style born in the diamond mines, made popular by groups like Ladysmith. More importantly, at a time when most of the world was clueless, “Graceland” and the subsequent tour exposed a system of racial segregation and inequality quite viscerally each time the men performed, the choreography just as stunning as their songs. I remember watching “The Making of Graceland” on PBS, seeing my heroine Miriam Makeba in her dressing room talking about this tour that Simon launched. Graceland was a movement, which, like others, resulted in an aesthetic shift in world sensibility, especially which regards to African music. For me, “Graceland” marks the moment I found my current hairstyle. Twenty years ago, seated in front of the maybe three hour long special, I twisted my hair the way I imagined Tracy Chapman’s looked. You can imagine then my excitement to see Ladysmith for the first time several years later, then last year to land an interview with one of the founding members, Albert Mazibuko, for their Stern Grove Concert debut. The interview can be found at http://www.sfbayview.com/071305/albertmdletshe071305.shtml. “Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes,” a Paul Simon hit, is remixed on this newest release arranged by Joe McBride, with vocalist Melissa Etheridge adding new flavor. Ladysmith fans will recognize the Shabalala classic “Homeless,” which in this version of the hit features Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachan. Blues guitarist legend Taj Mahal is on “Mbube,” while one hears Emmylou Harris on “Amazing Grace/ Nearer My God to Thee,” a really lovely number. The traditional song about the crowded trains which pick up the workers to transport them to underground cities or mines from which some never return, “Shossholoza,” which means “go forward” or “make way for the next man,” features a range of artists from veteran Hugh Masekela to Lucky Dube, Bhekumuzi Luthull, Vusi Mahlasela, Nokukhaya, Phuzekhemisi and Thandiswa. Zap Mama, another African singing group, out of Congo by way of Belgium, bring back another Ladysmith favorite: “Hello My Baby,” originally recorded in 1979 on “Ezinkulu,” then on “Shaka Zulu” in 1987, both with different arrangements. The performance is Thursday evening, March 30, 8 p.m., at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall, on Bancroft Way, below Telegraph Avenue, in Berkeley. Call (510) 642-9988 or visit www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. On Friday, March 31, at 11 a.m., there will be a school time performance. All seats are $3. Call (510) 642-1082. The Bad Plus Check out bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson and drummer David King – three post-modern iconoclasts who combine keen wit, dynamic musical contrasts and original sensibility in what has been called the “loudest piano trio ever.” We shall see. They’ll be performing at Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, in Oakland, at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. I’ve heard some good things about The Bad Plus. At $16 for the 8 o’clock show and $10 for the late show, they’re worth the dare. Visit www.yoshis.com or call (510) 238-9200. Latin Jazz
Eddie Palmieri performs at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Auditorium, Saturday, April 1, 8 p.m. Visit www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. Henry Threadgill’s Zooid Henry Threadgill’s Zooid performs at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, 3301 Lyon St., off of Lombard Street, in San Francisco, this Saturday, April 1, no foolin.’ I agree with the New York Time’s assessment. Threadgill is clearly “one of jazz’s most admired and innovative composers since the ‘70s and a pillar of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.” Saturday, the multi-instrumentalist will bring to the stage his acoustic sextet, just one more avenue or juncture along the road he’s traveling. Visit www.sfjazz.org or call (415) 788-7353. ‘Black Reparations Now!’ exhibit This current exhibition, called “Black Reparations Now!” features 22 artists who work in a variety of mediums, among them Tarika Lewis, who has a wonderful ink on paper drawing while Kamau Amen Ra uses his camera to document a Reparations Conference at UC Berkeley. Kiilu Nyasha’s George Jackson portraits fill a few cases while Emory Douglas’ famous Black Panther Party imagery on posters speaks loudly from walls, along with Eesuu’s mixed media work, Hank Willis Thomas’ photography, Woody Johnson’s sculpture, Amiri Baraka’s paintings and drawings, Githinji’s sculpture of the continent of Africa, Duane Deterville’s rubbing-graphite drawing of a slave ship, plus the work of Keba Konte, Elizabeth Catlett, Marcel Diallo, Mahader Tesfai, Daria Nile, Traci Bartlow, Bridgett Goodman and others round out a provocative exhibit.
Hank Willis Thomas uses the image of a mouth to say so much while another artist, Diallo, has text, as does other work – one which tells the story of forced immigration and what it meant to a particular family. Still another juxtaposes the music of jazz to Black life and the color blue. Greg Jung Morozumi’s “Exhibitions” at the Asian Resource Gallery, 310 8th St., at Webster, in Oakland, up through March 31, always have provocative themes, this one no less, as one contemplates the fact that everyone has received reparations – entire nations, except formerly enslaved Africans. America has sought to repair damage from World War II, Vietnam, Korea and elsewhere. Yet it refuses to even consider the atrocity of the European Slave Trade and what this free access to a labor force meant for the founding white fathers and Western Civilization as we know it. The film “Inside Man” touches on this.
‘Africa! What the hell happened?’ The topic: “Africa! What the hell happened? Nigeria & South Africa what’s your excuse?” is quite provocative, as should be the discussion with Professor Percy Hintzen, African American Studies; Prof. Michael Watts, Geography; and Prof. Gillian Hart, Development Studies. It is moderated by Professor David Leonard, Political Science. The event is Wednesday, April 5, 12-2 p.m., at UC Berkeley, 652 Barrows Hall. This panel discussion is intended to produce an erudite sophisticated dialogue on the lack of success of post-colonial governments to deliver the promises of independence in Nigeria and liberation in South Africa. These two countries are remarkable because they are regional super-powers and are endowed with impressive natural resources; yet the subaltern populations in these two countries are still stressed. Contact Daax@berkeley.edu for information. Howard Wiley and the Angola Project
This commissioned work, inspired by the early recordings of men incarcerated in one of America’s largest prisons, probably the only one that used to be a slave plantation – its wardens and guards still cut from the same cloth at Angola State Prison, was also the subject of the film “The Farm,” which Howard Wiley said sells at the prison on-line gift store. This project, which features new arrangements on old songs like “Amazing Grace,” written, Howard said, by a slave ship captain, happy when he made it through a storm from Africa to one of the many ports where Africans were sold. The composer said he retells the story depicted in this classic Negro spiritual from the perspective of the Africans held captive. Raised in the Black church, Star Bethel, in North Oakland, his grandmother Big Mama’s church, Wiley was primed for this project long before he heard the recordings of his friend Daniel, who visited Angola to study the music of the inmates less than a month before Hurricane Katrina hit and the levees broke. Rocking with the spirit of our ancestors, Wiley already had a rich perspective on African Diaspora music, a perspective which is not necessarily shared by all. When one goes to a Howard Wiley event, the young musician will take you places on his sax – tenor or soprano – you’ve only dreamed of going. Then, just so you can return when he’s no longer around, Howard often distributes maps in the shape of, we hope, a CD. “Rise and Fly” was the first song he heard on an Alan Lomax and Harry Oster recording. Culture vultures, these recordings were just an additional nail in the coffin named “stolen legacy.” Huddie “Leadbelly” Leadbetter and Robert Pete Williams were two men whose careers were cultivated during their time in Angola. An early Gordon Parks film tells Leadbelly’s story. Only allowed to sing spirituals, of course the inmates had no problem using codes to hide messages in their songs. A difficulty Wiley described was to find people alive who could translate these songs for him, especially the work songs which were no longer sung as much after the late ‘50s, early ‘60s. Wiley has also composed two new works, as yet untitled, and arranged “No More Lord” for Jeannine Anderson, who knows gospel and Negro spirituals. The Angola Project also features “Trouble the World,” a favorite song of Mahalia Jackson. Just to capture the rich terrain he plans to explore next Tuesday, Wiley has assembled a top notch band with himself on tenor and soprano saxophones; Sly Randolph – drums; David Ewell and Devin Hoff – bass; Lorin Benedict and Jeannine Anderson – vocals; Geechi Taylor – trumpet. Angola will premiere Tuesday, April 4, 8 p.m., at Intersection for the Arts, as a part of its 2006 Jazz at Intersection series. The theatre is located at 446 Valencia St., between 15th and 16th streets, in San Francisco. RSVP by calling (415) 626-3311 or visiting www.theintersection.org. Tickets are $12-$20, sliding scale – you pay what you can. John Handy at Jazz at Pearls It is rare that one sees alto saxophonist John Handy in concert for more than a day at a time. Perhaps booking agents think the San Francisco Bay couldn't handle such intensity? After 1906 and 1989, we have certainly been prepared adequately for intense movement, as it were - Handy's work definitely the kind that shifts plates, rearranges ecosystems, connects humanity with its origins. Jazz at Pearl's, 256 Columbus Ave., San Francisco, is the perfect place to experience such wonder - intimate and cozy. Catch Handy this Friday, March 31, through Sunday, April 2. There are two shows nightly, 8 and 10. Visit http://www.jazzatpearls.com/jazz/index.html for all the details or call (415) 291-8255. Doors open one hour prior to shows. Pearl's serves great food and is known for its desserts. A dinner reservation guarantees a seat at whatever show you choose. Read an earlier interview with Handy when he was in concert with Randy Weston a few years ago: http://www.sfbayview.com/041603/wandaspicks041603.shtml. Kenyan artist Wangechi Mutu Wangechi Mutu, a Kenyan-born artist based in New York, makes luscious yet unsettling pictures of female figures. Her painted and collaged works on mylar function as potent social critique while simultaneously exploring more poetic strains of mythology and allegory as well as the sensuousness of form, color and pattern. Particularly interested in myths about gender and ethnicity that have long circulated in Africa and the West, Mutu has adopted the medium of collage - which by its nature evokes rupture and collision - to depict the monstrous, the exotic and the feminine. Her exhibition at SFMOMA combines works on paper and a site-specific installation. The exhibition opened in December and closes this Sunday, April 2. '1906 Earthquake: A Disaster in Pictures' In commemoration of the centennial of the great earthquake that struck the San Francisco area on April 18, 1906, the exhibition, "1906 Earthquake: A Disaster in Pictures," brings together approximately 100 photographs drawn from the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and other local holdings. The earthquake and the subsequent fires it caused reduced much of the city's architecture to rubble and took the lives of thousands of people. In the aftermath of the disaster, many photographers took to the streets with their cameras, documenting the unfathomable damage as well as the valiant relief efforts. "1906 Earthquake" explores a variety of photographic responses to the disaster, with professional views of the destroyed city, such as spectacular panoramas by Pillsbury Picture Co. and glass lantern slides by Arnold Genthe, alongside amateur snapshots, albums and cyanotypes on fabric. The exhibition is up through Tuesday, May 30, at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third St., San Francisco. A panel discussion, "Disasters in Pictures," will be held Saturday, April 1, at 2 p.m. in the Phyllis Wattis Theater. The panelists are Corey Keller, assistant curator of photography at SFMOMA, Robin Kelsey, assistant professor of history of art and architecture at Harvard University, and Mark Klett, an artist on the faculty of Arizona State University. They will discuss the various ways catastrophic events are recorded, interpreted and remembered through photography. Tickets are $14 general and $8 for SFMOMA members, students with ID and seniors and are available at the museum with no surcharge or online, where a surcharge applies. Visit www.museumca.org. 'Aftershock! Voices from the 1906 Earthquake and Fire'
The Oakland Museum of California remembers the seismic catastrophe that rocked the Bay Area 100 years ago with "Aftershock! Voices from the 1906 Earthquake and Fire," April 1 through Aug. 13. The 4,000-square-foot exhibition, with more than 250 artifacts and photographs, is the largest in California dedicated to the centennial of the earthshaking events of April 18, 1906. The 7.8-magnitude quake was felt across the breadth of the Bay: Santa Rosa to San Jose. What's unique about "Aftershock!" is its inclusion of the stories of many silenced voices, the San Franciscans absent in the exhibition at the Palace of the Legion of Honor -people of color. Stephen P. De Windt told me about his grandfather, Henry P. Johnson, a barber in the financial district, who moved to Oakland when his house collapsed just after he and his wife escaped. De Windt, who lived with his grandparents until his family moved to Long Beach when he was 7 or so, recalls vividly the stories his grandfather shared. He said his grandparents spoke of the ground opening up and swallowing people then closing back. He spoke of his grandfather's quiet dignity, his sharp attire and the barber shop he and his father ran where they cut the hair of white businessmen. They moved into a home in North Oakland on San Pablo where De Windt's mom was one of just a handful of African American children at that time at Golden Gate Elementary School. It's a fascinating tale which De Windt is happy to share. He'll be around this weekend at the exhibit's opening festivities. Perhaps you'll meet him. His grandfather is on the promotional materials and has a prominent spot in one of the many galleries, his barbershop near the exhibition's entrance, 1000 Oak St., near 10th, Oakland. "Oakland to the Rescue!" a companion exhibit that will be on display through Dec. 31, shows how Oakland, largely undamaged by the quake and fire, with a busy port and railroad lines, served as the base for San Francisco's recovery efforts. Gov. George C. Pardee and San Francisco businessmen temporarily moved their offices to Oakland. Many evacuees took shelter across the Bay. Oakland's Chinatown population boomed during the influx. Haitian Dance and Drum Spring Series The Haitian Dance and Drum Spring Series is a benefit fundraiser designed solely to assist in the production of this year's milestone installation of the Fifth Annual Haitian Dance and Drum Retreat slated for Sept. 22-24. Without public or corporate funding, the retreat has grown in intensity and community spirit year after year, drawing participants from Europe and Japan as well as from the U.S. - a true grassroots people's project. With venues in both San Francisco and Oakland, the Spring Series is happening this weekend, March 31 through April 2. On Friday, March 31, 7-10 p.m., they'll perform at Rhythm and Motion, ODC Dance Commons, 351 Shotwell St., between 17th and 18th near 16th Street BART in San Francisco. On Saturday and Sunday, April 1-2, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., see them at the Laney College Dance Department, 900 Fallon St. at 10th, Oakland. Visit www.haitiancamp.net or phone (415) 425-8513. Concerts Bob Dylan and his Band perform Monday, April 3, at the Stockton Arena. Tickets are $49.50 and $39.50, available at BGP.com. Steel Pulse with Elijah Emanuel & The Revelations is Saturday, April 1. Show starts at 9:00, doors open at 8:00. Tickets are $30. Floetry performs Thursday, April 6. Show starts at 8:00, doors open at 7:00. Tickets are $30. Leela James performs Wednesday. April 19. Doors open at 7:00, show starts at 8:00. Tickets are $20. See the web exclusive at www.sfbayview.com. She was here last year at the Independent. Lila Downs and Charanga Cakewalk perform Thursday, April 20. Doors open at 7:00, the show's at 8:00. Tickets are $25. Mo' Better Foods Conference, Friday, March 31, 6-9 Ten years ago, the first Mo' Better Food Conference was held in San Francisco. The theme was "Blacks in Agriculture," focusing on farmers, gardeners etc. Ben Burkett, president of the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives, was the special guest. Ben also farms around 200 acres in Mississippi and helps develop cooperatives worldwide. Ben's roof was blown off during Hurricane Katrina, and he has been very active in rebuilding Louisiana and Mississippi, from the farmers up. Along with Ben, who's returning this year, special guests for the 10th anniversary conference, to be held Friday, March 31, 6-9 p.m., at Simone and Rolanda's, 380 Embarcadero St.. across from Barnes and Noble at Jack London Square, Oakland, include Anna Marie Carter. the Seed Lady, founder of the Watts Garden Project, a program that grows gardens inside the projects of Watts to feed residents and build economic stability; Shyaam Shabaka, president of Food First and the Eco-Village in Richmond and involved in urban farms and other projects that relate to agriculture; Joy Moore, host on KPFA, community activist and food organizer in South Berkeley; and Will Scott, president of the African American Farmers of California, which represents around 30 farmers from the Fresno area. They have been working with Mo' Better Foods since 1998 to bring food to the Mo' Better Food Market and the Mandela Farmers Market in West Oakland every Saturday. "Most Black communities are food insecure, which means no food, no food," says David Roach, founder of Mo' Better Food. "Why twice? No food means poor health. No food means poor economics. Mo' Better Food means healthy economics." Email Wanda at wsab1 @aol.com. |
