Father Ra

Born July 4, 1900.  Surely the man had the audacity to make the sphinx, too.

What We're Hearing

We moved the post, which we longer in its breathing than the usual over here @ the red light, on to the blue. But we're rolling deep w/ Pops and can't stop thinking about how powerful he is.

Satchmo: Prospect

Prompted by both Giddins and Teachout, we have picked up a copy of Pops's second book. It is a brilliantly slow and clearspoken exercise in autoarchetyping, comparable not only with Sidney Bechet, but Ben Franklin.

Since this is nothing but a place for my repeater pencil, I'll be posting my favorite snippets from time to time. I just don't want to lose them.

Current Leavings

We are presently making our way through Terry Teachout's brilliant Pops. Although we reamain convinced that there is a loud call for the 2 or 3 volume life and times biography, we think Teachout has finally begun to get the whole thing -- Armstrong the street urchin, Armstrong the band member, Armstrong the standalone soloist, Armstrong the bandleader, Armstrong the writer, Armstrong the film star, Armstrong, who was part of musical reviews, Armstrong the performer, Armstrong the composer, Armstrong the medicine man, Armstrong the first King of Pop, Armstrong the first King of the Blues, Armstrong the king of the Zulus.

When he was there near the start ('cause there were always, as you would expect, precursors), it was all of these threads he pulled together into the fabric.

And Again

:: remains speechless ::

Again

:: speechless among scattered herbs ::

We Saw One of the Gods Walking the Earth

:: speechless -- scatters bayleaves and pepperflakes in a circle ::

Proper Respect

We urge you to introduce yourself to one of the students that Reverend Satchelmouth deserves. There is some real work being done over here. Ups to the scholar willing to find the devils and angels in the details.

Two Quotes

"I'm proud to acknowledge my debt to the Reverend Satchelmouth. He is
the Beginning and the End of music in America."

-- Bing Crosby

"It's like gold being poured out of a cup."

-- Louis Armstrong

A Method

"The first chorus I plays the melody, the second chorus I plays the
melody round the melody, and the third chorus I routines."

Bridge Ain't Over

Obviously. We've been lissening to Olu Dara work it every which way -- back, forth, side to side. Among other places, he travels to the unnastanding of sea we're working -- back, forth, side to side. Take on "Out on the Rolling Sea." And he's got a voice that would make Louis Armstrong say "yes."

Putting Language on the Blues

"I heard a record Louis Armstrong made called 'West End Blues.' And I liked the feeling he got from it.... Sometimes the record would make me so sad I'd cry up a storm. Other times the same damn record would make me so happy."

Hold on to that.

In the Stacks

We are working our way through Terry Teachout's valuable Pops. At this point let us make two generous observations. First, the book's greatest strength is that it is aware of Louis Armstrong as a writer -- someone who made an effort to put his thoughts down on paper for others to read. Second, Teachout is a subtle reader of the multiple Armstrong memoirs.

We are left, even without finishing, wishing for more. Those prospects we will lay out as we go further.

What We're Hearing

We're doing some archeology on Louis Armstrong and, of course, it leads us to the precursor of precursors, King Oliver.* Me must observe as we study how much his bigga figga reminds us of Chris Wallace.

* Now is the wrong time to do the whole thing on the impossible archeology of precursors -- the one that takes us through Bunk Johnson and Buddy Bolden. It's a prayer to a loa who lives between the oceans and who tempts us to resurrect the many thousands gone.

What's a Savoyager?

Whenever we're back there, like we were last night, we trip all over the language, especially its novely. We'll be the first ones to admit that we don't know where this stuff comes from if not a constant creolization of the old world into the new.

Yes, yes.