Warning to sensitive listeners. This mix contains language and expressions that some might find offensive. I implore anyone that feels this way to read and learn more about the times depicted and to look and listen to the human story and avoid prejudice and preconceived moral constructs. My ideas are personal and if you have any questions or corrections please get in touch as this is a personal observation under limited rules (9 songs) of a deeply pertinent point in history.
September is a big one. This is a long, complex and deeply evocative mix covering a lot of great music and one of the most singular documents put to wax. This month’s episode was inspired by the record ‘Guess Who’s Coming Home: Black Fighting Men Recorded Live In Vietnam’, recorded and narrated by Wallace Terry for label Black Forum, a Motown imprint. It was released in 1972 Here are some words from the liner notes:
“This album is real. Every voice. Every sound. Every sweat. Every swear.Every plea. Every Promise. Black soldiers, trained in the violent arts of guerrilla warfare as no blacks before, are coming home, determined to bring the war with them if America doesn’t change her racist ways and give them the democracy they were sent to defend.”
The honesty, integrity, candidness and truth that these soldiers share in this record is deeply moving, upsetting and at times frightening. The value of a life is put into question, philosophy and race relations are debated and the unique experience of fighting black men is shared with honesty and passion. Also gender divide and socio-economics is discussed. There is a lot of hatred, fear, anger and hopelessness, as well as ideologies rooted in violence, humour, masculinity and want.
I wished to share 9 short moments from this record and intersect these with records that I feel represent a creative spark of the time, both in the interpretation of what it meant to be an African American during the later stages of the Vietnam war, but also how to tell that story using primarily Jazz, free jazz, poetry and improvised compositions of the black man expressing his place in America and his roots in Africa and Europe. I don’t mention Asia and the Vietnamese region as these play a different part in the narrative.
- We start with a bomb. I can’t believe I hadn’t heard this classic from 1972. Imamu Amiri Baraka ‘It’s Nation Time – African Visionary Music’ sounds like the opening of a Blaxploitation movie, with a capital B! The message is clear and vibrant and sounds more relevant than ever. This is the most ‘pop’ record on this mix sitting comfortably in its funky backing track and catchy repetitive lyrics. I first heard this recently at a wonderful Black Poetry night at the Belleveux Cinema in Switzerland, where a collection of 40 white Europeans and one black man enjoyed an education in black solidarity and music from the 1970s. Shout out to Truck Thomas for putting together such a wonderful evening. The question is ‘Who will survive America?’ Apparently not many of us. ‘Baraka raps on who is not going to survive. All of these people are going to find their lives extinguished by the revolution because they were complicit in the project of America, because they did not stand up and challenge systemic oppression when the white power structure was imposing its dominance over Black people.’ This is relevant today and goes beyond the black fight and touchesl the plight of many modern Americans.
- Now for some instrumental magic from the mighty Noah Howard, who channels both Coltrane and Miles on this sublime song. He manages to play the sax somewhere that drifts between the trumpet and cornet in such a unique way that he opens the very ground before you. I am obsessed with the Freedom label but managed to grab this recently through a lovely reprint courtesy of Superior Viaduct. All About Jazz wrote ‘The four originals which make up The Black Ark, a mutant blues, a free jive samba, a cod-Japanese “ying-tong” melody and a wonderfully lyrical ballad, are catchy and hummable, at a time when most free jazz rejected tunes and structures’. This stands up and makes me think of Marion Brown’s ability to do the same. Arthur Doyle is one of my favourite players and appears on this record which is just mind blowing. I wanted to have him in this mix but it’s so hard and expensive to get hold of his music. He spent a lot of time playing in Europe through the 70s and the European influence can be felt, as well as some signs of North African playing too.
- The first large group that I have included is The Art Ensemble of Chicago with a fierce display of avant garde jazz with poetics steeped in Afro-mythology and cosmic ideologies as seen in other contemporaries of the time. The music is fraught with ritualistic sounds that don’t use the formal modal forms of jazz and sits in a primitive setting, more akin to the Italian avant garde and their obsession with the Paleolithic. There is a rejection of the white American norms (of both Jazz and other music) and a study in African folklore as interpreted by black Americans. For me this seems like a more apt escape from Western ideals than the jump to Islam that many black revolutionaries took at the time. Something which has always sat uncomfortably with me due to the Arab states involvement in slavery and the exploitation of sub-saharan peoples for over a millenia. But after reading more about the draw to Islam in the 1920s due to its active aggression to the Christian Imperial powers of the time, I completely get it. However the inclusivity of race within Islam during the 20th century, supported by Malcom X, and the oppression of Arab states such as Palestine was a real sense of inspiration for many black activists. In the contemporary setting I can see how this was ultimately more appealing than the Christian or Secular systems of America. Roscoe Mitchell, Lester Bowie, Malachi Favors and Joseph Jarman created one of the most intensely moving records of the early 70’s with Fanfare for Warriors, and I had to include a piece from this artwork.
- Next up is Kuumba-Toudie Heath (Albert William Heath) with revolutionary musician James Mtume, and the timeless record ‘Kawaida’. This lives in a parallel realm to the previous track but the record itself, as a whole, has a more spiritual feel. The chosen track, however, is deep in the rich improvised motions of music and poetry, using the Nguzo Saba (the Seven Principles of Dr. Maulana Karenga) that are the foundation of Kwanzaa. The use of Swahili and English are conveyed to paint a picture of the African American with an eye to the past and the future through an inherited moral guidance. Listening to the soldiers speak on the record you can hear a search for purpose, identity and idealism. This is a creative display of that search and an exercise in communicating these ideals and identities. I love the interplay between musicians and voices. As was the time, this is a call for a black nation over one of unity which is echoed in the voices of the soldiers. Don Cherry and Herbie Hancock also had a hand in the distribution and production of this record which is always a good sign.
- Now this one is such a killer track and a bit of a long one but totally worth it. It was recorded in 1966 and stands out on this mix, not only as one of the earliest recordings, but also with its traditional roots and anachronistic punk vocal playfulness. Dewy Redman is one of my favourites and with Look for the Black Star he made something akin to Albert Ayler’s Love Cry in its ability to surprise and delight in equal measure. Also it’s great to get a Texan on here and represent a son of a different State. Redman served in the US Army for two years before returning to study a masters in education and teaching kids music. He worked with Ornette Coleman, but their sound is very different. In 1969 he was part of the Liberation Music Orchestra ‘led by bassist Charlie Haden, this politically dissident jazz collective combined avant-garde jazz with protest songs and compositions that actively opposed imperialism, war, and fascism.’ Ultimately he used free jazz and musical expression to vocalise his social and political rebellion and this piece is a great example of that. You can hear elements of Anthony Braxton coming through as well as the spatial interplay seen later by Jacques Coursil and even John Tchicai. You can even hear the seeds of ideas that later took root in the Canadian protest groups and improvisers in the shape of Sam Shalabi and Efrim Menuck. And then the composition switches and nods to Thelonius Monk and Sun Ra. This is gold.
- Next up is something else from the incredible James Mtume. This is one of my most sought after vinyls. If any one has a spare copy please let me know! As you can tell most of these records seem to appear in and around 1972. What a year! This is Mtume Umoja Ensemble – Alkebu-Lan – Land Of The Blacks (Live At The East). This is another record that sits in the realm of free jazz and black poetry. There is also a healthy nod to the modal jazz of the 60s, but with a dose of letting the vocals sit up front, and not just as a recording preference used decades before by Louis Armstrong and others. Many claim it a precursor to hip hop but I’d disagree, this has much more to do with free improvisation and poetry than it does the early hip hop artists. If anything it speaks more akin to a temporal shift far in advance of its recording to link to artists like Saul Williams and Moor Mother than the founders of the genre. Where hip hop was birthed from a more community based celebration I feel this form of artistic expression came from a willingness to embrace the avant garde and find a voice in the din of experiment and philosophy over self reflection and the promotion of a cultural identity so narrow that it ultimately harmed the people it was trying to elevate by falling into the trap of consumerism, ignorance, violence and stereotypes. I’m not saying this was inherent in early hip-hop, but as the artform became the capitalist model of the genre, (led by whites and greedy black entrepreneurs more interested in money than paying the performers), it became a cesspit of misogyny and greed; particularly through the late 90s and early 2000s. However this song slaps and sees none of that celebration of Kings and more the explosion of ideas and ideals.
- OK. Marion Brown. The man is a fucking legend. There are many recordings to choose from but the energy on Porto Novo is just so visceral I had to include it. Again this is a record that steals from Moorish influences as well of those incredible African American staples of blistering mood and dynamism; and ultimately blues. Even though this is a very European sounding record it fits so perfectly as it shows the reach of African American music and the way it took over Europe, South Africa and Japan in the 60s and 70s. Han Bennick on drums is a revelation on this record and displays two of the best from very different inheritances. This is when music brings people together and leaves histories to one side in a unity behind a bigger message. As stated before this is often lost in this period, especially in the States, but Europe seemed to be a mixing ground for multiracial jazz and ideas of novel experiment and socialism. This was recorded in the Netherlands in 1967 and sees black and white unite in the most blisteringly expressive manner. So many black musicians found themselves playing in Europe in the 60s and 70s and this really shows why. Yes the labels were often awful, and exploited all involved but by God there was a synergy in creativity that went beyond the voices from America and the division of colour and class. I suppose this acts as a larger vista to the voices that come either side of it and I wonder with greater communication between continents and audiences whether this would have benefitted the cause. Probably not.
- Heading over to Ohio for the next track courtesy of The Pyramids. This was a band steeped in the imagined African sound, with roots in American free jazz of the time; and could be straight out of the South African jazz movement of the same era. But they are their own unit. This ensemble was founded by Idris Ackamoor, Margaux Simmons and Kimathi Asante in Paris in 1972. The members met at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio and were students of Cecil Taylor. Not a bad person to study under. This is avant jazz with a heavily percussive energy and a more celebratory interpretation of the Western sub-Saharan African roots, than the more sparse recordings of some of the previous tracks. There is a lot of North African influence here too, owing to Arab scaling and traditional folk music. The band travelled through Europe, Africa and America and you can feel those influences deep in their sound. This big piece is longer than what I have included here but has such a rich and relentless expression of improvisation and broad influences I had to include it. For me this sounds like the oppressed of three continents breaking free in a celebration of unity. More celebration than reflective in its want to break free of emancipation, one can feel not only the chasm from traditional jazz modes but also a want to party and play for the audience, which was often lost in the more introspective players since the outburst of Charlie Parker, and the two decades that passed.
- Albert Ayler – Spirits Rejoice. This recording is something special and holds such pomp and ceremony it had to be the one that played out the mix. This recording has some of my favourite musicians, including Charles Tyler, and Sunny Murray. It was recorded live in 1965 and released on the mighty ESP-Disk label. The deconstruction of La Marseillaise says so much and gives power and control to the artist over the weight of the historic imperial source material. The way it flies into free jazz and angry fiery freedom really captures the explosion of revolutionary politics and also slashes the bombastic ties to nationalism. It’s both a peace and war cry which makes it so relevant to everything this compilation of music and history. Where the opening track is forthright and almost conventional in its ability to convey discontent and protest, this is a language free manifestation of the purest kind. It’s a boxing match, a melee of sound and a kick in the fucking balls. The system is appropriated and spat out and left wanting and isn’t that what protest, art and expression is all about? Ayler is king and sits above us all in his genius. What a legend.
Ujima 1
Who Will Survive
Imamu Amiri Baraka
It’s Nation Time
LP on Black Forum
1972
Ujima 2
Ole Negro
Noah Howard
The Black Ark
Lp on Freedom
1972
Ujima 3
Illistrum
The Art Ensemble of Chicago
Fanfare for the Warriors
LP on Atlantic
1974
Ujima 4
Kawaida
Kuumba-Toudie Heath
Kawaida
LP on O’Be Records
1970
Ujima 5
Look for the Black Star
Dewey Redman Quartet
Look for the Black Star
LP on Fontana
1966
Ujima 6
Alkebu-Lan
Mtume Umoja Ensemble – Alkebu-Lan
Land Of The Blacks (Live At The East)
LP on Strata East
1972
Ujima 7
Porto Novo
Marion Brown
Porto Novo
LP on Polydor
1969
Ujima 8
Lalibela [edit]
The Pyramids
Lalibela
LP on Pyramid Records
1973
Ujima 9
Spirits Rejoice
Albert Ayler
Spirits Rejoice
LP on ESP-Sisk
1965
Inside No. 9 is an attempt to share unique narratives through the mixing of 9 songs. Every episode will showcase a new theme, opening up new tributaries of discovery. Inside No. 9 is presented by Peter Taylor, a former features writer for Foxy Digitalis from back in the late 2000s. Peter is a visual artist and musician and has been creating music as MAbH since 2008.
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