Hear contemporary songs of protest and resistance that perhaps take into account the recent de-evolution of civil discourse. Listen to works from Ambrose Akinmusire, Matana Roberts, Laurie Anderson, Hanna Benn, and Marc Ribot, featuring Meshell Ndegeocello that may have grown out of gospel and choral traditions, spoken word or hip hop, and/or folk or jazz traditions.
Hear a work by trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire from his latest record, Origami Harvest, a collection of suites addressing that which divides us, and calling out by names the too-long list of black lives ended by societal racism. Commissioned by the Liquid Music Series and the Ecstatic Music Festival, the record features an unusual combination of instruments – rapper Kool A.D. (Das Racist), the daring new music strings of Mivos Quartet and pianist Sam Harris, drummer Marcus Gilmore, and saxophonist Walter Smith III. The first track on the record, "a blooming bloodfruit in a hoodie", is not one that can air due to FCC constraints (but DO check it out), so we'll hear "particle/spectra".
There’s also music by vocalist and composer Hanna Benn, her “Divide (Sing, Persist)” is a wordless anthem that was written with the civil rights movement in mind – specifically, the protest marches from Selma to Montgomery - and draws from both singing in gospel congregations as well as choral singing. Listen also to guitarist Marc Ribot and multi-instrumentalist Meshell Ndegeocello in a reworked version of the Italian resistance song “Fischia il Vento.” Then, hear work from Jace Clayton (aka DJ Rupture), in a tribute to gay African-American composer Julius Eastman.
Listen also to music from Chicago-born, New York City-based sax player and socio-politically conscious sound experimenter Matana Roberts. It’s from the second installment of her Coin Coin series - a personal and political exploration of African-American history, and focuses on the life of her grandmother who grew up in the systemic racial apartheid of the South and experienced extreme hardships in “America’s crawl toward civil rights”. Pitchfork also reported in 2013 in the review of this Coin Coin series record, Mississippi Moonchile, that Roberts spoke to The Wire about the subversive ways slavery still exists; she plans a total of 12 installments in the Coin Coin series. Hear music by violinist, vocalist, and composer Laurie Anderson, in her alter ego, the Voice of Authority, from her 2010 record, Homeland, which presciently illustrates a dark, despondent state of America. Plus, music by David Byrne and Brian Eno. - Caryn Havlik
#4164: Songs of Protest and Resistance, Part 1 (First aired 10/23/2018)
ARTIST: Marc Ribot ft Meshell Ndegeocello
WORK: The Militant Ecologist [1:00]
RECORDING: Songs of Resistance 1942-2018
SOURCE/INFO: marcribot.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: David Byrne & Brian Eno
WORK: America is Waiting [3:39]
RECORDING: My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
SOURCE: Nonesuch #79894
INFO: nonesuch.com
ARTIST: Laurie Anderson
WORK: Another Day in America [11:25]
RECORDING: Homeland
SOURCE: Nonesuch 524055
INFO: nonesuch.com
ARTIST: Ambrose Akinmusire, Mivos Quartet, rapper Kool A.D.
WORK: particle / spectra [8:04]
RECORDING: Origami Harvest
SOURCE: Blue Note Records
INFO: bluenote.com
ARTIST: Matana Roberts
WORK: Amma Jerusalem School [4:11]
RECORDING: COIN COIN Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile
SOURCE: Constellation Records 098
INFO: http://cstrecords.com/cst098
ARTIST: Jace Clayton/DJ Rupture
WORK: Julius Eastman: Evil Nigger Pt 1 [5:59]
RECORDING: Julius Eastman Memory Depot
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: jaceclayton.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Marc Ribot ft Meshell Ndegeocello
WORK: The Militant Ecologist [4:10]
RECORDING: Songs of Resistance 1942-2018
SOURCE/INFO: marcribot.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Hanna Benn
WORK: Divide (Sing, Persist) [5:50]
RECORDING: Divide
SOURCE/INFO: hannabenn.bandcamp.com