P032: Cabeza de Vaca – Sex special

“He comes. She comes. And its paradise. And then they’re back to the stupid story again.”

 

The story of our lives! Poignant words from an understated classic of modern electronica by Jörg Burg under his Bionaut alias. His track “Electric campfire (in a neo-Akkerman style)” opens this weeks Cabeza de Vaca show and Scanner FM.

 

The origins of this show go way back to 2011 and a post on this blog, when Cabeza de Vaca was just a twinkle in the eye. So not too much more to say in terms of context. All archival material sadly, but as I mention in the show, have been extraordinarily busy of late and very little time to keep up with things, and Sonar is still to come! Apologies. Back to normal next week.

 

Also, just published is a Spanish article translation of an interview I did about Lucrecia Dalt. Sincere apologies to Lucrecia for taking so long to write it up, but the excuse is the same as above: too much work, but I hope it was worth the wait. HEM Berlin have just released a remix album  of her recent “Commotus” album with remixes by Gudrun Gut, Ekkehard Ehlers, Woebot and more.

 

 

 

 

Number	Artist	Track	Label	Year
1	The Necks	Sex	Spiral Scratch	1989
2	The Bionaut	Electric Campfire (In a neo-Akkerman style)	Harvest	1995
3	Virgo	Sex	Rush Hour	2011
4	Jimmy Edgar	Sex drive	Hotflush Recordings	2012
5	Agoria	Speechless featuring Carl Craig	InFiné	2011
6	Omar S	Look, hear, watch	FXHE	2011
7	Newworldaquarium	Liberty hot	Rush Hour	2011
8	Lil' Louis	French Kiss (Innocent Until Proven Guilty Vocal Remix)	FFRR	1989
9	DJ Sprinkles	Midtown 120 Intro	Mule Musiq	2009
10	Terre Thaemlitz	Rosary Novena For Gender Transitioning (Homosexual Spirits)(Kami-Sakunobe House Explosion Remix)	Comatonse	2012

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Julio Cortázar and jazz

"Música! Melancólico alimento para los que vivimos de amor." - Rayuela

“Music! Melancholy food for those who live for love.”

The other night I started to read a novel by Argentine writer Julio Cortázar called “Rayuela” (Hopscotch). The novel is widely hailed as a classic of 20^th Century literature, but also coincided with the so-called Latin American Literary Boom  that occurred around the time of its publication in 1963. The novel is complicated in structure and mythically so. It contains two books, the first part which is the central story and the second part, which is referred to as the “Dispensible chapters” (capitulos prescindibles). Immediately before “Chapter 1” is a brief instruction from the author which is essentially a suggestion of how to read the book. One way is to read chapters 1 to 56 directly and finish with a clear conscience. The other is to use the authors table (see picture) by which chapters from part one are intercut with more abstract passages from the dispensible chapters in part 2. That is, movement through the book is backwards and forwards, almost like one of those old Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books. There is a certain irony at the end of the book too, as the penultimate chapter leads to the final, which in turn leads back to the penultimate, and so on.

In addition to this unconventional movement through the pages is the use of different styles and narrative points of view within the story, switching from first to third person and using stream of consciousness. The reference points are clearly writers like James Joyce, French contemporaries of the Nouveau Roman school, but more so Surrealism and perhaps not surprisingly jazz.

Cortázar was born in Brussels at the time of the German occupation in 1914, moving via Switzerland and Barcelona to Buenos Aires by 1919. He remained there during his formative years and beginning to publish his first writings until 1951 when he moved to Paris as a protest against the government and politics of Juan Domingo Perón. That is to say, that Cortázar was in Paris during the fecund years of the 50s and 60s when American jazz greats would tour and play at the heights of their powers to a receptive and respectful audience unencumbered by the inequalities in civil rights back home. “Rayuela” and many other works by Cortázar are influenced heavily by jazz and in particular their improvisatory techniques.


In “Rayuela”, for example, the characters form El Club de la Serpiente (the Serpents Club) to listen to music. Cortázar has also written articles on jazz such as “La vuelta al piano de Thelonius Monk” (Thelonius Monk’s return to the piano) based on a 1966 concert in Geneva, whereas Michelangelo Antonioni's 1967 film "Blowup" was based upon a short story entitled “Las Babas del Diablo” (The Droolings of the Devil").

Here is the famous Yardbirds scene from the Blowup film. Note also that the street in Soho, London where this was filmed is also the same location that appears in the mythical “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” album cover by David Bowie that would appear a few years later.

Perhaps the most famous of his work linked to jazz was “El Perseguidor” (The Pursuer) which was first published in the short story collection “Las Armas Secretas” (Secret Weapons) in 1959. This story is based around the protagonist Johnny Carter, himself modelled on be-bop saxophonist Charlie Parker and was a turning point in Cortázar’s style and influence.

Here with subtitles in English:

Cortázar’s views on jazz and literature (in Spanish) are expressed here in this interview:

 “[jazz] era una música que permitía todas las imaginaciones”

“jazz was a music that allowed all the imaginations”

Not surprisingly, Cortázar has influenced many musicians and other writers. In 2004 a combined book and CD  called “Jazzuela” was published by the writer Pilar Peyrats Lasuén incorporating all the parts of “Rayuela” that refer to jazz and all the tracks referred to in  the book.

Tango-trip hop group Gotan Project also have a track named after and inspired by Cortázar featuring text from the mythical Chapter 7 about a kiss.

Whereas another track simply entitled “Rayuela” from  the “Tango 3.0” album also draws unambiguous inspiration.

Keep calm – Take the square

Things aren’t how they used to be. Walking around Barcelona these days is almost like walking back to 1968. From my office window at work I can see daily groups of nurses, doctors and administrators blocking the local intersection.  With banners, whistles and lab coats they protest against the massive Generalitat (Catalan Government) cuts to hospital funding.

Last week when I went running I crossed the path of a massive train of people making the walk from Plaça Catalunya down Via Laietana to the bottom of Parc Citudella, several kilometres. These people were manifesting for the same cause, this time their numbers bolstered by the trade unions, the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT; General Workers Union)  and the Comisiones Obreras (CCOO; Workers Commission).

This week the people have taken to the squares in the major cities, to Puerta del Sol in Madrid (shown in picture) and Plaça Catalunya here in Barcelona. The squares have been taken in protest of the high unemployment, hitting 21% recently, government corruption, cuts and the municipal elections to be held today (22^nd May). All the places around the city where they usually post the bills announcing the upcoming gigs are now plastered with campaign posters. Banners for the two main parties, the left wing socialists in red (PSOE; Partido Socialista Obrero Español; Spanish Socialist Workers Party) and the right wing Partido Popular (PP; People’s Party), hang from the lamp posts like coloured plastics gibbets emblazoned with the face of the candidate. Ironically, these lamp posts are being newly painted in the stretch of road which leads to my work and where the protesters are.

There is a law in Spain stating that there are no demonstrations allowed 24 hours before an election to allow “reflection”. The protesters in the squares were meant to be moved along by midnight last night, but Prime Minister Zapatero has stated that the police will not be brought in to shift the demonstrators. The mood is proud and righteous amongst the crowd of all ages, cooking and eating together, sleeping on the floor and making a din. A friend also pointed out to me today that there is not one Catalan Independence flag amid the banners crying out to “Fu€k the system”. This is an unusual sign in Catalonia where they are brandished daily in many places, from balconies, cars, shops, but perhaps their absence reflects a confrontation of a broader problem, one that also includes the Catalan Government.

Here is a short video I made from the protest last night. There is a lot of sound lost from the poor microphone, but the rises and rushes of noise among the people were exhilarating.

Keep calm - Take the square from Christopher Mann on Vimeo.

All the protest and political unrest brings me to an album I heard for the first time only last week. It arrived at the local quiosco (kiosk) as part of an ongoing  “mythical vinyls of jazz” series which has been running for 18 months already. One album every two weeks, all in original sleeves and hewed from 180 gram vinyl with an insert in Spanish. Last weeks issue was Charlie Haden’s debut album “Liberation Music Orchestra”. The music was recorded in April 1970 in New York, but not released until 1973 on the Impulse! label. Haden was a double bassist and as well as leading his own group, he became renowned for his collaborations with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarret amongst others.

Charlie Haden writes of his intention behind the music in the liner notes:

“The music in this album is dedicated to creating a better world; a world without war and killing, without racism, without poverty and exploitation; a world where men of all governments realize the vital importance of life and strive to protect rather than destry it. We hope to see a new society of enlightenment and wisdom where creative thought becomes the most dominant thought in people’s lives.”

But perhaps it is his opening phrases which are more revealing as to where the music owes its stylistic origins: “This album was conceived several years ago when I first heard the songs of the Spanish Civil War.” Structurally the songs are a blend of both the improvisations and carefully arranged solos of Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, amongst them Don Cherry, as well as several revolutionary songs, some of which are layered beneath the groups playing.

El Quinto Reginiento (The 5^th Regiment).

This piece opens with Spanish flamenco guitar before breaking into a processional waltz and eventually a jazz free for all, before returning to the beginning. Like many of the tracks on the album, this piece evokes the left wing struggle against oppression, in particular by referencing musically and thematically the 5^th Regiment which was a military body formed in 1936 at the onset of the Civil War and composed mostly of volunteers from the Communist Party of Spain and the United Socialist Youth (Juventudes Socialistas Unificadas). The importance of the 5^th Regiment in the Civil War was not only military, but as a symbol of possibility through their extra effort in social activities, distributing books and pamphlets, educating allies and workers as well as their relationship with many poets and artists.

Two of the other Spanish Civil War songs included on Hadens’ album, but not on Youtube , are "Los Quatro Generales" (The Four Generals)

And Viva la Quinta Brigada (Long Live the 15^th brigade)

Apparently Haden had encountered the Civil War songs in this documentary about the Civil war from 1962 entitled “Mourir a Madrid” (To die in Madrid).

Song of the United Front.

Also covered is the workers song "Einheitsfrontlied", originally written in 1934 by Hans Eisler with words by Bertolt Brecht although no words are used in this interpretation, only the marching rhythms of left, two, three… Eisler is shown here on the left with Brecht on the right.

“And because a man is human

he won't care for a kick in the face.

He doesn't want slaves under him

Or above him a ruling class.

So left, two, three!

So left, two, three!

Comrade, there's a place for you.

Take your stand in the workers united front

For you are a worker too.”

Song for Ché

This was a Haden original written in response to the news of Chés death in 1967 and it precedes the Ornette Coleman track “War Orphans”.

The closing of the album is “We shall overcome” a piece written in 1947 around a gospel song and under various forms and versions became associated with the Civil Rights movement.

Joan Baez was one of the most high profile performers to recird a version around the same time as Haden in the 60s.