People, people, people

The Bunkhouse. A noble experiment at local music on Fremont in Vegas. It was good to me, this.... Blonde Redhead.*

One thing I have noticed traveling and playing the flute, is the power of music to heal. Though I record shit with a field recordist's care, I am not thinking of that or any other externality when it flows. The world slips  and I am on unknown terrain, gazing at the navels of Jimi, Lizard King, blues devil, cry your tears away, late night at Minton's Monk,** a mournful sigh from some passing bird satiated with fish, the knowledge that everything is alright and that the world, Fabric, will somehow sustain itself. 

Music is a certainty among ports of call, from Kingston Town to the St. Ann Mountains, from Puerto Gallera to the Mangyan mountains. Like a heat-guided missile, feeling the circuits flow as the surface heats, the music starting tentative, respectful and then asserting it as I am welcomed to join the assembled circle, share humanness and meaning.

People, People, People, Jimi said. And I know what he meant.

There has been evolution in alternative rock band beyond Radiohead.

This week alone, music has been the vehicle for the truth to be aired about Mao's Cultural Revolution. A well thought-out lyric goes where the textbook cannot. It has also been a way of exposing the American public to a vital part of its history––the cool part, the jazz.***

And music has saved me from rash decisions.  As Bob Marley sang, Who feels it knows it Lord.

* Oddly, the video most evocative of Tokyo to me was filmed in Brooklyn, The One I Love. Blonde Redhead. Directed by Jem Cohen. By a long shot my favorite video of the past year. The average rainy day street is alive with interesting textures. Another reason why I took up tribal flute is Barragan. Play that and International Orchitis at the same time and your head will explode.

**Mysterioso himself, crumpled in felt fedora.

**Oh wait, and MC Lyte?

The band's monitor went out halfway through the performance. So they had to go on by intuition. And the music was more ethereal for it. I had never heard anything like it before.

SEO Alert - Damon Shulenberger, of Bandito College. The erstwhile honorific. So anointed. Jah Rastahfari-i.