_________

Later speaking about TV and destructive media...

"It is not the violence per se which causes damage to the viewer, but the lack of rationale for this physical activity. When dealing with Rambo and other 'super-heroes' of this sub species, Empathy plays a very dangerous role. Empatheia, in Greek, means the vicarious experience of feelings and thoughts of others - characters in the performing arts, or a real person in daily life. This is especially potent when imposed by the Protagonist in Tragedy or passive spectators.

"When rational foundations of physical acts are not there, Empathy turns into a relationship of pure irrational animality. Continuous intimacy with brutality tends to form brutes. When a person lives in the wild in the company of savage predators, without human presence, how will that person be humanized? Children abandoned in the jungle never learn to smile. Violence in itself is neither good nor bad. Shakespeare is full of such things as the amputation of hands and the piercing of eyes. Violence is bad when unaccompanied by reason, when reduced to blows and punches, or supported only be simplistic, standard pre-conceived ideas. But it can be didactic when rationalized and when its causes and its Ethos are laid bare.

"This type of cinematography owes its mediocrity not to the lack of its authors creativity, but to the deliberate intention, by means of mechanical repetition, to block the intellectual development of its passive audiences, and stunt their capacity to to create and to think in metaphor.

"Stanley Kubrick's marvellous Full Metal Jacket shows with aesthetic perfection the ultra-military process by which peremptory orders to obey and to kill oare implanted in the brains of army recruits. What the talented director demonstrates in this military example is the same process as occurs on TV for civilians, far from civilised as it is."

From The Aesthetics of the Oppresed by Augusto Boal

Check it out...

-J. Krishnamurti

I wrote a string quartet arrangement for one of the pieces on the record and am honored to find out that he wanted to use it on its own for the finale of the record.  It's called Hesed if you pick up a copy.

Carl is a great guitarist and all around musician who always comes out with a landscape of musical statements on record that really shows all he can breathe life into for a listener.  He has played on some key New Orleans recordings and has played in many of the greatest groups associated with the city including the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Allen Toussaint- (actually the list is so extensive- I'll let you music fans seek out the rest of the bio information).  He was also guitarist for the Sun Ra Arkestra for about 9 years and luckily my generous guitar teacher for a long time. 

This one is worth checking out and many great musicians were involved...

Jonathan Freilich, Sam Rivers, Jeff Albert, Zeitgeist theater, New Orleans

  The first couple of times that I saw him in person was when he came out to a couple of New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars shows in Orlando, FL.  At one of them he was dancing wildly and he made sure to come over and tell us how much he liked it.  He was one of my heroes and I felt like i'd been given a fresh, strong, backbone.

When we would go down to Orlando, we were sometimes lucky to see his Rivbea orchestra; a great band- check out some of those hot clips on youtube.  

The most important memory of Sam for me, and a number of my comrades in New Orleans, was when he came down to play with the Naked Orchestra.  He had some music prepared but there had been a mixup with his management who had incorrectly communicated the Naked Orchestra's instrumentation to him.  He felt badly about it and said that he had lots of music for such a project if he'd been told what kind of band it was.  He dissolved the rehearsal and said he would have new music for us right before the gig and he did just that; the following evening he had worked up a complete piece for the orchestra.  It was a very ear opening piece of music and I wish I had a recording of that evening.

Every time you saw Sam Rivers he exuded a shocking amount of energy and his multi instrumental trio of recent years was also something else to see.  

My old friend, David Kunian wrote a poem inspired by the show that night with the Naked Orchestra .  Here it is...

SAM RIVERS AND THE NAKED ORCHESTRA 3/8/02 ZEITGEIST THEATRE

Michael Ray is his own delay.

If he were going the speed of light, 

Would he hear his instrument in the mirror?

Yeah, Einstein, I’m hearing things, All Right!

Tim Green’s blowing breath through the bass sax

Powering the band like a B-2 bomber.

Sounds like Operation Anaconda creeping 

Through the mountains and then a big BOOM 

As Eric Lucero’s trumpet and Rob Wagner’s horn 

Drop the furious atonal BOMB.  Sam the Man Rivers

Writing a new piece like a snake

Sousaphone in the hills, saxophones in the grass.

Mikiel Williams fingering like a snake charmer.

Sam has Hart McKnee adding flute 

And interpretive dance stomps.

“Ooops, I brought music for an orchestra, 

but not this kind of Orchestra.”

Maybe an Arkestra?  A Dressed Orchestra?

Michael Skinkus is the tomato conga.

Matt Perrine on sousaphone is definitely pickles.

Doug Miller no offense slathers on tenor mayo.

Jonathan Froelich’s sharp guitar tones and crazy clusters

Shreds my lettuce.

Cacophony is beautiful

Chaos is beautiful!

It makes no sense, maybe not 

Nonsense, gimme more,

More more more more Naked Sense!

Top it with Sam Rivers hip reeds, wild chords,

Flowing charts, and toothy smile.

Written 3/8/02

Revised 3/15/02

Thanks Sam!