THE SIGNAL from David Katznelson
"One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions."-Oliver Wendell Holmes
Carl Sagan loved Chuck Berry…at least you have to think so looking at history. Today in 1989, the Voyager II flew by Neptune…a BIG DEAL at that time…and in honor of the moment Berry performed Johnny B. Goode for the NASA staff. Sagan had included Berry’s game-changing hit song on the famous Golden Record, curated to help represent civilization if and when Alien beings came in contact with Voyager. And picking a rock and roller to be included in this exclusive artifact (that also showcased Bach, Beethoven and Louis Armstrong) was at the time a bold maneuver. But the ever visionary Carl Sagan was not to be stopped.
From an article on Space.com: “For Berry's 60th birthday in 1986, Sagan and his colleague Ann Druyan, who co-wrote the PBS documentary series "Cosmos," wrote a letter to remind him that his music "will live forever" on the Voyagers. "These records will last a billion years or more," Sagan and Druyan wrote to Berry.” What an incredible gift to give to someone so important to the movement of rock and roll.
Of course, you cannot think of the Voyager’s Golden Record without thinking of the lovingly produced Grammy-winning reissue created by friends David Pescovitz, Tim Daly and Lawrence Azerrad for Ozma Records. For anyone interested in all things about that piece of history, it really is a must own (and you don’t even need to own a record player…the Aliens who will find the original probably don’t either)….
John Coltrane's Masterpiece Breathes New Life With 'A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle'
When you think of Live in Seattle and John Coltrane, you usually think of his later-era out-there free jazz head cleaning period (which I love) recorded in 1965. But an interesting twist in the Coltrane story is upon us, with the release of a rare view into Coltrane doing one of his most famous numbers Love Supreme LIVE in SEATTLE during the same period. There have been boots floating around of live Love Supreme and if I remember right, they are pretty incredible making this announcement pretty damn exciting.
NY Public Library to showcase over 4,000 years worth of history at new exhibit
One of my favorite New York institutions is gearing up for a once-in-a-lifetime exhibit: “The Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures.” This article lists some of the biggest spectacles being shown (like a lock of Ludwig van Beethoven’s hair!!! Charles Dickens’s writing desk! A James Baldwin’s handwritten open letter to activist Angela Davis! So much more). The show really is a what’s what of a who’s who of 4000s years of incredible stuff….
The Icelandic Saga That Keeps Rita Dove Coming Back for More
Happy Birthday to former poet laureate Rita Dove. Her new collection, “Playlist for the Apocalypse” (great name) inspired The New York Times to dig deep with an interview with her where she talks….poetry….poets that have inspired her…a glimpse at her process of creation…how she has evolved as an artist…and even a salute to Mad Magazine…
Beer with a Painter: Fred Tomaselli
My friend Jon Rubin turned me on to an incredible artist that has been around for a while, but not in my field of vision. Fred Tomaselli’s work is just mind-blowing, using mixed media to create densely detailed visual art that is modern psychedelia at it’s greatest. I spent a long time last night staring into the exploding worlds he creates, wishing I could be face-to-face with his big-form crazed canvases of invention. Wow.
The Noise of the Threshing Floor
Today is release-day of the vinyl & digital version of the sounds of noise super group The Threshing Floor, inspired by the holiday of Shavuot, featuring members of Wolf Eyes, Slumber Party and Love Child. For those who like “the ominous drone,” this 14+ minute piece is a perfect sound bath for a chaotic world. You can buy the super-limited LP here and watch the beautiful video for the recording created by Rebecca Odes here.
Restoration of Vermeer Painting in Germany Reveals Hidden Image of Cupid
“Two years ago, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden in Germany launched a major restoration to make visible a Cupid buried beneath layers of paint in Johannes Vermeer’s Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window (ca. 1657). The museum has since removed the overpainting from the famed work, which now shows an image of Cupid hanging on the wall behind the forlorn young woman.”
WEEKEN LISTEN: The Specials: More Specials
I have been on a Specials kick all week…focused most on their second album (final one with the classic line-up), More Specials. The follow-up record to their classic debut finds the band experimenting with sounds beyond the ska horizon, and when I was a kid that was a little off-putting. But listening to it today, the layers of dub, soul, latin, space-age bachelor pad-ocity…it all leads to a sweet listen. And there are still the big ska numbers like the opening track Enjoy Yourself (damn do I love that song) and Hey, Little Rich Girl, Rat Race and even a full-on sixties soul blow-out cover of Rex Garvin and The Mighty Cravers’ Sock it to ‘Em, JB. After this release the band fractured, with Jerry Dammers eventually releasing another record under the moniker Specials AKA that had the classic anti-apartheid anthem, Free Nelson Mandela. But as far as the original Specials line-up is concerned, this record was a great swan song.
ORDERS OF THE DAY
By: Rita Dove
After the bellowed call to rise, the cold dribble wash-up
before making our cots; after chores were dealt out
as we crumbled bread into sour cabbage, then fell
in line to be totted up, numbers matched to fates;
there was a moment – before the scramble to class,
lookouts posted below the attic hutch, no more than
a flicker, a bright, brutal remembering –
when we became ourselves again,
cowlicked and plaited, flush with pocketed apples
or tucked-away sweets. We were not
hunched in rain being counted or shivering
under rafters, trying to keep pace with
our dreams of the outside world.
We were merely children. And that
brief forgetting, that raging stupor
we tried to hold quiet in our heads
as if in a brimming goblet
until the day lurched upright, barking its orders –
was either the most blissful or shattering instant
we would live through on earth:
this hard and sullen earth
we no longer recognized but would,
sooner than later, commit our souls to
when at last our bodies crumbled
into their final resting place.
