A Gamelan Orchestra, East Java, circa late 1800’s.
I’ve long loved the Gamelan music.
I have a small collection of recordings on vinyl, cassette and CD. One of my favorites is Music from the Morning of the World, recorded in Bali in 1966.
It’s wild and magical music. It has its own unique sound and sense of rhythm. I love the unusual instruments and orchestration as well. It gets quiet at times. The mood is slow, delicate and lyrical. Other times it get quite frenzied and intense. It’s very high energy.
I’d like to read a book or two about this music. Then I’d like to listen to a lot of it, just bury myself in it.
Then, after intense study, maybe I’ll revisit this topic. Someday I hope to follow up this post.
Here I am playing musical saw with the Spaceband at the last 4th Street Fair, 2007.
I’ve always been a music lover. Jazz, blues and experimental music are special favorites. Yet there’s so much more that I love as well: pop, rock, soul, R & B. Then there’s world music. Nearly every country has something to offer, often something great, wild or amazing. I even like some classical music, show tunes and country. Then there’s the work recorded between 1890 and 1920, the early days of recorded music. That’s great too. I cut a wide swath.
For years, I walked around singing. Sometimes I’d sing old songs. Some of them, I knew the lyrics. If I forgot some of them, I made things up to fill in the gaps.
I also made up my own tunes. I’d walk around singing and tried not to let people hear me. To the jump:
I soon found myself going down the rabbit hole. I’m still there today.
In the 1970’s and 1980’s, I’d do little performances at the Catacombs Coffee House. I once did poetry and vocals with the jazz group Kuumba. See the link at the end of this for further details on that.
It started for real in 1988, when I did my first puppet show. From then on I’d do puppet performances incorporating my made up tunes and lyrics. The comical-humorous content always meant more to me than the musical content. I’d get an audience laughing and laughing good. Yet music was a part of it. I brought in small instruments, noise toys and drums. I’d shout, talk in funny voices and I’d sing.
I ended up doing the puppets at art openings or as part of poetry readings. Once in a while I’d be the opening act for bands. Sometimes this worked sometimes not.
In 1992, I joined the Don’t Look Now Jug Band. This legendary Detroit band had been around since 1981. It was started by Bill Carney, Mike Arbanas and the late Gerald Smith. I used to see them a lot. They even served as backup band for the legendary Howard Armstrong aka Louie Bluie.
I need to write a complete history of this band! Some other names which must be mentioned: Tim Knoll, Olivier Lavergne, Kelly Craig, Mary Richards, Ralph Koziarski, Larry Gabriel, Matt Greenia, Nancy Greenia, Maryann Angelini, Billy Zook, Mark Jamroz, Joe Simpson, Sally Kaplan, Karina Friedemann, Jere Stormer, Art Mellos, Miriam Marcus, Eden Winter, Sally Barclay and many others. I must have played at least seventy gigs with this band, yet it may have been as much as a hundred.
It lasted until around 2010, thus close to thirty years. Often there were ten to twelve people in the band. I played kazoo. Eventually I started to sing more, both lead and background vocals. I also get some sounds out of the saw.
Since then, it’s morphed into a smaller group The Fireflies. Maybe someday we’ll have a public Don’t Look Now Jug Band reunion. There have been a few reunion jam sessions at private parties. The Fireflies have slowed down since we lost our main two performing venues. One of these was Detroit’s Steak Hut. On certain Sunday mornings, we’d literally sing for our breakfast.
Also in the early 1990’s, I was part of the Afraid of Music band. This only lasted for a year or two. We played improvisational/ experimental music. One story was that tried busking on Detroit’s People Mover train. We’d make music when the train moved and quiet down when it stopped. We also performed at art openings and bars.
One of my Afraid of Music band-mates was Jim Puntigam. In 1998, we decided to try it again. We decided to call the new group the Space Band. It started off as a five piece band. Most of us play multiple instruments and we perform in masks and costumes. Some members wish to be anonymous, thus for now, I’ll not name them here.
Eventually, we added more members and changed the name from the Space Band to Spaceband. We now usually have eight to eleven people performing.
I’m the front man. I do lead vocals. These included chants, sounds, poetry, animal imitations and actual singing. I also usually play kazoo, electronic kazoo, saxophone, whistles, bells, squeaky toys, drums, percussion, ray gun and more.
I also need to write a more complete history of Spaceband as well. I continue to do puppet shows and play with the Fireflies. Yet the Spaceband is my primary performance platform.
The Don’t Look Now Jug Band at the Rochester Heritage Festival in May 2008.
From one the the later Don’t Look Now Jug Band Shows:
On my performance with Kuumba. I think this was in the late 1970’s:
The dancers are up front. The singer and the reed section are in the background.
Dancers in Detroit, Clark Park in Detroit, 1990.
I think that it was in September or October of 1990 that I got to see Mario Bauzá’s Afro-Cuban Orchestra. They played a free concert at Detroit’s Clark Park.
It’s possible that they played Detroit’s large jazz festival downtown and then added this as a second concert. If so, this would be September 1990.
From my photos, I can see a pianist, a singer, a bassist and a five- to six-piece horn and reed section. I’m sure that there were also a few drummers and percussionists. This would make it (at least) a ten- to twelve-member band. Is that his sister-in-law Graciela singing? I think that she was still with him in 1990.
From Ozzie Rivera: “Graciela did not perform at Clark Park though she did at the following year’s jazz festival.” See more important information in his comment, below.
I believe that Mr. Bauzá was no longer playing in instrument. He wrote the arrangements and conducted the band.
Does anyone else have any memories of this show??
Dancers and some of the band.
Mario Bauzá is a legendary figure in the history of jazz. In the 1930’s he performed with Chick Webb, Don Redman, Fletcher Henderson and Cab Calloway. Bauzá helped get Dizzy Gillespie into the Cab Calloway orchestra and educated him about the Cuban side of jazz. He got Gillespie together with Chano Pozo. From there, Bauzá went on to work with the Machito Orchestra.
Bauzá is to the right, with his back turned. The emcee is at the mike, with the singer, bassist and rhythm section.
Bauzá isn’t as well known as he should be. I was excited to see this show. I remember that it was wonderful and truly memorable. These photos are a bit grainy. Yet I think that they successfully convey some of spirit of the day, silent as they are.
Bauza and the band.
In the image below, Mario Bauzá is at the right, in the middle of a group of three men. He’s wearing a light gray jacket.
I’ve been working on a post about Mario Bauza playing Clark Park in Detroit. I hope to finish it soon.
I’ve been listening to old Cuban music including singer Benny Moré and conga drummer Chano Pozo.
I still play vinyl, audio-Cassettes and CDs. Most of my radio music-listening is local station WRCJ-FM, more for the jazz than the classical.
I listen to music online occasionally. I haven’t yet really moved over to MP3s, though I have “dabbled in them” a bit.
I hear a lot of jazz, blues and international/world music.
I hear rock, pop, hip hop, funk, oldies, folk and new pop too. I cast a wide net. I love a lot of music. Earfood! I could start naming names, but what’s the point.
R.I.P. Charlie Haden, Gerald Wilson, Alberta Adams, Horace Silver, Buddy DeFranco and too many others.
I’ll try to get back to posting more here in 2015.
I found this in the “curiosity bin” at the old Sam’s Jams record store. It was in Ferndale, Michigan. It was probably in the 1980’s. I’ve kept it and displayed it at times.
I have no idea who artist is. This was drawn in pencil on the torn off cover to a set of old 78 RPM records.
Rodriguez at the Old Miami in Detroit, September 2012
It’s been a year since I last saw Rodriguez perform at the Old Miami show. It was really something. It was in their backyard and the weather was fine. They were filming it for a feature on TV’s 60 Minutesprogram. There was a large, enthusiastic crowd.
It seemed to be a mix of friends, family and folks who know him from “around the neighborhood” combined with new fans and people from the suburbs.
I was mostly in the front, off to the side of the stage. He played two sets. It was a good show.
I’ve seen Searching for Sugar Man several times now, of course. It won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
He’s been touring overseas and has two shows in New York City next month. The one at Radio City Music Hall is sold out already. I wish him all best and hope to see him again sometime.
I’m walking down Forest, between Trumbull and Third. In the distance, I see an unusual figure. As he gets closer, I see that the unusual shape of this person is due to a guitar, which he’s carrying on his back (or over his shoulder). As he gets closer still, I see it’s none other than Mr. Sixto Rodriguez. I make my hellos, then we both go on our way.
I’m a walker. I don’t drive. I’ve ran into Rodriguez quite a bit. He’s a walker too. He’s been a vital part of the downtown Detroit scene for years. I used to run into the late Howard Armstrong (aka Louie Bluie) too. Walkers!
I remember when Cold Fact first came out. They used to play it on the local, Detroit alternative FM station, WABX. I have an issue of BIG FAT magazine, circa 1970. Jimi Hendrix is on the cover. He’d just died. Inside is an ad reading RODRIGUEZ FOR COMMON COUNCIL. I’m sure it’s the same Rodriguez. He ran for Detroit’s City Council, right? If I find the ad, I’ll scan it and add it here.
I didn’t hear of him for a while. In 1992, I moved down to the Cass Corridor/ Cultural Center neighborhood. Rodriguez was very much on the scene. He’d always help with the street fair, the Dally in the Alley. He talked me into helping take the stage down in 2000. Despite my having health problems, I pitched in. He was also active with “my tribe” on Fourth Street. He’d help with the stages and with the cleanup the next day.
In the late 1990’s, he was telling me stories about playing big shows in South Africa. I believed him. I soon had proof though. The Detroit Public Library had a copy of his “live in South Africa” CD Live Fact. It seems to have gone missing. At the time though, I checked it out and enjoyed hearing it.
He’s played shows in Detroit, over the years. For a long time, it was like a “rare treat'” to hear him play. Since his two early 1970’s records were re-issued on CD, he’s been performing here a lot more often. I hope that the new documentary film brings his music to a wider audience. It seems to be doing so thus far, early on. As of this writing, I’ve not seen it yet.
Once, I was about to leave a Chinese Food takeout restaurant. He was just coming in at the same time. They were playing some curious but cool “Oriental pop music.” Rodriguez commented “Yeah, I really like this music!” Enthusiastic!
Louder Than Love, the new documentary film about Detroit’s Grande Ballroom opens in Detroit tonight. I won’t be going though. Both shows are sold out, hours before showtime. I should have got tickets when I was at the Detroit Institute of Arts last Sunday. So it goes.
There are two things I forgot. Rock and Roll is big business and everybody loves the home team. Hopefully it’ll play elsewhere, and soon.
I never went to a show at the Grande. I do have memories of driving by it with friends, just to check out the scene. I think we tried to get into a show once, but it was sold out or decided not to go in. Thus, I do have vague memories of its exterior, back when it was a going concern.
If I was 2 or 3 years older, I’m sure I’d have gone there. I did get to see the MC5 and the Stooges, in the early 1970’s.
I’ve gone past its empty, abandoned shell many times. I’ve seen that.
The picture above was a newspaper ad for the first Grande show. It may also have been a flyer or poster.
I was going to reconstruct a partial list of Grande shows here. Then, I found that that’s already been done at this site here:
Other Detroit Clubs of that era: The Drumbeat Club, The Absolute Zero Coffee house, The Poison Apple, The Raven Gallery, The Et Cetera, The Chessmate, The Living End.
Happening in Detroit: In October 1966, Robert Kennedy visited Detroit. Vietnam War protests grew more frequent. In 1967, the scene included Plum Street, John Sinclair and the MC5, the May “Belle Isle Love In.” Then there was the Detroit Uprising (popularly known as the Detroit Riots). 1968 was the year of many protests and the murders of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy.
Some show I’d liked to have seen there:
On the Jazz and “Rhythm and Blues” fronts, in 1967 on December 29-30, John Lee Hooker in 1968 on August 30 & 31 Howlin’ Wolf on September 6, 7 & 8 B.B. King. Then, in 1969, on April 18 & 19 Chuck Berry on May 16 Sun Ra & Led Zeppelin and (the next night) Sun Ra & the MC5 on June 27 & 28 Chuck Berry & Slim Harpo on August 15 & 16 Bo Diddley
Then, various pop and rock music, in 1967 onNovember 25 & 26 The Fugs & The MC5 on December 9 Moby Grape & the MC5. Then, in 1968, on February 18 The Byrds on March 9 The Who on March 29 to 30 Sly and the Family Stone & the FugsJune 1 Love, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown & the Psychedelic Stooges on July 13The Who& Pink Floyd on October 12Eric Clapton sat in with John Mayall as a “surprise guest” (after playing with Cream in another part of town) then on October 30 & 31 the MC5 recorded their first record for Elektra. In 1969, on February 22 & 23 the Paul Butterfield Blues Band & Van Morrison on April 11,12 & 13 The Velvet Underground & the Nice. On January 23 1971, Phil Ochs did a benefit for the Winter Soldier investigation.
I could go on and on (Janis Joplin & Big Brother and Holding Company, the Kinks, Tim Buckley etc.) But yes, there were some sweet shows there, to be sure.
Then, not at the Grande, but produced by Russ Gibb. On February 23, 1968 Jimi Hendrix played the Masonic Theatre. Soft Machine, the MC5 and the Rationals opened the show. On November 12, Hendrix played Detroit again, at Cobo Hall.
I lived in the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood for close to 25 years, a good part of my life. These concerts were pretty wonderful. I got to most of these shows and others.
Frank Bach, John Sinclair, R.J. Spangler, James O’Donnell, Rick Steiger and my friends and my siblings were all part of the scene. There were also sorts of neighborhood people, and too, various Detroit music lovers in attendance.
The park’s by the Detroit River. There’s a canal off to the side, or there was. I haven’t been there in years. I’ve been back to the neighborhood, but not to the park. It was a beautiful thing and it a shines with golden memories. Some of those memories entered through the ears.
Just this line-up alone: Griot Galaxy and Bird-Trane-Sco Now. “Sco” was for Roscoe Mitchell. The young James Carter played in this band. Griot Galaxy is legendary and beloved.
Then the Detroit reunion show. The Sun Messengers opened, including some of my friends (previously mentioned). Then the All Star Band including Marcus Belgrave, Charles McPherson, Roy Brooks, Ken Cox and Will Austin! Wow!
People had picnics. Some even went swimming. I might have other posters or flyers for this. If so, I’ll post them as I find them.
Frank Bach played a big part in these shows:
“Frank also served on the board of the Creekside Community Development Corporation, using his experience in the music industry to lead the production of the annual Concerts By The River jazz series.” (from the site linked to below).
In late November of 1978, I did a show or two with my friends in the jazz ensemble Kuumba. I’d been to a few practice sessions to get “in tune’ and to make sure that the band had an idea of what I was going to do. I think I’d done a few things at our Catacombs Coffee House. These were mostly solo or done with just one sax and/or drumming as backup.
This was different, as it was with a whole band. In a way, I think that they were my first real performances. Ten years later, in 1988, I started to do puppet shows. Fifteen years later, in 1993, I joined the Don’t Look Now Jug Band. Twenty years later, in 1998, I co-founded the Space Band (aka spaceband). This latter is most similar to what I did here.
Kuumba started as sort of a neighborhood band. Most of us grew up in and around the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood, on Detroit’s East Side. It was almost like a jazz “garage band” at first. I think I remember an actual garage show, or maybe two. They played at the Catacombs Coffee House sometimes. I was on the staff there.
They turned into the Sun Messengers a few years later. The main people I knew included Rick Steiger, James O’Donnell, R.J. Spangler and Jon Worrell. Jon also did puppet shows, which helped inspire me to try that. Rick’s still in the Sun Messengers. James and R.J. co-lead the Planet D Nonet. They both do other stuff as well.
With the band, including Jon Worrell
I was doing hard work with a landscaping company. I’d rake the leaves into a tarp and lug them into the truck. Around this time, I finished with that work. From my Journal at that time: November 22 “Go to a Dress Rehearsal with Kuumba. The Lion’s Club’s really small…I do my spontaneous poetry (The Land Without Clocks) to the tune of Rick Steiger’s “Capture the Moment.” The band is described as including “James O’Donnell, Musa trumpets, Rick, Tim and Fred on saxes, Jabbar on Baritone Sax, Dave Springer on bass, Rick on percussion, Sule on drums and Gary Laehn on trombone.” Tunes included “Brainville” and “Take the A Train.”
I know that the Rick on sax was Rick Steiger. The Rick on percussion was R.J. Spangler. Jabbar was the late, great Arnold “Jabbar” Clarrington, right? I see in the photos that Jon Worrell played sax and clarinet.
The next day was Thanksgiving. Then that Friday, November 24, 1978 was the show. I’m not sure where it was. Was it at one of those bars on Charlevoix on Detroit’s East Side. Or was it at the same “Lion’s Club” where we rehearsed? The latter is more likely.
My notes at the time: “It’s on! The first thing you notice is that its way too crowded, over 200 people in that little place….I have a conference with the band right before they go on. They’re in their ties and sharp/hot clothes. Kuumba takes that “A Train.” I’m on about the fourth number, “Capture the Moment.” I go up and chant and shout pure, spontaneous poetry. It’s real “stream of consciousness poetry, bases on the theme of the “Land without Clocks.” It’s the point where all arts become one, the face on the wall out of the curved, reclining sphere of deepest eyeblack. YES. I’m a “hit.” More surrealism, yes! The band continues. I go talk to folks.”
The first three photos are of my performance with Kuumba. The last two photos, I think I took. Jon did an Alfred Jarry/ Pere Ubu puppet show. Kuumba played a second set, going into the wee, wee hours.
The band including Rick Steiger and Jon Worrell
In addition:
January 14, 1979, Sunday, the Catacombs Coffee House: “I do some poetry with the KDJ Sun Messengers: Spangler, Akunda, Jabar and Musa, sax, percussion etc. It goes really well. I do a few old things and new ones done spontaneous/on the spot.”
I Hear Music 