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Cheers,

Shawn P

Ron Saint Germain, Sebastiao Salgado and the Music Business.

Ron Saint Germain is a rock music legend. He has produced, mixed, or engineered 60 Gold and Platinum albums including four “Diamond Platinum" (10 million +) awards with sales on the better side of a quarter of a billion units. His albums have garnered 18 Grammy nominations with 12 being winners. With 35+ years in music under his belt he has worked with the likes of 311, Muse, Tool, Bad Brains, Breed 77, Mos Def, Living Color, U2, Red Hot Chili Pepers, Soundgarden, The Cure, Creed, Sonic Youth, Kraftwerk, The Cult, Killing Joke, Adam Ant, Lou Reed, Keziah Jones, Kashmir, and many more. I have had the opportunity to work with and befriend Ron Saint Germain and watched his mastery of production and engineering at work. Ron is an audiophile, his ear and attention to the details of music arrangement isn't matched by many, however Ron has a problem. His problem is that he is a master of the process of making music in a time in the music business when the process is no longer very valuable.  You see you will find Ron bragging about the Neve 9098i that he just moved into his basement, or you will hear him describing the DBA scale and the wave vector differences of digital and tape recording. The majority of music consumers listen to MP3 files on iPod headphones. These files are so compressed that only the most genius of audiophiles could possible tell the difference between a recording on the 9098i that costs $150,000 or a protools based home studio set up that has a good mic or preamp compressor. It seems easy to gather that Ron Saint Germain could and maybe should become a dinasour in todays music market. Making music is so much easier than it used to be and many people have access to the technology to make professional sounding music. The problem is this, Ron Saint Germain knows what the hell he is doing and they guy who makes beats on Fruity Loops doesn't . He knows how to tune a guitar for a certain effect and which guitar amp to run it through. He knows how the guitars should be arranged for the highest emotional effect for the song and so that it uplifts instead of clashing with the tone of the singers voice. He knows how to mic the drums to either give you a tight hip hop sound or a roomy Led Zepplin sound depending on what the tune needs. he knows how to arrange vocal performances around musical performances. This is the most simple explanation of his very skilled, very nuanced process that allows him to make great music. The greatness isn't always obvious, it's etherial. Somehow the soul can hear a deep process and for those of us who still love music and recognize it as art, the process is appreciated. 

Sebastiao Salgado is a master photographer from Brazil. He began his professional career as an economist, but after taking pictures on a business trip to Africa he realized that he had found his real passion and talent. Sebastiao's approach to photography is all about process. First of all he (still) shoots film on a Leica 35mm camera and uses a small selection of wide angle lenses. the film that he primarily shoots in a 3500ASA (super fast, super grainy) film that allows him to shoot at pretty much any light level without the use of intrusive flash bulbs. I once read in an interview with Salgado that will visit town or community that he is documenting and live with the people for 30 or 40 days before he starts photography. He likes to become invisible and get very close to his subjects (remember he primarily uses wide angle lenses). He also said in that interview that his photographs are not taken but given to him from his subjects. He rates his 3500 ASA film at 1600 and sometimes 800. In his minds eye he knows what he is trying to achieve in terms of grain structure and depth of field in the negatives that he will receive from the lab weeks after he has shot the images. For Salgado, his film choice, the way he rates it, the lenses that camera that he chooses and the way he interacts with his subjects is a part of his process. Of course Salgado has an incredible eye; but that's only a part of how he creates the outcome of the images that he makes. We must also keep in mind that shooting film limits him to 36 shots per roll on 35mm film. The Leica is a manual focus and manual shutter camera. He has to be selective with what he shoots and he can't roll off 35 shots at the press of a button like you can with digital photography. He doesn't have the luxury of seeing what he has just shot instantly so that he can adjust composition or camera settings; all of that has to be done in his mind. When I was getting my MFA and I was reviewing his work for the first time I used to be baffled at how he was able to make his images look and feel like that. He was a magician to me and no other photographer that I have studied made images quite like his...maybe just as great but not like. He had a signature style that was nearly impossible to reproduce. There is magic in his process. The other day I dusted my Mamiya 7 range finder camera and took in on the road with me. I was contemplating selling all of my film cameras and buying a new digital. After a day of shooting, and guessing the right exposures and being very selective of what I chose to shoot (the Mamiya 7 is a medium format camera which only shoots about 11 exposures per roll) I realized that I enjoyed that process. I can't wait to see the negatives of what I shot, and get into the dark room to interpret them in the print. Now, the film process is ridiculously expensive and isn't really practical anymore, unless you are Sabastiao Salgado and can sell an original print for $10,000, or you are a famous advertisement photographer who has the luxury of huge shooting budgets. Art is never practical. The process that it takes to make great art is always intricate, involved, and time consuming. 

Art contributes to the beauty of the world, it makes living, worth living. I am not bitter; I understand that times change and I am young, but I realize the difference between something that is art and something that is not. I believe that other people do too. I believe that the painstaking process of experiencing something great from someone who has perfected his/her craft is still valuable to people even if they don't realize it in theory. There is an etherial recognition of beauty and greatness. Maybe since the music business can no longer pedal it's wears, it will have to revert back to the days creative great music and sell more of less. Then maybe Ron Saint Germain will get called for work again.

Killer Machines!

Here is a new song that we recorded this year for the new Martin Luther project to be released 2nd Quarter 2009. This is a preview, let me know what you think.

Outliers

A couple of weeks ago I finished the audio book (because I don't have the attention span to read) Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Before going into detail I would like to emphatically recommend this audio book. Malcolm Gladwell is an excellent story teller; so beyond the fact that the major premise that he proposes is profound in it's wise and detailed simplicity, the audio book narrated by him is enormously entertaining. 

Malcolm Gladwell's simple premise is that reasons for the achievement of successful people; leaders and industry superstars are complex and that success may be more based upon historical, cultural, and circumstantial chance than the persons intelligence and hard work. Gladwell states that it is a wrong choice to personalize success and make it exclusively the result of someone's personal attributes. He speaks of the 10,000 hours rule, which essentially says that it takes 10,000 of practice in order to master any certain skill. He uses the example of Bill Gates and Bill Joy; the two bills are by right on the top five list of the most influential men in today's technology world. The story details the fact that these two men being born in the time that they were and by chance going to schools that had access to a type of computer that enabled the first generation of quick computer programming and coming of age on the cusp of a personal computing revolution allowed these men the 10,000 hours necessary to master their fields. Of course, both of these men are also brilliant. But it doesn't change the fact that the computer that they both had access too at the time they did was as rare to the common man as having access to your own satellite in space today.

Why should you read Outliers? For me it allowed an opportunity to look back at my own life and the chances that have been afforded to me to get to where I am. It allowed me to evaluate my talents and to look at them in the context of both ability and opportunity. It's a great wake up call in my mind to seize your life's mission and to personalize your own success and build upon it with more clarity.

VOTE!

This morning I couldn’t sleep; I woke up at 5 AM and figured I would get to my polling office by 6. To my surprise the line was bananas!! I would guess that more than 800 people on line before me at 6 AM. The lines were so full of black people, it was amazing!!

Okay, I must admit; and I am not sure how I feel about it, but a friend came up to me and let me know that there was another entrance that was designated for handicapped voters that no one is checking. He said that he went right into that entrance and voted. He walked me in and boom, I was in; it took me 20 minutes. I cut the line to vote for Barack Obama; was that shady? Should I feel bad? Nah, I got my vote in and I feel wonderful.

The Times

In a time of so much flux, insecurity, and economic depression; I wonder how popular music and entertainment will shift to meet the times. I would like to use urban music to illustrate my ideas. In the late 60's and early 70's, during a time of tremendous political upheaval including the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement urban music, was and still is defined primarily by the black male superstars of the day. I make the black male stars distinction not to diminish or exclude the tremendous contribution of our female stars of then and now but to try and make the point that when outsiders analyze urban/ghetto culture it is usually defined by the actions of the male population of that community. I will continue this discussion within that framework. In the late 60's and 70's in America at any given time you could have had 8 to 10 black males, all from primarily impoverished urban communities. These communities suffered many of the same problems of crime, drug and alchohol abuse, single parenthood, and joblessness of poor urban communities of today but the difference of cultural expression of the urban males of then is strikingly different from the expressions of today. In the late 60's and early 70's on any giving week you may have had, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Sly Stone, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Curtis Mayfield, and Al Green all topping the charts at the same time. If you go back and listen to the message of the music of these products of the urban environment you heard a clear message of redemption and over coming obstacles to become a better loving human being. Granted those times were the times of revolution and free love, it was the time of LSD and Marijuana. If you look at the beginnings of a latest musical genre invention from the urban community, hip hop; it started in the late 70's as an extension of the sentiments of the black men who where influential in the lives of the Black and Puerto Rican men who were fathers of the genre. When did it shift?

In my opinion the greatest shift in urban music after the 70's was the advent of crack cocaine's arrival in the urban community in the early 80's. Crack cocaine took historical urban issues and put them into hyper drive; at the same time crack created a hyper urban economy. So you had hyper violence, hyper materialism, hyper childhood neglect, hyper moral decline, and a hyper rich criminal youth. Not even heroin would take a mother from her child, but crack did. Crack caused urban blight unlike anything else in urban history, in my opinion. It was said that crack was first introduced in Oakland California around 1982; I don't remember crack hitting the east coast hard until around 85, 86. On the east coast, crack culture didn't start entering into the musical lexicon until around 87. The west coast had experienced it's affect for much longer and combined with gang culture it had seeped into the urban music dialogue faster than it did any wear else. I'm showing my age, but I remember when I was a senior in High School in 1988 and I first heard NWA "Fuck the Police," my friends and I couldn't believe it. The use of hyper violent imagery and the free use of the word nigger was completely startling and new to us. 1988 in NY was the year of Public Enemy's largest success and the introduction of the Jungle Brothers and later De La Soul and the Native Tongue movement, it was Big Daddy Kane and LL Cool J. It was Rob Bass. Later that year in the fall I started my freshman year of college at Morehouse in Atlanta and NWA and Too Short was blasting through the dorms from our West Coast peers. I also remember that first week a kid from Oakland jokingly called me a nigger; and I remember being almost provoked to violence. In New York at the time if someone called you a nigger that was a huge insult. 20 years later, things are a whole lot different. I find myself using that word all the time now, like a filthy habit that I love but need to break.

10 years ago we were experiencing the height of the benefits of post crack epidemic culture in full bloom with the most hyper violent, materialistic, and misogynistic musical content in urban music history. Now that the crack epidemic is long past and we could possibly be moving towards the end of a hyper gangster black male cultural aesthetic (noticing the skater and rock star aesthetic taking off in the urban community prompted by Lupe Fiasco, Pherrell Williams, and Kanye West and the arrival of Barack Obama as a cultural icon largely promoted in urban fashion), I wonder what the next movement to be created out of the urban community will be. We must acknowledge that we are running into some very interesting financial and political times. I wonder what the urban response will be. Here is an interesting documentary trailer that I found recently that I think brings up some interesting points.

2 Trees

This is a fantastic animation series that my friend Pierre Bennu does. Enjoy!

The Visitor

Thank God for Netflix; what a brilliant business model. The way they are able to make data mining associations with your film renting history in order to make suggestions of films that you may like is what makes it such a brilliant sucessful company. Netflix recently suggested the film The Visitor and I took them up on their offer. I finally watched the film this morning and though it was largely predictable it was amazingly charming and visceral. I’m not embarrassed to say that I found myself welling up with tears several times and began to delve into the relationships between the characters and suspending my disbelief very easily.

The Visitor is about Walter Vale, a divorced economics professor from Connecticut who struggles with feelings of lonliness and frustration due to an inactive non-inspired life. A lecture that he is forced to make at NYU brings him back to New York City where he lived with his deceased wife and the apartment that he owns but virtually abandoned in Greenwich Village. When he arrives at his apartment, to his suprise a couple is living there illegally. The couple reacts in absolute fear that they of this instrusion and we learn that they are illegal aliens so they fear that this man will call the police, so they quickly leave the apartment. The couple is Tarek from Syria and Zainab from Senegal; Tarek is a purcussionist and Zainab makes hand made jewlery and vends on the streets on NY. Walter ends up inviting to stay for a few days until they get themselves together. A few days becomes weeks and Walter finds himself staying in NY for a while and involving himself in the lives of these 2 young illegal immagrants. An unfortunate mistake gets Tarek arrested and sent to immagration and Walter is wrapped up in this immagration drama and a new found friendship that changes his life forever. I recommend this simple charming film, its subtle and beautiful.

Nigerian Wood

I have only listened to Keziah Jones’ new album Nigerian Wood one full time; but I must say that I am fully enjoying it. I must admit though that the album starts off a little bit slowly for me. Normally artists pack there best songs at the top of the playlist, the first 2 songs of the album are not my favorites. Normally if the first 2 songs of an album aren’t cool I never get to the third song; but I really wanted to dig this project. First of all, Keziah and I in the last 4 years have become friends and second of all for me Keziah’s last album Black Orpheus is a classic LP. I first heard Black Office after taking a meeting at Atlantic Records with an A&R about an artist that I manage. The A&R gave me the record and asked me to get back to him and tell me what I thought. My business partner Jeff and I but it in the car stereo on the way back home and we remember remarking about how great the mix of the album sounded. I learned later that it was mixed and Engineered by Russell Elevado; who also mixed D’Angelo’s Voodoo album.

I first met Keziah Jones in LA in late 2004, a friend of mine tipped me to a solo show that he was having at the Temple Bar. I thought that Black Orpheus was a beautiful sounding and very interesting album before that, but after being blown away by his live show; I mean Keziah is a “bananas” rhythm guitar player and performer. I paid more attention to his music after that show, and after a conversation with he and his manager after that show we kept in touch and we would hang whenever he came through New York.

I would Nigerian Wood a 6.5 out of 10 overall and would suggest that if you haven’t listened to Keziah’s Music before that you start with Black Orpheus. If you are an audiophile and absolutely love music, you will dig the audio tapestries of Nigerian Wood, but don’t expect “typical” or melodic progressions, this is a music lovers album. Stand out songs for me are My Kinda Girl, Pimpin’, Lagos vs New York, and Uninteded Consequenses.

Bathroom Sign

This was in the bathroom of my local Bedford Stuyvesant Laundromat.

Sunday!

This past Sunday was a wild day; it started by photographer friend of mine from Montreal calling me and saying that he was going to drive to the city because he wanted to meet with me. Now that's a 6 hour drive. I told him that I was considering using him as a part of the event series that I am curating in Amsterdam. I wanted to let me know that he was serious about working with me so he drove all the way to NY, met with me for a couple of hours and then drove back the following morning. Big props to Neil Mota; www.neilmota.com that's the kind of person that inspires me to work with them.

While I was meeting with Neil, I get a call from my boy Dan; asking me what I was doing. I told him that I was in the West Village in a meeting. Dan says "I'm on my way to the studio to meet up with DJ Quick and Rakim, do you want to come?" "Hell yeah, where and when, I replied." So after my meeting with Neil, he and I walk up to 17th and 10th to meet with Dan. Neil and I part ways and Dan and I head to the studio; a long walk to 50th street and 10th Avenue, on the way there we see this sign in a store window made out of flouresant lights that said CHANGE, I thought that was cool. We get to the studio and we hear this bananas beat that Quick was working on, I was in heaven. Unfortunately, I waited for hours to meet Rakim, but I was exhausted and left before he showed. Anyway, it was cool to kick it with DJ Quick and his folks from La La...and so the day went. On the way out Dan asked me to manage him; he wrote an amazing script about his amazing life and has been shopping it in LA, I've never worked with a writer, so I need to think about that. Oh, we also stopped by Billy's bakery on 21st and 9th Avenue on the way up; craziest cakes in town, trust me!!

Chop Shop

I watched this movie last night and am watching it again as I am typing. My apologies; I called it a movie and I meant to call it a film, there is a difference. I always felt that if I were going to make a film; that it would feel like this one.

Chop Shop is a simple story about Alejandro, an orphaned 10 year old in Queens, NY who lives above an
Auto Mobile Chop Shop where he works. Alejandro’s story is typical of New York City’s street kid culture, a culture of selling candy on the train, hustling bootleg movies,and snatching pocket books. Alejandro is by all accounts a grown ass man. He negotiated a place to stay above his bosses Chop Shop for he and his homeless 16 year old sister Isamar who joins the story about 25 minutes in. Ale (Alejandro) finds out a dirty secret about his sister that he decides to accept but it strengthens his goal to buy a food vending truck for he and his sister so that they can start there own business.

Chop Shop is brilliant in it’s realism; the camera never gets in the way of the story and the acting is amazing. I highly recommend this film.

De La Soul

I can’t believe that the VH1 Hip Hop Honors are just getting around to honoring De La Soul this year, its almost criminal. How do you honor Snoop Dog, Outkast, or even A Tribe Called Quest before De La? Is there any understanding or respect for history? What criteria do they based their decisions for honoring bands on. It cant be based on the impact that a band has had on the genre or the aesthetic of the Hip Hop community because there are very few Hip Hop bands that did more to impact the genre than De La Soul. I know because I was there, in fact me and the youngest member of the group Maceo are the same age; I actually went to his high school graduation party in Amityville, Long Island; because we had mutual friends. I’m not from Amityville but I am from Suburban NY; the same suburb that Brand Nubian and CL Smooth are from, and as suburban kids we had a different sensibility towards Hip Hop because we grew up in a quieter, safer, more friendly place than our urban peers.

De La Soul gave birth to bands like A Tribe Called Quest, Leaders of the New School, Brand Nubian, the Pharcyde, Hieroglyphics, Freestyle Fellowship, Blackalicious, UMC’s, Main Source, and a host of others. They ushered in a whole movement and a different sound; a sound that had less to do with urban blight and more about the expression of youthful life discovery of sex, culture, and growing up. And the expression was wrapped in a competitive lyrical style that was based on who could be the most original. It was a time when it was embarrassing to be wack; what ever happened to that? If you listen to Three Feet High and Rising you never heard the word nigger, maybe once; and that was in the context of a parody of the word. There wasn’t one song bragging about inner city violence or drug trafficing. There were songs about diasies though, and potholes in lawns and about getting laid. The subject matters were universal and human, every kid; black, white, asian, indian from Long Island to Boisee could relate. De La Soul gave Hip Hop freedom, freedom from James Brown and Funkadelic samples; freedom to sample Steely Dan. It was fun to be young and black again and it for a minute Hip Hop was inspirational. Who the f*ck makes these decisions about who should be honored. If it was me De La Soul would have been on the first show with PE and Grand Master Flash and the Furious 5; they were that important.

King of Soul

Got a call from Cody ChesnuTT last night; it was brief, he wanted to tell me that he just saw an ad for Robin Thicke's new album which highlighted a quote from the LA Times calling him the new King of Soul music. The New King of Soul Music? Have I died and gone to hell? I've listened to the Robin Thicke album and unfortunately its not bad; it sounds like a Marvin Gaye tribute album, but its actually listenable. Is he the new King of Soul? Well, I think that's a ridiculous notion since there are people like Al Green still alive and making music but I understand marketing spin. The fact that his marketing folks could say that without being boycotted is a testament to where black music and artistry is today. Where is D'Angelo when you need him? D'Angelo please come back and shut this dude down; this is embarrassing.

My friend Josh sent me a link to this an old Omar video from 1994; I remember when I first found Omar. It was at a record store in Atlanta, I was in my first year of graduate school in South Carolina but I used to make several trips to Atlanta to see friends that were still at Morehouse and Spelman. Anyway, I think I was at Best Buy and I saw the For Pleasure album; being featured as a new release. I don't know why I bought it, I can't remember if it was in a listening station or not. What I do remember is that after one listen, he was my favorite artist at the time and I told all of my friends about him. Now Omar had already released 2 albums since 1990 in the UK, but it was his US debut that turned me on to him. It was For Pleasure in my opinion, even though it was not a smash hit sales wise, that spawned the Neo Soul movement in America. D'Angelo is often given the credit with his 1995 release Brown Sugar, because it eventually hit the mainstream in 1996 with the hit song Lady. But in London, Omar and his crew were dubbed the creators of what was called neo-classic soul before D'Angelo had a career. Well as fate would have it; Omar and all of his genius, never translated here in the US and D'Angelo is a legend. So here we are today and this discussion about two modern day soul geniuses doesn't matter because Robin Thicke is on tour with Mary J Blige and is the reigning "King of Soul," go figure.

Afro Punk Cringe

My friend and photographer Dwayne Rodgers sent me this dope image that he made at the AfroPunk after party this summer; look at my weak ass straining to keep James Spooner up in the mosh pit. Damn, I'm getting old!!

Muxtape & Francis and the Lights

Found this band after reading the letter that Muxtape creator Justin Ouellette wrote about how major labels and the RIAA with their bureaucracies and non communication caused him to shut down what would have probably been the next big idea in digital music distribution. Well, if you get a chance to read the letter; its a good lesson for those of us in this industry that both love music and are challenged with finding new and interesting ways of distributing and marketing it. The Muxtape story is a telling one; what it says is that major labels still feel like they can control the sharing of music and instead of finding creative ways to profit from the culture of music sharing they continue to fight for the outdated notion of copyright. As one who is in the business of selling music; I am all for getting paid for that which I have invested in, but there are a million ways to skin a cat. I believe artists and labels will get the long dollar from creating movement based brands based on individual artists, label brands, or associated movements that are defined by types of artists and music. Grow the brand and everyone from the fans to other corporate brands are going to want to patronize it. Anyway, thanks to Muxtape.com I found Francis & the Lights. Francis and the Lights are a mixture of Prince, Fine Young Cannibals, Roger Troutman, and Cold Play. You can download both of their EP's A Modern Promise and Striking for free here
After listening to both EP's all morning, I can say that they are officially one of my favorite new bands, check them out for yourself.

You ever heard of?

Have you noticed that there are certain personalities that are only famous in the black community? I don't think anyone outside of the black race knows who Melba Moore, Stacey Lattisaw, Evelyn Champagne King, Lavar Burton, The Sylvers, Kashif, Flip Wilson, Tina Marie, Peabo Bryson, Alexander Oneal or Della Reese is. If you are over 30 and non-black and you know who most of these people are; then you probably wear cufis and guayaberas and you are a purcussionist or guitar player in a neo-soul band. When you get around a large group of black people you often sound like Huggie Bear from Starsky and Hutch. If you are black and over 30 and haven't heard of these people then you are either in denial, were adopted by white people, or weren't born in this country. Either way you have no black friends have never dated a black person and you are basically Carlton from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Like it or not, if you know who these folks are, you can not escape your blackness, no matter how bougeousie you have become, what college you went to or what neighborhood you currently live in. I don't know why but something tickles me about this. I'm kinda proud to know who these people are. Somehow these folks were able to have careers based solely off of the patronage of black folks and even after they are no longer relevant in even mainstream black society they can still make money doing chitterling circuit plays at the Beacon Theater. Now that's self reliance, maybe.

The Apes

Every time this band comes up on my iPod on my shuffle I get excited. If you haven't heard this album you should head to your local digital download retailer and cop it right away.

Freedom!!

My good friend Christian Ericson has been going through a lot of changes due to a recent surprise pitfall in his romantic life. Sometimes the most insensitive of moments clash with very sensitive people and the explosion of emotions is volcanic. With Christian this is the case and he is dealing with it in his own way. He recently went to the Bahamas to unwind and be with friends. I have always admired Christians passion and his wanting to know himself in deeper ways through his relationships with others. He sent me this picture that he took of himself jumping into a pool with all of his clothes on. Now that's Christian, I hope that this one set back doesn't make him hesitate to jump in with his heart first once again, when the right thing presents itself.

The Moment!

As I was walking home today from my morning swim I realized once again that all I have in this life is the moment. Who I am and how I view myself can often be swayed by those moments. My circumstances in life change rather quickly it seems; one day I am in the studio in Atlanta and soon after I am in Amsterdam. Sometimes like right now I am in a space where my life slows down and I have the opportunity to really ponder myself. By self I mean the many thoughts that I have and choices that I have made. I also mean the continuum of self love and hate that I may travel through from moment to moment subconsciously. Now that may sound extreme, but I have realized in my own self study that the ego is in a constant battle with your higher purpose and it is within that battle where love and hate reside subconsciously in regards to self. I am learning this, however the subtleties are so intricate that it is hard to recognize which end of that continuum I am on in the moment. The realization often comes in a moment of reflection. It's a beautiful struggle. The more and more I understand that I am evolving the more I can accept myself right now and the more faith I have in a higher power. The design of life and consciousness is so interesting to me. Anyway, in this particular moment I am battling fear which at the end of the day is a lack of faith. So there it is, and here I am; taking it all in.

Get your numbers up!!

The fact that influential bloggers can make a gang of money is not exactly breaking news; however I found this really interesting.

And the answer is....

Many urban black kids are picking up instruments again and expressing themselves without the stigmas and outside of the box of "urban" music. These kids are the Afropunkers and the ghetto metals; they are the blipsters and are creating a new sound in soul music. It's alternative, it's multi-genre and it's free. My friend Shawn Hewitt from Toronto is dropping an album called Spare Hearts on the 30th; but you can listen to the entire album streamed on My Space music. There it is, a case for My Space music. Maybe I was wrong, check the album out here; I highly recommend you a listen.

Next?

What ever happened to the days when it was embarrassing to be wack? When musical quality was competitive? I guess that still exists in many genres, but it urban music that has all but disappeared. What ever happened to being fresh? What's the next hip hop or bebop? What's the next fresh thing out of the urban community? Have poor people lost their imagination? We are moving into the next economic depression, that may create less distractions. When people are really poor again, will they regain that hunger for new expression. That's what hip hop was born out of.....what's next?

Silent Pitch

My little point and shoot can take video but without audio so please excuse me for this silent clip but I ask you to use your imagination. The guy on the left was pitching a new tune to singer Gregory Porter, the guy on the right. I decided to film it, just being a bit nosey; because I loved the rhythm of the conversation and I thought it befitting to watch that rhythm without the distraction of sound. Check it out.

MySpace

So all of the hype this week and last has been about the arrival of My Space's new Music store. There has been debate after debate conjecturing over My Space's model and whether or not they will include independent artists. First of all, iTunes still does 90% of the legal digital download business, why the iPod and it's Apple. Granted the Amazon digital music store is doing well, but amazon is a retail destination that sells many products; it's kind of the digital version of Wallmart without food, so buying MP3's from them is logical. People are used to doing business with Amazon. My Space is social network that has never been a retail destination and doesn't have a Zune like answer to the iPod. Infact My Space is chasing Facebook as a social network and is associated with 30 something year old cornballs. I can't remember the last time I checked my MySpace account but I use Facebook everyday, it's a better tool. In my opinion this move is too late, they could have competed 3 years ago when they were at the top of the digital food chain. So why do we need another digital music store, all of the same labels have their music up on Amazon and eMusic DRM free. People aren't going to start using their credit cards with a service they have habitually used for free for the last 5 years. I don't see the point or buy the hype.

Ravi Coltrane

I decided to go over my boy Michael Weintrob's studio in Williamsburg today and kick it with him before he left town. I figured I could get out of my home office and get some work done in another environment. When I get there he's all excited; he says "Ravi Coltrane" is coming by to pick up some photos. Apparently he took some photos of him and his family during an Alice Coltrane tribute recently.

Ravi finally arrives and checks out Michael's images and loves them. Dude has a lovely demeanor. As time passes somehow we all get into this deep conversation about the loss of parents. His father John died when he was a baby and his mother Alice died about a year an a half ago. He admitted that he hasn't been able to compose any new music since his mother died. I told him about the loss of my mother 10 years ago and how I was crying on the floor of the hospital before she went into a comma. He was able to articulate the connection between a mother and son in a way that I haven't heard before, it was beautiful. I told him that if he could translate that same emotional concept musically, he may have a break through. He said he had not thought of that, and thanked me.

Nokia Call Me!

So when we were in Atlanta recording his latest album; Martin Luther recorded a gang of video from his Nokia phone. The idea is to use these crude phone video shorts as a video blog diary from his point of view of the recordings. We could widgetize the episodes, podcast them and partner with Topspin to release them as episodes to his fans. We could also distribute them for free download to other mobile phones. If we only had a sponsor; Nokia are you listening? This is a no-brainer. Here are a few examples of what I'm talking about.

VC Pitching

This lecture seems to over simplify the process of VC pitching a bit; but I think it's worth a listen.

Amazing!

What's wild about the Internet as it relates to music is that you can find endless drafts and versions of songs that are being developed by artists. This particular odd case is of someone covering a test version of one of Martin Luther's new songs that had yet to be officially recorded at the time. Since then this song has been recorded and the lyrics and arrangement have changed a bit, so not only is there a first draft acoustic version of "Amazing" on You Tube, there is also a cover of that first draft version. Makes you wonder which version people will find first once the album is released and which version will move them more to cover. I guess we shall find out soon enough.

The Grocery Report

My friend Richard Rodriguez sent this to me last night; it's an entry from his amazing blog entitled Everyone's In Love With You. He has a post called Food Corp that details the types and numbers of grocery vendors in Bed Stuy, from Bodegas to Organic Markets. It's amazing how those of us that live in "urban" which translates into "black and latino" neighborhoods in this city have to leave our neighborhoods to get good, healthy, food. Let me start the body of this post by stating that I am for the most part a humanist who would eventually love to live in a world where the construct of race is irrelevant. We are not there yet.

It's not until neighborhood's gentrify that organic and green markets start coming into a community. Gentrification is an interesting word and topic because black and latino neighborhoods often go through a class gentrification before a racial one. Young black and latino recent college graduates and artists usually move into these neighborhoods because the rent in cheaper and they feel more comfortable (somethimes) around their own. They take it upon themselves to open up coffee shops, bookstores, bars, and small restaurants in order to have places where they and their peers can meet. Once the word gets out more recent college grads and artists move in and eventually the neighborhood that was once a hardcore hood becomes a new young vibrant middle class black scene. That was Ft. Greene in the 90's when it was at it's height, that scene spawned Saul Williams, Erykah Badu, Mos Def and a host of others. There was some tension between the classes but at the end of the day it was all black folks so there was at least an understanding kind of like cousins who went seperate ways but still love eachother. So you have it; a community full of negros that are smart, working, and culturally open, white folks love these negros. Stage two, culturally astute white folks start to pioneer the neighborhood and easily blend in because they are usually very similar in sensibilty to the black kids that live there. They are politically left and have taken African dance classes and minored African American studies; they have huge jazz cellections; they've read Morrison, Fanon, and Bell and listen to Fela and Omar, so they are cool. And they are cool and the culture of the neighborhood thrives and black college grads from all around the country start moving in; even the really conservative corny one's and they bring with them good incomes and the young black entrepreneurs are able to open juice bars and more coffee shops and bars to service them.

It's awesome until stage three happens. Somehow the neighborhood gets features in Time Out New York as one of the hottest neighborhoods in the city. Well...that's it; they start moving in. And when I say they I mean "regular" white folks; and they don't mean any harm, they want to be around the "good" blacks in this funky little neighborhood that was created out of a former ghetto. "I live in Ft Greene" "I live in Red Hook" it's cool to say when you are originally from IOWA. All it takes is a few pioneers from "them" and within a year the neighborhood has been completely gentrified. Ft. Greene today is neighborhood or cornball blacks and whites, it has completely lost its culture and flavor but it has more fine restaurants and gourmet and organic grocery stores than you can count. I was one of those black college students that class gentrified Ft. Greene and once it started to flip a bunch of us moved to Bed Stuy and did it again; that was in 2001 and now Bed Stuy is moving into the begginings of Stage Three. I wonder how long it will take for this grocery map that Richard has sent me to change? Where do we go next once this isn't cool anymore? I guess we flip it and move to the suburbs, maybe "they" will chase us there and we can have our ghetto back.

Mooji!

My friend Thorma Crawford told me about this man Mooji and I thank him for that. It was perfect timing!

Datacrats!

I found this great article about data mining and the future of online advertising. Check it out yourself, click here.

Rotterdam

I have to admit something; I really did not love Amsterdam. I mean, i didn't hate it; but it was kind of hollow to me. I really can't explain it, I just don't think the energy of the place agreed with me. Don't get me wrong I loved all of the little novelty attractions like the "coffee shops" and the red light district. I don't smoke nor have sex with prostitutes (poor me, huh) but it was cool to see others with the ability to freely partake. It could have also been the fact that I only had fleeting moments of meals and scrambling tourist excursions in the city; like visiting the sex museum. Although I have a few friends that live there; my schedule never permitted me hooking up with any of them. Rotterdam however is another story.

Two years ago I met this woman from Rotterdam who's mother was dutch and father was from Ghana. It was the 4th of July and I was at a roof deck party at the building in crown heights were 3 of my Morehouse brothers, Tahir, Malik, and Scott live. That party was one of the absolutely most drunkard moments of my life. We were drinking Hatian rum, lots of it and what I forgot was that I had taken a Benedryl earlier. I was fractured!! Anyway, I was laying on the roof top and in walks in these three woman, 2 from holland and one was Tahir's cousin. I struck up a conversation with one who oddly reminded me of my mother. I offered her a drink and she said blankly that she didn't drink. I was intriqued so I asked her why; she said "because I don't need to drink to be myself." I looked at her drunk as hell and said, "do you want to get married?" She laughed and said no, and I immediately passed out. I woke up 3 hours later in Tahir's apartment and everyone had left the party, including my new friend from Holland.

I don't know why but this woman intriqued me, I am always attracted to blunt....sort of unaffected woman, and that was her (she shall remain nameless). I asked my boy Tahir to call his cousin and find out if I could contact her. Tahir never got in touch with his cousin and I was SOL....until. About 2 weeks later there was a Little Brother concert in Ft. Green park, Tahir and I were watching the band and I happend to look behind me and BOOM, there she was; and her friend Bibi from Holland, NICE!! Tahir approached them first and then called me over. we ended hanging out with them that day and then that night at some Fader event. The whole night I was trying to strike up conversation with her and she was chestnut tight...I mean the cold mug and everything; no love at all. I almost gave up. Bibi gave me her local number and I got up the nerve a couple of days later to call her and check on her friend. I asked her to come and see a band that I was managing at the time named Earl Greyhound, she came out. We saw the band, then we walked and talked for about 3 hours. She ended up staying at my house that night, but I slept on the couch...but the next day right before she left, I kissed her and she kissed me back...everything else that happened is no one's business.

She and I kept in touch for a long time until the distance drew us a bit apart. 2 years later and I have this business trip to Amsterdam...of course she is mad busy for the first half of my trip and I didn't see her. It was a bit uncomfortable, because we had talked about seeing eachother but I didn't want to presume anything. Finally, she called as I was about to book another hotel in Amsterdam (I was staying in Hilversun) and offered me to stay at her place in Rotterdam for the last 3 days of my trip. Anyway, without going into details, I like Rotterdam and I really like her.

Holland

It is 2AM Tuesday morning in Holland and I am both exhausted and restless. I came here on a consulting job for a fairly famous dutch rapper/musician named Postman. When I reached the airport in Amsterdam I realized that I my iPhone had not been set up properly to work overseas. I could not call or text or receive calls or texts, this situation sucked because I was supposed to text or call my ride when I landed. Luckily I found a pay phone and and Postman's manager's cell number and everything worked out.

Monique picked me up and we immediately drove The Hague where we hooked up with Postman for a meeting with a graphic designer for Postman's website. Needless to say I was exhausted. After the meeting we had lunch in The Hague and strolled around downtown a bit.

After The Hague we went Monique's office in LOOSDRECHT, which is a sleepy little town next to Hilversum, which is another; tiny bit bigger sleepy town where I am staying while I work. Not Amsterdam, 25 minutes away. I am a little bummed; but tomorrow night I hit the road and I party in the DAM. These photos are in ascending order.

Da House!!

I decided to roll by Morehouse's campus today and low and behold it was freshman orientation day. This is the day all of the freshman move on to campus for the first time and move into their dorm rooms. It was a trip, I walked on campus and it smelled the same as I remember it. There were loads of new buildings, the campus seemed totally rearranged, and the freshman guides had on these weird outfits with straw hats and Morehouse polos; but amazingly enough, the vibe was exactly the same. I heard kids arguing about how the hoods where they came from are worse than those in Atlanta and you can see how proud the parents were while seeing their sons off. It was amazing!!! Made me remember how much my college experience influenced the man that I am, Morehouse is it's own, almost unexplainable experience and all of us who have experienced it...know it without words. There's a smell to the place; an old ethereal charge in the air. Dear Old Morehouse!

ATLANTIS!!

So here I am, exhausted after 2 weeks of recording in Atlanta, Georgia with Martin Luther. This has been one marathon process of 14 hour days; exhausted musicians and triumphant music. It is coming down to crunch time and I am a little nervous about getting everything done before we have to get out of here. We had some remarkable musicians in the studio with us including Nikki Glaspie and Deantoni Parks on drums, Steve Wyreman on guitar, Kev Choice on keys and programming, Andre Bowman and Aaron Bellamy on bass, and Pascael Arceneaux on production and editing. We are also working with producer/engineer Don McCollister for the first time and that has been an awesome experience so far. These are the times that we have to step up big and make it happen. I am faithful that everything will turn out beautifully, but I must have gained 5 pounds since I've been here from stress eating everything that I could grab. Well, I miss New York; I miss the sunshine, I've been inside this cave too long. I think I'm going to go check out the Morehouse campus today and reminisce.

Father and Son