One time in the record store, Scott came up to me like a dealer in an overcoat and whispered, “Hey Bub, have I got a deal for you.” He had gotten a collection from a collector, and within it there were four boxes of records from Brazil. The short version is I got them. Inside were about 80 unique records, different labels and most in the original paper sleeves. There were also Ten, 10 inch 33 1/3 RPM LP’s with incredible art work on the covers.
The music ranges from carnival sambas to forro to vocal trios to stuff that would have been heard in the best elevators or dentist offices in Rio. There was another surprise, a small rattling noise from one of the boxes.
In the bottom of a smoked-Gray cordial glass sit a small pile of stones and shells. These shells and stones were within the creases of a box of 78 RPM records from Brazil. I like to think that someone played these records on a beach, before I was born and that these stones and shells have been waiting like the music on these records to be out again.
On October 5, 2004, Dig Up The Roots featured a program of DADA, Futurist, and Surrealist recordings from Tristan Tzara, Kurt Schwitters, Marcel Duchamp, and many others.. Love them or hate them, these artistic mavericks and malcontents of the early Twentieth century blew apart the traditional worlds of artist and audience, creating a foundation for generations of freaks and weirdos who followed to destroy rational thought in their own ways. It may be a stretch to call some of these recordings music… but that’s why radio dials spin. Interviews, Noise machines AKA Intonomuri , Sound poetry and word bending, dissonant neo classical music. This was a very enjoyable show to do and stretched the definitions of Roots music.
Here is the playlist:
Luigi Russolo
Veglio di uno Citta – 1914
dada FOR NOW A Collection of Futurist and DADA Sound Works
ARK Records DOVE 4
Antonio Russolo
Corale ane Serenata – 1921
dada FOR NOW
Filippo Tommaso Marintti
Definizione di Futurismo – 1924
FUTURISM & DADA REVIEWED
Sub Rosa CD 012-19
Arthur Honegger
Pacifica 231 – 1923
dada FOR NOW
Hugo Ball
Gadji Beri Bimba & Seepferdchen und Flugfische – 1916
dada FOR NOW
Tristan Tzara, Marcel Janco, Richard Huelsenbeck
L’amiral cherche une maison a louer – 1916
dada FOR NOW
Luigi Grandi
Cavalli + Acciaio – 1935
FUTURISM & DADA REVIEWED
Filippo Tommaso Marintti
La Battaglia di Adriamopoli
FUTURISM & DADA REVIEWED
Marcel Duchamp
La Mariee Mise a Nu…MeMe – 1980
FUTURISM & DADA REVIEWED
Richard Huelsenbeck
Inventing Dada – 1959
FUTURISM & DADA REVIEWED
Kurt Schwitters
The real disuda of the nightmare – 1946
dada FOR NOW
Raul Haussman
Soundrel – 1946
dada FOR NOW
Wyndham Lewis
End Of Enemy Interlude – 1940
FUTURISM & DADA REVIEWED
Guillaume Apollinaire
Le Pont Mirabeau – 1912
FUTURISM & DADA REVIEWED
Hugo Ball
Karawane, Wolken Katzen und Pfauen – 1916
dada FOR NOW
Jean Cocteau
La Toison d’Or + Les Voleurs d’Enfants – 1929
FUTURISM & DADA REVIEWED
Brion Gysin
Interview
William S Burroughs
Origin Of Cut-Ups & Creepy Letter
The Best Of William S Burroughs VOL 4
Giorno Poetry Systems
Thomas Schmit
No. 13 from Sanitas-200 Theatre Pieces – 1962
Tellus#14 FluxTellus
George Brecht & James Tenny with George Maciunas
Entrance(excerpt)……Exit(excerpt) – 1962
The show ended with Talking Heads I Zimbra, which is a Hugo Ball poem, but this is not included on the recording. However, as a bonus and just when you thought the world was getting safe again for weirdos, there is this to show you how weird the main stream can be: Marie Osmond reading DADA poetry…
Happy Pancake Day! Some people refer to this day as Mardi Gras.
This radio show was broadcast on 02/05/2008 and is 2 hours of tunes from, about and in some way relevant to New Orleans. We heard Jelly Roll Morton talk about Mardi Gras and Indian songs he remembered from his childhood. Primordial jazz from the likes of Sam Morgan, Louis DuMaine and the Humphrey Brothers (Willie and Percy) blowin’ down Jerico with The Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
The Ancient Mix Master showed up with a few 78’s. A great set on Capitol called The History of Jazz Vol 1: The Solid South. We also heard Mississippi: A Journey in Tones (Mississippi Suite), for orchestra by Ferde Grofé. This version conducted by André Kostelanetz. I played it out of sequence so we started in New Orleans and ended in Minnesota, the land of sky blue water.
The show ended with another aspect of mardi gras: hooch, hoodoo and hopheads.
Playlist Tracks:
Preservation Hall Jazz Band – Joe Avery
Album: Preservation Hall Jazz Band Vol 1; Label: CBS
Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers – Creole Songs
Album: The Library Of Congress Recordings Vol 5; Label: Swaggie
Ferde Grofé – Mississippi Suite: Mardi Gras / Huckelberry Finn / Old Creole Days / Father of Waters
Album: Mississippi: A Journey in Tones Mississippi Suite; Label: Capitol
Various – Mardi Gras Freak-Out Scene
Album: Easy Rider Soundtrack; Label: Dunhill
Jelly Roll Morton – Indian Songs
Album: The Library Of Congress Recordings Vol 5; Label: Swaggie
Sam Morgan’s Jazz Band – Over In Gloryland / Everybody’s Talking about Sammy
Album: Jazz The World Forgot V 1 2; Label: Yazoo
Preservation Hall Jazz Band – Tiger Rag
Album: Preservation Hall Jazz Band Vol 1; Label: CBS
Louis Dumaine’s Jazzola 8 – Pretty Audry
Album: Jazz The World Forgot V 2; Label: Yazoo
Lead Belly – Rock Island Line
Album: The History of Jazz Vol 1: The Solid South; Label: Capitol 78’s
Zutty Singleton’s Trio – Lulu’s Mood
Album: The History of Jazz Vol 1: The Solid South; Label: Capitol 78’s
Eddie Miller’s Crescent City Quartet – Cajun Love Song
Album: The History of Jazz Vol 1: The Solid South; Label: Capitol 78’s
Wingy Manone’s Dixieland Band – The Tailgate Ramble
Album: The History of Jazz Vol 1: The Solid South; Label: Capitol 78’s
Nappy LaMare’s Louisiana Levee Loungers – At The Jazz Band Ball
Album: The History of Jazz Vol 1: The Solid South; Label: Capitol 78’s
Boswell Sisters – Rock and Roll
Album: Roots Of Rock N’ Roll 1927 – 1938 Vol 1; Label: Frémeaux Associates
Louis Jordan – Junco Partner
Album: Junkers, Jivers Coke Fiends: Vintage Songs About Drugs 1926 – 1952; Label: Buzzola
Louis Jordan – Somebody Done Hoodooed The Hoodoo Man
Album: Diabolical Hoodoo: Vintage Songs About Devilry, Doom Hellfire 1920 – 1952; Label: Buzzola
The Memphis Jug Band – Rukus Juice Chitlin’
Album: Juice Head Baby: Vintage Songs About Booze and Bars 1925 – 1953; Label: Buzzola
The Mississippi Jook Band – Hittin’ The Bottle Stomp
Album: Juice Head Baby: Vintage Songs About Booze and Bars 1925 – 1953; Label: Buzzola
Cab Calloway – Minnie The Moocher
Album: Reefer Madness: A Collection Of Vintage Drug Songs 1927 – 1945; Label: Buzzola
Dig Up The Roots 