SECTION ONE
sm
COLUMN
105,
MAY 1, 2004
(Copyright © 2004 The Blacklisted Journalist)
AT
THE BOWERY POETRY CLUB
MAY 27 MULTICULTURAL
MUSIC JAM SESSION AND BOOKSIGNING PARTY
A
spectacular multicultural music jam featuring American master musician David
Amram and a Bengali Baul from India, Babukishan Das, will highlight a
booksigning party at New York's Bowery Poetry Club to celebrate the
publication of BOB DYLAN AND THE BEATLES, VOLUME ONE OF THE BEST OF THE
BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST.
Author
Al Aronowitz, a legendary New York journalist, will sign copies of his book at
the club, located at 308 Bowery, beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 27. As the
man who introduced Allen Ginsberg to Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan to the Beatles and the
Beatles to marijuana, Aronowitz likes to boast:
'the
"60s wouldn't have been the same without me."
The book contains first-hand descriptions of meetings between Dylan and the Beatles that no other writer can describe because no other writer was there at the time. Also participating in the music jam will be jazz saxophonist Hayes Greenfield; Chicago blues guitarist Ladell McLin; Jazz Foundation president Wendy Oxenhorn on harmonica; Kevin Twigg on drums and John DeWitt on bass.
Babukishan Das, familiarly known as Babu, is the son of the celebrated Bengali Baul. Purna Das, whom Dylan introduced to American audiences by posing with Purna for the cover of Dylan's "John Wesley Harding? album. Purna's son, Babu, who has a hit recording on India's pop charts, has made a name for himself by writing scores for many of the films streaming out of India's film capital, known for some reason as Bollywood.
Amram,
described by the Boston Globe as "the Renaissance man of American
music," has also composed scores for films, including 'splendor in the
Grass? and 'the Manchurian Candidate." In addition, he has composed more
than 100 orchestral and chamber works, written two operas and appears as guest
conductor and soloist with major orchestras around the world. He has also toured
internationally with his jazz quartet.
Greenfield
is well known in the New York area. Oxenhorn often appears with McLin, who has
been compared to a young Jimi Hendrix. Twigg and DeWitt often accompany Amram.
Admission will be $10 at the door. ##
I sent the above out as a
press release as part of my campaign to win some recognition for BOB DYLAN AND
THE BEATLES, VOLUME ONE OF THE BEST OF THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, which is just
beginning to attract the attention of book reviewers, the mainstream media and
booksellers. Meanwhile, everyone who claims to have read it showers praise on me
and on the book, termed a "masterpiece? by Sally Grossman---the widow
of Bob Dylan's brilliant original manager, Albert Grossman.
And here's what Ed
Galing, the 87-year-old "poet laureate of Hatboro, Pennsylvania," wrote me:
".
. .the book shines with wonderful memories; anecdotes, a way of
writing that holds my attention and captivates me with so many intimate things
that you share with the reader. I
could not put this book of yours down for a minute. i have read it over more
than once, each time getting something new out of it. I love your style of
writing. I also am honored to know you, a!, and enjoy your anecdotes, and your
way with words. You are a great Journalist. It's to their loss that you are
not, right now, working on a good newspaper, where you really belong. i hate
when things go wrong for talented people like yourself, who deserve better from
this world. this book will certainly take its place among great works of the
past. it is history. you were indeed a part of it ... i also enjoyed your own
thoughts and comments on all these celebs.
vou are a genius, my friend. i am happy that you
picked ME out of the crowed. after all, we are so different in every way. i am a
87 year old old fart writing, and never ever, ever having met a
celebrity. except you. through you, i now can say i know the Beatles, Ginsberg,
Harrison, and all those rock and roil times, that i can only read about. . ."
You can also read a more critical review by Hammond
Guthrie on the Empty Mirror Books website at http://www.emptymirrorbooks.com/reviews/bob-dylan-beatles.html
. The same review also appears in Counterpunch, an English publication.
But that's enough of plugging my book. My purpose here is to plug this
multicultural Music jam, which stars such talented friends of mine as David
Amram, Babukishan Das and the lesser known, but no less gifted Hayes Greenfield.
Of course, John DeWitt and Kevin Twigg have become friends of mine by
association because they regularly play in combos with Amram.
And I hope to become friends with Wendy Oxenhorn and
Ladell McLin, which is why I invited them to play in this jam. I misidentified
Wendy as the president of the Jazz Foundation, Actually, she is the executive
director of the foundation. I first saw the two of them play behind John
Sinclair while he read his poetry at a farewell party before leaving for the
Netherlands. Ladell's guitar not only enthralled me but it reminded me of what
a young Jimi Hendrix sounded like. I wasn't astonished to learn that
Ladell's playing also reminded others of Hendrix.
Babukishan---I call him Babu---radiates energy. He has
that missionary zeal found in children driven to outdo their fathers, whether
consciously or not. Babu's father is the great Purna Das, who was driven to
outdo his own father, Nabani Das, the
great patriarch of the Bengali Bauls. Babu's drive to popularize Baul music is
all-consuming. Not only does he teach, perform, and write music---most recently
for India's Bollywood film mill---but he has an intense desire to fuse Baul
music with various American genres.
And
various American genres are what Dave Amram plays. He conducts symphony
orchestras, has his own jazz group and sings rap songs he makes up on the spot.
Like Babu, Dave himself is a whole show. Then we've got the jazz sax of Hayes
Greenfield, an old friend, and the harmonica of Wendy Oxenhorn, who regularly
accompanies the Chicago blues guitar of Ladell McLin. I predict you'll hear
Ladell's name a lot in music's coming years.
Dave
and Babu played together at an impromptu session arranged last December by my
son, Joel Roi, but the others in this musical aggregation have never played
together before. So this jam session is something of an experiment that leaves
me curious as hell to hear what it's going to sound like. You can read below
about the varied experience all these musicians are bringing to this jam. AND
It's going to be recorded. Come witness it and hold onto your hats!
Now,
come meet the cast of musicians who will be participating in this remarkable
multicultural music jam. The
following bios have been submitted by the musicians themselves.
Click
here for the bios, which begin on Page Two.
IN THIS 615-PAGE PAPERBACK, AL ARONOWITZ, ACCLAIMED AS THE "GODFATHER OF ROCK JOURNALISM", TELLS YOU MORE ABOUT BOB DYLAN AND THE BEATLES THAN ANY OTHER WRITER CAN TELL YOU BECAUSE NO OTHER WRITER WAS THERE AT THE TIME. AS THE MAN WHO INTRODUCED ALLEN GINSBERG TO BOB DYLAN, BOB DYLAN TO THE BEATLES AND THE BEATLES TO MARIJUANA, ARONOWITZ BOASTS, "THE '60S WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN THE SAME WITHOUT ME."
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