‘Rock n’ Reel’ magazine reviews ‘Dangerous Loving’ – 4 stars!

”Smoke-fuelled and chameleon-like, tortured and released, Faye Patton exudes forgotten Jazz. Articulating and punctuating her vocal authority with her independent piano playing, this is a supreme effort of both freeform and choreographed musicianship. Definitely in the jazz pigeonhole, there are elements of highbrow funk in ‘Ripped and Torn’, boogie woogie musical theatre throughout ‘Susan Says’ and lounge blues with ‘A Game’; and more in between.

The beauty with these overlapping and contrasting styles is that there is no great leap from one track to the next and she makes herself an effective gatekeeper to the concept of the album as a whole. With flute, cello, trumpet and even flugelhorn joining the tales of lost love and, well, more lost love, the songs manage to stay intimate and retain the emphasis on her boundless vocal.” (Gareth Hayes – Rock n’ Reel magazine May 2012)

 

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Love Fiercely. Love Fearlessly …

A demonstrator protesting the shooting death of Alton Sterling is detained by law enforcement near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. July 9, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

 

‘’Anything we love can be saved.’’ (Alice Walker)

‘’Witches have a saying – where there’s fear, there’s power.’’ (Starhawk)

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Globally, things are serious right now. Problematic life and times, with more complexities in the post, in the years ahead. Many karmic chickens coming home on a micro and macrocosmic level – as personal, planetary and galactic evolution enters a crucial phase – it’s as though we’ve left the womb and are in the birth canal and it’s fairly uncomfortable. We are challenged to remember that our psycho-spiritual faculties are wondrously powerful. Apparently we only use about 6% of our capability. Whether or not we engage in protest or demonstration we can also do a lot in the subtle, energetic dimensions to augment/compliment all of the necessary 3D actions that we make.

This is about 2 things: (a) the urgent necessity of having a concrete spiritual/energetic framework or practice in your life and (b) long-term thoughts I have had about different layers of oppression in society and ways to effect change in the power balance. Reinforced by lucid dreams and visions that I have had that show the energetic equivalent of everything that happens here and the power of fear to control people. What do we do about those who choose to take up arms and oppress fellow citizens on behalf of the state? I’m taking mainly about racist police, private security firms, detention centre guards, companies that manufacture weapons and torture devices – and those who then use them.

The latest wave of racist police brutality in the US has shocked and sickened me. Since about 2014 there seems to be something akin to demonic possession going on in US law enforcement. It’s not a new thing, but the immediacy of cell phone reportage by civilians, is bringing the information home on a daily basis. I am saddened and disgusted by it and disturbed by the lack of political outrage from the international community. At the same time – inspired, because random and organised acts of bravery, leadership and community are now everywhere.

What used to be the official political ‘alternative’, is now an international groundswell of anti-authoritarian, anti-elite grassroots majority, who want social justice, equality, welfare, education, civil rights, clean energy, healthcare and respect for the environment. Also an end to bogus ‘austerity’ measures, an end to sexism, racism, homophobia and fascism of all kinds. This drive for a fairer world now seems global. Our governmental, economic and military/industrial complexes are hanging on by a thread of ideological credibility – which is manifesting in panic and brute force. No-one wants war anymore, except a tiny handful of profiteers. Information on how to create a new society is here and we can do it. It’s possible that the new self-governing structures of the future are being born in the protest movements of today.

Authors Octavia Butler, (dystopian but visionary science fiction) Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games) and Starhawk (author, witch and activist), have written fiction that foresees a dystopian future that necessitates super-human levels of courage from a defiant population. Such books are arguably, a blueprint for a revolution, though they may not have been intended as such. Anyone following the news in America, will have seen acts of protest that are shamanic in scope – the lone woman in a dress (pictured above, later identified as Leshia Evans from Brooklyn) confronting heavily armoured riot police, the man with the sign that says, ‘’We may have to die for this’’ (he knows and is ready) or Diamond Reynolds as she live-streamed the murder of Philando Castile as both her battery and he were dying. Deeds of self-possession, dignity and strength that shame both the police and those whose complicity allows the system to exist.

Here’s something that I urge people to do. You might not be able to participate physically in all the amazing intersectional challenges to authority that are happening. (Here are some them. Please visit their websites and social media streams for links to further resources and info. Black Lives Matter, Occupy, Stand Up To Racism, Movement for Justice, Revolutionary Communist Group, Black Dissidents, Million Women Rise.)

But EVERYONE in these times can and should have a spiritual strategy. An ability to call on transpersonal, higher power. Call it what you will, but it needs to be on speed dial and well practised. Now is the time to have some sort of energetic discipline – not just a vague inclination, but a regime. This can include meditation, prayer, shamanic journeying, martial arts, kickboxing, Tai Chi or, whatever. There’s loads to choose from and something for everyone. Have something that trains your mind, body and spirit to endure, transcend and transform.

We know that first, we need to send love to the victims and survivors of the brutality …

Next, try this: I’ve long had a theory that the power dynamic would be utterly transformed if the people who joined the armed forces, police, prison guards, detention centre guards etc – could be encouraged to choose other routes. The elite needs automatons to do the dirty work and without them, would fail. Imagine a world where there were no more workers left to build tasers, electric batons, handcuffs, shackles, guns or bullets. No police left to wear helmets, boots and shields and no-one bothering to manufacture such things. No armies and no-one interested in joining them. I believe that focused intention can target this group of people. The power of prayer, magical intent and visualisation, IS REAL. Anyone who uses these techniques on a regular basis can attest that results can be profound in ways that transcend both place and time. Fear can be melted. Ignorance can be infiltrated with light. People (everything in fact) are nothing but fast vibrating energy and reality can be altered. Dare to reach in and alter it. 

As you go about your daily regime of whatever it is – take time to light a candle, run to your favourite spot on a high hill, gaze into the fire, or a bowl of water, or go deep into prayer, or trance. Spend a good, long intentional moment – anything from 10 mins to an hour – sending a fierce wave of loving containment towards lost and ignorant souls within the police and army. Start somewhere – anywhere – and know that it’s time well spent. (I’m feeling particularly motivated about the Black Lives Matter movement and US police brutality but there are other situations that need attention, too.) There are instances of police breaking down in tears when confronted with protestors holding up mirrors or offering flowers. If it can happen just once, to one individual – it’s possible. Make your visualisation real, with full production, sound, colour, light, the works. I find holding a crystal that has profound colour energy – especially rose or deep pink, helps. Once you’ve got the picture up and running, use your mind to melt it and kelp melting until the whole frame is suffused and the structure starts to transform. Be uncompromising. Be unrelenting. Go deeper and deeper in and MELT the picture …

If people were to do this in large numbers and then synchronised with others, the results might be surprising. 

Am I saying we have to love everyone and just offer virtual hugs to racists until they are healed? No. I am under no illusions. With regard to America specifically, it’s a systemically violent gun culture based on conquest and slavery. Police officers are trained like robots assassins, with racially biased arrest quotas that make sure the prisons are filled and plenty of money is being made through fines and spurious traffic violations and unbelievably, even ‘walking whilst black’  – baggy, low slung trousers – offences. (Yes, that is a real thing by the way – check out Reggie Yates recent Ferguson documentary.)

Thoughts about the ultimate nature of evil are possibly beyond the scope of this particular piece of writing. Where violence occurs, certain non-human energies feed and they can’t just be hippie-hugged and healed with rainbows, especially if there is no thread or connection to any kind of emotional spectrum. And terms of protest, we still have to put our bodies on the streets and fight for justice.

But there is hope. Love can win. ‘Light’ – as brilliantly defined by Pleiadean channeller and writer Barbara Marciniak, as INFORMATION, can win. Some police officers and soldiers (not all) started off believing that they were actually serving and protecting. That too, is love and if there is even a spark left of that, it can be used in this type of visualisation.

So … give it a try. Human minds and hearts are powerful. Let’s use them.

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Poetic Flow and Gender Fluidity in K Pop

 

I am a secret K pop fan. Actually I’m secret K pop addict. Get me talking, or read on and you’ll find I know way more than I should. I know that a SHAWOL (linguistic mashup) is a fan (usually teenage, American, female) who spends too much time on the internet appreciating heartthrob K pop band ShinEE. I know that 2MIN is the slang mash-up for the constant fan speculation over whether Taemin and Minho from ShinEE are gay bromance partners. I know that the Girls Generation members might have surgical enhancements – or so says word on the street. I know that the internet is full of fan made homage to K pop stars, sometimes in the form of wishful written or pictorial pornography embroidering both gay and straight fantasy scenarios between K pop personalities.

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Why is K pop culture so seductive?

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Cursory research reveals the K pop machine to be exactly that – a comprehensive in-house assembly line of picture perfect 20 somethings with athletes bodies and models faces, made even more slick by makeup and in some cases, plastic surgery. The music, lyrics and dance moves, which are shamelessly derivative of US R ‘n’B are created in studio by cadres of session musicians and composers employed by Seoul Media – the centralised empire of K pop product. Seoul Media is its own world, with an olympic sized stadium at which acts ‘debut’, then regularly present shows or ‘stages’ – during which fans chant and wave glo-sticks in ecstatic unison. K pop is often written in English, translated back in to Korean, then peppered with English phrases spoken in American accents, finished off with devilishly slick production and dance routines which inspire mass devotion and group participation. K pop stars may enjoy the celebrity spotlight but they work for their money. Already virtuoso singers, dancers, actors and athletes, they perform and record relentlessly, with an obligatory round of product endorsements, game show appearances, solo projects, soap opera roles and promotional stunts – some of which are deliberately compromising, challenging and embarrassing. Like being made to kiss seedy game show hosts or being hypnotised on national TV. Shows like ‘We Got Married’, (self-explanatory) ‘Hello Baby’ (pop stars get to baby sit a toddler for a month) and ‘Running Man’ (silly sport stunts) really take this to hilarious extremes. Every now and again, boy groups will do their own version of the girl group songs, a few keys down, with the same dance moves. The air hostess glamour of Girls Generation song ‘Genie’ translates into high camp when the boys do it dressed as pink ribboned sailors. It’s hard to say which version is better. (You decide – watch the girls HERE and the boys HERE.)

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It could be said that K pop is uniquely Korean – a national character of steadfast service, obedience to tradition and goodwill, a must try harder and better, (whilst having fun) work ethic – which at the end of K pop concerts erupts into orgies of repressed emotion. Watch any of ShinEEs big concerts – by the penultimate song, lead singer Jonghyun will start crying and can barely sing, to the point where I have wondered whether it’s a stunt.  It’s not, it’s real. Footage of their French tour has them all in hysterics with the entire crowd chanting in French, ‘Don’t Cry.’ (which they must have heard in every language by now)

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But, K pop is also an incredibly skilful mimicry of Western, American pop and soul, with acutely observed and replicated physical and vocal motifs that owe everything to Michael and Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul and Prince. K pop singers can also rap like African-American rappers and dress accordingly too – almost past the point of good taste/political sensitivity, with nuances that might well be lost on the performers themselves. K pop is a performance art that has done the West better that  it could do itself – then exported the product back across the water. South Korea as a nation has in the last 20 years seen a meteoric rise, especially in the realm of technology and business and the ‘soft power’ of the creative and entertainment industries. Always in the shadow of the unpredictable North, a war survivor and a ‘catch up’ nation good at copying, not innovation, South Korea has now emerged into an undisputed global contender, with brand names, catch phrases, fast foods and household names that economists foresee will become ubiquitous in the West. K pop is an energy exchange, manipulated, arguably, by the older generation for the young, but in the hands of the young, has a life of its own. Go on YouTube and you will find that US high school girls are learning Korean just so they can understand their favourite K pop lyrics. They are also crushing heavily on the androgynous beauty of Korean men as a welcome contrast to American standards of  hyper masculinity. From the other side, delve behind the Korean fashion industry and you will see beauty products, accessories, makeup tutorials and whole streets of plastic surgery clinics devoted to making Korean eyes look more European. (also prevalent in China)

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Is this East/West love affair unbelievably messed up or – is something potentially more interesting going on?

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OK, so pop culture is mass manipulation – which has suckered me along with everyone else – but let me now focus on the positive. I first saw the the video to ShinEE’S ‘Hello’ playing at my favourite Korean restaurant where I sometimes stop before going to my teaching job. I was utterly taken. My first thought was how like Michael Jackson they were, in sound and choreography. Then, what genuinely good singing. But mainly they seemed to have a pink haired drag queen/LadyBoy singing with them – how progressive, unusual and refreshing. How gay! Was this a gay act? Of course it was K pop phenomenon Lee Taemin, youngest member and ‘maknae’ (trainee) of the group, (joined at 14 now 22) whom SHAWOL fag hags all over the world passionately hope is fellow member Choi Minhos gay lover.

… … … …

I began to follow ShinEE, to the point of even tracking down imports from now defunct HMV. Their whole act fascinated me. Not just their music, (they are great singers, each very distinctive) but also hilarious fan-made mashups, parodies and mistranslations that gently satirise group members quirks and also manage to reference the down low yet obvious gay undertones of the group. Here’s what was refreshing to me, since I am a gay act with virtually no role models.  I don’t like all their releases or – fashion phases, (blue contact lenses – no!) but at best, their energy is a perfect storm of male and female energy that makes more sense to me than anything I am seeing in the western music world, male or female, gay or straight. As a lesbian person, songwriter and performer – I am craving some sort of reflection back to myself of something that feels like me – a kind of third path. Femininity that’s tough, baggy trousered, streetwise, desirous of female company and not afraid to grab it’s crotch. Masculinity that’s camp, glam, kind, silly, funny, gentle and homo-erotic. They really are my honorary lesbians…

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And what about Amber (pictured above) – female rapper and dancer with K pop group FX? This super fit and bendy dancer was born and raised in the US, and can be under no illusions as to what her style suggests to a generation used to ‘The L Word’, ‘Orange Is The New Black’ and Ruby Rose. Amber is a pure delight, whether body popping on daytime TV, promoting her cosmetic line, ‘Talent’, filming her army reality TV experience (which positions her as a straight tomboy falling for the male officer – but we don’t believe her) or hanging out with the ShinEE boys singing, (google it) the Llama song. She radiates affability, humour and ease. She’s especially cute hanging out on the Eat Your Kimchi show – eating Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour beans – which may be a a fictional confection from the Harry Potter books – but also exist as a real product that’s big in South East Asia. She too, has attracted speculation as to whether she was involved with ShinEE members. They all grew up around each other in a celebrity environment so, who knows?

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At the end of the day, K pop kids, your gay fans don’t care that much if you are gay or not – we love that you might be. You make a product that is inspiring and ever so slightly challenging enough that it might just soften up the world we live in. We hope you didn’t have to sleep with unsavoury people to get to the top, that you are not too tired, dieting and working out constantly, and that you are not contractually forced into plastic surgery and that you are not mind controlled robots and that you get to see and spend some of those earnings. In the West we have a LGBT movement with lots of visibility and social acceptance. I understand that in South Korea – for all that Seoul has Gay Pride and a gay district – that things are much more on the ‘down low’ and less accepted in the conservative mainstream, especially with the older generation. Still, like in Thailand there seems to be a very unaffected natural same sex erotic flow that is actually more laid back than in UK media and society. No-one shouts ‘gay’ as a insult if men hold hands in the street (do they?) whereas in the UK, they will. Amber can look like a dyke in broad daylight on national TV and is safe to do so. Maybe visible K pop Bromance is a way for hidden but ‘genuine gays’ to hide in plain sight. Maybe it’s just affection and us ‘real gays’ in the west are guilty of sexualising everything. It’s hard to believe the love between this lot is not real. It comes across onstage as more than an act. And the widely available fan cam, candid and casual footage of these stars just hanging out, is filled with chemistry, attraction and affection. Who knows for sure?  Can these worlds meet? The wonderful combination of not having to call it what it is, but having the human right to do so, and yet one day not even having to. AND YET, being proud. Because love is love. Even as a distant dream – this is a world worth imagining.  So come out when you’re ready, guys and gals.

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 ShinEE fighting! 화이팅 ! Amber too! Gay Icons (or not) forever! 

 

Resources:

Eat Your Kimchi  Hugely enjoyable quirky travel and culture show by straight, but gay friendly Canadian couple Simon and Martina.

What the Pineapple  Ambers recently launched entertainment channel.

Sweet and Tasty TV  Language lessons, travel, food, culture and ‘KWOW’ (Korean word of the week) from sweet and tasty, age-defying, gender-bending Professor Oh.

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A Woman’s Worth…

 

(The picture is of Norma Jean Wofford, also known as ‘The Duchess’ – lead guitarist with Bo Diddley from ’62-’66. She doesn’t appear in the book I’m talking about here, but this image goes very well with my blog post title. There were dozens of artists that I could have envisaged in the project. Would I like to see Giving Birth to Sound volume II and III and beyond? Yes.  Also a CD compilation and a dedicated music festival? You bet. I’m dreaming big…)

This post is about the worth and significance of musicians – female ones in particular – our capacity as story-tellers, mediums, healers, visionaries, agitators, collaborators entertainers and communicators. Every week, I am still riding the wave of momentum generated by ‘Giving Birth To Sound’ – the new book by Cologne jazz publisher Buddy’s Knife. With a foreword by legendary jazz pianist Amina Claudine Myers and featuring 48 female musicians – including myself. Over a year ago, I was approached by the editor, Renate da Rin. Would I like to be interviewed for a book about female musicians in jazz and creative music? I was up for it of course, and now suddenly the book has arrived and it’s an absolute dream. I am honoured and happy to be sitting side by side with some of my influences and industry legends. A rich collection of personal histories and records of incredible achievement. The contributions have all been translated into English but each artist tells of a very personal relationship to sound, with a diverse range of nationalities, cultures, languages and instrumentation.

All the artists in the book are receiving our copies at different times and reading the final creation at different paces. Needless to say, with a sense of unfolding wonder and high hopes for further contact and projects. This feels unstoppable! For my part, I feel determined to draw attention to what has been achieved here and why it’s important. Despite distinct differences in age, race, language, education and geography, attitude to music, society and concepts of ‘womanhood’, there are common themes amongst the participants – which speak volumes about the times we are living in. An awareness of injustice, a recognition of global inequality and an economic climate where poverty is being demonised and money worshipped, the natural world being destroyed. A recognition that things are in some ways worse not better. A proud, fearless independence, but love of collaboration. An almost mystical, ecstatic reverie that comes from the creative process. Early exposure not just to musical stimulus, but to the worlds of the imagination. A generous passion and hope for the music above all – often expressed in words that are non-linear, poetic, idiomatic and rhapsodic. The book actually reads like a piece of music itself.

Women and girls have been told so many times that we can’t do stuff – either that we’re weak, incompetent and decorative … or in other periods of history and geography, that we are only good for sex, childcare, menial labour and social scapegoating, physical/emotional punchbags, with no access to self-improvement. I don’t say that lightly. In some areas, women have lower status than a domestic animal. Though happily, neither extreme is my own personal experience – the reality of worldwide abuse of women and girls is now so widely known about, that the concept of  female emancipation can no longer be ridiculed as some special interest feminist minority issue. It’s affecting the gender which is actually the majority. So it brings me joy when I see initiatives that really celebrate women. Our stories need to be heard. Some of them are shocking.

 (Here’s what I wrote to the editors:)

”The more I read of the book, the more I am blown away, with love and inspiration, heart quakes and shakes, tears of solidarity and empathy and also a fair bit of socio-political outrage. Today, reading the story of the musician who was accused as a child of being a liar – (TWICE) as her work was so advanced they didn’t believe it was hers… (this happened to me at school, with a play I wrote.)”  * I remember too, after a performance at the Isle of Wight Jazz festival, being approached by the (drunk) director of another prominent UK jazz festival. He accused me of not being the author of my own songs, which he threatened to  research and expose as classic standards which I had in fact plagiarised. Talk about a compliment and insult at the same time. I later received an apology …

 (I also wrote this to the editors:)

”I have to say, a book, (so much more than just a ‘book’) of this nature could not have happened at this time in the UK. We’re beset here with a governmental drive towards austerity that is unbelievable. But there are valiant pockets of rebellion and creativity resourcefulness, generosity and people-power all the more amazing, as we are operating against the odds here. A common theme amongst some of the contributors seems to be the increasing punishment of the poor and of poverty by government and media, affecting all artists – so maybe this economic trend is worldwide. BUT I am so thankful to you creative jazz loving folks at Buddys Knife – for your intellectual courage, determination and artistic integrity in doing this project.

Each one of these 48 contributors is not just a musical creator, but leader, visionary and dare I say it – shaman/sorcerer/witch/wizard/world-bridger and changer of epic proportions. Each with her own networks of international creativity. There are some global possibilities here. As with all creations – a mixture of strong desire/intent and a trust and ALLOWING… the inevitability and momentum of dreams coming to fruit : ) Thinking big. Loving large. Powering the imagination. Women are rising again.”

Here is the intro on the back cover, which says it beautifully. Here’s why you need to read this book! Please order it and buy copies for your friends, libraries, schools, jazz cafes. By doing so you will be helping to support the next stage of our journey – you too will be ‘giving birth to sound!’

”Giving Birth to Sound is about Her-story as told by some of the most brilliant and creative women musicians in the world. Individual thinkers and movers who have been brave enough to devote their lives to the making of music the way they hear it. They were not afraid to sing and speak in the name of sound, showing us that they are a family of unique individuals, separate but united. Read their words and listen to their music whenever you can – it will take you even closer to the great mystery called life.”

   How to buy the book:

   http://www.buddysknife.de/our-titles/

   info@buddysknife.de

   Available on amazon.com and amazon.de.

    info@buddysknife.de

    http://www.buddysknife.de/our-titles/

Thank you for reading!

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What’s going on, America?

Demonstrators march in New York, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014, during the Justice for All rally and march. In the past three weeks, grand juries have decided not to indict officers in the chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York and the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. The decisions have unleashed demonstrations and questions about police conduct and whether local prosecutors are the best choice for investigating police. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

What’s going on?

”Ain’t no new thing” … Gil Scott Heron might reply…

I’ve been awake at night quite a bit thinking about this. I watched the clip of Sandra Blands arrest and then of her mother speaking. Then I wanted to say something on social media, then realised it would take up too much space for a brief Facebook post. The ‘United States’. Undoubtedly and always a global hotspot of karmic chickens coming home to roost – but since August of last year, we are now witnessing an epidemic of racist police brutality that defies belief. I would go as far as to say that it’s a global tragedy. A planetary emergency. I would also propose that there’s something about it that borders on demonic. I have no wish to list or re-post any of the dozens of extremely disturbing candid clips, usually taken on civilian iPhones, of US police brutalising black citizens, including children. Every day there’s a new clip, a new report, a new cluster of ‘accidental’ deaths in custody, a new variation on the choke hold, the taser, the broken ribs/suffocation, the shoot-to-kill. I have watched a lot and am shocked and jittery every time and don’t want to ever stop being shocked and jittery, sad and worried and nauseated and distracted because I believe that’s the reasonable human response. The combination of 24 hours social media and on the spot amateur footage means we know more and faster – so is it worse than ever, or just looks that way?

There are calls for justice within America that are heroic, often poetic and artistic, dare I say it, shamanic in scope and courage. Brave and visionary, especially as just like in the ’60s, it’s becoming risky to be identified as an activist and I think this is why Sandra Bland was targeted for supposed ‘traffic infringements’. Since the shooting of Michael Brown, I’ve seen some incredible footage of flashmob style street opera,  peaceful spoken word protest outside police stations and an amateur video (which I will never forget) of a man praying/singing out loud, calling for help from the spirits and ancestors, even as the police electrocute him with a taser having wrongly apprehended and harrassed him, clearly out of their depth and presumably having run out of ideas. The citizen patiently and firmly reminds the police. ‘You don’t own me.’ The gap in intelligence between persecutor and captive is astounding. Ironically, the force of the taser knocks him out of the police grasp and he runs away. Also, there are also numerous black entertainers and celebrities, who are bringing their influence to bear by funding and supporting protest and by pressuring Barack Obama to step up. (If ever there was a time, now would be it…)

If America was a dysfunctional family member, (which arguably it is, special relationship and all…) common sense would surely now call for some sort of compassionate but very firm INTERVENTION. The UK has a unique responsibility in this matter. Therefore, where is the mainstream movement in this country? If you’re reading this and have any information I would seriously like to know if I have missed something. I realise there are petitions going around, grassroots activities, the Ferguson solidarity tour which came to Tottenham and Brixton last year, and many artists and jazz musicians, commentators and activists some of whom I know – who are doing good work – drawing attention to this and saying that it’s UNACCEPTABLE.  I’m not talking about any of that though. The bohemian, artistic community has limited power, time, energy and social leverage – struggling as many of us are to make any kind of living. What I mean is this – I want to see some comment and response from the mainstream UK establishment figures that actually have real power and influence. Again please tell me if I missed something…

Seriously… did I miss the plethora of UK pop entertainers at Glastonbury who used the power of the mic and mass media coverage to read out names of those murdered by the police? Or to call for some seriously sober 1 minute silences? Was it unreasonable to expect this at Wimbledon perhaps? Have I yet to be enlightened by mainstream UK actors or film/TV/music/sports celebrities – who are now boycotting the USA, refusing to tour or work there for example, until they sort the racism out? Where are the voices from white people in this country who need to be saying something? Again, people of at least some power and influence. White people need to be speaking to white people both here and in the US to extend firm alternative re-education and information to those who think they might want to join the law enforcement in order to express their racist brutality tendencies. (This needs to happen in the UK too, as we have our own horrible history of institutional racism – just fewer guns.) Some of these white cops responsible for racist violence, I consider to be mentally, spiritually and ideologically diseased. Individual expressions of a system based on arrogance and ignorance. Racism is a kind of mental illness/disconnection. It needs to be isolated and healed. And it’s not a ‘black’ issue – it’s clearly a white one.

America. Amerikkka. Land of the free. God bless America. Goddess help America. Turtle Island. A huge, beautiful and magical natural resource. Stolen, occupied land based on the deception and slaughter of its original people. Wealth and power built on the  kidnap, torture, rape, enslavement, brainwashing of African fellow humans. I have a book, ‘Iroquois Supernatural’ – about the diverse confederation of the Iroquois nations – whose territories, and later burial grounds constitute vast areas of upstate New York. And that’s just a fragment of the devastation. Anyone who has read ‘Roots’ or ‘Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee’ knows that the First Nations genocide and the slave trade ran side for side for generations. The legacy, literally the blood, still flows through the land with oppression continuing in modern form to this day.  From this history of abuse, what should we expect by now but a(nother) crisis point? How can we extend healing and cleansing?

I started this blog originally to highlight the work of the council of 13 indigenous Grandmothers. They have a prophecy which says that the global domination that is America, will be solved by America, from the enlightened, progressive agencies within, who can press for change. They also speak of the ‘eagle’ of the North, healing/harmonising/combining with the ‘condor’ of the South. This might mean a resurgence of traditional shamanic wisdom and a fearless move from powerful Americans of all races with a social conscience, to heal and transform the system. I hope so.

Thank you for reading.

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Resources:

”A Taste of Power – A Black Womans Story” by Elaine Brown  The fascinating story of activist, musician and Black Panther – Elaine Brown.

Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers – 13  wise elders and custodians of indigenous knowledge.

”Dream ways of the Iroquois” by Robert Moss.

Sergio Magana – Mexican lucid dream teacher. Healing dreamwork modalities from the ancient Toltec traditions.

”Iroquois Supernatural: Talking Animals and Medicine People” by Michael Bastine and Mason Winfield.

”The 5th Sacred Thing” by Starhawk – classic 1993 novel –  a blueprint for revolution.

South Dakota Exposed. – The Lakota Peoples Law Project reveals state operated psychiatric profiling and removal of Lakota children from homes and families into foster care.

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Giving Birth To Sound

 

This month I am pleased and proud to announce that I am featured in this amazing book, Giving Birth To Sound. Created by specialist Cologne jazz publisher Buddys Knife and a host of contributors working in the field of music – not just jazz, but uniquely personal interpretations of jazz, improvisation and creative sound. The line-up includes some major artists of the 20th century, some of which have influenced and inspired me greatly. What an honour – and I can’t wait to see what happens next! Here is some background from the website:

”Renate Da Rin and William Parker have invited 48 creative women sound artists to share their experiences in the process of creating music and living as an artist. These women come from North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia.”giving birth to sound” is about Her-story as told by some of the most brilliant and creative women musicians in the world. Individual thinkers and movers who have been brave enough to devote their lives to the making of music the way they hear it. They were not afraid to sing and speak in the name of sound, showing us that they are a family of unique individuals, separate but united.

Read their words and listen to their music whenever you can – it will take you even closer to the great mystery called life. Foreword by Amina Claudine Myers.

Among the great musicians we find Jay Clayton, Marilyn Crispell, Claudine François, Terry Jenoure, Joëlle Léandre, Marilyn Mazur, Nicole Mitchell, Maggie Nicols, Angelika Niescier, Lisa Sokolov, Ijeoma Chinue Thomas, Fay Victor, Jessica Williams … ”

Excited? Like a copy of the book? CLICK HERE  to order.

 

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On being a lone wolf ‘jazz monk’

 

I am a hermit crab, beavering away in my burrow. A solitary squirrel sequestered with my plans and lonesome longings in a mystical, maniacal, animal monologue of mixed metaphor.

I get quite few joke names, which include things monk and hermit related.

Beset with the guilt, the grandeur, the hauteur – that I ought not to be … an auteur.

Can’t help it. Anyone else out there with lone wolf syndrome?

New service based entrepreneurial models tell us now that business, creativity, society is all about connectedness – the ‘we’ not the ‘I’. And the new spiritual paradigm, likewise. Social media platforms now join us together 24 hours a day. There’s a pressure to get out there and network – fill the diary with at least one ‘out there on the scene’ social thing per week.

I’m trying. I look from the very pretty, but seemingly dead and self-regarding pixels of my smooth running technology and gaze outwards and upwards at the sky. The multi-hued data of nature…the wild wind, the raw information of the elements, insects, birds and flowers – all speak more loudly to me than my social engagements and responsibilities. Nature speaks in non-verbal, non-linear blocks of light and shadow, silence, sound and memory, signature scent and rhythm. Repairing brain cells that I lost through gazing at the computer screen or tirelessly tapping out tedious tendrils of text. Minds more patient than my own have made perceptive, peaceful and functional parallels between technology and spirituality. In every sense we have reached peak information saturation that requires of us something more intelligent than previously. As departed writer and psychedelic adventure Terence McKenna noted, this expanding endless ‘novelty producing’ universe has reached warp speed where a quantum leap through hyper dimensions, as hyper-humans, is the only next step. I sense a split – some beings and places are already there – others have fallen into stasis, atrophy and living death. There is pain and a pulling sensation.

Whatever, I’m pretty sure that the internal quest for self-knowledge, the mythical inner journey through the souls terrain, is not via the technology of computer networks, or even actual social engagement, but through the older, more organic spiritualities of lucid dreaming, sleep, silence, reflection – contemplation and co-operation with the balance of time and the natural world, of death, birth, renewal, decay and transformation. For me, this means periodically enjoying the almost forbidden pleasure of allowing my phone batteries to die in the middle of nowhere leaving me, temporarily and genuinely – unreachable. For those in the know, I often joke, I can be reached more quickly on the telepathic frequencies – and I reckon this is one of the skills we should be (re) developing. This requires quantities of time, alone, listening, watching, catching the wisps and impressions that blow across the still waters of the mind. It’s a state of active receptivity that sends many people into a panic and which they’d rather fill with chatter.

It’s an age-old dilemma for performers and entertainers who are also solo flyers and contemplatives who find it difficult to breathe in crowds and who tend to prefer the silent, but instructive company of beetles. I suppose it is this magical and necessary cusp that is my material. The artists job is to bridge the gap between the twilight worlds of image and association and the broad daylight of ‘everyday’ consciousness. This is how we heal ourselves and others. I’ve heard that wolves, though misconceived of as ‘loners’, are in fact very social and communal. It’s all about the balance.  Let us all honour our own methods and rhythms for navigating our creative seasons.

 

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Core Strength for Singers and Musicians.

 

 

 

Abdominal strength. Why is it so important for singers and instrumentalists?

I use a selection of ‘for the core’ exercises when I teach singing, and am always amazed at how many people aren’t used to connecting here – and the revelations that come when they do. Vocalists, if you want to make that long note something extra special, it’s the corsetry of your abdomen that’s going to make the difference. Your vital capacity, (the extent that you can hold your breath) will fuel it – but the layers of the abdomen (including but not restricted to the diaphragm) will support the breath and will also keep you standing rooted but tall, anchoring your whole body as you sing. I think of the voice as a divine instrument – it’s like lightning coursing down to earth – energetically, metaphorically and physically. You need to be as stable as possible when this power pays you a visit and to be the best lightning rod you can be.

I don’t necessarily advocate stomach workouts for the sake of vanity, bombarded as we are with unrealistic fashion images that can be very harmful to self-worth, (especially for women) if taken too seriously. Very few people have the kind of washboard torso glamourised by popular magazine culture. But if you do take some time to get to know your abs, you will certainly have a stronger back – great if you have to wear a guitar or bass, or sit upright at a piano, or carry heavy gear.

The internet is full of information, so this post is not supposed to be a comprehensive index or a definitive ‘how-to’ manual, just some pointers that I find useful as a musician (and martial artist) who likes to function at my optimum strength and fitness.

About Pilates. Joseph Pilates was a German bodywork pioneer who, according to accounts, discovered that his could rebuild his body, after prolonged illness, by using his core to lift his own body weight. He came from parents who were involved in alternative and progressive healing modalities, at a time when many holistic explorations of mind and body were becoming more popular. ‘Controlology’ is a term associated with his work. As a German stranded in the UK during the war, he used the time to hone his methods. ‘Pilates’ as a method works the deep core layers of muscle – rather than the surface six-pack (rectus abdominus) that most of us find so impressive, but are unlikely to have.

Some of what I’ve found useful is based on Pilates, but I don’t think anyone needs to pay loads of money for classes. At the risk of upsetting Pilates teachers, I would say that a decent book or video will do, then explore it for yourself at home. (Also have a look at those who have reframed the principles to create their own workouts, such as tennis player Martina Navratilova and ballerina Darcey Bussell.)

The most important thing to get right, is that before you attempt any of the exercises, your entire abdomen must be fully engaged. This is a workout in itself and will yield results. Then that state of tension must be maintained throughout all the lifting exercises. This creates the necessary resistance that works the muscles. This is the key. The more slowly and consciously you can work, the better. I don’t recommend any special breathing counts, just breath deeply and evenly. Some people will disagree with me on this and other content.

(*Always work within your limits and fee free to explore other opinions and methods.)

Here Goes: 

1. Lie on your back comfortably with feet on ground and legs at a 90 degree angle. Engage abdomen. Place cushion between knees and squeeze to keep it there. Lift pelvis completely off the ground in one movement. Raise arms above head. Slowly lower pelvis. Slowly lower arms. Feel the sensation as the torso lengthens. Works the upper abs. Do 10 very slow reps if you can. Breathe evenly. Simple but deceptively effective. You’ll feel it the next day.

2.  Lie on back as above with feet on ground and legs bent at 90 degree. Engage abdomen. Then lift legs into air so they are parallel with ground. Lift up shoulders and back and crunch. In this position lift your arms, palms down a few inches from the floor and ‘beat’ them gently up and down. Breathe evenly. Feel the resistance in the upper abdomen.

3. ‘The Roll.’ Lie flat on the ground. Engage abdomen. Visualise your navel touching your spine and try to flatten yourself against the floor. Maintain this throughout. Point toes. Extend arms above head. Breathe in and raise arms, fingertips to sky at 90 degree angle. Breath out and slowly roll up all the way, flex toes and touch them. Roll back in same way very slowly. 10 slow reps if you can.

4. The ‘Sally Gunnell’. I can’t remember where I read this but this is a great one from an athlete who knows what she’s talking about. Lie flat on ground. Legs bent at 90 degree angle. Engage abdomen. Arms supporting head. Roll up in classic crunch movement, in 3 distinct stages – the upper abs, then mid, then a full crunch. Reverse steps very slowly and consciously. 20 slow reps if you can.

5. Lie on ground with legs at 90 angle. Engage abdomen. Then lay both legs to the side but still be facing up. Feeling the stretch this creates on the upper abs. Arms behind head. Lift upper body up the sky. Not rolling or crunching, but UP. Works upper and transverse muscles. 20-50 reps each side. 100 once you get strong enough.

6. Lie on back with legs straight as you can pointing to the ceiling. Engage abdomen and flatten your spine against the floor. Arms behind head. Lift upper body off the ground, not rolling but UP. 20-50 reps. 100 once you get strong enough.

7. Lie flat on ground. Legs at 90 degree angle. Engage abdomen. Hook one leg over the other. Arms behind head. Lift and twist whole upper body aiming to touch opposite knee. Works transverse and upper abs.

8. Lie flat on ground. Engage abdomen. Place hands under buttocks, palms down. Curl upper body and remain crunched while looking at feet. Lift legs, keep them straight and pointed. Lift up and down in smooth, controlled movements. Do between 10-100 reps, as you get stronger. Works lower abs. Very intense. Not great for beginners – but one to work up to gradually. The upper abs first need to be strong enough to curl properly, otherwise the neck starts to strain.

9. Begin this as above. When engaged and curled up with upper abdomen, lift legs as a unit about 12 inches off the ground. Cross and uncross legs at the ankles. Between 10-100 reps. variation: lift legs as a unit and rotate clockwise, counterclockwise, then in opposing circles. Smooth, controlled movements. Advanced.

10. Whole core exercise. Sit cross-legged. Engage abdomen. Then stretch out legs in front of you. Reach with arms towards toes in an almost balletic gesture. Then lower yourself  slowly backwards and to the side, all the way down to the ground. Roll shoulders across ground and rise up in smooth controlled movement on other side back up to sitting position. Then reverse or as a variation can go in circles one direction. Must be very smooth, slow and controlled. Very intense and almost meditational. Takes 100 % abdominal engagement, deep breathing and mental focus.

As you go through your daily life, notice how your abdomen is one of those key areas, (unlike the bicep or tricep) which doesn’t need an opposing lever system to work. You can simply command it. Even just tensing and engaging your core muscles will strengthen them. Even more so, if simultaneously engaged in other exercise such as running, weightlifting, push-ups and/or intimate activities with significant others that I’ll leave to the imagination! Always remember, especially in the initial stages, to support and rest your neck and head as these will try to do the work for you until your abs develop enough strength to lift your weight. Practice eventually makes this easier. Also it’s as well remember the saying, ”abs are made in the kitchen.” Diet is the crucial other part of any exercise regime – but not part of this blog post – that’s for another day!

Have fun!

 

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You think this was tough? Check this out!  http://youtu.be/axeHMu3rk80

You might also be interested in my blog post about running:  https://fayepatton.wordpress.com/2014/08/20/the-benefits-of-running/

 

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