| HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSEPH JARMAN!! |
SEPTEMBER 23, 2007
Special for THE NEW TIMES HOLLER!
(c) Amir Bey, 2007
|
Craig Harris and Joseph Jarman
Joe Fonda, Ornette Coleman and Ilse Pfeifer
Deborah Bowie and Jerome Cooper
Kunle Mwanga and Linda Harris
HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY JOSEPH JARMAN!!
Special for THE NEW TIMES HOLLER!
September 23, 2007
By Amir Bey
Joseph Jarman, the multi-faceted musician, turned 70 on September 14, and had a birthday celebration at Ornette Coleman’s the next day. He was surrounded by friends and acquaintances such as Oliver Lake, Linda Harris, Kunle Mwanga, Brian Smith, Craig Harris, Deborah Bowie, Jerome Cooper, Joe Fonda, Ilse Pfeifer, Patricia Parker, Saco Yasuma, Shosh Rayzl, Guy Frazier, Chris Chalfant, Amir Bey, Ornette and many others.
Joseph said many years ago, that the most important thing to know and remember about him is his music. However, when I met Joseph in 1975 I thought he was one of the most talented people I’d seen: musician – theatrical musician I should say, being one of the founding members of the Art Ensemble of Chicago; writer with good speaking technique –check out his Black Case 1 and 2 and to add, as a Buddhist he became a student and teacher of Aikido. His concepts for music and performance are inspiring, but let’s not only stop at what he’s done to understand who he is – he is a connoisseur of: photography, art, writings, costumes and has collaborated with many dancers and artists … hey; the whole world has his attention!
By the bye, when I’ve run into Ornette on the street he’s always struck me as wise and intelligent; now that I’ve been in his home I’ll have to add kind and gracious: making sure that everyone was comfortable, even inviting people to play his saxophone if they’d like, this, while his guests were surrounded by fine examples of modern and classical African art, juxtaposed with the work major African American and international modern artists, endowed a special event with a marvelous circumstance.
|
|
