Old East Village

This is just a heads up that there will be some sort of action by concerned parents and members of the Old East Village  community against the possible closing of Lorne Ave. Public school.  It is scheduled for January 21, at the Thames Valley School Board at Dundas and Highbury.  I'm waiting for more details about the time and other stuff, from a friend whose kids go to the school.   I'll be sure to post them when i know more.  So keep January 21 in your minds if you want to come join the fun.  I also heard something about closing the library on Quebec street too!  We need to keep our schools and libraries up and running!  read more »

MAG REVIEW: WAXPOETICS - photo issue

picked up the WAXPOETICS - photo issue. it hit newstands last week. it's got mr. miles davis on the front and rap legend slick rick on the flip. waxpo' is the baddest-ass music magazine covering jazz, funk, hip-hop, soul - with a record (that's vinyl, y'all) collector slant. not since 'big daddy' magazine have a collective of music 'journalists'/lovers put together such a tight composition of articles informing, educating, and inspiring other folks to dig deeper and find the essence of sound beyond the top-40 charts.

each issue of waxpo' is well researched history of what has been termed as 'african-american', but i'll just call it BLACK music -- brazilian, peruvian, north american, european, asian - people from all over this globe have been inspired by the polyrhythms and backbeats from the african motherland for decades. waxpoetics puts the stories of the music veterans in your hands to read. the writers focus on giving the players, and those most involved in the history a booming-voice to tell their story, in their words.

this issue has the movers and shakers from the early years of hip-hop tell their tales in photo-form. Photo essays from old-skool documentarians bill adler (def jam), joe conzo (yes, yes, y'all), charlie ahearn (wild style), jamel shabazz (a time before crack), ernie paniccioli (word up! magazine), and, janette beckman (the breaks: stylin and profilin) to name just a few.

two articles stood out for me -- one is an 'in their own words' interview with the major players of miles davis' electric funk band - michael henderson, pete cosey, james mtume. they made some revolutionary albums together with mr. davis during the period of 1970-75 ('on the corner' and 'pangaea' are standouts), and got dragged over the predominantly white jazz critics conservative coals. the second article is about the making of 'check your head' by the beastie boys. it encompasses their move to the west coast after prior release of 'paul's boutique' and the creation of G-son studios and a new instrumental-beastie sound.

cop this mag, YO! i gots every issue.

recommended reading: can't stop, won't stop and total chaos both by hip-hop-journalist jeff chang (solesides/ quannum crew)  read more »