“The majesty of the blues”

Venus Williams and Serena Williams, Arthur Ashe Stadium, Flushing Meadows, New York, US, Wednesday 9 September 2015, o304 BST

(The sisters’ frame: Competition is at once rigorous and transformative and without rancour)

(Wynton Marsalis Sextet, “The majesty of the blues” [personnel: Marsalis, trumpet; Wess Anderson, alto saxophone; Todd Williams, tenor saxophone; Marcus Roberts, piano; Reginald Veal, bass; Herlin Riley, drums; recorded: Columbian Records, New York, US, 27-28 October 1988])

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81st birthday of Sonia Sanchez

(Born 9 September 1934, Birmingham, US)

Distinguished prolific poet, playwright, academic, freedom activist

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88th birthday of Elvin Jones

(Born 9 September 1927, Pontiac, Michigan, United States)

Renowned drummer and member of the 1960s John Coltrane classic quartet (Coltrane, tenor and soprano saxophones; McCoy Tyner, piano; Jimmy Garrison, bass; Jones, drums), who provides the polyrhythmic anchor for the group’s restless stretch of creativity, and whose duet passages with Coltrane in many a performance of compositions, during the period, are opportunities for profound commentaries and analyses on pertinent subjects of both domestic and international affairs

(John Coltrane Quartet, “One Down, One Up”: in this composition, which has Coltrane’s longest solo recorded [26 minutes], pianist Tyner and bassist Garrison create the space at approximately 13.13 minutes into the saxophonist’s solo for 13 minutes of one of the most breathtaking of duets – between Coltrane and Jones [personnel: Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Tyner, piano; Garrison, bass; Jones, drums; recorded: live, The Half Note, New York, US, 28 March 1965)

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84th birthday of Marion Brown

(Born 8 September 1931, Atlanta, US)

Distinguished lyrical alto saxophonist, composer, and academic, with a distinct Youngesque-low-key seemingly effortless tone who is the second alto (besides John Tchicai) in the historic 11-person ensemble that plays on John Coltrane’s composition, Ascension (June 1965)

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60th birthday of Osonye Tess Onwueme

(Born 8 September 1955, Ogwashi-Ukwu, Igboland)

Award-wining prolific playwright and academic whose works include Broken Calabash (1984), The Desert Encroaches (1985), Ban Empty Barn (1986), Legacies (1989),  Tell It to Women (1995), Then She Said It (2003), What Mama Said (2004) and Riot in Heaven (2006)

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85th birthday of Sonny Rollins

(Born 7 September 1930, New York, US)

One of the preeminent tenor saxophonists of all time, composer of leading jazz standards including “St Thomas”, “Oleo” and “Doxy”, and composer of  “Tenor Madness” where he engages in the historic dialogue with fellow tenor master John Coltrane

(Sonny Rollins Quartet and John Coltrane, “Tenor Madness” – with that historic dialogue between the great two tenors [personnel: Rollins, tenor saxophone {takes second solo before the later engaging dialogue with Trane!}; Coltrane, tenor saxophone {takes first solo}; Red Garland, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums; recorded: Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, US, 24 May 1956])

(Sonny Rollins Quintet, “Decision” [personnel: Rollins, tenor saxophone, Donald Byrd, trumpet; Wynton Kelly, piano; Gene Ramey, bass; Max Roach, drums; recorded: Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, US, 16 December 1956])

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FWD: Daniel Schávelzon and Flavia Zorzi, “Afro-Argentine archaeology: A case of short-sighted academic racism during the early twentieth century”

Daniel Schávelzon and Flavia Zorzi, “Afro-Argentine archaeology: A case of short-sighted academic racism during the early twentieth century”, The Journal of Pan African Studies, Vol. 7, No. 7, December 2014, pp. 79-88  (academia.edu) 

Abstract

During the early 1930s an African cemetery was discovered fortuitously at Arroyo de Leyes, a free settlement of Arroyo de Leyes, 550km from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Hundreds of bodies were buried here with pottery from the late 17th to early 19th centuries. But since the discoveries could not be related to the native archaeological culture of the area, most of them were destroyed or neglected by museums and archaeologists and for the next fifty years the name of the place and its objects remained forbidden topic in academic circles until the find’s importance was reconsidered recently. However by this time, the site and objects had almost vanished which included the people who lived at or near the site.

(Vessel with two heads from Arroyo de Leyes found during the 1930s excavation – see paper in link below – [photo: C Ceruti, Paraná Museum, Curitiba, Brazil])

https://www.academia.edu/15306734/Afro-Argentine_Archaeology_A_Case_of_ShortSighted_Academic_Racism_During_the_Early_Twentieth_Century (accessed 7 September 2015)

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