Siki was one of the first African-American heels, and wasnât scared to push the envelope. At one point, he changed his name to Mau Mau Siki, after the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya, and was nearly hung in Walla Walla, Washington. âI was the last one to leave the dressing room, and people were out there waiting for me. They had a rope up in the tree,â he said. âWhen youâre young, you do a lot of foolish things. I walked downstairs, laughing like hell. âHa, ha, you crazy people.â I walked right through them â I didnât run. One thing I learned, you donât run; you start running, thatâs a bad thing, they run after you and get you.â
Wow!
He played Walk on the Wild side repeatedly and made it ârecord of the weekâ before the BBC bosses realised what the lyrics were about, too late to stop it.
Years later Lou Reed was a guest on his show and talked about his early career saying his career was not doing well and some DJ in Europe started playing WotWS over and over again. Johnnie said âthat was meâ and Lou replied âOh so it was you Johnnie Walker. Youâre the one whoâs being paying my rent after all these yearsâ'.
Sheâs going to come back as some sort of undead entity and haunt plastic surgery conventions or something, isnât she.
Death becomes her.
Flautist Jamie Baum reflects:
RIP Usted Zakir Hussain
(1951 -2024)For those of you who know me well, my passion for South Asian music and culture (in particular India and Nepal) runs deep. While being made aware as a youngster through the music of the Beatles, Coltrane, etc., I was more formally introduced to South Asian music when I went to NEC by a few friends (including Danny Bittker and George Brooks) who were passionate and serious students of the genre. In addition, I took a class taught by Peter Row, a wonderful musician himself who had spent several years studying and performing in India.
While I love the bansuri flute, Iâve always been enthralled by the sound of the tabla, particularly the âbayaâ drum, the larger one with its lower pitches that just seems to resonate in my gut. In fact in 1999 when I applied for the first of two 6-week US State Department/Jazz Ambassador tours I would do (and later several sponsored shorter ones), I was asked at the audition where i would like to travel to if chosen. I immediately said India! At that time, that program was only accepting trios and Iâd auditioned with guitarist Sheryl Bailey and bassist Jennifer Vincent. While we were one of seven groups to win the audition, the tour that had India on the itinerary included Pakistan, and the folks at the State Department werenât keen sending an all-female trio to Pakistan at that timeâŚso off we went to South America instead. Having such an amazing time on that tour, I reapplied the following year (with a different group) and in 2022 got to go to India in addition to Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the Maldives (Pakistan was no longer part of that itinerary).
To make a long story shortâŚIâve since been on tour to India three times and Nepal four, have included tabla, singing bowls and music either dedicated to, influenced by, rearranged songs by and /or collaborated with South Asian musicians on four of my five Septet+ recordings.
Back to Zakir HussainâŚthere are no words to accurately describe his gifts as genius master musician and what he did for the tabla and Indian music! So I will not attempt it because, like his millions of worldwide fans since his passing, Iâve been obsessed with the myriad of incredible videos posted on-line of both his performances at the different periods in his life and evolution as a musician, and his informative interviews. All worthy of your time! Itâs been a bit of a ârabbit holeâ and I could paste pages of linksâŚbut Iâll just offer a few that seem like either a good introduction, so good it will make you laugh with glee and astonishment, and/or are thought-provoking that will give you a glimpse into what a special being he was. Like many have posted âwe will not see another in our lifetime like Zakir Hussain.â
Enjoy!
With his father: https://youtu.be/BgG7BhIBSAU?si=iqphw8Gsf8V3ztWp
âWhy Music is Importantâ: https://youtu.be/Lk8hfBJRvcM?si=yDs5LRehtyLd6mo2
With Shakti :Tiny Desk Concert: https://youtu.be/Cx8AaSvH4EQ?si=8pxa44NUBJpaWMhU
Interviewed at Google: https://youtu.be/Y4_KbtwVj24?si=SI87x_tpt5VEH0K3
Short version w/Akbar Khan: https://youtu.be/DgoPC3celDA?si=ZFeQDSJ4T2cnBOds
Longer version w/Akbar Khan: https://youtu.be/DkhszSkR4GM?si=FrMffbyeioKXAfHV
W/Dave Holland & Chris Potter: https://youtu.be/aPCjTbjG8V0?si=cNd6LzG7WLe_kwCa
At Univ. of Washington, 19 yrs old: https://fb.watch/wOpwcN28fm/
(via email list)
I would have had an extremely difficult time conversing with her IRL. Maybe Iâdâve managed had I looked only at her eyes?
Maybe not.
Just make believe that youâre at a con.
You are a fountain of wisdom, my very dear.
We had Thomas and Friends on almost continually for years in the early '00s for my youngest. Her autism was soothed by it somehow. Drove me bonkers, but that was a cheap trade.
Thanks, I needed that perspective today.
Dude is the same age as me (or as I was yesterday)⌠
My older brother got some of the original books, probably purchased when my parents were living in GB back in 1952. I think we still had them in the 1970s, but theyâve gone the way of all things.
And he was Aubrey Plazaâa husband, right? How awful.
Yeah, he was⌠other outlets have said itâs a suicide, but I donât know if thatâs been confirmed or not.