The Napping Wizard Sessions

This episode is just the music of the Variations Kervilahouen by Marie Duprat. For my commentary, informed by discussions with Marie, check out Part 1 of this episode. But if you’re here, you just want to enjoy the music uninterrupted. So here are the ten Variations Kervilahouen by Marie Duprat, inspired by a trip to the island of Belle-Ile-en-mer in France in 2006, and recorded in 2007 at Gennevilliers Conservatory.

01 Vazen

02 La Pointe du Talut

03 Moulin d'Anvort

04 Grotte de L'Apothicairerie

05 Locmaria

06 Ty Nehue

07 Les Poulains

08 L'Ile du Diable

09 Goulphar

10 Epilogue

In this show, I’ll walk you through the piano compositions of a friend of mine, Marie Duprat. She composed Variations Kervilahouen after a two-week visit to Belle-ile-en-mer in France in 2006. I’m playing versions mainly from a recording she made at Gennevilliers Conservatory in 2007, but I also mixed in a few – under my narration and the main one from La Pointe du Talut – from a recent concert at L'Atelier du Plateau in Paris in 2019. If you want to listen to just the music, without my commentary, I’m including a Part 2, so you can go there before or after listening to this one.

Marie was born in Strasbourg, in the Northeast of France. She studied music at the Strasbourg Conservatory and later moved to Paris to get her piano degree at Gennevilliers Conservatory. She continued her studies, this time in philosophy, history and literature, at the Sorbonne. She was on track to become a professor of philosophy when she was offered a job as an assistant at France Musique to conduct radio interviews dedicated to jazz and classical music. For the next ten years, she immersed herself in the music of others. In 2004, after what she described as exciting years, though filled with anxiety from time away from her own music, she left this job. In 2005 she allowed herself a self-imposed sabbatical to turn back to the piano, singing, writing and finding her artistic center. It was in June 2006 that she went to Kervilahouen. After that time she participated in a theater project in Rome with the comedians and authors Luisa Merloni and Fiora Blasi in Cabaret Hypocondriaque in 2007-2008. In 2011 she composed the music for a film documentary of the structural anthropologist Jean-Pierre Vernant by director Emmanuel Laborie and also composed stage music for a production dedicated to the poems of Arthur Rimbaud titled Vies ou les courants de la lande. In 2013, she realized a project titled Partita based on the No. 2 for piano of Johann Sebastian Bach with dancer and choreographer Laetitia Angot. Next it was her 2008 experience with comedians that led her to again collaborate with Fiora Blasi on Never Mind the Words where the two play the roles of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, and Marie recomposed much of the music of the films from the two comedic actors’ catalogs. Her most recent project is another collaboration centered on the allegory of Plato’s Cave. You can find out more about her here: https://www.atelierduplateau.org/agenda/voir/8131 and here: https://vimeo.com/214157227

In this series on The Napping Wizard Sessions called ONE SONG I’m taking deep dives into single songs. In this episode, I take The Clash’s WRONG 'EM BOYO and chart the history behind it that connects late 1800s America through the true story and legend of Stagger Lee with the Jim Crow American south, reggae and the Jamaican Rude Boys, the Black Panthers, John Sinclair, the mods, skinheads and the birth of punk in the UK, and push it up against the anti-immigration and racist climate we're witnessing today in the dis-United States. For what appears to be a simple song, after peeling back the layers, it ends up becoming something like an anthem for solidarity, uniting racial and social struggles, and fraught with the glorious embellishment and vernacular drift of oral traditions. A lot of people are curious - What does 'Em Boyo mean?

REFERENCES AND FURTHER INFO:

Audio Ammunition. Documentary of The Clash. GooglePlay Original, 2013.

Brown, Cecil. I Stagolee. CA: North Atlantic Books, 2006.

Brown, Cecil. Stagolee Shot Billy. MA: Harvard University Press, 2003.

Chuck D. Stay Free: The Story of The Clash, Spotify original series, 2019.

Cox, Alex. Sid And Nancy + DVD extras. UK: Initial Pictures, 1986 and DVD extras.

Egan, Sean. The Clash On The Clash. IL: Chicago Review Press, 2018.

Gates Jr., Henry Louis. The Signifyin(g) Monkey. NY: Oxford University Press, 1988.

Gray, Marcus. Route 19 Revisited: The Clash and London Calling. UK: Random House, 2010.

Henzell, Perry. The Harder They Come. Kingston, Jamaica: International Films, 1972.

Lomax, Alan and John. American Ballads And Folk Songs. NY: Dover, 1994.

Marcus, Greil. Mystery Train. NY: Plume, Revised Edition, 2015.

Temple, Julien. The Future is Unwritten. Parallel Films Production, 2007.

…and various other sundries on YouTube

SONG CLIPS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

00:00:00 The Clash, Wrong ‘Em Boyo, 1979

00:05:43 Lloyd Price, Stagger Lee, 1958

00:08:12 Herb Weidoeft and His Band, Stack ‘O Lee Blues, c1924

00:08:42 Gertrude Ma Rainey, Stack O’Lee Blues, 1926

00:08:57 Amy Winehouse, live at Arena Anhembi, São Paulo, Brazil January 15, 2011

00:09:11 Cliff Edwards, Stack O Lee Blues, 1928.

00:09:28 Furry Lewis, Billy Lyons and Stackolee, 1927

00:09:40 Mississippi John Hurt, Stack O’ Lee, 1928

00:10:10 The Clash, Career Opportunities, 1977

00:10:29 Frank Hutchinson, Stackalee, 1927

00:10:39 Archibald, Stack-A-Lee, Parts 1 and 2, 1946

00:11:08 Fats Domino, Stagger Lee, Live at Montreux, 1973

00:11:32 Dion, Stagger Lee, 1962

00:11:51 Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Stagger Lee, 1996

00:12:20 Taj Mahal, Stack O’Lee, 1969

00:12:49 Keb Mo, from the movie Honey Drippers, 2007

00:13:02 R.L. Burnside, Stack O Lee and Billy Lyons, (year ?)

00:13:32 Sidney Bechet, Old Stack O’Lee Blues, 1946

00:13:42 Wilson Pickett, Stagger Lee, 1967

00:14:05 Elvis, rehearsal recording, 1970

00:14:17 Bob Dylan, Stack A Lee, 1993

00:14:35 Woody Guthrie, Stackolee Muleskinner Blues, 1944

00:15:00 James Brown, Stagger Lee, 1967

00:15:18 The Black Keys, Stag Shot Billy, 2004

00:15:51 Sol Hop’opi’i, Stack O’ Lee Blues, 1938

00:16:17 The Rulers, Wrong Emboyo, 1967

00:19:44 The Clash, Wrong ‘Em Boyo, instrumental, 1979

00:21:09 Junior Murvin, Police and Thieves, 1976

00:22:00 The Clash, White Riot, 1977

00:23:04 MC5, Kick Out The Jams, 1969

00:24:05 John Lennon, John Sinclair, 1971

00:24:57 John Lennon, David Frost Show, 1971

00:25:50 The Clash, I Fought The Law, 1977

00:27:05 The Who, Won’t Get Fooled Again, 1971

00:27:53 The Rulers, Copasetic, 1966

00:29:01 Jimmy Cliff, They Harder They Come, 1972

00:30:03 The Clash, Paul’s Tune, 1979

00:31:10 The Clash, (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais, 1977

00:32:50 The Rulers, Don’t Be a Rude Boy, 1966

00:33:22 Bob Marley and the Wailers, One Love, 1977

00:33:48 The Clash, Wrong ‘Em Boyo, 1979

00:35:17 The Rulers, Wrong Emboyo, 1967

00:36:00 The Slickers, Johnny Too Bad, 1971

00:37:12 The Rulers, Be Good, 1966

00:39:07 Joe Strummer, hostility clip from The Future Is Unwritten, 2007

00:39:32 The Clash, Rudie Can’t Fail, 1979

00:39:57 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Stagger Lee, 1996

00:40:15 The Clash, Guns of Brixton, 1979

00:40: 34 Mississippi John Hurt, Stack O’ Lee, 1928

00:40:43 The Clash, Guns of Brixton, 1979

00:40:53 The Clash, Death or Glory, 1979

00:41:54 Furry Lewis, Billy Lyons and Stackolee, 1927

00:44:35 The Clash, Wrong ‘Em Boyo, 1979

00:47:45 (007) Shanty Town, Desmond Dekker and the Aces, c1972

00:48:46 Bob Marley and the Wailers, Buffalo Soldier, 1983

00:49:06 The Rulers, Wrong Emboyo, 1967

00:51:07 The Clash, Wrong ‘Em Boyo, 1979

00:52:04 Bob Marley, Jammin’, 1977

00:52:19 Scotty, Draw Your Breaks, 1971

00:53:02 The Clash, Wrong ‘Em Boyo, instrumental, 1979

00:55:56 Joe Strummer, on punk, The Future Is Unwritten, 2007

00:56:17 Joe Strummer, on drugs, The Future Is Unwritten, 2007

00:56:23 Joe Strummer, on pitfalls, The Future Is Unwritten, 2007

00:56:54 The Clash, Police and Thieves, 1977

00:57:47 Joe Strummer, on people, The Clash On Broadway Interview, 1981

00:59.16 Bob Marley, Punky Reggae Party, 1977

01:00:31 The Clash, Wrong ‘Em Boyo, live, Capital Theater, Passaic, NJ, 1980

01:00:38 The Clash, Wrong ‘Em Boyo, 1979

Tracking recorded at BRIC podcast studio, Brooklyn, August 17, 2019

In this episode, Jimmy Raskin puts the cliché under the microscope through a process he calls Slapstick Enlightenment. Always obsessed with profound moments of failure, Jimmy discusses his love of two quotes by seminal figures of his work for the past several decades, Arthur Rimbaud: “If brass wakes as a bugle, it’s not its fault,” and Frederick Nietzsche, the subtitle to Thus Spoke Zarathustra, “A Book for All and None.” Putting these up against a profound moment of failure of his own in a mispronunciation of "polyphony," and finally against a recently found inspirational quote by an unlikely source, “All that is is there, all that is is here, all that is is,” he goes deep into his love of clichés and how the artist can resuscitate them.

Find Jimmy’s work at: Miguel Abreu Gallery: http://miguelabreugallery.com/artists/raskin; http://jimmyraskin.com/; http://thelasteccentric.com/

Supplemental tracks:

Jimmy Raskin, The Last Eccentric; George Jones, Wrong is What I Do Best; Jerry Lewis, The Nutty Professor; X-Files Theme Song; The Bob Dylan Foundation, feature on Joe Andoe; Blinded By The Light, Manfred Mann and more excerpts from Jimmy Raskin’s audio works.

Record date: January 27, 2019, BRIC Arts Media

Air date: April 01, 2019

From 1977-2018 Adrienne Whiteley worked at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, NY. As a voice major in college, she found part-time work as a seasonal employee at the zoo. She didn't know then that she had fallen into her career path. Over the next 41 years she worked her way up to the position of Senior Zoo Keeper, Collection Manager and Registrar, overseeing most aspects of the Zoo’s operation, and, most importantly, animal care and well-being. Since 2007 she has been teaching a highly popular course at Syracuse University on zoo animal management. In June 2018 we sat down to talk about elephants that paint, why penguins are vicious little monsters, unpredictable lions, the heart problems of gorillas and Bambi. “There’s a saying in the zoo community that there are more tigers in Texas than there are in the wild. Nobody needs a tiger.” Learn more about this wisdom and of Adrienne’s perspective on the zoo experience and the state of zoos and animal welfare in the American context. This interview is a bonus edition to my first episode of Premise: A Bold Move With The Cowardly Lion. In this isolated interview I cut the bits about the lion in the elementary school and focus on Adrienne’s experience and insights. To listen to her parts in Premise, find episode S02 E01 Premise: A Bold Move With The Cowardly Lion in my past shows.

*Photo of M'Wasi and Kierha (©Rosamund Gifford Zoo), the last two lions at the Rosamund Gifford Zoo. Kierha died in Dec. 2017 and M'Wasi in August 2018, shortly after this interview. Adrienne was fortunate to work with them.

In this multi-part series, I explore Peter Gabriel as a storyteller from the early Genesis years, 1967-1975. As introductions to the songs and as entertaining banter while the band tuned their complex Prog Rock instruments, Peter Gabriel told stories to the audience about the upcoming song. I compile these stories, grouped according to their corresponding songs and chart their growth. Along with the elaborate costumes Peter created during this period, he also concocted whacky stories: The Green Trouser Suit, Thomas S. Eiselberg and his onions, Henry and Cynthia on the croquet pitch, five rivers with one dirty mouth, Romeo and Juliet go to the cinema, Michael and his worms, Rael, the Slippermen and more. This series is for the true early Genesis fan and for those who don’t know the full scope of what Peter Gabriel added to the band during the years he was with them. Part 3 covers the stories from the Selling England By The Pound group - Britannia eating Buddha biscuits, the cosmic lawmower, the dirty mouth of the fifth river, Romeo and Juiliet at the cinema - and The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway - Rael's adventures in NYC, a crashing cinematic wall, a prickly porcupine, a chamber with 32 doors, Lilly White Lilith, humpy, bumpy Slippermen and Rael's brother John.

In this multi-part series, I explore Peter Gabriel as a storyteller from the early Genesis years, 1967-1975. As introductions to the songs and as entertaining banter while the band tuned their complex Prog Rock instruments, Peter Gabriel told stories to the audience about the upcoming song. I compile these stories, grouped according to their corresponding songs and chart their growth. Along with the elaborate costumes Peter created during this period, he also concocted whacky stories: The Green Trouser Suit, Thomas S. Eiselberg and his onions, Henry and Cynthia on the croquet pitch, five rivers with one dirty mouth, Romeo and Juliet go to the cinema, Michael and his worms, Rael, the Slippermen and more. This series is for the true early Genesis fan and for those who don’t know the full scope of what Peter Gabriel added to the band during the years he was with them. Part 2 covers the rest of the stories from the Nursery Cryme group - horrifying hogweeds and the first hermaphrodite - and then Foxtrot - a martian or Coca-Cola, two women being evicted and expected to shrink to 4 feet for their next apartment, King Canute commading the waves (or not) and Michael and the worms announcing Supper's Ready.

In this multi-part series, I explore Peter Gabriel as a storyteller from the early Genesis years, 1967-1975. As introductions to the songs and as entertaining banter while the band tuned their complex Prog Rock instruments, Peter Gabriel told stories to the audience about the upcoming song. I compile these stories, grouped according to their corresponding songs, and chart their growth. Along with the elaborate costumes Peter created during this period, he also concocted whacky stories: The Green Trouser Suit, Thomas S. Eiselberg and his onions, Henry and Cynthia on the croquet pitch, five rivers with one dirty mouth, Romeo and Juliet go to the cinema, Michael and his worms, Rael, the Slippermen and more. This series is for the true early Genesis fan and for those who don’t know the full scope of what Peter Gabriel added to the band during the years he was with them. Part 1 covers The Green Trouser Suit, early Genesis singles, Trespass and The Musical Box from Nursery Cryme.

This is a show about mumbling and other vocalizations. It’s a collection of jazz songs where instrumentalists engage in a verbal exchange with their instruments. Some mumble or hum along with the melody, some transcribe poems to melodies and leave out the words, some start with found recordings and mimic the melody of the spoken word. Some start with the melody and add words to mimic it. And others speak directly into the mouthpiece as a substitute for a microphone. While you’re listening, feel free to talk to yourself, mumble or harmonize along. Songs included by Oscar Peterson, Errol Garner, Keith Jarrett, Lionel Hampton, Charles Mingus, Branford Marsalis, John Coltrane, Jason Moran, David Dockery, Felipe Continentino, Pharoah Sanders, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Anthony Braxton, and I finish with some of my own Poems To Be Read Through A Saxophone.