Y (whirl@slack.net)
Thu, 18 Feb 1999 17:10:46 -0500 (EST)
Folks, last night I have witnessed
the revelation of Terry Callier aka TC,
at Giant Step's party in SOB's, Zoo Yawk City.
The power of his persuasion compelled
me to be lured under jazz soul spell.
( This has got to be the first performance
I've seen in some while that didn't heavily rely
on electronics, ie. synth, mixing rack, tape loop.
Only simple strumming and guitar plucks,
wacky percussive tingling. )
I saw the Cult of TC in action.
A wild-haired woman in a black fake fur fuzz coat
pushed her way ( rather obnoxiously ) past me
to the TC after the performance to thrust
into his hands two ( what seemed to me ) coasters
with TC's likeness and sparkly glitter stickies.
Now why anyone would think that another would be so honoured
by having one's picture scanned onto a piece of cardboard pendant
is beyond me, but TC seemed quite pleased.
He's to be honoured today at the United Nations
for some sorta peace-keepin' award or recognition.
SOB's was all decked out for Mardi Gras.
Two huge masquerade masks in harlequin patterns
adorned the stage curtains
with a mural relief of a Brazilian carnival.
The crowd was a bit older and more mature
that the normal Giant Step crowd.
A bit ( ok, a lot ) of industry types,
I was asked once if I was with the Verve label.
Jabbed in the back a few times by this bitch blonde
in black who hung around the pole I was leaning against
in order ( so it seemed ) to stab me impatiently
with her elbow.
I was most impressed by the percussionist,
more so than praps the TC himself (yikes!).
He had a variety of toys splayed out on a table
and would intersperse the music
with a bird whistle, cuckoo calls
or the humming of Chinese hand exercise balls.
How appropos that yesterday was Ash Wednesday.
TC asserted his Judeo-Christian/Catholic roots
with a big black splotchy smudge on his forehead.
( To those Catholics in the audience,
what is the meaning of the 'ash' ?
I was initially freaked by co-workers yesterday
as they were discussing 'where to get the ash...' )
TC had an orange shirt pulled over his Pooh Bear belly.
His acoustic range was amazing.
Able to go from an acapella octave to a low
King Louie croon within seconds in a song.
" I won't talk about the airports
( referring to the boycotts therefore delays at O'Hare ? )
Or the big corporations,
You don't want to hear bout that ... "
His manner was unassuming, made only a few side comments.
Did song after song of downtempo roots stuff
for over an hour and was encored back on stage for more.
" And the song will be truth
and peace
and freedom
and justice
And the song will be/mean love ... "
There were diehard fans last night,
one Afro-American in a flowing white Punjabi suit
confinded in me ( a passing stranger )
" Man, he ended it with the first song
that I heard when introduced to his sound. "
The dude sounded positively reborn.
Terry Callier supposedly has collaborated
with Beth Orton ( yay ! )
on her new album
( altho' it may just be an LP, "Best Beth"
or something ).
After a seventeen year long odd absence
it was quite refreshing to see that
TC has retained all powers to thrill.
His album "timePeace" is out on Verve
( I think ).
Hobbled on over to the Knitting Factory
to catch Spooky's Afrofuturism with the Haubenator.
Missed Sussan Deyhim, unfortunately.
Paz,
Yvonne.
=
Her crop was a miscellany
When all was said and done,
A little bit of everything,
A great deal of none.
( Robert Frost, A Girl's Garden )
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Thu Feb 18 1999 - 23:06:30 MET