Facundo Cabral, an Argentine singer-songwriter who was one of the most eloquent voices of protest against military dictatorships in Latin America from the 1970s onward, died on Saturday, shot to death while on tour in Guatemala.

via Facundo Cabral, Argentine Singer-Songwriter, Dies at 74 – NYTimes.com.

I never knew about you while you were alive but a casual glance at a news headline about your death and now I am one amongst the millions all over the world who mourn your passing. You were born in dire poverty, you struggled through life, you suffered the pain of losing early those dearest to you and yet you survived, and yet you sang of hope, of beauty and wonder, of justice. But in the end you had to die a violent death, one you wouldn’t wish for even for your bitter enemies, mowed down by cowardly bullets. Oh, this wretched, wretched world! Adios amigo…

“Never allow yourself to be confused by a handful of killers, because good predominates. A bomb makes more noise than a caress, but for each bomb that destroys, there are millions of caresses that nourish life.”

“I always ask God, ‘Why have you given me so much?’ You’ve given me misery, hunger, happiness, struggle, enlightenment … I’ve seen everything. I know there’s cancer, syphilis and springtime, and fried apple dumplings”

“I love life so much because it cost me so much to enjoy it.”

His most famous song, No Soy de Aquí, ni Soy de Allá (I am not from here, I am not from there) has been covered by such luminaries as Neil Diamond and Julio Iglesias, apart from many others in the Latin music world. This song was originally improvised by him during a concert (video above) and differs slightly in its lyrics from subsequent versions. The translation below is from the live version’s lyrics.

I love the sun, Alicia, and the doves
A good cigar, a Spanish guitar
Jumping walls and opening windows
And when a woman cries

I love wine as much as the flowers
And rabbits, but not tractors,
Homemade bread and Dolores’ voice
And the sea wetting my feet

I am not from here, I am not from there
I have no age, I have no future
And Happiness is the color
Of my identity

I love to always be lying on the sand
And chasing Manuela on a bicycle
And all the time to see the stars
With Maria in the wheatfield

I am not from here, I am not from there
I have no age, I have no future
And Happiness is the color
Of my identity

(Photo © Yahoo! Mexico)

“This is Jim Morrison of The Doors suggesting you can light your own fires and open your minds by turning on to a new magazine called Cheetah.”

A Radio promo from October 1967 – it just sounds hilarious coming from the same voice as the one on An American Prayer reading all that deranged, beautiful, self-composed poetry.

“On leaving the church they were surrounded by an angry mob and shoved off the street and into a park. They were surrounded for about seven hours, with pro-government supporters shouting insults. The women responded by staying on their feet, silently staring their opponents in the face.”

The Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) of Havana, Cuba go to mass every Sunday wearing white dresses and then silently walk through the streets. This is their silent protest, not for or against any government or ideology or ruler, but simply to express their desire to be reunited with their husbands, sons, fathers, brothers, who were arrested and summarily tried and sentenced in 2003 by the Cuban government for their work with the Varela Project, a grassroots initiative to institute constitutional reforms and promote human rights in Cuba.

Varela Project organizer Oswaldo Paya:

None of those convicted in April 2003 was charged with using or having weapons, inciting violence or disorder, espionage, or any other crime. They were convicted for expressing their opinion, exercising free journalism, and promoting civic initiatives.

Cuba’s Black Spring and the Ladies in White – The Huffington Post

Their strategy and method of protest appear to be adopted from the famous Madres de Plaza de Mayo in Argentina who were demanding information on their missing sons from the military dictatorship that ruled the country. They have been immortalized in popular culture through songs such as Sting’s They Dance Alone and U2′s Mothers of the Disappeared.

Amabilis Insania is Latin for Pleasing Madness – which to me is what Music stands for. Music drives us to rapture or despair far greater than most of our own experiences are capable of – insanity, in other words. But it is an insanity which we crave, which pleases our senses, which makes life worth living. Music is such an abstract and subtle thing – a certain waveform of sound that finds resonance in us – tweak one note and it will be useless noise. Amabilis Insania is dedicated to that thing!

Anyone who knows me will tell you how big a part of my life Music is, even though I can’t create any. To say I love Music will be one of the understatements of this century and the last! Consider this – in the age of magnetic cassette tapes, I had around a thousand to a thousand and a half of them (which were ultimately given away for five Indian Rupees a kilogram by my parents when they sold the old apartment and moved!); the era of compact discs kind of passed me by and I could manage a meagre four hundred which I still possess; in this new millenium of the ubiquitous em-pee-three I already have over nine thousand of them and that number keeps going northwards each passing month! Now that I have you convinced, let me move on…

My Insania started quite late, only in my teens actually. Though I was touched by Music probably since the day I was born – the melodies out of my mother’s sweet voice and the musical nursery rhymes tape that my father brought me from England included – I was totally unaware of the vast ocean of Music that existed across the seven seas. A friend of my adolescent years introduced me to some new forms for which I am forever in his debt. It was the spark that ignited this fire – the fire to listen and discover Music. And it’s still burning…

At this point I would like to confess an embarrassing secret! For all my love of Music, I can’t play any. I can tolerably sing and may even have been a self-professed karaoke king of Jakarta! But when it comes to plucking strings, banging skins, blowing wind or pressing ivories, I have no skills – zero, zilch, nada! People ask me, do I play any music? And my answer has always been, no, I listen!

Regarding my tastes in music, I love Jazz, but I also love Blues and Rock. Even though I do not understand much, there are a few Indian Classical Ragas and Western Classical pieces I hold dear. I discovered Indonesian Gamelan during my two year stint in Jakarta and it grew on me. I might even listen to some Electronic Music when I am in the mood. And I am not embarrassed to admit that there are even a few Pop or Bollywood tracks which I enjoy! For me, first and foremost, it is about the Music and how I react to it. I don’t care about the labels and the sophistication. It has to move me, up or down. Period!

Now to come to the raison d’etre of Amabilis Insania. Another friend long, long ago had remarked that I should make my career in Music – not really in playing Music, but something that revolves around it – a radio DJ for instance. Now, on the wrong side of thirty, I do not harbour such illusions any more – Life happened to me while I was still making plans. But recently I realised that I could at least share some of the wonderful Music that I know and some that I discover – some greater benefit from what is purely a private affair. If you hear something new here and it touches you in some way or if you hear a long-forgotten tune and it revives some dusty memory, I can be glad that, even though I did not create it, at least I helped someone find it and in some weird way we shared a moment.

So, my dear friends, as usual I look for your indulgence! Do visit it sometimes, listen to some tunes, leave your impressions – and above all provide some encouragement to this otherwise dull and meaningless life of mine!

Amabilis Insania

“Roy Zimmerman is a Californian satirical singer-songwriter and guitarist with outspoken left-wing opinions.”

Wikipedia on Roy Zimmerman.

I have never heard about this guy. But Creation Science 101 is one funny song!

The lyrics:

God made the world in seven days
Well, that’s one week to be specific
Now, that’s what I call scientific
Say Hallelujah, sing His praise

Four thousand forty-two B.C.
On Monday, August twenty-seven
He made the earth and sky and Heaven
Then he punched out at five-oh-three

Then he made Adam, and then Eve
A garden for them to inhabit
The apple right where Eve could grab it
And I’ve got proof, ’cause I believe

Creation Science 101
In the beginning it begun
And you are just beginning to educate yourself when you shun
Evolution

Then Cain and Abel he begat
And they begat all of the rest to us
Which means they must have been incestuous
I’m going to have to pray about that

There might be sinners in this class
Who might believe in Charles Darwin
I guess that’s just their loss and our win
Because I’m gonna flunk their ass

If you make Genesis your text
You’ll laugh at Darwin and what he sees
To be the origin of species
Because he’s just plain oversexed

Creation Science 101
You ain’t no monkey’s great grandson
You’ve got a research paper due
’bout the fifty reason to shun
Evolution

Don’t let em’ hand you that old jive
About survival of the fittest
That notion don’t pass the bullshit test
‘Cause look at me, I’m still alive

God made the world just like it is
He made the fossils just to tease us
Old bones to test our faith in Jesus
Yeah, this’ll all be on the quiz

Creation Science 101
Now Armagedd-your homework-done
Because when this semester’s through,
It’s straight A’s for students who shun Evolution

The kids get such an education
When they shun
The heretical theory of the development of life on earth over millions of years by means of spontaneous genetic mutation

Getch yer tikets hier!

Man, I am going!! Anyone wants to come along?

A Grammy-winning, chart-topping musician who has a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Grammy Hall of Fame – that should be enough achievement for one lifetime, right? Wrong!

Lester William Polsfuss also can be safely credited with the invention of the one instrument that changed the face of twentieth century music – the electric guitar. The one instrument that pervades almost all genres of Western music and is the ultimate symbol of cool came into being in the 1950-s largely as a brainchild of this man, who is better known as Les Paul. In fact his name is so synonymous with his invention that for a long time I thought that the name of the guitar was Les Paul and had no idea of the genius behind it! But that is not the sole innovation that he engineered – he is also known for his pioneering contributions to multi-track recording, overdubbing, delay effects etc.

Les Paul passed away on August 13 at the ripe old age of 94, leaving behind a legacy that will be hard to match and even harder to surpass. This is in tribute to the great man, for where would I be without electric guitar music. Almost all music that I love has that in common. Across genres and styles, electric guitar is the common thread that binds my music.

Tom Morello, the guitarist of  Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, sums up my feelings best,

“RIP Les Paul. Thank you for the instruments that changed the course of music. If you have ever rocked or been rocked, you can thank Les Paul.”

(I owe Prasun a thank you for reminding me to post about this! )

—–

“Yes, ‘n’ how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?”

Last evening went to the screening of Burma VJ – a very well-made, taut and engrossing documentary which focuses on the undercover reporters in Burma working under great personal threat to bring the images of brutality in their country to the world, the backdrop being last year’s protests that started with the monks, on behalf of the people, and soon became a popular uprising. Though sometimes a subject as strong as this eclipses the film-making, the director Anders Østergaard adds his powerful story-telling technique that resonates with the story to give us an end-product that is touching as well as thrilling. You feel the anticipation and anxieties of the reporters in a very real sense – I had goose-bumps! And you are also saddened at the inevitable end which is best summarised in the words of the narrator, Joshua, one of the reporters himself, (though he is talking about the ‘88 uprising), “So many people died for nothing”.

A highlight of the evening was a video conference with the director at the end of the screening. Amidst the inescapable inane questions from people out to prove their intellectual superiority, there were a few poignant moments. One was a Burmese man living in Singapore who got up to thank the director on behalf of his people. The moment attained greater significance upon personal reflection actually. Living in the comforts of Singapore, if I had to watch such brutality on familiar streets and avenues of my birthplace committed upon my own people, who were not as lucky as me to have escaped, I can very well imagine the sickness I would have felt at the bottom of my stomach. The other special moment was when the director, in answer to a question on how we could contribute, remarked that in a way we are already contributing by keeping the issue alive in the collective memory and conscience of the people of the world. Do not forget Burma and its people. Do not forget Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

(In a humorous aside, the MC last evening was something of a dud, and posed the most number of questions to the director and most of them of the pseudo-intellectual variety. During one of his questions, I forget which one, he started by saying “Living in a free country such as Denmark or Singapore…”. And the whole audience burst into spontaneous laughter! I have no idea why! Wink wink!)

—–

“Yes, ‘n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?”

Bomb blasts in Jakarta – one of my favourite cities in the world, if I ignore the legendary traffic jams of course!

JW Marriott – Just next to the hotel and part of the same complex, are the residential apartments Sailendra, which was the address of my boss and her partner, two of my favourite people in Jakarta.

Ritz Carlton – One of my best friends in Jakarta, an amazingly talented pianist, whose website I maintain, used to be a regular performer in the lounge bar there and I do not even remember the number of times I have relaxed to her music sitting in spacious, comfortable couches, after a particularly difficult day at work.

The familiarity of these places which were attacked today probably stirs up the mind in this manner, a mind which is otherwise numb to violence by now. In a similar manner as when Bombay trains were bombed – trains which I have taken home almost every evening for five years – or people were gunned down like cattle at Victoria Terminus – a station that has witnessed many sad farewells and warm welcomes, including a few where I was a player.

But the recurring images in my mind are that of the friendly, helpful and always-smiling Indonesians working at these places – a few of them probably the sole bread-earners of their families. So will the suicide bombers, martyrs in the cause of Islam, reach heaven while thrusting these families, fellow Muslims, to hell on earth? Will some Muslim friend of mine answer me that? Please…

Bali, Bombay, Jakarta, London, Madrid, New Delhi, New York – How many deaths will it take?

Picture courtesy The Jakarta Globe

—–

(The song and the lyrics…)

Playing for Change is beautiful! It is about the power of music. It is about the power of people. It is about the power of humanity. Simply put, “Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music”. Please be a part of it.

Anyone who knows me will tell you how big music is a part of my life, even though I can’t create any. I love Jazz, but I also love Blues and Rock. Even though I do not understand much, there are a few Indian Classical Ragas and Western Classical pieces I hold dear. I might even listen to some electronic music when I am in the mood. And I am not embarrassed to admit that there are even a few Michael Jackson tracks which I enjoy! For me, first and foremost, it is about the music and how I react to it. I don’t care about the labels and the sophistication. It has to move me, up or down. Period!

And ‘”Playing for Change” did more than that! It made my eyes moist at the lost opportunities of the human race.

Playing for Change began a decade ago, the brainchild of Grammy-winning music producer and engineer Mark Johnson. “I was in a subway in New York on my way to work, and I heard these two monks playing music,” he recalls. “They were painted head to toe, all white, wearing robes. One was playing a nylon guitar, and the other was singing in a language I didn’t understand. There were about 200 people who stopped to watch, didn’t even get on the train. Some had tears in their eyes. And it occurred to me that here is a group of people that would normally run by each other, but instead they’re coming together. And it’s the music that brought them together.”

For ten years Johnson and his team travelled the globe, with a single-minded passion to record little-known musicians for what would become Playing for Change – its name evoking the coins thrown to street musicians as well as the transformation their music inspires.

They have come a long way since then and have had artists like Bono, Keb Mo and Manu Chao contributing to their cause. They have a double album out now. You can buy the CD online, or if you are in the US or Canada(Prasun, I am looking at you!), you can even buy the MP3 album. I have already ordered the CD just before posting this! What better convincing could I ask for than the fact that the primary musical inspiration for this movement has been Bob Marley! As they clarify,

If there is one musician in the world who has been the musical inspiration for Playing for Change, it is Bob Marley. He created music that allows us to feel good while we examine the struggles and importance of uniting as a human race. His music can pick you up when you are down and raise you to a level of consciousness and understanding that brings peace of mind and heart to millions all over the world. “One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain.”

Even if we can’t play, let us at least listen… for Change!

(Last words – I wanted to thank Kanya, on whose Facebook page I first discovered Playing for Change.)

[UPDATE: My favourite from this site has to be this, featuring Bono:

]

This year saw the release of two live albums of collaborations between some of the greatest Western musicians alive – the first in Jazz between John McLaughlin and Chick Corea and the second one in Blues Rock between Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood. And what struck me were the similarities between the two endeavours.

First striking similarity – the album covers, as pictured above. It almost seems like they conspired to do this!

The circular logo design of the covers is not the only reason this post is called ‘Full Circles’.  I was also ruminating on the similarities in career paths of the two collaborations and the four artists.

McLaughlin and Corea met in the late 60s, in the early days of their careers in the legendary Miles Davis’ band (which was unofficially Miles’ finishing school for aspiring, young and talented musicians!), featuring in such path-breaking albums as In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew. Then they went their separate ways, leading other bands and eventually found solo success that might at times even rival their mentor’s. And now, after nearly 40 years, they are playing together, the musical lessons learnt over these years having sharpened them to the finely edged musicians that they are.

Clapton and Winwood first played together, again in the 60s, in a very short-lived band (intentionally, as it was brought together only to celebrate the opening of the London office of the Elektra record label), called Eric Clapton’s Powerhouse. But they got together again, in what is considered as one of the first super-groups – Blind Faith. Though short-lived as well, it produced a hugely successful eponymous album that topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. After other bands (which includes Winwood’s Traffic with Jim Capaldi, a personal favourite!) and stellar solo careers, though admittedly one more successful than the other, they got together for a sold-out three night affair at Madison Square Garden. Though they have collaborated in live concerts a few times in the past since the Blind Faith days, it has always been with other musicians on stage or as part of a festival.

In other words, they have come ‘Full Circles’!

(The other similarities – both the pairs have remained good friends through the years and all four of them are in their sixties, being born in the 1940s within years from each other – Corea 1941, McLaughlin 1942, Clapton 1945 and Winwood 1948.)

Go over to Amazon to sample the tracks or to buy the albums! Shameless promotion, innit?!