Home Rule Mag.Zine Issue 2.

HE PLAYS TO MAKE MUSIC FIRE: THE PYRAMIDS, AFRICA AND BEING A GRIOT OF OUR TIMES

THE LINER NOTES: STOP ERASING BLACK WOMEN FROM FREE JAZZ HISTORY

ODE TO NEW LIFE: WES FELTON ON THE FELTON ARTISTIC LEGACY

Issue 002

HOME RULE ZINE Celebrating Past Futures

HOME RULE ZINE

SUMMER 2023 | ISSUE 002

Issue 002

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jackson Sinnenberg

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jamal Gray

ART DIRECTOR St. Clair Castro-Wright Jr.

PUBLISHER Home Rule Foundation

PRINTER

Heritage Printing

ASSISTANT EDITORS A.M. Wolfe, Jordan Handler

SPECIAL CONTRIBUTING WRITER Marcus J. Moore

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Tommy Gartman, Leon Spinner, Brianna Thomas, Majeedah Johnson

TABLE OF CONTENTS

04. Editor‘s Letter 05. 2023 Sponsors 06. 2023 Artist Line Up 08. D.C. Jazz Fest Review 14. NextFest 19. Legendary Venues: Malcolm X Park 24. Sugar Bear 28. The Liner Notes: Stop Erasing Women from Free Jazz History 34. The Pyramids Box Set 42. Lou Stovall 48. Hilton & Wes Felton © 2023 Home Rule All Rights Reserved, Unauthorized Duplication Without Prior Consent is Prohibited.

Summer 2023

02

03

Letter From The Editor Even before we published the first issue of Home Rule Magazine back in June 2022 – to coincide with and serve as an expanded guide to the first Home Rule Music Festival – we knew we could not leave it as a one-off, one-issue publication. The work we did in pushing D.C. music history, vinyl culture and creative musicians to the forefront felt like necessary work, especially as more of that history is forgotten or destroyed by gentrification; AND there is a great resurgent interest in the music of D.C. thanks to reissue labels and the current vinyl culture. We worked over the last several months to dive into these topics more and flesh out these areas of interest more for this issue. The thread of legacy records prominently comes up in three pieces in this issue. Our feature story focuses on saxophonist and bandleader Idris Ackamoor, a Chicago-born, now Bay Area-based artistic polymath who led a pioneering Afrocentric, free jazz group out of Yellow Springs, Ohio – the Pyramids – in the early 1970s. The group’s first three albums are being celebrated now by Strut Records in a box set, Aomawa: The 1970s Recordings, made as part of the label’s celebration of Ackamoor’s catalog.

The Pyramids’ and Idris’ story of being ahead of time, unacknowledged by the jazz hierarchy, relates very much to the stories we tell about D.C. jazz artists, especially those captured on the Black Fire label. In fact, Jimmy Gray included advertising about The Pyramids in the second issue of his own Black Fire Magazine. Tommy Gartman talked to Wes Felton, son of the great D.C. pianist Hilton Felton, about the renewed interest in his father’s work and his own part in channeling that artistic legacy. The third pillar in this issue’s focus on artistic legacies comes from the brilliant writer and curator

2023 Sponsors Production Partners

Community Sponsors

Capital Bop

Ameriprise Financial

Home Rule Music & Film

Mayor’s Office for Community Affairs

Sponsors

Washington Commanders

The Parks at Walter Reed

Rock Creek Conservancy

ANXO

Don’t Mute DC

HR Records

DC Maven

International Order of Odd Fellows - Lodge #10

DC Music Summit

DC Office of Lottery & Gaming

Ward 4 Mutual Aid

DC Office of Film, Cable, Television, Media & Entertainment

Art of Living

(OCFTME)

Department of Energy & The Environment

Eaton DC

Chase Bank

Songbyrd Music House

Media Partners

Black Cat DC

WPFW – 89.3 FM

DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities

Takoma Radio

Destination DC

Radio One

Mag.Zine Sponsors

Washington Informer

Tranquil Treasures Green Cloud MITA Cafe

Marcus J. Moore – a proud son of Prince George’s County – who is letting us reproduce entries from his sharp, insightful newsletter “The Liner Notes” (for the first time in print). In this entry, “Stop Erasing Women from Free Jazz History,” Moore looks at the recent reconsiderations and celebrations of

Blake Dickson Commercial Real Estate Abram Mamet Upper Georgia Avenue Main Street

free jazz and asks where are the myriads tributes, accolades and think pieces for women like June Tyson, Linda Sharrock and Margo Ackamoor like there are for their male contemporaries. We also dive into the recent and longer histories of live, public music festivals with a trio of fantastic pieces by historian Briana Thomas and writers Majeedah Johnson and Leon Spinner. Thomas, a historian of the U Street neighborhood, takes us through the history of Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park as a space for music in the city, from its origins through CapitalBop’s second iteration of NEXTFest (which Spinner recaps) – as part of a regular series we will do every issue focusing on different legendary concert venues in the D.C. area. Johnson provides a splendid recap of the 18th annual D.C. Jazz Festival and looks at the legacy of Lou Stovall’s work as an artist who helped visually capture the mood of D.C. jazz in the 1970s. We also take a dive into the history of one of our headliners – E.U. – with an interview frontman Sugar Bear did with Dr. Bryan Jenkins for E.U.’s 50th anniversary and the first Home Rule Festival last year.

Dig in and stay curious,

Jackson Sinnenberg 04

05

Friday 6/16

ARTIST LINEUP

Kassa Overall Foots X Coles DJ Underdog

HR Fest Launch

After party

Saturday 6/17 Brian Jackson E.U. featuring Sugar Bear Kahil El’Zabar Doug Carn with the Home rule band Mark Meadows and The Movement The Experience Band & Show DJ Aquarian Saturday 6/24 Hamid Drake’s Turiya Hear in Now Jamal R. Moore

06

Home Rule Music Festival

HR Fest Closing Night

07

ISSUE 002

Honoring The Spirit of Creativity: A Review of the 2022 D.C. Jazz Festival

By Majeedah Johnson Christian McBride Insight Straight performs at the 2022 DC Jazz Festival Photo Credit: Jati Lindsay

THE D.C. JAZZ FESTIVAL, HELD THIS PAST LABOR DAY WEEKEND, DELIVERED A REMARKABLE LINEUP OF LIVE ENTERTAINMENT AND ENGAGING ACTIVITIES FOR FESTIVAL GOERS.

For its 18th year, the festival continued a legacy of honoring the spirit of creativity across multiple generations of innovators and visionaries; featuring some of the genre’s heavy hitters and esteemed newcomers. The return to in-person festival events – after two years of virtual offerings due to COVID-19 – attracted record-breaking numbers of attendance. The Wharf, where many of the events were held, offered a picturesque backdrop of activity on the marina and nearby restaurants and retail shops for a family-friendly weekend. From music performances to historical documentaries and ‘Meet the Artist’ sessions, the D.C. JazzFest provided for a weekend of community-building, artistic expression, and passion.

The festival’s programs opened to a well-paced momentum of compelling events throughout the five days of gatherings. For its opening night at the notable Howard Theater, world-renowned and GRAMMY-award winning singer Kurt Elling performed heartfelt tunes; and Washingtonian juggernaut Christie Dashiell opened the concert, dazzling attendees with her captivating vocal performance.

08

On Friday, September 2, Diane Reeves and Orrin Ev-

sages” - featuring Steve Wilson, Chris Potter, Ron Blake,

ans’ Captain Black Band performed to a sold-out audience

Thomas Enhco, Scott Colley, and EJ Strickland - Marc

at The Arena Stage. Regina Carter’s Gone in a Phrase of

Cary Trio, Dan Wilson Quartet, Donvonte McCoy, and Vox

Air and a concert by the same name was also featured

Sambou. Magnificent tunes from the Mambo Legends Or-

at the Arena Stage. The piece examines the loss of com-

chestra, led by John ‘Dandy’ Rodriguez, ignited the crowd

munity and businesses across the country, especially felt

to their feet with many attendees showing off their best

in communities with Black and brown people and fellow

dance moves. As former musicians of the Tito Puente Or-

neighbors who were disenfranchised. The post-panel dis-

chestra, the cohesiveness of these jazz masters rendered

cussion, led by Kymone Freeman, Co-Founder of We ACT

spirited tunes which were steeped in the history of mambo.

Radio, further engaged audience members on the impact of urban renewal.

On Sunday afternoon, among the crowd favorites,

Electrifying live performances at The Wharf on Satur-

Christian McBride & Inside Straight performed a series of

day, September 3rd included those from: Cindy Blackman

conversational jazz compositions featuring masterful solos

Santana, The Baylor Project, Chien Chien Lu, The Larnell

from Peter Martin (piano), Steve Wilson (alto and soprano

Lew Band featuring Joy Lapps, Giveton Gelin Quintet, and

sax), Carl Allen (drums) and bandstand leader and bassist

Heidi Martin Ensemble. On Sunday, September 4, festival

McBride as well as Baltimore’s own Warren Wolf on vibra-

goers enjoyed live sets by Emmet Cohen Trio, Dayramir

phone.

Gonzalez & Habana enTRANCE, Patrick Zimmerli’s “Mes09

Drummer Cindy Blackman Santana performs at the 2022 DC Jazz Festival Photo Credit: Jati Lindsay

While Ron Carter’s Golden Striker Trio breathed new

Henri was not permitted to film Hargrove’s live perfor-

life into traditional and elegant jazz standards, the festival’s

mances abroad and therefore had to insert old footage

closeout performers, The Chuck Brown Band adjourned

from shows in the U.S. However, Henri’s limited access to

the evening with a series of body-moving go-go classics.

Roy for filming shaped the moments that were captured.

Roy’s complicated relationship with his manager Larry

At the Arena Stage, the D.C. JazzFest hosted a screen-

Clothier lingers throughout the documentary with some

ing of Hargrove (2022), the documentary chronicling

former bandmates noting that their departure was influ-

Hargrove’s genius and inspirations, which focuses on the

enced because of Clothier.

last year of his life. The film, led by director Eliane Henri, includes interviews and conversations from Hargrove’s

The focus on Roy’s transformative impact on jazz, hip

comrades including Erykah Badu, Yasiin Bey, Sonny Roll-

hop, and fusion are among the remarkable highlights doc-

ins, Questlove, Marc Cary, and Christian McBride. The in-

umented. His gift of bridging artists from multiple genres

tricacies and obstacles surrounding Roy’s life, as covered

to create remarkable music will remain his legacy. Har-

in the documentary, can leave audience members feeling

grove’s passing at 49 was a tragic loss to the music world.

incomplete as Roy succumbed before the project’s completion.

10

The Ron Carter Golden Stryker Trio performs at the 2022 DC Jazz Festival Photo Credit: Jati Lindsay

Among the face-to-face panels, This Woman’s Work,

The most recent DC JazzFest was an outstanding

held in the Meet the Artist tent, proved for insightful di-

presentation of community engagement in support of

alogue around the successes and obstacles that women

jazz performance. The compelling live offerings from jazz

experience in the jazz industry. Among the panelists, D.C.

legends and newcomers along with the Meet the Artist

JazzFest president and CEO Sunny Sumter shared about

sessions allowed audiences in-depth experiences with

her career within the world of jazz while festival publi-

their favorite artists. Post-event discussions encouraged

cist Lydia Liebman discussed her journey as a publicist

dialogue around the future of jazz performance and en-

and the value of artistic collaborations. The panel also

gaging new generations of artists and listeners. With the

discussed the uniqueness that women bring to projects

successes of this year, this year’s D.C. JazzFest promises

which includes leadership, nurturing, and innovation in

to work with musicians to show the further evolutions of

moving jazz forward. Audience members contributed to

jazz music.

the discussion in addressing additional measures where the public can further support inclusivity in the jazz community such as openly acknowledging women who are contributing to artistic projects and endorsing women for meaningful, professional opportunities.

11

2023 HR MUSIC FESTIVAL PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

COLUMBIA LODGE #10 419 7TH STREET, NW, WDC Have you been searching for a way to help others and be a part of something bigger than yourself?

SCAN THE QR CODE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LARGEST, UNITED, INTERNATIONAL, CO-ED FRATERNITY IN THE WORLD! or email ioofcolumbia10@gmail.com The mission of the IOOF is to: “visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead, and educate the orphan.”

WE ARE A DIVERSE ORGANIZATION & HAVE MEMBERS OF ALL FAITHS, RACES, GENDERS, OCCUPATIONS & ABILITIES WITH 600,000+ MEMBERS IN 10,000+ LODGES IN 30+ COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE!

ARE YOU ODD ENOUGH?

ISSUE 002

Washington is home to some of the finest musicians in the country, and CapitalBop’s mission is to ensure that the

NEXTFest’s second iteration continued to honor the continuum of Black music in D.C.

natives are aware of all its homegrown talent, especially in jazz, funk, soul, and D.C.’s creative imprint, Go-Go. In 2021, NEXTfest featured musicians responsible for establishing one of D.C.’s premier independent Black jazz record labels and those making their mark on the city’s contemporary scene. Among these artists was Richmond and D.C. legend Plunky Branch and his group Oneness of Juju and Jamal Gray [Disclosure: Home Rule Magazine’s Creative Director] who performed with his genre-blurring

By: Leon Spinner

ON SEPTEMBER 24 & 25 2022, SWARMS OF WASHINGTONIANS GATHERED AT THE HISTORIC MALCOLM X PARK IN THE COLUMBIA HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD IN D.C. FOR CAPITALBOP’S SECOND ANNUAL MUSIC AND COMMUNITY FESTIVAL.

group, Nag-Champa Art Ensemble. The presence of these two groups made the festival, unintentionally, somewhat about the legacy of the D.C.-based independent music label, Black Fire Records. Plunky was one of the label’s more prominent artists and a co-founder, and Gray is the

NEXTFest, the organization’s free, two-day festival –

great jazz, funk, and instrumental music. The COVID-19

son of the label’s co-founder and executive, Jimmy Gray.

jam-packed with workshops, cultural programs, and some

pandemic delayed the idea of a festival by a couple of

In addition to witnessing Black Fire [and Black jazz] roy-

great music – welcomed D.C.-area residents to participate

years, but in 2021 NEXTfest blossomed into life with a suc-

alty, attendees also were able to see Idol Beings, a D.C.

in all the festivities at the twelve-acre park in the uptown

cessful turnout of more than 3,000 DMV residents in its

jazz/soul duo led by Akua Allrich (vocals) and Kris Funn

neighborhood of Columbia Heights.

inaugural year.

(instruments/producer), GoGo dignitaries, Marc Cary’s GoGo Project, and TOB Band & Show.

While the festival entered its second year of existence,

CapitalBop, for those unfamiliar, is a nonprofit organi-

NEXTfest 2021 accomplished one of its several purpos-

it has been an idea of the creators, Giovanni Russonello

zation “dedicated to preserving, promoting and presenting

es: to remind Washingtonians of the city’s musical history

and Luke Stewart, for years longer. Stewart, a renowned

jazz in Washington, D.C.,” taking great pride in building au-

and the musical tradition that continues to thrive with the

bassist and presence in the creative music world, and

diences and community around Black music because it is

district’s younger artists. Another festival objective was to

Russonello, a jazz writer for The New York Times, created

essential to the city’s historical identity, according to the

showcase the bridge between D.C.’s go-go and jazz scene

CapitalBop to give residents exposure to some of the best

organization’s mission statement.

and the genetic links in the culture. For the casual listen-

and boldest creatives, and revive the city’s enthusiasm for

14

er, the two genres may seem worlds apart. However, the

Marc Cary Go Go Project NEXTfest 21 Photo Credit: Yusef Jones

Godfather of go-go, Chuck Brown, was a student of and honored D.C.’s rich jazz heritage with his funky guitar (i.e., Brown’s rendition of the Duke Ellington standard, “It Don’t Mean a Thing”). The love affair between jazz and go-go is deeper than admiration. One of Black Fire Records’ top acts, Experience Unlimited (shortened to E.U. sometime later), became go-go ambassadors, championing the style in some of its earliest recordings (see E.U.’s 1977 album Free Yourself). The 1970s was a period that saw a significant shift in music: Funk, soul, disco, and R&B replaced jazz in Black communities as the music of choice. In the nation’s capital, go-go was born out of this sudden shift. In its inaugural year, CapitalBop teamed up with Long Live Go-Go (aka Moechella) founder Justin “Yaddiya” Johnson to ensure that D.C.’s music had a place at the table. Johnson, an artist, and activist who works to challenge how city newcomers and local law enforcement handle go-go, has been a vital contributor to the festival’s success as a key sponsor, city advocate and performer.

15

According to CapitalBop organizers, 2022’s theme was

the makeup of the communities north of U Street. Accord-

D.C. Statehood, a politically charged theme as the nation’s

ing to many of the festival attendees, NEXTFest capital-

capital’s fight for statehood reemerges as a potential pos-

ized on the park’s location and the neighborhoods fun lov-

sibility. “It’s about pushing for the city to continue having

ing and overall celebratory spirit with its lineup of renown

a voice, and doing this through music, activism, and the

musicians and community activities. The music started on

arts.” Preserving and remembering native Washingtonians

September 24, and festival attendees were able to enjoy

fighting spirit is another key element of the festival’s pur-

an impressive lineup of talented artist including, legendary

pose and is factored into everything for the CapitalBop

Baltimore drummer Lenny Robinson, D.C.’s own Raw Po-

team, right down to the location of the festival, Malcolm

etic with Damu the Fudgemunk, New Impressionz, UCB,

X Park. This is a place that has been a significant site for

Cecily, as well as park staples like the Malcolm X Drum-

preserving what remains of Black Washington in its past.

mers & Dancers. On the following day attendees gath-

Today, the park is known for the historic Sunday drum cir-

ered near the Josephine Butler Parks Center for a bevy of

cles that date back to the late 60s, its beautiful views of

workshops, panel discussions, and cultural programming.

the uptown D.C. landscape, and oddly charming statues

Discussions and workshops that included DC Statehood

scattered throughout the square. Some who frequent the

NOW! with Eugene Kinlow and Dr. Maurice Jackson, “Go-

park may also point out the yoga circles, poetry readings,

Go as a Weapon of Culture” moderated by Dr. Jocelyn

and acoustic guitars littered throughout the area on any

Imani, and a viewing of Barry Farm: Community, Land

given weekend. Still, the park’s history of being a place

and Injustice in Washington D.C. September 25th was

for black citizens to protest and organize peacefully is

not absent of musical melody, though as Honest Politix

equally essential. In 1972, for example, Malcolm X Park

(a group formed by Justin Johnson of Long Live Go-Go)

was the starting point for the African Liberation Day pro-

held an interactive Go-Go workshop in the South Garden

test. Black Washingtonians organized a protest, rebelling

area of the park. According to CapitalBop staffers, lots of

against colonialism and white rule on the continent of

attendees attended both days of fun and celebration. Folks

Africa. The protest became a staple in the park, helping

received the workshops, lectures and discussion panels

usher in the post-colonial years. The circle drums stayed,

as receptive as they did the Go-Go, jazz, and funk just

even as Washington changed. The park has seen many

the day before, lending truth to the city’s seal “Justice [and

versions of “Chocolate City”: The decline and “decay” of

great music] for all.”

Member of Malcolm X Drummers and Dancers NEXTfest 21 Photo Credit: Jada Imani

MuMu Fresh @ NEXTfest 21 Photo Credit:Viva Ventura

the surrounding neighborhood in the 80s and 90s, and the gentrification after that. Malcolm X Park is a vital organ in

16

17

ISSUE 002

D.C. Legendary Venues: Malcolm X Park By: Briana A. Thomas

MALCOLM X PARK HAS A LONG-ESTABLISHED MUSICAL HISTORY IN WASHINGTON, D.C. The Italian Renaissance-styled Park, nationally named

ities discussions. Blair Ruble, scholar at the Woodrow Wil-

Meridian Hill Park – but locally recognized as Malcolm X

son Center and co-editor of the book, DC Jazz: Stories

Park since Angela Davis called for it to be renamed such

of Jazz Music in Washington, says the park is one of the

in 1970 – is located in the Columbia Heights neighbor-

most essential meeting spaces in D.C. “Malcolm X Park

hood at 16th and W Streets NW. According to Washing-

remains a National Park, more like the National Mall than

ton Parks and People, Meridian Hill Park is America’s first

other neighborhood D.C. Parks run by the District,” Ruble

national park built for the performing arts. Since the park

explains in an email interview from September. “Nonethe-

was founded in 1936 by Mary Foote Henderson, concert

less, it never came to serve the national purpose Mrs. Hen-

ensembles, quartets, Broadway performers, jazz players,

derson foresaw as the neighborhood never became the

gospel choirs, go-go drummers, and military bands have

elegant Avenue of the Presidents she envisioned.” Accord-

all graced the open-air venue. From the Starlight Chamber

ing to Ruble, Mrs. Henderson, the wife of former Missouri

Music Series and the Washington Theatre Festival in the

Senator John Brooks Henderson, developed and financed

1940s to African Day and the Howard University concert

the construction of the park in respect to its close proxim-

series in the 1960s, the park has served as an historical

ity to the White House with the vision of creating a formal

music space for D.C. On September 24 and 25, Capi-

16th Street neighborhood that featured grand homes and

talBop’s NEXTfest will host a music and arts festival at

embassies.

the historic park. The event will include go-go and jazz performances, visual arts, film screenings, and human-

A crowd gathered for a program at Malcolm X (Meridian Hill) Park - Credit: The Washington Post

19

The Avenue of Americas would transform 16th Street

ly 70s, it revives as a community arts space. There were

agencies created a plan to lure people back into the parks

as such, including populating the area with busts of every

drum circles. There were a lot of political meetings there

in 1968. “‘The Summer in the Parks Program’ was initiated

president and vice-president. “Instead,” says Ruble, “It was

against police brutality and other causes,” Sefton says in

during a time of social unrest in Washington, D.C. It was

used by neighboring communities. As those neighbor-

a phone interview from September. “And then at the be-

thought that urban park programming would help ease

hoods became more diverse over the past half-century,

ginning of Home Rule, that continued too. It resurrected

tensions in the city and bring people back into the parks,”

that diversity entered the park. It is now one of the most

itself really as a community space for political concerns,

Norquist says in an email to Home Rule Magazine. “Merid-

important meeting grounds among the city’s many com-

but also things like drum circles, dance performances, and

ian Hill Park was selected for the program’s kick-off party,

munities.” One of the most popular community gatherings

this tremendous kind of cultural flowering that happened

which featured performances by Pearl Bailey, Cab Callo-

at the park are the weekly Sunday drum circles, which

right around the time of Home Rule. All sorts of arts orga-

way, Hildegarde, The Soul King and the Invaders, the Afri-

Russel Wright, Pearl Baily, Cab Calloway, Pearl Mesta & Nash Castro NPS Photo Credit: W.H. Spradley

have a rich history dating back to the 1960s. “Following the

nizations sprang up and it rebooted the park.” Although

can Heritage Dancers and Drummers.” The unforgettable

at the time, Okyerema Asante, would go on to play with

assassination of Malcom X on Sunday, February 21, 1965,

the park was on the verge of a cultural renaissance during

evening on July 14, 1968 began and closed with fireworks,

Plunky Branch and Oneness of Juju and record an album

Howard Theater drummer Baba Ngoma took his drums

the early 1960s with a number of diverse political, universi-

and was hosted by world-renown D.C. party planner Perle

for Black Fire Records -who were credited with inspiring

to the park to express his grief. Drumming long has been

ty and religious groups requesting permits to host events

Mesta. There were 20,000 concertgoers in attendance and

the beats of early go-go music. Oneness of Juju and go-go

a way to express grief throughout the African Diaspora in

and concerts at the park, the continued increase in vio-

the Park Service would call the moment “spectacular.” In

pioneers Experience Unlimited would also play the park

the Americas as a tradition that enslaved persons brought

lence and vandalism in the park became a deterrent for

the 1970s, Malcolm X Park would see concerts by a host of

frequently on Malcolm X Day during that time period.

with them across the Atlantic,” Ruble explains. “Ngoma

visitors. In 1967, the U.S. Park Police considered Meridian

African performers like Hugh Masekela - his percussionist

returned the following Sunday, and the following Sunday

Hill Park the second most dangerous park in the city in

ridian Hill, have worked to help preserve and maintain the

and soon was joined by other drummers around town. The

terms of reported crime. It was not until the Summer of

park. The organization hosted a number of community

drum circle initially served as a spiritual release.” Ruble

1968, when Columbia Heights and the Greater U Street

and music events throughout recent years. The drum cir-

further explains that, overtime, the drum circles attracted

neighborhoods were in desperate need of rebuilding after

cles along with dancing, yoga, and athletic games are still

more participants, and as new residents moved into the

the civil uprising following Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassi-

held at the park on a regular basis.

area the drumming transcended from the original intent

nation – and the city was finally beginning to recover from

of spiritual release into a celebration of community. D.C.

the effects of city planning urban renewal and highway

Preservation League trustee and co-chair of the Land-

development projects that displaced a number of Black

mark’s Committee, Peter Sefton, says he can remember

residents – that the park sees large performances again

hearing the beats and rhythms of the drum circles when

like the concerts that took place in its heyday early years.

he lived on 16th Street in the 1970s and 1980s (Sefton is

Historian Elise Norquist, who wrote The Meridian Hill

the author of the new book, Sixteenth Street NW: Wash-

Park African American Experiences Since the Civil War:

ington, DC’s Avenue of Ambitions). “In the 60s and ear-

A Special Resource Study, says parks and recreation

20

Russel Wright Photo Credit: UNKNOWN

Since the 1990s, community coalition, Friends of Me-

Briana A. Thomas is a Washington, D.C.-based historian, journalist and tour guide who specializes in African American research. She is the author of the Greater U Street area history book, Black Broadway in Washington, D.C. Find her book and her tours at blackbroadwaywashingtondc.com

21

Upper Georgia Avenue Main Street is a proud sponsor of the Home Rule Music Festival!

Sign up for our online newsletter to see other events on our Main Street.

Scan the code below with your smartphone to subscribe or go to tinyurl.com/UGAMSNewsletter

WARD 4 FACES AND PLACES Upper Georgia Avenue Main Street needs your help identifying subjects for a commemorative work in Ward 4!

Learn more at uppergeorgiaave.org/commemorative-works or scan the QR code with your smartphone.

www.uppergeorgiaave.org

ISSUE 002

“The Beat and the Party”:

Sugar Bear on E.U., go-go and D.C. Interview Conducted By: Dr. Bryan Jenkins Edited By: A.M. Wolfe

THE BAND EXPERIENCE UNLIMITED – OR E.U. AS IT’S KNOWN THE WORLD OVER NOW – IS PIVOTAL TO THE STORY OF BLACK MUSIC IN WASHINGTON, D.C. Experience Unlimited - Promo Shot in front of “The House of Peace” Mid 1970s

An early breakout of Black Fire Records, which was putting out the soundtrack to Black activism in 1970s D.C., and

Bryan Jenkins: Touching back on Black Fire, can

happen, man. It was beautiful. And the first time we ever

mentored by Chuck Brown, the group turned its Jimi Hendrix-meets-George Clinton sound into early go-go as the

you speak to the importance of Black Fire Records

went to the studio was Q in Falls Church – and it’s still

1980s hit. Then the group was tapped by director Spike Lee to record the Marcus Miller-penned party jam “Da Butt”

for not just E.U., but Black music, D.C. music as a

there, in Falls Church, Q studios.

for School Daze and the group has never truly left the collective identity of music culture. In fact, front man and bassist

whole? What did that record label mean for you?

Gregory “Sugar Bear” Elliott (who performs with a collection of go-go bands across the city) became a national symbol

BJ: What do you remember being the initial reception

of the “Don’t Mute D.C.” movement when he joined fellow Washingtonian Regina Hall to perform a medley of “Da Butt,”

Sugar Bear: For us, it was like we were signing with Mo-

to go-go, when it first was birthed?

“Run Joe” and “Do You Know What Time It Is?” at the 2019 BET Awards in Los Angeles. Ahead of last year’s Home Rule

town. It was our way out. Our soul searching paid off. We

SB: My first introduction was that we wanted a change.

Festival, Sugar Bear sat down with Dr. Bryan Jenkins, a post-doctoral researcher at Howard University, to discuss go-go

got a chance to sign with a record company, which was

Remember, E.U. was E.U. We were playing Rock and Roll,

and D.C. music. It felt like the best way to introduce him to this year’s festival goers too.

unheard of in D.C. during that time. So, we came out and

everything and anything we wanted to play.

they allowed us to record our own LP. Nobody from the

But we were pretty much playing for ourselves, more so

outside was writing but we were writing as E.U. And that

than for other people. If I can say that. But of course, if you

was another blessing.

wanted to play for people, they had to end up liking what

And then Jimmy Gray, Charles Stephenson, everybody

we were doing.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

contributed. And we were teenagers. And we made this

24

25

kept going. There was a lot of resistance in my band. They

I’m saying? They use that, they use our go-go arena for

braced us and we embraced them. And that helped keep

weren’t feeling it because they thought it was a sellout. But

their political games.

our go-go music evolving around the world on a national stage, and we needed that injection. We needed that. That

that’s what we wanted. We wanted to sell out.

BJ: What do you think it is about go-go that just really

BJ: Right, right. To speak to the people. So that’s the

helped us sustain.

way to get them on.

BJ: So now, go-go is the official music of D.C. How have you seen the energy around it since that was

spoke to people? Especially D.C. like, whatv is it that you think about that really connects to them?

SB: They know it’s the way to get them to come out and

made official?

represent whatever they’re trying to stand for.

SB: Since the mayor proclaimed go-go music the official music of Washington, D.C., people now receive it from dif-

SB: The beat. The party. It’s the only place in the world

Experience Unlimited Album Art

We ended up winning the talent show at Ballou High School. And the winner of the talent show got to open up for Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers at the Panorama Room: the biggest party, probably, in Washington, D.C. You can only get like six, seven, 800 people in there. But it was to the brim. And we opened up. People could see that we could play but nobody was dancing. Nobody was partying. [laughs]. So, Chuck Brown pulled me to the side and said, “Son, you got a lot of talent.”

He said, “You’ve got to play what people want to hear. I’m telling you; it’ll work. You got the talent. Just play more of what people want to hear.” That was a Saturday night.

Monday, we changed the whole format around, and it worked. Now, I’m telling you, that’s the truth. Now it wasn’t hard, because honestly for the stuff we were doing, you’d already heard it on the radio. We just put a beat behind it. So, that made it easy. We learned the format and just 26

where you can become a part of the party as soon as

BJ: How have you seen go-go evolve? From when it’s

ferent demographics. And they know it’s good party mu-

you walk in the door. [imitating go-go call and response]

first introduced to the late 80s, early 90s, and even

sic, nothing but party music, good music. You come out

“Where y’all from? *Uptown* *Southeast* *Northeast*”

now. How is go-go changing?

have functions and have a good time. So now, everybody

The party! It’s all fun and love. It’s great. There’s nowhere

SB: Ever since “Bustin’ Loose” came out, with Chuck

receives it. So, I think on that level, I think it’s all good.

in the country – and I’ve seen it, I’ve toured a lot of places

Brown, a lot of bands started playing more original songs,

BJ: The last thing I wanted to ask you was about EU’s

– no place like D.C. No place.

party songs. Rare Essence with “Body Moves,” Junkyard

50th anniversary, which happened this year.

with “Sardines,” Trouble Funk with “E Flat Boogie” and stuff

SB: That’s that passion [laughs]. That’s that passion.

BJ: Let’s talk about the way the city was reacting to

like that. So now, the movement is coming. So, watch this:

Go-go. The people were feeling go-go, but how was

Just the same time we come in, here comes hip-hop and

BJ: How does it feel, as you imagine back when

the city, how were the politicians, reacting to the

rap. [laughter]. It’s like, whoa. So of course, rap dominated

you’re in high school and you’re just getting started

movement?

our culture. You feel me? Not in a bad way. We came out

playing, to 50 years later, and you’re still going with

on a national level at the same time, and rap won.

this legendary band?

SB: I can only speak on behalf of what I know. Marion Bar-

So, what happened with us, you got to reinvent. And by the

SB: Yeah, I never could even imagine going that long, and

ry embraced our go-go music. And all the politicians, from

grace of God, Kurtis Blow, we did a collaboration with him,

still going right now. But it’s my passion. I’m gonna keep

his lead, now would call E.U., they would call Chuck Brown

Grace Jones, “Slave to the Rhythm,” Salt-N-Pepa, “Shake

doing it until the Good Lord says, “Okay, that’s enough.”

and the Soul Searchers, Rare Essence, Trouble Funk, etc.

Your Thing”: “owww” [laughs]. I can say that helped us

That’s just me. I love entertaining. I love making people

and ask us to be a part of the political arena to help them

sustain and, and marinate with the other hip-hop artists

smile, and party. I love that.

get votes, help people come out, because they knew that

that were breaking the wall: Run DMC, LL Cool J, Tribe

was the thing.

Called Quest, Eric B. and Rakim, MC Hammer, we were

And they still do that to this day, in 2022. You follow what

all up in there. And we all toured together. So, they em-

27

mained connected, even in the wake of John’s death from

ISSUE NO 002

liver cancer in 1967. Alice’s most revered album, Journey

The Liner Notes: Stop Erasing Black Women From Free Jazz History

in Satchidananda, was conceptualized as therapy to help her cope with her husband’s passing. Not surprisingly, Fire Music rightfully plays up John’s stature as a father to free jazz, but to not even acknowledge Alice’s impact on him or his music is a glaring omission that a cursory Google GRONINGEN, NETHERLANDS - 18th APRIL: American jazz singer Linda Sharrock performs live on stage at the Oosterpoort in Groningen, Netherlands on 18th April 1987. (photo by Frans Schellekens/Redferns)

A RECENT DOCUMENTARY, “FIRE MUSIC”, DOES A DISSERVICE TO BLACK WOMEN‘S ROLE IN SHAPING THE SUBGENRE.

1970’s Monkey-Pockie-Boo, whose shrill upper register

By: Marcus J. Moore

York. When coupled with Sonny’s breakneck guitar riffs,

search could have rectified.

and intense primal screams garnered acclaim in New

Linda properly conveyed the angst of living while Black Not long ago, I watched the documentary Fire Music

Johannesburg & Triptych” with Max Roach. If you take

in the Civil Rights era. In the ‘90s, Sharrock released more

at the behest of a friend whose opinion I trust. We have the

Fire Music at its word, you’d think Black women weren’t

contemporary-sounding R&B before returning to the

same taste in music, and he’s one of the few people I can

around at all, that singers June Tyson, Jeanne Lee and

avant-garde singing for which she was known. Alice Col-

speak with about the connection between underground

Linda Sharrock, and flutist Margaux Simmons weren’t

trane had the biggest shadow to endure.

rap and Black Liberation jazz. I had heard about the film

integral to underground jazz, that they didn’t endure the

Her husband was the most famous supporter of the

from other friends who thought I’d be into it. Fire Music

same struggles as their male counterparts. Truth is, they

free jazz movement, and is credited with giving the scene’s

delves into the impact of free jazz pioneers Sun Ra, Cecil

likely had it even harder. As a creator myself, I hesitate to

biggest names — players like Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sand-

Taylor and others, briefly mentioning how rising rents de-

criticize another person’s art, but the blindspots here are

ers and Archie Shepp — more visibility through album

railed the loft jazz scene in lower Manhattan. For the most

just too egregious. Even the European free jazz movement

features and recording contracts with Impulse! Records.

part, it carefully unpacks the style of jazz I prefer.

was discussed before the contributions of Black women to

Before then, John Coltrane was a superstar bandleader

a Black American art form.

who honed his skills playing alongside Miles Davis in his

As much as I wanted to like the doc, I was angered

First Great Quintet before releasing his first classic album,

by the dearth of Black women in it. Not even a cursory

I’ve written about Sharrock and Coltrane in The Liner

mention of Alice Coltrane, John Coltrane’s widow, a noted

Notes before, so I won’t belabor their stories. But it seems

spiritual jazz luminary in her own right. Or Abbey Lincoln,

their music has suffered due to the seismic impact of what

John underwent a spiritual catharsis in the mid ‘60s, yet

who didn’t perform avant-garde jazz, but didn’t mind go-

their spouses created. Sharrock was the lead vocalist of

it was a journey that he and Alice faced together. The cou-

ing there from time to time – like in the piece “Tears For

her husband’s first two albums, 1969’s Black Woman and

ple traveled the world, got married, had children and re-

28

Giant Steps, in 1960.

UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1970: Photo of Alice Coltrane Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

29

June Tyson was the most important member of the Sun Ra Arkestra sans Sun Ra. In fact, she was the only

“When there are clouds in the sky, you’ll get by,” she sings.

“Light up your face with gladness.”

woman to have joined his band, a roving collective that sometimes included 22 members.

While Sun Ra gets rightful credit as an experimental jazz visionary, Tyson was the heartbeat of his Arkes-

From 1968 to her passing in 1992, Tyson sang, wrote

tra. Without her as a guiding force, I’m not sure the band

and recited poetry, did choreography, designed costumes

makes the same seismic impact on music and Black the-

and managed the band’s money. On songs like “Enlight-

ater.

enment” and “Space Is The Place,” her vocals added light flourishes to Sun Ra’s cosmic-themed compositions, which often swirled in a massive cyclone of horns, drums and synthesizers without centering on a clear groove.

That sometimes made his music tough to decipher, but Tyson’s life-affirming messages of love and peace anchored his art to this planet, even as she reached for others. My favorite Tyson appearance (or at least my favorite right now) is “Outer Space Is A Pleasant Place,” a stripped-down version of “Space Is The Place” that allows her vocals to shine. “

There’s no limit to the things that you can do,” she sings over a light bells and percussion. “Your thought is free, and your life is worthwhile.” At a time when the daily news cycle offers unrelenting despair, Tyson’s lyrics remind us to ascend.

She offered a similar message on “Smile,” a swanky track with sporadic horn blasts and rhythmic piano chords.

30

June Tyson and Sun Ra performing at The Venue, London on 27 July 1982.

(Photo by David Corio/Redferns)

Jeanne Lee was also a strong presence in the New

Her magnum opus was the 1974 album, Conspiracy,

York avant-garde jazz scene. The singer and poet per-

an uncompromising trek through a cappella poetry, soul

formed with the likes of Mal Waldron, William Parker and

music and free jazz that she released through her own

Marion Brown, adding abstract vocals to their work along-

label, EarthForms Records. In the 20 years since her pass-

side her own iconoclastic blend of soul and jazz. Much

ing, Lee has become something of a luminary in the an-

like Sharrock and Tyson, Lee’s music wasn’t understood

nals of avant-garde jazz, a beacon for artists like Angel Bat

beyond the community and never reached mainstream

Dawid and Moor Mother to forge new terrain.

acceptance. But she was a superstar in her own right.

The flutist Margaux Simmons is perhaps the least

“She had a sensibility for all of the music but was able to

known of these artists, yet she’s no less impactful. From

maintain her individuality,” Parker once told me for a Band-

the early to mid 1970s, she played percussive jazz, first with

camp Daily feature – “The Sonic Innovation of Late Jazz

the Ohio-based band the Collective, then most notably as

Artist Jeanne Lee” – that “She used her voice as a horn

a lead member of the Pyramids until the group’s split in

and could manipulate words. She was a master of scatting

1977. Where others in the free jazz were only beginning to

and stretching sounds.”

blend African rhythms into their music, she and the Pyra-

Ultimately, Fire Music dilutes the voices of Black women in a subgenre still fighting for greater recognition. While oversights can

mids spent seven months on the continent in 1972, taking

happen when creating a film of this magnitude, it feels like the director didn’t even try to include these women, even as he shed

in the culture, buying instruments, and changing their per-

proper light on musicians who never got the respect they deserved. But in his pursuit to correct Ken Burns’ jazz documentary (which

formance to a full-on theatrical set with ornate costumes

barely mentions free jazz at all), he presents a myopic view of free jazz, eschewing important voices. While Fire Music should be

and dancing. Much like Tyson, Simmons held various roles

applauded for bringing the likes of Sun Ra and Cecil Taylor to the big screen, the lack of deference to Black women overshadows the

in the band; her movement and high-pitched flute solos

project’s intent. They deserve our highest regard, not the silent treatment.

Margaux Simmons (Courtesy of University of Orange)

were vital to the group’s vitality. Nowadays, Simmons teaches at the University of Orange and tours occasionally.

A boxed set of the Pyramids’ first three albums —

Lalibela, King of Kings, and Birth/Speed/Merging — is out now on Strut records. I had the honor of speaking with Simmons for a New York Times feature, “Revisiting the AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - OCTOBER 27: singer Jeanne Lee performs live on stage at Meervaart in Amsterdam, Netherlands on October 27 1984 (photo by Frans Schellekens/Redferns)

Marcus J. Moore is a writer, editor and curator based in New York City. This piece originally appeared in his newsletter “The Liner Notes.” You can subscribe at thelinernotes.bulletin.com or on Tidal.com

Pyramids’ ‘Avant-Garde African Jazz,’ Four Decades Later.”

[Note: there is also a piece on The Pyramids written by our own Jackson Sinnenberg in this issue of our publication].

32

33

ISSUE NO 002

He Plays to Make Music Fire IDRIS ACKAMOOR ON THE PYRAMIDS, AFRICA AND BEING A GRIOT OF OUR TIMES By: Jackson Sinnenberg In the early 1970s, while the AACM [Association for

those guys became a part of my ongoing...development,”

the Advancement of Creative Musicians] was carrying on

Ackamoor, 71, tells Home Rule over a Zoom call from his

its revolution in Chicago, as the Black Artists Group was

Bay-area home in August. “However, my early composi-

reaching its zenith in St. Louis, and the stage was being

tions, were mostly influenced by my own inner self.”

set in New York City for the “loft jazz” scene, a group of

The music that the band made at that time – between

musicians at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio was

1972 and 1976 – was captured on three studio albums

creating equally challenging and creative work. Led by

that Ackamoor put out on his own, private press label,

saxophonist Idris Ackamoor, that group – The Pyramids

Pyramids Records. The original pressings are artifacts

– was making music that similarly pushed past the bop

in the vinyl collector’s world, and while the records have

limits on tonality and form in jazz and Black American mu-

been repressed a couple of times in the 21st century, they

sic. It was the spiritual jazz sound – of chants, bells and

are receiving a heroic, grand reissue this year by Acka-

rattles – of Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders, and the

moor’s new label, Strut – which also puts out the reissues

playful but deeply historical-vision of the Art Ensemble;

for D.C.’s Black Fire Records – in a four LP box set, Aoma-

but rather than reference those things, this music sprang

wa: The 1970s Recordings.

independently from the mind, the soul of Ackamoor.

“I grew up with some of those guys...Chico [Hamilton] and [Famoudou Don] Moye and Roscoe [Mitchell], 34

Pyramids King Of Kings album shoot, Glen Nature Preserve, Yellow

Springs, Ohio, 1974

further shaped by studying under and playing with saxophonist Charles Tyler – Albert Ayler’s go-to alto player – in Los Angeles on a work study trip, as well as a visiting professor in the ’71-’72 school year: pianist and Avant Garde pioneer Cecil Taylor. For nine months, Taylor led an incarnation of his Black Music Ensemble at the school – mostly featuring musicians at the college but also some traveling disciples – and taught a class, Music and the Black Aesthetic. Ackamoor explains:

Margaux Simmons & Idris Ackamoor, Birth : Speed : Merging rehearsals San Francisco 1975

“I think Idris’ story is quite a unique one actually, in mu-

who was famous for playing with swing bandleader Jim-

sic,” says Quinton Scott, the head of Strut Records, who

mie Lunceford, jazz piano pioneer Jelly Roll Morton and

spoke to Home Rule over Zoom in August. “I think it’s a dif-

others. King, who also mentored musicians who were

ficult one reissuing one artist, because you have to stretch

members of the AACM, unofficially began Ackamoor’s

it out over years, essentially, because you just can’t satu-

path into the Avant Garde. “I knew what I wanted to do

rate the market with lots of particular albums. But it’s all

and that was to deal with the Black, Avant Garde jazz tra-

amazing stuff. He’s been involved in a lot of great things in

dition that African Americans had created. Because it was

his solo career as well, you know, lots of interesting collab-

in my soul.” explains Ackamoor, recalling his thought pro-

orations and solo albums.”

cess as a 20-year-old at Antioch College.

Ackamoor was born in January 1951, in Chicago. He

“Clifford could create any animal on his clarinet that

started taking music lessons at age seven before settling

you could want: a bear, a cat, a dog. That’s what those

on the saxophone. As a teenager, he began taking lessons

guys in the 20s and 30s knew how to do, they were doing

with Clifford King, a veteran of the music’s first decades

all these sound effects. What became known as “circus

36

Margaux Simmons & Idris Ackamoor with Kings Drummers Of Tamale, Tamale, Ghana 1973

tricks” on the instruments, they made part of their oeuvre, part of their technique. So, Clifford King was teaching me that ‘out’ stuff, in a way, even back then from the technical side.”

The young musician would land at Antioch College in

Idris Ackamoor, The Collective Antioch 1970

the fall of 1970, coming under the wing of Music Department chair John Ronsheim, professor and pianist Lester Knibbs – with whom Ackamoor would begin exploring his original compositions in a free, modal jazz group called The Collective – and a fellow student, from D.C., named Bill Brower, whose record collection would help shape Ackamoor’s sonic palette for the Black aesthetic. For Ackamoor, that mindset in the Black Aesthetic would be 37

“Cecil was never a jazz ayatollah, which later some musicians may have become, I speak of Wynton [Marsalis],” Ackamoor adds.

The Black Aesthetic, according to Cecil, emanated from Africa; from the

Following the year with Cecil Taylor, Ackamoor, with his musical partner Margo, a flautist (also then-girlfriend and

beginning. For me, I think I can say that Cecil played the piano [keys] like

now wife) and friend and bassist Kwame Kimathi Asante, spent a year studying abroad; first spending the summer

they were 88 tuned drums. That’s how he played the piano. And most

playing as a band in Europe then studying in Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia. These three became the core of The Pyramids

of his detractors were always talking about how un-Black Cecil was.... It

as the band appears on Aomawa and started playing under that name in Europe. Africa helped further Ackamoor’s musical and spiritual vision: “You could not be in Africa and not think about the connection between music, community

wasn’t the celebration of Duke Ellington or Fletcher Henderson. Although

and history.” Idris and Margo traveled all over Ghana learning from and playing with the masters of drums and rhythms.

Cecil knew that and was all a part of that, Cecil was Cecil; but he always

He recalls:

felt part of the tradition. Cecil loved Duke; Cecil loved Fletcher. But also,

It was as if we went back 500 years in the history of

Cecil loved Michael Jackson, The Temptations, the whole line – the whole

Africa. We went up to the place of kings, where they

time-line – emanating from Africa and going throughout the African dia-

had court musicians, the griots. We studied with the

spora, whether it was New Orleans, Chicago and evolving to where Cecil

talking drummers in Tamale, the Dagomba people,

was.

who were part of the Mossi empire. Went up north and met the Frafra people, and they were more in the animus, more like the juju worshipers. We played and performed with the prayer drummers of the Dagomba people and performed the second burial of the Frafra king.

Kimathi Asante, Rioki Coffee Estate, Kiambu, Kenya, 1973

38

39

Ackamoor recorded these performances and rituals, as

moor says now, “To be musicians in the real world.

ten, private press oddity. They’re more important than that.

Ackamoor is not stopping as a creative force, nor as

That’s what we’ll be doing over the next few years, just

someone who seeks to represent his community or his

trying to keep that legacy going.”

world.

well as Maasai and Kikuyu traditional performers in Kenya

...We ran smack dab into the idea that you had to make

and ceremonies in Lalibela, Ethiopia; the site of the iconic

a living.” Idris and Margo continued to make music and

rock churches. Strut plans on releasing these tapes over

art – she would also get her PhD in composition – for de-

the coming years as well, part of Ackamoor’s six-figure

cades, also forming the 501c3 non-profit Cultural Odyssey

As for the future, since 2016 Strut has released three

chronicler of our times. And that can be anything from the

deal with the label for his entire catalog and archive. These

to support their work and the work of other emerging and

new albums by The Pyramids, with a new line-up under

social aspects, the political aspects, the spiritual aspects,

experiences helped indirectly and directly shape the sound

established community-focused artists.

Idris and Margo as founding members: We Be All Africans,

you know, the historical aspects and the future aspects.”

“I want to be a griot in this traditional African sense, a

An Angel Fell and Shaman!. All were recorded analog on

and direction of The Pyramids. On the band’s first album,

tape at Malcolm Catto’s studio in London.

Lalibela – named for the place in Ethiopia – the record be-

Back in the late-aughts, with vinyl collecting culture

gins with a Ghanaian rhythm taught to the band in Accra;

beginning to rise on the internet, as well as more journal-

the composition “Rock Churches,” part four of the “Lalibela

istic, scholarly and historical information about artists like

A new album, Afrofuturistic Dream, came out on Strut

Opus,” features Ackamoor playing a crying melody on the

The Pyramids spreading, Ackamoor began to get renewed

this past spring, following the November 2022 double-LP

alto saxophone, transcribed from the chants of the priests

interest and inquiry into the band’s 1970s output and cur-

reissue of an album of material by Ackamoor’s first band,

in the rock churches.

rent status. The band reformed at the 2007 San Francisco

The Collective. “He is, you know, for his advancing years,

International Arts Festival; the albums were reissued by

he’s got the energy of a teenager,” says Scott. “He’s unbe-

This sound, combining the forceful, intense playing on

Ikef in 2009; and the band began touring again in 2010.

lievable...I can’t believe his energy. I mean, he’s just worked

saxophone, bass and other traditional jazz instruments –

Disko B put out reissues of the 70s albums again in 2012

on his best sort of new recording since the 70s, in my view

pushing them to sonic peaks – with rhythms and melodies

and 2013, but Ackamoor began working with Strut around

of it. It’s just really intricate and very, very well scored [Ed.

of Africa in an almost ritualistic, talking drum-style com-

that time to start talking about his catalog and looking to

Note, Ackamoor said wrote for string quartet and voice on this] and

munal performance, would define The Pyramids sound

the future.

thought out and it’s just, you know, it’s a great piece of work.” “I’m in the future, man. The past is the past. I love

over the group’s first three albums: Lalibela, King of Kings and Birth / Speed / Merging. “It’s just a very unique listen,

“Because of the 10 years the band toured from 2010

the past but...It’s like Duke said, ‘I want to be remembered

those early albums by The Pyramids,” says Scott. “There’s

until 2020, now that we have more visibility, more oppor-

by the next album I do’,” Idris Ackamoor says with a chuck-

not really any other music like it. I think it’s very freeform...

tunity, and a solid record company behind us in Strut Re-

le. “I believe the music I’m playing now is the music I’ve

you could hear the Cecil Taylor; you could hear the African

cords, it has just catapulted our ability to reach with this

always wanted to play; more than the early pyramid stuff,

influence from their trip to Africa.” This mentality – “about

new reissue,” Ackamoor excitedly explains. “I think they

in a way. the music that I’m playing now is what I’ve always

feeling good as a community, making music” – informs

deserved the box-set treatment as a band,” explains Scott.

wanted to play, that is a result of my entire life.”

Ackamoor to this day.

“What we’re trying to do is position them as one of the

The Pyramids broke up in 1976, unprepared, as Acka-

40

Margaux Simmons, Idris Ackamoor Kimathi Asante Amsterdam 1972

serious jazz acts at the time, rather than slightly forgot-

41

ISSUE NO 002

Looking in Communal Togetherness: The Lou Stovall, The Workshop By: Majeedah Johnson Lou Stovall is a renowned visionary who evolved the

lection was “Sundrinkers are we” (1972) a silkscreen of

arts and activist community in Washington, D.C., and

vivid shades of violet, sapphire, and lime. Another, “Love

across the globe, through his visionary printmaking. He

Festival” (1970), was rendered for a poster to protest the

was given some prominent, and overdue, feature in the

infamous Three Sisters Bridge, which was proposed to be

fine art world of Washington D.C. with “The Museum

constructed over the Potomac River in the 1960s. Due to

Workshop” at The Phillips Collection which ran last year

increased pressure and community protests, plans for the

from July 23 until October 9. The exhibit honored the leg-

bridge were ultimately canceled. “Glazing” (1972) utilizes

acy of the DuPont Center, an artist’s museum which was

brilliant shades of citrine and tangerine with a backdrop of

founded in 1969 by Stovall and curator Walter Hopps. The

greys and whites—exuding a meditative image of moun-

collection—arranged in collaboration with Lou’s son, art-

tainous terrains and warmth of the sun.

ist Will Stovall—included an array of silkscreen prints, ink

But to get a deeper understanding of the man behind

drawings, photographs, playing cards, and a short film

some of ‘60s D.C.’s most vibrant art, Home Rule spoke with

examining Stovall’s artistic process, his inspirations, and

Will Stovall about his father’s legacy, and his own inspira-

leadership.

tions as curator along with the purpose of selecting specif-

The works also feature Stovall’s collaborations with fellow artists: including wife Di Stovall, Gaston Neal, Walter

ic pieces for this exhibit.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity

Hops, and artist-musician Lloyd McNeil.

Among the captivating gems showcased in the col-

42

Roberta Flack Day (ON RIGHT)

43

Home Rule: Walk us through how the period of the

When I moved back to D.C. in 2017, I knew I wanted to

60s and 70s was selected for the collection.

work on this project. This is my third or fourth exhibit of my dad’s work that I’ve curated, but this is the one I’ve always

Will Stovall: I’ve been thinking about exhibiting my dad’s

wanted to do.

work since I was a kid. He had helpers who were collaborative. When he was making prints, he had people assist-

HR: As there are many creations featured in the ex-

ing and moving paper. They would rack the paper to dry. I

hibit, can you talk about some of the ones that have

wanted to be part of the action. I would be around thinking

influenced you more than others?

about the work.

Stovall: There’s so many. There’s the Peace poster, and One constant has been that I was always hearing stories

when I began archiving my dad’s work, my parents didn’t

from that era. It was this period that seemed most interest-

think there were other letters. The A is for Art. It took a

ing because it was when my dad and mom were making

few years to find the C and the P. This was a monumental

posters for Roberta Flack, Miles Davis, Sam Gilliam, and

thing. The other community posters, like the small ones

Jean Davis. I was excited these were happening at the

including the red and blue poster created for Roberta

same time and wanted to know more about it.

Flack, they were just so beautiful. [Ed note: community posters are poster Stovall made for activists, venues, events and other local

HR: Can you share with us how the idea for The Museum Workshop came about?

Stovall: The most compelling force or catalyst came when I learned about the actual workshop, where they were at the time. The Dupont Center was at one time a museum—a gallery of modern art. I was surprised and impressed that my parents were working in a studio, and one in a fine arts museum. I wanted to get close to that energy and the story.

44

happenings in D.C.]

Then there’s my dad’s drawings...which were in boxes and hidden.

When I look at the prints in the collection, it’s an invitation to see through my dad’s eye and stand next to him wheth-

My mom has a wonderful poster that just says “Love.” In

er he’s there or not. You’re looking with your own set of

the exhibit, I call it an “Artist’s Poster” because it’s done

eyes and looking in a communal way and togetherness

more as the celebration of love and culture, and celebra-

with my dad. That’s something that I just returned to and

tion of an emotion or feeling. It could be used at events at

strive for when I’m thinking about the frame or painting, in

Bohemian Caverns or Peace Corp. that have text to com-

my case. I ask what’s going in.

municate, but this one has that feeling. That is still so special to me.

My goals are to create this kind of connection point between natural and spiritual, and then use that to be some-

That was a big aspect of my parent’s workshops, where

thing that I’m connecting with other people through a feel-

they were just kind of interested in a vibe. It was kind of

ing of intimacy.

participatory fun and exciting, but also kind of a rigorous kind of mood. They were really sharing their message with students, kids, and older people.

HR: Can you share with us your approach to your artistic creations? How does your father’s work inspire your art?

Stovall: For me it’s a few things: the first is my dad is really into his visual work and particularly the work that addresses a landscape. There’s this sense of intimacy and this sense of wanting to create a view into nature, which can really possibly feel like you’re present in the moment. On one hand, it feels like this opening into the natural world and the space. On the other hand, it’s filled with a spiritual Bohemian Caverns (ABOVE)

46

and other worldly connection.

47

he heard each Sunday. By age nine, he was the organist

album, We The People. Wes Felton sees this as the “cul-

at Rising Sun Baptist – his father’s church – and already

mination of his journey in D.C. as a young music teacher,

Ode To New Life: Wes Felton on the Felton Artistic Legacy and Carrying the Torch “for all Reasons”

refining a technical ability across genres that would be-

as a student at Howard, and as a husband and father.” It’s

come famous among those who knew him and heard him

just one of many ways, too, that Hilton Felton’s fingerprints

play. At 18 and newly married, he moved north to Washing-

remain all over the District’s music scene and history.

By: Thomas Gartman

ISSUE NO 002

“Legacy is a choice.”

ton, D.C. to study music at Howard University. But as Wes

Hilton Felton developed a reputation as a technically

Felton tells it – in a conversation in Malcolm X Park this

skilled and sought-after pianist, resulting in regular dates

past August – his education was deeply intertwined with

at the Mayflower Hotel, cocktail bars, and clubs around

other experiences in his new city: “When he first came

the city, as well as touring and recording jobs with artists

here, his abilities were so ahead of others his age that he

George Benson, Eva Cassidy, and Fats Theus, among oth-

actually began to teach music at Dunbar High. That was

ers. But Felton was more than a practiced and versatile

If there is one thing Wes Felton wanted to get across,

with his father, Hilton Clay Felton, Jr. Hilton Felton was

his first real introduction to the sounds of the city – being

musician – he was a composer who had spent decades

this is it. “In this society, legacy is the closest thing to

born on New Year’s Day, 1947, in Norfolk, Virginia. The son

embedded in the community, teaching kids and engaging

creating a sound influenced by everything around him –

generational wealth someone can have. It’s like Game

of a prominent pastor, Felton grew up in and around the

with parents. For those who really understand culture, it’s

from the Baptist Church, to the bebop jazz he grew up on,

of Thrones,” he says, laughing. “Even if you’re not in the

church, soaking in gospel music and the instrumentation

not just the things that a culture produces, but being in the

to the music playing on D.C. ‘s streets.

castle, you have that recognition and you represent an

community itself,” Felton explains, sitting on a Malcolm X

important house. But there’s a process, and urgency, and

Park bench in the late summer D.C. heat.

In 1971 he took a chance that few others would have, creating his own label, “Hilton’s Concept, Inc.” to publish

real work that goes into it.” Wes Felton is a D.C. native,

Throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, Hilton Felton

his own music. In all, “Hilton’s Concept” published around

multidisciplinary artist for whom the term “renaissance

further entrenched himself as a fixture of the District’s mu-

twenty-five releases of Felton’s music from the early 1970s

man” doesn’t even begin to cover it. He’s the son of D.C.

sic scene, taking regular gigs at Bohemian Caverns and

into the mid-1980s – everything from the sweeping soul

jazz pianist Hilton Felton, and grew up with a backstage

playing all up and down U Street.

jazz found on Family and Friends to the funk-inflected

seat to performances by some of the region’s greatest jazz

From his days as an organist in his father’s church, he

tracks on A Man For All Reasons, with some gospel sin-

players. He’s a musician, writer, emcee, visual artist, actor,

developed a connection to the sound of the Hammond

gles featuring the booming voice of his brother, the Rever-

and activist who cut his teeth as a teenager on U Street,

B-3 Organ, carrying the 450-pound behemoth to most ev-

end Leonard R. Felton, “to add a bit of that oratorical pres-

sneaking into bars to read poetry and hosting open mic

ery gig he got in DC. It was that organ that helped Hilton

ence to production,” Wes Felton says with a grin. For Wes

nights, before going on to perform with acts like Mos Def

Felton get noticed by Chuck Brown, the Godfather of go-

Felton, the blueprint his father created in “Hilton’s Con-

go music, as he was putting together his group the Soul

cept” has been the single-most influential factor in his own

Searchers. He was hired to join the group, contributing

journey as an artist and creative: “Everyone who knows

his signature Hammond B-3 sound to the group’s debut

me knows I self-record, produce, and publish. That’s just

and De La Soul and record dozens of albums, both individually and with D.C. native Raheem DeVaughn as “The CrossRhodes.” The legacy Felton refers to, though, began

48

Hilton Felton (ABOVE)

49

the example I had from my dad – he showed me the im-

with a 7” release of the track “Bee Bop Boogie.” When the

portance of owning what you create,” Felton says. “And on

Record Store Day release list came out, there was Hil-

top of that, he showed me that you have to have faith in it.”

ton Felton’s name, alongside those of Ed Sheeran, Ariana

Even today, Wes Felton still publishes his own music un-

Grande, and many other top-selling artists of the moment.

der Hilton’s Concept, keeping his father’s vision alive in his

“For him to be on that list,” Wes Felton says, “it felt like

own musical output. This foundation laid in Hilton’s Con-

he really was a contemporary artist and that people could

cept – the foresight Hilton had to own his music and retain

discover his music or finally have access to it again. That

publishing and licensing rights for his family, his prolific

felt like stamping a period closed.”

and eclectic output on the label, and his son’s reverence

As for what the next period holds, Wes Felton has no

for and safeguarding of it all – has seen the past ten years

shortage of ideas. Regarding his father’s catalog, there’s

of the younger Felton’s life increasingly focused on re-re-

some reel-to-reels in his step-mother’s basement that he

leasing and licensing his father’s catalog.

hopes to have a producer – “someone like Kenny Dope”

and it’s just a reminder that often the dreams of your family or the dreams of your ancestors are manifested in your own life. When you’ve chosen legacy, that’s always going to be the case.”

THE LOVESEED “LOVESEED / BEING ALONE” ULTRA RARE HILTON FELTON PRIVATE PRESS SOUL FUNK 7” PG. 50

Wes Felton says this effort really began in 2012, five

– remaster and remix for a new release. He’s also work-

years after his father’s passing and after a period of mourn-

ing to gain a larger digital distribution of Hilton Felton’s re-

ing, when he could subsequently engage his father’s work

cordings through a joint partnership between Now-Again

more seriously. He got a call from D.C. music historian Kev-

Records and his own company, Art! Hurts. In his own ca-

in Coombe, telling him about some interest by Jazzman

reer, Felton continues to see his father’s legacy as an in-

of his journey in re-releasing his father’s music, Wes Felton

Records in creating a “Best Of” compilation of Hilton

tegral source of inspiration, too: “I think this next chapter

spoke about one opportunity that saw so many pieces of

Felton’s music. The final product wasn’t as extensive as

will involve taking some ideas my dad had for things like

Hilton Felton, both the man and musician, manifest them-

both Felton and Coombe hoped it would be, but crucially,

movie scripts and turning them into a reality, now that I

selves. In 2019, working with Now-Again Records, Wes

it gave Felton confirmation that there was true contempo-

have more access and knowledge of that industry,” Felton

Felton was able to get Hilton Felton’s song “Dream Come

rary interest in his father’s music. After that, Felton says, he

explains. “I’m also doing more visual art, which was some-

True” prominent placement in the Bryan Stevenson biopic,

was inspired to make Hilton Felton a contemporary artist

thing he never did.

Just Mercy. “Moments like that remind me that this is still

Wes Felton (ABOVE)

in ten-years’ time, so that listeners “could buy his music in

But his love for photography and film and art from an

an extension of my dad, that this is something he would

real time.” That goal was realized in 2021 – one year ahead

observer’s perspective helped me find my way. It’s like

have dreamed of as a film lover and as someone who did

of his self-prescribed schedule – when U.K.-based label

there’s this combination of examples from him and missed

musical direction for plays,” Felton says. “And now here

“Diplomats of Soul” inquired about a Record Store Day

opportunities in his life that feed me as an artist now.”

you’ve got his song called ‘Dream Come True’ featured in

re-release of the seminal A Man For All Reasons, coupled

When discussing some of the most meaningful moments

a movie with Jamie Foxx, who was someone he admired,

52

Best of Wes Felton 1974

53

WHEN YOU PLAY THE DC LOTTERY

EVERYONE WINS!

DC Lottery is a proud partner of the Home Rule Music and Film Preservation Foundation in support of the 2nd Annual Home Rule Music Festival.

The preservation of DC music and film through performance, education and advocacy by our nonprofit partner is vitally important to District of Columbia residents and the constituents we serve.

Since 1982, the DC Lottery has reinvested more than $2.3 billion into the District of Columbia. We’re energizing DC’s economy, and advancing government, education, public housing, parks and recreation, and public safety programs.