First lets get the demographics out of the way. No man is an island and although Mik is the key player on this album with suprano recorder, harmonica, and of course voice, he is joined by Gilles Malkine on Bass and doing some speaking parts in Italian at the very end with a little haiku bonus track. Joe Giardullo plays alto sax, bass clarinet, and talking drum, Jim Fin contributes with the tenor sax and flute, and finally there is David Arner on Piano. The album is in the 45 minute range and is produced by Sundazed Music. Recorded in June of 1998 at Nevassa Studios in Woodstock, NY. It is available as a download from Sundaze here, or get it from Mik at a show.
You've read enough now that if you are still here I fell safe telling you that Mik is a poet, not a pop star. Wait, don't run away yet. This is GOOD stuff. If you are over 55, then the term 'beat poet' may not be foreign to you. There were quite a few in the 50's and 60's, still a few around n the 70's (those who did not starve to death), and still fewer in the years that followed. Sad to say that Mik is one of the last that I know of, but I am sure he could give you a list. I don't travel in those circles hardly at all, so I am tickled that fate brought me across Mik's path. I would never had known what I had missed, but I would have missed it none the less. If you are under 55, then you are in for a treat. Mik uses his words, his voice, his thoughts, and his music to put it all together in such a carefully crafted presentation that it is hard to process on the first, or even second go around. Words come at you like a freight train and they are not the words you are used to hearing in everyday speech, so the words themselves can take your brain precious seconds or more to process, by the time you've done that, you might have missed the thought those words created. It takes practice to pay attention at the speed of thought, especially when the reference material covers such a vast chasm of knowledge. Everything is fair game for Mik from the early Greek philosophers, to the intricacies of jazz, all the major players in world history from the neolithic period to the present day. I don't consider myself a particularly smart guy, but I am better read than many I think. My library does boast several hundred volumes and I can even grab a copy of Homer's Odessey, Hegel, Darwin's Century, the Icelandic Sagas, most of Ibsen's plays, and many other widely dispersed subjects off my shelves.
None of that did much to prepare me in grasping everything Mik could throw at me in just a few minutes. Fortunately Mik knows this and he crafts his words such that you can 'get it' on almost any level you want, to a point. There has to be a limit, of course and although his work is crafted for delivery in this post-literate age he still pulls out the big guns from time to time. In the liner notes of this album, Mik is quoted as saying "Actually, I assume half the people in the audience aren't going to know what the fuck I am talking about." He may be right, but I will tell you this, he has some funny stuff in here. Surely he is making a point and telling a story, and sharing a philosophy, and sometimes even opening one of those 'I had a thought and I wonder what you think about this..' conversations where he declares no end 'message' but leaves it out there for you to think about.
Certainly Mik has accomplished that, getting one to think, that is. I like to think and ponder others points of view. I believe it makes me a better person, or certainly a bit more enlightened. But I also have to be honest and tell you that on some of these tracks, Mik was dead right, I have no idea... and I like that too. Now I should quickly add that it doesn't mean I gave up on it, it means I have a lot more listening and thinking to do, and I find that so very cool. He stumped me and now it's my job to figure it out. 'What the hell is he talking about?' Well, I can take what I know and move on from there, I love a challenge, especially an intellectual one where I don't have to grow new callouses and sweat a lot.
I suppose I should take a few words to explain why Mik’s work
grabs me in such a way that I find it worth sharing. The best way I can think of
to explain this is as a corollary to music composition and delivery. In most
music, the composer seeks to present a melody which generally follows a theme
throughout and has variations. The listeners ear becomes accustomed to the
melody through repetition and then it becomes easy for the listener to discern
changes or variations in that melody. So the composer first trains the listener
as to what the melody is, then varies that melody to provide interest and color
with occasional excursions which wander briefly afar but return to the ’comfort’
of the original melody. The listener gets a bit of an idea what to expect we can
be surprised by unexpected changes which we quickly assimilate to catch up with
the flow. It keeps your brain active and that is what makes it fun and/or
enjoyable.
Poetry is much the same in that it has a rhythm or meter to
it. The words used are normally words we are familiar with and because there is
some manner of rhyming involved, the brain begins to try to fill in any gaps or
works in anticipation to guess what is coming. “There once was a man from
Nan______”. See how your brain filled in the missing part of the word? Here’s
the thing, you can’t really do this with Mik’s work. The rhythm is usually
steady with occasional changes, but the rhyming conventions and particularly the
words are nearly always unpredictable. Mik uses a plethora of word
concatenations to create new pictures in your brain, they come like flowing
water and for each ‘new word’ your brain must first identify the root words, put
them together for the first time and then create, for the very first time ever,
a picture of what that word ‘looks like’ to you. This is a pretty cool trick,
but it means the listener really has to use their brain. When you combine the
mastery of words with a supporting musical coloring, you wind up with quite a
workload for the brain, which for me, translates to a bigger payoff in the
‘satisfaction column’.
That’ a lot of words to describe something that happens at
the speed of thought, but if you follow what I am saying, you will understand
why I enjoy his work so much. You throw in some hip-hop, some bee-bop, a bit of rap, and a jigger of jazz, flavor it with some recorder, flute, Sax, piano, a thrumming bass line and you have a party. That's the hook for me. It may be the same for you, or it may be quite
different, but that is how my puny brain works.
I can't give you more than a rudimentary description of the 9 tracks on this album because I only have a few listens and that is no where near enough time for my brain to process all the words that come flying at me like David Grisman giving a new mando a speed check.
Swingin' Chicadas (3:59)
Mik's piece on the 17 year chicada cycle. Ironic that this was recorded 17 years ago and this year the cycle came around we were treated to an updated version of this piece just a couple of months ago. His take on what the cycle feels like from the point of view of these jazzed up insects, "The COOLEST Insect of all".
The Blues Of The Birth (10:14)
The title cut with recurring character T-Bone Sphinx who appears in a later track in a different incarnation. Now here I have to confess my brain is working overtime. T-Bone is the pre-mordial creator of hip and all the variations of blues that led to what we have today, everything from "The Jesus with the Meter Running Blues" to the "The Sunhouse, Bed Louse, Better Fed Church Mouse 1930 Down and Dirty Blues". The crafting of this in pretty much a genius level study of philosophy. A recurring theme with respect to the 'chicken or the egg ' discussion that is not unique to most students of philosophy. At least that's where I am with it now.
Litany of the Dead (4:29)
This piece explores the sad realization that the dead have lost all opportunities for sexual discourse. You have to be there, so to speak.
Art (1:10)
I just love this piece. This is a short one minute brain download that condenses Mik's abilities into a thought provoking discussion of 'what is art'. This of course is another one of those questions that we walk around with in our heads since some high school teacher asked the question to provoke thought, with very limited results. I like Mik's take on this very much. Concise, on point, humorous, and he gives a different line of thought than you might have expected.
Bird Lives (12:02)
A brilliant work on the lives of dinosaurs in a jazz environment. Evey time I listen through I pick out new words and subtleties that I didn't catch before. There are lots of 'new words' in here and it's hard to process them as fast as they come. Trying to explain this futher is like trying to explain what Robin Williams might be thinking 10 minutes from now. It ain't happening, just give it some study. Great fun and a really interesting ending.
Death (1:10)
How could one be considered a true Beat Poet without a piece called 'Death'? Mik does a nice job with this mandatory subject. Can't help but snap my fingers to this one, every time.
Subway (3:47)
This is another effort that I am working on. Looking at the mundane observances of a subway rider. Never having been a city kid, I am working on processing it. I am not quite clear on things like "a Misbegotten cross of a nazi and hotten-tot". Nice drum work.
CIA (;59)
Brilliant rapid wordsmithing. Built somewhat on the 'If I were King, how would I fix things" train of thought (but only just vaguely). Not what you would expect exactly.
Apocalypse Wow (15:14)
Set in the Cafe Afterlife this explores the complexities and philosophical perplexities of the time-space paradigm and it tells the tale of T-Bone Sphinx final send-off. Complex and simple at the same time. You were there too, but you may not remember it...yet. Very neat, and the music is great in this piece.
Bonus track (I think)
Not sure if this is a separate piece or just tacked onto the previous track but this is a fun little piece which shares a few witticisms offered by The Hit Man Haiku from the poet in residence of the Genoveise Family, in the original Italian, with translations.
I haven't let much out of the bag here and my impressions are quite sparse I know. I prefer to let you do the listening and evaluating. I will tell you this, when you watch Mik perform, IF you can take your eyes off him and watch the audience, you will understand what he said, there are faces out there that make it clear, they don't have a clue what he is talking about. Not many, but there are always a few. If you don't get it all, don't be ashamed, you not always supposed to. I will say that I greatly enjoy this CD and look forward to many listening's and more than a little study and looking some stuff up. If you don't mind some work where needed you will enjoy this piece of work.
Here is a sample of Mik's work with Gilles. I learned the other night a little more about this piece, This has been aired on PBS, Screened at the LA Comedy Festival, the London Independant Film Festival, the NYC Downtown Short Film Festival, The Williamsburg Film Festival and the Woodstock Film Festival. It is currently showing at a film festival in Wales.
The rap tunes are probably my favorites of all Gilles and Mik's work. The best of which, so far, in my opinion, is Hip-Hop Hobbit which you can hear on their CD "Poor, On Tour, and Over 54", very good stuff, indeed. (The new one they pulled off the other night regarding Bob Dylan had me in tears I was laughing so hard.) On the other hand, you may prefer the one below.
Keep the Beat,
Tom
No comments:
Post a Comment