More time travel...

Legend has it that Bessie Smith didn't need a microphone when she performed...that, even with a large ensemble of players, you could hear her voice clearly. Anywhere in the room. Even outside of the building where she was singing on the street. A big voice.

At least that's what Bobby Lounge told me, when I interviewed him for an npr story several years ago. Eccentric, reclusive, Bobby Lounge is worth his own blog post (at least one...)

But that will come in the future. For now, climb into this little Bessie Smith time machine (a youtube video) with its own anti-climactic, supa-highway weirdness. The machine: just a single shot of a record spinning....

When you get tired of looking, close your eyes and listen to the power of Bessie Smith's voice slicing from the distant past into your ear drums, taking you back...



Bessie Smith. A voice that cut through wax, walls and thick slabs of decadetime.

My favorite moments of this morning's ceremony...

God of our weary years
God of our silent tears
Thou who has brought us
thus far along the way
Thou who has by thy might
let us into the light
keep us forever in the path we pray
Lest our feet stray from the places our god
where we met thee
Lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world,
we forget thee...

There were so many fine moments to watch. It's wonderful to have a president, once again, who has a way with words. Obama's speech was great, of course... (A wise friend of mine places it third in the pantheon of great inaugural speeches).

But it was Dr. Joseph Lowery's benediction that got me. Lowry words were eloquent and wise and funny and well-wrought. I love his old, leathery voice, and his choice of opening words from James Weldon Johnson.

Dip your cup into the deep wells of democracy and take a long, cool drink:

After the valley, the mountaintop...

The urgency of now, and then.

I've seen this footage in black and white. I like it in color. Happy MLK day.

What this country needs...

You may have heard Ant Neely's music while watching television (if you do that kind of thing...) Six Feet Under, Boston Legal, Las Vegas. Neely also writes songs, and he released an album late late year called Not Fit For Human Consumption, using audio from the prelinger archives, an amazing resources for all kinds of archival stuff. He took sounds and voice from old films reels and set them to music...

I like a number of the songs on this album....and even better: Neely released the album under a creative commons license, which means that he encourages people to share the music and remix it into new creative forms. You can download the album for free at his website, and donate what you think it's worth too.

Here's a video remix of some of the archival footage used on the album. It's an interesting, low-budg experiment. Slightly creepy footage. The well-scrubbed beatnik is former a mousketeer, Jimmy Dodd. I love the half-man/half-woman dancers at the end. Definitely worth a look while you download Neely's album.