DONE

The last time I saw _Be Good Tanyas_ at the Ottawa Jazz Festival, Frazey Ford seemed frazzled. In the patter between songs, one guessed that she was the jam in a PBJ sandwich that was disintegrating slowly but surely. (As I said on Twitter, I thought then: run, Frazey, run!!!)

The performance started late, there was an oblique reference to one of the band members who had "forgotten" their instrument in the last city where they played.

Now she's on her own.  In beauty and joy.

"And I'm sorry that you don't like your life  

But I fought for my own victories  

And for the beauty in my life  

And my joy, my joy, my joy takes nothing from you  

No my joy, my joy takes nothing from you..."

That certainly resonated with me.

Who hasn't been there? 

Such a relief to be well rid of anyone who finds satisfaction in stirring pots of old grievances that are kept simmering for *good* measure...

Though the BGT days of performing _The Littlest Bird_ are long gone, other bands do honour to that song.

Rock Paper Scissors finds the bittersweet joy and sorrow in its words.

The power of music, dance and drums

 

During the 2011 federal election campaign that Harper's CONtempt party *won* with a pathetic 39% of the popular vote (with the support of CPC fraudulent tactics that likely included voter suppression in key ridings), I wrote this review of world-reknowned Mali musician Salif Keita's concert.

As a result of political upheaval and regime changes in northern Africa, the tenuous balance of power in other countries has been disrupted, notably in Mali where civil war has been raging for months. 

Scott Taylor describes how the Harper government aided the Islamist terrorists. 

In a nutshell, where things stand at the moment in Mali.

One of the revealing actions taken by religious fundamentalist in Mali was to ban all public performances as well as the private expression of music. Yes, music.

There is an uplifting energy to music that fundamentalist ideologies loathe, unless its power can be controlled and directed to support religious and political hegemony or simultaneously exploited by profit-making ventures.

In contrast, the exuberant, chaotic outbreaks of round dancing in corporate public places is a judicious and brilliant manifestation of the open, inclusive and generous spirit of Idle No More.

Leanne Simpson, an Anishinaabe academic and writer, argues that a spirit of celebration has generally characterized Idle No More gatherings.

"One of the things the round dances have demonstrated to me is that there's a joyfulness to this movement," she says.

"It's strategic and it's serious and it's multifaceted but, at the foundation, it's not coming from a place of anger. It's not coming from a place of want. It's coming from a place of joy and connections to our homeland and our cultures."

Idle No More began as a series of teach-ins by four women in the Prairies, and has been spurred on by a female chief on a hunger strike. So it has been very much shaped by women.

It's an incredible thing when you see our women leading," says McMahon. "They bring a power and a balance we as men can't bring. And it's about time."

From here.

Though some may prefer to gleefully focus upon CONtempt party tactics intended to crush the human spirit, it's timely to remember this Indigenous teaching.

A Cherokee elder told a grandchild that all human beings have two wolves doing battle inside them.

One beast is armed with anger, jealousy, fear, greed, vindictiveness, scorn, lies and vanity. The other animal has joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, honesty and empathy in its arsenal. 

The child thought, then asked which creature would win. 

The elder said with twinkling eyes: "The one you feed."

In closing, a round dance exuberantly performed and joyfully expressed on December 22, 2012 at the TD centre in Calgary.

The YouTube displayed was recommended by @CopperBronzed - I am proud to be her ally and her sister in solidarity.

Play on, Grand Corps Malade.

Just heard this lovely performance on Radio-Canada, from one of the best slameur in the francophone world, imho, in a duet with Reda Taliani.

If music be the food of love, play on. Inch'allah.

Note: I wasn't able to post the original music video, as YouTube would not supply the code.

Embracing music, not ideology

The venue:

The man:

Instead of listening to the leaders' debate, I attended an event that lifted my spirits and renewed my faith in humanity.

Salif Keita is a respected artist whose music has a global following. He performed in Ottawa last evening at the Dominion Chalmers church; the Moorish ambiance suited him and his musicians well.

This multi-talented, gentle and inspiring man brought hundreds to their feet, dancing, swaying, singing and rejoicing. In so many ways Salif Keita inspires faith though not the religious sort. He touched every one present with the poignancy, kindness and strength of his performance. He drew in the love of his audience, transformed it in the crucible of his music and let it flow back to us.

Rightwing fundamentalist and dominionist evangelicals might envy his ability to create such powerful cohesion and energy in an audience; they would be unable to replicate it since they are deficient. None possess Keita's genuine force of agape.

More than just a pretty face

A friend emailed a link to this YouTube about Adele, a young woman whose talent and drive have propelled her from Tottenham to the world stage.

I love her music, but I hated the staging of the music video; why did the director restrict Adele to a chair? Other people play drums, twirl, dance but she is compelled to perform sitting down. I suspect that it was Adele's lack of a willowy figure that figured in the director's choice.

For counter-balance, here is the same song in a performance recorded live before an audience. For purists, an accoustic version can be found here.

For the record, this is what Adele had to say about critics associating her music in with Amy Winehouse and Duffy:

"We got lumped in together, but I don't think we sound alike at all. We were trying to achieve the same things but we're a gender, not a genre."