If there is one man, white western historyhas neglected, it must be james baldwin (1924 - 1987)known to many as writer, novellist, essayistplaywright, poet. . . Surely unknown to all asactivist, as frontfighter, as luchador of theanti-xenophobic anti-discrimination discoursin general & more specific of the north-american'negro'. His father was a slave & as a childat the tender age of 10, he was teased and abusedby 2 new york police officers, an instance of the racistharassment by the nypd that he would experience againas a teenager and document in his essays. Why isn't his history & discours teached at school ?. Anno 2020, i learn to know him & his eloquent rhetoricalcapabilities through the also fenomenal moving & breath-takingperformance of tawiah + myrrh for the refraction festival, takingplace online of course, due to the ever infamous covid-19. . . An audiovisual délice, in which visual artist myrrh, places tawiahin subtle superposition with james baldwin & his 1965 debate with mr. Buckley ! in the cambridge union ! !! ! ! ! while performinglive one of the most delicate concerts i have seen during corona. . . A must see+hear _ _ _ https://www. Youtube. Com/watch?v=h5l2lssdzro. Being totally absorbed by this performance, i discover as an artist myselfone of the reasons i bind so much with this piece of music is that i myselflike to use the same harmonies, apparently, which i did indeed in 2015https://soundcloud. Com/torturado/eternal-void-the-fall-back& in the mid nineties, that is 1990's. . . A long forgotten piece of me, performed that time during my ritcs studies, as my band torturado, no recordings from then helas online, but gracias a la discovery of tawiah+myrrh & james baldwin picked up again what i remembered from that time & made a 2020 version of it. . . A small visual document of this: https://vimeo. Com/450004585. As from the moment, i discovered james baldwin, i integrated also his powerful 1965 debate in my performances during covid times. . . To spread his word ! to inspire others, to confront others. . . I told myself covid or corona is not going to stop me playing & performing music, which comes natural to me, so i looked for ways to perform outside, in plain nature, with batteries. . . Guitars, 9v fx, fx without 9v compartment, battery based amplifiers, battery based kassette walkmans. . . & it is on kassette that i put an edited full version of the james baldwin vs buckley debate of 1965. . . For this exercice of the sound design formation, we had to upload a sound that intrigues, well, james baldwin eloquent voice, litteral & metaphorically inspired & triggered me. . . Also the sound of electro-magnetic technology called tape is something i have always been fond of. . . So i made an edit of an edit of the james baldwin debate of +- 10 minutes !. Spread the word !a+. Actually this could also serve the exercice of recording a sound that comes from a certain place, or is part of a bigger thing , or personificates a certain place. . .
Author: Antwerpsounddesign
