Wow – there is something in the air. William Claxton a true god of jazz photography has passed at the age of 80. His work inspired many a music photographer over the years. He could be seen in Samy’s Camera store from time to time just wandering about. We are so lucky here in Los Angeles. His work is timeless and his contribution was enormous. If you don’t know his work see here http://www.williamclaxton.com/movie.html
Our condolences go out to his family and all who knew him.
Earl Memorial Video
Earl Palmer: 1924 – 2008 from ArtDontSleep on Vimeo.
As part of the funeral service his family wanted to make a slide show to illustrate his incredible and diverse life. In fourteen insane hours myself and Coleman and brilliant editor Luke Lynch put this together. Thanks to the Palmer family for letting us share it with you. Earl we love you, we will miss you but we feel assured that the party just got better in Heaven.
B+ October 12th 2008
In all the furore that has been happening I forgot to mention a very enjoyable commercial gig we did earlier this year. Dickies Europe were a pleasure to work for. The gig was me doing me and in the process making portraits of LA at work. Its not hard to find Dickies in LA and the photos Im very proud of. Thanks to our great producer Bekka Melino, Coleman and Nate on this one. And to the Agency FarFar from Sweden.
See it all here…
http://dickies.eu/working-in-la/
This year really makes one realize the fragility of this whole life thing. Today at the grand age of 84 – a legend passed on. He fueled so many great hits its hard to know where to start. Earl Palmer was from The Black Vaudeville era. He came from New Orleans and through his tap dancing he learnt to drum. This drumming defined Rock’n’Roll drumming. His hits with Little Richard and Fats Domino engraved the “swamp beat” as David Axelrod has called it into the American psyche. The music Earl made with Axelrod became the raw materials of mid nineties hiphop. Thats how we met Earl – first on the video for Midnight in a Perfect World
and then later in Keepintime.
Earl was so great. Damn we will miss him. Much love to all the family and especially Penny our homie.
My good friends Patrick Buddhabong and Nate Martel have done a really theoretical story on me for Prequel magazine. Its definitely one to put your thinking caps on for… there is some nice photos though to make it a little more easy!!! Thanks to the homies a bright light in an other wise difficult week….
See it here. http://www.prequelmag.com/prequel_issue6.pdf
It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of two greats of Brasilian music in the past week.
Maestre Salustiano was one of the greats of Pernambucano culture. His mastery of the Rabeca, his humor and his incredible music will leave a strong light on the city of Recife. He was filmed by us for a forthcoming documentary. His wisdom, wit and generosity made our fist day of shooting pass with incredible pleasure. His version of Asa Branca on the Rabeca (African Violin) brought tears to my eyes and clearly expressed his understanding of Nordestino Culture. The heavens will be brighter with his arrival.
Secondly and even closer to our camp is DJ Primo. What can be said of this man. He was an extraordinary person. As Cut observed “We don’t speak the same language but me and this guy can speak through our scratches”. We met Primo in 2002 when he was first in Sao Paulo – he fell in easily with the whole Mochilla crew. His sincerity and sensitivity beyond language was quickly apparent. He sat in for the tribute to Dilla from the 2006 SESC show. See here
It is now with a sad irony that Primo has joined Dilla. We will miss him. The boyish smile, the indefatigable enthusiasm and the deep spiritual wisdom. Our hearts go out to his family and Patricia.
The Azymuth show was an amazing success – thank you to all the LA massive that represented that historic night. When is the last time a fusion jazz band got that kind of love anywhere?? We documented the entire proceedings and made a little promo clip to whet the appetites of all those who didnt make it. You can see it here.
Azymuth Live In Los Angeles... from ArtDontSleep on Vimeo.
Good editing by big Luke the Editor as well as nice sound recording by Benjamin and of course steady cameras by the Mochilla crew aided by Todd Mazer. Theres a few nice cameos in there too keep your eyes peeled!
We also recorded four new joints with Azymuth but I cant really reveal more than that right now.
Also bad news this week from Recife. Maestre Salustiano, the stalwarth of the powerful regional scene there passed this weekend. May he light up the heavens with his Rabecca. The new Recife trailer will be here soon stay tuned…
So first Saturday… Azymuth (Bertrami, Malheiros and Conti) will be on fire live at the EchoPlex and if you don’t know by now how special that is then you haven’t been paying attention. The Beat Konducta will be doing his special magic too, as will J.Rocc, Coleman and myself. Carlinhos De Pandeiro Ouro who first became known to the world through his appearance in Orfeu Negro back in 1959 (the kids dancing and playing with Orfeu) will be bringing his brand of acoustic Brasilian love too. Needless to say Samba dancers, caipirinhas and good times will be had. Gauranteed. Please support this independently produced event, Azymuth haven’t played in the US in more than twenty years and to make it all even more groovy it is Mamao’s birthday. Don’t miss this…
Secondly – after months of work with Braydon Fuller and Stephen Serrato we have relaunched www.mochilla.com. It is filled with new and old content. Braydon has hooked us with a whole new system and we are trying it out on you this week. There are lots of corrections and things to be added but with our new user – friendly system Coleman and myself will be adding, correcting and remixing over the coming months. We are very proud of it and I think you will find lots to look at… All feedback gratefully accepted.
That’s it—thanks to the good folks at Mas Exitos for an amazing night on Tuesday… see you Saturday.
Bring dancing shoes…
Paz e luz
b
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