Different Drummer

I’m not sure when the break came- when I stopped accepting the Walt Disney Wonderful World of Color for what it wasn’t and began looking for something real. I can remember the approximate timing of my disconnect from pop music- when I spun the dial on my radio and turned off WABC and the Cousin Brucie machine and tuned in to the underground sound of WNBC and Allison Steele, Roscoe and Scott Munie. I remember that at first it felt wrong- the letting go of the “normal” and the mainstream while diving deeper into a world of alternative sounds. In looking back, I now realize that break had already broken before the leap from AM pop to FM underground. I had never really liked the Beatles and all their yeah-yeah-yeah’s and screaming girl fanaticism. Then there was the Sgt. Pepper’s album getting air time in the underground, revealing a musical tale in many parts that told a completely different story about who the Beatles were. What I didn’t know then, since I hadn’t been listening, was that the Beatles had already changed everything with THE seminal recording in the rock and roll pantheon- Revolver- Sgt. Pepper’s was just the next step in their journey.

            In looking further, I see now that my Pepper epiphany was the result of two factors. The first was what some have pointed to as Sgt. Pepper’s role in pioneering the idea of a “concept” album. The whole had become greater than the sum of its parts since the songs flowed together as if one were experiencing a concert. Rather than being individual songs plunked on two sides of a vinyl platter, we now had a set list that seemed to tell more of a story, both through each individual song and its lyrics, as well as with the manner and place that they segued into each other. And then there was of course the inclusion of the sitar from a way different place and time, whose twang and drone became somewhat emblematic of sixties music.

            In some ways, since he did to some extent achieve rock star status, my first rock-ish concert was because of the sitar. It was in New York City at Lincoln Center when Ravi Shankar brought his Ensemble from India to perform in the Spring of 1968. I don’t remember a whole lot about it other than the group spread out across the stage on various short platforms, and that Shankar pretty much set his sitar on fire without anything more combustible than the intensity of his playing. In some ways it set a rather high bar by which to measure the rest of my concert experiences over the years. One thing I have noticed along the way is that it has been music from other parts of the world that has generated the most excitement and energy for me throughout my range of concert going experiences- what comes to mind relatively recently are two separate shows put on by the Afro Celt Sound System and Balkan Beat Box, both of whom lived up to and surpassed the traditions and fusions that their names describe.

            Another name has been added to this list as of late, after being invited to a performance of a vocal and percussion group from France at the Vashon High School theater. In a one hour set of music mixed with audience question and answer time, lo Còr de la Plana, or the heart of the plain, displayed a wide variety of vocal harmony and drumming skills, yielding songs with styles ranging from standard five part harmony to sounds and rhythms from across Europe and Africa. The five members of this group from Marseilles took turns with various small hand drums and tambourines, a bass drum from South America, electric floor pads that amplified a steady foot-driven bass texture of a different kind, and basic hand clapping, both on and off the beat. The songs and lyrics were both traditional harmonies from southern France as well as new compositions by band members, all sung in Occitan, a little used French dialect, the preservation of which is at least a part of the band’s mission.

            Part of my reason for being at the concert was to record it, although because of a few internet issues, a link to the concert footage cannot be provided here at the moment. I did turn in a copy of the concert to the Voice of Vashon, and they hope to have it up on their cable channel within a week or two. I did offer my recordings to the band, and in doing the data transfer I also had a fairly long conversation with band member Rodin Kaufmann, who is also serving as the group’s documentarian. In what turned into a three hour conversation, we talked of the upcoming French and American elections, the environment, his new interest in filmmaking and rekindled skill with black and white line drawing. We also spoke of his ongoing concern for the plight of indigenous peoples around the world through his on-the-road touring perspective. It was an unexpected opportunity to experience another view from a different side- I hope the conversation continues. It will also be interesting to hear how the transition from Vashon High School stage to Carnegie Hall was weathered by the group on this go ‘round, and where they will go next.