CHARLES LLOYD
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CHARLES LLOYD IS AN ARTIST.
PERIOD.
HIS SONIC ART IS BOUNDLESS, ROVING, CAPTIVATING
HE IS A SPIRIT SEEKER OF LUMINOUS TRUTH.
HE CREATES AND SENDS YOU INTO THE FOURTH DIMENSION.
HE FEEDS YOU SOUL FOOD- BREATHING GOLD PRAYER INTO THE VEINS
AND CAVERNS OF HUMANITY.
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KEITH JARRETT IS A PURE VEHICLE,
AN INSTRUMENT OF PURE MUSIC AND
A CHANNELS THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SONIC ACTIONS
INTO A FLUID HYMN OF THE DIVINE
HIS GENIUS IS A SPONTANEOUS IMPROVISED SHIP INTO THE SUBLIME.
HIS TRANSITIONS ARE ELEGANT FILMIC PASSAGES,
WATERFALLS INTO THE NEXT.
MUSIC, PURE MUSIC, MOVING FORWARD IN REAL TIME.
TRANSPORT.
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Kurt Elling
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KURT ELLING’S + PATRICIA BARBER’S
VOICE
IS AN ORCHESTRA,
AN INNOVATION AND A POEM.
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ANTHONY COX
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Anthony Cox’s
sonics are elegant and fierce DARK sTar revelations,
a rare powerful creative poetic intelligence
with the genius capacity to translate
the brilliant heat and caressing warmth of fire.
He creates unrepeatable pearls of deep luminosity + humanity.
A courageous improviser and composer – a maverick.
A NEW BREED LEADER.
Intense INTEGRITY.
Sacred LISTENING.
SUBLIME breakthrough GOLD.
An ARTIST who KNOWS.
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MUSIC INFORMS AND IS THE LURE TO MY ART.
A THIN LINE OF SOUND IS SENT DOWN
AND
DRAWS OUT THE AWAITING PEARL DEEP
IN MY SUBCONSCIOUS, MY IMAGINATION.
MUSIC IS LIKE A SONIC RADAR IN MY CREATIVE PROCESS.
ONCE IT GETS CLOSER, WAVES OF YES FLOW UP.
THE MUSIC SELECTED
MAY BE PARED TO A SINGULAR MUSICAL PHRASE
AS IT DRAWS UP THE COLOR, THE TEMPERATURE,
THE EMOTION, THE CIRCLES AND LINES,
THE HUMANITY AND THE DIVINITY
OF THE
WORK.
IT IS AN ASCETIC ACTION OF ACUTE LISTENING
AND ITS OPPOSITE.
MY SENSES ARE QUICKENED, HONED, KEEN
AND
TOTALLY OPENED, VULNERABLE AND RAW.
IT IS LIKE PERFORMING LIKE A MUSICIAN AND AN ATHLETE.
NO AUDIENCE- ONLY THE CALL AND RESPONSE
OF THE INTERNAL WAVES OF YES.
YES.
WHEN IN GRADUATE SCHOOL AT
MASON GROSS SCHOOL OF THE ARTS,
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY,
I TOLD MY ADVISER, THE LATE LEON GOLUB,
I COULD NOT CHECK WITH ONE SINGULAR X
THE DISCIPLINE BOX OF MY ART.
THE BOX PRINTED ON THE LEFT SIDE OF:
PAINTING OR DRAWING OR SCULPTURE OR
WRITING OR FILM OR PERFORMANCE OR…, ETC.
I CREATED INSTALLATIONS, WROTE POEMS,
CREATED SCULPTURE, PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS,
DIRECTED FILMS AND PERFORMANCES,
RECORDED SAMPLINGS ON LOOPS,
ORGANIZED ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS,
CABARETS, ETC.
LEON PUT HIS FISTS UP AND SAID,
“LET’S BOX AND SEE WHICH WINS!”
HE KNEW I WAS COMPETITIVE
AND HE KNEW
I REFUSED
TO BE CATEGORIZED, CAGED, LABELED-
SO THE SYSTEM WAS NOT A VASE
I COULD PLACE MY FLOWERS IN.
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I REFUSED TO WRITE MY THESIS
IN THE CONVENTIONAL EXPOSITORY FORM.
I CREATED A WRITTEN OPEN PERFORMANCE-
NO BEGINNING, MIDDLE OR END-
IN THE TRADITIONAL NARRATIVE ARC.
CREATIVE THINKING IS CIRCULAR, SPIRALS,
NO FIXED POINT- BUT A CLUSTER OF CONSTELLATIONS
THAT MERGE AND CREATES CYCLONES
OF EPIPHANIC CREATIVE ACTIONS.
MY THESIS HAD PAGE NUMBERS
AS REQUIRED
AND, YET, THE READER COULD
START ANYWHERE AND ASSEMBLE
MY CREATIVE PROCESS WAS THE TESTAMENT
OF THE THESIS:
MY VISCERAL/ANALYTIC/MYTHIC BRAIN
WHEN IN CREATIVE SOAR/DIVE.
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MY MFA THESIS WAS A TEXT
OF LISTS, STORIES, ESSAYS, POEMS.
I SUBMITTED IT WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF MY ADVISERS.
LIFE AND CREATIVITY
AND
REVOLUTION
AND
DISCOVERIES
AND
LOVE’S ENERGY
ARE NOT LINEAR.
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I WAS A CHINESE HISTORY MAJOR AT MACALESTER-
TWO YEARS SUBSUMED IN FAR EASTERN PRISM
OF CREATING AND THINKING.
MY MFA THESIS NOW IN THE RUTGER’S ART LIBRARY.
IT WAS DEDICATED TO MY MOTHER WHO LOVED
THE SOUND OF WORDS AND
CALLED ME HER “SPARKLY GIRL”,
THE ACTION OF MY THESIS PRESENTATION
BROKE OPEN AND SHATTERED
THE MFA THESIS RULES.
FOREVER.
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Leon Golub, one of my advisers challenged me to box
WE BOTH BURST OUT LAUGHING,
UPROARIOUS CRAZY HOWLING LAUGHING
AND WE ARE CRYING TOO
BECAUSE THE RELEASE
IS SO TOTAL
AND
THE TRUTH OF YOUR WHOLE
ESSENCE HAS
BEEN ILLUMINATED
AND
ACKNOWLEDGED
BY
SOMEONE
WHOSE
INTERIOR GEOGRAPHY
AND
QUEST
RESONATES
WITH
YOUR
OWN.
FREEDOM SINGS
THROUGHOUT
YOUR BODY.
ELECTRIC WAVES THAT KEEP COMING.
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MY ART IS AN EXPLORATION
THAT HAS EVOLVED,
THROUGH DEDICATION, PERSEVERANCE,
PRACTICE ,
WONDER AND TRUST,
INTO IMPROVISATIONAL EVENTS.
THE VARIOUS DISCIPLINES ARE MY CHOICES
FOR MY INVENTION,
MY EVENTS.
NO CHECKED BOXES.
ADVENTURES IN DISCOVERING
AND
REVEALING BEAUTY
AS
I
MOVE
FORWARD.
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I AM TOLD I AM A PROVOCATEUR.
I CHALLENGE; TURN THINGS INSIDE OUT;
ASK QUESTIONS; CONFRONT;
TURN THE HALOGEN LIGHTS ON
WHEN
40 WATT BULBS IS THE COMFORT ZONE;
ASK FOR THE TRUTH;
TELL THE TRUTH;
MAKE POETIC ASSOCIATIONS
AND
CONNECT THE DOTS;
QUESTION SUB-TEXTS;
EXAMINES CONTEXT, DIALECT, THE EXTERNAL FACTORS
THAT SHAPE/CREATE/DAMAGE A SPIRIT.
I LIKE CONSCIOUSNESS,
THE ECSTATIC EXPERIENCES OF NEW AWARENESS,
THE TWILIGHT AND THE NEW HORIZONS
THAT
IS THE
DOMAIN
OF THE EXPLORER.
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I WAS TOLD I COULD NOT WALK.
HA!
THE HOME- BOUND TEACHERS AND THE STANDARD TESTS
REPORTED THAT I
WAS
QUITE STUPID AND RATHER DUMB.
HA!
THE “HANDICAPPED” HAD A CHECK IN THE BOX
NEXT TO THEIR NAME.
THE X WAS IN THE BOX NEXT TO MY NAME.
AND I WAS SAVED/RESCUED BY BRILLIANCE-
TEACHERS WHO HAD OPTICS FOR RARE DIAMONDS
IN COAL BOULDERS.
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HA!
DO I SHARE EXPERIENCES WITH THE COLLECTIVE CULTURES OF THE “OTHER”.
OF COURSE.
AND,
THAT
CAN
BE
A GIFT OF:
“I SEE YOU!”
I SEE BELOW THE SKIN,
THE “POSE”.
AS A CHILD WHO LIVED IN A HOSPITAL,
I COULD SMELL AUTHENTIC SINCERITY
AND
KINDNESS.
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MY SENSES SCAN FOR GENIUS, GRACE
AND BEAUTIFUL SOULS
WHO HAVE THE COURAGE
TO
FLY
OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER…AND OVER
AGAIN WITH A CHILD LIKE SENSE OF WONDER
AND CELEBRATION
YET, TEMPERED AND WOVEN
WITH ELEGANT INTELLECTUAL FIRE.
MY LULLABIES.
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I CAN NOW.
IN STILLNESS
AND
IN SILENCE.
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CHERISH. WHISPER. SOFTLY. Catherine L. Johnson 2009
CATHERINE L. JOHNSON 