Capital Swamp: The DC Resource Thread

(what is fort dupont)

I'm hoping you're kidding. Free concert series in Anacostia that has existed for 40 some years. Old-school soul, funk and jazz fusion bands play there. I've written some reviews of shows there for the Post (back when it had more freelancers) and done a few things for the City Paper. Yes, only a tiny handful of white folks go there.

Actually Jon Fischer mentioned Fort Dupont in his Fort Reno cover story (and they are hoping for a follow-up piece from me)

Around town, other free concert series on National Park Service land have had much closer contact with federal authorities.

Roger “Flash” Gordon stage-managed Fort Dupont’s summer shows for eight years with the Annapolis-based National Artists Corporation, and he still runs the D.C. Blues Society concerts at Carter Barron. At the beginning of each season, the Park Service paid the company to produce six Saturday concerts with a local opening act and a big-name headliner. “For people who didn’t have vacation money” in the neighborhood, he says, “that was their vacation.”

National Artists Corporation held the Fort Dupont contract from 2002 to 2012. Due to sequestration, in 2013 NPS booked the talent for a slimmed three-show schedule, replacing some funk and go-go favorites with U.S. military bands and shying away from larger, national acts. “[NPS has] done a piss-poor job taking it over,” says Gordon. “People in that area of Southeast don’t wanna see [those bands]. That’s crap to them.” NPS is currently accepting bids to run four shows this summer. A spokesperson says the Fort Dupont series will begin on July 19.

Since the shows are run by the Park Service, National Artists Corporation didn’t have to pay for security. Gordon says U.S. Park Police presence has increased, however.

Interestingly, friends of fort dupont has a few more details beyond what been announced. Definitely not the same scope as most prior years.

http://www.foftdupont.org/Summer_Concert_Series.html

I'm not kidding! I'd honestly never heard of it.

I do radio work in Anacostia on weekends, but I don't have a lot of friends or colleagues EOTR otherwise.

I reviewed old-school soul band the Dramatics there in 2005 I think; saw P-Funk offshoot Original P there in 2010 (there were a crowd of about 5,000 there). I heard someone once refer to it as "the Black Wolf Trap" (although arguably Carter Barron used to book more national r'n'b acts). Pretty sure Sun Ra once played there.

Plus as I kid I went to the Fort Dupont Ice rink that is in the park (I think) to watch my brother play hockey!

there was a crowd

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2014/07/11/chris-grier-experimental-guitarist-and-former-d-c-musician-dies/

http://bandwidth.wamu.org/d-c-s-modern-day-punk-scene-captured-in-a-new-photo-exhibit/

Curm, haven't you mentioned a church in SE that gets soul acts and puts on a weekly concert? I'd love some details on that.

Westminster Church in SW (not SE) puts on weekly Monday night 6 to 9 "blues" concerts that sometimes are more soul than blues. They do Friday night jazz ones. Many of the surviving old-school DC soulsters do not gig that much.

http://www.westminsterdc.org/blues_schedule.htm

I think Shirletta Settles who is there next Monday is kinda soulful. I don't know the August lineup that well. Little Margie from the Jewels (who opened a tour for James Brown in the '60s) who is there Labor Day Monday is soulful.

Awesome thanks!

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2014/07/16/fewer-shows-smaller-acts-at-fort-dupont-and-carter-barron-this-year/#more-113277

Some of the details on the latest National Park Service episode

good piece, Steve!

Thanks. I can't believe the National Park Service said that planning 1 weekend of Fort Stevens on Ga. Ave civil war anniversary events meant they couldn't put out a bid for Fort Dupont concerts in a timely fashion.

DC rap overview in Pitchfork

http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/403-the-rise-of-dc-street-rap/

chanranjit singh coming to tropicalia!

http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=25554

Puff Pieces (ex- the wildly underrated Antelope) tonight at Fort Reno.

http://lovitt.bandcamp.com/album/4-song-7

I don't even live in D.C. anymore, I just wish I was seeing Fort Reno shows....

Was there Monday, as I seem to be busy or away on most Fort Reno nights this year.. Definitely still enjoyable. Observation and not a criticism-- I think on some nights the percentage of parents with little kids there is much larger than the number of teens through uh 50-somethings without little ones with them...

Hey I Died, what's the U St. Music Foundation?

Other than WKYS's 9:30 pm to around 9:50 pm Mon. to Thurs. go-go crank sessions is this genre getting any attention, these days? DC rap may be bigger these days, but I guess I gotta look at instagram to find more re go-go

I found some go-go and bouncebeat tweets, the detective work continues.

Meanwhile, there's plenty to read re house music shows (mostly indie/experimental but a few token mentions of bluegrass and classical Indian-South Asian ones).

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/46108/ace-of-basements/

http://bandwidth.wamu.org/in-the-d-c-area-houses-open-doors-to-small-time-musicians/

WKYS probably spends more time on go-go than the 10 minutes 92Q spends on club every day :(

I remember when now Atlanta-based DJ Frankski used to spin Baltimore club music on weekend nights on Baltimore radio...The late K-Swift later...I have lost track since her passing. I guess there's not much left

My brother's band is getting some local press:

http://bandwidth.wamu.org/track-work-thaylobleu-locked/

Nice. Impressive background too:

The 1991 graduate of the Corcoran School of Art—who went by Sub-Z in one of D.C.’s first noteworthy hip-hop groups, the jazz-influenced Opus Akoben (with Kokayi and Black Indian, both still active as MCs)— plus one-half of the pioneering Poem-cees, and Hall and Vaughn have been musicians in the scene for years.)

(fyi "one-half of the pioneering Poem-cees" = my brother)

I figured that but thought you might not want the name spelled out

i might've mentioned this before but poem-cees opened for saul williams when he performed at my college and they totally stole the show from him

a bit later i wrote about "fat white men in suits" in a paper

somehow this thread fell of SNA and I missed zachlyon's frankly amazing post

Washington Post has a big story on a Dewey Beach cover band today, and the City Paper has a Dewey Beach cover story. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Roy Ayers is at Fort Dupont tonight btw, and Carter Barron starts shortly

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/08/anwan-glover-actor-in-the-wire-stabbed-in-d-c-nightclub-105713.html

His status as leader of the Backyard Band is near the bottom of the piece

I am liking some of the Michael Andrade photos on Bandwidth even if I don't know the bands...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/08/11/all-what-jazz-or-how-to-declare-something-dead-without-listening-to-it/

Discussed elsewhere on ilm--2 guys who have in Dischord bands talk about the state of jazz

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/one-last-wind-up-for-the-godfather-of-go-go/2014/08/21/a76b43b4-294a-11e4-86ca-6f03cbd15c1a_story.html

Marcus Moore interview piece with Chuck Brown bandmenbers and others

Also I reviewed the album in City Paper.

Friday is Chuck Brown Day in DC with the memorial park opening and a tribute show/album release event at the Howard

No "Roam" house & techno dance party at Uhall for me last night, we did the Chuck Brown tribute event at the Howard. Fun time...

Gonna have to miss the Metro Mambo thang at the Anacostia Museum today Saturday from 2 to 4. Dj Jim Byers will be getting his guest to drop knowledge about the ocassional mambo music played on the 1950s Capital Caravan live music tv show that was filmed in the 930 Club building when it was called something else (even before it was called WUST). Then a live salsa band will play for dancers...

x-post re Chuck thing---demographics---most under 25s of all races didn't care enough about Chuck to spend $ for the tribute show (which wasn't cheap but was cheaper than many a 930 club show). I thought there'd be a few more over 25 Asians, Latinos , white folks but I guess not. Whatever. We had fun as I said.

Finally saw Black Alley who opened. Can't decide what I think. Singer is charismatic but sometimes her voice is a little too much The Voice meets Broadway dramatic. The band wants to do a hybrid rock meets go-go thing but sometimes the rock elements seem forced (and not always my kind of rock). Sometimes it worked though

http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/videos/?id=M5969&type=A

Thaylobleu and GODISHEUS playing Chocolate City Rocks opening night

That's great that K.Ctr Mill Stage shows are video-archived. Can check that out later. Was a busy Friday night in the area (Baton Rouge rap at Fillmore; Roam party at Uhall; Chuck Brown tribute at Howard; likely lots more...)

Hardway Connection are playing for free at 12:40 pm today at Carter Barron. They're an awesome Maryland southern soul band. Some of the acts on after them are pretty good too

Wonder if this will get rained out (or if there are backup plans for rain)?

http://www.congressheightsontherise.com/2014/09/sept-11-jace-clayton-gateway-dc.html

Gateway DC at St. Elizabeths East, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE. Free. (202) 330-1219. stelizabethseast.com. (

Sept 11 | Jace Clayton @ Gateway DC
on 2:13 PM
Near Futures, part of The 5x5 Project, Washington DC, invites you to:

Enkutatash ንቁጣጣሽእ | Jace Clayton
Thursday Sept 11th, 2014
6-9pm (performance 6:30-7:30pm)
Gateway Pavilion at St. Elizabeth’s East, 1100 Alabama Ave SE

Join composer Jace Clayton, aka DJ Rupture, for Enkutatash ንቁጣጣሽእ, a participatory music performance transforming security threats into spiritual renewal on September 11th, the Ethiopian new year. Enkutatash ንቁጣጣሽእ translates Homeland Security’s familiar, color-coded threat level advisory system into notes on the Ethiopian musical scale and mixes that with an East African harvest song. The performance is held at St. Elizabeth’s East, the former national mental institution that now houses among others, the Department of Homeland Security. Celebrate afterwards with DJ music by Anthology of Booty and free Ethiopian food in tribute to the holiday.

No rain. Interesting music & Fasika Ethiopian food truck with the free food

So folks are gonna pay $60 for this?:

All Things Go Fall Classic at Union Market. Baltimore synthpop band Future Islands with U.S. Royalty, HAERTS and Bear Hands.

To each his/her own I guess.

http://www.head-roc.com/chocolatecityrocks/

go see my brother on the 14th

Chuck Brown "Beautiful Life" video is a nice one. Joseph Pattisall directed it. He helped make the Cool Disco Dan movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UrIoVjg7PE

Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds rocked nicely at Comet last weekend (on a double-bill with Chain & the Gang). Didn't realize they do songs from some of Kid's prior bands-- Cramps and the Gun Club. Great rendition of "Garbageman," just ok takes on "For the Love of Ivy" and "She's Like Heroin to Me." There was a who's who of old-school DC bandmembers in the crowd-- all 4 members of Fugazi, folks from Protect-U, Ex-Hex, Medications, Peter Hayes, and I think Heavy Breathing.

lydia loveless @ dc9 tonight

shall rule