Capital Swamp: The DC Resource Thread

I wish I had gone to DC jazz guitarist Bill Harris' club , The Pigfoot, which was on Rhode Island Ave NE in the early to mid 80s. Guitarists Danny Gatton and Joel Harrison both learned a bit from him. He was also in rnb band the Clovers. This 1987 picnic he held looks like it was great also: Among those scheduled to perform, in besides Harris, are Charlie Byrd, Shirley Horn, Nap Turner, Milton Smith, Archie Edwards, Harmonica Phil Wiggins, Charlie Sayles, Bo Diddley Jr. and former Ellingtonian Jimmy McPhail.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1987/09/06/pigfoot-picnics-and-all-that-jazz/a1642978-3b58-49f3-9e13-0d43ea8b13db/

Yaddiya keeps doing go-go protests with TOB and /or CCB playing on the back of a flatbed truck. CCB did a 7 am one as close as they could get to Mitch Mcconnell's house.

RIP U Street Music Hall.

https://dcist.com/story/20/10/05/u-street-music-hall-closing-permanently-covid19/

Saw that bad news. Neither the Mayor nor City Council want to dip into DC’s rainy day fund to provide pandemic relief, so everyone has to wait for federal relief that may never come.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/10/05/u-street-music-hall-closes/

specific details here in this article :

For the last few months, the club has sold T-shirts to raise money to pay employees, and hosted live-streamed DJ sets that asked viewers to tip DJs or make donations to an employee relief fund. (“The live streams were great,” Eastman says. “They did not pay for themselves.”) The club received a Paycheck Protection Program loan, but the scattershot approach couldn’t replace revenue from events, and rent went unpaid for several months. Meanwhile, Eastman has been involved in what he describes as a long-running legal battle over the terms of the club’s lease. In the end, the combination was fatal. “The senseless litigation with our landlord, along with [covid-19], were the cause of us vacating the space,” Eastman says. “We had four years left on our lease. If it wasn’t for covid, we would have been there for at least four more years.”

In 2010 B*ian took some of us into UHall to check it out

Oops I mean “I Died” took us there.

In other news:

Merawi Gerima , @Gerima_Gang the Director of acclaimed film Residue ( & son of Director/ store owner Haile G) will be talking go- go and DC and politics and movies w/ Moechella go-go activist @Yaddiya on Washington Informer’s Bridge TV at 12 noon today

Check out this official trailer for Fat Boy: The Billy Stewart Story.

See the documentary, brought to you in part by the HumantiesDC DC DOCS grant, when it premieres on @whuttv this Saturday, October 24 at 9pm. pic.twitter.com/xFStIEOHfY

— HumanitiesDC (@HumanitiesDC) October 22, 2020

Documentary on late DC soul singer Billy Stewart premieres Saturday night 9 pm online and on WHUT Howard U public tv

Making my way through the DC rap, electro, R’n’b, punk, & experimental acts that I haven’t heard before on this Chris Richards zine list that got posted in UK magazine/ site The Wire. https://t.co/m69afQEXfe

— Steve Kiviat (@SteveKiviat) October 21, 2020

Chris Richards dave dc rap, electro, metal, hardcore, R’n’b, experimental

Or you can listen to new artsy pop Beauty Pill single

Profoundly stoked @thewiremagazine asked me to contribute to the charts page of their latest issue

My “DEBUSSY RINGTONE 15” chart = quartimes wildstyles coming out of the DMV (of course)

Do something nice for yourself and subscribe to the Wire today! https://t.co/A76El4i1Ok pic.twitter.com/per1AnHgX1

— Chris _ _ Richards (@Chris__Richards) October 13, 2020

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/444703/local-go-go-artists-put-out-music-to-reflect-this-fraught-moment/

TCB, Wanted Band, Pure Elegance BLM songs

https://thedcline.org/2020/10/26/i-am-not-giving-up-u-street-club-owner-perseveres-through-commercial-personal-loss/

Aman Ayoubi, owner of Tropicalia and Local 16 just lost his dad to Covid-19, and Tropicalia was robbed. Plus no money from DC and Mitch McConnell

https://linktr.ee/savedcvenues

Save DC venues events today in front of Wilson Building all day and at 6 in some neighborhoods. Trying to persuade Mayor and City Council to help.

Help by passing a bill with $ I mean

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/501345/city-lights-jam-to-kino-musicas-ep-ifaan/

Kino Musica are a strong DC band led by 2 Ethiopians ( one who grew up in Texas)

There was a Moechella bouncebeat gogo thing early Saturday at McPherson Square with TOB and CCB & Eleanor Holmes Norton spoke. Another one with TOB later in the day in SE. The go-go flatbed truck also briefly made it to BLM Plaza where thousands were there .

I heard WPFW DJ Lance Reynolds say he was going to be spinning music from 3 to 7 on Sunday At BLM plaza

Too many DC , DMV, Baltimore rappers for an old guy like me with limited time to keep up on. Writers Chris Richards and Lawrence Burney are trying though

Rip Andrew White dc based , Hu grad saxophone player who transcribed Coltrane solos, played dc space, toured with Stevie Wonder . And wrote wild books

RIP to a devoted jazz fan who also listened to Youssou N’Dour and other artists he discovered on his own or via me—my Dad who died suddenly Saturday November 21 after a heart attack at 90. Dad hung out at jazz clubs in NYC in the late 40s & 50s before moving down here with my Mom and family. We saw music together and talked about and I am so sad he’s gone.

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=victor-kiviat&pid=197155285&fhid=2205

I’m really sorry, curmudgeon.

:(
my condolences

Sounds like a cool dude, curm. Very sorry for you and your family

Condolences, curmudgeon

Thanks all of you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owsImzOm0Wo

Crazy Legz & Noodlez , DC beat ya feet dancers doing their thangs and being interviewed in Ben’s Chili Bowl

Doc about go-go and politics airs at 7 pm tonight. Free if you register - Go-go City is made by a guy has previously made political films from a liberal perspective and who played guitar as a hobby and began seeing EU at some point after moving to dc

https://dcist.com/story/20/12/01/documentary-gogo-music-black-lives-matter-gentrification-samuel-george-displacement-protest/

I have now missed 2 zoom screenings of Go-go City. Maybe they’ll eventually just put it on YouTube or make it available for streaming.

On to a different music style- the hiphop jazz funk instrumental sounds of Aquatic Gardener aka Jamal Gray of Nag Champa Art Ensemble. His parents worked at WPFW and his late dad Jimmy Gray started the Black Fire label whose reissues were recently highlighted in The NY Times
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/504543/city-lights-listen-to-aquatic-gardeners-godspeed/

RIP Bobby Ferrando, at age 75, who owned Food for Thought vegetarian restaurant , hangout, and occasional music club. His son Dante owns Black Cat. Dante's grandfather once owned a NYC place called Black Cat.

Seeing elsewhere on Facebook & Instagram sad news that Bobby Ferrando who owned Food for Thought restaurant has passed at around age 75. Food for Thought at its original 1973 opened Connecticut Avenue NW location was a low-key not fancy vegetarian hangout with a bulletin board covered , pre-internet, with flyers for protests, music, and apartments wanted. It is where I first ate hummus. It had folk and blues gigs and in the 80s held some DC hardcore punk matinee gigs that I attended (it held more in the 90s and some jazz too). Around 1999 it moved into the Black Cat where it lasted until 2019 I think, owned by Bobby’s son Dante. The below slightly snide 1999 article refers to the location as The Hippies Last Stand. I never met or knew Bobby Ferrando, but I admired what he did. He’s gone too soon. My condolences to the family.

1999 article

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/02/02/the-hippies-last-stand/9a6d503d-62de-4996-8736-1b6097296e14/?fbclid=IwAR3zuQba9GEBLezSANNIQjTPbqUX4ctoJiiCRUOix3xoV0v-nGaVTrGLLy0

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/504543/city-lights-listen-to-aquatic-gardeners-godspeed/

emailing with Jamal Gray aka Aquatic Gardner for this little piece on his instrumental hiphop and more release was great. He gave me so much info on his listening habits -- Eno, Dilla, Soft Machine, and many more

His parents met at WPFW and his late dad Jimmy Gray founded the 1970s lbel Black Fire whose releases were recently reissued and hailed in the NY Times

I also talked to rapper Lightshow for this little piece -

Here's part of it: Rapper Lightshow moved to Atlanta from D.C. two years ago, but his Instagram handle is still @lightshow10thpl—a reference to 10th Place SE, where he grew up—and his latest album, Heart Still in the Trenches, was recorded locally during the pandemic at Connected DC studio in Oxon Hill. The lyrics were inspired by life in the Congress Heights neighborhood where he grew up, he says. Lightshow says he even slept on his grandmother’s couch in Southeast during the period he was here recording. The album cover shows the Holiday Market convenience store on Wheeler Road SE where Lightshow sometimes bought snacks; it’s also marked by the shooting deaths that occurred outside it, including the murder of 15-year-old Somerset Prep student Maurice Scott in 2019. Lightshow says the cover documents both the pain of the murders and his fond memories of his neighborhood.

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/504927/city-lights-lightshow-heart-is-still-in-the-trenches/

This was the most challenging time I’ve ever had putting together a local year-end list and that’s because of how much amazing shit came out the Baltimore/DMV urrea in 2020. Presenting the top 60 tracks from the region this year. 🦀🙏🏿🏛. Art by @reemunknown pic.twitter.com/5QcEKwN4oU

— Lawrence Burney (@TrueLaurels) December 30, 2020

Baltimore & DC area rap and r'n'b top tracks list

Some blogger list of fave 2020 DC music that includes DC Ethiopian led band Kino Musica & a link to my article

http://worthwhiler.com/the-51-best-songs-to-come-out-of-the-51st-state-in-the-past-365-days/

List has a Spotify playlist with it

Re mob insurrectionists ease at getting into US Capitol building

It’s harder to get into an RE or Backyard Go-Go.

— Bobbie Westmoreland (@Miss_Bobbiedoll) January 7, 2021

https://www.gofundme.com/f/a-queens-fight

Queen P , DC beat ya feet choreographer and dancer has cancer. There’s a go fund me to help her

https://www.gofundme.com/f/a-queens-fight

I think dancer Queen P may have moved to Atlanta.

In other news I think the deadline for DC venues to apply for the latest dc government financial aid program was yesterday. There’s still time to apply for US government one.

Moechella promoter and activist Yaddiya has released a mixtape where on one song he raps with Killa Cal, rapper in go-go band Rare Essence

I think the end of January is the deadline for Wammies nominations. I am not a fan of the organization and I bet lots of quality DC artists are not nominated.

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/506198/city-lights-royal-height-says-trump-aint-gotta-go-home-just-gotta-git-the-hell-up-outta-here/

I spoke with DC r’n’b singer Royal Height, nephew of late dc activist Dorothy Height about his latest political song that bluntly told Trump where to go

So I decided to be nice and just submitted some last minute Wammies DC nominations. No one had nominated Hailu Mergia, Bacchae, Kino Musica, Shalom Dubas, Nappy Nappa, Sir Eu, Selamino, Royal Height , No Savage so I did.

Added some more. But may do an experiment next year and not nominate anyone.

The @TheMusicianShip @wammiesdc finalists were announced. Carly Harvey is nominated for best blues artist, best folk artist, best pop artist, best soul song, best pop song . But Bad Moves, Coriky, Bartees Strange & numerous acclaimed rappers didn’t make the finals. ...It’s a dumb system where The Wammies DC pick for the finals whatever 7 nominations in each category get the most people to register & vote for them. So C. Harvey can get in countless categories & encourage votes .

During the last week of the Wammies DC nominations period, I made 23 nominations but didn’t vote. Congrats to Selamino, Kino Musica, Hailu Mergia, Bacchae album, Anthony Pirog-Pocket Poem album, that made the finals. Some of my nominations didn’t make it.

Our interview w/ @HowardWuelfing is out now! Forced Exposure, Creem, Meltzer/Bangs, DC scene, integrity in PR. For perspective, dude played in Half Japanese & was reviewing Can records in '73! Available everywhere. @JimDeRogatis @ByronColey1 @robtned https://t.co/aXc3FnX6Jx

— Rock Writ (@rockwritpod) February 13, 2021

Howard Wuelfing was in Slickee Boys, Nurses, Underheaven, and did zines like Dcenes , Discords, and wrote also for Village Voice, Washington Post, & other zines

https://www.nbcwashington.com/entertainment/the-scene/iconic-dc-jazz-club-blues-alley-looking-for-new-location/2574801/

Blues Alley , that has been in Georgetown since 1965, may have to move. 124 seat place often had high cover prices, plus food/drink minimum, but if you splurged you could often see a great show in that small place

https://www.facebook.com/events/good-hope/go-go-dc-official-music-celebration/272030267691207/

Celebrating go-go’s 1 year anniversary as DC official music with a 2 to 7 Friday online event with a panel plus Junkyard Band, Sirius Company, Ccb, big g, Weensey

Mary Timony video stream filmed by Brendan Canty March 4 for here reissued album Mountains.

On her Bandcamp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSnj-kY5Mcs

Awesome 1985 Junkyard Band in Georgetown footage. Wearing short shorts & playing actual junkyard paint buckets and such

Jeff Heavy Metal Parking Lot Krulik's latest film is not a music one, it's about suburbia in Bowie, Maryland and references racial covenants and civil rights protests, plus has some funny footage from a German company made in 1967

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/bowie-maryland-documentaries/2021/02/16/686511b0-7072-11eb-b8a9-b9467510f0fe_story.html

Wpfw radio turns 44 today

https://dcist.com/story/19/01/14/after-uproar-from-musicians-d-c-council-revisits-its-quest-to-limit-noise-in-the-city/

Here they go again, 3 DC Councilmembers introduce bill to limit amplified outdoor music ( upscale condo owners who have moved to entertainment zone areas like gallery place and 14th & U complaining)

Mary Timony and band doing her Mountains solo album live is still available on Bandcamp till Friday March 5 at 9:30 pm et I think

The ABM bouncebeat go-go stream is on the long live go-go YouTube page

my god i just stumbled into that "19th & M" video