Capital Swamp: The DC Resource Thread

CNN Sunday night 10 pm travel and food and culture show Nomad did an episode on DC. I dvr'd it but haven't seen it yet.

Local area vocalist Juanita Williams was powerfully singing soul, blues, and jazz last night @ Westminster Church SW Blue Monday Blues (6 to 9 pm). Trumpeter /vocalist Curtis Pope backed her. Pope used to play with Wilson Pickett back in the day. Just a small crowd there, right after that 5 pm rain and wind storm

Sometimes Model Home is too avant for me, and sometimes they sound just right

New Album streaming via UK mag The Wire

https://www.thewire.co.uk/audio/tracks/album-premiere-model-home-s-saturn-in-the-basement

3rd anniversary of Moechella being celebrated Saturday night with an indoor show w/ 3 bouncebeat go-go bands @ Howard Theatre- TCB, TOB, New Impressionz

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/556571/voices-of-zion-bring-back-black-georgetown/

This gospel opera and drama production about historic Black Georgetown that occurs (depending on the weather) at cemeteries in Georgetown and Dumbarton Church is happening Friday and Saturday night; and Memorial Day Monday afternoon. Looks worth seeing and hearing

https://www.facebook.com/294469177243809/posts/5398852716805404/?d=n

Dischord/Minor Threat’s Jeff Nelson has been over in Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, and Croatia screening and talking about Punk the Capital doc and his own experiences over there

https://www.facebook.com/294469177243809/posts/5398852716805404/?d=n

Oh, James Schneider and Jeff Nelson also did Nordic countries and all over Europe as part of the April and May showings for Punk the Capital

Ukrainian refugee benefits included at a few stops

Not seeing a Melvin Gibbs thread (he was in Rollins Band and various jazz groups and more) or a DC band Messthetics one

had a meeting of the minds w Joe Lally (ex Fugazi bassist) over the weekend. We went over some ideas for the @htub03 Harriet Tubman/Messthetics double trio record we're cutting next month

— melvin gibbs (@melvingibbs) May 23, 2022

Funk Parade was postponed on a rainy May 7, with a pledge to reschedule but that hasn't happened yet.

https://www.washingtonian.com/2022/05/19/first-look-sandlot-anacostia-opens-soon-with-go-go-and-good-eats/

Opens in June

The online only now Washington City Paper now has just 5 “City Lights” previews a week instead of 7, plus they just post them all only once a week- Thursday usually

I previewed today’s 11 am to 9 pm free tribute to late DC house music DJ Sam the Man Burns at Fort Reno

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/557248/city-lights-dc-black-pride-and-other-best-art-bets-for-may-26-june-1/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG8USqMUAfI

Doc on Trouble Funk in England in 1986

yea the punk archive gig on the 8th on the roof of mlk will be pretty cool, but so will these underpublicized Sunday June 5 events

Sunday June 5 daytime events - *Faaji day party-- afrobeats vs amapiano" dj event @ Gee's Lounge (Nigerian and South African dance music) in Hyattsville
* The Mayor's Office on Latino Affairs presents 2022 DC Afro Latino Fest from 2 to 9 @ Malcolm X Park w/ Yissy Garcia, Dayme Arocena, Aurelio Martinez, Yasser Tejeda

Afro Latin thing was disorganized and music was uneven and there weren't enough nearby food trucks, but still a good time

Saw an advance zoom screening of Black Fire Records 1/2 hour doc last night . It's being shown Saturday at the home rule fest. Real interesting but left me wanting to know more-- Did label get any dc press attention then-- from W Post, Unicorn Times, City Paper which started in 81, local tv news?

Plunky said mid 70s WHUR gave him airplay. Did they then have decent record sales? Where did they gig?

Doug Carn & band's Love Supreme homage, David Murray and band's alternately out there and wistfully melodic jazz. TCB's uh out there bouncebeat go-go, and Plunky's afro-funky go-go & rap at Home Rules free Fest at the grass lawn naturl amphitheatre of the old Walter Reed was my kinda DC fest. Not packed but a sizeable crowd. Record fair there too.
My kind of music nerds in attendance - Dr Thomas Stanley, Kevin Coombe, Soul Called Paul and more.

Show was not packed as my theories: 1. Billed by some editors as only a jazz fest -- some don't like jazz, some jazz listeners only like posh nice seats of Kennedy Center; 2. no rock or pop; 3. Folks don't know of Plunky

event finished with Black Fire 1/2 movie doc too.

1/2 hour

Would have likes to have gone to the festival if I didn’t have a weekend-long headache and probably would have gone to the rally downtown first.

Sorry about that. I shoulda gone to the rally too. Went to the last one.

Meanwhile I missed and am gonna miss some flicks in this DC Caribbean Film Fest I would like to see-- next Sat. June 18 at 6 one called Rebel Dread about Don Letts= dj/filmmaker , colleague of the Clash and Johnny Rotten and once part of Big Audio Dynamite. But, a family commitment that night. I missed a doc about a studio in Kingston upstairs from randy's Records already

https://silver.afi.com/Browsing/EventsAndExperiences/EventDetails/0000000048

City Paper covered the Spain film fest but not the above one

New Flasher album coming out (one member from 1st album has left the group). Family stuff means I can't go to album release Friday at Comet. Am curious what they sound like now. Were enjoyable some time back at Fort Reno

NY-based jazz pianist Marc Cary used to play in dc go-go bands. He's in DC Sat. 3pm Columbia Hts Day w/ Indigenous Arkestra – go-go jazz combo w/: Cary, Tarus Mateen, Casey Benjamin, Brandon Woody, Lil Mickey, BJ /“The Future,” YML, Jrok, Michelle Blackwell, Kacey,
Killa_Cal

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/20/us/dc-shooting-moechella.html

terrible that kid is dead. Also bad that they are going to blame Moechella promoter for for not having a permit when there were lots of police there (who didn't identify the suspect, catch the suspect, or outline a plan to stop illegal weapons from getting into the city. Plus, 2017 Las Vegas country music concert was permitted and guy still shot lots of people. There had been no violence at Moechella street events for years.

https://www.fortreno.com/

According to Amanda M., the schedule is still in development but there will be Fort Reno concerts this year, beginning Monday, July 18.

Thanks. There's a DC Blues Society Summer solstice blues show at Fort Reno tonight 6 to 9 with Clarence Bluesman Turner

Dubai band Noon @ 6:30 @ Smithsonian Folklife Fest followed by EU w/ Sugar Bear at 7:30 . Free. Also streamed via Smithsonian Folklife

So is the Folklife Festival now some small thing? Not too long ago it was a huge deal, now it feels a little rinky-dink, like your local shopping mall’s Chinese New Year or Oktoberfest.

Between the National Park Service restricting space, Smithsonian budget cuts, the pandemic, it is not what it once was in prestige or coverage.

They had to take funding from human rights violators UAE this year plus corporate donations from Ford and United Airlines

addressed issues here in City Paper link to various events. Plus they didn't gt the word out publicity wise and its a cloudy night and some white folks might be scared

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/560922/a-cats-movie-party-rone-and-more-best-bets-for-june-23-29/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYxsRcPT7Aw

Frederick Douglass Bridge shut down due to protest activity

Was helping elderly Mom out in burbs most of the weekend so didn’t make it by the SC or to the Folklife Fest. I know some who did. I Doomscrolled and later watched some of the Puerto Rican plena Saturday night event on the mall on YouTube later. Most of the evening programs are there.

Mark Cisneros is out on tour in Europe with the Bellrays. Playing bass I think. He's a multi-instrumentalist.

His significant other, Baby Alcatraz is doing her Friday Save Your Soul lst Friday of the month soul vinyl dj thing at Lithuanian Hall in Baltimore . Some 1st Friday I would like to try that. Although I usually prefer to just see old-school r'n'b musicians themselves rather than go to clubs and hear the records.

if you're looking for hyattsville music you should check for events at "the spot." jerry busher and some other bands played there last friday

Thanks

Fort reno shows now posted.

Also there’s an MLK library punk archive show Wednesday July 13 w/ Cinema Hearts and Continuals

x-post - are bands at the Spot in Hyattsville only announced on the South Hyattsville Co-op Facebook page ?

saw Busher's band POA in Mt Pleasant once. Dub punk with bassist Dug Birdzell from Beefeater and vocalist Shawn Brown

No idea. I only hear by word of mouth but the hyattsville wire Twitter should cover it

thanks

Oh yeah, Hyattsville Wire is good for some coverage of rock and blues events in that area, but not so good for Latin, African, and African-American

Curious about Tunnel, vocaist Natasha Janfaza (from Taciturn) band with Brendan Canty on drums, former Flasher bassist D Saperstein, and and dc bands producer musician Owen Wuerker. Album is out on Friday. They played The Crown in Baltimore last night and are Comet on Friday.

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/564189/moechella-organizers-applied-for-a-trademark-coachellas-lawyers-want-to-block-it/

plus Moe World Order show at Fillmore tonight cancelled

Fort Reno concerts start tonight. Also Janel Leppin is at Rhizome with her Volcanic Ash , avante-jazzy-rock-folky group, and David Cole is leading a band at Westminster church blues Mondays 6 to 9

Fort Dupont's 50th year starts Saturday with a big go-go bill-Be'la Dona , Sirius Company, Soul Searchers , DJ Rico @ 7 @ Fort Dupont Park

While the days of Fort Dupont having a budget to book national old school soul and jazz acts seems to be gone, at least they're booking some good locals. August acts not yet announced

Fort Dupont go-go triple bill was alright -- good not great. Tonight my wife and I went to the rain-cursed Fort Reno. Spring Silver played and Weird Babies did most of their set and then the rain came. So no Bad Moves whom I want to see.

Seeing on Facebook that I am not the only one annoyed at how the Musicianship have now handled the Funk Parade since being given it by Listen Local DC. No more parade and their fest on Saturday had 1 go-go band , and one Annapolis brass band, but no DC brass bands - no Crush Funk, no Dupont Brass, no Experience Brass Band . Just a bunch of obscure local rap and r'n'b musicians

Went to the final Fort Reno of the summer. The Owners had an ok casual punk sound . Vocals sometimes worked and not other times.

Ted Leo did a melodramatic Blondie cover - Union City Blues plus Ramones "Bonzo goes to Bitburg"

x-post- the guy who booked the obscure local r'n'b and rap musicians is defending Funk Parade and Musicianship.