'COSMIC LEGENDS' I love the homemade quality of the CD-R movement, if we can call it that. There is that "open mic night" quality you get when you pop one into your player, ready for discovery and revelation, not knowing what you may get.The last thing a CD-R listener is hoping for is polish and professionalism It reminds me of those great nights when we used to belly up to the stage after an 'ARKESTRA' show, our paper money in hand, eager to grab whatever new and, often enough hand decorated thing SUN RA was offering to the devotees. On a good night we went home with a SATURN LP, the label pasted on slightly askew, and the plain white sleeve sporting the magic marker scribbles of some band member, done right there while we were handing over our dough to the cat beside the speaker trunk. SUN RA would have loved the CD-R wouldn't he?
| COSMIC LEGENDS [Cosmiclegends, no#] has some of the same sensibility in the art design, but is harder to judge as music. In fact, This CD should really be judged on the basis of literary merit. While music is not a minor part of the proceedings, the CD capture two dramatic performances [no date or place given] that feature VARIOUS ARTISTS including three poets, a vocalist, several noted musicians, and even a dancer. ["AMONG the INFINITE FORMS" Michael Hashim , ts; Sylvie Degiez, p; Wayne Lopes stick, g; Brian Dewan, poet. "A KING..A FLOWER..A POINT in TIME" Hashim, ts; Lopes, g; Degiez, p; Perry Robinson, cl; Steve Swell, tbn; Ondi McMaster, poet; Lynn Book, vcl; Ira Cohen, poet; Louise Burns, dancer. 73:16.] The music here is free but wonderfully dramatic and surprisingly conservative in harmony.Yet it is subordinate to the performances that are reminiscent of Beat Poets and Surrealist happenings of '20s Europe and '50s San Fransisco. I was left feeling that I wished I'd been present, instead of simply listening to the speakers and trying to imagine the dancer...
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