1977
Books on Jazz
As Serious as Your Life: Classic Val Wilmer Book Reissued
Photographer and author Val Wilmer has a new reissue of As Serious As Your Life: Black Music and The Free Jazz Revolution, in both paper and ebook form. It’s an even a better read in the 21st century, for me at least. Her observations and the musicians’ analysis of the place of African Americans in both the music business and society at large ring louder and truer with 40 years of hindsight. It’s a shame how marginally things have changed in the intervening decades, and the rage in their comments and music should make us all pay even more attention to the contemporary descendants like Kamasi Washington.
I only met Val once, at Rashied Ali’s loft, when she was researching this book. Her comment to me threw me off at the time for its accuracy and prophecy: “The musicians all talk to me because I’m gay, so they know I won’t sleep with them.” (Though her actual language was much more street.)
By the way, the beautiful book title comes from something McCoy Tyner said to Val: “Music’s not a plaything; it’s as serious as your life.” Perfect.
-Fred Seibert
Get the book…
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Lunar surface from Tranquility Base facing southwest during the Apollo 11 Mission on July 20, 1969
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Last photograph taken on the surface of the moon by a human, Thursday, December 14, 1972 at 5:41 GMT by Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt
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Corrie ten Boom pointing out the hiding place for Jews during World War II behind the wall in her bedroom in Haarlem, The Netherlands c1971
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1960s promotional poster for blues singer and guitarist Albert Collins for his performance at the ‘Fresh Air Tavern’ (venue that featured other artists ranging from Chico Hamilton, John Lee Hooker, J.J. Cale, Gabor Szabor, Muddy Waters, and Billy Joel) in Seattle on 1509 Broadway Street in Capital Hill.
This tavern was later remolded into a video game emporium, and a now defunct gay bar that was known by the name of ‘Neighbors.’ The only surviving forms of history are through promotional posters of the various artists, and concerts that were held, as well as an antidote shared by Billy Joel at his concert in ‘Safeco Field’ on May 20, 2016:
”I first played here back in the early seventies [specifically 1971]. It was a little pub called the ‘Fresh Air Tavern’ and it was a dump. Wasn’t anything like this at all.”
Additional history of the tavern is linked below with a facebook post of both the history and facebook group.
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Union Oil fire in San Pedro (Los Angeles). 1951. Los Angeles Examiner photo collection.
University of Southern California Collections
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