SOUNDTRACK: GEORGIA ANNE MULDROW-Tiny Desk Concert #839 (April 8, 2019).
I’d never heard of Georgia Anne Muldrow. My takeaway from this set is that Muldrow is a wonderful hippie–spreading love and peace and being a total free spirit. But what do we know about her?
The blurb says
The first song I ever heard from Georgia Anne Muldrow, back in the early 2000s, was called “Break You Down.” The opening line spoke directly to my experience as a twentysomething coming into my own:
“Don’t let them make you forget who you are
Don’t let them break you down”
I later found that she wrote, produced and performed that song when she was only 17-years old. She possessed talent and perspective beyond her years and I became a fan.
But more interesting than that is this piece of information.
She’s also made a name for herself as a collaborator with artists [like] Erykah Badu, with whom she introduced the notion of “staying woke” to the world, years before it was appropriated as a hashtag.
“Overload” opens with her doing some crazy muttering and sounds. I didn’t think I’d like the song at first, but it got really funky with some cool keys from Mokichi (his keys dominate most of the songs as the main instrument) and a very cool six string bass from Bronson Garza. I really like the chours. By the end she is totally intense and into it–an amazing performer
I know they want to kill ya. I know they want to break ya.
I’m sure they envy you because your love is so true.
They want to break your mind they want to drive you crazy.
They don’t love no black man unless hes in slavery.
But let my love raise you higher.
It’s pretty awesome.
Some time would pass before she eventually released her debut album, Olesi: Fragments of an Earth, in 2006. Since then, she’s released well over a dozen, mostly self-produced projects. While much of her music’s focus has been on the healing, preservation and education of African American people, the themes are universal: family, struggle and of course, love.
Up next was “a reworked and animated versions of the song ‘Flowers.'”
She and the band were floating the possibility of swapping the duet with her partner in music and life, Dudley Perkins with another song. But she decided it was more important to showcase their shared love on the song “Flowers,” originally from Perkins’ 2003 album A Lil’ Light.
It’s a softer song. She sings the beginning and then Perkins takes over. I don;t like his voice all that much and find this song rather dull. But they clearly had fun plying it.
They end the set with an extended and jazzy version of “Ciao.” She plays bongos to start this one which accentuates Renaldo Elliott’s drum kit. It has a jazzy bass line and feels really improvised. She starts riffing on going to Africa–South Africa or Togo she stars rhapsodizing about all the places they could go Nigeria left alone by the police there because we’ll be in the majority.
Pack my bags and go where the equator hugs me, maybe even pick me a mango.
Georgia Anne Muldrow is a force of love and it is hard, and somewhat foolish to resist her.
[READ: April 10, 2019] Be Prepared
T. has had this book at home for quite a while (she’s quite the collector of graphic novels). I have seen the cover for ages and so I had an idea of what the book was about. Boy was I wrong. For I assumed it was about summer camp. And while it is, it is about so much more.
I really enjoyed her drawing style in Anya’s Ghost but I like it so much more in this book. Her drawings of Vera with her big glasses is just so charming and sweet. I was hooked from the first page.
As the story opens we see Vera at a birthday party for Sarah Hoffmann. The party is important–an ice cream cake, pizza, (with a stuffed crust) and of course, a sleepover. All the girls have fancy sleeping bags, but Vera’s is Russian and very utilitarian. All of the girls gave Sarah accessories for her fancy historical doll. While Vera drew her a picture. The girls wonder where Vera’s doll is, and Vera lies (badly) about hers being at home.
When Vera has her own party later, she tries to create the same atmosphere–but fails miserably. The ice cream cake is a Medovik tort (with writing in Russian), the pizza is from Dmitri’s and the drink is Kvass (carbonated beverage made from rye bread). Everyone slept over, but they all called home to get picked up in the middle of the night.
Vera didn’t really fit in with anyone. But she still had friends (and Sarah was certainly nice enough). (more…)
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