March 2006 | Dock of the Bay
Civil Rights for Strings
Sandwiching in a quick interview between a gig in New York City and another in Phoenix, 34-year old Haitian-American composer Bernard Roumain discussed an upcoming SF performance of his string quartet “portraits” of civil rights heroes.
“There’s a tradition of black composers looking at their history,” Roumain explained. “I could just have easily written six string quartets that had nothing to do with civil rights, but there’s something provocative, relevant and timely for a relatively young composer to create music that will stand out, so that musicians as well as audience members think about what civil rights means for them.”
The Del Sol String Quartet, winners of this year’s ASCAP Award for Adventurous Music Programming, will perform the first four quartets on March 6 (with Roumain and turntable maestro DJ Scientific joining in on the fourth). Expect Roumain’s winning mix of classical, hip-hop, rock, and soul, with some techno and ambient thrown in.
“I’m a product of the iPod Generation to be sure,” he acknowledges.
Roumain’s goal is to complete six civil rights quartets — three dedicated to men; the others to women. He began in 1993 with “X,” a quartet dedicated to Malcolm X. Four other completed works are now devoted to Martin Luther King, Jr., Adam Clayton Powell, Maya Angelou, and Rosa Parks (slated for premier by the all-female Lark Quartet). He has yet to choose the subject of his final portrait.
Roumain lives in Harlem, where Powell helped create our civil rights legislation. “The wording of many federal laws derives from the language and concepts in bills he proposed to Congress,” says Roumain.
You can experience Roumain’s musical take on these freedom fighters Monday, March 6, 7:30 PM, in SF at the Jewish Community Center’s Kanbar Hall. For tickets, jccsf.org/tickets, or call (415) 292-1233. You can also hear his music online at dbrmusic.com — Jason Victor Serinus
Remembering Stew Albert
My memories of Stew Albert and the risible politics of the Yippies (Youth International Party) date back to the hot summer of 1968. That was when he first hooked up with his life companion, Judy Clavir in New York and, later, nominated a pig for President outside the Democratic Convention in Chicago.
He and Clavir were living underground, literally and figuratively, in a dirt-floored basement with no windows, (“It’s natural air conditioning,” he quipped). It was the kind of common touch he used to organize youth in Berkeley and Manhattan. Albert also hung out with the famous culture icons of the day: Allen Ginsburg, folk singer Phil Ochs, John and Yoko, radical attorney William Kunstler, and Tom Hayden — to name a few. And to many in the Yippie stratosphere, he was a father confessor.
His death in Portland last January at the age of 66 was a sad reminder of the passing of the Yippies — one of the more outrageous chapters in Sixties history. Both Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman, the founders, died years earlier (Rubin hit by a car on Wilshire Boulevard and Hoffman, committed suicide). Albert often acted as a reality check to this pair of antic activist leaders when they occasionally spun out of control, but he also brought his steely Progressive Labor Maoism to a youth movement many old lefties viewed as silly mush.
After Eldridge Cleaver was paroled from San Quentin, Albert befriended the writer/rapist. Later, he visited him in exile at the Black Panther compound in Algeria, joined by Timothy and Rosemary Leary (following Leary’s escape from prison). Cleaver put them all under scary house arrest. Albert was as unflappable then as he was understanding, always, of lefty pals when they were emotionally—if not politically—unstable.
In 1970, he ran for sheriff of Alameda County (he carried Berkeley). One campaign poster showed the burly, body-builder brandishing a rifle, his militancy undercut by his signature unruly mop of the finest blond baby curls and ice blue eyes this side of Scandinavia—an anomaly given his Brooklyn/Russian Jewish roots.
His political involvement and moral concerns never withered. In recent years, he was president of the Oregon Jewish Agenda seeking common ground with Palestinians. He continued writing for the underground press and online web sites. His lively memoir, Who the Hell is Stew Albert (Red Hen Press), came out last year.
Albert became the family cook and caretaker for his daughter, while Clavir worked outside the home; a choice, he told me two weeks ago, he treasured. Up until the week before he died of liver cancer, he was a prodigious blogger. As he was throughout his life, even when weak and dying, he was welcoming to the hordes who came to say goodbye. — Kate Coleman
All That Jazz
Mark Monday, March 6, on your calendars for a performance by the Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble at Yoshi’s Jazz House near Jack London Square. The award-winning big band and combos have appeared in respected jazz festivals from Monterey to Montreux, Switzerland. The March gig will be their second appearance at Yoshi’s to raise funds for competition, travel, and additional classroom instruction.
Director Charles Hamilton has invited 1977 Berkeley High graduate Peter Apfelbaum back to perform an original composition with the band. Originally a drummer, Apfelbaum was steeped in jazz, African and Latin rhythms as a teenager. He has composed for the Kronos Quartet and was a founding member of Jai Uttal’s Pagan Love Orchestra. He currently plays sax with his own septet and the New York-based Kamikaze Ground Crew. “It’s been 20 years since Peter returned to travel with us to Japan on tour,” says Hamilton. “I’m thrilled to have him back in front of the band with his own piece.”
Last summer, the troupe placed third in the high school division of the Monterey Jazz Festival. Their summer 2005 European tour brought them international acclaim as they jammed in festivals in Montreux, Perugia and Florence.
Apfelbaum will no doubt be delighted by the talent backing him up. From the mellow alto sax of Eric Ashkenaz and mesmerizing piano of Julian Pollack, to the sophisticated trumpet of Billy Buss and spellbinding vibes of Sam Goldsmith, these musicians are tight on both standards and original student compositions.
There will be two performances at Yoshi’s — 8:00 and 10:00pm. For tickets and reservations, call (510) 238-9200. You can also hear BHS combos at Anna’s Jazz Island on the second Wednesdays of the month in downtown Berkeley. — Suzanne Saucy
Rescue Hopland’s Eco-Village
The media did a good job of covering the winter floods that swamped Fairfax, San Anselmo and other northern California towns. Sadly overlooked, however, was the devastation that swept through Hopland, California. On December 31, the town’s world-famous Solar Living Center (site of the annual Sol Fest celebration) was buried beneath the worst flood in 50 years.
“Our interns were able to be boat-rescued from the site,” according to a weary John Schaeffer, the visionary founder of the Solar Living eco-village. “The devastation from being submerged under as much as ten feet of water was staggering.”
The geodesic dome burned to the ground, destroying the personal property of everyone living inside. Five cars and a tractor were destroyed. Every building (including the straw bale structures) was damaged. Documents, tools, workshop materials, and furniture were lost.
“We estimate a minimum of $150,000 in direct damages,” Schaeffer reports. “Our veteran landscaper, Alberto Juarez, lost everything except the clothes on his back.” Schaeffer invited Juarez and the interns to move into his own house.
Unfortunately, the company’s flood insurance didn’t cover any of the damage and the feisty nonprofit desperately needs to rebuild and get back on track. Volunteers are needed to rebuild the damaged eco-village. Call (707) 744-2017 for details. Tax-deductible donations can be sent to the Solar Living Institute (solarliving.org/flood.cfm). — GS
Zap Zips Your Trip
Forget hybrids. The coming attraction on the Road of Tomorrow is the Tri-brid — an advanced form of auto that runs on a combination of gas, electricity and alcohol. ZAP, the upstart Sebastopol firm that pioneered the introduction of electric bikes, scooters and cars, has teamed up with the engineering wonks at Obvio!, a Brazilian autoworks, to introduce two innovative Brazilian-made cars. The cars will be built in a factory near Rio de Janeiro and should be available for US sales by 2007.
As the song says, “There’s an awful lot of coffee in Brazil,” but there also are great stretches of sugar plantations and Brazilians long ago mastered the art of turning sugar cane into bio-fuel. Motoring from Rio to Sao Paolo used to mean sending a lot of cruzeiros to Saudi Arabia, but no longer. Today, most of Brazil’s vehicles are powered by locally grown, nonpolluting, renewable fuel. It’s meant windfall profits for the sugar industry, which has seen the price of its prime commodity reach a seven-year peak.
Today’s gasoline engines run perfectly well on a blend of 10 percent alcohol and computer sensors help blend optimum mixtures of gas, alcohol, and ethanol. The Brazilians are pleased with the track record of its the US distributor. Since its founding in 1994, ZAP has delivered more than 90,000 alternative-powered vehicles in 75 countries around the world. For more info: Zapworld.com — GS
SF Toxics Team
The SF Department of Environment (SFDE) is revolutionizing urban toxicology through a 12-person team that takes an “alternative hazards assessment” approach to toxics. The team starts with a simple question: “Is this chemical/product necessary; is there a safer alternative?” The traditional approach merely asks if there’s an “acceptable risk.” The new SFDE approach turns the debate on its head, injecting traditional orthodoxy about risk with a healthy dose of constructive Green Politics.
SFDE continually redefines what is meant by “harm.” It has created new safety thresholds based on stringent peer review and internationally recognized standards. Debbie Raphael, SF’s Toxics/Green Building Program Manager, says that “these thresholds are credible and transparent.”
Not surprisingly, other municipalities are following SF’s lead. The growing phalanx of “Green Sister Cities” now includes Palo Alto, Santa Monica, Portland, Seattle, Tacoma and Marin County.
Arsenic is a major concern. Most pressure-treated wood contains this toxic element. The SFDE hired the nonprofit Washington Toxics Coalition to study the problem and develop an acceptable list of preservatives for wooden play structures, piers, pilings, and fences.
The SFDE determined that arsenic was only needed for treating saltwater-submerged wood. Arsenic bonds to copper in submerged piers, preventing the copper from leaching into the surrounding water and threatening the Bay’s fragile ecosystem. In every other case, the SFDE team found acceptable chemical alternatives to arsenic.
In 1996, after the SF Chronicle published an exposé on the use of pesticides in city parks, the Board of Supervisors announced a ban on all pesticides inside the City. After careful thought, the Supes decided to revise their ban and directed the SFDE to determine which pesticides were least toxic and “necessary” for municipal use.
After consulting with members of the public and key stakeholders, the SFDE reached a consensus — nearly all of the most dangerous chemicals are now banned and the list of acceptable pesticides has been narrowed to 100. This list of approved pesticides will be revised every year as safer products are found to replace existing treatments. — Jessie Feller
Simplicity Circles
“Live simply, that others may simply live.” “Less is More.” “Think Globally, Act Locally.” Sure, we all know these bumper sticker platitudes, but how do we apply them in everyday life? A growing number of people are gathering into local Simplicity Circles to share their experiences and learn from each other.
On a recent Wednesday evening in Marin, one such circle discussed topics such as the housing bubble, trade imbalance, oil production peak, global climate change, and Nolan’s foot. (Nolan tore a plantar fascia while playing basketball with his teenage son some weeks ago.)
On another Thursday, an SF group chatted about the creation of closer-knit communities in our fast-paced society. One couple that had just returned from spending time in small villages in Mexico, shared their observations on the stronger community ties they found there.
In a Berkeley circle, the conversation centered on simply prepared, healthy food, reducing clutter, living frugally, cutting back work hours.
People like Ann learn from others like Jan. A few years ago, Jan reduced her work to four days a week to help care for an ailing family member. Ann recently also cut back to four days to have more time for community involvement.
The core value shared among all these people is the desire for a simpler life focusing on what’s essential. By learning from each other’s experiences, we learn to make time for loved ones, community, hobbies, volunteering, spirituality, health, and happiness. We are discovering how to create joy in our own lives while helping the greater world. — Fred Ecks
For more information on Simplicity Circles in your neighborhood, see the Simple Living newsletter online at simpleliving.net, send an email or contact the author.
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