#Jazz et Blues

[ruemorinpointcom]

Festival Jazz et Blues de Saguenay

[remittere-momentum]

(Remittere Momentum)

[stardust-swan]

The Kind of Girl I Want To Be

Buys herself pink peonies and roses

Wears scents like Parfums De Marly Delina and Oriana, Miss Dior, YSL Paris, Prada Candy, Mon Guerlain and Chanel Chance Eau Tendre (she sprays it in the morning, after showers, and before going to bed)

Bakes heart shaped sugar cookies and macarons

Spends rainy days sipping rose tea from floral china while reading beautifully bound classic novels

Has a bookshelf filled with first edition poetry books, gilded editions of fairytale books, volumes of the Little Books of Fashion series, leatherbound classics, and Harlequin romance novels

Drinks peppermint tea in the morning and camomile tea at night

Sleeps on pink silk sheets and has a satin kimono robe

Plays Brigitte Bardot, classical music, and soft jazz in the background

Takes ballates or yogalates classes

Plays the violin or cello

Watches Audrey Hepburn and Anna Karina films

Adds sweet almond oil and rose bath tea to her vanilla bubble bath

Has a seasonal pass to the ballet and regularly visits the theatre, old bookshops, botanical gardens, and art galleries

Keeps things like French Girl lip tints/Glossier lip balms/Too Faced lip glosses, a hand mirror, a comb, some bonbons, a book, a rollerball of perfume, hand cream, a piece of rose quartz, a scrunchie, a nail file, spray on SPF and bubblegum in her bag at all times

Is always up to date with Fashion Week

Writes in her diary daily in swirly writing using coloured gel pens, pressing flowers between the pages and spraying perfume samples on it

Lights Yankee Candle Fresh Cut Roses or Rainbow Cookie, keeps soap and lavender in her wardrobe, and has vanilla diffusers around the house

Lives in a cosy home filled with beautiful things, like paintings by local artists, lots of cushions and throws, soft lighting from salt lamps and fairy lights, potted herbs and succulents, vintage vases filled with floral arrangements, DIY macramé and embroidery projects, a bowl of different crystals, signature Barbies on a shelf, rattan furniture, fluffy towels in white, pink, baby blue, and lavender, pink Dove or rose Roger et Gallet soap and Jurlique rose hand cream on the bathroom sink, pictures of her loved ones in antique frames, floral patterns everywhere, antique mirrors, and beautiful porcelain teasets

Goes to French cafés to enjoy a vanilla oat latte with a millefeuille or almond croissant

Always wears diamond or pearl earrings (often paired with a charm bracelet or gold heart locket)

Enjoys rosé wine, champagne, and strawberry daiquiris at lunchtime occasionally

Snacks on strawberries, sugared almonds, dried fruit and nuts, and Turkish Delight

Applies powder, rosy blush, lipgloss, and puts ribbons in her hair at her vanity table, which is decorated with a ballerina music box, vintage perfume bottles, and trinkets shaped like swans, angels and shepherdesses

Has her morning and evening routines down pat: waking up to melodic music, opening the windows, making the bed, doing gentle yoga, simple skincare, getting dressed, applying makeup, and eating a simple but delicious breakfast in the morning, and having a warm shower, doing more decadent skincare, putting on comfy cotton or satin pyjamas, journalling, enjoying a calming cup of herbal tea, reading, looking out the window at the moon, and falling asleep to relaxing sounds like ocean waves, gentle rainfall, and white noise at night. Her life runs like clockwork.

Is gentle, sweet, romantic, and full of love to give

[canmom]

Animation Night 191 - Yuzuru Tachikawa

this is what it's like to play jazz.

OK, so, you know Mob Psycho 100? Maybe I don't even need to say more than that...

Yuzuru Tachikawa! If you're a sakuga type, perhaps a familiar name... if not, let's take a moment to rewind the clock to the strange ancient times of 2013, where there was a certain something called the Young Animators Training Project. Which was a project to train young animators. More substantially, as kvin writes here, it was a project designed to address the collapsing training processes of the anime industry... a project which fell rather short of its aims in many ways.

But in its earlier days, it did fund a couple of very interesting, unique short films. One of them was the original Little Witch Academia, which went on to expand into one of Trigger's flagship series. And the other... was Death Billiards, directed and written by a certain Yuzuru Tachikawa, rising episode director star, at Madhouse.

The premise of Death Billiards, and the later expanded esries Death Parade, is that the dead find their way into bars whose bartenders judge whether they should be reincarnated based on 'death games'. What's a death game? Well, standard bar stuff: billiards, darts... the title is in fact very literal. And it slapped. kVin writes:

Death Billiards was nothing short of a passion project for Tachikawa, who wrote, directed, and storyboarded it all. It was his opportunity to make a stance. To prove he wasn’t just a great ally for other creators, or even a suitable second in command, but rather someone deserving of helming his own titles as he pleased. In his second showing as director—the one fan of the 2012 multimedia project Arata-naru Sekai happens to be a friend of mine and he’ll kill me if I don’t mention it—Tachikawa held nothing back. Death Billiards’ exploration of ambiguity and moral failings that had always intrigued Tachikawa stuck with people all around the world too, and its presentation was so stylish that not even Yoh Yoshinari’s dazzling LWA managed to overshadow it. The OVA immediately put Tachikawa on the map, but truth to the told, that’s far from the extent of its success.

And indeed, Tachikawa - and producer Takuya Tsunoki - went on to do many great things, building up a strong gang of animators around them, many of them associated with the young Studio NUT. Of course, their best known project is Mob Psycho 100, a popular comedy-shōnen manga by One (same mangaka as One Punch Man) which plays around with chuunibyou (in the original sense) ideas of psychic powers in, ultimately, a very grounded, affirming way - and to this Tachikawa et al. brought a slightly sketchy, experimental style which led to some pretty crazy action animation. Mob was a crazy hit; later came their long-term passion project DECA-DENCE, a very fun scifi piece about humans trapped in an elaborate physicalised game, rebelling against the system and staging prison breaks, full of slick zero-g action sequences...

Course while we're talking about NUT, we gotta mention their first work Youjo Senki, perhaps the most outright loathsome anime I've ever seen. Not to beat this dead horse. I can only imagine that the staff working on it were like... somehow oblivious to the blatant nazi barely-even-subtext of what they were adapting? (In keeping with the unfortunate ways that otaku culture plays with nazi imagery.) I just can't square it with any of the other stuff they've made, Deca-Dence in particular. Tachikawa at least was only peripherally involved in that hot mess.

We're not actually here to talk about Mob or Deca-Dence though - they're both way too long for Animation Night. Instead we'll be rolling the clock forward to Tachikawa's most recent project at NUT: an adaptation of Blue Giant, about boys playing jaazzzzzz.

also eating burger.

Blue Giant follows Dai, an aspiring saxophonist, as he grows up and toots despite the hostility of the patrons of his local music shop. The film adapts some of the later volumes of the manga, in which Dai has already made some progress in his playing. Dai falls in with two other jazz players: the experienced and arrogant Yukinori and novice drummer Shunji as they form a band. Before long, conflict brews over just how hardcore you should go.

The film is, naturally, a celebration of jazz, full of elaborate scenes of performance, described as being like "a full-blown music video" to really sell you on how moving and awesome jazz movie can be. Jazz and anime can be a great combo (just ask anyone who's seen Cowboy Bebop or Gundam Thunderbolt) and I am pretty curious to see what they come up with here.

Honestly, while I've enjoyed Mob and Deca-Dence, I definitely feel like I'm sleeping a bit on Tachikawa - so tonight I hope to remedy it by checking out where he came from and where he's currently going, with a night of Death Billiards and Blue Giant! NUT's animation is always lively and stylish - they're also the studio where the master of anime-industry animation tutorials, Dong Chang, works - so I think we'll surely see something cool.

Animation Night 191 will be going live shortly at twitch.tv/canmom, I hope to see you there! And apologies for the late start - without going into too much of what's happening behind the scenes here, we should (touch wood) soon be able to get back to an earlier schedule, but for now we're still on witching hours.

[itsyoung8]

Lucky De Luca headcanons

Bonjour à toutes et à tous! As you probably know, Rockstar Games didn't put Lucky very much in the spotlight in the game, even making him almost invisible. Also, I see that there isn't a lot of content on Lucky here either. That's why I'm offering you headcanons on it so that people have the vision on it!

Lucky never rests. He's always working on something

Even when he's having lunch, he's doing something on the side. Other greasers are worried about his health

He's not very talkative. He'd rather listen than talk

That's why most greasers will confide in him. But when he speaks, he always gives good advice.

With Ricky and Johnny, he often races bikes through Bullworth

Like Tom, where the others will rush headlong, Lucky will first analyze the situation before acting

While repairing cars or bicycles, he can be heard humming along to sounds of jazz, blues, rock, etc. It relaxes him

He is a very good dancer but he only likes to dance in front of people other than his family and friends

Her denim jacket is a gift from her family. Since he got it, he never leaves it, even in winter

He only takes off his jacket at home or to put it around a girl's shoulders if she is cold

He's very lucky (lol) with the ladies. He must be a very great gentleman

He doesn't like video games because he sucks. Often he watches others play

He watches westerns or movies or series with action on television

He rarely drinks alcohol. He prefers to drink water

He reads crime novels

End of my headcannons on Lucky! While writing them, I imagined a one-shot about him, don't ask me why. Maybe one day I'll make one, who knows?

[red-bat-arse]

I Got a Problem 🎸🎶🎻

AO3

Chapter One

Eddie 'The Freak' Munson, famous for bringing rock to new heights with his band Hellfire, listens to everything but Country. 'King' Steve Harrington, leading light of the new generation of traditional Country artists, has a few thoughts about that.

=<+>=

Eddie Munson did not normally find himself accused of being musically pigeonholed.

He'd played alongside punk bands in his early touring days, and grew up on jazz and the blues from his mum and uncle. His hits on the pop charts prompted a few collaborations with electronic and indie artists, and his sophomore album featured a few rappers who wanted to get experience with rock. Metal was his bread and butter, he had a soft spot for soulful folk ballads, and given his close friendship with Argyle he was more than familiar with reggae and funk and all varieties of stoner music.

Of course, you could probably guess that the exception to all that was the ever contentious genre of country. However that wouldn't be a problem, wouldn't even be on Eddie's radar, if not for the batshit insane decision Hopper made in a diner three blocks away from the studio the week prior.

Eddie scowled and shot Jeff another look when his vocalist snickered at his expense. On the other side of the room this party was happening in, he could see Steve Harrington talking with Dustin and laughing at whatever the kid was frantically gesturing about.

He was dressed in a embroidered beige western shirt with pearls on the long cuffs, blue jeans with a brown belt and a big copper buckle, and honest to god cowboy boots that matched the ensemble. His hair was styled high and his biceps strained the shirt sleeves a little, and when he turned on his heel to follow Dustin's pointer figure Eddie was briefly overcome with lust at the amazing ass in his direct line of sight.

"I don't care," he pronounced finally, twitching as Harrington spun back and ruffled Dustin's hair, grinning wide when the kid squawked in outrage. Jeff outright snorted and Eddie glared harder. "I think doing this before we move to a bigger space is stupid, but all power to the Chief if he thinks we can make it work."

"Don't care at all, got it," Gareth said, coming up beside him. "It's just business concerns. Like, our assets."

"See, why can't you be more like Gareth, Jeffery? He knows exactly what i'm talking about," Eddie slung an arm over Gareth's shoulders -and he must be in a good mood because he didn't duck away. "Business assets."

"More like his ass-et," Jeff muttered, and Eddie valiantly ignored him.

Five days ago Hopper walked into the studio's monthly brunch and introduced them all to one Joyce 'Mama' Byers -which, okay, even Eddie knew who she was -and dropped the bombshell that she signed on with them two days prior. Once the commotion died down she was the one who dropped the next one, informing them all that they'd soon be sharing close quarters with nine other artists from her former label, preeminent among them the one who convinced them all to walk out, that being Steve Harrington.

All ten of them were country artists. Prison Break Records hadn't put out any music that wasn't solely rock or metal in it's entire eight years of existence. To say there was a bit of culture shock going around was an understatement.

"Give them a chance, Ed," Grant passed by with a few cans of coke tucked into the crook of his arm and slapped him on the shoulder, making Eddie stumble. "Half of them are in the middle of doing the bar circuit right now, and it's not like we need the studio space anyway. It's all good."

Eddie huffed, trying not to let Grant's comment sting -he knew he didn't mean anything by it. But at nearly six months to the day, even though the guys would never rush him, maybe Eddie was getting a little bit worried about the future.

"I was talking with the Byers, apparently it's mainly gonna be Joyce and Harrington recording for the next month at least," Gareth piped up again, jabbing a thumb in the direction of country music's leading family -Argyle had somehow struck up a conversation with them and while the younger brother seemed confused, the elder was paying rapt attention to whatever their resident stoner was explaining. "Everyone else is taking a break or doing small shows or one off songs, like Grant said."

"Fine, fine, I get it," Eddie held up his hands in surrender. "But if they start blasting fucking honky-tonk bullshit-"

"Oh come on, Munson, don't tell me you're one of those."

Eddie paused, then slowly turned around, feeling his face heat up only partly in embarrassment to see Harrington standing just behind him, having apparently been abandoned by Dustin in the last few minutes. He had his hip cocked and a hand casually resting with the thumb hooked in his belt, and up close Eddie could see little moles scattered all over his face and neck like flecks of paint. Next to them, Jeff turned and coughed a laugh into his elbow, muffled.

"What, pray tell, are you talking about?" Eddie quashed the instinct to puff up for a fight. Just because Harrington was a good old jock with arms that could bench him didn't mean he had to have his back up, and he reasoned that this was his home turf here. He and Hopper may not always see eye to eye, but if Eddie asked he'd take his side in a heartbeat.

Harrington gave a funny little smirk, the kind you'd give to the family dog who was doing something cute but ultimately futile.

"You're the type who hates Trace Adkins but's never heard of David Allan Coe," he raised an eyebrow, then nodded to Jeff and Gareth, holding out a hand to shake with each of them. "Name's Steve. Good to meet you guys."

"Jeff," "Gareth," his bandmates parroted back, easy as breathing, while Eddie was still stuck on Harrington's little dig about the artists he was or wasn't aware of.

"You do most of the song work, don't you Munson?" he was asked, and Eddie belatedly realized he hadn't actually accepted Harrington's handshake. It was too late now, so he kind of awkwardly answered in the affirmative and watched that hand get pulled back and settled onto Harrington's other hip, so the man was standing almost like a judgy mother hen as he kept talking. "I've been kind of obsessed with Dark Sheep lately -especially the way you captured sexuality in 'Something On Your Tongue'; like how it's all about being confident, and whether it's a stranger at a club or working a job, the narrator's attracted to them in a way that's not gross to listen to. I mean, 'I love the way you dance with anybody' as a line is pretty refreshing when you think about it and... oh. Sorry," Harrington trailed off and turned a little pink, ducked his head. "Didn't mean to ramble on there."

Steve Harrington listened to Hellfire's music? Eddie blinked and the guy was still in front of him, looking earnest as a slice of apple pie or whatever the fuck, and he mentally shook himself. 'King' Steve Harrington listened to his music enough to have an opinion on it, on specific songs from their last record, and he came out the end of it liking his lyrics?

"Dude, get it together," Gareth whispered and elbowed him in the ribs, jolting him out of his fugue.

"Didn't think that was your thing, Harrington," Eddie ran his mouth with the first thought that came to mind, even if it was kind of dickish. "Sexual liberation ain't exactly very prayerful of you," he made the sign of the cross on that last part.

Far from what he expected, that got Harrington to bark out a big, surprised laugh. "Oh, c'mon," he rolled his eyes. "You can't seriously think I'm in with the god squad? They were most of why we left Tiger Studios in the end. Besides," Harrington flashed a charming smile, pearly whites matching the pearl buttons below on his shirt. "It'd be pretty hypocritical of me to preach against sexual lib, considering."

What the hell did that mean? Was it just his brain pulling tricks on him, or did Harrington's eyes flick up and down Eddie's body right then -and where the hell had Gareth and Jeff gone? They were supposed to be his buffer against his least favourite genre, not -ah, there they were -not chatting up the other members of Harrington's little ensemble across the room.

"Consider me told, then. You ain't godly whatsoever, I'll be sure not to disparage your sterling reputation again with that mistake, my liege, cross my heart," Maybe he was laying it on thick here, but there was something about Steve Harrington that got his pulse up; when the other man tilted his head with a baffled smile at Eddie's statement, he had to clench his fist hard so he didn't just -well, he wasn't actually sure. "But I think without the god talk that just makes you a hick, big boy, sexually liberated or otherwise. Is that better or worse?"

Maybe Harrington was just pissing him off with his... everything. His shit genre and his cocky attitude and the way he dressed to impress, it was cringey at best and edging on pretentious at worst. Eddie crossed his arms and scowled, annoyed with this damn situation of having to navigate a whole new set of people in the studio when he was already behind in his work and had no fucking clue how to fix-

"Hicks make some good music, Munson," Harrington said, sounding all kinds of condescending about it. "Especially these days, if you know where to look. Sounds to me like you're a little musically pigeonholed," Eddie went ramrod straight as Harrington threw that accusation in his face, and he felt his cheeks go hot in offense. Harrington smirked, noticing. "But hey, I'm always down to help out if you wanted to explore your options."

Musically. Pigeonholed. Musically pigeonholed!

"Fat chance of that, boots," Eddie swung his foot forward and knocked toes with Harrington, fancy brown tops against Eddie's scuffed workman's. "Sounds to me like the crown's too tight on your head after dropping contract. When you can write a song that's not about beer and trucks and girls, give me a shout, okay? Maybe I'll even give it a listen."

Steve's smirk turned a shade meaner, and he was probably going to say something really nasty -figures -when he got clapped on the back by a big man in a hawaiian shirt and with a thick beard, holding a martini of all things.

"Woah, kids, tone it down a notch. We're here to have a good time," the guy said, part patronizing and part stern -it was a weird combination. "Especially you, Discount Dio. Take it easy on the new guys or I'll ask Wayne to break out the baby photos, tout de suite."

Oh, so this was Murray. Wayne's mysterious drinking buddy who just so happened to be one of the artists who bailed along with Harrington. Eddie had no doubt he'd make good on the threat -not that he needed it, exactly. The interruption seemed to have taken the wind out of both his and Harrington's sails, if the way the guy looked embarrassed was any indication.

"Sorry, Murray," Harrington said, and Murray rolled his eyes.

"Just relax, kid. None of these guys are Hargrove, or even Carver Jr for that matter," he shook Harrington's shoulder a little, and shot Eddie an odd look. "Even the ones that growl and snap at you are just Chihuahuas. And you, puppy," he snapped his fingers in Eddie's face, making him flinch back in surprise. Also, offended -puppy? "I think you've got a hot head right now, so you should remember you know better than to shit on music you've never listened to. Don't you?"

Fuck, damn his big mouth. He felt his cheeks go tight with embarrassment, and he cut a look at Harrington. They were both close to thirty and yet here they were feeling like scolded children.

"Shouldn't have said that, Harrington. Sorry," he offered, ash in his throat. The guy looked surprised, but nodded, accepting, and Murray threw his hands up, sarcastically relieved.

"Thank god! Now come on, join the party," he hooked a hand around Eddie's neck and used his martini arm to bump Harrington forward.

The country boy looked at him one last time before seeming to shrug off their entire interaction, a fake expression of cheer getting plastered on after a flash of disappointment. Why he was disappointed was anybody's guess; maybe he'd thought Eddie would be more repentant in his apology.

Fat chance of that. Musically pigeonholed his ass.

Eddie sighed, flexing his hand, and readied himself to push through a few more hours of socializing. Internally he apologized to Hopper, too -a productive working relationship with the country club didn't seem like it was in the cards for him.

=<+>=

I keep a running list of songs referenced in the notes on AO3 -I don't do tag lists!

[jazzstandardspoll]

Descriptions & Propaganda

St. Louis Blues

Composed by W. C. Handy

Notable versions: Bessie Smith (x), Django Reinhardt (x), Louis Armstrong (x)

Propaganda: None submitted.

After You've Gone

Composed by Turner Layton , with lyrics written by Henry Creamer

Notable versions: Marion Harris (x), Charleston Chasers (x), Bessie Smith (x)

Propaganda: It is a romance/heartbreak song but it is also just an incredible bittersweet ballad that could be applied to so many feelings. As for me personally, this song helped me cope with the loss of my grandmother. Such a beautiful (and genderless song!) with so many iconic versions from Ella Fitzgerald, to Louis Armstrong, Marion Harris, Ruth Etting and more. Quite possibly one of the first modern jazz standards as well.

[oompahmuzik]

Hugo & the Astronoms

Quoi de mieux pour un premier post que mon artiste de coeur ?

Hugo & the Astronoms a été créé en 2015 et a bouleversé le milieu du jazz fusion. Touche-à-tout virtuose, il nous transporte avec sa musique qu'il qualifie lui-même de "spatiale" pour un voyage à travers sa galaxie sonore.

Son meilleur album : Space Circus

Son meilleur morceau : Cutlass Blue? Cutlass Red

[soulmusicsongs]

Soul Around The World in 25 tracks

Soul music became popular around the world, influencing countless artists across the world. We’ve put together a list with 25 awesome soul tracks form Africa, Asia, Europa and Latin America.

African Hustle - Geraldo Pino (Boogie Fever, 1978) - Sierra Leone

Ahl Jedba - Fadoul (Al Jedba / Al Hayra, 197?) - Maroc

Durban Bump Jive - Thomas Motshwane (Pretoria Bump Jive / Durban Bump Jive, 1975) - South Africa

Funky But… - Mads Vinding Group (Danish Drive, 1974) - Denmark

Gandjal Kessoum - Hamad Kalkaba And The Golden Sounds (Gandjal Kessoum / Toufle, 1975) - Cameroon

Hot Pot - Francois de Louville (La Complainte Du Partisan / Hot Pot, 1969) - France

Jazz Goes to Beat I - Václav Zahradník Big Band (Jazz Goes to Beat, 1970) - The Czech Republic

Jangolo (Les Mangues) - Jo Tongo ( Jangolo, 1976) - Cameroon

Lagos Sisi - Bola Johnson & His Easy Life Top Beats (Lagos Sisi / Jeka Dubu, 1973) - Nigeria

Major Minor - Crazy Casey (The Beast And I, 1967) - The Netherlands

Malombo Blues - Malombo (Pele Pele, 1976) - South Africa

Matshatsha - Trio Madjesi & Orchestre Sosoliso (Matshatsha / Good Bye Yuna, 1973) - Zaïre

Mbaye Sasu - Le Xalam (Daïda, 1975) - Senegal

Nadim - Freh Khodja (Bachar Fi Leil, 1978) - Algeria

Na Man Pass Man (Na Iron De Cut Iron) - Pasteur Lappe (a Man Pass Man, 1979) - Cameroon

Nana - The Lulus Band (Nana / Ndiregete Twendane, 1976) - Kenya

N'Zambi - Lilly Tchiumba (N'Zambi É Deus, 1973) - Angola

Passage To Prerov - Jack van Poll Tree-Oh (Hi Jackin', 1972) - The Netherlands

Ray Mbelle - Orchestre Baobab Gouye Guy De Dakar (Ken Dou Werente, 1983) - Senegal

Roll On The Left Side - Knut Kiesewetter Train (Stop! Watch! And Listen!, 1970) - Germany

Sesion Verde - Toño Quirazco (Soul Makossa, 1973) - Mexico

Streap-Tease In The Stars - Sirarcusa (Give Me Your Love / Streap-Tease In The Stars, 1977) - Spain

Wait… No Hurry - Grotto-II (Wait… No Hurry, 1978) - Nigeria

Waqtach Tef'hem - Les Frères Mégri (Younes Et Mahmoud, 1977) - Marocco

Way Back Fifties - The Drive (Can You Feel It, 1975) - South Africa

More Soul Around the World

Soul Around the World in 24 tracks

Soul Around The World

Soul Around The World in 34 songs

Soul Around The World in 27 Songs

Soul Around the World in 20 tracks

Soul Around The World in 22 tracks

Soul Around The World in 33 songs

Soul Around The World in 20 tracks

[queermtl]

Queer MTL : quoi faire en juillet 2024 // Queer MTL things to do: July 2024

(Photo by Eva Blue)

Queer MTL things to do: July 2024

The summer festival season is in full swing, and things are queerer in MTL than ever this July! This month, Montréal is stuffed to the brim with events, parties and unique experiences painted in all the colours of the LGBTQ+ rainbow. From drag to community, circuit to underground, here’s some of our picks for the best LGBTQ+ things to do in the city. For further announcements, including those not announced at time of publication, follow QueerMTL on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr! Got an event coming up? DM it our way!

LEGEND

🎥 Cinema 👑 Drag 🥳 Parties 🎶 Concert ✊ Activism 🏳️‍⚧️ Trans 🏳️‍🌈 Community 😆 Comedy 🎭 Performance 💪 Sports 👯‍♀️ Dance 🎤 Karaoke 🎨 Arts 📚 Literary / Educational 👠 Ballroom / Vogue

Lundi 1 juillet / Monday, July 1

🥳 DramaQueen presents DramaQueen on the river with Dracvla, Wiltbarn and Rakehell, Riverside Bar Terrasse St Henri 🎨 VITRINE Festival 2024 : VISION art market and film screenings, Union Française de Montréal 🎭 La Curieuse—Ligue d’improvisation estivale, Chez Ernest 👑 C’est ma toune! : Edition Divas, a drag show where you pick the playlist, with Sasha Baga, Jessie and Bobépine, Cabaret Mado

Mardi 2 juillet / Tuesday, July 2

👑 Full Gisèle : Oh Canada ! with Gisèle Lullaby, Rawbin, Carmen Sutra, Bobépine and Kitana, Cabaret Mado 😆 Stand Up St. Henri Open Mic focusing on women, non-binary, queer and allied comedians, Impro Montréal

Mercredi 3 juillet / Wednesday, July 3

🎭 The Poly Mic open mic, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles 😆 Ace Pride Comedy Show with Heathcliff, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles 🎨 Drink & Draw by @Hommehomo, Bar Le Cocktail 👑 Mercredi Drag Live with Victoire de Rockwell, Jessie Précieuse, Lady Guidoune, and Rock Bière, Cabaret Mado

Jeudi 4 juillet / Thursday, July 4

🎭 Cup of Tease and Velvet Pistol present Red, White & Boobs with Yikes Macaroni, Foxy Lexxi Brown, Baron Von Styck, Butterscotch Blondie, Charli Deville and Miss Behave, The Wiggle Room 🥳 L’Orage presents Jeudi diversité !, L’Orage Club 👑 Girls' Night Out: Battle of the Decades with Lady Boom Boom, Pétula Claque, Daisy Wood and Krystella Fame, Cabaret Mado 👑 Butterfly de nuit with Miss Butterfly, Bar Le Cocktail

Vendredi 5 juillet / Friday, July 5

🎶 Orville Peck, Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, TD Stage, Place des Festivals 🎨 Montréal Comiccon, Palais des congrès de Montréal 👑 Mado Reçoit with Mado Lamotte, Kiara, Jimmy Moore, Nana and Sasha Baga, Cabaret Mado 👑 Vendredi Fou with Michel Dorion, Bar Le Cocktail

Samedi 6 juillet / Saturday, July 6

🥳 Sweet Like Honey hosts a Block Party with DJ Honeybunn, Glowzi and Po, Marché des Possibles 🎨 Montréal Comiccon, Palais des congrès de Montréal 🎤 Queer Karaoke MTL hosts a Trans March Fundraiser, followed by a trans-forward queer dance party, Blue Dog 🎤 Bareoke: Strip Karaoke, Café Cléopatra 🥳 Parallel Vol. 9 featuring Arab/SWANA region-based music, Cabaret Berlin 👑 Mado Reçoit with Mado Lamotte, Kiara, Jimmy Moore, Nana and Sasha Baga, Cabaret Mado 👑 Jimmy Moore personnifie Lady Gaga, Cabaret Mado 👑 Late Night with Jessie Précieuse, Cabaret Mado 👑 Drôles de Drags with Miss Butterfly, Ciathanight, Crystal Starz or Emma Déjàvu in rotation, Bar Le Cocktail

Dimanche 7 juillet / Sunday, July 7

📚 The Violet Hour Book Club reads Henry Hoke’s Open Throat, Librairie Pulp Books & Cafe 🥳 Sweet Like Honey with DJ Lax, DJ Tokyo and DJ Playgirl, Village au Pied du Courant 🎨 Montréal Comiccon, Palais des congrès de Montréal 🏳️‍🌈 Afterglo hosts Slow Dating #13 Gay for men identifying as gay, Le Central 🎭 On the Blvd Multi-Mic, Bar Bifteck 💪 The International Wrestling Syndicate presents IWS vs GCW, focusing on underrepresented athletes including LGBTQ+ fighters, L’Olympia 👑 Le Tracy Show with Tracy Trash and special guests, Cabaret Mado 🏳️‍🌈 Aimé Chartier : 60 ans de carrière et 80 ans de vie, Bar Le Cocktail

Lundi 8 juillet / Monday, July 8

🎭 La Curieuse—Ligue d’improvisation estivale, Chez Ernest

Mardi 9 juillet / Tuesday, July 9

👑 Full Gisèle : Extravaganza with Gisèle Lullaby, Saltina Shaker, Sunshine Glitterchild, Adriana The Bombshell, Sasha Baga and Nick Saanto, Cabaret Mado 😆 Stand Up St. Henri Open Mic focusing on women, non-binary, queer and allied comedians, Impro Montréal

Mercredi 10 juillet / Wednesday, July 10

🎭 The Poly Mic open mic, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles 😆 Tony McIntyre is a Time Traveller with Merry Kringles, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles 👑 Celes and Marc-André Caron present Loreen vs Sia, Cabaret Mado

Jeudi 11 juillet / Thursday, July 11

🎭 Lust Cove presents The Lust Cove Sex(y) Education Show with Miss Scarlet Knife, Yaya Havana, Mina Minou, Mei, Kaya Koko and Carmen Mayhem, The Wiggle Room 🥳 L’Orage presents Jeudi diversité !, L’Orage Club 👑 Le Sami Party with Sami Landri, Cabaret Mado  👑 Butterfly de nuit with Miss Butterfly, Bar Le Cocktail

Vendredi 12 juillet / Friday, July 12

🥳 BIMBO with DJs Diskommander and DJ G3MINI, Le Livart  🥳 Cerise Noire goth night, Bar NDQ 👑 Mado Reçoit with Mado Lamotte, Bobépine, Peggy Sue, Nana and Aizysse Baga, Cabaret Mado 👑 Vendredi Fou with Michel Dorion, Bar Le Cocktail

Samedi 13 juillet / Saturday, July 13

🥳 FRKY presents FRKY x 2 Year Anniversary with Manclaudy, Moka, Rawsoul and Sexnobe, La Sotterenea 🥳 Soirées Velours presents Trouve ta Muse, a special lesbo-queer party, Bar le P2 🎭 Voulez Vous Productions presents Bootcamp: Séduis toi pour les fat babes with Rosie Bourgeoisie, Centre Strathearn 👑 Mado Reçoit with Mado Lamotte, Bobépine, Peggy Sue, Nana and Aizysse Baga, Cabaret Mado 👑 Jimmy Moore personnifie Céline Dion, Cabaret Mado 👑 Late Night with Jessie Précieuse, Cabaret Mado 👑 Drôles de Drags with Miss Butterfly, Ciathanight, Crystal Starz or Emma Déjàvu in rotation, Bar Le Cocktail

Dimanche 14 juillet / Sunday, July 14

🎭 Voulez Vous Productions presents Bootcamp: Séduis toi pour personnes avec experience scénique with Rosie Bourgeoisie, Centre Strathearn 👑 Afternoon Drag Café with all-ages, neurodivergent-friendly and sober, with Itsh and Timothy Toxic, L’Orbite 👑 Le Tracy Show with Tracy Trash and special guests, Cabaret Mado 👑 Happy Birthday Miss Butterfly with Miss Butterfly, Michel Dorion and Chouchoune, Bar Le Cocktail

Lundi 15 juillet / Monday, July 15

📚 Fierté Montréal and Fierté littéraire presents Queer académie : La sélection with Barbada, Théâtre La Comédie 🎭 La Curieuse—Ligue d’improvisation estivale, Chez Ernest 👑 Da-Lulu with Enigma, Woody Fungi, Asmalix and Vulverine, Cabaret Mado

Mardi 16 juillet / Tuesday, July 16

👑 Full Gisèle : Disney with Gisèle Lullaby, Marla Deer, Bambi Dextrous, Tracy Trash and Prudence, Cabaret Mado 😆 Stand Up St. Henri Open Mic focusing on women, non-binary, queer and allied comedians, Impro Montréal

Mercredi 17 juillet / Wednesday, July 17

🎭 The Poly Mic open mic, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles 🎥 Jane Fonda stars in Barbarella, Cinémathèque québécoise 😆 The Crochet Comedy Show with Shosho, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles

Jeudi 18 juillet / Thursday, July 18

🎥 Queer Cinema Club of Montréal hosts a screening of But I'm a Cheerleader starring RuPaul and Natasha Lyonne, Cinema Moderne 🎭 Them Fatale presents Summer Heat with Amnesia, EnvyTheClown, Kitty Catcher, MX. Quest, Rosie Bourgeoisie and Xénia, The Wiggle Room 🥳 L’Orage presents Jeudi diversité !, L’Orage Club 👑 Butterfly de nuit with Miss Butterfly, Bar Le Cocktail

Vendredi 19 juillet / Friday, July 19

🥳 Studio ZX presents Festival Ctrl+Alt with Afrotonik, Place du Village 🥳 SUPER TASTE MTL presents We Can’t Stop! 2010’s Dance Party, Cabaret Berlin 🥳 Dark Area and Techno Haute Couture present Dark Area x THC with Special K, Rögue, LAPA XII and Deaf, Collectif MTL 🥳 Strawberry Gothcake rave with 99jakes, Kilbourne, FortifiedStructures, Outback and Mowie B2B The Bald Girl, La Sotterenea 👑 Mado Reçoit with Mado Lamotte, Kitana, Velma Jones and Celes, Cabaret Mado 👑 Vendredi Fou : Soirée sans pantalon with Michel Dorion, Bar Le Cocktail

Samedi 20 juillet / Saturday, July 20

🥳 Studio ZX presents Festival Ctrl+Alt with ElleLui, Hauterageous and Discoño, Place du Village 🎶 La ferme coopérative aux champs qui chantent presents Rae Spoon with KY, La ferme coopérative aux champs qui chantent 🥳 GTR—Girls Theys Rave with Broodmare, Faneva and Dracvla, La Poubelle Magnifique 🥳 SUPER TASTE MTL presents Voulez-Vous Disco & New Wave Dance Party: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Bar Le Ritz PDB 🎤 Bareoke: Strip Karaoke, Café Cléopatra 👑 Mado Reçoit with Mado Lamotte, Kitana, Velma Jones and Celes, Cabaret Mado 👑 Jimmy Moore personnifie Taylor Swift, Cabaret Mado  👑 Late Night with Jessie Précieuse, Cabaret Mado 👑 Drôles de Drags with Miss Butterfly, Ciathanight, Crystal Starz or Emma Déjàvu in rotation, Bar Le Cocktail

Dimanche 21 juillet / Sunday, July 21

🥳 Studio ZX presents Festival Ctrl+Alt with Blush and Unikorn, Place du Village 🏳️‍🌈 Italo Queer Montréal hosts Picnic Estivo, Parc Jarry 👑 Le Tracy Show with Tracy Trash and special guests, Cabaret Mado 👑 Dimanche Show with Michel Dorion, Bar Le Cocktail

Lundi 22 juillet / Monday, July 22

🎭 La Curieuse—Ligue d’improvisation estivale, Chez Ernest 👑 Tout le monde en drag pour REZO with Pétula Claque, Cabaret Mado

Mardi 23 juillet / Tuesday, July 23

👑 Full Gisèle : The Matrix with Gisèle Lullaby, Esirena, Fabien L’Amour, Kelly Torrieli and Celes, Cabaret Mado  😆 Stand Up St. Henri Open Mic focusing on women, non-binary, queer and allied comedians, Impro Montréal

Mercredi 24 juillet / Wednesday, July 24

🎭 The Poly Mic open mic 1-year Anniversary, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles 😆 Max Higgins is The Underdog with Raquel Maestre, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles

Jeudi 25 juillet / Thursday, July 25

👑 Cult of AnarchKey presents the Drag Open Stage Fundraiser for “Native Women’s Shelter of Montréal” with Korra AnarchKey, Champs Bar 🥳 BLUSH presents Salade de Fruits : Happy Hour Queer, an event by and for FLINT+, Bar La Marche à côté 😆 World’s Smallest Comedy Festival presents World’s Queerest Comedy Night, Hurley’s Irish Pub 🥳 L’Orage presents Jeudi diversité !, L’Orage Club 👑 Jimmy Moore personnifie Taylor Swift, Cabaret Mado 👑 Butterfly de nuit with Miss Butterfly, Bar Le Cocktail

Vendredi 26 juillet / Friday, July 26

👑 Mado Reçoit with Mado Lamotte, Marla Deer, Tracy Trash and Pétula Claque, Cabaret Mado 👑 Vendredi Fou with Michel Dorion, Bar Le Cocktail

Samedi 27 juillet / Saturday, July 27

🥳 Rubber Electric queer dark electronic fetish rave with Vicky Devika, Mushin and Nori, Cabaret Berlin 👑 Mado Reçoit with Mado Lamotte, Marla Deer, Tracy Trash and Pétula Claque, Cabaret Mado 👑 Jimmy Moore personnifie Rihanna, Cabaret Mado 👑 Late Night with Jessie Précieuse, Cabaret Mado 👑 Drôles de Drags with Miss Butterfly, Ciathanight, Crystal Starz or Emma Déjàvu in rotation, Bar Le Cocktail

Dimanche 28 juillet / Sunday, July 28

👑 Le Tracy Show with Tracy Trash and special guests, Cabaret Mado 👑 Happy Birthday Crystal Starz with Crystal Starz, Michel Dorion and Chouchoune, Bar Le Cocktail

Lundi 29 juillet / Monday, July 29

🎭 La Curieuse—Ligue d’improvisation estivale, Chez Ernest

Mardi 30 juillet / Tuesday, July 30

👑 Full Gisèle : Femme fatale with Gisèle Lullaby, Victoire de Rockwell, Jessie Précieuse, Kiara and Foxy Lexxi Brown, Cabaret Mado 👑 Le cirque de Teddy Boop with Teddy Boop, Sally D, Sarah Winters and Mister Boogie, Bar Le Cocktail 😆 Stand Up St. Henri Open Mic focusing on women, non-binary, queer and allied comedians, Impro Montréal

Mercredi 31 juillet / Wednesday, July 31

🎭 The Poly Mic open mic, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles 😆 The Poly Showcase with Raquel Maestre and Tranna Wintour, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles 👑 Sitcom Bonanza : Spécial Friends, Cabaret Mado

OTHERS / LES AUTRES

🤠 Club Bolo—Danse Country Montréal meet on Fridays at the Association sportive et communautaire du Centre-Sud.

👯 Tango/Salsa Queer holds lessons every Saturday, visit queertangomtl.com for information or contact tango.queer@hotmail.com or call +1 (514) 709-4678 for prices and signup information, Espaces des Arts.

🏐 Les Ratons-Chasseurs (Montréal’s LGBTA dodgeball group) holds regular events. Keep an eye on their Facebook for upcoming opportunities to join in and play. 

🕹Montréal Gaymers hosts regular gatherings including board game nights and gaming gatherings. Check their Facebook for what’s next!

🏃🏾Join the Out-Run run and workout club for people relating to the queer / sapphic experience. Details on their Instagram!

🐦 Bird lovers should keep their eye on Queer Birders' regularly scheduled birdwatching events and excursions. Join the Facebook group and get those binoculars at the ready.

👠 Twice a month on every second Tuesday, Bring It! hosts an OTA night of ballroom and vogue with commentator and DJ. Follow their Instagram for dates and details.

[hannahhook7744]

The Bad Apples!;

Band Poster I made based off of this and this.

Pictures I made.

Diego de Vil musician outfit board.

Album Cover:

The Bad Apple Songs (so far):

We're The Brunos.

You're Dead (To Me).

Don't Talk About The Dead Kids.

(Don't Talk About) The Isle Kids.

Wilted Petals.

Don’t Get Shot.

Rough House Rumble.

Where Are You, Peter Pan?

Who Made You King?

Where’s My Happy Ending?

Fuck Your Fairytale!

Bruised The Apple, Made It Rot.

What Did I Ever Do (To You?).

Wild Childs.

Bad Kids.

The Real Lost Kids.

Isle Life.

Santa Hates Isle Kids.

Afraid Of A Little Bad Luck.

LOl, Go to Hell.

Devil Child.

Bad, Bad Apples.

Monsters.

Cruella de Vil.

Kill the Beast.

Narcissus.

For All of You to See.

Whatever Happened to the Heroes.

(This Is Our) Swan Song.

Want You (Dead).

Under The Gloom.

Not Gonna Follow (Your Rules).

Never Gonna Be (Royalty).

Finders Keepers.

Got No Mom And Dad.

Don’t Choke.

The Crown.

For Real This Time.

Daddy (Mommy) Didn’t Love Me.

Poison Me Slowly.

A Warning To The Prophet.

It's A Brave New World.

Call Me Never.

Acid Trip.

Black And White.

We Will Fight To The Death!

I Hate You.

Smelling Flowers From Bellow.

Ain’t I A Rotter.

Saint Cyriacus (written to honor her brother of the same name).

God Help the Outcasts!

A Warning To The People.

Hellfire!

I Miss You.

Father, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

Not A Perfect Man, But A Good One (written by Claudine to honor her brother, Cesare).

Love is Love (Written to honor her brother, Cornel).

Bad Reputation.

Bow Before Me.

Respect Thy Name.

Veni, vidi, vici.

Alea iacta est.

Carpe diem.

Et tu, Brute?

If curious about any of the songs, lmk and I'll try to write a snippet of them. Thanks @panthera-tigris-venenata for the help coming up with the titles.

Also I headcanon that they do several different generes (Rock, Metal, Pop, Jazz, Blues, etc). Oh and that they have a band tattoo.

[didierleclair]

A jazz lady with charisma and multiple talents. Dinah Washington was a jazz singer and pianist who could sing many genres, from blues to pop including gospel. She had a high pitched voice with varied intonations and extremely distinctive.

She had many hits, including "Ain't misbehavin'", the Fats Waller song. But everybody knows the pop and romantic song "What a difference a day made".

What characterized her greatness is her soulful way of singing. One of my favorite is "Cold, cold heart". She called herself "Queen of the blues" for a reason.

Une chanteuse de jazz avec du charisme et un talent multiple. Dinah Washington chantait plusieurs genres de musique, du blues au pop, en passant par le gospel. Sa voix était haute avec des intonations variées et très distincte. Elle a eu de nombreux succès comme "Ain't misbehavin'", le morceau de Fats Waller. Mais tout le monde connaît la chanson pop et romantique "What a difference a day made". Ce qui caractérise son talent est sa façon très "soul" de chanter. Une de mes préférées est "Cold, Cold heart". Elle s'est surnommée "La reine du blues" pour une raison.

[melancholicflat]

03.10.24 | things done today:

📚 English

read In The Heart of The Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick (ch. 1)

clozemaster

📚 Spanish

clozemaster

read Diarios Completos de Sylvia Plath (p.195-201)

writing challenge

📚 French:

read le trésor du moine ; 6th episode (textbook parcours civilisation)

read an article | les jardins et le parcs de la france

clozemaster

📚 German

unit review (textbook vol. I)

reading & translation | Peace of Augsburg (textbook literature & history)

📌 Extra activities

🍄: how mushrooms grow | mycology 101

📖: L'Impavida by Rita Coruzzi

📻: ► FNV Old World Blues DLC: Mysterious Broadcast Instrumentals (Jazz)

[sasha4books]

List of Banned Book to Pick From

(Note: Check trigger warmings for all books)

Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook et al

A Bad Kitty Christmas by Nick Bruel

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Alice Austen Lived Here by Alex Gino

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds et al

All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson

All Because You Matter by Tami Charles et al

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal

Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

Ana on the Edge by A.J. Sass

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Flamer by Mike Curaton

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Sold by Patricia McCormick

Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger

Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause

Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi

Drama, by Raina Telgemeier

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

George by Alex Gino

I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Ulysses by James Joyce

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

The Naked Lunch by William Burroughs

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard, illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez

Bodies Are Cook by Tyler Feder

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

[jpbjazz]

LÉGENDES DU JAZZ

CHICO FREEMAN, L’EXPLORATEUR

"My goal is to explore new worlds, and I don't want to be limited by categories. I don't want to be told that I can't go into other categories. The only limitations I place on myself are the limitations I place on my own imagination. And within that realm, there are none."

- Chico Freeman

Né le 17 juillet 1949 à Chicago, dans les Illinois, Earl Lavon ‘’Chico’’ Freeman Jr. est issu d’une famille de musiciens. Fils du légendaire saxophoniste ténor Von Freeman, Freeman est aussi le neveu du guitariste George Freeman et du batteur Bruz Freeman. Chico avait d’abord commencé par prendre des cours de piano lorsque son frère Everett avait découvert une série d’instruments au sous-sol de la maison familiale, dont une trompette. Freeman expliquait: ‘’One time, my brother and I went searching in the basement through my dad’s old Navy stuff that he’d packed away. We found a trumpet and a saxophone. My brother took the saxophone and I took the trumpet. When my dad told the story he would say the sounds we made were “bleep” and “blat” because we were trying to play something. Anyway, he came down and saw the mess we made. Because of that, I ended up joining the school band on trumpet. At the same time I was singing in groups, trying to sound like the Drifters and Motown, things like that. The Temptations were my all-time favorite group, so I kept joining singing groups all through grammar and high school.’’

Décrivant ses débuts dans la musique, Freeman avait poursuivi:

‘’When I was young we had lots of kids on my block. We had one family with fifteen kids, which was great because you hardly had to leave the block to play. During summer, my dad would have rehearsals. He had the piano in the living room, so when on the front porch you could sit and actually look inside the house through the window and see the piano. I remember seeing people like Leroy Vinnegar, Malachi Favors and Andrew Hill. Other Chicago musicians would come and play with the Freeman Brothers band. The band included my uncle George on guitar and my uncle Bruz on drums. They’d set up in the living room and have a rehearsal. We’d have all the windows open because we didn’t have air conditioning and they would start playing. Within minutes, the front porch was filled with kids; we’d have a big party outside with all my friends. The funny thing is, Richard Davis, the bass player, lived across the street from us, and down the street was Frank Leslie, whose auntie was Abbey Lincoln from Chicago. There was always somebody famous hanging around the house. I was just used to musicians coming over. It was really fun. They were just people that I knew as a kid, with my brother and two sisters at the time. That’s what my dad did. My mom took me to the Regal Theater when I was five––it was kind of like the Apollo of Chicago. She took me to see my dad play with Miles Davis, and that was the band with Coltrane, “Cannonball” and Paul Chambers. I remember him standing next to Miles and Coltrane, playing. I’ll never forget that; I can see it clear as day. Ironically, John Coltrane died on my birthday, so there’s kind of a connection there that’s really unique.’’

Inspiré par l’oeuvre de Miles Davis, et plus particulièrement par l’album Kind of Blue (1959), Freeman avait commencé à apprendre la trompette. Freeman explique comment il avait découvert Davis:

‘’Then I got excited when I discovered Miles’ Kind of Blue album. I thought it was great and remember taking the record to the classical trumpet player. I thought he’d be thrilled about it, but he was a harsh critic of Miles and said, “Oh, he doesn’t play in tune; he’s cracking a lot of notes.” You know, for him, Miles wasn’t “great”—I was crushed. [laughs] I did like this guy, but I couldn’t get Miles out of my head as far as the trumpet. His sound and his choice of notes just got to me. It was going to be very hard for me to be original, because there were no other trumpet players I found on a high enough level for me. So, instead, for two weeks I practiced tenor sax. That was it for me––I realized I should’ve been playing the saxophone years earlier.’’

Son père achetant très peu de disques car il ne désirait pas que son fils soit trop influencé et puisse développer son propre style, Freeman avait poursuivi son apprentissage avec un de ses amis. Il poursuivait:

‘’Then I went to one of my friend’s, Soji Adebayo (Anthony Porter’s) house––his father had an incredible wall-to-wall jazz collection in his living room. The funny thing was, this introduced me to the music of Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy and guys like that. Later on I was introduced to Coltrane’s music, even though I already knew of Coltrane when I saw my dad playing with him. But it was Soji and his father who really pulled me to the records, because my dad didn’t have a lot of records––he was practicing all of the time and not really listening to music. When you’re growing up listening and learning to play and really getting into it, you do a lot of listening. But once you start playing and the artist in you kicks in, you do less listening because you’re trying to be original and don’t want to be too overly influenced. I think that’s where my dad was at that point. I’m sure he kept up with what things people were doing, but he was about being an original, so he didn’t buy a lot of records. I didn’t grow up in my house listening to them. The audience has the time to sit back and listen to those kinds of recordings. Artists have to shape their craft and forge their voice.’’

On ignore souvent qu’avant d’adopter le saxophone, Freeman avait d’abord voulu être chanteur. Il précisait: ‘’Having all this music around me did create a desire to be in the industry, but at first I wanted to do it as a singer. In grammar school, I was always in the talent shows and school plays and concerts, and I sang in the choir. I started taking piano lessons when I was five.’’ Très bon à l’école, Freeman avait décroché une bourse pour aller étudier les mathématiques à l’Université Northwestern en 1967. Décrivant son séjour à Northwestern, Freeman avait précisé:

‘’I received a scholarship to Northwestern in mathematics because I was good at math. That’s how I got into Northwestern. My life took a big change when I got there. I joined the marching band. They wanted you to have some kind of athletic endeavor and, surprisingly, the marching band was considered athletic, so I joined. The other interesting thing was I played basketball. In the marching band I played trumpet, and because it was a Big Ten school and I got to do a lot of traveling. We’d march during halftime at football games, so that was fun! Then I decided I was going to go into computer programing as well. They gave you two directions you could go in mathematics: the more practical direction as an engineer or a similar career, or a more theoretical route. I got excited over the theoretical things because that was stuff that ultimately shaped the future of space travel and other things. Mathematics is far ahead of science. Science discovers areas that will become future uses for mathematics, but science is still behind math. I was actually recruited by the space program. They wanted me to come down and join them at Cape Canaveral and work when I graduated. Because I was in programing, IBM tried to recruit me as well, and another company at that time, Data Control. Three companies were romancing me.’’

En plus d’avoir joué de la trompette dans le groupe de jazz de l’université, Freeman s’était joint aux jam sessions de son père au club Betty Lou's de Chicago. Freeman avait commencé à s’intéresser au saxophone ténor durant son année junior à l’université. Passionné par son nouvel instrument, Freeman avait commencé à pratiquer de huit à dix heures par jour jusqu’à ce qu’il soit suffisamment sûr de ses capacités pour occuper une place dans la section des saxophones. Après avoir assuré son poste avec le groupe, Freeman avait abandonné ses études en mathématiques et s’était inscrit au programme de musique. Freeman avait obtenu un diplôme en musique 1972, avec une spécialisation en saxophone, en trompette et en piano. Freeman explique comment il avait décidé d’abandonner les mathématiques en faveur de la musique:

‘’The music bug bit me. And with Fred’s encouragement, I decided to go into the music school. I joined the band on trumpet—a concert band, not the marching band. I wanted to transfer into the School of Music at Northwestern, but I did keep a minor in mathematics. In music education, you had to learn something about each instrument so you could teach it. I was in the woodwind class. I picked the alto saxophone because it was available. One-quarter of the class was playing the alto just to learn about it, and I really liked it. I had to give the horn back at the end of the class, and when I was putting it back in the closet I saw a tenor saxophone in there. It was spring break, so I asked the teacher if I could take the tenor home for the next two weeks and play it. Everyone else in the class was going to Florida, but I decided to stay in Evanston and practice ten to twelve hours every day. The tenor sax just seemed like it was my voice.’’

Déterminer à faire carrière comme saxophoniste, Freeman était allé voir le directeur du groupe de l’université et lui avait demandé la permission de laisser tomber la trompette pour le saxophone. Freeman poursuivait:

‘’After the two weeks I went to the concert band director and said, “I’d like to join the concert band.” His name was Tex Suthers—he was from Texas or something—and looked at me like I was crazy. He said, “You’re already in the band.” I said, “Yeah, but I want to join the band on saxophone.” He looked at me again and said, “How long have you been playing saxophone?” I said, “Two weeks.” He got really angry! He said, “Are you crazy? This is Northwestern University—these people have been playing for years and you think you can come here in two weeks…?!”  And blah, blah, blah. Oh, he just really went off on me. I wasn’t sure if he was angry or maybe he had a little racism in him, but he wasn’t happy. I told him, “You’re right, but the truth is you have to give me an audition. You can say no, but you can’t deny me the audition.”  He agreed and I auditioned. And, to his surprise, I passed the audition. He was shocked, and I joined the band on tenor saxophone. Of course, now I’m in the school and my instrument is saxophone, so I have to join a saxophone quartet. I studied with a teacher named Fred Hemke—great guy. Rico even named a reed after him: the Hemke Reed for soprano. So I began playing classical music on tenor and then one day I went down to see my dad.’’ (à l’époque, Von ne savait pas encore que son fils avait abandonné la trompette pour le saxophone).

C’est durant ses études à Northwestern que Freeman était entré en contact avec l’Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) pour la première fois. Freeman expliquait:

‘’After I graduated, Fred told Adegoke and me about Muhal, so we went down to join the AACM. I started attending the AACM School of Music and studying composition and music with Muhal. I became a part of his big band and met George Lewis, Anthony Braxton, Amina Claudine Meyers, Gerald Donovan, Donald Myrick, Louis Satterfield and Michael Harris, who ultimately became the horn section for Earth, Wind & Fire. I got involved playing blues, fusion with Kestutis Stanciauskas, who led the band Street Dancer. I was playing everything I could. I met Buddy Guy and played with Jesus Wayne, and we opened for Earth, Wind & and Fire. I was having a great time. I was also finishing up my degree at Northwestern in music education and had to choose where to do my student teaching. Willie Pickens was teaching at Phillips High School, so I went down there and became his student. I watched my dad play with Willie and his friends, Jodie Christian and John Young.’’

Dans une autre entrevue, Freeman avait précisé:

‘’It’s interesting, because that’s the time I met Fred Anderson. Adegoke Steve Colson, Neil Tesser and I were in school together at Northwestern. Adegoke and I met Fred, and he sort of took us under his wing there in Evanston. He started a chapter of the AACM up there, and that’s how I met Billy Brimfield, Hamid Drake and Gene Anderson, Fred’s son. We used to hang at Fred’s and he’d play Charlie Parker records. Sometimes we would spend the night and sleep on the floor after listening to music, playing and practicing on the weekends or whenever. The three of us started a band, Life and Death Situation, and we had a drummer named Anthony (Tony) Boykins. Adegoke was on piano and I was playing trumpet, but I also began playing saxophone at that time. I was starting to take trips to the South Side to hang with my dad at the jam sessions. I’d just go down there and listen to Clifford Jordan, Sonny Rollins and John Stubblefield. They would come into the Jazz Showcase, and if they had time they’d hang out with my dad at the jam sessions. I met a lot of people down there and would hang out at the sessions with Jesse Taylor and Jordan, you know, Chicago guys who were in town. That’s when I started really getting into it.’’

Parallèlement à ses études, Freeman avait également joué avec des groupes de blues, de R & B et de pop. Il avait également étudié la composition avec le pianiste d’avant-garde Muhal Richard Abrams. C’est en travaillant avec Abrams que Freeman avait décidé de former ses propres groupes. Freeman ecpliquait:

‘’Muhal encouraged it. I studied composition with Muhal; I also took Composition at Northwestern. I had Music Theory with this guy Carlin–– Neil Tesser was in that class. I always had an interest in writing my own music, even when I was studying piano. I made some attempts––I wrote one song for this girl I had a crush on. I was a romantic! [laughs]. Muhal had a strong influence on me. I studied with him at AACM and I’d also go to his house where he had a piano in the basement. That’s when he introduced me to the music of historical people like James P. Johnson and others. I didn’t know anything about those guys. They were very influential to Muhal, so it was amazing for me to hear them. He did a lot of what Fred did for me—taking me back to Charlie Parker. But Muhal took me back and showed me compositions and how they wrote them. He had his own system of writing, which I adopted. I had music that I wanted to play so I would start my own band. The best way to get your music played was to create your own group and circumstances. It’s always been my way, even when I got to New York.’’

Après avoir décroché son diplôme à Northwestern, Freeman était devenu professeur à l’école de l’AACM. Le rôle de l’école était d’aider les jeunes musiciens à présenter et à faire la promotion de leur propre musique en empruntant des moyens non traditionnels. Tout en enseignant au niveau élémentaire et intermédiaire, Freeman avait poursuivi ses propres études à la Governor's State University où il avait obtenu une maîtrise en composition et en théorie musicale. Freeman se produisait avec le Governor's State Jazz Band dans le cadre de l’Intercollegiate Jazz Festival à South Bend, en Indiana, lorsqu’il avait remporté les prix de meilleur soliste et de meilleur saxophoniste. Sa victoire lui avait également donné la chance de faire une tournée au Brésil avec le groupe gagnant du festival en 1976.

DÉBUTS DE CARRIÈRE

Même s’il avait été exposé au jazz dès son plus jeune âge, Freeman avait amorcé sa carrière dans les clubs de Chicago en accompagnant des artistes de blues comme Memphis Slim et Lucky Carmichael. Freeman avait fait ses débuts sur disque en avril 1975 sur Rising, le second album du groupe Streetdancer, dirigé par le bassiste Kestutis Stanciauskas.

En septembre 1976, Freeman avait publié un premier album comme leader intitulé Morning Prayer. L’album avait été enregistré avec un septet comprenant Freeman au saxophone ténor et soprano, à la flûte et à la flûte de pan, Henry Threadgill au saxophone alto et baryton et à la flûte, Douglas Ewart à la flûte, Muhal Richard Abrams au piano, Cecil McBee à la contrebasse, Steve McCall à la batterie et Ben Montgomery aux percussions. L’album comprenait trois compositions de Freeman: ‘’Morning Prayer’’, ’’Pepe's Samba’’ et ‘’Like The Kind Of Peace It Is.’’

Freeman s’était installé à New York en 1977. Il précisait:

‘’I had a little bit of preparation. After I graduated school I went to a concert/club in Evanston, Illinois where Charles Mingus was playing. I remember seeing Charles and he had Don Pullen in his band, Danny Richmond on drums, Jack Walrath on trumpet and George Adams on saxophone. Mingus was one of the first people my friend had introduced me to so I went there and just wanted to play with Mingus. I went up to Charles and said, “Mr. Mingus, could I please sit in with you?” He said, “Yes, it’s okay with me, but you have to ask George.” I thought, You know. He’s respectful, I was impressed. I went up to George Adams and said, “Mr. Adams, sir. Could I please sit in with you? Mr. Mingus said it’s okay if it’s alright with you.” George said, “Yeah, sure, come on.” I get in there and I’m hoping that Mingus is going to play the blues or something. He pulls out one of his compositions, which seems like it spans five music stands. [laughs] Afterwards, I was happy and thanked George and went to talk to Mingus. He was sitting in his chair and I said, “Thank you, Mr. Mingus. I really appreciate it,” I started to walk away and he said, “Hey. You should come to New York. We play Boomers every Saturday. When you get there, look me up.” That gave me a little bit of courage for the future.’’

Décrivant ses débuts à New York, Freeman avait commenté:

‘’I had great success in New York. I played with Sun Ra, then joined Elvin Jones and recorded with him. I also played with Jack DeJohnette’s Special Edition for five years. I played with McCoy Tyner as well for 5 years. Elvin gave me my first record. I then met Bob Cummings with India Navigation, and then hooked up with Don Pullen again and became part of Don Pullen’s band, Warriors. I later started the band The Leaders, and Don Pullen was the first piano player of that band, along with Don Cherry on trumpet, Arthur Blythe on alto saxophone, Cecil McBee on bass and Famadou Don Moye on drums. I got a chance to work with all my heroes, of the John Coltrane Quartet including Reggie Workman. The only person I didn’t get to work with was Jimmy Garrison because he had already passed away.’’

Freeman avait été très influencé par Jones ainsi que par le pianiste McCoy Tyner. Il précisait:

‘’Elvin was a great influence, and to this day he’s my favorite all-time drummer. The way he plays behind the beat is so relaxed. He never rehearsed, so it was a completely different thing. In Chicago, the guys were always rehearsing. When I got to Elvin I was thinking, Man, we should be rehearsing. I even tried to influence Elvin and asked him when we were going to have rehearsal. He just looked at me and I thought I was going to get fired. [rires] Elvin taught me a lot and shocked me and changed my viewpoint about things, and so did McCoy.’’

À New York, Freeman s’était produit avec de grands noms du jazz comme Elvin Jones, Sun Ra, Jack DeJohnette, le big band de Sam Rivers, Mickey Bass, John Stubblefield, Cecil McBee et Don Pullen. Il avait également dirigé ses propres groupes, ce qui l’avait aidé à développer son propre style.

L’année 1977 avait une année très productive pour Freeman et avait donné lieu à la publication de quatre albums. Il avait d’abord enregistré Chico, un album plutôt ambitieux qui comprenait essentiellement une suite en trois mouvements de vingt-quatre minutes intitulée ‘’Moments’’, un duo avec le contrebassiste Cecil McBee et une improvisation de seize minutes intitulée Merger qui mettait en vedette McBeee, Abrams, McCall et le percussionniste Tito Sampa. En juin de la même année, Freeman avait publié l’album No Time Left avec un quartet qui comprenait Jay Hoggard au vibraphone, Rick Rozie à la basse et Don Moye à la batterie. On retrouvait sur l’album deux autres compositions de longue durée: No Time Left et Uhmla. Le même mois, Freeman avait publié Beyond the Rain, avec un quintet qui incluait Hilton Ruiz au piabo et Elvin Jones à la batterie. Enfin, en septembre 1977, Freeman avait publié ce qui était sans doute un de ses meilleurs albums, Kings of Mali, avec un quintet qui comprenait Hoggard au vibraphone, Anthony Davis au piano, McBee à la contrebasse et Moye à la batterie. Fidèle à son habitude, l’album comprenait quatre longues compositions de Freeman. Poursuivant sur sa lancée, Freeman avait publié l’album The Outside Within en 1978, qui comprenait une longue composition de dix-neuf minutes de McBee intitulée ‘’The Undercurrent.’’ L’album avait été enregistré avec un quartet formé de John Hicks au piano, de McBee à la contrebasse et de Jack De Johnette à la batterie. L’album avait remporté le prix de l’album de l’année décervé par le magazine Stereo Review. Freeman avait enchaîné en octobre de la même année avec Spirit Sensitive, un album de ballades qui avait été enregistré avec un quartet composé de Hicks, McBee et Moye.

L’interaction entre la couleur et la mélodie était le thème de l’album Peaceful Heart Gentle Spirit. Publié en mars 1980, l’album avait été enregistré avec un octet comprenant James Newton à la flûte, Kenny Kirkland au piano, Jay Hoggard au vibraphone, au violoncelle et à la contrebasse. On retrouvait sur l’album d’anciennes compositions de Freeman en plus de ses nouvelles créations Peaceful Heart Gentle Spirit et Nina's Song Dance.

Adoptant une approche néo-traditionnaliste, Freeman avait publié en juin 1980 l’album The Search avec un groupe composé du pianiste Kenny Barron, de McBee à la contrebasse, de Hoggard au vibaphone, de Billy Hart à la batterie, de Nana Vasconcelos aux percussions et de Val Eley au chant. Publié en octobre 1981, l’album Destiny's Dance mettait en vedette le trompettiste Wynton Marsalis et le vibraphoniste Bobby Hutcherson. L’album avait été suivi par Tradition in Transition (septembre 1982), Tangents (en janvier 1984 avec le chanteur Bobby McFerrin, les saxophonistes John Purcell et Steve Coleman) et The Pied Piper (en septembre 1984 avec de nouveau Purcell au saxophone et Elvin Jones à la batterie). En octobre 1987, Freeman avait également publié Lord Riff And Me, un album en quintet mettant en vedette George Cables au piano, McBee à la contrebasse et Billy Hart à la batterie.

Freeman, qui est aussi professeur, avait fait des lectures pour Jazz in the Classroom  de 1980 à 1989. Freeman a aussi donné des cours d’improvisation dans le cadre du programme de jazz et de musique contemporaine de la New School University de New York en 1999.

Il a également siégé sur des comités du National Endowment for the Arts de 1979 à 1982. En juin 1982, Freeman avait également participé à un concert au Lincoln Center avec les The Young Lions, un groupe qui comprenait plusieurs artistes émergents des années 1980 comme Wynton Marsalis, Paquito D'Rivera, Kevin Eubanks, Bobby McFerrin et Anthony Davis. Le groupe avait éventuellement enregistré un album qui comprenait une composition de quatorze minutes de Freeman intitulée "Whatever Happened to the Dream Deferred.’’

En 1989, Freeman avait formé un groupe tout-étoile appelé The Leaders. Le sextet comprenait des musiciens sommités du jazz comme Kirk Lightsey au piano, Lester Bowie à la trompette, Arthur Blythe au saxophone alto, l’incontournable Cecil McBee à la contrebasse et Famadou Don Moye à la batterie et aux percussions. Dans le cadre du concert, Freeman avait joué du saxophone ténor, du saxophone soprano et de la clarinette. Freeman avait enregistré cinq albums avec le groupe: Mudfoot (juin 1986), Out Here Like This (février 1987), Unforeseen Blessings (décembre 1988), Slipping and Sliding (1994) et Spirits Alike (2007).

Toujours en 1989, Freeman avait formé un groupe de jazz-fusion appelé Brainstorm. Symbiose de pop-jazz, de musique du monde et de hip hop, le groupe, qui était composé de Delmar Brown aux claviers et au chant,  de Chris Walker à la basse, de Norman Hedman aux percussions et d’Archie Walker à la batterie, avait enregistré trois albums: The Mystical Dreamer (mai 1989), Sweet Explosion (avril 1990) et Threshold (1993). 

ÉVOLUTION RÉCENTE

Au début des années 1990, Freeman avait participé à plusieurs publicités télévisées, notamment pour les entreprises Burger King et Polaroid.

Dans le cadre du 150e anniversaire de l’invention du saxophone par Adolphe Sax en 1991, Freeman avait également fait partie du groupe Roots, qui regroupait d’autres saxophonistes émérites comme Nathan Davis, Benny Golson, Sam Rivers, Arthur Blythe. La section rythmique était composée de Don Pullen au piano, de Buster Williams à la contrebasse et de Winard Harper à la batterie. Le groupe avait enregistré quatre albums: Salutes the Saxophone, un hommage à John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins et Lester Young (octobre 1991), Stablemates (décembre 1992), Say Something (1995) et For Diz & Bird (2000). Le meilleur album de Freeman dans les années 1990 était probablement Focus (mai 1994), qui avait été enregistré avec un quintet composé de George Cables au piano et d’Arthur Blythe au saxophone alto.

En 1998, Freeman avait également entrepris une carrière de producteur en collaborant à la publication de l’album NightSong d’Arthur Blythe. Il avait aussi travaillé sur des pièces de théâtre avec le dramaturge Ntozake Shange et le danseur de claquettes Savion Glover.

Au début des années 2000, Freeman s’était installé en Europe et avait commencé à expérimenter avec différents musiciens et avec différentes cultures. Comme Freeman l’avait expliqué lui-même: “As much as I’ve travelled and on the road playing with such masters as McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Jack DeJohnette, Sam Rivers, Sun Ra, Dizzy Gillespie and so many jazz greats, as well as leading my own groups including founding “The Leaders” and the group “Roots,” an inner voice was telling me, you need to go to another level both musically and personally. You need to work with other musicians from different cultures and create new avenues of expression.’’

En 2002, Freeman avait été choisi parmi plus de deux cents candidats et était devenu un des vingt artistes à participer à la création d’une installation multimédia à Engine 27, une salle de concert expérimentale de  New York. Durant la même période, Freeman avait également formé le groupe Guataca, un ensemble afro-cubain qui jouait une musique influencée par les rythmes latins, les traditions africaines et le  hip-hop. Le groupe était composé de Hilton Ruiz au piano, de Ruben Rodriguez à la basse, de Yoron Israel à la batterie et de Giovanni Hidalgo aux congas et aux percussions. Le groupe avait publié l’album Oh, By the Way en 2001. Comme on pouvait le lire sur le site officiel de Freeman, "What I did with this album is utilize elements of jazz, R&B, and hip-hop on an Afro-Cuban basis, with a flamenco and middle-eastern flavor.’’

Après avoir passé près de douze ans en Europe, Freeman était retourné à New York anxieux de reprendre sa collaboration avec des musiciens américains. Il expliquait:

‘’I lived in Europe approximately twelve years––went to Greece then moved to Switzerland. Even though I am back in the States and living in New York, I still have my place in Switzerland, but my main focus is being in New York. I moved back because I wanted to bring all of the playing and traveling experiences I’ve had over the years back to the States with me and get back to my roots and incorporate it all together into my playing again. I also miss playing with American musicians. I really wanted to play again with American drummers, bass players, rhythm sections and wanted to reconnect with the blues and some of the other cultural staples music here has given to the world. I felt it was time to come back to my roots again. Since I’ve been back, the changes I’ve noticed in the music scene are good, particularly with the musicians themselves. I’ve noticed there are more females in music that can really play. I’ve also noticed musicians are more inclusive in general—black and white players are playing together much more than they did before I left. I also see so many gifted young players. We’ve lost a lot of great musicians and I just find it unfortunate because some of the young musicians won’t have the opportunity to apprentice from the bandstand like I was able to do with Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Art Blakey and others. I hope I can supply some part of that by being back home.’’

En 2010, Freeman avait publié l’album The Essence of Silence, qui avait été suivi en 2012 d’une collaboration avec le batteur Elvin Jones intitulée Elvin: The Elvin Jones Project. Ce dernier album avait été enregistré avec une section rythmique composée de George Cables au piano, de Lonnie Plaxico à la contrebasse et de Winard Harper à la batterie. Le saxophoniste Joe Lovano avait également participé à deux pièces de l’album. Le groupe interprétait un répertoire souvent associé à Jones. Le batteur avait commencé à collaborer avec Freeman peu après qu’il se soit installé à New York en 1976. En 1978, Jones avait également produit le troisième album de Freeman comme leader, Beyond The Rain sur étiquette Contemporary Records. 

Freeman a enregistré une douzaine d’albums sous son nom au cours de sa carrière, dont Morning Prayer (1976), The Outside Within (1978), Spirit Sensitive (1979), No Time Left (1979), Peaceful Heart Gentle Spirit (1980), Freeman & Freeman (enregistré avec son père Von en 1981), Destiny's Dance (1981), Tradition in Transition (1982) et The Search (1982). Le dernier album de Freeman intitulé Spoken Into Existence (2015) explorait différents styles musicaux du hip hop au funk en passant par le  le bebop, le blues et intégrait même des mélodies d’origine africaine et asiatique. Il expliquait:

“First comes expression, and when you find yourself in need of being able to express more, you develop the technique in order to accomplish that objective.” Très influencé par le saxophoniste ténor Gene Ammons, Freeman avait ajouté: ‘’One of my favorite saxophone players is Gene Ammons. Boy, he can play a slow blues. Everybody could play slow blues in Chicago back then, and so could I, but I had never recorded a slow blues. I thought, Wow. I can’t believe I never did that. I didn’t realize this at first. So, all the other things were kind of personal things I wanted to do and say with Spoken Into Existence. That’s kind of the significance of the title.’’

Musicien polyvalent et très éclectique, Freeman s’est produit et a enregistré dans une grande variété de styles, de la musique latine au jazz traditionnel en passant par le bebop, le hard bop, le free jazz, le R & B, le jazz-fusion et le blues. Comme Freeman l’avait expliqué sur son internet: "My goal is to explore new worlds, and I don't want to be limited by categories. I don't want to be told that I can't go into other categories. The only limitations I place on myself are the limitations I place on my own imagination. And within that realm, there are none." Éternel explorateur, Freeman avait aussi fait plusieurs tournéesen Europe, au Japon, en Australie, au Moyen-Orient et en Extrême-Orient. Toujours prêt à découvrir de nouvelles réalités et à de nouvelles musiques, Freeman avait précisé:

‘’I wanted to see what it was like to live in a place and see how people are when they don’t know you— when you are a part of the landscape. Sometimes we get special treatment, which is nice and I enjoy it, but I wanted to see what it was like if they don’t know you. I also wanted to experience other kinds of music. I went to Spain and played with gypsy musicians and had the opportunity to play with Paco de Lucia, the great Spanish guitarist. I got to play with Andrea Bocelli and went to North Africa, Morocco and Algeria. In Morocco, I played with Ghanaian musicians and also participated in a festival where everybody played with everybody. I played in Hungary with this great Hungarian gypsy musician, Miklos Lukacs, who played this instrument I had never heard of, the cimbalom, which is incredible. I went to the Baltic countries and heard some of the clarinet players and their folk music. I went to Australia and met some aboriginal musicians.’’

Multi-instrumentiste, Freeman jouait à la fois des saxophones ténor et soprano, de la flûte et de la clarinette basse.

Au cours de sa carrière, Freeman avait enregistré et joué avec les plus grands noms du jazz comme Wynton et Branford Marsalis, Hank Jones, Bobby Hutcherson, Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, Cecil McBee, Lester Bowie, Kirk Lightsey, John Hicks, Mal Waldron, Famadou Don Moye, Arthur Blythe, Billy Hart, Chucho Valdes, Freddie Cole, Joe Henderson, Chaka Khan, Tomasz Stanko, Art Blakey, Celia Cruz, Paquito D'Rivera, Roy Haynes, Kevin Eubanks, Paco de Lucia, Jack DeJohnette, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Bobby McFerrin, son père Von Freeman, Anthony Davis, Sun Ra, Sam Rivers, Don Pullen, Arturo Sandoval, Machito, Celia Cruz, Giovanni Hidalgo, Paulinho DaCosta, Nana Vasconcelos, Ray Barretto, Eddie Palmieri, Paquito D’Rivera et Tito Puente. Il avait aussi accompagné de grandes vedettes de la musique pop comme Earth, Wind & Fire, The Eurythmics, Michael Jackson, Jackie Wilson, The Temptations, The Isley Brothers, The Four Tops et Sting.

Père de cinq filles, Freeman avait composé une chanson pour chacune d’entre elles.

©-2024, tous droits réservés, Les Productions de l’Imaginaire historique.

 SOURCES:

‘’Chico Freeman.’’ All About Jazz, 2023.

‘’Chico Freeman.’’ Wikipedia, 2023.

‘’Chico Freeman Biography.’’ Net Industries, 2023.

‘’Chico Freeman in his own words.’’ Chicago Jazz Magazine, 2023.

SCARUFFI, Piero. ‘’Chico Freeman.’’ Piero Scaruffi, 2006.

[hana-no-seiiki]

REVELRY IN DEATH : MEA TORMENTA - BLURB

〘 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐎𝐍𝐄: 𝐂𝐀𝐄𝐋𝐔𝐌 𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐄 〙《  𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄 𝐎𝐍𝐄  》

ANGEL’S DESCENSION

pairings: yandere! oc (ynael krasny) x god! reader

ynael is gonna be moved from the guest is god to this series. this is just a short story which will most likely span 10 chapters at most.

warnings: suicidal ideation. ideation of death. religious themes.

status: unedited, original art to be added soon

(had the sudden urge to get into opera) (im a jakub fanboy now yall) (link to his performance of mea tormenta here)

reply to be added to the taglist!

❝

Mea tormenta, properate (Hurry, my torments)

Ubi sunt flagella et caedes, ubi sunt flagella et caedes? (Where are the scourges and the flaying?)

❞

        𝖄NAËL KRASNY WAS BIRTHED FROM A LONG-DRAWN OUT LINE OF INDIVIDUALS THAT WORSHIPPED THE GOD OF DEATH. The bloodline’s minds and souls lost in the belief that one day their beloved deity will grace them with its attention and a place abreast it in the Temple of Flowers. Heaven. A locale of infinite luxuries and pleasures.

        And if you asked him of his thoughts on the matter? 

        His parents were simply batshit insane.

        No one believed in gods nowadays — with the exception of his step-mother and father, in addition to a couple of small cults, so again, no one really. Technology had progressed so far that death was almost a splendor one would have to intentional meet with, rather being unfortunately be in the way of. Now that he thought about, death abruptly became far and few in between the past few centuries. War, famine, misfortune, all dissipated to nothingness as people seemed to finally understand how their actions could affect others.

        A fact with exiguous exceptions. Depravity is regrettably a human trait that can never be extinguished.

        His entire house was always littered with fresh lilies — flowers that apparently represented the god his parents adored so much — and he was sure the smoke he inhaled from all the incense alone could tear a hole into his lungs.

        Ynaël barged through the unlocked door to his house while yelling, “Could you two at least take your shit of a practice outside rather than stinking up the place? ‘M tryin to breathe!”

        “Ynaël, oh! Welcome back home.” His step-mother greeted him with a polite smile, while his father just grunted in response. 

        They were always like that. Ignoring most of his words and returning it with shallow and robotic greetings. It felt helpless, trying to interact with the couple.

        “Stupid shitty father — and his stupid shitty god.” He cursed them quietly. Yeah he knew he was being an edgy son of a bitch now but he had a lot to deal with in school alright? Give him a break. It was hard going back and forth to two places he’d rather burn down than be in. He stomped his way towards the basement where his bedroom lied.

        ”Salty much?”

        A familiar visage greeted him at his bed. White hair and light blue eyes that complimented his pale skin, and finally the iconic red cross hair pin. Ryu. Ryu Amamiya. One of his underclassmen in school.

        Ynaël would have picked on him to hell in back for his nerdy tastes and heavy wallet. However Ryu had one advantage that made Ynaël avoid hurting him at all costs.

        He was part of “The Stereotypes” in school. A clique of a five rich kids that everyone worshipped, basically kissing the floor the walk upon and hailing the air they breathe. He was untouchable — unless Ynaël wanted the whole school after his head. Faculty, students, all that jazz.

        Ynaël doesn’t remember why and how but he became intimate with most members of their little group  — which meant he was quite often harassed by them at every living moment.  But after his stepbrother died, the leader of the Stereotypes — a girl named Sayu or something —  started hanging around him, and eventually, the rest followed her lead.

        ”Ryu? The fuck you doing here? You here to take my brother’s shit?”

        Ryu smirked, one of those unsettling smiles every member of the stereotypes seemed to nail down. One that always managed to terrify Ynaël.

        ”Stupid shitty sister.” The albino replied, making an awful imitation of Ynaël’s gruff voice and Russian accent, that was awfully far from his own. 

        “Заткнись, Elsa. Why don’t you go back to your annoying clique, hah? I’m not up for your bullshit.”

        Ynaël envied the white haired kid in many ways. Ryu had a large influence in the campus, without so much as raising a finger. He was just himself, and the whole place admired him for it. While Ynaël had to literally and figuratively fight for scraps of attention, the majority of it being negative. No one wanted him in that institution, not the students, not the teachers, not even his parents.

        And that made Ynaël want to prove them wrong even more.

        ”You know my sister likes to hang around the rest of them whenever I’m around. I’m saving the group from her religious yapping.” Ryu complained, resting his back on the mattress of Ynaël’s bed, “Death does not discriminate. Even with who they have as their followers.”

        An object, presumably Ryu’s phone, began vibrating in his pocket. He picked it up, took one look at the caller’s ID and put it back. A sour look on his annoyingly pretty face.

        Ynaël snickered. Ryu shook his head, “Don’t die on me while I’m gone.”

        “No promises, budget Elsa.” Ynaël fluttered his fingers as a gesture of goodbye. Ryu scoffed at the motion and is about to leave before Ynaël’s step-mother interrupted his path with her presence.

        “Ynaël?”

        Ynaël almost fell down in surprise. His mother could be terrifying when she needed to be. She was nothing compared to his birth mother in terms of how much fear he’d feel around her. Thus, Ynaël grew to be quite the rambunctious teen.

        ”God fucking— you scared the shit out of me!”

        She didn’t look the slightest bit fazed by the string of curses, maintaining her signature cordial yet distant smile, ”Your father and I will be leaving for a while. Will you be alright here by yourself?”

        ”I’ll be fine . . . I guess.”

        ”Okay. Goodbye, son.” And she’s gone.

Ynaël then turned to Amamiya, shit-faced grin still clear on the latter’s face.

        “Now, will you get the fuck out of my room?”

❝

Crucem quaero, crucem date (I want to be crucified. Crucify me)

❞

        Ynaël hears muffled cheering from outside. He had no doubt it was one of those fanatical meetings his parents attended. The God of Death had no official church, and so their worshipper’s usually gathered at eachother’s homes, “Gods, couldn’t they have started their ceremonies during the day?”

Ynaël got up from his bed to look at the A sudden wave of nausea crashed over him.

        ”The fuck, why am I . . . ?”

Hang on. If his parents were celebrating here. Why did the hag bid him goodbye?

❝

Volo mori, o Deus in te, volo mori, o Deus in te, o Deus in te (I want to die, in you. In you, I want to die. Oh god, in you. Oh god, in you)

❞

        “Tonight we celebrate. The Golden Era ends. Our world will soon bathe in the reds and whites of our god.” The voice of their pastor echoed through the living room. He was a handsome man, just under a decade older than Ynaël. The latter could see the two of them being friends if it weren’t for the former’s preachy nature when it came to religious topics.

       “And to commemorate this event, two of our most devoted family members will sacrifice themselves and join our god in the Garden of Eden.”

What? Sacrifice? Ynaël knew the members were insane but how were they even supposed to sacrifice when death wasn’t even possible?

Asphyxiation was ineffective. Diseases were nonexistent. Small injuries would either healed, while larger ones (i.e. beheading) would only make the body incapable of being used.

        ”May you face our lord’s judgement”

The only way it was possible was when a person is either forced into brain death and/or was sliced to multiple itty, bitty pieces. Grounded. Before they are promptly burned.

Ynaël doubted the common people here had the means to kill whoever they want painlessly as that needed expensive medical equipment and government approval. Meaning . . .

        ”Shit.”

Even before his parents were revealed he already knew they were the ones up the proverbial and literal chopping block. He squeezed himself through the crowd of people, not surprised that none of them were complaining about the lack of breathing space in the face of their great lord’s altar.

“Fucking, let me through you assholes!”

      A hand gripped his wrist on the last layer of people, tugging him further and further away. ”You must be Ynaël. Ah. Chrystie must have invited you to witness this special day!” He recognized her to be a regular around the same age as the pastor if not a bit older.

        “What?! No— I’m—“ He tried pulling away, but the woman wouldn’t let him. Not only that but people started assisting her with keeping him away.

        ”Why don’t you stay still, hm? Chrystie wouldn’t like it if you thrashed around and take the attention all away wouldn’t she?”

That smile on her face. That horrid, unnatural, plastic grin. Ynaël would remember that for years to come.

        ”What are your final words, Chrystianna? Mika?”

        ”We have no words. We are simply grateful to be given the opportunity to join their majesty.”

        Ynaël screamed. He screamed in horror. He screamed in regret that he wasn’t able to form the bonds others would have with their parents. He screamed knowing that this moment would be the last he’d see them alive.

He never got to express how much he loved them, craved for their affection. Now he will never have such an opportunity.

        But his voice was drowned out by the cacophony of cheers coming from the large crowd; a chorus of limitless devotion.

A large lily appears, tearing open the walls of the small home as it bloomed. In it you, appeared. Lying down in a fetal position.

        “It s-seems that our lord has appeared before us! In flesh anew!”

But he didn’t get to look at you properly before your very presence held him down, affixed to the ground. And it tugged him even harsher and harsher until like the rest of the people in the chamber, he was kneeling towards your divine self.

        He didn’t know if it was due to his emotions running high, or if he was slowly going insane from the current happenings. However he could not deny that your voice was heaven upon Earth. It dripped with an enchanting allure that he was immediately captivated despite not seeing your visage. “My lovely, devoted followers.”

        “Our day has come.”

        “Let us cleanse this world of all its decrepit sinners and unite all once again under the umbrella of mortality.”

❝

Mea tormenta, properate, ubi sunt flagella et caedes? (Hurry, my torment. Where are the scourges and the flaying?)

❞

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