#Marie Thérèse Coincoin

[dustedmagazine]

Matana Roberts — Coin Coin, Chapter Five: In the Garden (Constellation)

Photo by Anna Niedermeier

This is the fifth album of a projected 12 in Matana Roberts’s Coin Coin series, named after a slave, later activist, Marie Thérèse Coincoin. As with previous volumes, Coincoin’s biography intermingles with folk tales, slave stories and songs, and discussions of the rich, often tragic, history of African Americans. Another element of the Coin Coin series is the relationship between past and present. In this case, the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the present mirrors the story of an illegal and fatal abortion conducted on one of Roberts’s ancestors. In the notes, she says,"I wanted to talk about this issue, but in a way where she gets some sense of liberation.” Rather than being shamed, as so many women currently are in the wake of the SCOTUS decision, in the lyrics Robert’s relative is described as, “electric, alive, spirited, fire, and free.”

Roberts is a versatile artist, a saxophonist and composer who not only works in musical contexts but in theater, fine arts, and poetry. The spoken word portions of Coin, Coin Chapter Five are performed by Roberts and poet Gitnajali Jain. The balance of spoken word and music is well-conceived. The music itself is performed by a host of prominent musicians and produced by Kyp Malone (TV on the Radio). Roberts covers a number of instruments in addition to saxophone, Darius Jones plays alto saxophone, Matt Lavelle, clarinet and trumpet, Mazz Swift, violin, Stuart Bogie, clarinet and bass clarinet, and Mike Pride and Ryan Sawyer play drums and percussion. Pretty much all the performers play tin whistles and sing.

Free jazz is an important component of Robert’s music-making, and it is here in abundance on “Different Rings,” “Shake My Bones,”  and “Predestined Confessions.” The arrangements of these complex pieces are well wrought throughout. “A Caged Dance,” trades a gorgeous post-bop solo with dissonant interjections, providing a polystylistic framework. This is not unique to “A Caged Dance.” A number of pieces combine different idioms. Malone’s synthesizer and Pride and Sawyer’s rockist drumming move the piece outside the jazz tradition. The chorused vocals that sing rounds and the children’s folk song, “All the Pretty Horses,” create some of the most memorable music on the album.

The closing track, “Ain’t I … Your mystery is our history,” with its plethora of tin whistles and jangly percussion, recalls both avant-classical and African music. It is significant that Roberts returns to a bespoke instrumentation and non-Western sound world to send the piece home. Less than halfway through, the Coin Coin series is engaging and ever new. Seven more installments: one is eager to hear what is next.

Christian Carey

[nomadicpuppeteer]

Meet Artist Clementine Hunter

A short while ago, I visited the Melrose Plantation in Natchitoches, Louisiana.The Melrose plantation is a Creole plantation owned by Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer (a French merchant) and his wife (a former slave) Marie Thérèse Coincoin. Their family amassed a fortune from a combination of land grants and purchasing slaves.

My visit to the Melrose plantation exceeded my expectations because I was privileged to learn about the life of African American folk artist Clementine Hunter. I guess one could say Clementine Hunter fell in love with art when chance crossed her path. One day while housekeeping, she discovered paint that was discarded by a visiting artist. The Melrose plantation was known to house visiting artists and writers from around the world. Immediately fascinated, Clementine began painting. She created more than 4,000 paintings over four decades.

Being an art lover, I was so fascinated about the life of Clementine Hunter, that I had to do my fair share of research. The self-taught artist lived and worked at the Melrose plantation for 75 years. Her vibrant, colorful paintings told stories about the ins and outs of plantation life. I had the opportunity to see the exclusive murals that were displayed in an intimate setting on the second floor of the African House. The African House is a building on the plantation that was built by enslaved carpenters between 1796 and 1814. Originally called the Yucca house, it was the plantation’s first residence. The building bears a resemblance to both French and African inspired architecture.

Clementine Hunter’s extensive murals narrate the lives of the people she lived, worked, and worshipped alongside in the Creole and African American communities. Clementine’s paintings can be found in homes and galleries worldwide, however photography was not allowed while viewing her murals. Because her cabin had undergone minimal restoration over the years, one could easily perceive life in that era. If you are a lover of art in various forms, I would strongly encourage a visit to the Melrose plantation to view the creative legacy of Clementine Hunter.

[lachandadupard]

#FrenchFriday Free Creoles of Color are a historic ethnic group of people born in all shades of color, it is a misperception that Creoles are only of a “light completion” with “straight hair.” Louisiana Creoles are people of African, Native American, French European and/or Spanish descent and the culture is still alive and thriving today. I am proud sixth generational Creole with roots tracing back to the mother of most Louisiana Creoles, Marie Thérèse CoinCoin of Melrose Plantation from Cane River Natchitoches, Louisiana. ⚜️Top left- Maternal great-grandparents Morehead/Slate ⚜️Top middle- Father/Mother Fontenot/Thompson ⚜️Top right-Paternal grandparents Guillory/Fontenot ⚜️Middle left-Creole Flag ⚜️Middle right-Paternal great-grandparents w/infant paternal grandmother Cezar/Fontenot ⚜️Bottom left-Paternal grandmother Guillory ⚜️Bottom middle-Father as child Fontenot ⚜️Bottom right-Maternal grandmother Slate ⚜️Missing photo-Maternal grandfather Thompson from Mississippi • • #creole #creolesofcolor #créole #iamcreole #honeybadger #honeybadgerlife #lachandadupard #wife #mom #mother #lifecoach #natchitoches #caneriver #melroseplantation #mariecoincoin #fontenot #cezar #guillory #slate #louisiana #history #haitian https://www.instagram.com/p/CAgnFiHpcSX/?igshid=l08r931on39s

[christophelandry-blog]

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A post shared by Christophe Landry, Ph.D. (@christophe_landry_phd)

#Repost from @lhcv_lc_memes. 8-year-old Adriyènn speaking in #KouriVini about her #back2school experience. The speaker descends from the famed Marie-Thérèse dite Coincoin and Claude Thomas Pierre MÉTOYER. She is a Cane River Creole on her mom's side. #CreoleAintDead #Endangeredlanguages #LouisianaCreole #kreyollalwizyan #mounkréyol #mounkréyollalwizyàn #caneriver #canerivercreoles