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"HiGH ▀ iNTELLiGeNCE tRoLLS"
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a r t i s t : Budbill-Parker-Drake
t i t l e : Songs For A Suffering World
d a t e : 2003
l a b e l : Boxholder (BXH 044)
g e n r e : Jazz/Beat Poetry
r l s. d a t e : May-2004
t r a c k s : 17
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 72,0 MB
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Songs For A Suffering World
Incantation and Improvisation, A Prayer for Peace, A Protest
Against War
David Budbill - voice, shakuhachi
William Parker - acoustic bass, voice, shakuhachi, pocket
trumpet, pocket cornet, dilruba, balaphone,
glockenspiel, gong
Hamid Drake - trap drums, frame drum, ringing bowls
+ Andrei Strobert - trap drums (track 10)
Vermont poet David Budbill (actually a transplanted Ohioan)
fortuitously joined forces with iconoclastic jazz bassist
William Parker in the mid-'80s after a fan letter from the poet
led to an exchange of Budbill's poems and stories and Parker's
recordings. Something resonated, and the two men of different
races, cultures, and art forms eventually began exploring the
possibilities of mutual artistic creation. Listeners of a
certain age and disposition will perhaps recall some of the
late-'50s coffeehouse experimentation of Jack Kerouac (most
notably), accompanied by Steve Allen on piano (yes, that Steve
Allen), and on a few occasions by saxophonists Al Cohn and Zoot
Sims. But temperamentally and philosophically, Budbill is much
closer to another beat poet, Gary Snyder (aka Jaffe Ryder in
Kerouac's Dharma Bums), who celebrated life on the land rather
than on the road, and who not only helped to popularize Zen
Buddhism as a hip term to name drop, but was a serious
practitioner and spiritual seeker. As poets, Snyder and Budbill
have much in common, and often draw from the same well of
inspiration (for example, both write about the crazed Japanese
monk/mystic, Han San) ù but Budbill is less text-oriented, more
transparent, and much more the performance artist, and in this
respect is closer to another celebrated Beat poet, Allen
Ginsberg, who sometimes chanted and used a harmonium during
live performance. Budbill's message throughout the Songs for a
Suffering World is exemplary: an emphasis on simple pleasures
and living in the moment, and an antiwar stance that is not
merely fashionable but rooted in Buddhist teaching and common
sense (i.e., if life is suffering, and every creature is born
only to die, why not celebrate what everyone has instead of
looking for excuses to compete, quarrel, and kill one
another?). The message itself is worthy, but Budbill's
conversational delivery and his easy rapport with Parker and
Hamid Drake make this a special package. Parker and Drake
sometimes chant behind Budbill, providing a counterpoint to his
text, and Parker not only plays bass but also improvises on
shakuhachi flute, trumpet, cornet, balaphone, glockenspiel, and
gongs. Instrumental interludes, with Budbill and Parker dueting
on shakuhachis, are not just filler, but artistically
satisfying on their own terms. Parker is typically eloquent on
bass (and on his other instruments, as well), and Drake assumes
the role of sensitive colorist, reinforcing the emotional
requirements of the poetry. Budbill has spoken elsewhere of his
early appreciation of jazz and of the relationship of his work
to an oral tradition derived in part from rural blues. And the
restrained but engaged playing of Parker and Drake is a clear
indication that they were not just coaxed into a studio (or
onto a stage) to add a little background credibility to
Budbill's poetry and persona. Rock bottom, a common purpose and
aesthetic sensibility brings the three participants together
and results in this satisfying and wise recording.
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01-A Little Story About An Ancient Chinese Emperor [02:19]
02-Song Of Longing [02:43]
03-A Buddhist Prayer [01:58]
04-In The Mood [01:09]
05-I Believe [04:57]
06-While We've Still Got Feet [07:47]
07-No Escape [02:25]
08-If A Bodhisattva [03:20]
09-Song Of Hope [03:16]
10-Bambata's Song [04:05]
11-Easy As Pie [00:35]
12-Kyrie [03:47]
13-Life To All That Grows [06:39]
14-Litany For The Emperor [00:53]
15-Drum And Bass Dialogue [04:22]
16-We Want To Live [07:08]
17-Song Of Peace [01:22]
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58:45 min
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