Results for: charlie christian genius
ChaChr-Genius
2009-04-17 - extension: rar - size: 69 MB
ChaChr-Genius
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Man Loses Umbrella The 120 Days of Humphreys
by Stephen Hutchison
(excerpts)
A man rubs his dark stubble before (More) The 120 Days of Humphreys
by Stephen Hutchison
(excerpts)
A man rubs his dark stubble before taking a long, deep puff of his cigarette. His other hand jitteringly clasps a mug filled with coffee and adorned with a picture of Friedrich Nietzche. The cigarette is by now a gravity-defying stick of ash, extending outward like a charred flagpole. The coffee, meanwhile, is blacker than the man's lungs. Photographs of Franz Kafka and Peter Sellers hang on the fridge in the background. The balcony door of the Toronto high-rise apartment is left open, allowing the frigid air to fill the room. Potted cacti partially obstruct a violent pre-Renaissance painting of the Black Death, in which skeletons devour the decaying flesh of the diseased. Unsorted papers are strewn across the room, which offers a curious aroma of gin, cigar smoke, and vomit. The man blows a pungent cloud of smoke in my face as he contemplates the answer to my next question. He has at once the pansexual curiosity of Gore Vidal, the dark moral ambiguity of Henry Kissinger, and the narcissistic self-reverence of Norman Mailer. He rambles effortlessly from poetics to politics, literature to libations, Buddhism to bestiality.
This is David Humphreys, the independent director responsible for the darkly comedic dystopian epic , Man Loses Umbrella (known in Germany - where the film has smashed box office records - as Der Untergross Mentaschloss, which can be loosely translated as "The Decay of Meaning"). Recently screened at a short film festival in Toronto, Man Loses Umbrella has polarized critics. Several publications, including the Toronto Star and NOW Toronto, praised Humphreys' work as a brilliant and erotic satire, wryly melding classical film structure with a discordant post-modern sensibility. More recent critics have, however, castigated Humphreys, singling him out as an emblem of society's ever-mounting Sadean depravity. The National Post, for example, has attacked Man Loses Umbrella as "the residue of Canada's decline", furiously denouncing Humphreys as "cultural gutter trash." Christian activist Craig Chandler, meanwhile, has called for the film to be banned, citing it as an example of "Canada's growing, state-funded pornocracy." Family groups have even gone so far as to picket the Kitchener home of Humphreys' parents.
"You know that this is my first interview," Humphreys mumbles in an almost inaudibly deep voice, "and it shall also be my last." He lays his sulfur pacifier to rest in a nearby ashtray: a crude etching of a naked woman is obtusely visible beneath the tray's ash, grime, and crumpled filters. He lights a new cigarette, clearing his throat to release a raspy, visceral sound - the sound of air escaping through a thick chasm of tar and filth. I am unfazed by Humphreys' statement. Indeed, his status as an eccentric recluse is legendary within the Toronto arts community. No known photograph of him exists. No one will testify to having seen his face. "You've got to give it to Humphreys," Moses Znaimer told me drolly. "He makes Thomas Pynchon and J.D. Salinger seem like attention-seeking media whores." His personality soon proves to be just as inscrutable as his appearance. He parries my every question with the ease of a master wordsmith. He reveals nothing about his influences or his intentions, his technique or his background, returning only stinging witticisms for each query. In an attempt to impress him, I ask a philosophical question about the Heideggerian implications of Umbrella's plot. He observes me with quiet disdain for a few seconds before making his reply. "Of all the questions I've been asked," he answers, breaking mid-sentence to pour himself more coffee, "that was certainly the most recent." He seems to regard me with a sort of contemptuous amusement, like a motorist noticing two fornicating insects on his windshield. By the end of the interview, my eyes are stinging from smoke, and I'm no wiser about the auteur or his work. Instead, I feel somehow vaguely shaken. gazing down the murky corridor of Humphreys' personality, I can only wonder whether I beheld genius,- or madness. (Less)
Eugene Grey Live at Sunfest 2005 - Linstead Market According to Rootz Reggae & Kulcha magazine (2004), "Eugene Grey is yet another of the many (More) According to Rootz Reggae & Kulcha magazine (2004), "Eugene Grey is yet another of the many genius guitarists of world class status that Jamaica has produced" playing professionally from the age of 14. Born in Green Island Jamaica in 1951, he went to Ruseas High School in 1963 where he started playing the harmonica in the School Band. After winning 1st place in the Pop and Mento competition in 1964, he taught himself to play the trombone, drums, piano and lastly the guitar, which he made.
Besonic.com (2006), the German music internet site states "Eugene's playing recalls the fluidity of Charlie Christian, the creativity of Wes Montgomery, and the first-class execution of George Benson while sounding completely unique - an incredible feat given the deep talent pool of past and present jazz axemen". This extraordinary style was showcased to a packed house in Argentina November 2007 where Eugene, backed by the local band Sessiones wowed the crowd as the headliner at the La Trastienda Club. This is a venue that has hosted the likes of the Wailers and the Skatalites.
Eugene has toured worldwide as lead guitarist with such artists as Grammy Award winners Burning Spear and Toots and The Maytals, Ras Tesfa, Culture, Fab 5, Irving Burgie and Kid Creole and The Coconuts. Other artists Eugene has performed with include Big Youth, The Harlem Renaissance Orchestra, America's Singing Poet Steve DePass, West Africa's Abdou M'Boup and Vieux Diop, Tony Cafresi and His Latin Orchestra, The Wailers, and The Skatalites. While with The Skatalites Mr. Grey performed with Charlie Palmieri and Arthur Blythe at New York's club 'Village Gate'.
In addition to performing with these distinguished acts, Eugene performs his original compositions with his own group. He released his official solo album Timeless (Greyphone) in 2002 that was nominated for a 2003 Reggaesoca Music Award. 2004 saw his performance at the Suntrust Jazz Brunch at Riverwalk in Fort Lauderdale coincide with the release of Shades of Grey (Greyphone) which again was nominated for a 2005 Reggaesoca Music Award. In March 2007 he performed as the opening act for Dionne Warwick on March 25, 2007 at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, Florida. This performance was also a vehicle to showcase the release of his latest project Authentic (Greyphone).
As well as his own recordings, Eugene has recorded on several notable artists' releases. One being the 2006 release of his mentor and friend, Ernest Ranglin's Surfin' (Telarc). He has also recorded on all of the albums by Kid Creole and the Coconuts including arranging the song "Haiti" on their 1994 project. Others include, Ras Tesfa's Voice of the Rastaman (Shanachie) and on the 1995 album "Via Jo" (Triloka) by artist Vieux Diop from Senegal, West Africa. Mr. Grey composed and arranged an original piece "Song for Jah" which was featured on the album "Another One Gone" (Shanachie) by artist Safi Abdullah.
Another aspect of his career is performing as a member of the orchestra in several Off-Broadway plays and musicals such as "In A Pigs Valise" in 1989; "Pecong" in 1991 at Newark Symphony Hall and the Off Broadway Classical musical "Sally and Tom" at Castillo Theatre in 1995/96. He also was Musical Director for the Off-Broadway musical "Rasta" in 1995. In 2005 Eugene was in London as Musical Director for Irving Burgie's musical review "Day-O". Eugene was commissioned to re-arrange 42 of the original songs of his longtime employer, Irving Burgie made famous by Harry Belafonte for this review.
Eugene believes that he was given a gift of music ability which has to be shared. Therefore, he constantly strives to give of himself and his talents. Performing, recording as well as teaching, allows him to realize that desire. (Less)
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