Hip Hop Stacks: July 2014

Sunday, July 27, 2014

HH Stacks: Hip Hop Files, Photographs 1979-1984

Hip Hop Files

El Paso Public Library (EPPL)

Hip Hop Stacks

In 2011, we submitted a book, CD, + film list to the El Paso Public Library (EPPL) to begin building a "Hip Hop Stacks" collection. The list consisted of over 100 recommended titles. To document this collection I'm developing a PDF file visitors will be able to download that reference titles currently available at the EPPL from HHA's 2011 recommendations. I also plan to add future books, CDs, + films we're able to propose and stack for library patrons at the EPPL.

One of the books from the 2011 list currently available at the EPPL is Martha Cooper's Hip Hop Files, Photographs 1979-1984. This photographic journey is a wonderful snapshot into Martha Cooper's life through lens and an incredible "at the right place, at the right time" story detailing her contribution to capturing Hip Hop's early days of exposure.

The text is of good size to display some fascinating photographs from an internationally fearless photographer. The "Life in Photography" thumbnails which run along the bottom of the first and last pages provide readers a shot into Cooper's world beginning at the age of 5 (1948) with her "Baby Brownie camera at Baltimore Harbor" and to her travels in Thailand during the early 60s as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer. Readers will see bits of Cooper's story in thumbnails of Cambodia, Thailand, India, Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, Germany, England, Philippines, Japan, Peru, and her arrival to the New York Post in 77'. It was Cooper's wandering interest to see the unscene and a craft that took chances out of respect for the lives & culture she became intimately connected to through photography.

The text begins with words from graffiti elder Zephyr on Hip Hop as social activism, its multi-cultural existence, and the art of compassion readers will discover through Cooper's character and the lives that speak for the photographs represented in Hip Hop Files. It's an incredible intro for Cooper's "active trigger finger" and the personal dialogue of Hip Hop's surviving alumni that provide narrative to those photographic beginnings. Cooper's undiscriminating lens gives clues to even the history before the history as discussed by notables such as DEZ aka DJ Kay Slay.

Cooper captures Hip Hop in motion, sneaking through the night with writers in the train yards, only to be on location of a platform to photograph the finished Krylon painting of passing AM trains. There is music in the descriptive language of the environments Cooper captures such as her shots on the "morning side" and "afternoon side" which play like the Side A and Side B of a record. I encourage you read this text to understand.

As a visual masterpiece, Hip Hop Files educates readers and helps to undo the forgetful nature of a vulture-like "music" industry. Through narrative captions from dozens of Hip Hop legends, readers get the story as if the speaker is observing the photograph alongside them. It's a text that personally speaks to my interest of photography and the work of photographers I've been inspired by such as Jamel Shabazz, Ernie Paniccioli, and D-Nice.

In addition to Hip Hop Files, Photographs 1979-1984, there are a number of other text and films referenced throughout the book, including the globally influential Subway Art published in 1984 by Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant, Dondi White Style Master General: The Life of Graffiti Artist Dondi White by Andrew Witten & Michael White, and Jamel Shabazz's Back in the Days... this is only to name a few!

For more information on Hip Hop Files, Photographs 1979-1984 check out From Here to Fame Publishing at www.fromheretofame.com. I was unable to locate a website for Martha Cooper but suggest a number of YouTube interview videos that are available online. Below is video footage featuring Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant.

To check out Hip Hop Files from EPPL: click here

Monday, July 7, 2014

Master of Modernism

Master of Modernism

One of the many things I love about libraries, unlike bookstores, is the option you have to learn about what's new in the world of lit and being able to walk over to the check out counter with a library item, and take it home... at no cost. One of my stops upon entering a library is the new releases display, which is where I discovered the Thomas Brothers Master of Modernism Louis Armstrong text, published this year 2014. It's a good size text, at least 500 plus pages on Louis (pronounced with the s) whom the intro describes as a "small man who controlled a powerful instrument".

It mentions that the text is accompanied by a music CD, but I didn't notice a CD in the copy I checked out from the library. Reading through the introduction, you just want to dive right into Chapter One, "Welcome to Chicago". In scanning the text, it includes a bunch of photographs, the first a diagram detailing the South Side of Chicago, I'm assuming upon Armstrong's arrival. The next photograph is of Louis, his mother May Ann and sister Beatrice (1922). I stopped going any further than page 13 after learning of a text that precedes this one titled Louis Armstrong's New Orleans also by Thomas Brothers.

Master of Modernism tells the story of Armstrong during the period of his arrival to Chicago in 1922, and ten years after. In the introduction I thought about what Brothers' mentions in learning the musical and social legacies of slavery through figures like Armstrong, and the social analysis of Armstrong's melody, harmony, & rhythm. I've heard of the mentorship between King Oliver & Armstrong through documentaries and a vinyl record I own that displays the two together on the cover... and as much interest as I have in those snapshots, its but a footnote compared to what this text has to offer for those interested in learning about Armstrong beyond the music.

This text is a journey for those of us unaware of Armstrong's creative genius... a chance to become more knowledgeable of his legacy and place in history. It's a thesis study by Brothers, a major part of his life as a writer, scholar, historian, and teacher during a time where the quality of an in depth story, is forced to exist amidst the sound bites of downloads, clips, and wiki talk.

Being that I'm the type that must see, hear, or read part ones before I move on to a part twos, I'm going to take back Master of Modernism to the Richard Burges library in Northeast El Paso in exchange for Brothers' New Orleans text and start there.

With these snapshot reviews, I'm coming at it through the perspective of a library patron with an eye that's always searching and who's approach to reading for fun is scattered across a range of topics, especially when it comes to music. My goal with some of these postings is to bring attention to what we have available to us in our libraries and to connect it to the the concept "Hip Hop Stacks" (will explain more about this later as it has some history)... overall I hope this will encourage readers (& non-readers) towards these resources. I'm also driven to create content and document what catches my attention but with the purpose of promoting the hard work of folks like Thomas Brothers. I believe that everything happens for a reason... even something as simple as finding a new book. Especially considering how big of an accomplishment this is for the writer...it has the potential to inspire something in the reader as well.. We never know.

Below are some videos I found of Thomas Brothers, including a lecture through the Library of Congress. Check it out!

Catalog Links
Louis Armstrong's New Orleans by Thomas Brothers: click here

Louis Armstrong, Master of Modernism by Thomas Brothers: click here

And we'll conclude with a Louis Armstrong song with his Orchestra...one from my personal favorites. ((Song of the Vipers))

HHA Theatre: Biggie Smalls Rap Phenomenon

Rap Phenomenon

In many cases, there are a lot of documentaries out there that are like greatest hits CDs regurgitating what we've heard before, or in the case of film documentary, what we've been told and shown before. With Rap Phenomenon, I enjoyed some aspects of the film and seeing old clips of Biggie perform, learning more about his camp, specifically D-Roc, and hearing about the microphone master from some of his closest Hip Hop associates. For fans of Big, check this out. It isn't something I'd collect, but it's one to view. Available on DVD through Netflix.

The film is not rated. Recommended for those that have a vested interest in the life of Christopher "Biggie Smalls" Wallace. Not recommended if you're concerned with language censorship and other contents that reference drug use, violence, or sexual content.

Along with films that are available at local libraries, or obtained through a partnership with Hip Hop Alumni, the Hip Hop Stacks blog will also link visitors to films available through other archives such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, or that are posted on YouTube for free viewing.

Citation:
Biggie Smalls: Rap Phenomenon. Director. April Maiya. Roc Darling Films, 2009. Web. Netflix. http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Biggie-Smalls-Rap-Phenomenon/70114195?trkid=222336.