The Weary Blues (Langston Hughes)

Here's an experiment in found audio (the recitation is from Archive.org, and the ambient cafe sounds are from Freesound.org). Computer Music magazine's resident monthly musical gestalt writer, Rachmiel, had this to say about this piece:

"it's hard to know what to do with this. the (profoundly un-negro) accent suggests satire/irony ... as does the cocktail accompaniment. but the text is for real and langston hughes is not normally a prime target for smartassery ... truly odd. :-)"

I think that best sums it up. Maybe it's a statement on globalization, maybe it's not.

Victor_Lams_-_Langston_Hughes_The_Weary_Blues.mp3

Oh, No! Giardiasis!

A few years back, the Center for Disease Control approached my free-jazz quintet, "No Boundaries", about doing a little project for them to raise awareness among preschool-aged children about the dangers of infectious disease.

Given the popularity of the Australian children's band, "The Wiggles", at the time, they thought it'd be a good idea to create their own version of the phenomenon, "The Wiggles Experience", which would be modeled (a little too closely, it would turn out) after the original Wiggles.

We played a few concerts (and even released one album, "The Big Red Sore") as "The Wiggles Experience" before the lawsuit, but they all wound up the same way: a minute or two of educational singing followed by 20 minutes of free-jazz exploration. Eventually, we lost the gig and the CDC decided to go some other route. Seriously, I don't know what they decided to do, I haven't thought about it in a while.

Anyway, here's one of our mega-hits from that exciting period. drawing the nation's consciousness to one serious intestinal parasite in particular:

http://www.victorlams.com/kvr-vst/0808_DrAX_Oh_No_Giardiasis.mp3

For more information about this dangerous condition, please check out the WebMD page on giardiasis. It is, seriously, no good for you.