A Foggy Saturday Morning

All rights reservedJHM 08

Hello World

Salli Addis Born 11-10-08 1:25pm 7.5 pouds and 19 3/4" l

This is my son and his daughter....

Bubbling Up

Sounds of the Men 12'x8; All Rights ReservedJHM©01

I was sitting in Dunbar Fine Creole Food Restaurant on Feret Street Uptown New Orleans at aJazz Brunch back in early 2001 totally mesmerized with the sounds of the musicians performing. I was sitting at a solitary table for one right up at the band as it was the only space left. Dunbar was a favorite place to dine once a week as they had a killer gumbo on Friday's that was my weekly treat.

When they announced they were going to have a jazz brunch on Sunday's I was game. Good food and good music? How could you lose?

While enjoying my meal, I suddendly notice something that I had not paid attention before as how caught up in the music these fine muscians were. The it hit me.. I wondered what was going on in their heads and music being one of the few arenas that men seem to allow themselves full reign over their emotions. Then the words starting spilling over napkin after napkin until what you see below came into being.

The quilt followed.

That happens sometimes for me the words come first then the visual. Sometimes its a flash of an image

It is still after all this time one of the largest quilts I ever made and is a tribute not only to the men that day, but to all the musicans in my family. I did not inherit the gene to play a musical instruments as my siblings did but I am playing a different melody.

Sounds of the Men ©01


Tonight I ate up the blues...
Burying itself...
Enmeshed completely,
with harmonious
silken strands.
Belly up bass.
That you tickled and cajoled.
Issuing a rumbling thunderous groove.
Lingering cadence under hooded shadowed eyes.
Off in a place...
Goatee half-smile swirling lemon drops off your face.
Saffron tinged wails flecked lazily.
Suffused pushing sprinkles of heavenly notes.

Wafting ...

Brushing upward past aromatic clouds
An atmosphere...
Toward boundless galaxies of stars,
shining in applause for you!
Glistening huge moon shouting...
"Bravo, bravo, bellisimo, bravo!"
Belly filled high steppin' trumpet.

"Tonight as I ate up jazz..."
Seasoned with salsa rhythms.
Mighty, mighty joy-full-ness.
Snares brushed lightly.
Bronzed hands with an affinity to river deep promises.
Head just a'boppin"

(Go 'head! Go 'head)!

"Look at me...
I'm as happy...."
Take me to the bridges of sparkling waterfalls.

"Tonight I ate up lavender stained ribbons of husky melodic blues..."
Tendered jazz from champagne fingers.

Poignantly soothing ebonies and ivories,
just raising Cain!
Coaxing sugared sweetness in your harmonies.

"What are you shielding behind shaded eyes?
Persimmoney blues-man?"

"Tonight as I ate up the jazz..."
In candlelit, twilight hours.
In a secluded vista.
Surrendering to rainforest greens...
The sweetest thing!
Sublime.

"Have some blackberry jam & wine...
If you please".
As I glide over to savannah plains,
to a place they call Smokey Mokes.
I do declare!
When you smile.
So caught up in your own aria...
Pregnant with a covenant.
Luxuriating, basking in...
Blues-hues...
Mooncues...
Moon-blues cheri''.

By the light of the moon...
Fusing ripples of waves and waves and waves of rhythms.

"Tonight as I ate up the blues, tangled threads in jazz..."
The sounds of the men
Safe harbors, secured refuge.
Presenting yourself with the gift...
Giving yourself permission to speak...
and speaking it well,
I do declare!
Profess, I must ...
As I am enthralled...
This spectacle of delights.
While I gorge on the rhythm and muse.

Look at me...

All rights reservedJHM©01

Those Rhtyhms & Hues

left to right: Da Face©07 (on pillar) Sounds of the Men ©99 (in rear) Salsa ©98 right wall

Salsa~Rhythm Dancer 86x96 All rights reserved JHM©98

Shown at the American Jazz Museum 2008

I Wanna Send to ya…



I wanna send some swing to ya…
My solitude is not a millstone imbibed in a gilded cup behind translucent shades.Ya see…I’ve been rocked by the wind and warmed by the sun.Is my green blued? As in a finely tuned riff?Or did the purple immersed samba graced a sienna sky?I wanna throw some rhythms to ya…As you incline on the red leather de-vine…With…your…Main…Squeeze.Sharing the sanctuary with my moments .That will groove and then settles behind my right shoulder waiting for the muse…
To begins.


I wanna hold the be-bop for ya…Straight ahead to the road…Where purple moons will come and purpler heavens to meet ya.Incline your ear toward majestic sharps…That grabs and pull ya!

Grace the tunes…

Is my green blue?

Or my round up?

Now swang will ya?

So the funk can get to ya!

I wanna groove the soul to ya…

Suspended, I am.

By the crooning in my heart.

The in-between submerged right behind my left ear where all my hopes and dreams…

Begged to begin

.Love-ness in the yearning-flower, seeking the right words to explain itself.

Showering the scope.

And then…

I wanna exude the blues to ya.

I was born by the rivers and the whistle-walks.

Where the wind ran at liberty and there were no enclosures…

For the spot between my eyes where all that I will be dwells

well.

And the blues continues.

I wanna flow the jazz to ya…

With silvered sculptured treble clefs…

Washing over curried brick clay.

Enchanted with…

Yeah it was…

Mellowed afternoon sun showering over a red leather de-vine.

Toward mellowed days and mellower nights.

And that is what I want to send to ya.

All rights reserved By the Light of the Moon ©02 JHM

Being Mindful

I want it to be known that any comments attributed to anyone that was not there's would only have been done from being unaware and not of malice or wrong intent.

I have applauded the new documentary of Treme and the importance of supporting what I believe to be good work on the part of these young visionaries as they document the lives of my beloved home in all its complexities.

To the one who sent me the comment, my sincerest apologies if anything was misconstrued. My information came from their newsletter and I appreciate you bringing it to my attention and I hope what I edited was sufficient.

Otherwise, please contact me and I will make any adjustments needed.

And yes! I would be delighted to quote you directly. Feel free to contact me?

Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans "...

Please go to their website and check it out.

For more information visit:www.tremedoc.com

Better yet, purchase the film and bring them o your community. You will not be disappointed.

You must see this film! Way to Go Lolis & team!

From their newsletter:

Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans "...REMARKABLE..."-Variety
LATEST NEWS An HBO Series on Tremé? Tremé Doc on PBS

Our screenings continue to engage audiences all over the globe.

The film has received:
* the "Best Feature Documentary Award" from the Flyway Film Festival in Wisconsin;
* been heralded as "the documentary film not to be misssed" at the Cork (Ireland) Film Festival; and ...
* described as "an intelligent movie that makes a fascinating counterpoint to the many films produced about Hurricane Katrina" from the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival.

MORE INFO WebsiteView the TrailerPurchase the DVDDonate To Our Outreach Fund
Who's Who
Directed by: Dawn LogsdonCo-Directed/Written by: Lolis Eric ElieProduced by: Lucie Faulknor, Dawn Logsdon & Lolis Eric ElieExecutive Produced by: Stanley Nelson & Wynton MarsalisOriginal Score by: Derrick Hodge
Additional music:Glen David AndrewsJohn BouttéEdmund DedeBob FrenchBunk JohnsonGeorge LewisIrvin MayfieldRebirth Brass Band

We are gearing up for more community screenings and a PBS broadcast for Black History Month. You can help us get the word out to your community - there is still much that needs to be done. Please look at the bottom article of this newsletter for ways to assist.
Thank you for your continued support,
Dawn, Lolis & Lucie

UPCOMING SCREENINGS

11/07 - Colorado Springs, CO - Pikes Peak, East Library, 5550 N. Union Blvd. at Noon. Ph: 719-531-633311/08-09,

Colorado Springs, CO - Rocky Mountain Women's Film Fest

11/14, Houston, TX - Nat'l Council for Social Studies Conference

11/15, Wilmington, NC Cucalorus Film Festival

11/22, San Francisco, CA - Society for Visual Anthropology, American Anthropological Association

Lolis Helps "Tremé" Series

Faubourg Tremé Will Air On PBS Stations Feburary 2009
We are happy to announce that the Faubourg Tremé documentary will be offered to PBS stations throughout the country during Black History Month, February 2009. You can help by telling your local PBS affiliate that you want to see it aired in your town. Get The Directors' Cut

The PBS version of the film is edited to fit the television hour at 54 minutes. You can still order the whole 68 minute version here. Hurry, the holidays are coming. Give a meaningful and unique present for all the special people on your list!

Ways to Help
Make a pot of red beans and host a screening in your home.

Have a list of volunteer opportunities available for your friends.Call or email your local PBS station affiliate and urge them to "take the PBS Plus satellite feed" of Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Olreans on and around January 29th for a February 2009 (Black History Month) broadcast.

Encourage your university or organization to contact the filmmakers to present the film and give a talk at their next special event.Purchase the film for your former high school, your local community center, church and/or library.

Buy the film and give it to family, friends, and colleagues who still wonder why New Orleans matters.

This film is a co-production of Serendipity Films, LLC, Independent Television Services (ITVS), WYES-TV-12 New Orleans, Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) and National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC). Major funding for this program was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, State of Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, The Ford Foundation, Southern Humanities Media Fund, Open Society Institute, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities & many other kind people and organizations.

Info@tremedoc.com

Inside/Out going~ full circle.

Chicago ~photograph All Rights ReservedJHM© 08

I am in this walking on air phase trusting that this adorable, albeit it small, but quaint studio apartment will be mine. The place though small is highly suited for me and my sensibilities providing me with some peace, stability surrounded by nature for a restorative period so I gather my balance and do move to the a larger plane then before.

I can identify of the irony that this place in some ways is an upgraded variation of 16 years ago when I first embarked on the phase that has concluded just this year. When I walked on air to create what is now an established art form (for me). And now 16 years later as I sep out into the air again, I am planning on moving into a similar tiny studio space with all my other trappings away from me so I will not be distracted to do what needs to be done.

Someone mentioned to me that this was a year for lessons and challenges which was an understatement. And I, too, cannot twait to see what writing comes out of it for the book. I had to see if I would step up to the plate no matter what and continue to follow what I yet could not see, through all the turns, disappointments and yes even some humor mixed in it all.

And I did. I am now in a physically geographically lovely place, still missing home but need to be here right now. The stillness is what's important, now. There is enough stimulation I can get if I want between here and Portland, but I needed to be in a space. Now.

This studio is in such a lovely peaceful place and I am surrounded by the loveliness of nature providing a calm idylic place for me to create and where I can take long walks to aid in my continuing healthy living growth. If it turns out not to be this studio there will be another.

I did not know that where I am right now was where I was suppose to be and I have met every challenge thus far sometime with great humor & aplomb other times with what in the world? And still others that should have sent me screaming into the woods, but I did not. This is where I should be for right now, but there is something in this I will get.

It reminds me of a comment someone sent to me today in regards to the time when Sister Oprah had to deal with that whole cow issues some years back and how the defense attorney yell, spat bullied accusing her of things that were not true. Then Sister O spoke of having a calmness come over her and no matter what he said, she knew it not to be true.

Likewise for me I have reached a space that no matter if people shout, scream spit stomp yell curse control or kill & it does not have to make me be what they want me to be.

They've tried, God knows they've tried, & for a split second (from time to time) they've almost had me convince they were right. They were not.

So we keep on and keep keeping on... The fact that I had challenges totally unplanned or desired tossed at me and I met them addressed them, step over them, released them tells me I can persevere in much. What a cleansing process it has been and the load is still getting lighter.

Whatever I have to do I have to do. In whatever length of time it takes to do i and in whatever manner I have it done in. People can either step up or step away.

It will be exciting to see what will transpire and how we are inspired and it is time now for all of us in whatever we endeavor, to step up to the plate...