Browse by Artist: GEERKEN, HARTMUT

Artist:	GEERKEN, HARTMUT
Title:	Amanita
Label:	QBICO (ITALY)
Format:	2LP
Price:	$42.00
Catalog #:	QBICO 075LP

"Practically impossible to make it brief here, H. Geerken: author, composer, musician, film-maker, performer, actor, mycologist, archivist, stager of exhibitions, publisher of numerous authors from the circle of literary expressionism and Dada, lumberjack, bumble-bee keeper. During his six-year stay in Egypt in the '60s, he co-founded (together with Salah Ragab and Edu Vizvari) the Cairo Jazz Band as well as the Cairo Free Jazz Ensemble, played in various music groups: Embryo, a trio with John Tchicai and Don Moye (extensive tour of Africa) and also with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. He worked with Sunny Murray, Don Cherry, Okay Termiz, Peter Kowald, Takehisa Kosugi, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Michael Ranta, etc. Today Geerken possesses one of the most comprehensive Sun Ra archives. His book Omniverse Sun Ra (1994) , which contains the first all-embracing discography of the musician, has meanwhile grown to be a priceless cult book. Together with James Wolf from the Library Of Congress in Washington D.C., he is editor of the recently published collected poems and philosophical works of Sun Ra (The Immeasurable Equation, 2005). This is Geerken's first-ever solo release (a major event indeed!) and it was recorded under the influence of magic mushrooms (dried amanita muscaria). One of the instruments played here is Sun Ra's Sun harp (a Bulgarian bandura), which Sun Ra gave him in 1971 in Egypt, where Hartmut invited the Arkestra to play. They didn't get any money to fly back to the States, so Hartmut kindly borrowed them some bread for the trip back... in exchange, Sun Ra gave him his Sun harp (which you'd hear on several Saturn LPs and which was one of the few instruments that Sun Ra played besides keyboards) saying I'll buy it back from you one day... which evidently never happened. The other string instrument played here is a swarmandal, which was given to him in 1976 in New Delhi by the renowned Dhrupad singers: the Dagar brothers. Probably the wildest Qbico ever... alien sounds!" Originally recorded on May 11, 1995. Parts of this are as screwed up as as something like the Seventh Sons' 4 A.M. At Frank's -- killer.

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