Body and Soul: Hawk Reversions Himself

Body and Soul Coleman Hawkins

Just because he dropped the reference version, doesn't mean the Hawk would leave the tune alone. Rather he deviled and re-deviled it. we're pretty sure his primary point is that he can do it again and not be the same. The desperate exchange of body for soul, the Faustian heartbreak in the song, is easy to lose when this is the approach. Therefore, it is interesting how he brings the heartbreak back into all three versions. Lissen for it.

• Coleman Hawkins with Billy Byers and His Orchestra, "Body and Soul." We're not sure Hawk gentles himself into this smoothjazz ensemble, but then maybe that's the point. By the end, its his voice alone, not even against the orchestra.
• Coleman Hawkins, "Picasso." Here all w/ both accompaniment and melody dropped, Hawk takes on blues and the abstract truth. We believe this bullet ranks w/ Armstrong/Hines "Weather Bird" as an intellectual exercise, even if it lacks the zing the two duelists put into their piece. It is, of course, about the breakdown that occurs when you are alone. That's the point. It's after the tragic ending of the reference version, "an echo of a tale that's been told."

Working Through OB4CL: P R O S P E C T

There's no way we will start at the beginning, because the crossroads is always the middle of more than one thing. And that's the way. Word to your moms.

:: makes a small circle of gunpowder on the ground ::

:: centers a bottle of henny in the circle ::

:: scatters pepperflakes ::

:: bows head ::

• Wu Tang Clan, "Can It All Be So Simple" is the emblem of both what comes before OB4CL and the wish for a better time before. It is, therefore service to the lwas in the form of ingnition, match to the ring of gunpowder.

And so we begin.

We begin making a small altar that places OB4CL at the foot of the tradition, knowing that there are those who, when they come by, will take up pieces, and leave other pieces behind. And that's the way. Word to your moms.

And this because in its own way, OB4CL is itself an ilé, a shrine that looks in all directions at once. Up. Down. Side to side.

What we will do here is locate our ilé making project to think through the slab. What we build here, then, is a shrine to a shrine, which will serve as a call to those who want to hear it.

OB4CL then. Seven threads, then, that run through it.

1. Movement: "We gotta migrate."
2. Collage: "poisonous paragraphs."
3. The damning (oppressing) and redeeming (liberating) power of business: "slang rap democracy."
4. Clan and Gang and Family: "this rap wonderama team got drama"
5. Secret knowledge: "It's manifested. The gods work like appliances."
6. Secret identity: "a.k.a."
7. Crossing over: "Chef may resign to boat across the Verrazano."

Each of these threads is pending, and each starts in the full fabric of the tradition. We will work them back into the tradition, but leave them still pending. And that's the way. Word to your Moms.

When we hear Rae tell the fellas in OutKast, "We handling the earth right now," we take his word as bond. We cannot get past this statement without thinking first of Nas and the more than brilliant "The World is Yours." Yes, yes y'all. We think on that view @ the beginning of the first Scarface that is the omega of Tony Montana's dream to get out. We read Rae different, though. We think that he's telling us that he's already there. "It's the pot of gold right here man. This is it, man, this is glory." We think he's not signifying here. Nah. He's representing.

Here, hit this Henny. Fuse is already lit.