Version Galore

I’m rarely starstruck.  I don’t blink in the presence of celebrities or artistic luminaries no matter how much I respect their work.  Lee “Scratch” Perry is one of very few luminaries who’ve caused me to swoon.  Making physical contact with the legendary Jamaican at the Beaumont Club in 2009 meant a lot to me.  My friend McClain Johnson, aka DJ Diehard, recently secured ten minutes of customized ranting from Perry for his impressive collaboration with the saxophonist Aryana Nemati.  The raw dub-based “Riding the Riddim” features a characteristically loony string of Perry’s non sequiturs.  Here's a small sampling of Perry’s phrases from what he rightly characterizes as a version galore: “when I cough I send demons to hell,” “I’m perfect; I don’t make mistakes” and “I’m anti-ghetto.”  The soul fire still burns brightly.


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I make weekly concert recommendations in The Kansas City Star.

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I extol a harbinger of jazz to come at Plastic Sax.

(Original image of a roundabout in Akko by There Stands the Glass.)