Sistas' Place

Craig Harris’ “Brown Butterfly” Liner Notes

Sista — Wed, 17 Apr 2019 03:12:13 +0000

Brown Butterfly

“Moving clockwise, continuing that famed shuffle of his,

Clay–with his hands down…looks like a dancer up there, the way he bobs and weaves, for a man of 212 pounds.”

Announcer Les Keiter at the start of the Ali- Cleveland Williams fight.

The music in this two-CD collection is a tribute to the genius of Muhammad Ali.

And much more.

Brown Butterfly is Craig Harris’s tribute to the magical attributes that have sustained African Americans for more than 400 years: Weightlessness, grace, speed an ability to walk in space.

“I’m telling the story about one of my greatest heroes,” Harris says. “I’m celebrating the physical contributions of this sound architect. Muhammad Ali was a composer.”

In preparation for recording the music in this collection, Harris studied several aspects of Ali’s life. He studied his personal life and his religious beliefs. He took fight films apart, watched them in slow motion and watched the fights speeded up.

Craig assembled footage of several Ali fights and watched them without the sound. He wanted to take in the breath-taking magic of Ali’s dance. “He was like music in motion,” Harris says.

As Harris watched fight film, he jotted down rhythms that corresponded with Ali’s feints, jabs and shuffles. With the rhythmic patterns on paper, Harris added melody and harmony, then he gave the charts to his band. During rehearsals, he had the musicians look at the film and allowed them to improvise their own interpretation of the ballet they were watching.

When Ali made a particularly incredible move, Harris pointed it out and shouted “‘Play that! Play that!’ What I had to convey was that this was about a dance, not a fight. It’s a dance. His physical gestures are so musical. He’s just not boxing, he’s an extension of the African American continuum, which comes out of Africa.”

Brown Butterfly is the reflective journey that every African American living in the United States must make if he or she is to be truly free. A journey through fear, through brainwashing and finally to embracing the power and majesty of blackness. Harris, 63, took that journey, for as a young boy growing up on Long Island, he was afraid of Ali. Many blacks were. “He scared me at first,” Harris says, “I’d never seen an African American talk that much shit.”

Ali took the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston in February 1964, in a fight that remains one of the great upsets in boxing history.

More than a title changed hands.

Muhammad Ali changed boxing the way Charlie Parker and John Coltrane changed music.

Harris’s family–his uncles in particular–were Sonny Liston fans.

Liston was the Bear, powerful, lumbering menacing. He was an ex-bouncer, an enforcer with possible mob ties. Liston was the classic heavyweight, out of the Joe Louis mold, who looked to knock out an opponent as quickly as possible.

Liston lumbered.

“Ali was unorthodox, he did it all wrong. Moving backward and throwing punches. No fighter ever moved backward throwing punches,” Harris says. “People told him ‘You’re going to get knocked out.’ That’s what really drew me to him: fighting with his hands down, his whole style, his innovation as a heavyweight boxer.”

Ali represented a new, unapologetic view of boxing and blackness. “Ali broke the mold,” Harris says. “He comes along with this whole other kind of look. He scared a lot of people.”

I have watched that 1964 fight with Liston several times over the years.

What I didn’t see until recently was that Ali ignored the parade of fighters being brought into the ring during the introductions–until the great Sugar Ray Robinson was introduced. When Robinson went over to Ali’s corner, Ali bowed—twice—in deference and respect to Robinson.

Sugar Ray Robinson was to Muhammad Ali as Lester Young had been to Charlie Parker. Speed up many of Lester Young’s solos and you hear Bird.

“Charlie Parker took inspiration from Lester Young’s rhythmic innovations and added notes and velocity,” Harris says.

“All Ali did was take Sugar Ray Robinson’s style and put it on his 6 foot 3 inch 225 pound frame,” Harris explains. “That is the essence of innovation and, Harris argues, the African American creative mystique. “Our goal is to take something and do something with it,” Harris says. “That’s what we do. It’s the Hoodoo that we do, with that past present and future view.”

For all the history of the 1964 Ali-Liston fight, Craig said his favorite fight was Ali’s November 14th bout with Cleveland “Big Cat” Williams.

The Williams fight marked the first time Harris became aware of the magic of Ali’s movement. Here was a 6 foot 3 inch, 212-pound heavyweight boxer moving like the wind. In the pre-fight hype, writers pointed out that Big Cat Williams, at 6 foot 3, 225 pounds, was fast and quick for his size. Hence the nickname, Big Cat.

Ali made Williams look like a tortoise and knocked him out in the second round.

“I said ‘this is it. This cat is really bad.’ ”

Less than a year after that fight, in June 1967, Ali was convicted of draft evasion and was sentenced to five years in prison. He was a pariah to some, a hero to many more.

As the former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson said much later when asked the difference between himself and Ali, “I was a boxer. Ali was history.”

So it was for 12-year-old Craig Harris, who began to see Ali in a totally different light. “When he refused to be drafted, he became an icon.”

Harris joined the Sun Ra Arkestra in 1976 at age 22. His tenure in the band set the stage for a convergence of artistic genres: dance, poetry, drama. A year after Harris joined Sun Ra. The Arkestra went to Nigeria to participate in FESTAC 1977. FESTAC celebrated African culture.

While he was in Nigeria Harris saw a man about 5 foot 4 run up the side of a wall. “He went about 10 feet, straight up the wall. No gimmicks, no nothing.” Harris says. “He defied gravity and ran up that wall—perpendicular.”

“This was more than athleticism. It’s the coming together of the body and the mind– and you have to have technique to do that. You defy nature. That’s what Ali did. That’s what Connie Hawkins did and Elgin Baylor and Michael Jordan and LeBron James did.”

The FESTAC experience put Harris on a path that eventually led to the creation of Brown Butterfly. He began to see Ali– and other black innovators—through an entirely different prism. “I began looking at Charlie Parker artistically, I began looking at what these people do, not just the technical thing. It’s about the magic and spirit of what they do.”

Harris returned from that trip to Africa with a widened worldview of the African creative instinct and a deep appreciation for creating one’s own shot. “It’s not enough to just imitate, you have to create. Imitation is fine, but in our world, that ain’t it. What do you add to the Continuum?”

The foundation of Craig’s inspiration from Ali is summed up by the phrase “Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee.” This is more than a clever slogan. It is the national anthem of the black presence in sports.

Defying physics.

It’s the 300 pound lineman who can run down a speedy halfback—the 7-footer who is as nimble as a 5 foot 11 player; the 5 foot 11 player who dunks.

But it’s also John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. It’s J. J. Johnson, the innovator on Craig’s instrument, the trombone, playing fast, graceful lines. It’s that innovation that we create as African people.”

In 1988, Harris began writing pieces that went outside the so-called straight jazz world.

He went beyond playing traditional concerts and started incorporating other disciplines into his music and reaching out to younger artists. He was combining forms and discovering powerful ways to attract a wider audience without compromising the music.

“Our audience was dwindling. A good way to expand the audience for the music is to start working in other genres: modern dance, poetry, theater,” Harris says. Today Harris is dedicated to passing the torch through teaching, expanding the audience beyond category and labels.

“Craig has always tried to remain open to everything that’s happening simultaneously,” says musician/producer Bill Toles. “He’s a really good vehicle for younger performers.”

Toles was a member of the Black Rock Coalition in 1988 when he met Harris. Toles played a major role in the original stage production of Brown Butterfly in 2002.

“When we first did Brown Butterfly we had a young saxophonist with us who was just incredible,” Toles said. “Craig hunts these people, out in the tradition of Art Blakey and all the people who made sure that they’re relating to the next generation and pulling them through this music.”

Says Harris: “That’s what we’re supposed to be doing. Reaching out to the next generation and telling our stories. I always go into the heritage of African Americans to find work, and I’m unapologetic about it because if I don’t do the piece on Ali, who’s going to do it? If we don’t tell these stories, who’s going to do it?”

In this collection, Craig Harris tells a convincing story. Brown Butterfly is a timeless soundtrack to Muhammad Ali’s divine, eternal dance.

– – – – – – – – – – –

Hear excerpts and purchase the Brown Butterfly tribute to Muhammad Ali CD by Craig Harris.

Liner notes by Craig Harris.

Get a PDF version of these liner notes.

Elombe Brath Book Launch

Sista — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 22:27:02 +0000

Get flyer

The December 12th Movement and The Elombe Brath Foundation present an evening with Elombe.

Be among the first people to get the Elombe Brath Selected Writings and Essays book, and at a reduced rate before its official release on July 27, 2018.

Editor Herb Boyd will discuss the book with Elombe’s son Cinque and other members of the Elombe Brath Foundation at the first unveiling of the book as it explores Africa, The Caribbean, The United States, Pan Africanism and Marcus Garvey.

The Book Launch will take place on Friday, July 13, 2018, at 6 pm at Sistas’ Place, 456 Nostrand Ave., Brooklyn, NY. Take the A/C trains to Nostrand Ave. stop. See map/get directions. Call (718) 398-1766 for more information.

“Last Day in Lagos” Book Signing with Marilyn Nance

Sista — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 12:42:35 +0000

Sunday, March 26, 2023,
3 – 5 p.m.,

456 Nostrand Ave., Brooklyn, NY (see map)

A focused study on a singular African American photographer, through an archival encounter with her documentation of the landmark FESTAC’77 festival.

From January 15 to February 12, 1977, more than 15,000 artists, intellectuals and performers from 55 nations worldwide gathered in Lagos, Nigeria, for the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, also known as FESTAC’77. Taking place in the heyday of Nigeria’s oil wealth and following the African continent’s potent decade of decolonization, FESTAC’77 was the peak of Pan-Africanist expression. Among the musicians, writers, artists and cultural leaders in attendance were Ellsworth Ausby, Milford Graves, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Samella Lewis, Audre Lorde, Winnie Owens, Miriam Makeba, Valerie Maynard, Queen Mother Moore and Sun Ra.

While serving as the photographer for the US contingent of the North American delegation, Brooklyn-based photographer Marilyn Nance made more than 1,500 images throughout the course of the festival—one of the most comprehensive photographic accounts of FESTAC’77. Drawing from Nance’s extensive archive, most of which has never before been published, Last Day in Lagos chronicles the exuberant intensity and sociopolitical significance of this extraordinary event. Remi Onabanjo is the editor of Last Day in Lagos.

Available for sale at the event! Or backorder the book online. Don’t Miss This!

For more info, contact Sistas’ Place at (718) 398-1766.

– – – – – – – –

Read the New York Times article about Last Day in Lagos and Marilyn Nance. (Gift link from paid NYTimes subscription.)

“A Strange Celestial Road: My Time with the Sun Ra Arkestra” Book Release Party!

Sista — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 03:18:48 +0000

Sun., July 23, 2023,
4 pm,
Sistas’ Place,
456 Nostrand Ave.,
Brooklyn, NY 11216

Book Signing of

A Strange Celestial Road: My Time with the Sun Ra Arkestra, a memoir by Ahmed Abdullah

Purchase at https://www.blankforms.org/publications/ahmed-abdullah-a-strange-celestial-road

Release Date: July 25, 2023.

In this captivating memoir, the first full-length account of life in the Arkestra by any of its members, Harlem-born trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah recounts two decades of traveling the spaceways with the inimitable composer, pianist, and big-band leader Sun Ra.

Gigging everywhere from the legendary Bed-Stuy venue The East to the National Stadium in Lagos, Abdullah paints a vivid picture of the rise of loft jazz and the influence of Pan-Africanism on creative music, while capturing radical artistic and political developments across Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan in the 1970s and ’80s.

Richly illustrated with more than fifty pages of photographs and posters from Adger Cowans, Marilyn Nance, Val Wilmer, and others, A Strange Celestial Road interweaves the author’s own moving story—his battles with addiction, spiritual development, and life as a working-class performer—with enthralling tales of tutelage under Cal Massey, collaborations with the likes of Ed Blackwell, Marion Brown, and Andrew Cyrille, and profound, occasionally confounding, mentorship by Sun Ra.

Originally written in the 1990s with the help of Nuyorican poet Louis Reyes Rivera and published now for the first time, with a foreword by Salim Washington, A Strange Celestial Road is a memoir — and a history of a remarkable and underdocumented movement in music.

New review by Matthew Blackwell, The Wire, July 2023 (Issue 473).
“A rare insider’s account reveals the inner workings of Sun Ra’s Arkestra” by Matthew Blackwell.
Read.

Frederick Douglas Speech: What to the American Slave is Your Fourth of July

Sista — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 06:09:30 +0000

Get high-resolution flyer

Read entire speech

Extended interview: Randy Weston

Sista — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 06:55:45 +0000

Posted By Mike Shanley
Oct 23, 2013
Pittsburgh City Paper

Randy Weston grew up in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, becoming friends with musicians like jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. In his late 20s, Weston decided to devote himself to playing the same instrument.. He has traveled throughout the world, incorporating numerous influences into his playing. He comes to the New Hazlett Theater with his African Rhythms Quartet on Sat., Oct. 26 at 8 p.m. Call 1-888-718-4253 for info.

You have said you feel like you’re a storyteller, not a jazz musician. Can you elaborate on that?
Well, my wonderful travels in the world are because of music. And music is the star, not Randy Weston. And music is spiritual. It’s taken me from Bed-Stuy growing up, to the black church, the blues, [playing in a] big band and all over Asia and Africa. So I tell stories about my experiences, about African-American culture, African culture and the spirituality in music itself.
I spent seven years in Africa. I traveled to 18 countries in Africa. I looked at the oldest musicians I could find, the oldest music I could listen to. When we grew up as kids in Brooklyn, we always hung out with our elders, you see? So I tell stories of these great people before us: my mom, my dad, going all the way back to African civilization.

What was it like, meeting these musicians?
They’re very traditional people. They’re all in tune with nature, the universe, the galaxy. They have a different concept of music. But they also keep the stories alive of their particular society. So I feel it makes you understand better, [questions like] who was Louis Armstrong, who was Duke Ellington? They were not only great musicians, with the music they played, they told the story of African-American life in the ’20s, in the ’30s, in the ’40s. That’s why they were storytellers. So I try to pass on that tradition and respect and love of those artists that came before me, who sacrificed a lot to produce this music that we call jazz or blues or samba, reggae whatever.

Can you call your music “jazz”?
Jazz doesn’t really give the full story. What have African people contributed to the US? America is so young, compared to most countries on the planet. So what we call jazz in African-Americans’ contribution to the United States. So if you look at it that way, it gives you the understanding, also the genius and the spirituality of all these people. How do they do what they do? How do they make music out of a broom, out of a bottle? In Africa, people make music out of anything. For them, music is the voice of the creator.
And I think about my mom and dad. How did they keep us so spiritual? They made sure we went to church every Sunday. They made sure we were spiritual, made sure we had our pride, our dignity, no matter what. So they are the heroes. [Laughs}
That piano teacher that was 50 cents a lesson and hit my hands with a ruler if I made a mistake. She made sure I practiced that piano!
I want everybody to understand more about what African people have contributed to America. I think if they understand that, we’d have a different approach of who we are, what we did, despite all the slavery and the racism. But all the beauty that we gave, it’s amazing.
I was lucky to have known Duke Ellington. I knew Count Basie. I met Billie Holiday and shook Louis Armstrong’s hand. I shook Mahalia Jackson’s hand. In my life I’ve been so blessed to meet these people that have never been given the proper credit for what they’ve given to America.

Did you know Thelonious Monk well?
I hung out with him! In the beginning, I didn’t understand what Monk was doing. But then I heard something. I met him and we hung out for about three years. I’d pick him up at his house in Manhattan and bring him back to Brooklyn, we’d go to places. He never said much, but his music…. For me, you can’t call this music jazz. This music is in touch with the ancient civilizations, the galaxies, the planets. By hanging out with him, I understood better [stride pianist] James P. Johnson, Ellington, all the people that preceded him, the history of piano. So the further you go back, you realize how humble you have to be today. And how they did what they did. It’s a miracle.
Ironically, I never heard a musician say to another musician, “We’re going to go play some jazz.” Interesting, huh? Instead, [they’ll say], “We’re going to play Duke’s music or Billie Holiday’s music or Benny Goodman’s music.” We never use the word.

You didn’t start playing piano professional until you were in your late 20s. How come?
Well you can understand why. People like Art Tatum and Earl Hines and Nat Cole and Duke! Erroll Garner — all those people [were] around. So to call yourself a pianist, you gotta be careful! That was royalty.
I used to go to [1920s ragtime pianist] Eubie Blake’s house and hang out with him. We’d go hear Willie “The Lion” Smith [another stride pianist who had been playing since the ‘20s]. Those people. You call yourself a pianist, you better be quiet! [laughs]
And if they were alive today, I’d be a little boy. Not to mention Bud Powell. There were all those people who played this music and did it a different way. Earl Hines did it this way, Monk this way, Count Basie this way. On the same instrument! So that’s why it took me a long time to decide to be a professional musician.

When you play with the African Rhythm Quartet, how do you plan a set?
We always try to bring on some of the traditional rhythms of Africa. So people can feel where it’s come from. I spent years with the people of Morocco, the Gnawa. They were taken in slavery. So they maintain a very powerful spiritual music.
From there, maybe we’ll go to the blues. But we’re just trying to tell a story of the history of African music. At the same time we all come from the motherland, everybody on the planet. It’s a combination of all those things.
I always tell the audience, “You’re a part of this band, because we’re going to take the trip together.” By the magic of music, it’s amazing how you look at the audience and see all the shades of the rainbow. Different colors, genders and ages. When the music is right, everybody becomes in tune with the music.

Original article: http://www.pghcitypaper.com/FFW/archives/2013/10/23/extended-interview-randy-weston

“Comrade Sisters Women of the Black Panther Party” Book Party!

Sista — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 10:57:17 +0000

Sunday, March 24, 2024,
3 pm,
Sistas’ Place,
456 Nostrand Ave, @ Jefferson,
Brooklyn, NY 11216.

Map.

For more than five decades photojournalist Stephen Shames (b. 1947) has used his work to call attention to a wide range of social issues—from the rights of children to poverty, race, and climate change. In 1965, while still a student at the University of California, Berkeley, Shames became the official photographer of the Black Panther Party at the invitation of party co-founder Bobby Seale. From then until 1973 he made hundreds of powerful images capturing the Panthers’ activities. Many record the everyday lives and critical work of the women who comprised more than 65 percent of the party’s membership.

This exhibition brings together 27 photographs by Shames that feature the women, or “comrade sisters,” as they were known, of the Black Panther party. They document the efforts these women undertook at community schools, free medical clinics, voter registration sites, community nutrition programs, and elder care centers across the United States, and some feature party leaders such as Ericka Huggins and Kathleen Cleaver. Shames’s photos reframe the male-dominated reputation of the Black Panthers, making it clear that the party’s unsung women were at the very heart of the collective movement—and ensuring the lasting legacy of the comrade sisters in the process.

“Race to Revolution” by Gerald Horne Book Talk in NYC — was in 2014. Nothing happening this Sat.

Sista — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 05:59:34 +0000

There is not a Book Party for Race to Revolution by Gerald Horne. That was in 2014.

Sat., July 26, 2025,
6:30 pm

Sistas’ Place, 456 Nostrand Avenue, Frederick Douglass Square (formerly Nostrand & Jefferson Aves.), where Jazz: A Music of the Spirit Lives and Culture is our Weapon, is in its 30th season with the music of Resistance, Resilience, and Resurgence. Sistas’ Place is a Historic Landmark Institution!

Buy Gerald Horne’s excellent book Race to Revolution (2014) and many others at Monthly Review Press and elsewhere.

Get 8.5″ by 11″ flyer (150 dpi & PDF)

Juneteenth Book Signing and Lecture with Prof. Gerald Horne

Sista — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:45:39 +0000

Fri., June 19, 2026,
12:30 – 3 pm,
102 Jefferson Ave.,
Brooklyn, NY – See map.

Celebrate Juneteenth this Friday, June 19, 2026, with world-renowned historian, Prof. Gerald Horne! Dive into his insights as he discusses his latest works and the significance of this historic day. Don’t miss the chance to get your books signed and engage in a lively lecture. It’s going to be inspiring and educational—come be a part of the conversation!

If you RSVP there will be books available to purchase: The Capital of Slavery, The Counter-Revolution of 1776, The Counter-Revolution of 1836 and The Counter-Revolution of 1893.

Learn was the American Revolution really about freedom—or preserving slavery?

This event is at a larger space at the Pentecostal Evangelical Outreach church, 102 Jefferson Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. One block from Sistas’ Place and the Juneteenth Celebration.

Get Tickets

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/juneteenth-book-signing-lecture-with-prof-gerald-horne-tickets-1990537093029

$10. No one turned away lacking money.

Questions? Call (718) 398-1766.

& & & & & & & & &

Celebrate More!

After the Prof. Horne event, join us at the nearby outdoor mega Juneteenth Celebration! Local Entertainment, Your Favorite Vendors, Food, Family-friendly, Free! A real community-centered event. Don’t miss the 3 pm Fashion Show by our Tribal Truths models and the original Grandassa Models!!

Larger version: https://sistasplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2026-06-19-juneteenth-7x11in-150dpi.pdf