Acclaimed jazz bassist Charnett Moffett has been turning heads and opening ears with his unique rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.” Taken from his recent Motema release The Art of Improvisation, Charnett channels Jimi Hendrix into his brilliant interpretation of the national anthem. AllAboutJazz says that Charnett’s version “convincingly revives the spirit of Hendrix’s Woodstock version.” Details Magazine agrees, describing the track as “an acidy version of  “The Star Spangled Banner” that would have made Jimi Hendrix weep. ” See for yourself in this video:

More news from our fearless jazz diva Alexis Cole, currently in the midst of 9 weeks at Basic Training - a requirement of her becoming the vocalist with the West Point Jazz Knights Big Band.

On the Range (12 Jun 09, Fort Leonard Wood)

Brass plinks

ammo swirls

toward silhouettes unknowing

Zero in

on black spots far

in the distance.

In the foreground, 85

lanes of pebbles

a straight shot

from our sights

to the paper enemy.

On eye open

I steady

aim fire.

My gun’s smoke

rises lazily

effortlessly

into thin air.

On the range

the humans,

practicing to be gods

trample underfoot

and padded knee

eons of secrets

kept

by tiny pebbles.

Glacial times

mountainous ranges rose

from sea to shining sea

violent red

split open

lava, destruction

creation

at work.

Modern times,

humans, using brass and ammo

create, destroy

errupt

blood on desert sand

from pebbles

from mountainous ranges

from glacial times.

*          *          *

Souls float when

guns smoke,

fourteen pound

trigger squeeze

In my sight picture

Life floats

effortlessly

into thin air.

Dear Friends:

This week was another whirlwind.  The weekend was very low key, most of the drill sergeants taking their first vacation days since we started.  Mass this Sunday was wholly uninspiring, and not even the piano made me laugh.

Monday was a gas (ha ha) as we donned our chemical suits and masks and trained for a biological or chemical weapon assault.  We had to run a quarter mile around the track in M.O.P.P. 4 gear:  coat, pants, and rubber over boots, rubber gloves and gas mask.  It was so hot!  Everyone felt like they were suffocating in the mask.

Then we had a lovely picnic lunch.  The drill sergeants made everyone drink extra milk so they could laugh when we made a bigger mess on ourselves when we came out of the C.S. chamber.

We went into the gas chamber in groups of 15.  We started off with our masks on and did jumping jacks (side straddle hops) then they heated up two capsules of C.S. gas (which is like tear gas they use for riot control) and we opened our masks and cleared them (just like in SCUBA).  After about 30 seconds my neck was burning!  Then we had to take off our masks completely and say our company motto “Alpha Rock” about 5 times.  The air was toxic, I felt like I couldn’t breathe.  I was coughing and my eyes were watering, I was nauseous.  Just when I thought I couldn’t stand it another second, they opened the door and shoved us out in single file, hacking and drooling all over ourselves.

Our suffering seemed to serve as a rite of passage.  After everyone got through our drill sergeant said with approval, “One more step closer to graduation!  Huh!”

They gave us the rest of the day off from yelling and let us get to bed early, to prepare for our P.T. test on Tuesday morning.

The first event was the push up.  I did 10 and was overcome with joy.  I did great on the sit ups and then I finished the 2 mile run with 3 minutes to spare.  150 points is passing, 300 is maxing out, and I scored 197 points.  Considering I’m not terribly athletic, I was really happy with my score.  It was one of the higher scores among the women in our platoon.

That night there was a tornado warning and the power went out.  We had to file into the hallways shoulder to shoulder and hang out until it passed, it was vaguely exciting.

Wednesday we went to the shooting range for the first time.  First I helped Anten, a tiny female private from Thailand who has hair down to her ankles.  She did great, grouping on the first try.  Next was my turn and I also did great.  To group, you have to shoot 6 consecutive rounds within a 4 cm. circle. The next day we had to ‘zero’, getting 5 out of 6 rounds center mass on the target.  I qualified on my second magazine.

Wednesday morning I had a little melt down because I was missing 2 out of 3 pairs of my spandex shorts (which go under the PT shorts).  I’ve had a lot of stuff stolen since arriving, and it just really gets to me, that people would do that.  To make matters worse, I banged the door of my locker in anger and bent the door.  I think my outburst freaked my roommates out.  Later in trying to explain it, I equaled it to controlled burning, like you would do to a field or forest to prevent an out of control blaze.  In being able to give an outlet to my frustration, sadness and anger, I can overcome it and be strong again.

Like building muscles up, building soldiers is probably the same; work them to exhaustion, until they tear.  Let them heal, feed them, and they become stronger.

We have one more week of Red phase.  Supposedly the next phases are easier.  In other good news, my drill sergeant authorized me to have my previously confiscated oregano oil, vitamin C and garlic and cayenne pills, so maybe the cold I’m getting won’t really take hold.  Everyone is sick.  Morning formation sounds like a TB ward!

The girls in my bay are still awesome, and the other bay of girls in my platoon is imploding with a case of type A personality.  I like most of those girls, but all of them are getting on my nerves.  I don’t really need three 20 year old mothers telling me what to do all the time!  I just try not to react.

So this week I’ve met challenges in the three hardest areas of Basic Training:  PT, Marksmanship and Battle Buddies.  Drill sergeant said if you could do all those things, plus not do anything stupid, you would graduate.

So I should be walking across the stage on July 30th and ship back to New York the next day.  I have my first concert with my unit, the West Point Jazz Knights on August 9th.

4 weeks down, 7 to go!

Getting your letters means so much to me.  Please write.  Send me great poems and art on postcards.  I need more beauty in my life.  Here’s my mailing address:

PVT-SPC Alexis Cole

A-1-48 Inf Regt  1ST Plt

495 Iowa Ave, Unit 13

Ft. Leonard Wood, MO  65473

**On the back of the envelope, write “1ST” and under that “PLT” and draw a circle around what you’ve written.**

With love,

Alexis

Motema Music recently signed jazz vocalist Alexis Cole who will be releasing a Christmas album The Greatest Gift later this year. Alexis is currently undertaking 9 weeks of Basic Training - a requirement of her accepting a position as vocalist with the West Point Jazz Knights Big Band. She’s been keeping us updated with her weekly blogs, detailing her experiences.

After reflecting on my last letter, I realized that the questions I didn’t really answer was, “What’s so hard about Basic Training?”

I mean, everyone knows you have to do a lot of exercise, and get yelled at, but perhaps you, like me, thought there would be a point in the evening where that ended and life would be normal.

I envisioned, for instance, that I would email at night from my phone, or type my letters or check the news.  I envisioned that I might read, stay up until I wanted, eat what I wanted, make calls or do laundry.

We do get to do some of those things, but on an extremely limited basis.  Really, the thing that makes Basic Training so challenging is that it’s relentless.

To prove my point, I logged a 24 hour period.  I tried to go for a few days, but if you can imagine that just that tiny extra task put too much of a strain on me, you’d get the point.

So, here’s a day in the life of Specialist Cole, starting from about 48 hours ago:

*                      *                      *

21:20   To bed

22:50   Wake up for fireguard and did laundry

24:15   Back to bed

04:05   Wake up.  Before lights on, so with a flashlight I get ready for the day which includes slicking my hair, making my bed, getting in uniform and cleaning

04:30   Lights on

04:40   Accountability formation in the platoon “war room”

04:50   Outside for company accountability formation

05:00   Physical training (P.T.) “puey suey”, sit-ups, pushups, bars

06:00   In chow formation

06:20   Breakfast chow

07:00   Gather equipment and transit to pool

08:00   At pool for training exercise

10:30   Back at barracks, formation

10:40   Released for barracks maintenance

12:10   Outside formation

12:30   March to lunch

12:45   Lunch chow

13:08   Formation

13:45   Weapons issued

14:00   Outside formation, instruction on marching with weapons

14:50   Pee break

15:00   Instruction Basic Rifle Marksmanship

16:00   Prepare weapons

16:10   Weapon check

16:20   Gas mask sanitizing brief

16:30   Get masks and sanitize them

16:50   Chow formation

17:00   Dinner chow

17:40   Outdoor formation and exercise

17:50   “War room” P.T. and briefing

18:10   Weapon dismantling cleaning and prep

18:50   Outside accountability formation, P.T. and learning drills with weapon

19:30   Platoon female meeting

20:30   Shower, etc. got my clothes stolen from the bathroom

21:00   Lights out

21:05   Filled out laundry slip, stretched

21:15   Fill canteens, stretch

21:30   Make a list of personal goals

21:45   Push ups

21:55   Go to bed

Formation is basically standing perfectly still in one of three positions of varying discomfort, usually in the hot sun.  P.T. often is extremely tortuous with long stints of holding your weapon out in front of you with your arms locked.

*                      *                      *

Sunday was nice.  I went to Mass with my friends and the Pentecost service was really inspiring, (minus the horribly out of tune piano.)  The focus of the sermon was the verse “The Spirit that God gives us is no cowardly spirit, but one that makes us strong, loving and wise.”  I needed to hear that!  We spent the rest of Sunday cleaning and doing P.T.

Monday we did an awesome team building obstacle course.  We had five different riddles to solve.  They involved moving soldiers and ammo from one side of an obstacle to the other without touching the ground.  We worked in teams of about fifteen.  It was physically and mentally challenging.  On the first station, I didn’t have any ideas, so I just hung out, but on the second one, I had a good idea and was able to implement it.  I also forced some fear and feeling of inadequate physical strength by jumping over a huge wall (with help) and walking an improvised balance beam from one side of the obstacle to the other.

Facing my fears is a favorite hobby of mine and the next day I got to reap the fruits of that.  Tuesday we went to the pool for Combat Water Training.  We learned how to make a floatation device from our ACU (uniform-example above) pants, how to swim keeping your weapon above water, how to release your gear in an emergency, and most people’s favorite, jumping blindfolded with your weapon from the high dive.

After all my adventures cliff diving in the Caribbean (which was really scary) and swimming and scuba diving in the ocean, I felt unafraid.  It was so nice to be in my comfort zone with an activity.

Wednesday we started First Aid training with a full day of classes.  We had a great and energetic teacher.  (I was still falling asleep though unfortunately.)

Thursday, the second day of First Aid, we had to give each other an I.V.  I was really afraid when I heard we’d be doing that, more afraid of doing it that having it done to me.  In the class thought, when my partner started working on the dummy arm, I made a decision to be brave.  I did it with confidence on the dummy arm, even holding down the pressure on the vein instinctively, to keep it from bleeding out.

I had a little trepidation going into the room where we had to perform it on our live “battle buddy”, but my partner had a huge vein, and after he stuck me and I bled a lot and it hardly hurt, I felt pretty easy about it, and did a competent job.

Today we went for a run, the second with our “Ability Groups”.  I’m in the lowest of three groups, but considering my age and the lack of athleticism in my past, I feel pretty good just being in the middle of the pack of the lowest group.  Some of the troops are really struggling, and I’m sooo relieved that I worked out enough to keep up and not have a drill sergeant yelling at me that I don’t have enough “heart” to keep us with the group.

Now we’re back at the first aid area with another vibrant and wonderful teacher and I learned what to do with an amputation (never put body parts on ice) or if someone’s guts are hanging out.

Monday, Wednesday and today we had our lunch picnic style, outside on the training sites.  The mood was positively gay.  Drill sergeants were still yelling and some people didn’t get to finish because they were told to hurry up.  I was completely unperturbed.

The weather has been beautiful, and today in formation, in my running suit, with the late spring/early summer chill giving me goose bumps; I though back a year to last May. Delighted by the spring thaw, I put my black and white miniskirt on and rode through the city on my bicycle in sheer joy, celebration of new life and it’s manifestations in me.

I think I’ve finally identified the choked up feeling which has been making me all weepy when I stare out into the blankness during formation.

Gratitude.

Mostly for family and friends.  Also for the bits and tatters of mundane beauty that make up the jumbled patchwork of my life.

It’s like I’ve died.  In removing myself from my life, I can see it from above:  a world in a tiny glass paperweight, animate with snow.

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about my sister.  One of the girls in my bay just turned 18, only 2 years older than my sister.  We’re both “headlights” troops in fluorescent vests who stand at the front of the company formation when we march.  She’s kind of an air head in a way I totally identify with, but have been overcoming myself.  She has adult responsibilities here, but she’s just a kid.  I’m enjoying helping her and watching her grow in this new experience we’re sharing.  I feel so blessed with a loving family, a wonderful career, a passionate life.  In a way, I hardly know my sister, but I love her so much, and feeling her love and desire for a relationship with me chokes me up.  I imagine receiving mail from her, a “letter to the troops” encouragement to keep on going.

This IS a battle simulation.  The enemy is YOU, your habits, customs and comforts.  Learning to live in a constant high stress situation is the active goal.

Gratitude.

For every meal, every hour of sleep, every moment of reprise looking out with my military stare into the great abyss.  Grateful for my past, a life of power, love and witness; my present an exploration into my shadows and contemplation of new ways of being in the world; my future, stability, opportunity, a following through of my hard won goals and priorities.

It’s almost the weekend again.  Highlights of next week include a chamber filled with tear gas, and a P.T. test!

xo from Basic,

Cole

On Tuesday, June 9th, Jana Herzen and Charnett Moffett gave a deeply moving performance at the Concertino studio in Manhattan.

Concertino is a unique venue constructed by Steve Haas of SH Acoustics. Haas’ design eliminates the visual obstruction of amps and microphones, creating an unimpeded flow between musicians, and presenting the audience with a very natural and intimate musical experience.

Jana Herzen and Charnett Moffett’s Concertino show featured songs from their upcoming duo recording project, titled Here with You. Herzen and Moffett performed a variety of jazz classics, including “ ‘Tis Autumn” and “My Baby Just Cares For Me.”  They also treated the audience to a reggae arrangement of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now,” and a sensual and virtuosic version of Herbie Hancock’s “Spain.”  Herzen wowed listeners with original tunes “Night Blooming Jasmine,” “Bali Holiday” and “On The Outside,” which ranged between meditative jazz ballads and world music flavored folk-rock anthems. Her poignantly phrased lyrics called to mind Joni Mitchell’s Mingus album.

Throughout their two forty-five minute sets, Jana radiated a palpable sense of contentment and trust in the process of music making: never forcing, just allowing each sound to find its home in her intricate arrangements. Charnett supported Jana with the elegance and effortlessness that can only come from years of playing with the finest musicians in jazz.  He also captivated the audience with a pyrotechnic solo bass composition from his new CD The Art of Improvisation. The duo shared playful glances from behind their bass and guitar, challenging each other each moment to new levels of connection and improvisation.

Motéma has begun hosting regular events at Concertino, and will be featuring a different artist on their stage each month. To reserve your tickets for the next performance, sign up to receive the Motéma Muse (our monthly newsletter).

To buy The Art of Improvisation and to receive updates about Charnett and Jana’s upcoming duo project, please visit the Charnett Moffett and Jana Herzen artist pages.

Til next time…

Peace & Love,

Melissa

Melissa Guttman is a singer/songwriter and graduate of Berklee College of Music. She has worked at Island Def Jam and SPIN Magazine, and is now participating in marketing and live music promotions for Motéma.

Painted On Water is the self-titled album project by the duo of Turkish pop stars and Eurovision Award winners Sertab Erener and composer/guitarist Demir Demirkan. Produced in LA and Istanbul by Painted on Water’s Demirkan and 9-time Grammy® winner Jay Newland (Norah Jones, Herbie Hancock), Painted On Water is named after the Turkish technique of marbled-paper art known as Ebru, created by floating dyes on the surface of water. The music moves fluidly and organically between jazz, modern rock, Turkish Anatolian classical, folk, and pop-flavored compositions featuring Erener’s sensual lead and Demirkan’s fusion-jazz instrumentals. English lyrics were written by Demirkan and veteran No. 1 songsmith Phil Galdston (Madonna, Celine Dion).

Download MP3: “Mad Love”

More info about Painted on Water
Purchase Painted On Water

Fearless jazz diva Alexis Cole, who makes her Motema debut this Christmas with The Greatest Gift recently accepted a position as the vocalist with the West Point Jazz Knights Big Band.  In order to take this posting, only one thing stands in her way.  She must complete 9 weeks of Basic Training! Alexis continues to update us on her life in the army…

This week, another transition.

I spent the holiday weekend at Reception Battalion basically eating, sleeping, sitting down and shutting up.  We did have a lot of down time in our barracks, which I spent reading Iris Murdoch’s The Italian Girl, with a symphony of girlie chatter, arguments and laughter around me.

Sunday, the first sergeant had a ‘talk’ with us, basically killing time between lunch and dinner chow.  At one point he asked if anyone could play the piano.  At first I didn’t get up, but then the girls from my barracks were egging me on.  I wanted to represent so I decided to play New York State of Mind.  I was shaking, more nervous than I’ve ever been before a performance.  I managed to get through the song and even cracked a joke.  My girls gave me a standing ovation.

Tuesday, the party was pretty much over.  After lunch at the Reception Battalion we got on a bus with our heavy duffle bags.  We had to hide our faces in our bags, crowded into the bus like I haven’t seen since I was in India. When we got off the bus it was like a scene from a movie.  They made us hold our huge duffle bags up above our heads and keep them there.  Luckily I packed my boots in my other bag!  It was really difficult and people who couldn’t do it were getting a lot of attention in the form of drill sergeants yelling in their face.  I had a lot of will, and thank God I’d been working out my arms prior to coming, so I pretty much kept it up.  Everyone who had a rank pin in their cap got their scalp all scratched up.

I can’t even remember what happened after that actually.  But now it’s Saturday night and I’ve only slept about 4 hours a night and had no personal time.  Basically we’ve been on the run from 4am until 10pm every night, and doing an hour of guard duty every other night.

For as much as it sucks, I lucked out.  I got the best 3 drill sergeants, a bottom bunk right across from the bathroom, a great bunk mate, important because your bunk mate is your “battle buddy”.  All the girls who were annoying me in the Reception Battalion are not in my group, and all the girls in my platoon are great.

They yell at us a lot, and yesterday I pretty much cried all day.  I couldn’t cry because I have to maintain “military bearing”, so I really experienced all the classic things, quavering lip, bulge in my throat..

We were in these really boring classes and I was fighting not to fall asleep, so I kept thinking about my Mom’s last words to me at the airport.  She said, “my money’s on you.”  I don’t know why it makes me cry so much, I think I just really needed a reprise from all the hell.  I can stay tough, but when I think about putting my head on someone’s shoulder and crying, it makes me get all soft.

I also thought a lot about my friend Jeff, who was very fatherly to me.In my effort to stay awake, I tried to make a list of all the nice leisurely meals we shared and the places we went.  I had to stop thinking about it because it was just killing me.  I really needed some freakin’ sleep.

We went to the PX (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_exchange )to buy supplies and I put down my guard, I guess being in such a civilian place like a drug store made me forget myself, but then one drill sergeant started telling the other about me, because the night before we had to write a paragraph about ourselves and anything they should know.  I wrote about being a musician and asked the drill sergeant not to blow his whistle in my ear.  He blows it in the hallway in the morning and it’s deafening, but in my ear could really be permanently damaging.  In the PX the drill sergeant started asking me questions about where I was going to do my training and when I told him I’d be deploying directly to West Point he said “Oh, Private Cole’s gonna have the good life.”  And then I smiled and said “yes, drill sergeant.”  He yelled at me for smiling and followed it with “Oh, and I’ll be sure to blow that whistle in your face.”  I got out to formation and just cried.

The idea that 1) he didn’t like me because I had a job he found to be elitist, and 2) that he could blow the whistle in my ear, plus 3) the sense of betrayal I felt because I was honest in my paragraph and he stabbed me in the back with the very thing I requested he not do, and 4) there was nothing I could do about that or anything else in my current environment:  it was overwhelming.

My friend Lyncly, a trumpet player about to enter the file and drum corps in DC was there and maybe that’s part of why I was so gay.  He asked me how it was going and I said I was having a hard day, but overall O.K.  He gave me a totally knowing look, in which I could see the suffering he’d also been going through (plus the deep scratches on his forehead from the hat pins).  He looked me in the eye with assurance and said “It’s tough, but it’ll all be worth it.”

Today I woke up from a beautiful dream about drums and gongs. I dreamt about my hippie friend Sanders from Koinonia, his daughter sharing a ceremonial peace pipe, the smoke and the sounds of the drums and gongs circling heaven ward.  I sat with them and played ancient tones in a place of perfect calm.

More boring classes today during which I again fought to stay awake, but in the middle they needed some entertainment, and called on me to sing.  I sang the National Anthem, and then they asked me to sing a jazz song, since I told them I sing jazz.  I really didn’t want them to have me sing, only to use it as a way to cut me down (that’s their M.O.) but they didn’t make fun of me, and after I sang they even said I could sing the National Anthem IF I make it to graduation. When I chose my jazz song to sing, I knew it had to be something with a lyric appropriate to my feelings about the situation we’re in here.

The opening words came to me:

“I took a trip on a train,”

I tell you, of all my adventures, this is the weirdest by a long shot.  I wish I didn’t have to be here, but I know when it’s over I’ll be glad I did it.

I may actually get a chance to work on some things here too, my upper body strength for one, but also my absent mindedness and constant lateness.

They keep saying “Basic training isn’t difficult, just do what we tell you to do when we tell you to do it, and you’ll be fine.”  The problem is, the timeframe and amount of details to remember are too short and too many for my untrained civilian mind.  I have no intention of ever becoming a warrior, but to have a warrior mind would really help me.  Displaying more confidence in my countenance would be great too.

Tonight is another great opportunity to sleep and dream.  I’ve been counting down the hours to lights out since 6am.

Tomorrow is Pentecost and we have half a day “off” to go to church and clean the barracks.  Thank God!

It’s been a really tough week.  I wouldn’t mind if you prayed for me.  I could really use the extra help.  Feel free to send me a letter, (but no packages please):
PVT-SPC Alexis Cole
A-1-48 Inf Regt  1ST Plt
495 Iowa Ave, Unit 13
Ft. Leonard Wood, MO  65473
**On the back of the envelope, write “1ST” and under that “PLT” and draw a circle around what you’ve written.**

“I took a trip on a train and I thought about You (Lord),
I passed a shadowing lane (shadowy indeed), and I thought about You,
I peeked through the crack and looked down the track, the one leading back to you,
and what I did do, I thought about You.”

Much Love, from Hell,

xo
Alexis

In the above photo, L-R: Makane Kouyate, Oran Etkin, Joe Sanders, Balla Kouyate

The Oran Etkin CD release party at the Knitting Factory was a huge success! Special guests Lionel Loueke, Abdoulaye Diabate, and Bobby Sanabria joined Oran, Balla Kouyate (balafon), Joe Sanders (bass), and Makane Kouyate (calabash and vocals) onstage for an unforgettable evening filled with high-energy performances from the band’s self-titled June 9th release, Kelenia.

Throughout their set, Group Kelenia epitomized the meaning of synchronicity: every sound, breath, and movement seemed to occur in tandem. The musicians were so clear in their sense of purpose that their faces displayed looks of pure joy, and their melodies danced with unharnessed creativity. Etkin effortlessly lead his group through complex rhythmic patterns and a wide range of stylistic modes.

Jazz sensation Lionel Loueke integrated seamlessly into Group Kelenia’s rhythm section. The packed audience was spellbound by Abdoulaye Diabate’s otherwordly vocals, and cheered enthusiastically for Afro-Cuban legend Bobby Sanabria’s contribution to “Yekeke”.

Above, L-R: Lionel Loueke, Oran Etkin, Balla Kouyate, Bobby Sanabria, Jana Herzen

If you missed your chance to see Group Kelenia’s June 3rd release show, be sure to catch the next one at Barbés on June 12th in Brooklyn. Oran will also be guest-starring with virtuosic bassist Charnett Moffett in Santa Rosa at the Harmony Festival on June 13th & 14th, will be appearing in LA at Gallery 2023 on June 19th, and will have a his final release party in Boston on June 28th at Johnny D’s.

Don’t forget we have a free download of “Nama” available (right click on the link and select “save as”) and a video up on YouTube of Oran’s live recording for NYC’s WKCR radio that was featured on Flavorpill’s Daily Dose on June 4th! To view it, please visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUkyhZWEeXo

Peace & Love, Melissa