ALKEBULAN TO ASTRALASIA

A tale bookended by two different types of vessel: slave-ship and space ship; removal and escape. In between, songs of captivity and resistance; exile and return; remembrance and infection; hell on earth and heaven in mind…. Inspired by four wise men: the writer Ishmael Reed (who hypothesised that African slaves brought with them a cultural virus -he called it Jes’ Grew- transmitted via music that caused white people to sing and dance and be happy in the same ways as black folk), and the Ark-i-techs Sun Ra, Lee Perry  and George Clinton; as well as the Afro Futurism film essay The Last Angel Of History (link below) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AorKl-FmCLA&t=10s 1 BLIND WILLIE JOHNSON-DARK WAS THE NIGHT (COLD WAS THE GROUND) 2 RANDY NEWMAN-SAIL AWAY 3 THE O’JAYS-SHIP AHOY 4 BURNING SPEAR-SLAVERY DAYS 5 ISHMAEL REED-JES’GREW 6 DOCTOR ROSS-THE BOOGIE DISEASE 7 THE MONITORS-ROCK ’N’ ROLL FEVER 8 SOUNDZ AFRICANA-AFRICANA 9 MANDINGO GRIOT SOCIETY WITH DON CHERRY-SOUNDS FROM THE BUSH 10 RUSS HENDERSON-WEST INDIAN DRUMS 11 PRESTON EPPS-BONGO IN THE CONGO 12 JIMMY SMITH-BURNING SPEAR 13 DR JOHN-BABYLON 14 THE HEPTONES-SUFFERER’S TIME 15 SALAH RAGAB & CAIRO JAZZ BAND-RAMADAN IN SPACE TIME 16 JUSTIN HINDS & THE DOMINOES-THE ARK 17 PARLIAMENT-MOTHERSHIP CONNECTION (STAR CHILD) 18 NRBQ-ROCKET NUMBER 9 19 SUN RA-SPACE IS THE PLACE