director JESUS FRANCO in Austin, TX, 9/28/09

Legendary Spanish filmmaker JESUS FRANCO will be in Austin, TX,

appearing at a screening of his 1969 classic VENUS IN FURS,  Monday 28 September, 7:15 pm,  at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar…..

Can’t believe I’m getting a chance to see visionary director Franco,
an artistic hero of mine for decades, in person. It DOES pay to
live within driving distance of Austin…as long as I don’t have to live there!

If I get the chance to talk to him (which I probably won’t), I’ll thank him for doing the (much-maligned, but to me brilliant) restoration of ORSON WELLES’ DON QUIXOTE. This event will surely sell out, so go to the Alamo Drafthouse website and buy tix on-line.

 Working with low-budgets and a fertile imagination, Jesus Franco has created countless mind-expanding films for nearly 50 years, all of which show his unique visual style. Many of his films have a post-logical, elliptical, dream-like structure, and certainly works such as THE SADISTIC BARON VON KLAUS (1962), ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS (1966, w/ Eddie Constantine), THE DIABOLICAL DR. Z (1966), THE EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN (1972), and DRACULA CONTRA FRANKENSTEIN (1972) I have watched countless times and they were instrumental in the creation of my poetic aesthetic. In fact, BARON VON KLAUS and the 1972 DRACULA/FRANKENSTEIN films are some of the most poetic cinema one will find. Franco has never been popular with mainstream critics or academia because he chooses to work in genre films, but in a sense that rejection is testimony to the purity of his vision. I never expected I’d ever be in the same room as Senor Franco, so this will be a special treat for me…and to see a nice print of VENUS IN FURS on the big screen (I saw it as the third or fourth film on an all-night bill at a drive-in, in a scratchy, splicy form, circa 1973) will also be an experience I won’t soon forget. Many great Franco films have still not been issued on video in the US/UK (his pop-art, adult comic-strip film LUCKY,  THE INSCRUTABLE deserves to be as remembered as DANGER:DIABOLIK and MODESTY BLAISE, and is certainly better than the latter by any standard), but many ARE, so try some. I’m sure you can find them cheap on the Amazon Marketplace.

Thanks, Jess, for the joy and the cheap thrills and the visionary cinematic poetry you’ve given us over the decades!

the next Kaufmann & Shute poetic collaboration

 

the third poetic collaboration between A. J. Kaufmann and Bill Shute

TWOMBLY’S  SIRACUSA

 

inspired by the work of the American painter-sculptor

 CY  TWOMBLY

 

approximate release date:   25  DECEMBER  2009

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When visiting Houston, Texas, be sure to stop by the Twombly Gallery http://www.menil.org/visit/twombly.php 

1501 Branard, within a block of the Rothko Chapel and Menil Collection

open  Wednesday-Sunday   11 a.m. to 7 p.m.   (free admission & free parking)

Kaufmann & Shute, “Blues for Duffy Power” (KSE #145), now available

KSE  #145

A.  J.  KAUFMANN   &   BILL  SHUTE

“BLUES FOR DUFFY POWER”

 

In BLUES FOR DUFFY POWER (KSE #145), our second collaborative chapbook, A. J. Kaufmann and I have created a multifaceted nine-page poetic mosaic that grows out of our admiration for the British bluesman Duffy Power, for whom 2009 marks his 50th year in music. A powerful but sensitive songwriter, singer, guitarist, and harmonica player, Power has never become a superstar, but has remained true to the  blues, and his reputation continues to grow despite the small number of albums he’s released.

In BLUES FOR DUFFY POWER, A. J. Kaufmann and I dig down deep for the essence of the blues, through a bluesman’s life, gigs, lyrics, and consciousness…the coldwater flat, the sleeping in train and bus stations, the unglamorous gigs in backwater places for blitzed winery workers and soldiers about to be shipped off to war, the ability to connect through the blues with anyone anywhere who is oppressed or marginalized . You’ll feel not just what it’s like to live the blues, but to live it so deeply your only option is to sing the blues. And no one sings the blues better and more sensitively than Duffy Power.

BLUES FOR DUFFY POWER is unlike any other poem you’ve read, including the previous Kaufmann and Shute collaboration, BEYOND THE BLUE ROCKS: MEDITATIONS ON THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD. It’s KSE #145, and it’s available now in a hand-assembled, hand-numbered edition of  67 copies.

In the US, books are $4 each postpaid, or you can get any three KSE chaps for $10 postpaid.  Send a check (or well-concealed cash) made payable to Bill Shute, 14080 Nacogdoches Rd. #350, San Antonio, Texas, 78247.  Outside the US, you can get any book for $5 postpaid, payable via paypal. Just write to django5722 (at) yahoo (dot) com and request a paypal invoice. For your 3-for-$10 deal, you can choose from any of these other in-print chapbooks:

#144, ZACHARY C. BUSH, “spin” ;

#143, A. J. KAUFMANN, “symbolisme psychédélique” (sound library series, volume 47). In memory of Sky Sunlight Saxon, issued simultaneously with KSE #142 ;

#142, BILL SHUTE, “plink, plonk & scratch” (sound library series, volume 46). In memory of Sky Sunlight Saxon, issued simultaneously with KSE #143.

#141, LUIS CUAUHTEMOC BERRIOZABAL & CYNTHIA ETHERIDGE, overcome ;

#140, BILL SHUTE, subtraction ;

#139, A. J. KAUFMANN, antiquewhite rain (sound library series, volume 45) ;

#138, BILL SHUTE, the stumble (sound library series, volume 44) ;

#134, RONALD BAATZ, headlights from the otherside of the world ;

#132,  DOUG DRAIME, knox county (photographs by Lena Ozuna) ;

#135,  BILL SHUTE, stereo action (sound library series, volume 42) ;

#130,  MISTI RAINWATER-LITES, odd years ;

#126,  MICHAEL LAYNE HEATH, grey rage (dyed) .

And while you are at it, why not buy one or more of Mr. Power’s superb CD’s?

available DUFFY POWER cd’s (all UK releases) :

“leapers and sleepers” (RPM records)

“vampers and champers” (RPM records)

“sky blues: bbc broadcasts” (HUK records)

&

Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated featuring Duffy Power

“Sky High” (CASTLE records)

KSE “Cinema Poetry Series” returns!!!

 

  A. J. Kaufmann is doing a chapbook inspired by Antonioni’s DESERTO ROSSO (RED DESERT) from 1964

Bill Shute is taking on Richard C. Sarafian’s VANISHING POINT (1971).

It’s been two years since the first volume in the Cinema Poetry Series, ROCKET ATTACK  U.S.A.!!! , inspired by Barry Mahon’s minimalistic cold-war classic. This chapbook was praised in Arthur Magazine and in the Kenyon Review small press section and received excellent reader response, many pointing out how unbelievable it was that anyone would write a post-modern poetry chapbook based on a Barry Mahon film! I began a second Cinema Poetry volume, based on the obscure 1951 San Antonio-made z-grade western CACTUS BARRIER, but other projects got in the way, and I never got beyond one page on it (and that page later became part of MORE  (KSE #136—-those who own this one should be able to tell which poem I’m referring to)).  A. J. Kaufmann suggested we re-start the Cinema Poetry Series and that we both take on an extended poem in that tradition. I’d been wanting to do something with Vanishing Point for some time, and he’d been wanting to do something with Antonioni’s DESERTO ROSSO, so here we are. These should be ready for release in late 2009.

two new poems by A. J. Kaufmann at Calliope Nerve

Two new A. J. Kaufmann pieces at Calliope Nerve, “The Barbarian” and “Lost Angeles.”

Enjoy: http://calliopenerve.blogspot.com/search/label/A.J.%20Kaufmann

advance copies of BLUES FOR DUFFY POWER now for sale

A. J. KAUFMANN and BILL  SHUTE

“BLUES FOR DUFFY POWER”

KSE #145

It won’t be “officially” released until later in September, but I do have some advance copies of BLUES FOR DUFFY POWER now available for sale. Check the “Available KSE Chapbooks” page to your right for ordering instructions (it’s not listed there yet, but price is the same as any other book). A full write-up will follow later in the month, and of course it will be released around the same time as PINNACLE (KSE #146), the new one from MK Chavez and Mira Horvich. A. J. and I first started planning BLUES FOR DUFFY POWER in the fall of 2008, so it’s been a long time in planning and execution. We hope you enjoy it!

OVERCOME (KSE #141) reviewed at Orange Alert

Very nice review of  Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal and Cynthia Etheridge’s  OVERCOME (KSE #141) over at Orange Alert. Here’s the link: http://www.orangealert.net/node/395 .  Reviewer Samuel Ahote totally “gets” where this work is coming from, and describes the poetry-photo combination and its intended effect perfectly. Thank you, sir!

You can order OVERCOME for $4 US/$5 elsewhere. Click on the “available KSE chapbooks” page to your right for ordering instructions. And congratulations to Luis and Cynthia for (another) job well done!

Immeasurable Space and Infinite Worlds: Xenakis & Nono, Austin, Texas, 5 September 2009

 

The evening of Alvin Lucier music presented by the Austin New Music Co-op earlier this year was one of the most exciting artistic experiences I’ve had in some time, so I’m happy to announce this upcoming performance teaming the ANMC with the Austin Museum of Digital Art and the Line Upon Line percussion ensemble, an evening presenting compositions by Iannis Xenakis and Luigi Nono, two late twentieth century composers (Greek and Italian, respectively) who were major pioneers, but whose works do not often receive the full-scale, seriously-promoted performances they deserve. Central Texas is fortunate to have events such as these thanks to a core of forward-thinking musicians/organizers in Austin, and all I can say is…thank you!  The press release explains things better than I can:

WHAT: AMODA Performance Series
WHERE: Mexican American Cultural Center (600 River St, 78701)
WHEN: Saturday, September 5th, 8pm – 10pm
ADMISSION: $12 for AMODA Members/Students
$15 general

AUSTIN MUSEUM OF DIGITAL ART PRESENTS
with NEW MUSIC CO-OP & LINE UPON LINE:
IMMEASURABLE SPACE AND INFINITE WORLDS

THREE MONUMENTAL WORKS for PERCUSSION and ELECTRONICS
by IANNIS XENAKIS and LUIGI NONO
PERFORMED by LINE UPON LINE and members of NMC

On September 5th, Austin new music audiences will experience three groundbreaking works by two of the most significant composers of the 20th century. Performed by six of Austin’s most accomplished percussionists, armed with a truckload of percussion instruments, these stunning works will surround concertgoers with sounds they have never heard before. The artists will transform the Mexican American Cultural Center into a giant bell for a rare 8 channel surround realization of Xenakis’ 1962 electroacoustic piece “Bohor.” They will coax otherworldly sonic colors from metal, wood, skin, and bamboo in Luigi Nono’s 1979 work “Con Luigi Dallapiccola” (1979) for 6 percussionists and live electronics. Finally, Xenakis’ celebrated work “Persephassa,” commissioned in 1969 by the Empress of Iran and premiered at the historic desert site of Persepolis, will be performed by 6 percussionists in a ring around the audience. This arrangement will bring into focus the composer’s unique vision of spatialized sound. All three of these pieces are rarely performed due to the incredible amount of time and equipment required to fully realize them. Experiencing this set of pieces on one program may indeed be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The Program

Xenakis – “Bohor” (1962) for 8 channel electronics
Nono – “Con Luigi Dallapiccola” (1979) for 6 percussionists and live electronics
Xenakis – “Persephassa” (1969) for six percussionists

By the way, River St. is located just a few blocks south of Cesar Chavez, and the Mexican American Cultural Center is west of Interstate 35 and east of the river. 

Should be an exciting evening. If you are within driving distance of Austin,  try to make it!

 

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