A – B

All artists filed by last name under A and B :

Peter Halfar | Life’s Crowning Moment | Hcolom Press

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I FIRST MET PETER HALFAR IN THE FALL of 1965 in Munich, Germany, where I began publishing Vagabond, a literary magazine. Maria Spaans, from the Netherlands, was art editor for the first two issues, and Peter followed in her footsteps. Five issues of Vagabond were published in Munich before I shifted the enterprise to New Orleans, and in that time Peter, Maria and I became close friends. Peter’s favorite word is unheimlich. It colors his art and his outlook, and in the sense he means it, unheimlich translates as a quirky, sometimes playful, sometimes foreboding surrealism. The unheimlich permeated the pages of the early issues of Vagabond. Peter, Maria and I went our separate ways after I left Munich, but we never fully lost contact, and when I returned to Europe for a visit in 1986, I saw them both. Maria was married and living in Paris, and Peter was still living in Munich. But he had become something of a world traveler since I last saw him, and it showed in his art, which was flourishing. And something new had been added. Shyly, on the last day of my visit, Peter pressed a thick folder into my hands. “Stories,” he said. “I have been writing stories. Unheimliche stories!” — John Bennett Continue reading →

John Bennett | Black Messiah | A Tribute to Henry Miller | Hcolom Press

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BLACK MESSIAH Fear, hydra-headed fear, which is rampant in all of us, is a hang-over from lower forms of life. We are straddling two worlds, the one from which we have emerged and the one towards which we are heading. That is the deepest meaning of the word human, that we are a link, a bridge, a promise. It is in us that the life process is being carried to fulfillment. We have a tremendous responsibility, and it is the gravity of that which awakens our fears. We know that if we do not move forward, if we do not realize our potential being, we shall relapse, sputter out and drag the world down with us. We carry Heaven and Hell within us; we are the cosmogonic builders. We have choice — and all creation is our range. — Henry Miller – Sexus (1945) Continue reading →

John Bennett | Ragged Lion | A Tribute To Jack Micheline | Hcolom Press

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ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST (a few words on how Ragged Lion came about) On February 27, 1998, Jack Micheline, America’s quintessential street poet, died on a BART train in the San Francisco Bay Area. I got the word from Al Masarik before the obits hit the papers. “Another one bites the dust,” said Al. The Beats and kindred spirits are dying off like flies—Kerouac, Cassady, Henry Miller, Bob Kaufman, William Wantling, George Montgomery, Bukowski, Burroughs, Jesse Bernstein, Ginsberg, Micheline and—on November 3, 1998, a little more than eight months after Micheline’s death — Ray Bremser. Continue reading →

Vagabond Anthology | 1966 – 1977 | Hcolom Press

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THE TIMES ARE ALWAYS BAD. . . Anything less than a change of heart is sure catastrophe. Which, if you follow the reasoning, explains why the times are always bad. For, unless there be a change of heart, there can be no act of will. There may be a show of will, with tremendous activity accompanying it (wars, revolutions, etc.), but that will not change the times. Things are apt to grow worse, in fact. To imagine a way of life that could be patched is to think of the cosmos as a vast plumbing affair. To expect others to do what we are unable to do ourselves is truly to believe in miracles, miracles that no Christ would dream of performing. The whole social-political scheme of existence is crazy — because it is based on vicarious living. A real man has no need of governments, of laws, of moral or ethical codes, to say nothing of battleships, police clubs, high-powered bombers and such things. Of course a real man is hard to find, but that’s the only kind of man worth talking about. It is the great mass of mankind, the mob, the people, who create the permanently bad times. The world is only the mirror of ourselves. If it’s something to make one puke, why then puke, me lads, it’s your own sick mugs you’re looking at!

That’s it. What we have in this anthology was culled from the first 25 issues and the first 11 years of the magazine. We hope you enjoy it. — John Bennett, Editor VAGABOND PRESS Continue reading →

Sabir Mateen | The Sabir Mateen Jubilee Ensemble | Not Two Records

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greetings my sisters and brothers…
i (we) really hope that you enjoy this debut recording of the jubilee ensemble. this is not a big band but an extension of the sabir mateen quartet (the name at that time, now it is called the sabir mateen ensemble). these compositions were originally composed for a small band but like most of the music i write, it can be played for any size band. this is one dream that has been fulfilled to release a large band recording. I want to thank the creator for allowing me to be alive to do this and my fellow musicians / artists for their never ending hard work and dedication to their art and i want to thank robert o’haire, plus marek winiarski and the staff of nottwo records for giving me the opportunity to record this. peace! — sabir mateen – february 22nd 2011 Continue reading →

Thomas Borgmann | Wilber Morris | Denis “Jazz” Charles | Live in Poland | Not Two Records

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I feel obliged out of journalistic duty to mention that this material being released by Not Two Records will already be familiar to the few who possess “Live in Poland”, a double album vinyl release issued by Italian label Sagittarius A-Star in 2010 (cat. no. #5). These two records document a concert which took place on 9 March 1998 at the Pinokio club in Szczecin. The contents of the Italian and Polish releases are slightly different. All four sides of the Italian release were each comprised of one recording. The first record contained “Nasty & Sweet” in two parts while the second contained “Bird Bats” and “One by One”. On the newly issued silver disc, a slightly shortened version of the complete “Nasty & Sweet” separates the tracks which were previously to be found on the A and B sides of the second Italian LP. — from the Liner notes by Pawel Baranowski. English translation by Philip Palmer Continue reading →