Washington City Paper: Contents for Feb. 4

Brother From Another Planet
How does a guy who jammed and recorded with Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and the Sun Ra Arkestra end up blowing notes into a seashell? By deciding it's right where he wants to be.

Cover Story

How does a guy who jammed and recorded with Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and the Sun Ra Arkestra end up blowing notes into a seashell? By deciding it's right where he wants to be.

Photographs by Darrow Montgomery

Some concert--the place is nearly empty. Self-proclaimed musical pioneer Brother Ah stands at the center of the stage inside downtown's First Congregational Church, backed by his Sound Awareness Ensemble. A few dozen loners and a smattering of couples dot the wooden church pews, making the cavernous hall look more desolate than it usually does. Brother Ah, having played a number on the flute and then another on a harmonica, grabs a white conch shell speckled yellow with ocean tartar and blurts out a series of brassy phrases a la Louis Armstrong.

He uses his hand as a mute and pegs his notes without the benefit of actual keys, maintaining the sweet, round tone of a classical trumpet. On the table behind him lie several pieces--just a fraction--of his exotic instrument collection, which look as though they should be encased in a vitrine at the Smithsonian: nut-adorned rattlers, animal-horn woodwinds, and several types of hand-carved wooden flutes. Ah learned to play one of those flutes, a stretch of gutted Japanese bamboo painted red, from legendary jazz gypsy Don Cherry on midnight strolls through Central Park in the early '60s.... Continued

Issue of Feb. 4 - 10, 2000

News and Features

Brother From Another Planet
How does a guy who jammed and recorded with Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and the Sun Ra Arkestra end up blowing notes into a seashell? By deciding it's right where he wants to be.
Cover Story By Dan Gilgoff
January
The City By Michael Schaffer
Laundrospat
The suds are flying in a water fight between a community-owned laundromat and Horning Bros. developers.
The City By Annys Shin
The Name Game
The D.C. Department of Recreation and Parks gets a new start under an assumed name.
The City By Elissa Silverman
Pie in the Sky
What's it take to get a decent slice around here?
The City By Elissa Silverman
Whatever Happened?
The Mail By Bryce A. Suderow
Foundering
The Mail By Julian Bond
Fare Analysis
The Mail By Norma Zane Chaplain
Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
The Mail By Mark Barlet
Shell and Selfish
The Mail By Tracy L. Pace
The Plot Sickens
The Mail By John C. Ryan
Sin of Omission
The Mail By Makini Street
Here's the Church, and Here's the Steeple...
The Mail By Donald Smith
Weird Science
The Mail By Tom Lalley
Corporation Counsel
The Mail By W.B. Jacox
The Number of the Beast
The Mail By Walter Bauer
Vegetable Dip
The Mail By Robert Isele
Flesh Fields
The Mail By Kenneth R. Kahn
Eat Your Heart Out
The Mail By Edie Kramer

Columns

Back in Action
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
Long-Term Contract
Loose Lips By Erik Wemple
Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner?
Paper Trail By David Carr
Endangered Profile?
City Desk By Kevin Diaz
Take Y2K
City Desk By Chris Peterson
Plowed Priorities
City Desk By Annys Shin
Spike One for Jesus
City Desk By Elissa Silverman

Eats

Spanish Eyes, in Disguise
Young & Hungry By Brett Anderson

Movies

Valley of the Dulls
Film Review By Joel E. Siegel

Music

Get on De Minimis
Music Review By P. Mitchell Prothero
Writ by Mexican Spirits
Music Review By Enrique Lavin
Action Figures
Music Review By Mark Jenkins
The Diva Next Door
Music Review By Brett Anderson
The Very Best of Robbie Fulks
Music Reviews By Brett Anderson
Ambassadors of Style
Music Reviews By Arion Berger
Not Just Another Pretty Bass
Music Reviews By Joel E. Siegel
Nature Boy
Music Reviews By John Murph
Nick@Night
Music Reviews By John Murph
Benny Hill's Wardrobe
Music Reviews By Leonard Roberge
Sammy & Friends
Music Reviews By Sean Daly
Orfeu: Soundtrack
Music Reviews By Arion Berger

Theater

Riders of the Storm
Theater Review By Bob Mondello

Arts and Events

Message to Jah's People
A Rasta pays tribute to the reggae king.
Arts By Ayesha Morris
Heavenly Creatures
Books By Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
One Man's Junk...
Art Review By Louis Jacobson
Books Overdue
Artifacts By Guy Raz
We're in First Class
Artifacts By Arion Berger