Joe Morris, William Parker and Marco Eneidi in Washington DC

The Joe Morris Trio at Bohemian Caverns: William Parker (b), Marco Eneidi (as), Joe Morris (g)

I flew into Washington DC from Lagos yesterday. Arrived early in the morning and the hotel didn't have any rooms ready. People were hanging out in the tiny lobby when I returned in the afternoon to check in. One man sitting on the sofa looked strangely familiar, like I knew him from somewhere before, but I couldn't quite place the face.

Coming down in the elevator I noticed that the guy standing next to me was holding an alto case so I struck up some small-talk conversation, you know...are you a musician, what kind of music do you like to play, what kind of horn do you play? He was Marco Eneidi, Viennese alto saxophonist with whom I was not previously familiar but who has played with the likes of Cecil Taylor, in town for a one-night stand at Bohemian Caverns. Marco said he was there with a trio, a guitar player and a bassist. So he proceeded to introduce me to the man sitting on the couch. "This is my bass player." I shook his hand and asked his name. "William Parker" was the reply.

William Parker and Marco Eneidi

My jaw dropped. William Parker? One of the best bass players on the planet, icon of creative free improvisation, and prolific recording artist who has been on my playlist for years? Then up walked the guitar player...Joe Morris, ostensible leader of the trio at Bohemian Caverns, who I knew from his recordings with great saxophonists like Ken Vandermark and Anthony Braxton...not your garden variety rhythm section by any means. Maybe one of the finest free jazz collaborations playing today. 

Joe Morris

We chatted for a while. William talked about how musicians create positive energy and help keep the world from imploding.

I went to 11th and U at 7:00 pm to hear the trio's gig. Two hours of sublime, cerebral free improvisation for an attentive but small audience, well less than a hundred, in a funky basement. The two one-hour sets passed like ten minutes. It was great for me to hear such high-level free improvisation after so long. I must thank Joe Morris, William Parker, and Marco Eneidi for not only staying dedicated to the cause but also making a success of it. Joe said that he is just a regular human being and that he has worked hard to be able to speak through his instrument. He told me that we should continue our conversation on line - too bad I don't do Facebook. 

You never know what is going to happen when you wake up in the morning; I certainly never expected to run into William Parker and hear such superb music when I got out of bed yesterday. One of the good surprises life holds.

Showboy's Tales of Touring with Fela Kuti

Rilwan "Showboy" Fagbemi recounted tales from being on tour with Fela Kuti while we listened to Femi Kuti's band rehearse at the New Africa Shrine in Lagos on June 14:

You see, music the way I see it, there is no difference between music and some of the international conferences, because at the conference point some will speak wisely, some will speak weakly, and some will speak ignorantly because they don't know what they are saying, and they will be contemplating on believing that is the right thing because is their expression... 

I had one experience, we were having a show in Washington DC and we were coming from Milan, 68 piece band travelling from Europe to America. When we got to Milan airport they could only get the seats on Pan Am Airlines, 60 seat, not 65 seat. Fela now say to me, "What do I do? Some will have to wait and join the flight tomorrow morning." So I choose to stay, he gave me the passport of 5 people and gave me money to take them out of the airport and find a hotel, and 5:00 AM we come back to the airport for a 6:00 AM flight. So, I came out of the airport and find a taxi and told him to take us to a hotel. I said, "How far is the hotel from here?" and he said "35 to 40 kilometers." So I gave him one of Fela's cassettes. 

When he started driving he said, "I'm sorry, man, something is happening around here." That's the driver. He said "This is what's happening." He said he had just heard this song that his daughter was requesting as her birthday present, that he had searched for the song, and for us to give him the cassette. I told him "Let's get to the hotel, let's find the hotel before we can talk about your daughter." You know, because of that song that this guy heard on my tape. Imagine somebody looking for a hotel from here and before we can find a hotel we got to Eleko Beach. Imagine the distance. So when we finally found the hotel, I now told him that "I understand your daughter need my tape, but before I can give you this tape, you have to come and pick me tomorrow back to the airport. Then I will give you the tape." He said "No problem." So he left us at the hotel. 

So about an hour later I couldn't sleep in my room. I took a shower, I took my clarinet, I walked down the street, I walked like from here to Ikeja bus stop. I found this night club, there was a live band, a triplet. They were having fun, people were drinking, so when I got there I said I am at the right place. I now went to the stage and introduced myself, we started playing my own kind of music. You won't believe it, I was given like 5 liters of wine, they were just bringing it, I had wine from the hotel owner, I had wine from the audience. So at the end of the day I ended up spending about 5 hours there, so by the time I left this place for my hotel it was 4:30. I had to shower and get ready by 5:00. I now joined him, he took us up to the airport. You won't believe it, this guy was so desperate about the tape that he said if I only give him the tape, he doesn't need the money, but if he doesn't get the tape as a birthday present for his daughter, there is a problem. I had to give him the tape. 

On that day we were having two shows in Washington. we were supposed to have two shows, so by the time I got to the airport we took a flight from Milan to New York, so when we got to New York there was Paul Troutman waiting for me, he worked with Gordon Mayer, 20th Century Fox. They were there waiting for me to pick me up. So he took me - I just saw my name on a sign - "Showboy" - I told them "I am Showboy." They said "We are here to pick you and four other guys." I said "We are all out," so they took us, they said "The limos are outside." They took us with the limo from JFK, they drove us to LaGuardia Airport where they bought tickets for us and put us on a flight to Washington. When I got to Washington, there was another limo waiting to pick me up. 

So when the limo took me from the front of the Constitution Hall in Washington, Fela was balancing the first tenor saxophone. He has finished with the trumpet and fluegel, he has finished with the alto, he was doing the tenor and from the tenor he would be doing the baritone. I was changing my dress in the vehicle at the door of the Constitution Hall outside. So by the time I came in Fela was about finished when he heard BOM!...he say "What's that?" Somebody told him it's Showboy..."They are here?" I said, "Yes, I want to do my balance"...he was very, very happy. Now we were on time. I did the sound check and we went for the show. We played at the Constitution Hall in Washington DC and we played at the Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro nightclub in Washington. It was BAAAD.