Douglas Ewart
Songs of Sunlife: Inside the Didjeridu
Innova.mu
All didjeridus, roar flutes, and rain sticks designed and constructed by Douglas R. Ewart.
The didjeridu is an ancient musical instrument. It is also an
implement of ritual. It is one of our oldest musical instruments. The
Aboriginals of Australia invented the didjeridu over forty thousand years ago.
Though many cultures throughout the globe utilize tubes of similar acoustical
design to the didjeridu, none produces a sound like it. The Aboriginals employ
an array of techniques to persuade myriad sounds and songs from the didjeridu.
Some of these techniques are buzzing, circular breathing, tonguing, guttural
sound, humming, nasal sounds, inflated cheeks, large intervallic leaps,
changing air pressure, and velocity. Didjeridu playing originated in Northern
Australia and spread to other areas and cultures of the continent.
Traditionally, the didjeridu is utilized in male rites and rituals. Some
traditional Aboriginal laws forbade women to hear, see, or touch the didjeridu.
The didjeridu is also utilized in numerous social events at which both men and
women are present, although the men are the ones who would, by custom play
it. Some Aboriginal cultures still
maintain the didjeridu as an aspect of male cultural precepts. However, there
are many Aboriginal cultures in which there are no restrictions on women
playing the instrument. There are numerous accounts and recordings of women
playing this unique woodwind. The didjeridu has evolved into an icon for all
Australian Aboriginals despite its name being derived from an anglo word. The
earliest forms of didjeridus from Australia were made of bamboo. Contemporary
Aboriginal Australian ones are made from eucalyptus branches whose cores have
been largely eaten away by termites and further altered by the Aboriginals. The
contours of the insides of a eucalyptus tube that has been eaten by termites,
is usually quite asymmetrical compared with the inside of typical bamboo,
cactus, ceramic, metal, glass or plastic didjeridu. The asymmetrical didjeridu
tends to be more resonant and richer in complex overtones. I am a self-taught
didjeridu player.
I became acquainted with the
instrument in the 60s through field recordings. I made a didjeridu out of
bamboo but could not play it due to lack of circular breathing technique. I
picked up the instrument again in the 70s when I began learning how to circular
breathe, or cycle breathe. Because I am aware that many Aboriginal cultures are
concerned about how we tend to utilize what is for them a sacred instrument, I
have endeavored in this recording to maintain a high respect for those cultures
that provided this vital ritual and sound source implement. I play the
instrument in a respectful manner while exploring its potential for my work as
a composer, craftsman, musician and student of cultural anthropology. From my
early childhood I have had a profound interest in my own culture and those of
others that I have either had the opportunity to experience first hand or to
learn about. This interest has been a way and means of sustaining in me an
abiding respect for all humanity.
The Earth is really one country
and people are its citizens. I think that when we come to understand and
believe that, we will no longer need any of the barriers and divisions that we
now experience and find necessary to construct.
1) "Alone, Not Lonely" Ceramic didjeridu, tramcar
double bell in key of D.
I began experimenting with clay didjeridus while serving as a
visiting professor at Mills College in Oakland, California in 1999. The
response of clay to the vibration of its standing air column is quick, buoyant,
crystal clear and bell like in its clarity. This realization made me use a
variety of clays to build many didjeridus. Different types of clays can be
fired at different temperatures.
The type of clay, degree of hardness, length of tube, type of tube
(conical, cylindrical, or parabolic, etc.) and thickness of the walls aid in
determining the resonance of the tube.
2) "Mud Bath II" Mud bath was recorded at Mills
College.
Three different bamboo didjeridus were utilized in this
recording. They ranged from 1 ft 5 ins to 9 ft 11 ins. The largest has a joint
which facilitated its construction and makes transportation more convenient.
Mud Bath II is a work that focuses on the lower limits of the human hearing
spectrum. Many of the sounds have to be felt more than heard. The composition
is about our beginnings as humans, as beings made of star dust, beings who must
eat mud, dirt,.in order to remain
healthy. As children we play in the dirt with relish. Children who play
outside, in dirt, and around animals have a stronger immune system.
Recording engineer Alex Potts
3) "Dancing Inside of Soul" Bamboo (Bambusa
Vulgaris from Jamaica)
didjeridu, and
string bass.
This piece is dedicated to
dancers: Christina Jones, Clyde Evans, Rennie Harris, Sabela Grimes, Osha Pinnock, Clyde Evans, and Bill T.
Jones. I was introduced to
Adam Lane by composer, educator and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. I became reacquainted
with Adam while living in Oakland, Calif.
4) "Mud Bath III" Composed and performed by Douglas R. Ewart. Recording
engineer Alex Potts
5) "Song for Count Ossie and
The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari." Ceramic
didjeridu and computer.
Count Ossie and The Mystic
Revelation of Rastafari are a group of Rastafari who reside in Rock Fort,
Eastern Kingston, Jamaica. Their music and philosophy have had an enormous
impact upon my life. Count Ossie died in a tragic automobile accident in 1976.
The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari continue their work. Count Ossie's son, Time, is a master
drummer. He continues the tradition. I was introduced to Stephen Goldstein by
my wife Janis Lane-Ewart in Chicago during the ‘eighties. Steve sat in
with me on a solo concert I had at the Field Museum of Natural History in
Chicago. We worked well together. When Janis and I relocated to Minneapolis,
Steven and I began to collaborate.
Composed and performed by Douglas
R. Ewart and Steven Goldstein.
6) "Ginep" For solo plastic slide didjeridu.
The ginep is an edible fruit that
grows in Jamaica. It can be sweet or sour. One has to be careful when eating it as its juice, if it
falls on one’s clothing, will make a permanent stain if not immediately
removed. I love experimenting with many different materials. There was a time
when I used to feel that one material was superior to another. However, I no
longer have that notion. I feel that different materials have different sound
characteristics, and that one has to use what is available. I do feel that
biodegradable items are best for the planet. As a result, bamboo is my favorite
material for constructing almost anything.
7) "Seeds of War" Louis
Alemayehu poem and recitation, Stephen Goldstein
computer, Douglas R. Ewart slide
didjeridu.
The poem was written by Louis
Alemayehu. Louis is a fantastic artist that I met upon my arrival in the Twin
Cities in 1989-90. We have worked in numerous aggregations since. I love his
originality, delivery, sense of time, and musicality.
Composed and performed by Douglas
R. Ewart, Louis Alemayehu, Stephen
Goldstein.
8) "Walk and Drop" For
solo ceramic didjeridu and rain stick.
This piece describes the manner
and rhythm in which many Brothers I knew as a boy...strolled the path.
9) "Ancestors Flying"
This is a work for an ensemble of roar flutes and one small bell.
These roar flutes are made of
bamboo. They are spun in the air like a bull roar or like a button on a string
in order to initiate the sound. The roar flute gives off flute, bird, insect
and bull roarer types of sounds.
The pitch and texture can be altered by varying the velocity at which
the flutes are spun. Each flute transmits several pitches simultaneously.
Composed and performed by Douglas
R. Ewart and Inventions. Recording engineer Alex Potts.
10) "Draghopping"
Visualize someone in a walk dance
mood as they go down a public street. The person tiptoes, saunters, slips and
slides, leaps and turns around in a very nonchalant manner.
11) "Mizu," Ceramic
didjeridu and rain sticks.
Mizu means water in Japanese.
12) "Mud Bath I"
13) "Constant Springs"
Slide didjeridu and rain stick.
Constant Springs is an area in the
parish of St. Andrew, Jamaica. The area once contained numerous springs. There
was a constant babble of water and a constant array of sound.
All works composed and performed
by Douglas R. Ewart.and recorded by Brian Heller except as indicated.
Douglas your songlines tell of the shapes of Kingston hills Jamaican waves Minneapolis powderhorn Chicago wind African plains on your endless walkabout through bamboo grove mud rituals and dark basement breathing the air and returning it again to us not in solitude for company but alone and with us and for us and for the world that breathes with you the big dreaming that is the creole spirit shared by lizards birds bulls and things that buzz in the mind
— Philip Blackburn
BIOS
Douglas Ewart
His kaleidoscopic talents have
expressed themselves in so many forms---instruments that double as sculptures,
music that combines the traditions of four continents with fresh inventions,
masks and costumes fit for rituals ominous or joyous, improvisations combining
master musicianship and acting---that the whole might be mistaken for the work
of a small culture rather than one man. Ewart is known in some circles as a
maker of brightly colored rain sticks , man-tall totem flutes, percussion
instruments, and panpipes. Elsewhere he is known as a past Chairman of the Association
for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and as a performer of music
with Muhal Richard Abrams, Cecil Taylor, George Lewis, Anthony Braxton, Mwata
Bowden, Vandy Harris, and others. He founded his own recording label Arawak
Records.
Bassist/composer Adam Lane has
recorded with a broad range of highly regarded musicians from free jazz pioneer
John Tchicai to rock legend Tom Waits. He has made four recordings under his
own name that feature his work for extended improvising orchestra as well as
his work for small ensembles. He has received numerous awards and grants
including the Julius Hemphill award for jazz orchestra composition and a
Patternings scholarship for study at Darmstadt where he attended master classes
with Karlheinz Stockhausen. His
recordings can be found on the Cadence Jazz and CIMP record labels.
Stephen Goldstein
Acoustic & Electronic
Percussion
For over 30 years, electronic and
acoustic percussionist Stephen Goldstein has performed professionally
throughout the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean in the musical genres
and idioms of experimental, jazz, funk, South Indian classical, commercial, and
numerous others. Goldstein has
performed or recorded with a wide array of artists including: Joseph Jarman,
Fred Ho, Hamid Drake, Nirmala Rajagopal, Gerry Mulligan, Allan Eager, Jerry
Coker, Mixashawn and others. In
1989, Goldstein began extensive studies in the application and theory of South
Indian rhythmic structures with world-renowned ghatam (tuned clay pot
percussion instrument) master Sri T.H. Subash Chandran. Goldstein also credits
hand drum virtuoso John Bergamo for his invaluable lessons, advice, and
friendship throughout the years.
In 1997, Goldstein was awarded a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship.
C P 2003 Nkoranza Publishing BMI
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Keep Your Heart Right! Don't do it
please!
Cover art and composition
description by Douglas R. Ewart
Design and layout by Philip
Blackburn
Mastered at Beat N’Track
Studios, Fallbrook
Photograph by ???
Douglas R. Ewart appears courtesy
Aarawak Recording Co.
Other recordings of D.R.Ewart:
"Red Hills" AA 001
"Bamboo Forest" AA 002
"Bamboo Meditations At
Banff" AA 003
"Angles of Entrance" AA
004
"New Beings" AA 005
Aarawak Recording Co
P.O. Box 50471
Mpls., MN 55403
612-722-0910