Following up from last week’s notice – Izzy Young – here’s Izzy in his Stockholm home reading from a cherished gift from Allen, a signed framed edition of “Father Death Blues”
Speaking of “celebrity” readings of Allen, how about Stephen Colbert coming out the other night and delivering, accompanied by Philip Glass, a reading of Allen’s ever-timely “Birdbrain”
Birdbrain runs the world/ Birdbrain is the ultimate product of Capitalism/ Birdbrain, chief bureaucrat of Russia, yawning/ Birdbrain ran FBI 30 years appointed by FDR and never chased Cosa Nostra…” – Here‘s Allen in 1981 performing the piece with the Denver-based band, The Glu-ons
(Fun Fact – Colbert met his now-wife, Evelyn McGee, at an Allen Ginsberg-Philip Glass performance, (the Hydrogen Jukebox premiere, at the Spoleto Music Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, back in 1990)
Michael Valinsky’s review at Hyperallergic of the recently-published Kerouac Beat Painting (a smart read) may be read here
An early announcement of the “birthday party of the century”, Lawrence Ferlinghetti‘s 100th at City Lights. John McMurtrie runs down the details in the datebook at the San Francisco Chronicle – hereWalt Whitman’s bicentennial this year – More news on that to follow – Here’s one project we’re hoping will get some traction – (and don’t forget the on-going attempts at preserving his Ryerson Street Brooklyn home – here)
and Naropa Summer Writing Program – never too early to make an announcement about that. The 2019 SWP Online Catalog/magazine site is up now and live – check here (the site will evolve over the coming weeks but it’s in place).
Is Ken Nordine’s passing worth a mention? xxxxxminzer