{"id":2637,"date":"2021-03-14T23:20:04","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T04:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=2637"},"modified":"2021-06-21T20:30:11","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T01:30:11","slug":"logan-richardsons-afrofuturism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/logan-richardsons-afrofuturism\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Logan Richardson&#8217;s &#8216;Afrofuturism&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Memorial day weekend 1921 started just like any other day in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma. One of the wealthiest communities in America, this segment of the city was such an economic powerhouse it would be dubbed \u201cBlack Wall Street.\u201d By the end of the weekend, the prosperous region would be turned to rubble. After 19-year-old Dick Rowland, a Black shoe shiner, was accused of assaulting a white girl, a group of 75 Black men, some armed, arrived to ensure Rowland was not lynched. Upon the group\u2019s arrival, the Sheriff called for calm and persuaded the men to return home. On their way, however, a mob of white men attacked them. A fight ensued and white rioters began to rampage the Black community, burning homes and stores. About 10,000 were left homeless, and property damage amounted to more than $32 million (2019 dollars).  Even worse, 39 people were killed, over 800 hospitalized, and as many as 6,000 Black men thrown in jail, often for several days. This tragic history &#8211; largely hidden by an incendiary and complicit news media &#8211; viewed broadly forms the heart of Logan Richardson\u2019s<em> Afrofuturism <\/em>(Whirlwind, 2021). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Structurally, only one song is dedicated to the events in Tulsa, \u201cBlack Wallstreet.\u201d The piece sets a soundscape for the chaos of that weekend. Strings convey the utter shock and devastation of a surveyed aftermath. Upon this, the pained cries of Richadson\u2019s alto try to process what occurred, weeping for the fallen, not just in that city but for others who have dealt with similar atrocities. The inhumanity of hatred and a yearning for hope. It is stirring to the point where it makes even one not familiar with the history aware of the travesty.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"120\" style=\"position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/v=2\/track=3869251736\/album=2969307798\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, \u201cBlack Wallstreet\u201d is only one track but it embodies the entire album. Rather than a collection of discrete compositions, <em>Afrofuturism<\/em> is an indivisible whole. Each piece flows naturally into the next, at times even feeling like one extended composition. The unifying theory behind it all lays in the album\u2019s title. Afrofuturist concepts &#8211; drawing connections between technology and the African diaspora-&nbsp; is nothing new. Even as early as the 1950s, Sun Ra linked Egyptology to science fiction. However, most Afrofuturist works emphasize the African content rather than the specific African-American experience. While examples like Parliament-Funkadelic referencing \u201cSwing Low Sweet Chariot\u201d exist, references to specific events tend to take the form of a mention rather than a central narrative focal point.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is within this context that \u201cBlack Wallstreet\u201d is particularly special as it provides an overarching focus specifically on Black American history, not mere glimpses or whispers. \u201cFor Alto\u201d builds upon this as well. Named in honor of Anthony Braxton\u2019s legendary solo album, Richardson does not play as definably \u201cout\u201d as his musical forebear. Instead, one finds a contemplative lone saxophone player celebrating brilliant African American artistry, particularly by those pushing for greater creative freedom. It is a reminder that inspiration need not, and should not, mean emulation. \u201cFarewell, Goodbye\u201d does similarly with a dedication to the late McCoy Tyner. Built off of popish vocals, synths, and drum machines, like \u201cFor Alto,\u201d it doesn\u2019t automatically invoke the sound of its honoree even as it plays its homage.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"120\" style=\"position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/v=2\/track=201123810\/album=2969307798\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like on all great Afrofuturist works, the album\u2019s conceptualization of chronology remains, to some degree, malleable. The past is placed alongside the present. This is aptly seen on \u2018Say My Name.\u201d The song\u2019s title suggests the continuity between events like those in Tulsa and Breona Taylor today. At the same time, it includes a monologue by Stefon Harris which unequivocally draws another line between artists like Richardson and their predecessors. Spoken word samples like Harris\u2019 play a significant role throughout the album, whether Busta Rhymes\u2019 \u201cPhotocopy\u201d comments on the music industry\u2019s castigation of creativity in favor of profit or \u201cGrandma\u201d\u2019s connection of the album\u2019s contemporary sounds to older spirituals.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"lyte-wrapper fourthree\" style=\"width:420px;max-width:100%;margin:5px;\"><div class=\"lyMe\" id=\"WYL_8oDRCpbf_kM\"><div id=\"lyte_8oDRCpbf_kM\" data-src=\"\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/8oDRCpbf_kM\/hqdefault.jpg\" class=\"pL\"><div class=\"tC\"><div class=\"tT\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"play\"><\/div><div class=\"ctrl\"><div class=\"Lctrl\"><\/div><div class=\"Rctrl\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/8oDRCpbf_kM\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/8oDRCpbf_kM\/0.jpg?resize=420%2C295&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"YouTube video thumbnail\" width=\"420\" height=\"295\" \/><br \/>Watch this video on YouTube<\/a><\/noscript><\/div><\/div><div class=\"lL\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:420px;margin:5px;\"><\/div><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><em>Afrofuturism<\/em>\u2019s transcendence of time is best seen in its melding of musical ideas. Richardson\u2019s description of \u201cSay My Name\u201d as \u201cFrank Zappa, Queen, Brian Wilson and Radiohead meets Schoenberg in a sci-fi 80s lounge\u201d aptly labels the uniqueness of sound found throughout the album.  But to some extent, the patchwork of jazz, rock, trap, hip hop, electronica, and even classical is a veneer over the recording\u2019s sturdy structure. Stability instead comes from the Blues. While recording does not sound like BB King or Muddy Waters, they seem to come from the same place. Whether the rueful cries of a community in Tulsa or the yearning for artistic freedom, the Blues serves as a central organizing principle. By attaching newer sounds to this elder form, Richardson provides a deeper meaning to the Afrofuturist concept and, in the process, produces an album that is a memorable guidepost for future artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.455), 18px);px\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/loganrichardson-whirlwind.bandcamp.com\/album\/afrofuturism\"><em>Afrofuturism<\/em> is now available on CD or vinyl from Whirlwind Recordings. <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.455), 18px);px\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/loganrichardson-whirlwind.bandcamp.com\/album\/afrofuturism\">A digital copy is available from Wax Industry.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Personnel: Logan Richardson (alto saxophone, piano, keyboards, synths), Igor Osypov (electric and acoustic guitars), Peter Schlamb (vibraphone, keyboards, key bass), Dominique Sanders (bass, key bass, production), Ryan J. Lee (drums, bass), Corey Fonville (drums), Laura Taglialatela (vocals), Ezgi Karakus (strings). <br><br>Tracklist: 1. Say My Name; 2. The Birth of Us; 3. Awaken; 4. Sunrays; 5. For Alto; 6. Light; 7. Trap; 8. Grandma; 9. Farewell, Goodbye; 10. Black Wallstreet; 11. Photocopy; 12. Round Up; 13. According to You; 14. Praise Song; Bonus Track: I&#8217;m Not Bad, I&#8217;m Just Drawn That Way (CD\/LP only). <br><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Memorial day weekend 1921 started just like any other day in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma. One of the wealthiest communities in America, this segment of the city was such an economic powerhouse it would be dubbed \u201cBlack Wall Street.\u201d By the end of the weekend, the prosperous region would be turned to rubble. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"iawp_total_views":32,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Logan-Richardson.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peRkRR-Gx","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10025,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/burton-white-noise\/","url_meta":{"origin":2637,"position":0},"title":"Always There: A Conversation with George Burton","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"January 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Far too often, people tend to compartmentalize and localize matters of concern. 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However, he may have reached his zenith with Reflections on: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (Giant Step Arts, 2025), a work that combines verbal narrative and music. 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