I have a publisher!
A week ago I signed a contract with Swedish Modernista to publish the Don cherry biography. I'm so happy! Finally it will be finished, hopefully by the end of this year. And – hopefully again – it will be out some time during 2027.
Since the last newsletter I've kept doing research and been writing quite a lot. I also did an interview with Bruce Smith, the father of Naima Karlsson, that in 1979 played the drums with The Slits during the UK tour Cherry did with The Slits and Prince Hammer & Creation Rebel. Before that, Smith was in the incredible post punk group The Pop Group, eagerly putting together pop, punk and free jazz. A few years after The Slits tour, Smith and Neneh Cherry got married. Bruce did quite a lot of work with Don, not least did Don participate on the album I am Cold with Rip, Rig & Panic (where Bruce Smith and Neneh Cherry were members).
February 5 I gave a lecture about Don Cherry and the second part of the 60s in Stockholm. I filled the place (incredible!) at Rönnells Antikvariat in Stockholm. The lecture was divided into four parts, the way he (and Moki Cherry) changed the situation for the preforming of music, involving art, withdrawing the hierarchy musicians-audience, and so on; his collaboration with Bernt Rosengren; the workshops (studiecirklar in Swedish) he held att ABF (Workers' Educational Association); and the way he involved Turkish rhythms and melodies into the core of his musical expression. Felicia Roos and her band was also performing that night, playing early Ornette Coleman songs. A great gig!
In early May I will do a similar lecture in Malmö. More information will come later.
The web page www.doncherrybook.com is now also updated. The new feature is for paid members only. In 2013 I reached out for Jon Appleton (1939-2022), the man who in 1970 brought Don Cherry to Dartmouth College to teach. Luckily enough Appleton was in Stockholm at the time, and we met in a hotel bar for a lovely and exciting interview. Appleton also took part on the duo album Human Music (Flying Dutchman) that was recorded in Dartmouth in 1970. Later in the 70s, Appleton was also the boss for the Electronic Music Studio in Stockholm. Due to a physical fight among two of the members of the studio, they needed someone from outside. We did talk some about that as well!
