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I'm really paying attention to who's there and what's going on
and and I kind of absorb it and then it comes out as
as as music slowly.
I live in New York City (sings)
I live in New York City (sings)
I live in New York City, I live in New York City (sings)
what I'm doing right now is traditional on
pulling from lots of different sources and styles and genres and forms
and kind of squishing them together that's traditional work
the Greeks would wear big huge platform shoes
they had mass and big long arms and
on and they would essentially be in a very heightened kind of drag
on stage and so that to me is
the traditional work as theatricality in the theater
whereas bringing everything down that's new that's
that's that that's the strange stuff I don't quite understand that kind of work
I think it's it's been an interesting and enriching thing for me as an
artist to be exposed to
a number for different world cultures
and that is in its that is an important part
at the Cosmopolitanism of my voice so sometimes as a language of people's
voices
of the literature that they would read to have something that I become exposed
to that
all really vital as part of the lifeblood of what I do
often times in the Arabic world
when poetry is delivered when it's read it's read out loud
usually from memory and it's delivered in a very song like way
which usually brings people to tears on the streets of Cairo
and can you imagine that some guy standing on the corner of 10th Avenue
and 22nd Street
reading poetry and bringing people
average people in the street to tears? It's a pretty foreign concept to us
but its native and has been native to the Arabic
tradition per thousands of years. Bill T Jones: Yes I do believe in beauty
think I do and yes I know that the religious experience I saw
in the real people around me like my mother praising
their southern baptist God I know that I can find that
I call it the hallelujah place
And when art is really working
you know that hallelujah place is activated and now
everything is possible Cherry Jones: I always say
whatever I'm playing is just basically a different facet of my mother
she was a brilliant teacher had a brilliant mind
she was both a lady but she was quite enlightened she was theatrical
a when she would do macbeth in her classroom
the children were frightened that's all I can say
she was one of the most graceful people have ever seen I used her in the heiress
I used her as Sister Aloysius I used her in Prize Crossing
Mama's been right at the center of everything I've ever done
The aesthetic is the moment where folk music and
experimental music are the same thing
like DJ scratching
as a composer, I'm fascinated by human beatboxers as its an urban
folk art traditions but I look to my elders whom
made good tools like John Cage is a huge huge influence on me
the point of my music conceptually is not the point John Cage's music
I'm just using his tools prepared piano you know
really seeing silence as a note a big huge note
this man chicken John who was had his own punk rock circus for many years as a
and was a part of many bands
he opened his place called the Odeon and it became a place
for odd and unlikely entertainment
and one day a puppet show came through that was a
Charles Bukowski story about necrophilia done with puppets and I'd never really
considered puppets something that
something for adults or something that could be grown up
artmaking for me is participation in the world of ideas
ideas others are like Bill you're so emotional it must be about feelings nononono
even feelings are framed by ideas participation in the world of ideas
is to validate my ability to think
my ability to think says I am alive
if I don't fight I will become invisible
so inspiration is in some ways gasping
to say I'm alive
Where I found my inspiration in prostitution drugs
and TV the streets
New York City the people that
are crawling in looking for life like in the forties movie The Bad Girl that
was never gonna make it or the girl that was hiding in the alleyway
could the naughty things I like the naughty stuff I like things or people were
struggling because life is a struggle I'm not political like you know
saying Life is a struggle you know it's
a natural thing just I do it naturally and people kind of
follow it and get hypnotized and get trapped by show and
and get inspired. Sxip Shirey: One of my many strategies
as a composer which is what I call cooking with good ingredients
and inspired by you have a really good olive oil
fresh basil and good tomatoes You really have to be an idiot
to *** it up