I’ve wanted to delve into Ani DiFranco’s music for years. She earned her funk pass when she took Maceo Parker on tour with her in 1999.That was an odd choice of opening act for a feminist folk-rocker. But it introduced Maceo to a lot of new earholes. Very cool.
She has also collaborated with Prince.
I guess now’s the time for me to check out Ms. DiFranco properly, because last month she released a double-CD retrospective of her 18-year career. It’s called “Canon.” (Downloadable from iTunes and Amazon.com.)
She’s offering four FREE tracks from “Canon” on her MySpace page. You can sample them there beforehand.
I’m streaming something that’s not on “Canon”: “What How When Where (Why Who),” from her 2001 album “Revelling/Reckoning.” It features a Maceo Parker sax solo.
Click here to hear it on my Vox audio stash.
On the website for her self-owned label, Righteous Babe Records, Ani DiFranco discusses her “reverence” for Maceo:
“I saw some film of James Brown on stage in ’65, and there’s Maceo. Now it’s 2001 and Maceo’s still out there working his ass off and giving and giving, and still so ‘new’ in it. The newness that he brings to playing every day is so inspiring to me, and he runs his operation really similarly to mine... there's a real sense of love and community with him and his band and his manager, and there’s just an endless dedication to what they do.
“So there’s a real resonance with me and Maceo; my coming to know him has just been a thrill for me...”
8 comments:
I ADORE Ani DiFranco!!!!
I greatly admire Ani as an independent artist and own a few of her CDs, but I don't actually care for much of her music. The CD she co-produced with the great Joe Henry KNUCKLE DOWN is probably the one I like the best. Though the tracks with Maceo on the other disc are great.
Ani DiFranco is one of the few post-MTV performers who actually has a visceral genius and a powerful stage presence. And I write these words knowing full well that she bats for the other team and she was not born into the Negro League---so she really can't get a better compliment!
I'm not going to even talk about her support of the work of the late, great Sekou Sundiata...
Mostly I'm familiar with her earlier work - which impressed the heck out of me. Thanks for the info about the new CD and esp. the downloads on her site. I'll go give a listen for sure. Girl is a warrior.
And I write these words knowing full well that she bats for the other team and she was not born into the Negro League...
Bryan, you funny!
But the truth in that can't be denied. If Ani has earned your respect, she must be serious.
FYI, Ani was married to a man once (plenty of fans were salty when it happened) and she had a baby with her boyfriend earlier this year.
^ Wow, daughterofthedream... that's news to me. I thought she was some kind of lesbian icon.
^ I think she is. So is Lucy Lawless (because of Xena), and she's totally straight.
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