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A Night in Tunisia

from Raw Sewage, Vol. 2 (1983) by Walls Of Genius

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about

This was live Walls of Genius, November 1984, on KGNU radio. Since we thanked Martha Roskowski, I’m rather positive that she was the KGNU dee-jay who invited us (or ‘let’ us) play live at the radio station. We probably recorded it on a cassette player hooked up to the radio, or on a cassette right there at the radio station. I have no record of it. This was a jazz tune by Dizzy Gillespie that I knew from playing rhythm guitar in a jazz duo, the Mystic Knights Of The Sea, in 1980 in Fairfax, VA. That band was named by Kevin Landes (saxophone) after a club on the Amos and Andy radio show. The duo consisted of myself and saxophonist Kevin Landes, of Washington D.C.s Young Turds [1979] and The French Are From Hell [thru the 80s]) in 1980. The track opens with me playing the straight chord progression and a synth (David) comes up behind. Then I start breaking up the chords, scrubbing chords until I settle into a one-chord drone, while the synth squeaks away in the lead. There are sounds like children’s percussion devices in the background, likely Scott Childress hanging-out and sitting-in with us. I return to the scrubbed chords, then break up the progression in bits and pieces, going from boogie rhythm to stark staccato blasts. Then I morph into a one-chord freak out while the maraca shakes listlessly. This listless approach to the maraca is more like Scott's approach than Fyodor’s manic percussive attack, which is why I suspect it is Scott shaking the maraca. Finally I move back into the song’s chord progression, the guitar subsides and the synth comes to the fore, taking a solo, sort of. A second guitar (Ed Fowler) comes in at this point. He’s finally figured out something to do with all the jazz chords I’m laying down. The maraca continues to shake, on and off, here and there. My rhythm guitar builds up a one-chord drone as Ed plays a mellow lead line and then I return again to the chord progression. I play the “head” and then start in with “Making A Deal With The Druids”. I play the ‘druidisations’ and the chorus once, punctuated by a gong and percussion, and then return to the main Gillespie theme before finishing. It’s a strong version. I have no idea why it never made it on to any other WoG title, but it’s possible that since we already had a version of “Night In Tunisia” on one of our titles, we thought it would be redundant.

credits

from Raw Sewage, Vol. 2 (1983), released March 1, 1984
composition: Dizzy Gillespie, w/additional 'druidisations' by Evan Cantor
Evan Cantor: guitar
Ed Fowler: guitar
Little Fyodor: percussion
Scott Childress (?): percussion

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Walls Of Genius

Fried psychedelia, relentless experimentation, hunter-gatherer improv, space rock doom, heavy rock monumentalism and daffy cover tunes. Walls of Genius rips holes in the fabric of space and time, kicks you in the ass and leaves you smiling. 80s stalwarts of the cassette culture, they're back in the 21st century. The most unique band that ever was. Really! ... more

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