we are sparks in the universe to our own fire, by ruth weiss

we are sparks in the universe to our own fire

by ruth weiss

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1.	90 - set one 01:10	info	buy track
2.	BYPASS LINZ - set one 08:22	info	buy track
3.	silly city - set one 02:07	info	buy track
4.	18th DAY - set one 04:48	info	buy track
5.	re: ELECTION --- fact or fiction - set one 00:44	info	buy track
6.	2018 THE CIRCUS IS IN TOWN - set one 01:22	info	buy track
7.	looming above its neighbors - set one 04:48	info	buy track
8.	FORTY - FIRST DAY THE RETURN - set one 05:10	info	buy track
9.	CHI CHI CHI - set one 01:01	info	buy track
10.	90 - set two 02:56	info	buy track
11.	BYPASS LINZ - set two 09:44	info	buy track
12.	silly city - set two 02:38	info	buy track
13.	18th DAY - set two 04:54	info	buy track
14.	re: ELECTION --- fact or fiction - set two 00:36	info	buy track
15.	2018 THE CIRCUS IS IN TOWN - set two 01:38	info	buy track
16.	looming above its neighbors - set two 05:34	info	buy track
17.	FORTY - FIRST DAY THE RETURN - set two 04:59	info	buy track
18.	CHI CHI CHI - set two 01:56	info	buy track

about

I first met ruth* in 2013 at a benefit concert for Arthur Blythe. She was introduced to me by George Russell who knew me from my work with Bill Noertker and Outsound Presents. In a sea of people at the concert her bright aqua green hair could not be denied. Later, I came to understand it was her ongoing tribute to the 1948 anti-war film ‘The Boy with the Green Hair’. When I got home from the concert I decided to do some research and found that she was a founder of the beat poetry community. Meeting a founder is rare and being in a position to produce grass roots concerts in San Francisco I thought it would be fascinating to hear her work with electronic synthesis pioneer Doug Lynner. As I extrapolated from her years of innovation, ruth was all for the idea and they performed at the 2014 Outsound New Music Summit in San Francisco. A year later ruth was looking for a sax player for her quartet and called me to perform. In 2018 I produced this recording live in San Francisco at the Musician’s Union Hall as part of the SIMM Music Series from Outsound Presents. ruth decided it would be fun and interesting to perform the same set of poems with Doug Lynner and then with her jazz quartet. The title, “we are sparks in the universe to our own fire”, is the last line written on her 91st birthday poem which we performed on the day of her induction into the Cinequest Maverick Award in March of 2020. For me the line speaks volumes on who she was and how she lived her life. We will always be grateful for the opportunity to work with her and miss her deeply. - Rent Romus

credits

released January 26, 2021

Set 1
ruth weiss - poetry
doug lynner - serge synthesizer (the mystery serge)
hal davis - wooden log

Set 2
ruth weiss - poetry
rent romus - alto, soprano saxophones, flutes
doug o'connor - double bass
hal davis - wooden log

*tracks 4 & 13 EXPLICIT LYRICS
executive producer rent romus; all poems by ruth weiss, music tracks 1-9 by doug lynner, 10-18 by rent romus, doug o’conner, hall davis
recorded by michael zelner november 18, 2018 at simm series outsound presents outsound.org musicians union hall local 6 san francisco
mixed/mastered by john finkbeiner at new, improved recording
booklet page 1 and cover photo/cd ruth weiss’ royal delux typewriter by melody c. miller director/producer/film maker
‘ruth weiss the beat goddess’ www.ruthweissfilm.com
back cover/inside bottom right photo by charles smith, inside top right photo by perter b kaars
booklet pages 1-6 JAZZ & POETRY PIONEER AND WORD SHAMAN ruth weiss, 1928–2020 written by thomas antonic, ebsn.eu
booklet photo pages 7-12 image set list ruth weiss poems by rent romus

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about

Rent Romus San Francisco, California

Rent Romus hailed by Downbeat as having "a bold sound, unmistakable sincerity and conviction". A third generation Finnish American born in the great north of upper Michigan and growing up in the San Francisco Bay ,Romus' work on the saxophone has been dubbed “ferocious” by the San Francisco Weekly and “central to the creative music world of the West Coast” by writer jazz critic Frank Rubolino. ... more

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