Jazz and Autumn Leaves

Something about autumn makes me want to listen to jazz. The reedy voice of Billie Holiday, the somber passion of John Coltrane, somehow seem to accompany the shower of autumn leaves. Yesterday, I listened to Nina Simone the entire 45 minute walk to and 45 minute walk from work. Nothing has ever made me hold my head up so high.

When I got to work, I did some reading on Simone, and have so far really liked what I've seen. She trained in classical piano at Juilliard, funding her education through teaching piano lessons and playing in jazz clubs. She became heavily involved in the Civil Rights movement in the early 60s, infusing her records and live performances with powerful messages on equality, love, and violence. She expatriated in 1970 (I tried to think of a better word...), spending time in Barbados, Liberia, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, before settling in Southern France, joining the likes of James Baldwin and Josephine Baker.

Side note: I've been following the blog of a contemprary expatriate Miles Marshall Lewis who is developing his memoir on "life in Paris following in the footsteps of James Baldwin, Richard Wright, and Chester Himes but (of course) with the prerequisite hiphop generation twist." I'm pretty stoked for this book's arrival. You should check him out if you're interested in thoughts on race, nationality, popular culture and the arts. Terribly interesting.