“He was the last great bass player from the bebop era,” bassist Ralphe Armstrong.
July 1, 1941 – January 2, 2013
Roderick Jerry Hicks was born in Detroit, the sixth child of 13, to Bishop Robert and Emma Hicks. He attended Northwestern High School, a school whose graduates also included Motown bassist James Jamerson, blues guitarist Johnnie Bassett, pianist Joe Weaver, and drummer Roy Brooks.
Hicks graduated from Northwestern in 1960 and joined the Army. After that stint, he played bass in the Queen of Soul’s band.
Roderick Rod Jerry Hicks
Dawn over Bethel
In 1969, Rod Hicks played with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band on day “3” of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. I qualify the number 3 because the band came on at dawn on Monday 18 August which was actually the fourth day of the festival.
Fuzzy screen grab of Rod at Woodstock
What did Hicks think? A 2009 Metro Times article said: Hicks told us about looking out at night and seeing that audience estimated at 300,000 or more. With the darkness dotted with fires, he felt he was looking at the “biggest Indian pow-wow in the world.”
Roderick Jerry Hicks, one of Detroit’s premier bassists, died on January 2, 2013. He was 71 years of age.
He died of cancer, which wore down his body but not his spirit.
Hicks worked with many singers and bands, including Aretha Franklin’s trio that included his lifelong friend, drummer George Davidson. He fit into many sounds and styles of music in addition to Franklin’s band; along with Davidson and pianist/arranger Teddy Harris, [Harris also played with Paul Butterfield at Woodstock] Hicks was the backbone of the particularly fine Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1969–71. Those three gentlemen were present at the Jazz Alliance of Michigan (J.A.M.) event which resurrected the style of Butterfield’s band. Hicks sang and played electric bass, and he could sing some fine blues as well as play solid bass.
Hicks worked for many years in Harris’ bands, including the very special 1993 edition at BoMac’s Lounge that included alto master Phil Lasley and drumming powerhouse Lawrence Williams. For nearly a year, that quartet (sometimes quintet with Dwight Adams added) was the best band in Detroit, bar none. Roderick, as Harris called him, was an amazing musician and a great gentleman, with a heart as large as his sound.
During a Detroit Jazz Alive appearance, Hicks insisted that he led “King Zook and the Zookateers,” and everybody in the studio broke up laughing, especially Hicks.
Rod was an easy guy to like, gifted with thoughtful opinions and knowledge on a variety of subjects.
Rest easy, King Zook. We will keep your spirit alive in our hearts.
Rod Hicks – The Detroit native joins the Butterfield Blues Band after six years with Aretha Franklin’s band, contributes fretless electric bass (a new instrument in the ’60’s), cello, vocals, and composition to Keep On Movin’, Live, and Sometimes I Just Feel Like Smilin’.
After the Butterfield Band ends, he moves back to Detroit where he becomes a fixture in the local Jazz scene, and works as a road musician, appearing with Paul Butterfield’s Better Day’s several times. One of his songs, Highway 28, is used by Butterfield on the first Better Days album. Hicks also contributes to 1970’s studio albums by artists such as Peter Paul and Mary, & Peter Yarrow.
The series onsisted of six free Sunday afternoon concerts held between June 29 and August 24. The total attendance was some 300,000 people.
Held in Harlem at Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park), it was a self-consciously urban affair, a concert series rather than a one-off, and already in its third year. The New York City Parks Department and Maxwell House co-sponsored the series.
The festival was hosted and promoted by the effervescent Tony Lawrence, a New York night club singer. [NYT article]
Line-up
June 29:
Abbey Lincoln
Edwin Hawkins Singer
George Kerby
Olatunji
Max Roach
Sly & the Family Stone
July 13:
Mahalia Jackson
Staple Singers
Herman Stevens & The Voices of Faith
Reverend Jesse Jackson & the Operation Breadbasket Band
July 20:
Stevie Wonder
David Ruffin
Chuck Jackson
Gladys Knight & the Pips
Lou Parks Dancers
July 27:
Mongo Santamaria
Ray Barretto
Cal Tjader
Herbie Mann
Harlem Festival Calypso Band
August 17:
Nina Simone
BB King
Hugh Masakela
Harlem Festival Jazz Band
August 24:
La Rocque Bey & Co.
Listen My Brothers & Co
1969 Harlem Cultural Festival
Televised
New York’s affiliate television station WNEW Metromedia Channel 5 (now FOX) broadcast hour-long specials of the footage on Saturday evenings at 10:30 PM in June–August 1969.
Ignored
In October of ’69, writer Raymond Robinson took to the pages of the New York Amsterdam News. He said that the world would lionize Woodstock, and forget about Harlem. “The only time the white press concerns itself with the black community is during a riot or major disturbance,” he wrote of the shows, which had taken place during an eight-week period without a single report of violence.
From a USA Today article, Questlove said at a post-screening Q & A: “I instantly kind of scoffed. I was like, ‘Wait a minute. I know everything that happened in music history. There’s no way you’re going to tell me this gathering happened and no one knew about it.’ But sure enough, that was the case. Once they showed me raw footage, I just sat there with my jaw dropped, like, ‘How has this been forgotten?'”
Questlove won the Grand Jury prize and the Audience prize in the nonfiction category of the festival.
1969 Harlem Cultural Festival
My Viewing
On July 1, 2021, I was able to see the film. By July, various news media had covered the film’s forthcoming general release.
Even with those previews, I wasn’t sure what to expect. A concert film can simply be that: a selection of performance. The movie Woodstock won an Oscar for Best Documentary because not only did it show many outstanding performances, it told the story of the event as well.
Summer of Love does the same thing and in some ways in an even broader way. Woodstock the movie is not particularly political. That a half million young people, most of whom were likely against the Vietnam War, for the use of cannabis, against the status quo, and other counter-cultural views and behaviors, gave the movie a political subtext.
Summer of Love is overtly political and often includes footage of the civil rights movement and the plight of Harlem’s residents. Because the festival overlapped the USA’s successful landing on the moon, even that event is referred to. The views of Harlem’s residents stand in stark contrast to the general awe and praise by white America.
Woodstock alum can be understandably enthralled with the event and the movie. I’ve met dozens of people who say they were there and how great an experience they had but from their observations weren’t actually there and even move who say they wish they’d gone. There is a lot of emotional investment in the event and to deny its historic significance would diminish their own self-worth.
Summer of Love does not demean Woodstock, but does demonstrate the power of live performances in general and the power of live Black (as well as Latino) performances in particular. I kept thinking while watching Summer of Love, “The reaction of Woodstock’s attendees would have been astounding to this performer had Woodstock Ventures invited them to the festival.”
After the viewing, my parting attempt at a pithy headline was, “I’ll put up Mahalia and Mavis to any Woodstock performance.” And there were many others as well, including Stevie Wonder, The Staples Singers, BB King, Nina Simone, well, just go back up to the list above.
By the way, those Black performers were touring that summer and some of their gigs did sometimes include other festivals.
“This is such a stunning moment for me right now, but it’s not about me,” Questlove said. “It’s about marginalized people in Harlem that needed to heal from pain. Just know that in 2022, this is not just a 1969 story about marginalized people in Harlem.” He took a pause, saying he was overwhelmed by the moment.
1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival,
I separate the two events because the dissolution of Yugoslavia, also a Soviet satellite, because Yugoslavia’s story became a tragic one and one whose story continued well past USSR’s December 26, 1991 official end.
Yugoslavia Dissolves
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
October 3, 1929: The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes changed its name to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Yugoslavia Dissolves
Socialist Republic
January 31, 1946: the Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was adopted, creating six internal republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia [with Kosovo and Vojvodina autonomous provinces within it], and Slovenia. Belgrade was the capital.
The constitution, modeled on that of the Soviet Union, would serve at the supreme law of Yugoslavia throughout the Cold War.
Josip Broz Tito is the Communist leader most associated with Yugoslavia and despite the common political views with the USSR, Tito and Josef Stalin were not on the best of terms. In fact, in post-World War II, Stalin warned, ‘I will shake my little finger and there will be no more Tito.” Stalin even attempted to assassinate Tito, but failed.
Tito’s classic response to the assassination attempts was: Stop sending people to kill me. We’ve already captured five of them, one of them with a bomb and another with a rifle. […] If you don’t stop sending killers, I’ll send one to Moscow, and I won’t have to send a second.
President for life
April 7, 1963, the nation changed its official name to Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Tito was named President for life.
Tito died in 1980 and following his death, ethnic tensions within Yugoslavia grew.
Yugoslavia Dissolves
Collapse begins
Slovenia
December 23, 1990: in a referendum on Slovenia’s independence from Yugoslavia, 88.5% vote in favor of independence.
Croatia and Slovenia
June 25, 1991: Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence from Yugoslavia.
Republic of Macedonia
September 8, 1991: the Republic of Macedonia becomes independent. Because of a dispute with Greece over the name, In June 2018, Macedonia and Greece agreed that the country should rename itself Republic of North Macedonia. This renaming came into effect in February 2019.
Croatia
October 8, 1991: Croatia independent from Yugoslavia.
Yugoslavia Dissolves
UN oversight
November 2, 1991: The UN Security Council unanimously adopts a resolution opening the way to the establishment of peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia.
Republika Srpska
January 9, 1992: the Assembly of the Serb People in Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaimed the creation of a new state within Yugoslavia, the Republika Srpska.
Collapse recognized
January 15, 1992: the Yugoslav federation effectively collapsed as the European Community recognized the republics of Croatia and Slovenia.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
March 1, 1992: Bosnia and Herzegovina independent from Yugoslavia.
Serbia and Montenegro
April 28, 1992: the two remaining constituent republics of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia – Serbia and Montenegro – form a new state, named the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia=–after 2003, Serbia and Montenegro), bringing to an end the official union of Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Montenegrins, Bosnian Muslims, and Macedonians that existed from 1918 (with the exception of the period during World War II).
Yugoslavia Dissolves
War
Operation Deny Flight
February 28, 1994: US F-16s shot down 4 Serbian J-21s over Bosnia and Herzegovina for violation of the Operation Deny Flight and its no-fly zone.
August 4, 1994: Serb-dominated Yugoslavia withdrew its support for Bosnian Serbs, sealing the 300-mile border between Yugoslavia and Serb-held Bosnia.
Pogrom
July 11 – 22, 1995: Bosnian Serbs marched into Srebrenica while UN Dutch peacekeepers leave. More than 8,300 Bosniak men and boys are killed in the Srebrenica massacre.
Dayton Accords
November 21, 1995: leaders of Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia agreed to the Dayton Accords ending nearly four years of terror and ethnic bloodletting that had left a quarter of a million people dead in the worst war in Europe since World War II. The Accords were formally signed in Paris, France on December 14.
December 14, 1995: the Dayton Agreement signed in Paris; established a general framework for ending the Bosnian War between Bosnia and Herzegovina.
December 20, 1995: NATO begins peacekeeping operation in Bosnia.
March 24, 1998: NATO launched air strikes against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which refused to sign a peace treaty. This marked the first time NATO attacked a sovereign country.
Yugoslavia Dissolves
War Crimes
May 27, 1999: in The Hague, Netherlands, a war crimes tribunal indicted Slobodan Milosevic and four others for atrocities in Kosovo. It was the first time that a sitting head of state had been charged with such a crime.
June 3, 1999: Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic accepted a peace plan for Kosovo designed to end mass expulsions of ethnic Albanians and 11 weeks of NATO airstrikes.
June 9, 1999: the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, signed the Kumanovo Treaty, ending the Kosovo War. The agreement also opened the way for the establishment of international security forces to maintain order in Kosovo and a UN protectorate over the region. The parliament of Kosovo subsequently declared independence in 2008.
June 10, 1999: Yugoslav troops begin leaving Kosovo, prompting NATO to suspend its punishing 78-day air war.
June 20, 1999: as the last of 40,000 Yugoslav troops left Kosovo, NATO declared a formal end to its bombing campaign against Yugoslavia.
February 23, 2001: a U.N. war crimes tribunal convicted three Bosnian Serbs on charges of rape and torture in the first case of wartime sexual enslavement to go before an international court.
Dragoljub Kunarac, 40, a former commander of the Bosnian Serb army, was sentenced to 28 years imprisonment. Dragoljub will face additional charges in 2019
Radomir Kovac, 39, a former paramilitary commander, was sentenced to 20 years. Zoran Vukovic, 39, also a former paramilitary commander, was given 12 years for rape and torture.
February 12, 2002: the trial of Milosevic–the ‘butcher of the Balkans–began at The Hague. Milošević defended himself.
March 12, 2006: Milošević died before the trial could be concluded; he was therefore never found guilty of the charges brought against him.
Yugoslavia Dissolves
More independence
Montenegro
May 20, 2006: Montenegro independent from Serbia.
Republic of Kosovo
February 17, 2008: Republic of Kosovo independent from Serbia (partially recognized; not a member of the United Nations).
Yugoslavia Dissolves
Crimes against humanity
Radovan Karadzic
March 24, 2016: Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader, was convicted of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity by a United Nations tribunal on Thursday for leading a campaign of terror against civilians in the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.
Karadzic, 70, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for his role in lethal ethnic cleansing operations, the siege of Sarajevo and the slaughter of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995, in proceedings that were likened to the Nuremberg trials of former Nazi leaders.
The tribunal found that Mladic, 75, was the chief military organizer from 1992 to 1995 of the campaign to drive Muslims, Croats and other non-Serbs off their lands to cleave a new homogeneous statelet for Bosnian Serbs.
The deadliest year of the campaign was 1992, when 45,000 people died, often in their homes, on the streets or in a string of concentration camps. Others perished in the siege of Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, where snipers and shelling terrorized residents for more than three years, and in the mass executions of 8,000 Muslim men and boys after Mladic’s forces overran the United Nations-protected enclave of Srebrenica.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQCmcUZMr8Y
Radovan Karadzic life
United Nations court increased the sentence of Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader, from 40 years to life in prison for his role in the Bosnian war of the 1990s, reaffirming his 2016 conviction on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Both the prosecution and the defense had appealed the 2016 result of Karadzic’s trial before the United Nations Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, in The Hague. Karadzic, who largely acted as his own lawyer in court, had asked to be acquitted of all charges.
The prosecution sought an increase in his sentence — a largely symbolic move, because Karadzic, 70 at the time of the verdict, was unlikely to live long enough to serve out his lengthy sentence. But symbolic or not, the court’s decision to raise the penalty drew cheers and applause from Bosnians watching in the gallery.
Yugoslavia Dissolves
What's so funny about peace, love, art, and activism?
