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RiffsFONT Awards Smith: The Festival ofNew Trumpet Music gave IshmaelWadada Leo Smith its award of recognitionat the sixth annual installment ofthe event in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Sept. 13.Other FONT performers this year includedJeremy Pelt, Avishai Cohen andRalph Alessi. Details: fontmusic.orgBest Buy Swallows Napster: Retailchain Best Buy announced that it wouldacquire the digital download serviceNapster for $54 million on Sept. 15.Details: bestbuy.comLatin Stamp:The United StatesPostal Serviceunveiled its stampcommemorating XLatin jazz at a ceremonyat the National Postal Museumin Washington, D.C., on Sept. 8.Percussionist Candido Camero performedat the ceremony. Details: usps.govAxes Captured: Photographer RalphGibson’s black and white shots of jazz,funk and rock guitarists are on displayat the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,through Jan. 19, 2009. The photosare also collected in the book State OfThe Axe (Yale University Press).Details: mfah.orgFame Relaunches: Fame Records,which became famous for its MuscleShoals, Ala., sound in the ’60s, hasrestarted. In its heyday, the label and itsstudio hosted such r&b stars as ArethaFranklin, Otis Redding and WilsonPickett. Along with repackaging historicrecordings, the revamped label will alsoissue new music through a distributiondeal with EMI. Details: emigroup.comRIP, Arthur Duncan: Blues singer andharmonica player Little Arthur Duncandied on Aug. 20 in Northlake, Ill., of complicationsfrom brain surgery. He was74. Duncan performed frequently in theChicago area and recorded for Delmark.LILLIAN SCHRANKMarie’sVersion ofNationalAnthemStirs UpDenverOn the final night of theDemocratic NationalConvention in Denver,as Senator Barack Obamaspoke to more than84,000 people packed inInvesco Field, singerRené Marie performedfor a much smaller audienceat the club Dazzle.While fireworks followedObama’s speech, René MarieMarie’s appearance onstage followed verbal fireworks set off eightweeks earlier when she sang the NationalAnthem at the mayor’s annual “State of theCity” address.Rather than offering the anthem in traditionalform, the singer offered the melody of the “StarSpangled Banner” blended with the words of“Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing.”Marie had been working on this interpretationfor months. In February, the vocalist premieredher 12-minute suite “Voice Of MyBeautiful Country” that integrated “AmericaThe Beautiful,” “My Country, ’Tis Of Thee”and “Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing” sung to themusic of “The Star Spangled Banner.” Threemonths later, she sang the concluding anthemsection of the suite at the Colorado prayer luncheonbefore government officials, includingColorado Governor Bill Ritter, to great applauseand even hugs. Two weeks after the prayer luncheon,the singer received an e-mail fromDenver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s office invitingher to sing the National Anthem at hisspeech on July 1.“There was much more pomp and circumstanceduring the speech than at the prayer luncheon,”Marie said. “When the color guard camein, I actually questioned what I was about to do. Ithought for a second and told myself to sing itstraight. At the mike, I was so scared that I juststood for a while before I decided to go aheadand sing it in the way that felt right to me.”Before too long, her version of the anthem hitthe media and became a national story. “I wasnaïve enough to think that those interviewswould present what I did and why, and then Icould move on,” she said.Instead, those following the story would readhow the singer seemingly boasted that she“pulled a switcheroonie on them.” In fact, Marienotes that the “switcheroonie” comment wasmade in passing to a photographer from one ofthe Denver daily newspapers while he was settingup his equipment.“My mother called me after reading thatcomment,” Marie said, “and asked if I had reallysaid that. I tried to explain that I didn’t mean itthe way it sounded and that I wasn’t gloating.”Gloating or not, she received more than1,500 e-mails, including death threats. From thesinger’s perspective, what she did may not havebeen politically correct, but, “I wasn’t thinkingabout it in political terms or in terms of promotingmy career. The only thing in my mind wasartistic expression.”The night before her opening performanceduring the week of the convention, Mariereceived another death threat and had a dreamof people shooting at her and coming at herwith knives. She offered to cancel her date atDazzle along with resigning from the board ofthe Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.Those suggestions were rejected. So she tookthe stage at Dazzle during the convention andsang “Voice Of My Beautiful Country” threetimes during the six sets she performed overtwo nights.“The first time I sang the song,” she said, “itleft a bitter taste in my mouth. It was like eatingsomething you like and then getting sick from it.The second time it was not so bad. And the thirdtime, it felt good to do it.”Hickenlooper said that Marie “is a remarkableand uniquely talented singer who was justmaking an artistic statement in an inappropriateplace. It took me a while to figure out was goingon. I recognized the words to ‘Lift Ev’ry VoiceAnd Sing’ and believed the National Anthemwould follow. After, I though I should havewalked up after she finished and said, ‘I can’tsing very well but let’s sing the anthem together.’That way she could have made her artisticstatement and those expecting the anthem wouldhave been satisfied.” —Norman ProvizerLUIS CATARINO16 DOWNBEAT November 2008