Category Archives: Tales from the Archive

Tales from the Archive: The Fire Tape

Posted on 25/11/2015 by

His hands gripped the steering wheel as he cut his eyes off the road to fix them on mine. “The tape.” I didn’t have to wonder what Frisner was talking about. In the summer of 1986 Makandal had been hard … Continue reading →

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Tales from the Archive: Take Your Time

Posted on 18/11/2015 by

Frisner Augustin’s drum students knew his “Take your time” as a mantra, but few could articulate what he meant by it. Most assumed he was talking about tempo, or speed. For example, the tempo is sixty beats per minute, and you’re … Continue reading →

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Tales from the Archive: Drumming in Praise of Karen McCarthy Brown

Posted on 11/11/2015 by

So many things we think we understand! I, for example, have long told myself that the separation of the mind and the body—a notion basic to modern thought—is a lie. True knowledge springs from a marriage of mind and body. … Continue reading →

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Tales from the Archive: The People’s Hall of Fame

Posted on 04/11/2015 by

Even silence reverberated off the walls of the auditorium as Frisner Augustin took his award. The New York Academy of Medicine, a 1926 Art Deco interpretation of the Romanesque on the Upper East Side’s Museum Mile, could hold more than … Continue reading →

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Tales from the Archive: Behind the Cemetery

Posted on 28/10/2015 by

M te rete nan dèyè simityè, nan Ri Flèry Batye. Ou konprann? M te rete nan mitan dèyè simityè a. M te rete nan mitan katye a. I lived behind the cemetery, on Rue Fleury Bathier. You understand? I lived … Continue reading →

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Tales from the Archive: I Love You, Èzili!

Posted on 19/10/2015 by

She’s a coquette, a spirit woman reportedly of fair complexion, although she’s been known to inhabit every hue. When she leaves the luster and magic of Ginen to take possession of a human medium—to the heartbeat of drums, the sweet … Continue reading →

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Tales from the Archive: The Spirits Ride the Boroughs

Posted on 14/10/2015 by

January 24, 1981. At last! I’ve gone to my first Voodoo [sic] ceremony….I met Frisner and Ken in the building Frisner used to live in in Manhattan….Ken had a pair of claves for me to use during the ceremony. I … Continue reading →

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