Does Your House Have Lions?

"One day in the late sixties, I was on the phone with Rahsaan and mentioned to him that just that day I bought a house.
He responded by asking, "Does your house have lions?"
I said, "What?"
He said, "Lions, you know like in front of a museum or the post office. You know, concrete lions. My house has lions. Get a house with lions."

--Joel Dorn

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

The power of Rahsaan

Tonight is the NYC premiere of Adam Kahan's film about Rahsaan, "The Case of the Three-Sided Dream."
I won't be able to make it tonight, but if you're in the area, I highly recommend it. 

This past spring, I was lucky enough to attend the film's world premiere at SXSW in Austin with Dorthaan Kirk, Rahsaan's widow.  Just after the second screening, a gentleman who was sitting next to us in theater turned to us and said, "This has been one of the greatest days of my life."  He was from Singapore and was in town for the interactive part of SXSW--the high-tech portion of the festival--and had just stumbled into the theater to see the film, having never heard of Rahsaan.  He was moved, uplifted, shaken--all of those verbs that seem to accompany the experience a person has upon first discovering Rahsaan--and it was so affirming to witness. 

As Rahsaan's friend and producer, Joel Dorn, used to say, "Nothing tops seeing him perform."  So if you're out and about in NYC tonight, looking for something to do, swing by the IFC Center at 8 pm.  There are no words adequate enough to describe what you will see.  

/http://bluenotejazzfestival.com/2014/03/the-case-of-the-three-sided-dream-film-screening-at-ifc/