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Yoko Ono (1933), the child of a Buddhist mother and a Christian father,
was the first woman to study philosophy at a prestigious
Tokyo university. She didn't graduate, but relocated to New York in 1952 where
she soon joined the "loft generation" of poets, improvisors, artists,
playwrights and composers (such as
La Monte Young) of the city.
In 1958 she and her first husband, Toshi Ichiyanagi, attended Cage's lessons.
Her early compositions (the "instruction pieces", from 1961 to 1965) were
highly experimental,
influenced by John Cage's dadaism, the Fluxus movement and the "happening"
events (multimedia performance-art) that were becoming popular in New York.
But her most significant contribution was the vocal style that she invented
and developed, a mixture of dissonant western music, Japanese kabuki
recitation and
visceral screeching that projected her stream of consciousness.
She became famous after she started dating John Lennon and released under
their joint names two experimental albums of "unfineshed music":
Two Virgins (Apple, 1968) and
Life With The Lions (Apple, 1969), plus the
Wedding Album (Apple, 1969) that celebrated their wedding.
Yoko Ono/ Plastic Ono Band (Capitol, 1970) documented, finally,
her improvised vocal music.
Her witchy confabulation over rock'n'roll jamming in Why is powerful
and gut-wrenching, a devastating nightmare that releases the
ancestral instincts and personal traumas.
But the rather inept instrumental accompaniment ruins most of the atmosphere,
that is supposed to be horrifying but it ends up sounding relatively harmless.
Again, the instrumental backing (particularly the ridiculous drumming) spoil
the magic of the ten-minute Why Not, a deadly blues for restless ghost.
Her wild, distorted, suffocated shrill is a versatile instrument for free-form
jamming with an emotional purpose.
Disposing of the rock instruments, the beginning of Greenfield Morning
is reminiscent of Grateful Dead's psychedelic
experiments with distorted vocals, and then dives into hypnotic vortexes of
ethnic chanting.
Even more interesting is AOS, a 1968 session featuring Ornette Coleman on trumpet,
Eddie Blackwell on drums and Charlie Haden on bass. Ono's languid wailing
scavenges the very sparse soundscape built by the jazz musicians; then
suddenly explodes in a hysterical spasm that detonates a furious free-jazz jam.
The album ends with the most shocking piece,
Paper Shoes, anchored to a reference frame: the sound of a train.
The tribal drumming, the guitar strumming and Ono's shrieks simulate precisely
that sound of the train.
The CD reissue adds three unreleased tracks, particularly a 16-minute
improvisation for voice and guitar, The South Wind (date unknown).
Except for the film soundtrack Fly (1971),
in which the camera follows a fly over the body of a nude woman (the title-track
that accompanied that sequence is mostly a-cappella free-form vocalizing),
her next album was
Approximately Infinite Universe (1973), a much more mainstream work.
Feeling The Space (1973),
Season Of Glass (Geffen, 1981) and
It's Alright (Polydor, 1982) were even more mediocre.
Her pop career basically ended with her husband's much publicized death.
Onobox (Rykodisc, 1992) is a six-CD box-set that summarizes her career.
Rising (Capitol, 1995) was slightly more original, although unfocused and
occasionally tedious.
Blueprint for a Sunrise (Capitol, 2001) collects live and studio
tracks, a ridiculous concept on the female condition.
The problem with Yoko Ono (whether the avantgarde vocalist or the pop star)
is that she always "pretended" to be what many other musicians really were.
The only thing she really was is... a celebrity.
Yes, I'm A Witch (2007) is a tribute album of sorts, with several
musicians adding their own music to old Yoko Ono performances.
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