Imaginary

Fictional Narratives

Novels and stories:

• Nana Nkweti, Walking on Cowrie Shells: Stories (Graywolf Press, 2021): “Nkweti writes across multiple genres including science fiction, young adult literature, literary fiction and suspense, showcasing a host of voices . . .”

Poetry

Music: Composers, artists, and major works

Trumpeter, conductor and music educator-ambassador Wynton Marsalis has excelled at both jazz and classical music, and trumpet/cornet showpieces. His extensive set of releases includes a plethora of jazz albums (including swing, big band, and bebop), blues albums, “classical” albums from the baroque and modern eras, showpiece albums, religious albums, and his own compositions (follow the links for representative examples). He has performed live at the House of Tribes, at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1989, at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 1982, at Lincoln Center for many years, and in Marciac in 2022. He has championed such icons as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Thelonious Monk and Dave Brubeck. He has used music to advocate for democracy, and the oppressed. He is a leading jazz educator, having provided extensive commentary on Ken Burns’ series on jazz. He maintains that “Jazz Can Change Your Life”. 

Blues artist Rory Block demonstrates her versatility by adjusting her styles to emulate other great blues artists.

• “Blues Walkin’ Like a Man: A Tribute to Son House” (2008) (54’)
• “Shake ‘Em On Down: A Tribute to Mississippi Fred McDowell” (2011) (50’)
• “I Belong to the Band: A Tribute to Rev. Gary Davis” (2012) (50’)
• “Avalon: A Tribute to Mississippi John Hurt” (2013) (50’)
• “Hard Luck Child: A Tribute to Skip James” (2014) (46’)
• “Keepin’ Outta Trouble: A Tribute to Bukka White” (2016) (43’)
• “A Woman’s Soul: A Tribute to Bessie Smith” (2018) (44’) 

Here is a collection of albums illustrating the emotive versatility of the many kinds of fiddles, only a few of which are represented here:

• Jouhiorkesteri, “Nikodemus” (2006) (45’) – Finnish bowed lyre: celebratory, from Finland;
• Kayhan Kalhor & Ali Akbar Moradi, “In the Mirror of the Sky” (2004) (49’) – Persian spike fiddle and plucked tanbur: haunting, from Persia (hear also Kalhor’s playlists);
• Sakar Khan, “At Home” (mix) – bowed kamancha: personal and intimate, from India;
• Ram Narayan, “The Art of the Sarangi” (2017) (64’) – sarangi: evocative and intellectual, from India (hear also Narayan’s playlists);
• Raushan Orazbaeva, “Akku” (2003) (48’) – two-stringed kobyz: contemplative, from Kazakhstan;
• Stelios Petrakis, “The Art of the Lyra” (2015) (64’) – Cretan lyra: steeped in tradition, from Crete, off Greece (hear also Petrakis’ playlists);
• Yu Hong Mei, “Erhu Chant” (2007) (61’) – erhu: dreamlike, from China;
• “The Art of the Gadulka” (2012) (69’) – gadulka: purposeful, from Bulgaria.

Peter Ostroushko demonstrated versatility in another way on “The Mando Chronicles” (2012) (212’): “The three all-acoustic CDs contain four sections divided into Folk, Old World, Classical, and South American. As you would expect, the Americana includes Bluegrass (joined by Norman Blake!), but there's some ragtime and even a few cuts of mid-20th century jazz, with Texas Swing legend Johnny Gimble (recorded in Waco, TX). The Old World includes a healthy dose of Ukrainian from Ostorushko's own genealogical heritage, French Musette, Italian, and an array of Irish tunes. The Classical includes transcriptions of Bach, Vivaldi, Beethoven, an original tune, and the South American section four Brazilian Choros and a Puerto Rican waltz.” 

Great multi-instrumentalists include:

• Prince was proficient at vocals, guitar, bass guitar, piano, keyboards, synthesizer, clarinet, drums, percussion, saxophone, harmonica and Linn Drum. Here is a link to his releases.
• Sufjan Stevens is proficient at vocals, guitar, bass guitar, banjo, piano, xylophone, vibraphone, English Horn, oboe, drums, recorder and theremin. Here is a link to his releases.
• John Entwistle was proficient at bass guitar, french horn, vocals, keyboards, trumpet, double bass, guitar, harmonica, jaw harp and bugle. Here is a link to his playlists.
• P.J. Harvey is proficient at vocals, guitar, bass, piano, organ, keyboards, autoharp, saxophone, trumpet, cello, violin, harmonica and percussion. Here is a link to her releases.
• Anton Newcombe of Brian Jonestown Massacre is proficient at guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, sitar, tambura, moog synthesizer, mellotron, piano, accordion, organ, drums, cello, koto, samisen, mandolin, lute, hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes, harmonica and flute. Here is a link to his/their releases.
• Mick Harvey is proficient at vocals, guitar, bass, piano, organ, synthesizer, xylophone, glockenspiel, harmonica, drums and percussion. Here is a link to his releases.
• Trent Reznor is proficient at vocals, guitar, piano, mellotron, synthesizer, keyboards, bass, saxophone, cello, double bass, drums, tuba, sousaphone, pan flute, harmonium, swarmatron, harpsichord, marimba, sampler, vibraphone and programming. Here is a link to his playlists.
• Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead is proficient at guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, piano, synthesiser, viola, drums, percussion, glockenspiel, ondes Martenot, sampler, Mellotron, banjo, organ, celesta, accordion, harmonica and recorder. Here is a link to his playlists.
• Mike Oldfield is proficient at guitar, keyboards, percussion, vocals, bass guitar, glockenspiel, mandolin, banjo and tubular bells. Here is a link to his releases.
• Curtis Mayfield was proficient at vocals, guitar, bass, piano, saxophone and drums. Here is a link to his releases.
• Todd Rundgren is proficient at vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, saxophone and theremin. Here is a link to his playlists.
• Billie Joe Armstrong is proficient at vocals, guitar, piano, drums, percussion, saxophone, harmonica, mandolin, bass and violin. Here is a link to his playlists.
• Ben Moody is proficient at guitar, vocals, bass, piano, drums and percussion. Here is a link to his playlists.
• Roxy Coss plays several instruments in the saxophone and clarinet families. Here is a link to her playlists.

Albums:

• Pharoah Sanders, “Thembi” (1970) (42’): “. . . it's rare to have this many different sides of Sanders coexisting in one place . . .”

Music: songs and other short pieces

Visual Arts

Film and Stage

• Kind Hearts and Coronets: Alec Guinness plays eight roles