13) MUSIC NOTES

Steelworker Remo Cino sings for Hamilton

At a time when locked‑out Hamilton steelworkers are on the front line of a fight crucial to all Canadian working people, one of their union brothers has recorded a powerful song, set it to an equally strong video and posted it on YouTube, where it's received almost 10,000 views. Remo Cino worked for 10 years at the former Stelco plant until he was laid off in November 2008. Sometime later at the union hall he heard a child read a poem that moved him to write "Everything Comes at a Price." The song touches a lot of bases: the feeling of being laid off, the effect on the local economy, the pride of Hamilton's steelworkers and their betrayal by the Canadian state. Look it up on YouTube and leave a message for Remo while you're at it.    

Lawyer seeks arrests in Victor Jara murder

A Chilean government lawyer is seeking the arrest of four retired army officers for the murder of Victor Jara. The renowned folksinger was executed shortly after the U.S.‑backed coup of September 11, 1973 that overthrew the socialist government of Salvador Allende and installed dictator Augusto Pinochet. Chile's Interior Ministry submitted the request to Judge Juan Fuentes Belmar on Dec. 21, naming retired officers Edwin Dimter, Hugo Sanchez, Raul Joffre and ex‑prosecutor Ronaldo Melo as defendants. The investigation began in 2008 when army conscript José Paredes Marquez was charged with the killing. He continues to protest his innocence. Victor Jara was detained in a stadium along with 5,000 other Allende supporters. Soon after he was tortured and shot to death. In 2009 his remains were reburied in a massive public funeral.

Cubans pay homage to John Lennon

On Dec. 8, early risers in Havana were surprised by a rock band on the roof of the Central Museum of Decorative Arts. On the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's murder, local musicians were paying their respects by performing in the manner of the Beatles' final concert on the roof of their London recording studio. The Cubans, who gather once a month to play Beatles music, closed with "Imagine", Lennon's anthem for world peace. Ten years earlier President Fidel Castro and musician Silvio Rodriquez, at a nearby park, unveiled sculptor José Villa's statue of John Lennon, and Ricardo Alarcon, President of the National Assembly, delivered a moving eulogy. Read it here: http://cubamigo.org/juliancindy/lennon.html.

Musicians donate food to Arizona migrants

Sound Strike, a musicians' organization that calls for the boycott of Arizona until it repeals its anti‑immigrant Bill 1070, donated 40 tons of food and distributed 2,000 toys to immigrant families at an outdoor concert in Phoenix on Dec. 18. Money for the food came from a concert in Los Angeles by rockers Rage Against the Machine and singer‑songwriter Conner Oberst. Potatos, oranges, beans and rice were purchased from Native American co‑ops. Funds for the toys came from online donations to Sound Strike. The group's founder, Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine, performed at the Phoenix event. December 18th is International Migrants Day, proclaimed by the United Nations to highlight human rights issues facing migrants throughout the world. For more information visit http://www.thesoundstrike.net/.

Ochs: There But For Fortune Phil

Phil Ochs, one of the outstanding radical folksingers and songwriters of the 1960s, is a relatively obscure figure today, but a new film about his life and times may change that. "Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune" opened in New York on Jan. 5 and is showing at selected North American theatres. The documentary, directed by Kenneth Bowser, contains rare performance footage plus interviews with Joan Baez, Peter Yarrow, Pete Seeger, and many others. Ochs walked in the footsteps of  Woody Guthrie, believing that music should be a force for social justice. In 1976, misunderstood by the counterculture he'd helped to create, depressed by the state of the movement, and suffering from mental illness, Phil Ochs took his own life. His music lives on. For more info: http://philochsthemovie.com/.

Nova Scotia Mass Choir honours Dr. King

Martin Luther King's birthday, a federal holiday in the USA since 1986, is celebrated unofficially by many Canadians. On Jan. 15 in Halifax, the Nova Scotia Mass Choir presented "The Dream Continues," its eighth annual Martin Luther King concert at the Dalhousie University Arts Centre. Guest soloists were African-Canadian jazz singer Jeri Brown and Nova Scotia R&B singer Frank MacKay. Special tribute was paid to the Jamaican Maroons. More than 500 of these descendants of escaped slaves were deported to Canada in 1796, where they were employed to work on the Halifax Citadel and subsequently founded the nearby town of Preston. The 35‑member Nova Scotia Mass Choir was founded in 1992. For more info: http://nsmasschoir.com/.

(The above article is from the Feb. 1-14, 2011, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)