Soul! EP 68 (426)
Soul! EP 68 (426)
Soul! EP 68 (426) Guests Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee celebrate the work of Beat poet Bob Kaufman (Robert Garnell Kaufman), with musical accompaniment of Soul! Orchestra conducted by Lucky Thompson.
Soul! EP 68 (426)
Slow rack focus from skeletal metal structure against blue BG, pan to Ruby Dee (Ossie Davis sitting by her side) reciting Bob Kaufman poem titled "Benediction" -- opening line is "America, I Forgive You." Biting, sarcastic poem. Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee praise Bob Kaufman, quote biting lines of his work, introduce program. "I am apprehensive about my future, my past has turned its back on me." Great interaction between Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. Soul! Orchestra conducted by Lucky Thompson provides musical accompaniment. Opening credits.
Soul! EP 68 (426)
(DO NOT USE STILLS FOUND WITHIN THIS SEGMENT) B&W stills of Bob Kaufman (Robert Garnell Kaufman). Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis provide biographical information of African-American Beat poet Bob Kaufman. Many B&W stills of Bob Kaufman as an adult. Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee announce that Bob Kaufman is a alcohol and drug addict residing in San Francisco who refuses interviews, and has "abandoned his talent, and turned his back on his gift." Ruby Dee says, "From a great soul like Bob Kaufman, we believe that silence can only mean one thing: a suicide of the spirit."
Soul! EP 68 (426)
Nice sideview MS drummer holding sticks in traditional grip playing snare drum, hi-hat keeping time; zoom out & dolly out to Soul Orchestra conducted by Lucky Thompson performing upbeat jazz instrumental. Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee recite unidentified Bob Kaufman poem; Beat poetry heavily influenced by jazz. Dramatic reading. "Life is a saxophone played by death/ Greedy to please we learn to cry / Hungry to live we learn to die." "Even the blues shy from the cry of children dying on deserted corners." "Jazz is an African traitor!/ What 100% red-blooded savage wastes precious time listening to jazz with so much important killing to do!" "Remember the stereophonic screaming."
Soul! EP 68 (426)
Tilting MS thin barren branches of tree in park; diss to TLS barren trees in park; diss to TLS walkway bridge spanning over minor stream; diss to Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee reciting Bob Kaufman poetry in park, winter. "The holy little holes in my skin / Millions of little secret graves filled w/ dead feelings that won't stay dead." "When I die, I won't stay dead." TLS/MS Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee sitting on park bench, gray afternoon in NYC. Nice DOF TLS lonely city sidewalk by public park, NYC, benches lining left frame, parallel-parked cars on right frame. MS commuter buses & taxi cabs driving past cam. MSs Ruby Dee ascending steps from subway, reciting Bob Kaufman poetry. MS Ossie Davis exiting brownstone walkup, browsing mail, reciting poetry: "ConEdison threatening to cut off my brain / Postman keeps putting sex in my mailbox / My mirror died & can't tell if I still reflect." MSs Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee (separately) walking along sidewalk, reciting poetry. MS Ruby Dee standing on steps of walkup, reciting poetry; walks out of frame, exposing ornate wrought iron door.
Soul! EP 68 (426)
TLS African-American children playing at fenced-in playground at park in New York City, some kids riding bicycles through frame; Ossie Davis enters frame wearing blue pullover and brown Mao-like snap-brim cap, reciting poetry of Beat poet Bob Kaufman. Diss to Ruby Dee standing on steps outside library, reciting Bob Kaufman poetry: "I want to prove that Atlantis is a summer resort for cavemen / I want to prove that Los Angeles is a joke played on us by superior beings on a humorous planet / I want to expose heaven as an exclusive sanitarium filled w/ rich sycophants." "I want to prove once & for all that I am not crazy." Diss to Ossie Davis sitting in studio, speaking to camera about "the loving sensivity" & "cutting wit" of Bob Kaufman.
Soul! EP 68 (426)
TLS/MSs Ruby Dee sitting cross-legged on floor of shadowy, otherwise empty blue-black lighting studio, reciting Bob Kaufman poetry about or reminiscent of prison life (Kaufman had spent time in jail). Dramatic reading w/ audio accompaniment of jazz guitar being played off-screen. "Am I not more than a mass of entrails and rough tissue?/ Must I drink my bones, drink my wine-dilluted blood?/ Should I dredge old sadness from my chest?/ Not again." "In a universe of cells, who is not in jail? Jailers!"
Soul! EP 68 (426)
TLS/MSs Ossie Davis sitting slouch-backed on walkup apartment stoop in unidentified borough of New York City, chilly winter afternoon, reciting Bob Kaufman poetry affected by the Holocaust: "Sometimes I feel that those who escaped the ovens, where Germans shall forever cook their spiritual meals, are leaning against my eyes. And yet when I think of those ovens I turn my head in any other direction." Diss to TLS/MSs Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee sitting on director's chairs in lighting studio, reciting & discussing the work of Beat poet Bob Kaufman. Diss to TLS Ruby Dee sitting on bench in dim lighting studio, exhibiting thousand-yard stare while reciting Kaufman poem: "Somewhere there waits-- waiting, a book is waiting, waiting to be written. Cold cold pages waiting to be written. Man seeks God in a book."
Soul! EP 68 (426)
B&W stills of poet Bob Kaufman w/ son, Parker; from off-screen, Ossie Davis reads Bob Kaufman poem about Parker. Zoom-in on B&W aerial photograph of Japanese city (Hiroshima or Nagasaki, allegedly); B&W WLS atom bomb explosion; TLS mushroom cloud; Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis recite Bob Kaufman poem about "A-Bombunism" & "A-Bombunists." Martial drumbeats from off-screen.
Soul! EP 68 (426)
"Soul!" Producer Ellis Haizlip interviews Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. Ms. Dee says she was introduced to Bob Kaufman by a young woman at a school performance in Pennsylvania. Mr. Haizlip congratulates Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis for the award they won for their performances on a similar-themed "Soul!" episode on the work of Langston Hughes. Ruby Dee says she derives much satisfaction from poetry recitation & performance. Ellis Haizlip says black poetry is enjoying a renaissance. Mr. Haizlip mentions that Ossie Davis has become an acclaimed director, coming off the heels of "Cotton Comes to Harlem." Ossie Davis says he prefers (in following order) writing, directing, & acting, though he loves to watch Ruby act. Mr. Davis always believed, even from his childhood in White Cross, Georgia, that he would become a writer.
Soul! EP 68 (426)
Ellis Haizlip continues to interview Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. Mr. Haizlip praises Ruby Dee for her performance in "Buck and the Preacher." Ossie Davis says he is deeply involved with Third World Cinema, referring to his project of educating minorities the art of film production & ultimately presenting an accurate portrayal of African-Americans & Puerto Rican-Americans in mainstream cinema. Ruby Dee says she loves her community-building projects just as much as her artistic endeavors. Ms. Dee says that there has been moderate improvement but there is still a derth of decent roles for African-American women in film & television.
Soul! EP 68 (426)
Ellis Haizlip continues to interview Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis. Ossie Davis says their oldest daughter will enter the communications field, the youngest will enter journalism, and their son plans to mix music & psychology. Ossie Davis says he and Ruby have been socially & politically active since before they met, though he somewhat regrets not spending enough time on his writing & artistic endeavors. "I have never really tried to put everything in one channel & focused on that." Ellis Haizlip mentions Ossie Davis was the keynote speaker at the first fundraiser for the Congressional Black Caucus. Mr. Davis says he cannot see black being denied political power, even if they are not necessarily interested in it. "I see in the future many political challenges facing black people and I don't see that we can duck facing them." Ellis Haizlip concludes segment, thanks Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis.
Soul! EP 68 (426)
MCU Gretsch hollow-body electric guitar being played by African-American man. MS black male drummer playing song intro on snare drum; zoom out to Soul Orchestra conducted by Lucky Thompson performing jazz instrumental. Saxophone, trumpet, trombone, acoustic bass, drum, piano solos between verses of Bob Kaufman poetry uttered by Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee from off-screen. Beat poem regarding, celebrating jazz music.
Soul! EP 68 (426)
(DO NOT USE STILLS FOUND WITHIN THIS SEGMENT) 3/4 view MCU hands of black man playing Steinway piano. Diss to Ruby Dee reciting Bob Kaufman poem about Ray Charles. B&W stills of jazz bass player & composer Charles Mingus. Ossie Davis recites Bob Kaufman poem heralding the bass technique of Mingus. B&W stills of jazz vocalist Billie Holiday; from off-screen, Ruby Dee recites Bob Kaufman poem mourning the loss of Lady Day. B&W stills of Charlie Parker playing saxophone; Ossie Davis recites Bob Kaufman poem celebrating, mourning Bird. Beat poetry.
Soul! EP 68 (426)
Ruby Dee recites Bob Kaufman poem: "Sing, little children, sing!" Soul Orchestra provides sauntering, swinging accompaniment in BG. Ossie Davis says, "Wherever you are, Bob Kaufman, however it is that you-- man, you are needed. You are wanted. You belong." Ruby Dee recites Bob Kaufman poem: "Uncall my name. Tear up my eyes, I refuse to appear!" "Ancient gods will pray for me, a poor lost poet."
Soul! EP 68 (426)
Ossie Davis recites Bob Kaufman poem, "Crosswinds": "Crosswinds/ Heat lost mad ones / Cactus, roll them over / Dig small graves, shallow/ Lay them gently in the soft earth." "In the end & in the beginning, give life, give love, and at last, give death." Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee recite Bob Kaufman poem about long distance & short distance runners, blacks, drumbeats. Diss to B&W still & illustration of Bob Kaufman. Credits roll.