Down to Earth

Dylan Carlson is a craftsman, a musician, an innovator, and a seeker. And he's a nice man. Over the last four years, through our tangential crafts and shared love of music, he has become my friend.

Dylan is the core of Earth - a founder and, to this day, the only constant member. He and his evolving ensemble established a genre of music cognescenti refer to as "drone metal" or "doom metal". I prefer seemingly oxymoronic phrases such as "aggressive ambient," or "dense minimalism" because they hint at the tension and resolution a listener experiences when giving in to the music.

This image is one of a series I shot at the old 4th Ave location of Seattle's Vera Project. Dylan is free to use them any way and any where. So, I was happy to stumble upon it on Discogs, an open source, user-built database containing information on artists and their recordings.


Image © Bruce C Moore

No cover, no credit

Imagine seeing performers like Tierney Sutton and Karrin Allyson in a beautiful lodge setting, with no cost for admission. The Lodge at Woodcliff makes that possible for jazz lovers in the Rochester, NY area.

This photo of Tierney, taken at a 2004 Jazz Alley set, only begins to reveal how beautiful she is in performance. Jason Crane - writer, broadcaster, and labor activist - used it to encourage his readers to take advantage of her no-cover show at Woodcliff. I hope the house was packed.

Jason provides a useful service to his readership and his community. His blog is full of information about music, politics, and activism. He is environmentally aware and politically involved. He helps his community keep track of the arts, and he helps workers get organized. Somehow, though, giving photographers credit for their work isn't part of his impressive resume. I only scanned the pictures of musicians on his site, but I couldn't find one with attribution. Clearly, Jason is a good guy. But if he doesn't respect the intellectual property of photographers, who will?

Listen to the The Jason Crane Show or subscribe to the podcasts in the iTunes Music Store.

Image © Bruce C Moore