ALL THINGS MUSIC
PAGE 4 • GO! MAGAZINE
Thursday, February 4, 2021 • The buLLeTIN
Continued from previous page
More Black History Month
listening from Bend artists:
Because of what happened last year with
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the Black Lives Matter movement, and
with Black History Month here, do things feel
any different now because of that? Does it feel
like people are paying more attention?
Oh, absolutely. I think they’re being more
aware and they’re learning more and
they’re associating themselves now with being
knowledgeable and conscious. There’s a huge
wave of awareness going, and I’ve had personal
chats with friends. … When everything was
super heated and all the protests were going
on, and I was still on the road driving, I would
make it a point to avoid major cities driving
my bus through. I always liked the small towns
anyways, but I never made a big deal out of it
on a personal basis because of the way I see the
world and how I relate to any people of color,
or noncolor. Asians and Blacks and Mexicans
and Puerto Ricans, I’ve always come from that
unified, hippy kind of stance. But I’m definitely
feeling the change, being treated — being asked
about how I am and how I’m doing, people go-
ing out of their way to say hi and being courte-
ous and not looking over at me when I’m going
to the store to buy something, or walking down
the street and someone else is crossing the
street because they don’t want to pass me on
the same side of the sidewalk.
“NEBLAR,” MAXWELL FRIEDMAN GROUP
“No More,” Jeshua Marshall
“Great Again,” Kourtni
“It Ain’t Right,” MC Ragtop
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Hammond artist Maxwell Friedman has
been a fixture on Bend’s music scene for
with the art forms created by African Ameri-
can people in this country and really learning
them and respecting them. I think that helps
me really get in touch with that side of our
culture, and that’s the second big thing about
Black History Month. As a musician, I’m al-
ways trying to remind people, “Hey, you listen
to this music? Well this is where it came from.”
“JUST LIKE THEM,” MOSLEY WOTTA
Tony Dellacioppa/Submitted photo
Bend-based, 17-year-old Hammond artist Maxwell Friedman leads soul/funk/jazz/fusion band The
Maxwell Friedman Group.
many years. The 17-year-old composer and
keyboardist has spent the pandemic play-
ing solo streaming shows and working on
new material on his own and for his epony-
mous band. The four-piece funk/jazz/soul/
fusion group will perform the next Soul
Funktion Entertainment streaming show
from Midtown Ballroom on Feb. 12; visit
soulfunktionentertainment.com for more
2021
SHOP LOCAL CHALLENGE
THANK YOU,
CENTRAL OREGON
FOR SUPPORTING OUR
LOCALLY OWNED,
SMALL BUSINESS!
information.
“Neblar” is from the Maxwell Friedman
Group’s debut live album, “Beyond Neblar,”
released in 2019.
What are your thoughts on Black His-
tory Month in general and the tokenism
feel to it that can be there?
I think the issues with tokenization, at
least my interpretation of tokenization,
come from just representation of minority
groups in certain ways without really con-
sulting them for their own perspective. Like
someone else basically limiting the voice and
replacing it with their interpretation of what
they feel needs to be addressed. So I think
talking to (Black, Indigenous and people of
color) and specifically Black people about
Black History Month is actually really crucial.
… That’s the biggest thing for me about Black
History Month. Being a Black teen in public
school in Bend is not having a lot of represen-
tation. I’d at least want, for the one period of
time where we talk about the people (who are)
my ancestors, I want it to be accurate; I don’t
want it to be whitewashed. I want it to be the
truth, and I want people to really understand
all the contributions, all the progressions into
the future that Black people have contributed
to society, and then everything, all the adversi-
ties they’ve had to face.
Talking about Black contributions to
American history, I think a big one that
comes up that is in both of our wheelhouses
is music, popular music. I can’t think of a sin-
gle form of popular music in the United States
that isn’t influenced or directly inspired by
Black America.
Exactly. I think that’s one of the biggest
reasons I’m a jazz musician, is because I
live in a place where there aren’t a lot of people
that look like me. I don’t have a lot of experi-
ences with that side of my culture, so a great
way to connect with that is by playing jazz
music, by playing R&B and hip-hop music, by
playing gospel music, by surrounding myself
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Come visit our amazing New Location!
759 NE Greenwood Ave • Bend
541-323-2332
Bend poet, rapper, visual artist and writer
MOsley WOtta has stayed busy as usual
during the pandemic, releasing a slew of new
music including the album, “This is (Not)
All There Is,” and single “Head On.” As the
year progresses, expect more music through
WOtta’s new label, Wake Records, as well as
a multimedia streaming show, “Basic,” which
will be filmed later this month.
“Just Like Them,” the lead track from
“This is (Not) All There Is,” was recently
made into a video featuring animation by
Wotta. The video was featured in NPR’s
“Heavy Rotation” column last month.
What are your thoughts on Black His-
tory Month in general and the tokenism
that can come into that?
In a town like this, tokenism is going to
be inevitable until it isn’t. Any way to try
to lift up people who have been oppressed by
people who have been oppressing is inherently
flawed, but is also part of the work that needs
to be done. … There’s a growing willingness to
lean into discomfort as a daily practice rather
than a trend. We’re seeing substantive changes
in superficial ways that are going to translate
to core infrastructural changes, so far in as we
have (a majority of) women for our city coun-
cil, which has never happened before, which
is a good indication of trying something dif-
ferent. And I’m more keen to be curious about
this town than I am to condemn it person-
ally, but I don’t think that’s unique to me. I
do think more and more folks are wondering
about what possible outcomes could come
from the mistakes that we’ve made, the mis-
steps that we’ve made, as a way to get our foot-
ing moving forward. And that is very hopeful.
With everything that happened last year
with Black Lives Matter coming to the
forefront, are you noticing anything around
that with Black History Month?
If you believe that your ethical prac-
tice and investigation is ever over, then
you are an extremely dangerous community
member. If you believe that you can celebrate
Black lives during a protest or during a partic-
ular month, if you think that it starts and stops
with Black lives — if this is an investigation
into our relationship well beyond how we per-
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