We Insist!

One thing you’ll discover as you move through this world of writing and media and art, is that you, the writer, the creator, the artist, the whatever, are truly secondary to the whole process. Or at least that’s how it feels sometimes.

I wrote this piece for a company called Vinyl Me Please. It went out of business. Another company, with new owners, bought them. They kept the name. In the interim, a piece I wrote for the old company was in limbo. Words for a project that might never see the light of day. This wasn’t a huge shock to me because in this business, sometimes the work you do never sees the light of day. They even have a term for it— “killed” — as in, “we have killed you piece.” Your will to live and to continue to do this to yourself is often also included in the deal.

Some places have kill fees, a sum of money that can range from the agreed on price to a tiny percentage, but you own the piece, and get to shop it around again if you want. Some places do not have kill fees, which means that you get exactly zero dollars for your time and energy, and depending on the kind of work you do, you might even be in the hole a little. It is a very unsatisfying relationship.

This was a very long way to say that a piece I wrote about Max Roach’s 1961 album We Insist! has gone from probably never being published to being in print. I’m happy about it because I liked writing it, but more importantly, I liked being able to share what makes this such an important album. And it is a very important album.

You can read it here (PDF). I didn’t pick the headline so please don’t bring it up. Thanks. If that doesn’t work for you click the image below. But whatever you decide to click or not click, you should go listen to this album as soon as you can.