COMPOSERS: Fred Ho
LABELS: OO Discs
WORKS: World
PERFORMER: Fred Ho and the Afro Asian Music Ensemble
CATALOGUE NO: OO 30
Politics proud and defiant take the front line for maverick New York sax player and activist Fred Ho. ‘Abolish Columbus Day: No More Genocide!’ is stamped on to the CD itself, and an uncompromising stance bursts out of every track in urgent recitation and speech-song.
Ho, a one-time military man who went to court over racist treatment, is not your armchair liberal and keeps his radical fires burning in postmodern surroundings. His music sends jazzy or Asian-inflected lines ranging over some emphatic but swinging rock basses, honking its way into your awareness with up-front energy and immediate impact.