Bay Area feminist quintet hits NYC

Debut CD feted

NEW YORK, NY — A reception recently was held at an upscale loft in Manhattan’s chic Soho district to mark the release of a new CD, “Brothers, Let Us Prey,” by an all-woman jazz vocal quintet out of Berkeley, California calling themselves Auntie Occident & The Free Radicals. The glitterati of New York’s alt-indie music scene exchanged hugs, noshed on marinated tofu canapés topped with organic cucumber slices and sipped espresso (”We made sure that the caterer only served Fair Trade coffee,” said Helen Barkin-Bray, a prominent socialite hostessing the soirée) as cuts from the CD played on the sound system.

“Music has galvanized activists during some of modern history’s most revolutionary moments, from gospel chants doubling as hidden messages for runaway slaves to Joan Baez’s rendition of ‘We Shall Overcome’ during the March on Washington,” said Sierra "Auntie" Occident, a San Francisco native who formed the group while she was working on a degree in history at the University of California at Berkeley.

The group employs sophisticated jazz arrangements and lush five-part harmonies on a broad range of material from across the musical spectrum. However, they’ve set out to be much more than a feminist version of Manhattan Transfer. “We don’t sing torch songs about pining over some man; we sing songs about carrying on the torch of human liberation,” said Occident. “And there’s no token chanteuse in a slit skirt providing eye candy for the boys, either,” she added.

Her comment seemed to make Rainbow Skye, another member of the group, a bit uncomfortable. Skye, who favors miniskirts and go-go boots, was practically the only woman in the room not wearing pants. “I suppose you could say I’m what’s called a ‘lipstick feminist,’” she said a trifle defensively. “I don’t think a woman has to surrender her femininity to be empowered; in fact, I think wearing short skirts is a way of celebrating my womanhood,” she noted with a sidelong glance at Occident.

“We want to do for jazz what the Chicago Women’s Liberation Rock Band did for rock’n’roll,” continued Occident, abruptly turning to the buffet table. The CWLRB confronted the grim machismo of “pig rock,” she pointed out, using satire and a diversity of styles to subvert it. “We’re doing that with jazz. Our mission is to survey and comment on contemporary gender politics, its impact on marginalized groups, and advocate for an alternate reality where discrimination does not exist,” she explained.

The title track, “Brothers, Let Us Prey,” is a scathing feminist indictment of the patriarchalism of Judeo-Christian culture and its suppression of Earth Goddess worship over the past two thousand years. “He’s not my father, and he sure ain’t holy,” the band chants, reciting a litany of complaint against the disempowerment of women and their exploitation by organized Western religion.

That is not the only jab directed at the Vatican and traditional Christianity, either. “I’m Gonna Shave That Man Right Outta My Hair,” their take on the Rodgers & Hammerstein tune, is inspired by Sinéad O’Connor’s 1992 appearance on “Saturday Nite Live” when she tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II to protest sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. “Sinéad was so brave to do that,” said Julie DiMolition, another band member. “We wanted to let her, and everyone, know how courageous we think that was.”

“I M Wimmin” is an updated cover of the Helen Reddy classic with a hip-hop beat and thick walls of synth-sound, tackling the complexities of modern awareness while reveling in the feel of a mid-70s disco party set somewhere in the future.

“(Look at That) Super Grrrl” is a tongue-in-cheek deconstruction of the Rolling Stones tune “Stupid Girl,” which has long infuriated women who see it as an disparaging insult to their gender. “I guess you could say it’s a joke with a serious point underneath,” said Olive Chancellor, another group member. “We want to show that the prevailing misperception that feminists have no sense of humor simply isn’t true.”

“She Ain’t Heavy (She’s My Sister)” is a tribute to the late “Mama” Cass Elliot, as well as a tender paean to plus-size ladies everywhere, reminding us that true beauty is not in the eyes of the male gaze, but on the inside.

“Yes, we’re pushing the envelope, and we’re unafraid of experimentation and emotional honesty,” said Joanna Archangel. “We’re out to show that the personal is political — this is much more than a vocal ensemble: it’s the summoning up of a transformative vision of a world without hierarchy and domination.”

The highlight of the evening was an impromptu sing-along of “Amazing Grace,” after which the group signed CD jackets and accepted cooing accolades from partygoers who gushed adoring remarks as they gathered up their wraps and headed home.