Africa Is a Country

Billy Bang

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

Billy Bang

By
Siddhartha Mitter

Bang, was a free jazz violinist and composer, whose music reflected on his involvement as an American conscript in the Vietnam War.

Billy Bang.

I am very sad to learn that Billy Bang has died at age 63. He was a beautiful musician who struggled with mental illness and other woes from the trauma of his service in Vietnam until he processed it in his music. I was introduced to his work by Butch Morris. Two years ago I was privileged to have a long conversation with him and Yusef Komunyakaa—this is the radio edit. Condolences to all who knew him.

“The amazing Billy Bang” (Bob Travis, Flickr Creative Commons).

Further Reading

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Binti, revisited

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The bones beneath our feet

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The cost of care

In Africa’s migration economy, women’s labor fuels households abroad while their own needs are sidelined at home. What does freedom look like when care itself becomes a form of exile?

The memory keepers

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