Playing Beethoven in our Bassmobiles

I’ll be buying Stew’s album presently. They’re pretty freaking amazing. A trio, fronted by Stew (Mark Stewart), sign avant-garde songs about race, cities, politics and life. (He’s got a more rock-oriented band as well, “The Negro Problem”.) He leads the set with a song inspired by a recent trip to Aspen, called “Black Men Ski”:

black men go to aspen and rent colorful chalets
giggle at the questions their mere presence seems to raise
get taken for men we don’t resemble in the least
aside: are you? no…
it’s a winter wonderland in the belly of the beast
and black men ski…
black men ski…

black men send back sushi with a scorned yakuza’s flair
we make postmodern art with bacon grease and hot combed hair
we secretly play beethoven inside our bassmobiles
we can tell you how cool looks but cannot show you how it feels
when black men ski
when black men ski