Return of Renaissance

Yates High School has a troubled history in Houston. The school is seemingly constantly under attack from all sides, but Houston can’t let it go because of the students it produces. Take Jason “DJ Flash Gordon Parks” Woods for example. He is a product of the photography program at Yates, lead by Ray Carrington III, based on the community in which he grew up. Jason wasn’t fully committed to photography until he hit college, where he majored in photography at Sam Houston State University.

He now has a book of his work published and ready for sale. His book, “The Beautiful Side of Ugly,” takes you on a walk through the impoverished black experience in the ghettos of Houston’s third and fifth wards. In the next twenty years, with some photo re-touching, these images will sure to be placed in an African American museum of history. The gentrification of the Houston urban neighborhoods, like New Orleans, the people, the homes, and the spirit of Houston’s south side will make the historical context of the city non-existent.

As a highschooler, he naturally fit in with all the characters we all knew so well. If there was a Yates version of AC Slater, Zack Morrison, and Screech — Jason would have been the cool cat that fit, from top to bottom. But Yates was no after school special.

Whatever questionable encounters the southsider  experienced was through his  “alternative” love for music. In the 90s, alternative defined anything that was not “screwed” or produced with a southern twang, so his love for Wu Tang was rarely a topic for discussion at the lockers.

“The minute you mentioned Wu Tang, or some De La Soul, nigg*s gave you that strange look,” Woods says. “If you wasn’t bumpin screw, don’t even mention anything else.”

Thankfully 10 years later, his love for music has transcended to the club scene at chill spots in Houston.  Flash Gordon Parks, his DeeJay moniker, spins a  fusion of jazz, hip-hop and soul that surprises newcomers once they step into his magical world. Like his photography, Parks catches the moment through melodic sounds from HISD, which he’s a member of, to J. Davey, Esperanza Spalding, and Foreign Exchange. With headphones cocked to the side, and a glass of a non-alcoholic beverage on his table, the DJ is lost in the music. Tapping his foot and moving to the rhythm of an underground artist, Houstonians should be inspired to step up there discographies.

“I feel that once the word is put out there about this experience, more and more people will

come,” he says. “The Houston club scene is used to being told what’s cool and where to go, rarely do folks seek any newness.”

Why? “Because if that’s all you know, then why look for anything different?”

The crowd is medium in size but very pleased with their DJ. His mix of old school, underground, and radio jams are worth listening to, his skills are definitely a rarity.

A lover of art, film, and music, in cities like Philly, New York, DC, and LA, he would be considered a cool well-rounded cat, but in Houston’s urban world of cool, he’s dubbed The Renaissance Man.

Check out his podcasts for a taste of his musical choices on peaceuvmine.com. If you’re not feeling it, you probably don’t get this publication anyway.

© 2009, Eddie Nicole. All rights reserved by Sub Urban Media Group.