AllenLowe

actually it contained the true meaning of life.

just an aside, check this out - turns out William Russell was a fascinating composer, admired by John Cage: http://www.amazon.com/Made-America-Complete-William-Russell/dp/B000000NYO

just remember: you can put a sieve in water - but you can't put water in a sieve.

Larry - you'll appreciate this from Scott McLemee's review: "As mentioned, his romantic life sounds complicated. Brother West is a reminder of Samuel Johnson's description of remarriage as the triumph of hope over experience. One paragraph of musings following his third divorce obliged me to put the book down and think about things for a long while. Here it is: "The basic problem with my love relationships with women is that my standards are so high -- and they apply equally to both of us. I seek full-blast mutual intensity, fully fledged mutual acceptance, full-blown mutual flourishing, and fully felt peace and joy with each other. This requires a level of physical attraction, personal adoration, and moral admiration that is hard to find. And it shares a depth of trust and openness for a genuine soul-sharing with a mutual respect for a calling to each other and to others. Does such a woman exist for me? Only God knows and I eagerly await this divine unfolding. Like Heathcliff and Catherine's relationship in Emily Bronte's remarkable novel Wuthering Heights or Franz Schubert's tempestuous piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat (D.960) I will not let life or death stand in the way of this sublime and funky love that I crave!" No doubt this is meant to be inspirational. It is at any rate exemplary. Rendered more or less speechless, I pointed the passage out to my wife. She looked it over and said, "Any woman who reads this needs to run in the opposite direction when she sees him coming." Returning to the book, I found, just a few pages later, that West was getting divorced for a fourth time. Seldom does reader response yield results that prove so empirically verifiable."

try this full quote from West, oi veh: “The basic problem with my love relationships with women is that my standards are so high -- and they apply equally to both of us. I seek full-blast mutual intensity, fully fledged mutual acceptance, full-blown mutual flourishing, and fully felt peace and joy with each other. This requires a level of physical attraction, personal adoration, and moral admiration that is hard to find. And it shares a depth of trust and openness for a genuine soul-sharing with a mutual respect for a calling to each other and to others. Does such a woman exist for me? Only God knows and I eagerly await this divine unfolding. Like Heathcliff and Catherine’s relationship in Emily Bronte’s remarkable novel Wuthering Heights or Franz Schubert’s tempestuous piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat (D.960) I will not let life or death stand in the way of this sublime and funky love that I crave!”

and here's an evisceration of his work; read it: http://www.insidehighered.com/views/mclemee/mclemee267

Freelance - here's a choice quote from West: "Afro-American music.. .is seductive to rootless and alienated young people disenchanted with existential meaninglessness, disgusted with flaccid bodies, and dissatisfied with the status quo." Cornet West, Prophetic Fragments his autobiography is full of such sad attempts at poetic persepctive. then there is also: I will not let life or death stand in the way of this sublime and funky love that I crave!

actually, I know that J.A.W will take returns at any time. Just don't tell him about that kid thing.

well, if you want to read some incrediblly dumb stuff, check out West's autobiography. I named a song on my last CD - Sublime and Funky Love - after one of his pet phrases.

there's also a nice 4 Tops version of a Pepsi song from a 1960s commercial -

Jimmy Carter Jiminy Crickett Crickett Smith

nice story - there's also some spoken words by Big Sid on that Town Hall concert that Uptown put out a few years ago with Diz/Bird.

I agree with Jeff, but also disagree - there are solos in which Bird takes an interval (upper, lower, in-between) which, though technically not "incorrect," is unorthodox - and takes it in a brilliantly consonant direction that no one else could have conceived of. I think of people like Dave Liebman as systematic - organized in a very theoretical way; whereas Bird had a knack for bucking the tonal system yet making it all sound perfect. And thanks to Mark for pulling the Owens - though somehow I remember finding a different source - as a matter of fact - Larry - I seem to recall that this came up on the Jazz research list (of which I am a former member) and that may be where I first encountered it. Or maybe not. Also, let us not forget that one man's 6th is another man's 13th (I know there are technical reasons why this is inaccurate, but in practice the distinction is often blurred. But I also usually write flats instead of sharps because I think in flats; I have no idea why; probably lack of musical education).

sorry Chuck, but just because I can't remember every damn think I've learned, doesn't mean I'm urinating - this came up when I was consulting on the Burns documentary - and at the time I had very unequivocal info that the quote, as cited by Hentoff and Shapiro, was completely invented. It was one of the few things they listened to me about, fortunately.

it's interesting though I'm a little skeptical - I do recall, though I would probably have to hunt for the details, that the old Bird quote about Biddy playing the upper intervals was pretty clearly discredited as never really having been said. But I cannot, at this date, cite chapter and verse. Though it does sound like the son is really quoting the quote more than he is quoting his father (it's from the book Hear Me Talkin to Ya) -

though it's been almost 40 years, I do remember when I worked for Don Schlitten and he had Xanadu, he explained something to the effect that he had devised a more equitable split with the musicians, in which he shared royalties even before costs had been recouped. Something like that, IIRC -

it runs a half tone sharp/fast.

coincidence or fate? I was working on the intro to the liner notes of our next CD, and contemplating the racial issues raised by Nicholas Payton and Jacques Lesure - when what do I come upon but this article, which says: "The brain, it seems, does not make much of a distinction between reading about an experience and encountering it in real life; in each case, the same neurological regions are sti...mulated. Keith Oatley, an emeritus professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto (and a published novelist), has proposed that reading produces a vivid simulation of reality, one that 'runs on minds of readers just as computer simulations run on computers.' Fiction — with its redolent details, imaginative metaphors and attentive descriptions of people and their actions — offers an especially rich replica. Indeed, in one respect novels go beyond simulating reality to give readers an experience unavailable off the page: the opportunity to enter fully into other people’s thoughts and feelings." So how does this apply to MUSIC listening, to questions of race, cultural determination, and the ability of people to express themselves cross culturally? You decide: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-neuroscience-of-your-brain-on-fiction.html?src=me&ref=general

If you haven't already, I recommend reading Darensbourg's autobiography,

Joel - that last post was a response to your pre-8:18 - I simply was reiterating that one reason Affirmative Action has had some bad response is that some liberals have warped its initial intentions by seeing nothing but color as a signifier of authenticity. I still favor Affirmative Action, however.

I was pointing out that there are segments of the jazz audience (both critical and otherwise) who have warped our perspective on race by accepting race as a qualifier in matters of authenticity,

Esperanza Spalding has joined our thread: from today's NY Times: "Ms. Spalding drew at lunch, hours before attending a reading at a scruffy downtown gallery by the firebrand poet Amiri Baraka in tribute to his fallen comrade Gil Scott-Heron. She listened raptly as Mr. Baraka read, backed by the jazz pianist Steve Colson. On her way out she bought a couple of Mr. Baraka’s books, including “Somebody Blew Up America.” "

thanks, all help is much appreciated. Spent the day working on the music.

gonna bump this - raising money for our June 20th session in NYC - thanks to those who have already helped - http://www.indiegogo...IN-NYC?a=324935

I actually don't think we're any more "academic" than many writers or classical composers - jazz is particularly anti-intellectual. Try reading the critical works of Beckett, or Barthelme, or George Bernard Shaw. it's a different and more introspective world, and these are NOT academics.