AllenLowe

what a voice! she musta been at least 200 years old -

well yes - but Seroff and Abbott have given us two massive and amazing books now in which they document incredible amounts of info from the old African American newspapers about the showbiz life of that time - and there are enough oral histories and other things floating around from veterans of that experience that we have a solid picture of who was doing what, even if we do not always have recorded documentation. Though there is a fair amount of recordings a few years after the fact - Clara Smith, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey (all veternas of those shows) and others, plus incredible reissuings of Paramount and Brunswick and Gennett that reflect what was still a very active minstrel/medicine show circuit. So I think there is still a lot to go on (also reading Tom Fletcher's book on early black showbiz) -

not sure - however, I was listening to an old live recording recently and I thought - that sounds like Tony Williams -

omigod - do we have confirmation that this even exists?

thanks, Dan, I will probably take you up on that, I appreciate it - as to a previous post, Wynton who? let us just say that it is my opinion that the origins of the blues are mixed in between country sources and minstrel sources- and that the post-Reconstruction black minstrel show, and it's transformation into a variety of entertainments that had minstrelsy at their core, were ultimately not only liberating to African American performers but revolutionary for American music. There is a tendency to describe the blues in almost religious terms, and to not grant that it had some broader entertainment values that were related to not only blackface traditions but also styles of singing and playing that are much different than that of the country blues - one does not dismiss American racism by seeing the black minstrel/medicine/traveling show as taking that tradition far from its demeaning sources. I must also credit a book that came out a few years ago, Ragged But Right (by Doug Seroff and Lynn Abbot) with confirming what had been, for me, an anecdotal sense that this was the way to look at the blues and its beginnings. If I can do it right I think this can be an important look at the full scale of what blues performance is. The other side of this coin is that, as I've been thinking about all this, I have come around full circle in my own ideas about the blues (especially since taking up the guitar). My own feeling is somewhat strangely akin to that of Crouch and Marsalis, in regarding the blues as essential - but not as they define essential - it is essential to MY OWN playing and my own music; it certainly is NOT essential to many other jazz musicians. And there is nothing wrong with that, I think. To each his own - I also now believe (and this is a recent theory) that the blues is essentially a vertical style, and that the reason I do not find most jazz players convincing as they play the blues is that they are horizontal players (sorry Jim, to start this old argument again). Of course, having decided that, than why is Bird such a great blues player? More on that later - but in looking at the verticalness off the blues I find the first and second generation of avant gardist to having been onto something important in their essential rejection of horizontal playing - which of course begs the question of Ornette - more on that later,also - but also back to Larry Kart's piece on Ornette, which I need to go back to but which describes him, if I recall at all correctly, as being a "pre-tonal" player - and more on that later, too - one last important thing in minstrelsy is that it is in the early form that we first hear of the singer and instrumentalist in a call and response relationship - the obligatto, I believe it is called, of the instrumentalist accompanying the singer. Something that is essential to the blues. And yes to Emmett Miller. This is a major undertaking; hope I can turn it into a book contract, though I'm not optimistic; that would be helpful in "paying" for my time, but we'll see what happens -

nicest man I ever met!

damn - I was just reading about some new projects he was involved in - one had to have either seen that original Zappa group, or have listened to the recordings, to know what a hip drummer he was -

well, he did make that sex video - no, wait, that was Rob Lowe - also no relation - funny how this thread should pop up again, as last night I was listening to the old Ray McKinley band (1940s) and thinking, wow, what a great soloist Mundell Lowe was - glad to see he is still breathing (unlike most of my relatives) -

Chris, you really should publish the Chris Albertson scrapbook - amazing stuff -

after a stange interview with a well-known jazz musician in which our opinions diverged powerfully on minstrelsy and the blues I have decided to do a new multi-CD project on blues performances styles from 1900-1960 (give or take a few years) - will include all styles from rags to jazz to hillbilly to country to gospel to everything else - looking for obscure but interesting single recordings in the blues, any genre, up until 1960; I own a HUGE amount of stuff, but one never knows what one may find where- so please if you have anything or know of anything that I might not come across otherwise, let me know -

ok, so if I wanted to hear a CD which was not like the one I first heard and which I did not like, what should I listen to (after all, yes, I am an open minded guy, with a liberal mind and an inquiring mind and a mind, after all, is a terrible thing to waste)?

I gotta admit that when I used to speak to Barry frequently (back in the 1970s) I always got a kick when the Baronness answered the phone - she had a great and unusual accent - as a matter of fact I still have that old phone number in my book - next to Al Haig - ahh, those were different days -

geez guys, I was just trying to help - sniff......... sniff........... sniff.........................

and speaking of that - more Swedish Camel News: STOCKHOLM, Sweden - What is a dead camel doing on the side of a highway in Sweden? That's what police are trying to find out after the unusual discovery Monday. Police thought it was a joke when they received reports early Monday that the carcass of a camel was spotted next to the E22 highway near Karlskrona, in southeastern Sweden. "But when the patrol got there it turned out be completely true," police spokesman Lars Lindwall told news agency TT. Judging by its injuries, police believe the camel was being transported on a trailer, but somehow fell off and was dragged behind the vehicle. "When that was discovered they probably just dumped the body," Lindwall said.

actually I think it goes with the "humping the camel" thread -

my god! I thought I'd been mugged on the subway! and my wife accused me of spending all that missing money on hookers (actually I used my credit card for that)! I think you should donate it to Organissimo - or to Bloomberg's next term -

you're welcome - I consider it a public service - all part of my organissimo task list -

"tea for two, and two for tea..."

it's cause they're not sure where it is -

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmm........................................................................ ....................................

and now, some more trouble in paradise: Sweden highlights bestiality problem Published: 29 Apr 05 16:25 CET Online: http://www.thelocal.se/1357/20050429/ (AFP) Bestiality, or sex with animals, is a growing problem in Sweden and in many cases the animals suffer physical injury, according to the country's first government-commissioned study on the issue presented on Friday. Horses are the species most often abused, the Swedish Animal Welfare Agency said in its report, which it handed to the government. A total of 209 cases of bestiality, of which 161 involved horses, have been documented since the 1970s, the agency said. It based its figures on responses to more than 1,600 questionnaires sent to veterinarians, animal welfare inspectors and police agencies across the country. The government last year tasked the agency with determining the scope of the problem, which species are most often abused and whether the animals suffer psychologically from the abuse. "Horses are most often subjected to violations. Even if it is difficult to assess an animal's degree of psychological suffering, it is likely that it experiences discomfort or is subjected to psychological suffering even in cases where there is no evidence of physical injury," the agency said. "Some of the animals suffered injuries to their genitalia due to vaginal and anal penetration as well as cut and stab wounds," it said. In the period 2000 to 2004, 119 cases of bestiality were documented, compared to just three known cases in the 1970s, 17 in the 1980s and 70 in the 1990s. But the author of the report, Katarina Andersson, told AFP that the rise in documented cases did not necessarily mean that there was a de facto increase. "We know that there must be cases that have not been documented," she said, adding that people have also become more aware of the problem in recent years and are therefore more likely to report suspected cases to the authorities. Andersson said it was difficult to determine whether sex with animals was more common in Sweden than in other countries. "It's impossible to say. We have not been able to find other studies from other countries because they haven't done extensive studies," she said. Bestiality is not illegal in Sweden. A ban on the practice was lifted in 1944, along with a ban on homosexuality. However, a person can be found guilty of cruelty to animals if prosecutors can prove that the animal suffered physical or psychological injury. The Animal Welfare Agency said it considered the current legislation to be insufficient to protect animals from suffering, but stopped short of calling for a ban.

now I know that Sweden, land of tall women, free medical care, and smorgasborg, seems like paradise on earth - however, a little digging and we find that there is TROUBLE in Paradise: Tuesday, March 7th, 2006: Dog poop disposal in Helsingborg What I think: Ever since I moved here, I've been impressed by the absence of dog turds on the pavements (US/CAN: sidewalks) or other public walkways in Helsingborg. In general, people here tend to walk around armed with little black plastic bags, ready to grab any droppings that may plop out from their beloveds' tongueless ends. And in most places, there are bins to accommodate such laboriously-produced offerings. And most people will dutifully place the aromatic produce into these receptacles. Don't get me wrong; one can still have an occasional laugh at a stilettoed nineteen year-old deeper-than-rouge-faced Friday-night girl, cursing at a rogue doggy-poop that has somehow placed itself beneath her daintily-shod and painstakingly-painted toes (with a most satisfying squish, I'm happy to add). Ahh, squishy-bliss. But these momentous occasions are few and - alas - 'mush' too far between. So, all in all, an impressively dog-poop-free environment. Or is it? Could there perhaps be a hidden poop-culture right here in Helsingborg? I'm here to tell you that there may well be. One day last year, I noticed something on my walk to work (I notice lots of things on my walk to work, don't I? I'm starting to wish that I'd been this observant at school). There's a couple of little adjoining tunnels that go beneath a main road and Helsingborg's main railway line. On one side, between these tunnels, on a kind of up-sloping paved bank, I spotted a few small black plastic bags containing - something. I didn't bother to stop and investigate, because I suspected that they probably contained dog poo. I remember finding it vaguely amusing, but just shrugged, and carried on walking. The next day, or perhaps a couple of days later, I happened to glance in that direction again, and noticed that these bags had multiplied considerably. This was getting weird. I started thinking about it. Most places where people would normally walk dogs have nice bins for the disposal of dog poo bags. But this area does not. It's considered terribly uncouth and rude to let your dog crap anywhere they like and just leave it there, so people will go through the motions of picking up their doggy-done-deeds and, realising that there are no bins in the immediate vicinity for instant disposal, and seeing a load of discarded bags similar to the ones they're holding, they'll simply chuck their personal canine contributions onto the pile. Sorted and forgotten. Consequently, within the space of just a few days, I'm walking past a huge reeking heap of bagged dog turds to brighten up my journey to work. What a refreshing way to start the day. I think it's good that the people of Helsingborg are considerate enough to refrain from leaving their pets' poops on the pavements, but there should be enough bins in populated areas in which these bundles of relief can be disposed of as hygienically as possible. It's time that the Swedish government did something about it. That's what I think.

"just friends..................."

Bud seems to be a little bit transitional at this point - working to advance his playing, but sometimes a little stuck as though tormented by some vision of Tatum - still has wonderful technique (as a matter of fact 1953 is something of a cut-off point, I think, for Bud-at-peak-power) -

"all you need is love....."