AllenLowe

"Knowledge is Good" -Faber College "Did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour?"

well, I hate to say it, but I always thought of AllenLowe as MY cute little handle here - and hell, I've been thrown off of so many bulletin boards I can't remember 'em all (actually only two: The Fender Forum for telling the head man that guns are indeed a political issue - he insists they are not, and will brook no dissent -and the 78 list for telling them "hey whitey black music is gonna get your mama" when so many of them insisted that white people were the prime source of jazz and blues) - and this place has definitely gotten more civilized since Jim got (justifiably) fed up -

of course, we can always turn to the Blind Willie McTell/Lennie Tristano/Roland Kirk performance - problem is the barking dogs in the background -

of course, in the land of reality, there's probably an Eddie Lang/Athur Schutt/Frank Trumbauer performance or two -

than there's the famous Kenny G/Hendrix/Liberace gig recorded at Plato's Retreat - Chuck, who was there, has a CDR of this one, but I can't get him to make me a dupe -

will definitely have another promo set by Thursday or Friday - willing to sell for $125 plus shipping -

I'll supply the vaseline -

to me the only thing worse than an incredibly stupid guy is an incredibly stupid guy who's making more money than me -

my last trip to Amsterdam - about 4 years ago - was disappointing - extremely expensive and quite gentrified, less funky and not as much fun -

I would make three suggestions - 1) if you are writing melodies, get away from the chord entirely as you write them - I always tended to sit at the piano and play chords in my left hand and melodies in my right, as I composed - this became deadening after 20 years or so; now I frequently work on the melody first, and worry about harmonization later - it tends to reduce my dependence on old habits - 2) a great way to harmonize things is to think in intervals - take the note "C" - this is the ninth of a Bb chord, the dominant seventh of a D chord, the major 7th of a Db chord, etc etc etc - this tends to help pull one away from strictly diatonic thinking - but also remember that a chord may work in isolation but not relative to that which precedes and follows it - 3) compose on some kind of synth, one with good sustain - this has helped me a lot - the piano, which I've always composed on, sometimes dictates its own melodies by it's very specific tonal properties - as any instrument does - a new instrument opens up the mind, presents new sonorities, new kinds of sustain (love my little Yamaha) - and will likely open up new melodic horizons - 4) listen to Mingus - incredible harmonic transitions, unafraid to follow the logic of a melody even when it leads to unfamiliar and even apparently illogical harmonic territory - and Jaki Byard - another master at violating conventional harmonic wisdom yet preserving inner logic; both of these amazing musicians created their own frame of reference (as did, of course, Ellington, Tatum, Monk, Bud Powell, et al)

still in business, though they moved (Full Belly Deli)

now see what you made me do? I've been on the 12 step "be nice to people" program - fell off the wagon - will have to call my sponsor, Che -

I guess it's liked a stopped clock -

no argument from me - if I could find some kind of teaching gig there I'd be on the next plane -

well, Joe, I hope you're not disturbia'd by your advancing age -

I once knew a guy who used to play bells in church with his twin brother; they would sub for each other when each was sick - one day he decided to end it all and he jumped off the church steeple - everyone came running to look at the body - one guy said to another: "do you know him?" "No, but he's a dead ringer for another guy."

there''s the famous bootleg of Ayler/Sharrock/Cecil Taylor after-hours - drove the neighbors crazy - Chuck has the master tapes -

I spent 4-5 days there about 12 years ago with some American friends who were studying near Copenhagen - wonderful relaxed feeling to that country - they were amazed because their two kids were allowed to go to daycare for free, they got medical care and housing subsidy, even as temporary residents; very humane as opposed to the US of A. I was tempted to bring the whole family over, everybody speaks English anyway - I saw the tenor player Bob Rockwell, and had a long talk which sobered me up somewhat. He had lived there for years and basically, as he told it to me, ended up as just another "local" musician, which he found frustrating, and I think he found the Danish jazz scene provincial - still, it's a whole other way of life, largely free of the kind of catastrophic medical/housing worries we have here. Maybe I should go back -

sold the second - I will probably have one more coming late this week - and can still offer up one more set for $125 plus shipping-email me at alowe5@maine.rr.com

maybe later - would like to sell this one here - don't make me get abrasive -

Big beat Steve - doesn't the 1953 touring band have Bird with it? Also, Dave Schildkraut?

they all do it - I recorded for one real label, Enja, in the 1990s - they were supposed to pay me the Euro mechanicals - I never got a cent, should have amounted to probably $1500-2500 -

larry, John, Chuck - has anyone done a decent oral history on the 1950s-60s era in Chicago? sounds like a good idea; this is fascinating stuff and someone needs to sit down with anyone who's still around -

one left -

whatever happened tp couw? He and I were starting to get along - ah, I feel so civilized -