AllenLowe

kidney stones hurt - only good thing about the experience was my introduction to demerol - one good reason to keep drinking Pepsi is that they were, originally, one of the first American corporations to actively recruit African Americans as both emplyoees and for executive positions - in the early days it was a truly progressive company whose recruitment was sincere and not merely tokenism. So I always try to buy pepsi over coke -

still available - it's really the Marcus Greil -

Jim - are you still getting kidney stones? I ask because I had 'em years ago because of an excess of calcium produced by my parathyroid gland - I had the gland removed and I've been fine ever since. It's rare but not that rare, and doctors almost never know about it - an endocrinologist is the one who suggested it to me - I peed in a jar for 24 hours, brought that big jar over to the lab, and it was diagnosed - and if you don't have that problem, you can always donate the jar to the Republican National Committee -

I'm going back to heroin - I hate needles, so maybe I can put it in a bottle -

I'd accept a job like that as a no-show -

well, you can also find pictures of the Mona Lisa on-line - here's a chance to get the real thing -

1) Charles Mingus and Friends in Concert - Japanese issue of the 1972 Town Hall concert, Gene Ammons, et al. Some scuffing on one CD, plays fine. $25 shipped media in the US of A. Prefer paypal. Email me at alowe@maine.rr.com 2) Charles Mingus: Meditation. French CD, concert with Byard/Jordan/Dolphy/Richmond. Decent quality radio recording. $25 shipped media in the US of A. Prefer paypal. Email me at alowe@maine.rr.com

excellent pianist, funny guy; also worked as a bag man for the mob, according to Al Haig -

yes, I understand that - however, there is a real N.O. tradition of sweet,melodic playing, a whole different aesthetic from the gutbucket sound (see Pops Foster's bio for some discussion of this). I'm thinking of the way that Bunk Johnson sounded on his comeback, also about Kid Ory's 1921 recordings; so I was struck by Armstrong's comment, because Miles was, of course, such a lyrical player - so I question the assumption about Bolden's playing.

are there a lot of dropouts? That's really unnecessary; with digital editing, eliminating dropout is quite simple; I've done it more than a few times myself -

I congratulate them on refusing to do an encore - not kidding around. I think encores are: 1) redundant 2) anti-artistic 3) destructive of performance pace and rhythm 4) bad bad bad glad to hear it was a memorable night - and trust me, they did you a favor by leaving the stage when they did - asking for an encore is like watching a play and than asking the actors to come out afterwards and do another scene, from whatever play they feel like - just my opinion - (the preceding was an encore posting, by demand)

still, btw, gonna insist that everybody read the book Ragged But Right - run to your local bookstore - and don't forget your $75 - I will be posting a short quiz on it next week -

glad Clem brought up the race vs class thing, because, though that's a whole other can of worms, it's a can worth opening - only thing I would add is that in the scheme of things race and ethnic identity often obscures the issue of class and even sometimes alter it - thinking, right away, of Jews in Nazi Germany - the German Jews were largely of the bourgeousie; some thought this tacit membership in the ruling class was protection from the class warfare of the right - obviously it wasn't. Also, many of the Russian Jews who supported the Russian revolution did so as part of a larger ideological belief that since the issue was class, the Russian people, post-revolution, would recognize the united Soviet people's front - didn't work out this way: Jews were purged from the party early on - and many went to live in Palestine and became the first colonists of what would become a Jewish state - which itself was a reflection of a resigned understanding that in light of certain kinds of bigotry, certain people would always remain isolated and separated as objects of distrust. Hence Obama, firmly ensconced in the upper middle class, will still not be trusted by many of his economic peers, simply because he is black. All of which doesn't mean I disagree with Clem, only that this stuff always gets more and more complicated as one looks at it more deeply -

I would question the definitive characterization of Bolden's music as "dirty" - possible, but who knows - Louis Armstrong, for example, said that Miles Davis's playing reminded him of Bolden -

re-Yale and Calhoun - I can understand why that would be controversial - I mean, why would they name a college after Amos and Andy's lawyer?

he also had a lot of sex with Judy Garland -

btw, I would recommend the biography of Johnny Mercer written by Philp Furia - Mercer's background was classic Southern genteel bourgeouisie; his social attitudes classic genteel/racially paternalistic. Still, a brilliant lyricist; also a pretty good singer (or maybe, song stylist) -

here they are - In the Old Stetl (Where I was Born) Down where the Cossacks scream Shiksas bathing in the village stream oy, life is just a Jew-boy’s dream in the old stetl where I was born children playing in the Russian air the moil smiles because business is good everywhere trying to circumcise that old grey mare, in the old stetl where I was born Taxman comes, I smile and say “what do you have for me today?” He says, “Every Jew is gonna have to pay and pay” I just laugh and dance away… So I go home and count my money Cash is the Jew’s milk and honey Smiling gold teeth, for life is sunny In the old stetl where I was born Here some news, a Bolshevik war? Hey, that’s what the goyim are for. I’m stayin’ here to read my book in Bialystock, by the babbling brook - Shabbas dovening, the cantor sighs, Shiksa sweethearts with milky white thighs The czar decrees, another Jew dies In the old stelt where I was born Still, you won’t find a single complaint Is you is, or mamala, or is you ain’t? Nobody's perfect and no Jew’s a saint in the old stetl where I was born

well, could be a problem - I did include, by the way, a Jewish minstrel tune on my new CD - I should post the lyrics here if I can pull them up -

well, I'll say about Bush what I said about Hitler in 1932, and Wynton Marsalis in 1980 - and McGrubb in 2007: "that guy will never last. Here today, gone tomorrow. Nobody'll listen to somebody as crazy as that."

well, there's a few Don Braden CDs I can think of, a lot of Wynton, too many Keith Jarrets to remember - wait - didn't you say DULL jazz recordings? never mind...

agreed on some of Wilder's work - the BMG Hampton CDs and the old LP set have great sound, by the way - I always remember one cut in which Hamp plays one-fingered piano, and for the life of me, it sounds very boppish - (ca 1941, maybe) -

1)" knives twisting in the bellies of Jews" this is why I wear a metal abdominal truss - ever since I got that call to get my ass out of the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001 - Irv called me and said, "oi, Al, get your tuchus down the stairs; some crazy goyim are coming in a plane. And I don't mean Sky King and his daughter Penny."

funny thing is, I'm reading a bio of Janis Joplin - Shad had an early contract with her and Big Brother and, sure enough, ripped 'em off like he did everybody else -

maybe somebody'll pay the musicians this time -