GregN

The Grand This place opens next week and sounds like it will be an awesome and intimate venue. Seafood and Oyster Bar to boot, yum. 24 Washington Street Once they get their website up and running we will link. g p.s. Jimmy pls pin.

Are you coming in from Jupiter? ← Nah - just Melbourne. Much cheaper. Seriously. Economy's OK. ← I'll pay for your cover, parking, and one drink. Oh, and we can slip down to seven mile and conjur up a date for you. Just kiddin'. I think it's six mile....

The tech fest.... yeah, I was driving down I-75 and the amount of young people heading south was incredible. I've heard it is the largest such festival in the world. If she saw my behavior earlier, I am afraid I should buy all 15 a round. And, Chuck when we cross paths, the whole night is on me. Respectfully, greg

Jim, pls pin this puppy.

If you come out and mention the board, I'll buy you a drink. Greg Org Rep

Speaking of darkness... I couldn't really see what I was shooting when I made those mpegs. But Jim's feet showed up, so I figured what the heck. To me is was kind of cool. The other neat shots were the mirror photos. I think one is featured somewhere else on this site. Baker's has an angled mirror on the back of the stage so you can see a forward facing keyboardist's hands. All in all, it was a wonderful night. When I asked the owner what he thought of the band, he said, "these guys are tight!". When I followed up for another date, he said "a lot of people are talkin' about you guys, we need you back in here". So Aug13th, it's a Saturday, we are back at Bakers. Greg p.s. For those of you who witnessed my lack of self control. I apologize. The comments which polluted this thread showed a lack of respect for the topic at hand and have been brewing for some time. Sorry I was a party to that. I only hope that things can move toward a more positive light.

All of us, except the most fortunate, must wear many caps in this game. I still believe in Organissimo. This upcoming CD is actually heads above the last, as these guys continue to grow as creative and inspired artists. Growth is good.

Five pages later, we come back around to my original thought! ← Original thought???? Your thought was hardly original. Just kiddin', love ya. But seriously, conversations, arguments, and debates are often like good improvisations. Don't be afraid to let things digress and drift just a bit. One never knows where the next cool idea will pop up. Which brings me back to the whole myth of improvisation. A careful reading of this thread will in fact show the connectedness of many, if not most, of these posts. I am surprised some folks don't see this. Then again...

Who needs a book when you got THAT? Hell, I'm almost 50, so my life is probably more than half over. I know that Chuck's life is extremely likely to be more than half over. So the future belongs to you kids, as does how you choose to interpret the recent past. Enjoy! ← Goffman is older than you (he might be dead). I am 42. Goffman was not only a social theorist but a jazz musician. He immersed himself in a band and a sub-culture before he wrote about it. I imagine you would actually enjoy the book. I imagine Chuck would too. Plus, it has lots of pretty pictures.

And of course, Goffman pointy-headed the stuff..., but the point remains, the culture is gone. Good to see you smile, though. ←

Jazz is dead. There is a great book on the subject by Goffman on how the whole creation and meaning of the music was in the moment. The symbolic interaction within a community. The bulk of the "Jazz Scene" today is about colleges and narcisism. The rebellious and self-empowering attitude of "darkie having fun", is long gone. Certainly, Jazz can continue to inspire artists to create. Org is a group of fellas inspired by jazz and a whole bunch of other forms of music. Jazz snobs are becoming exceedingly boring and gradually extinct.

Maybe the next Organissimo recording should be done in a field. How about Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor? The bands I heard there always sounded great. ← lol... Go Blue!

Chuck says: "At some point (earlier than most presume) it stops being a "jazz recording"." I agree. I even think there is something quaint about even the most ragbag recordings of yesteryear. Field recordings are among my favorites. With that said, Organissimo's recording was done with minimal editing. And in today's musical context, virtually none. Unlike many bands of today, Organissimo is just as good and sometimes even better live!! In fact, we will be doing a live recording later this year... and Chuck you are invited to watch. I understand that you were not attacking Organissimo. Jim just seemed a little defensive (understandably) and it seemed you two were having separate arguments together. O.K. group hug time. Greg

I think the question is not whether these words have been shiboleths in the jazz world--they have. This is really just our inheritance from Romantic aesthetics, and the question is how far do they really go? The fact that these words have always been valued ones in the world of jazz MAY have to do with something that is essential to the music; or it may just be a reflection of the neo-romantic mindset of many commentators on jazz. I'd question whether "spontaneity" ought to be the sine qua non of jazz, and I'd also point out that the overvaluation of spontaneity has led to an awful lot of crap being passed off as art, not just in the jazz world, but all over the place. I think a balance has to be struck between sponataneity and other artistic considerations. Some value adheres to something that is done and consumed "in the moment," and there is a value in staying close to that, but I think that value can be completely and utterly exaggerated--to the point where the artistic experience is not one of appreciating craft at all but one of experiencing the ontological greatness of the artist or of experiencing the ontological greatness channelled through the artist. That, to me, is a lot of self-serving hooey. Some people may not mind the "artist as Elmer Gantry" drift of this attitude, but I find it to be kind of retrograde. But anyway, suffice it to say that the centrality of spontaneity is as succeptible to criticism as over-contrivedness. There's an interesting article in the Chronicle of Higher Ed this week on this general topic that I'll post elsewhere. --eric ← Damn, well put. Just wanted to add: Emily Remler has stated that most Jazz musicians work out the meat of their solos prior to the performance. She adds that 90 percent of Wes Montgomery's playing was preplanned. The great myth of improvisation and talent is a construct developed behind the scenes prior to performance and recording. Regarding editing: Editing occurs in many forms, self concurrent during performance, a priori, etc... Yet the myth of pure improvisation endures. In short, to the non-musician, the solos might seem totally off the cuff. They generally are not. Now with that said, I am just makin this stuff up and might have to come back and edit for presentation.

Chuck, you could never have emotional problems. It doesn't even seem possible. G

I saw Meet The Parents on DVD, and thought it awesome. Gaylord Faulker, loved it. And the jesus-freak capitalist character was very well done. Had I seen Old School at the theaters I would've gladly walk out. As it happened, I could only turn the TV off. Blues Brothers nearly ruined an entire genre of music. Still, it was a funny movie.

I love ya brother. Best Wishes, g

That was his selection. We told him that it may be very very bright for the swatch he chose but.... ← I started playing when I was twelve. Didn't have any formal lessons, but literally slept with that damn thing. Had an original Crate amp (looked like a crate and louder than sin), and a Japenese Les Paul copy, Tara guitar. First songs: Lola Tie Your Mother Down Stairway (of course) Fly By Night to name a few This was the seventies in Flint Mi. And there were a ton of really talented musicians about town. Their nephews, little brothers, etc.. soon became my buds as I would ride my bike five to ten miles to go to their houses. Of course, I couldn't take my guitar, so we would just swap back and forth. Learned a lot that way. One kid had a Nugent fixation and had something like four Quad Reverbs (or Super Sixes) in his basement all daisy chained and all on ten. I seriously could hear him a mile away as I approached on my bicycle. Music had so much joy then. Innocent and naive we would jam like mad with barre chords and pentatonic noodlin's (it was the seventies). I didn't get into jazz until many years later when I first heard Coltrane's ballads. I was floored. Still am. Anyhow, your son's picture brought back some wonderful memories. And the hair style and wrist band of his really conjured up a few images of my buds of yesteryear. Handsome kid indeed. At any rate, he is very fortunate to have such a supportive father. You have every right to be proud. Greg

The new format is faster than heck, on my computer now. Can I say heck, here? g

THE Melvin Sparks??? He is one of my favorites. Right up there with Grant Green and Cornell Dupree. IMO Just went to his website, closest he gets to MI is Ohio. Since the war, I hate Ohio.

emails have been sent. thanks!

Alfred, I've heard the tracks and they are awesome! Greg

Mike, with all due respect, doens't the fact that Wonder couldn't SEE what he was doing/playing make it that much more significant in terms of what Wonder accomplished? Uh, uh. He knows hundreds of blind and deaf quads who can do the same thing. I feel guilty for laughing... but lmao. That was funny. G

You are right in the sense that we cannot have meaningful dialouge if our terms fail to, at the very least, approximate shared meaning. Of course, and here you are mistaken, we must argue and discuss to get there. Right and wrong, though socially defined, can come with some certainty. Words may have specific (with all that word implies) meaning, if only fleeting. If we begin to agree on the right and the wrong, then we may proceed toward shared understanding of terms. If we all agree that A, B, and C may be equated with genius, and later someone fails to perceive B, because...well...maybe they lack a soul or something... we can regard them as wrong. G

There ya go.........GENIUS! Could be. Dang... if I was only a brother, I'd be a genius, too. Missed it by that much! I was mostly going for the rhyme and hyperbole. They are sufficient conditions, but not necessary.