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George Cross Kenneth Anger Billy Fury

Teddy Edwards Big Boy Teddy Edwards Sonny Boy Williamson Sonny Boy Williamson Bessie Smith Bessie Mae Smith

Texas Pete Virginia Woolf Sly Fox

Psycho Seb Coe The Running Man

Well I have to agree there are some very creative people doing well in business - but I do think that generally speaking, personal opinions and the scope for individual expression are extremely stifled in the average workplace - blocks on web access, prescribed patterns of speech on the phone etc etc but maybe that's another topic. As for modernism in 'the arts', I think it was definitely a positive thing, and no conspiracy. In any case of course, nobody ought to pay any attention to who should or would usually enjoy a piece of art or music - you just take it as you see it yourself. This man puts fashion on a pedestal:

Don King Don Quixote Windy Miller

El Cid El Niño Windy Miller

I think the pedestal thing is complicated - as I see it the story of modernism was of a continued effort to remove it, practitioners aligning themselves with (at different times) engineers, architects, artisans, revolutionaries, 'primitive' cultures, the insane etc etc*... unfortunately the fact that personal expression and creativity are so at odds with the working day and the demands of business, serves to keep art locked in that separated strata which both stops it interfering with the status quo, and also provides the ultimate in saleable products - imports from the rarified realm. How this benefits the 'artists' is questionable (the cliché is that it only works for you when you're dead - not altogether untrue). But I might be being romantic when I say that the evolving art of a hundred years ago was far more resistant to being put in its special place than it is today. *I have to say I don't know much about modernist or radical music, other than the sorts of musics that were first produced as entertainment, and later adopted by radicals as part of the effort to align themselves with something 'other' (blues, early jazz - pre-selfconsciously 'arty'), which raises the question of which 'audience' we're talking about.. also, much of the music recorded last century, away from the stage and the studio and out 'in the field' does put into perspective notions like 'rehearsal' and 'performance' - that is, work songs &co..

Depends on the audience, and the performer.. often a mutual antagonism between an artist and an audience is inevitable and essential I believe. “FUCK the audience” can mean different things. If it means a disregard for the expectations of the crowd, that’s one thing - if it means a lack of motivation for producing something of any value, that’s another.

banjo joe Ukelele Ike Harpo Marx

To be honest Ray's lost me when they first moved into Foyles - the blues and roots section was so reduced from the old premises I didn't make the trip more than once or twice. I 'found' a nice shop in York the other day - 'Rebound' - where jazz was clearly the main focus of the proprietor, and there was a good roots section too. It's been there about six years apparently. Then there's Jumbo in Leeds which seems a permanent fixture

Ulysses S. Grant James Joyce Michael Finnegan

I don't seek - to find is the thing - Picasso MONK / KNOW

I was in Crete a couple of weeks ago, and had a look around the splendid Minoan palace of Knossos - BUT - on our return to the hotel I was given the cold shoulder by the barman for not responding when he said 'Jamas' (Greek for 'cheers') - I thought he was referring to the Bob Marley record that was playing. (That's not a bad joke but a true dull story). (re. lack of Greek)

This reminds me of Raymond Roussel's 'Locus Solus' - where the wealthy scientist Canterel has devised a painless method of extracting teeth through magnetism, and accumulates a large stockpile of discoloured teeth with which he creates a giant mosaic of a murky crypt scene.

Booker Little Little Booker Gonzo

The reason that compilation begins as early as 1913 is the inclusion of Cantor joseph Rosenblatt's 'El Mole Rachamin (Für Titanik)' - there are a number of other, later songs about the event on the set and the notes mention the way in which our "collective awe" is undiminished even today.. - there's not very much 'black church' on it though

007 Desmond Dekker Mary Decker Slaney

Venus De Milo Freddie Mercury Eartha Kitt

Ming The Merciless Mike the headless chicken Ann Boleyn

Two kinds of silence which have a different relationship to the 'noise' against which it stands (to my ears) - first the kind of solid silence which a musician seems to carve into (as though it was a solid block) - like Monk does maybe, or early John Lee Hooker with that menacing kind of pulse and slash ... and then the other kind, usually very rhythmic where the silence is revealed underneath the noise when there's a pause (dictated by the rhythm, as a dramatic device for dancers I suppose), especially frequent for me with that kind of habanera rhythm (as on Jelly Roll Morton's 'The Crave'..) so in terms of the 'black' and 'white' mentioned above, one seems to me to be white on black, the other black on white fig 1 fig 2

Muttley Dick Dastardly The Slag Brothers

Roberto Matta Jake LaMotta Jackie Mittoo

When Document Records began doing this a few years ago I emailed them with my concerns - I got a prompt reply, which although it was very courteous and friendly was a bit disconcerting. The MD told me they had purchased a 'CD pressing machine' (on advise from their supplier) to make their own CDs, and that the 'CDs' were industry standard for audio listening. Also the machine came with an inkjet printer attached to do the labels. She was far more concerned about the appearance of the labels, which were white, and I think assumed this was also my main concern. So then they changed to printing onto the surface of the disc, thus making it even more difficult to tell visually which were CDR and which were not! Appended to the email message was a googled description of the difference between a CD and a CDR. It was obvious that they knew as little about the issues as I did and I really believe they were acting somewhat in ignorance to save money, relying entirely on advise from the supplier of the hardware. A second email stated that they thought that the CDRs were 'normal CDs' and not 'CD Roms' (and also that given the choice they'd bring back 33rpms tomorrow.. Occasionally I still get a Document CD or two, and there is no way of determining beforehand which it will be - CD or CDR - it's a gamble - and if I wasn't aware of the situation I doubt I would notice (& to me this is not a plus point!)

This is a bit off-topic, but as an antidote to the homogeneity of the characters in the drawing above - a few years ago this book was distributed FREE to all five-year old children in the UK: it's the story of a giant gorilla who is lonely (because everyone's afraid of him).. until he gets an old piano and starts playing jazz alone in his room. The musicians in the neighbourhood hear him and invite him to jam at the 'Blue Note' and he joins their band, and.. sniff.. he makes loads of friends!