johnagrandy

Wow. I've never even heard of that place. Must be one of the oldest still existing saloons in America. Is it any good ? I would rather be ashes than dust ! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dryrot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time. Makes me want to get back on a motorcycle again.

For me, way way good fortune has arrived. Sco in the Bay Area with Stewart and Irwin ... plus Eddie Henderson, one of true originals and one of the last living legends of his generation on the instrument. Last time Sco was here with other jazz heavyweights (DeJohnnette, Holland, Goldings in the Tony Williams tribute) , people were driving in from Portland, L.A. ... that I know of ...... probably all up/down the California coast. Sco did not disappoint. Coming out of his venture into jam band territory , with a group of jazz legends smoking with inter-communication and an audience oozing anticipation , Sco caught fire like I've never heard him. Not to take anything away from anyone else on stage, but John was truly inspired and you could feel the near uncontainable nature of the explosions of ideas and grooves sonically blasting out his mind and soul. I heard a lot of "audibles" in the audience. People were simply blown away. It was the best music I'd heard in 10 years, easy. Probably too ambitious ... but one can still hope for the same next week. All of these shows will probably sell out soon. Of course you got the problem that Yoshis is the most boring place on earth when the music ends, but we figured how to solve that one. Just leave quick and head someplace where it's happenning.

So, who totalled their Enzo racing on Highway 1 in Malibu in February ?

He never even opened the cds. Why did you want to scoop up a second copy? Seems to me that one set is costly enough. Like I said man, greed, pure and simple. I have no idea why I am interested in this, but an avant garde cat like Steve Backer, producer of Braxton, Jarret, Pharoah ... doesn't even open his gifted Woody Mosaic ? Even if he had all the music, wouldn't he want to read the booklet? Even stranger, he sells it. Huh ? Running out of shelf space ? Best guess: He had another one, gave this one away to someone who needed some green and sold it to that store ... I should stop thinking about these things.

I posted Kurt's "Black Girl" lyrics to show that "crying about life" is at the roots of American music -- specifically African-American music (since that's the only real American music there is, in my opinion). Yes, the lyrics are the same as one of Leadbelly's versions, whom Kurt idolized, but c'mon man !, everyone here must know that no one knows where those lyrics originated. What one man calls "crying about life" I call being human. I don't know Nirvana like the hardcore does, like the guys at http://www.nirvana2.com do ... every tour, every show, every detail ... I don't have a whole lot of interest in a lot of what the biographers and critics have to say about him ... that's not my interest in Kurt. My interest in Kurt is intrinsically tied to my interest in myself. I've spent many many years trying to "figure out" Kurt -- and he is way way more complex that most people think ... even the hardcore Nirvana fans. He is one of the most fascinating people of the 20th century. There are layers and layers of disparate intentionally unresolvably conflicting meanings somehow all meshed together in his lyrics and his raw communication. As philosophy, it is impossible, but as music it is a twisted paradox, but one that can be solved. People concentrate on the wrong aspects of Nirvana. They misunderstand that Kurt saw his own image vs reality, saw the band's image vs reality, saw the fan base's image vs reality, saw the industry's image vs reality, saw it all far far better than any of those components were capable of perceiving each other. He saw it all. Achieving "the mirror" is the ultimate trick in life ... but it can kill you just as easily as it can self-empower you. I believe that early on Kurt perceived the disastrous philosophical flaws in the "solutions" offered by most hard rock, heavy metal, punk, alternative, underground, etc. music to youthful angst and anger ... music so intensely relevant to most rebels at the time that it becomes apparent how life will *most probably* unfold is revealed. (And if we all think back, this really is the greatest revelation we ever experience in life). Nirvana parodied their element as much as they embodied it. Yeah, some say they killed hair metal and all its pretentiousness, some say they were part of the 2nd or 3rd rebirth of punk, etc. I don't know. I'm not a historian in this area. I definitely don't think they intended any grand accomplishments. What I do think I have figured out is that Kurt was timeless and perhaps unprecedented in his ability to capture the massive need of *aware* youth to express their unrationalizable distaste for what life inevitably had in store for them (or how they perceived they would experience it as it unfolded) ... their incredible desire to live something *anything* REAL , NOW , before it's too late ... ... but at the same time Kurt recognized that these musics (especially taken on aggregate) offerred no real solutions for becoming an adult. Compare Nirvana with the psychotic megalomania of a band like Metallica and maybe you'll get closer to where I'm thinking. It is no accident that Burroughs took a strong interest in Kurt's music and lyrics. Burroughs the brilliant but decadent nihlist who continued on with what many of even the hippest cats would consider a depraved existence far into truly old age. It's easy to forget that maybe all of us are living out a life that when young we despised the thought of living. To his credit, Burroughs never forgot. To his discredit, he never got past disillusionment. Their collaboration is partial proof that what Kurt was getting at in the later years was approaching the truly sublime. The territory reserved for musicial geniuses, many of whom are discussed on these boards. I could write probably 10,000 more words ... but I don't think too many here want to read them. Many jazz afficionados wonder why the masses "don't get it" ... but they themselves become so locked up in their elitist cocoons that they can't "get" anything else but jazz. You never stop being young because you "never figure it out until its too late to apply it". On your deathbed, you're still young. Forget that you're still young -- no matter what -- and Kurt will make no sense to you. But if don't forget, then maybe what he had to say will mean something.

If you don't have John Scofield "Time On My Hands" I recommend you pick that up before anything else on the planet.

You hit the goldmine man ! When I saw the original post I was about to scoop it up, but I figured since I'm out to spread the word on Wood why be greedy ? Question is ... why did Steve Backer unload his copy ?

The Balkan master improviser is Bulgarian clarinetist Ivo Paposov. http://www.creative-music-of-east-europe.com/folk04en.htm http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/awards2005/pro...vopapasov.shtml A few years ago he cut back his 7 days/week , 16+ hr days, schedule. Then he quit music altogether for awhile to build himself a house. But he's back playing, and lately is gaining a bit of notoriety in the US. Rasputins, for one, is currently promoting him.

Yeah, I read it, and it's ok. But there really aren't any good Kurt bios yet. Just like there aren't any Woody bios. Both men are too tough to figure out. And human was the whole point. Kurt was human in every vulnerable manifestation of our existence and he put it all on display for the world to see. It wasn't contrived. He hated the image he became. He hated being an icon for junkies. And the band's the same. Do you track Dave and Krist? True believers for life. Yeah, Kurt probably had an ego. Anyone who can go on stage in complete madness in the biggest venues in the world has got to have an ego. But escapism? Sorry man, I disagree. Escape from mundanity, no. Escape from hell, yes. The man was going insane. Because of their massive popularity and the general stereotypes of the rock superstar life, it's very easy to rationalize Kurt and Nirvana into something they were not. Anyone who was there at the time knows that ain't what it was about. As far as borrowing from other bands ... who gives a ? How many greats came up with their own stuff ? Woody sure seems like it, but if you listen to enough Dolphy, Tyner, Stockhausen, Kodaly you start figuring it out. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7...nirvana&pl=true

Thanks for that. They're keepin' the "special guest" disreet I see. Norwegians playing Balkan music. Very interesting to me since I'm Norwegian and I have a lot of friends from the Balkans. Have to ask around ... I recently heard of a legendary Bulgarian or Romanian, very old now, who might be one of the greatest living improvisational musicians. Unfortunately I can't remember his name. He and his band has survived in this impoverished area of the world playing weddings and other such events for maybe the last 40-50 years ? I'm not certain. In that part of the world, on the wedding day the music does not stop from sunrise until late late into the night. The band follows the bride and groom around wherever they go. He attributes his chops purely to having to play 16+ hours per day, 7 days a week, for decades (ok, there might be *some* exaggeration here). What they do is shuffle band members through breaks throughout the day to eat, use the restroom, rest their chops, etc. In interviews, he's stated he has no special talent, and that anyone would get that good playing virtually non-stop for 40-50 years. Modesty perhaps. I'll post his name when I find out ... unless someone else knows. .m4a audio clips... wow these guys are on the curve. Not too many out-of-the-box players support this format yet.

This is fucking stupid. I don't even think any of you ever even saw Nirvana ... let alone stage dived. Go do your thing. I'll do mine.

Nope, you are incorrect. The lyrics I posted are the exact lyrics Kurt sang live at the MTV Unplugged session. I listened to the CD right before I wrote them into the post and I just listened again and they're correct. Dig up the CD and listen yourself. Since that was an all acoustic session, I consider that to be the best easily obtained representation of Kurt's version of Black Girl. Kurt did sing other Black Girl lyrics variations ... just like everyone else in history. But the way he screamed the final verses is stunning -- an emotional catharsis perhaps unprecedented by any other rendition. Listening to it rips right into your soul. My point is that a lot of older well-known and respected musicians, poets, critics, writers, whomever -- outside of the grunge scene -- gave Kurt serious respect. If you're not into Nirvana, cool, doesn't bother me at all. My central point is that what Kurt had to say can really mean something when you're down and out, or alone, or massively angry at the world. Kurt saved a lot of people's asses. Kurt was the real deal.

You're wrong there. Mint doesn't mean never opened. It does mean like it came out of the factory but never opened (the cellophane still on the cds)? No way. Ha ha ha ! You're the one who sold it to me aren't you ?! No, just jivin' you man ! It's cool.

Yeah I love it too. One things that's cool about ER is those are real handclaps not those viral syntho-klaps they use these days. What's so hard about getting a bunch of dudes to clap their hands ? I never for sure figured-out one piece of the ER lyrics ( in parentheses below ) : Ohhh, East River Ohhh, East River Ohhh, East River Ohh, ain't no river there no more Wounded river opens wide Swallow good and eat a tide Keep us far away as long Robot killer can stay on the run Heavenly funk 'n earthly fate Wanna jump in 'n be its mate Elude yourself, disintegrate Ohhh East River, la de da Died and went to heaven, uh huh huh Dancin' with the angels, cha cha cha Singin' with the devil, ooh la la Oh East River, la de da Ain't no river there no more Left its skin like a giant snake Is the fake real or the real fake Is it just some fat catfish Feeds all day 'n (waits down wish) I'm standin' on the bridge of time 'N there's no way across but to lose my mind Jump off time, and see what I find Ohhh East River, la de da Died and went to heaven, uh huh huh Dancin' with the angels, cha cha cha Singin' with the devil, ooh la la Aiii, aiii, East River, la de da Ohhh East River, la de da Died and went to heaven, uh huh huh Dancin' with the angels, cha cha cha Singin' with the devil, ooh la la Aiii, aiii, East River, la de da Ohhh East River, la de da Died and went to heaven, uh huh huh Dancin' with the angels, cha cha cha Singin' with the devil, ooh la la Aiii, aiii, East River, la de da East River, la de da Died and went to heaven, uh huh huh Dancin' with the angels, cha cha cha Singin' with the devil, ooh la la Aiii, aiii, East River, la de da East River, la de da Died and went to heaven, uh huh huh Dancin' with the angels, cha cha cha Singin' with the devil, ooh la la Aiii, aiii, East River, la de da

Thanks Tjobbe ! I'm going to check these Eurocats out as much as possible. From googling, looks like Paul Shigihara has played a bit (Paquito D'Rivera, Pete Escovedo, Patti Austin) ... anyone know his music ? WR + WDR ... Zawinul/WDR Big Band CD of Weather Report Music in the Works November 26, 2005 Zawinul has two new CDs in the works, both scheduled to come out on his BirdJam label in March 2006. The first is a double-CD featuring Joe with the WDR Big Band. It was recorded live during their sold-out, two-week tour in October and November that included a week-long engagement at Joe Zawinul's Birdland in Vienna, as well as performances at the Salzburg Jazz Fest, Leverkusen Jazz Fest, Berliner Jazztage, Madrid Festival and Valladolid Fest in Spain. "It was a great and extremely successful experience playing some of the music I had written for Weather Report," Joe says. The set list included 14 Zawinul compositions "adapted precisely and very well orchestrated" by Vince Mendoza, such as "A Remark You Made," "Black Market," "Brown Street," "Fast City," and "Night Passage." They also performed an arrangement of "Procession" by Joe, "D Flat Waltz" as arranged by Bob Belden, and two songs without horns: "Indiscretions," and the Jaco Pastorius classic "Continuum" with words by Victor Bailey, who sang the song. One might ask if they also played "Birdland," considering it has been adapted to big bands by other arrangers. But Joe doesn't like to rehash his greatest hits. In fact, he has not played "Birdland" since Weather Report's last concert in 1984. "The band is the hit, not the tune," he says. Joe also gives high praise to the rhythm section that accompanied the big band, consisting of Nathaniel Townsley III on drums, Alex Acuña on percussion, Victor Bailey on bass and Tokyo-born guitarist Paul Shigihara. Acuña has always been an outgoing presence on the stage--and he was here, of course--but Joe described him as "outgoing on the inside. Totally aware of everything. He played amazing, totally into the music. I never heard him play better. The same with Victor Bailey. He was just off his own tour and in strong form." Joe was particularly impressed with Nathaniel Townsley III, who learned all of the music by heart from the original Weather Report recordings. This was his first performance with a big band, and Joe really liked the way he played. "He played all the important accents, but he didn't over do it, and that opened up the band and gave the music more flow," Joe says, adding that Townsley's playing reminded him of Mickey Roker and the late Shadow Wilson--two drummers who lent a small combo feel to the big bands they played with. Indeed, Joe reports that all the people who know the band and some former members of the WDR band remarked that they had never heard it sound so much like a combo. Like the Zawinul Syndicate, Joe conducted the big band with hand signals, and that must have been something to see. Joe said that at Birdland, where the sax section was in front of him and couldn't see him, one of the sax players took signals from Joe and relayed them to the rest of the horns. They kept it up for the rest of the tour. "In the club we had to sit as close together as possible," Joe says, "elbow-to-elbow, which we also kept up on the big stages in order to maintain that close feeling."

Did you catch BB live on their big reunion tour, early 90s? Not as fresh, but just as good in my opinion because Randy & Mike were far more advanced improvisers. Actually, I think Mike is the one who made a huge leap from era 1 to era 2. Randy had some pretty sublime stuff going on his head from the beginning ... back then, Mike was more blow the roof off. I that the HMBB cover is helluv cool ! A spacesuit ! ... Randy sittin' on the Strad case ... c'mon man, time-warp, back to the 70s ... that shit was hip !

... everything BB related that is. Since Mike got sick I've been trying to hunt down every BB session on the planet ... absolutely can't believe I didn't have this one until now: Nov 11 2003 , live in Leverkusen Germany with the WDR Big Band Koln (on BHM). Erskine too. SSF, Sponge, Straphangin', Song For Barry, etc. ... plus a delicious little groove named Shanghigh plus Let It Go : both Randy tunes from his 34th & Lex (also a 2003 release). Plus there's "Wayne Out" which starts mellow but turns into a total trip out with Randy blowing the band down ( ha ha ! ) For live BB, this isn't quite up there with Heavy Metal BeBop but it just might be #2. Only strange thing is that Mike only solos on 5 out of 10, while Randy's 10/10. But Mike sounds great !! This session was 2 1/2 years ago and Mike started feeling bad in Sep 04. Tears it up on Straphangin' , SSF ... I've heard mind-blowing MB at live BB shows, but this might be the best MB SSF improv I've heard on a legit recording. The arrangements really work. As everyone knows, the BB play *tight* -- but band is right there ! Big congrats to arranger/conductor Vince Mendoza and the rest of the crew who made this happen ! Anyone know much about Paul Shigihara (truly beautiful guitar work on Song For Barry) or the rest of WDR ? Man, I don't know nothin' 'bout a single player.

This gets back to my theory that these Mosaics are getting "passed around" on ebay. The Woody set was going for $160-$170 about a year ago. That was when Woody III's website was first grabbing some eyeballs, and there were other reasons too why interest in WS seemed to be on the upside. I've definitely seen some Mosaics with the same serial # come through ebay more than once. I'm just making an educated guess that when the prices start rising on a particular set maybe some people decide to rip 'n' burn and sell. I'm noticing this same pattern now with the Andrew Hill set. In this case I believe it's due to the renewed interest in Hill generated by the "Time Lines" release ... and all the interviews. Maybe just another of my whacky theories ...

Not exactly new to the scene, but a lesser known guitarist I've been way diggin' the past couple years is Brian Seeger, still based in New Orleans (I think). Apparently, it's musical devastation down there in terms of getting enough gigs but guys like Brian and Tim Green are trying to glue it back together again. Gotta support them.

I called the store and they told me the discs were still sealed. $100 is a decent price. The set seems to go on ebay for $125 range. Sealed for a $100. Wow. Congratulations ! It's more like $160-$170 on ebay. I watch all of them. I'm pretty sure a lot of these Mosaics get passed around. I track this stuff, serial numbers. People rip 'n' burn the CDs and sell the box right back on ebay. Kind of uncool. No respect, etc. But the prices are so high people must feel they have no alternative. With that Vee-Jay Lee/Wayne set going recently for $375 ( ! ) I can understand, not condone, but understand why this game goes on and on.

If it's the CDs in excellent condition, $100 truly is a great price. I paid $200 for mine on ebay. Advertised as "mint" ... turned out that was not exactly true. Mint is supposed to mean never opened, just like it came out of the factory. That's a growing problem on ebay ... people exaggerating descriptions of condition.

Randroid MC'n da Roots ... ? I'd pay to see that. I might leave abruptly, but I'd pay to get in. What is hilarious is ?uestlove's tirade about Italy over on his site.

I'd like to see The Roots live with Randy on trumpet. Sounds crazy I know.

Just goes to show...all you need is a nice Les Paul, a stack of Marshalls and you're 99% of the way there. Nah, man, that ain't true. What is true is that Slash got so loaded, so f'ed up so much of the time that he was often unlistenable live. I doubt there are many who could play at all (or even stand up) as messed-up as he would be on stage. But when he was relatively straight and put his mind to it ... I can't tolerate that vibe anymore (unless someone's been seriously f'ing with me) ... but just to remember I dug out "Appetite For Destruction". Check out Slash on "Nightrain" ... he's brilliant the entire way ... but especially the final 45 secs into the fade-out ... Almost nobody could, can, or ever will, shred the heavy stuff like that. Slash gets very serious respect from most hard rock guitarists, the big names all the way on down. One of the best ever in his element. Still is. Skills on ample display on Velvet Revolver "Contraband" ("Slither", "Dirty Little Thing", "Do It For The Kids", "Illegal i Song"). I haven't been keepin' track since then.