The Magnificent Goldberg

I've just been listening to this album, which turned up today from the Sterns sale. It's a wonderful album. I've never heard of any of the musicians, so it seems to me that there is a younger generation of SA jazz musicians, well imbued with the spirit of Abdulah Ibrahim, knocking around SA now. There are several different combinations of musicians accompanying Mrs Kekana. Dumisani Dhlamini - piano, synth, programming, producer & engineer Sello Manyaka - sax Isaac "Mnca" Mtshali - drums Mlungisi Gegana - bass Godfrey Mgcina - perc Kwazi Shange - drums Fana Zulu - bass Themba Mkhize - piano Lawrence Matshiz - guitar Peter Masilela - perc Andile Yenana - piano Ntokozo Zungu - guitar Herbie Tsoaeli - bass Oupa "Poys" Makhubela - guitar I'm most impressed by Dhlamini and, particularly, by Sello Manyaka, who doen't seem to me to have anything more to do to be a great jazz saxophonist, in the Kippie Moeketsi tradition. Most of the songs are originals, the words by Linda, the music by her husband, Ephraim Kekana, who doesn't appear on the record. The exceptions are the title track, which is a speech by Thabo Mbeki, recited and sung over an old Abdullah Ibrahim tune, the title of which eludes me for the moment; and "Senanapo" which has original music set to a traditional story. Linda seems to me to occupy a similar kind of space to Ursula Rucker, the Philadelphia rap artist whose work is a lesson to everyone about Hip Hop and the world. Indeed, a couple of the tracks on this album are every bit as painful to listen to as some of Ursula's raps; the world CAN be a beautiful place, but often it is almost too terrible to believe. But, of course, the music is different; what you get here is the same kind of Mbaqanga influence turned into jazz via Abdulah Ibrahim, but carried into a different area. The way Linda uses her voice reminds me a bit of Abbey Lincoln; but I don't like Abbey much - I do like Linda, so it ain't the same. This is on sale cheap at Sterns UK. You can listen to samples of all the tracks here http://www.sternsmusic.com/disk_info.php?id=CDGURB035 But I wouldn't advise listening to either "Loss of a child" or "Newsflash" as samples. And "U could be happy too" is untypical of the album, as it's a slow Salsa number. If you're interested in SA Jazz, make a grab for this. If you're interested in unusual and meaningful music, grab this. MG

Dunno mate - I'm only here for the beer. MG

Got my Sterns sale albums today One of my favourites, upgraded from K7. Nice to see there are two bonus tracks on the CD version. Not heard this yet, but it does look like it's a jazz album. And also one I ordered a little while ago from Amazon UK, which, though it's Spanish, had to come from the US? Strange that the bonus tracks are the trio cuts from Sonny's album "Deuces wild". another I'm glad to upgrade, though my King pressing is very good. MG

Donald Vails Choraleers - In deep water - Savoy orig B C & M Choir - Life - Creed orig St James Choir of Detroit - I need him - Sound of Gospel orig MG

Colonel Bogey Wilton "Bogey" Gaynair The Bogeyman

Sorry, I forgot. This is the Wiki view of isinglass (the mineral, not the collagen) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscovite MG

James Brown - I got the feelin' - King Polydor reissue James Brown - Ain't it funky - King Polydor reissue Bill Doggett - Honky tonk popcorn - King Polydor reissue MG

MG

Now that has to be one of the GREAT smart-arse remarks of the year! MG

Laugh? I thought they'd never dry. MG

My understanding of Northern Rock (which I have been following tangentially) was that the problem wasn't subprime. (In fact, most of the problems with "subprime", at least as far as financial markets go, don't have to do with the mortgages themselves, but rather with liquidity risk surrounding assets backed by subprime -- not the chance that those assets will default (very small), but rather the chance that you will have difficulty selling those assets in the short term.) The problem with Northern Rock was that it relied on funding from interbank borrowing, rather than deposits. Normally that is not a problem. But when the interbank lending market dried up in the recent weeks all of a sudden Northern Rock faced a serious crunch. I'll read Moose's article and comment about it shortly. Guy Thanks for that correction Guy - now I'm not reading the Economist, I'm just looking at summaries and stuff. MG

Dr Lonnie Smith Bob Kenmotsu Akira Tana

Did you know that honey from the local apiary can be a crucial element in dealing with pollen-related allergies? Because the bees feed on precisely the same mix of different pollens as in the air you breathe, and this mix passes into their honey. You have to live within three miles of the apiary, however. Vroom! Crash! MG

The FT is pretty right wing in its political positioning, as you might imagine, though in its news it strives, I think successfully, to be a "paper of record" as we call them over here. On the arts front, it's catering generally for the ruling classes, so there's a focus on "Art", which is, of course, politically oriented to the right. I haven't read it since I retired. And I never read the arts pages. My mate at work, a top economist around hereabouts, used to reckon the arts pages, but he sang in a classical music choir, so I tend to feel that that confirms my view. I would expect good, fair, reviews of material that has "Artistic" aims, or which can be interpreted thus. I would expect the FT to ignore other stuff. Good review, though. MG

In the sixties, I spent plenty of time on and off the dole and, during the dole periods, I had to sell LPs and even 45s. I sold plenty. Some I have never missed. Most I've bought again, as I became more prosperous. But there are still about fifty or so that have never been reissued on CD. I'll get 'em one day. Or if not, well... MG

So, we're a fucking charity, are we? Mosiacs are not good value for money - except for some things that one absolutely HAS to have. But there are thousands of jazz musicians (and musicians in other types of music) out there who are worthy of me spending my cash on their recordings. Mosaic is COMPETING for my money with the other sources (labels/retailers) from whom I can buy stuff. And it's competing not too well. I've bought almost all the Mosaics I've got during their past sales. Not this year. MG

Odell Brown & the Organ-izers - Raisin' the roof - Cadet orig stereo MG

I've decided it's the HMV dog. Shit, Google's bust so I can't find a pic of the HMV dog scratching fleas. Google's bust????? MG

This is OK except I think he's a bit tough on the inflation statistics, so let's get that out of the way. Seasonal adjustment is important in such things in order to iron out SEASONAL FLUCTUATIONS. Yes, salad becomes cheaper in the summer; and more expensive in winter. Similar fluctuations occur for other fresh foods. Now, whether these seasonal adjustments are IN FACT a fiddle, with the aim of deluding the public I can't say, without access to detail that I can't be asked to access. What I can say is that, if you compare August 2007 with August 2006, you don't need seasonal adjustment; you only need it if you're comparing it with July 2007. Without looking closely at the detail of this, I can't tell if they're seasonally adjusting when they don't need to. But I assume that the statisticians who do this are career public servants, not political appointees. They have a reputation to protect - a reputation with their peers outside the Government service. Cheating with supposedly "straight" numbers is easily spotted by knowledgeable outsiders in acdemia and in the offices of State Governments etc. So I think these numbers are probably no more wonky than any other statistics - that's not saying a lot, though. * As far as the rest of the article is concerned, he's spot on. Trouble is acumin' in. It won't just affect the US. Over here we've just had a run on a bank (The Northern Rock) which was heavily into the US sub-prime mortgage business. Our Treasury had to give guarantees that ALL savings would be protected, not just those covered by the regular scheme, in order to halt it (or at least, to get it to abate somewhat). The entire world is somewhat involved in this, unfortunately. That does mean that the rest of the world (or a significant part of it, particularly Japan, China and Russia) may do what it can to mitigate the US' problem, because we all hold so many US (meaning useless) dollars that we don't want to see the currency become completely worthless. And Europe will NOT want the Euro to become the next petro-currency - we see what long term harm that has done to the American economy. Bumpy ride for the next few years. Glad I'm not a candidate for Prez. MG * Edit to say that the public's best security for the honesty of statisticians is that, as a bunch of nerds, they make some of the discussions on this board about whether JRVG, RVG, McMaster, DG, Liberty pressings or the new 45RPM 2LP sets have the best sound seem the acme of good sense.

Big fucking deal. MG

Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! (In honour of the fact that I have learned in the past year what the phrase means.) MG

Actually, the song is a vehicle for plot developement/exposition/whatever in a musical theatre piece. The melody & lyrics should be judged as to how well they function in that role. Everything else, everything else, pro or con, is "extra". Absolutely. Rodgers & Hammerstein's great achievement was to move the Brodway musical away from "coat hanger" plots about nothing very much to real stories, often with real tragedy in them. Musicals such as "Carousel", "Oklahoma", "South Pacfic", "The King and I" - even "The sound of music" - had real stories and songs with music that carried the stories forward. I mean that it wasn't just the lyrics that carried the plot - "Surrey" is actually a good case in point, because the music itself evokes the surrey. (Though it doesn't NECESSARILY do that - the version by Patton, Green and Dixon moves the rhythm figure of the tune into a groove.) Rodgers and Hart songs, however, were written for the theatre of the preceding era and are songs which could be fitted in anywhere in a musical. Or nowhere. The lack of context, in my view, makes them easier meat for musicians and singers who are not performing in the musical theatre. Hence their greater popularity with jazz musicians. The contextual nature of the Rodgers & Hammerstein songs carries with them into non-theatrical performances and almost inevitably conveys something to an audience that a jazz musician doesn't necessarily want to put over (assuming the audience has ever seen the musical, something that I guess is becoming quite rare). Not all of Rodgers and Hammerstein's tunes were so deeply embedded in their respective plots as "Surrey"; "It might as well be spring" works in both ways, it seems to me. But to ignore the context, even though you can, is, I think, to misunderstand the composers' intentions. The past is another culture. Trying not to understand it, while evaluating its music for its "eternal verities" (can't remember the exact phrase Chas used), is the equivalent of a Senegalese trying to evaluate Gospel music solely against his own background of Mbalax and Islam; a load of bollocks. MG

Swanee Quintet - 27th anniversary - Creed orig Brooklyn Allstars - Walk tall - Jewel orig Rev Isaac Douglas & the Savannah Community Choir - Stand up for Jesus - Creed orig Salem Travelers - Give me liberty or death - Checker orig Salem Travelers - Heaven is my goal - Nashboro orig Pilgrim Travelers - Best of vols 1 & 2 - Specialty Slim & the Supreme Angels - An evening with Slim & the Supreme Angels - Nashboro orig MG

Bill Doggett - Candle glow - King orig (one of those heavy discs where the material feels, and sounds when you put it on the turntable, like shellac) MG

When I met my wife, she was already married and living way out in the country, in a place where there wasn't even a road. She was having an affair with a friend of my best mate. He was engaged to a friend of hers. He brought her around to my mate's place one evening when I was there. I knew I'd marry her immediately. Dreamed about it that night. About a year later, she left her husband and moved near where I lived. So I started seeing her and elbowed the other guy out of the way - if this sounds like a Mills & Boon novel, it felt like it, too. First time we went to bed together, I recognised the room (and much else) from my dream. What a bleedin' shock! That was 36 years ago. We have different interests - eg she hates music and I'm very bored watching wild animals in Africa (which is where she is now). All I have to do is avoid killing her garden before she gets back in a month MG PS but we did very well bringing up a very nice daughter, of whom I'm terribly proud.