The Magnificent Goldberg

Astoundingly, it's the same in South Wales where, if you can see the other side of the valley, it's going to rain. MG

Well, it read that way to me. MG

Doctor Feelgood Piano Red Speckled Red

Had a long day in the shops. Spent far too much time in Virgin - I had a Christmas voucher to use there - finding their stock far less satisfactory than usual. Hardly anything in stock - but many multiple copies, making the racks LOOK full - in jazz, blues or world music (yuck!). I very nearly took a tour into the Hip Hop section, to see if anything grabbed me, but instead got Upgrading from a Pathe Marconi LP to an RVG of this. I wonder if I'll notice the difference when I compare them directly? Wynton sounds very nice, I must say, on a first listen. and Not bad, but I was wishing it were a little better than it was. MG

Gatorade is a sport drink that supposedly is good for hydrating you, and is high in electrolytes and carbohydrates. It originated at the University of Florida (nickname Gators) , so was called Gatorade. Thanks Erik - it's similar to what my grandsons have when they go to karate classes. MG

Eric Hobsbawm - The Age of Revolution - 1789 - 1848 The Age of Capital - 1848 - 1875 The Age of Empire - 18775 - 1914 The Age of Uncertainty: the history of the short 20th Century - 1914 - 1990 Haven't read these for about a decade. MG

Thanks, but I gotta disagree. Braxton's talking about stuff that cuts to the core of existence, and he's talking about it in such a way that necessitates looking at it "objectively". That's the point of all the jargon, I think, to remove reality/macroreality (as he sees it anyway, which is a way of seeing it that I find impossible to disagree with when all is said and done) from all the "contexts" that have been constructed to manipulate it to various benevolent/malevolent ends over centuries. In doing so, he creates his own context (and I'm sure he sees the irony, probably even the humor in that), but it's his context, and it forces you to either confront what he's dealing with free of all the presuppositions that inevitably come with traditional terminology (terminology which has sprung up around the very interpretations he's refuting), or else just dismiss it as the ramblings of a madman. In other words, it's Reality Remixed! Absolutely right Jim. I don't LIKE reading that stuff, but it IS necessary in order to take you out of your normal routine and try to make you see things in a different way. And what he's saying is not really revolutionary; it's a musical/cultural equivalent of Noam Chomsky's work of identifying from thousands of languages the basic elements of grammar which he reckons are hard wired into human beings - every one of us, irrespective of what culture we come from. But the thing is, what Chomsky did is easier than what Braxton is trying to do - or more probably, set up the framework for someone else to do. It's easier because you can actually tabulate these linguistic elements, look at them in families and statisticians have worked out methods of comparing them objectively and quantitatively. Now anyone can say, "well, I knew we were all human; you didn't need to go to all that trouble to tell me what I already knew, Noam. It's just another example of academics making work for themselves." And you can say the same thing about Braxton's ideas. And OK, if you knew that already, you can say it. But there's lots of people who DON'T know it - not down in their guts - and these are by far the majority, I believe. And not just in the west, as you pointed out. But I think the west may have the prime responsibility for needling this issue out: first because it has proportionately a lot more resource available to devote to needling; second because it has, over the last several hundred years, systematically developed a mindset that downgrades every other cultural/racial/linguistic/geographical group ("World Music" in itself is a profound illustration of this, in defining something that "we" don't need to concern ourselves with other than as a product); and third because the west has systematically inflicted its views on the rest of the world - because it could. Anyway, if my wife doesn't hog the computer tomorrow (she's trying to book herself and some friends a holiday in Africa, and it's hard work), I'll try to read the rest of Braxton's piece; and hope that in the latter part of it, he attempts to set out a possible framework for understanding - or even cataloguing - the underlying "grammar" of cultural aesthetic thrusts. MG

Jerry Blaine Herb Abramson Ahmet Ertegun

I mean the area east of Bd Barbes which includes Rue Marcadet & Rue Doudeauville. That's where all the K7 shops are. It feels a lot like Dakar MG That's the area known as La Goutte d'Or! You may find some useful info at this site: http://www.lagouttedor.net/ Not a lot, I'm afraid Brownie. Thanks though. At least it confirms that Lampe Fall, the Senegalese record shop, is still there in Rue Doudeauville. However it doesn't mention Kalle Camara's shop in Rue Marcadet and I can't remember the Guinean shop's name. MG

That reminds me; what is Gatorade? Does it exist or is it just the title of a Willis Jackson tune? MG

I mean the area east of Bd Barbes which includes Rue Marcadet & Rue Doudeauville. That's where all the K7 shops are. It feels a lot like Dakar MG

I've never heard Braxton play. And I haven't finished this yet. But I think it's one of the most brilliant bits of writing I've ever come across. Not to say it isn't wthout flaws. What I think he means by "western culture" is US culture. He had already noted that western culture includes many different creative affinities, such as Scottish bagpipe music and Alpine music, which are lumped in with "World Music". I think you have to understand that generally what Braxton means when he talks about western culture is US culture (and its overseas extensions). On page 23, there is what looks to me like a fairly serious display of illogic. I've not come across a historian of African matters who has made argument (1). Nonetheless, there may be some. However, there is no evidence that there ever was "a unified African aesthetic (center)". But whether there was or not has no bearing on whether there was (or is) "an 'advanced' African culture". Braxton clearly states elsewhere, and I agree 100%, that in this matter, the question of advanced or not is irrelevant. Cultures are what they are now and they were what they were then and they will be what they will be whenever. Argument (2) does not follow from the general proposition anyway. Once more, I've never seen anyone try to make this argument. They'd make themselves a laughing stock I'm sure. And argument (3) does not follow from argument (2) - again, I can't imagine anyone seriously pretending that it did. However, despite the illogicalities of this section, I understand very well what Braxton is trying to say. And I agree with it. I found it very interesting that Braxton's encounter with African music in 1968 led him to these realisations. My own first in depth encounter with African music (different music, I strongly suspect) in 1967 led me to the same ones - though I haven't expressed them in the way Braxton does. (It is awfully HARD - as he says - to find words to deal with this issue.) But one of the big problems I do have with this - and with my own ideas, which must necessarily be tentative as a result, is that it all seems too large a task. Braxton notes this himself. What he is trying to do is to derive a basic cultural aesthetic, valid for humanity as a whole, much as linguistic historians derive proto-languages from an analysis of contemporary language families. If this is even possible, it must be carried through by reference to some kind of representative sample of different cultures. This gives rise to two immense questions. The first is, how can anyone REALLY grasp some other culture? The second is, that Braxton's sample - like mine - focuses on Africa and its diaspora. I KNOW that's as biased a sample as one focusing solely on US culture. But how to go further? I don't know; I think Braxon has set an impossible task, because the world is too big to grasp. Each of us can only understand a bit of what we can grasp. And furthermore, cultural aesthetic thrusts are not like words that can be written down in dictionaries and compared; or even grammatical concepts. I'll read some more of this tomorrow, but I don't think Braxton is the Noam Chomsky of cultural aesthetics. I seriously doubt whether there CAN be one. For me, personally, the answer has got to be to grasp what you can; to try to understand what you can; to realise that Aretha Franklin is no less "foreign" or strange than Ganda Fadiga; and neither better nor worse. MG

I have all the tracks on "Standards" plus the alts of "Tadd's delight", "Two bass hit" and "I didn't know what time it was" on vols 2 & 3 of "Sonny Clark trio" - Toshiba LPs BNJ61017 & 61018. The sleeves are the same as BN1579, but in different colours. Love the set of 3. MG

Randy Weston Jeri Southern Gene Easton

I've got Sonny Stitt disc 1 on; the Johnny Richards & Quincy Jones albums. I've heard these a few times now and, so far, I'm liking the Q material a good deal more than the JR stuff. MG

....her website? ............. http://www.rhodascott.com/ Thanks for that link Mark - I didn't know she had a website. Unfortunately, she will be playing in Paris in March, but not in May. So now I'm looking for Senegalese bands gigging in Paris in May. Any ideas from Paris? MG

The Katzenjammers Cats 'n Jammer Trio Three Cool Cats

Very nice stuff! MG

I'd like to have had an opportunity to try a new fangled tango with Lena Horne. MG

I'm planning a short trip (a couple of days) to Paris in May. Basically, it's a shopping trip, so I can knock around the African Quarter and catch up on Senegalese & Guinean music. It's been four years since I was there and I don't doubt there's lots of K7s to buy. Can I have some advice which will help on precise timing, please? One of the things I REALLY want to do while I'm there is see Rhoda Scott live. Is there any way of finding out about her live appearances in Paris? If she isn't going to be around at all then I'd like to see some Senegalese bands I haven't seen before. Is there any way of finding out about that kind of gig? MG

Here's an attempt: Music that isn't jazz but is somewhat sophisticated and that appeals to adults. Many of the vocalist reissues that have been released under the Blue Note imprint recently can be seen in this way: Julie London, for example, isn't jazz but does appeal to adults. In a more contemporary way, Phyllis Hyman might qualify (though she has more than enough compilations already). In a different light, think of the Leo Kottke compilations released under Blue Note: not jazz, certainly, but interesting, intricate music. But doesn't Julie London have tons of twofers available? Dinah Shore? Barbra Streisand? MG

Okeh !! You hit the right man, Svend Asmussen. Let's find out the rest of the information: Who's playing the guitar? You did it again !! Peter Bernstein is the guitar player !! But who's the leader of that group, who plays trombone without vibrato ( T), clean articulated ( S) and keeps the tune quite straight (T), who reminds of J.J. Johnson (S) and Kai Winding (MG)? And what about the trumpet player? Keep swinging Durium Well, I guess I could do some discographical research - but I think that would be cheating. Basically, I don't know these guys. MG

Got this one? Snice MG

I'm going to guess that "Running wild" is by that other popular violinist, Svend Asmussen. I can't imagine a 39 year old disciple of Grant Green. Let me see, he'd have been 10 when GG died. Ah, Peter Bernstein! MG

Sonny Stitt disc 7 MG