johnblitweiler

I forget - where did Sonny Rollins get those chord changes to Airegin?

Bill "Hoss" Allen (had blues in his flat) Randy Wood (had blues in his shop) Pat Boone (cured Randy of blues)

What happened to the left side of Roscoe's forehead and upper cheek?

Oops. Here I was admiring "The Tortilla Curtain" until on page 274 the husband-and-wife illiterate vagrants are running for their lives from a horrific forest fire and Boyle writes, "What would he liken it to?" Good grief. When was the last time you were seized with fear and thought, "I need a simile for this"? That line is so artificial and literary that it smells of Creative Writing School. Down with Literature.

Shorts McConnell Muhammad Ali Vernon Alley

Don't miss "Hey Mr. Mumbles" by Clark Terry and Red Mitchell, with Red singing his bass lines as he plucks. It's on their Enja duet LP.

almost Bowie's best LPs on his own

Halfway through "Tortilla Curtain" by T.C. Boyle - pretty devastating, so far. Is he always satiric, does he always write this well?

Or does he poop in the woods?

For better or worse - who knows? - the Count Basie "autobiography" sure read like an Albert Murray book to me. As I recall Basie answered questions that Murray was likely to ask, and the frequently repeated assertion that the Ellington band was greater is certainly Murray's opinion. Murray could be an enchanting writer and the Basie story was definitely well written.

Classical music was a lot more available when I was a kid in the 1940s and '50s. In our South Bend home we listened to the Chicago-NBC morning radio program that played 78 rpm classical pieces and operetta songs; in slightly later years the Chicago-CBS station played classical music after 11 pm; there were NBC symphony and John Charles Thomas and other classical and near-classical broadcasts. We played Holst and Wagner and Mozart, etc., pieces in school band and orchestra; the downtown department store displayed classical music (and pop and even some jazz) in its 45 and 10"-33-1/3 rpm record department - this was the pre-rock & roll era. Attended South Bend Symphony concerts. Mom was intolerant of any but classical and semiclassical musics whereas Dad had a great memory for pop songs, which is where I got the habit of singing. All long gone. Now they play guitars in churches where we used to hear organs and teach how to arrange pop music on synthesizers in schools where they even have music education. So classical music was probably what I heard most early in life. Probably like a lot of culturally deprived white kids, I got to jazz and blues later in life, in my teens. I discovered Bartok, Stravinsky, Ornette, Prez all about the same time: lots of listening again and again, what's this? what's this? The decline in classical-music audience population has been a bonus for us senior citizens. Every Chicago Symphony concert at 5 pm they sell tickets for that evening's concert at a discount, $25. Since I discovered this last year I've had main-floor seats a couple of times. I've been to jazz events 3-4 times a month plus festivals in the same time period.

Doug Rader C.C. Rider Jack T. Ripper

te-bop-she-bop

My Gal Sal My Boy Lollipop Your Lady

Has anyone here read "From Nuts to Soup to Nuts to Soup: The Most Far-out Romance Ever Published" by Bob Weinstock? Or even seen a copy? (I got an ad in the mail for it 40 or so years ago - I believe the plot was about a jazz record producer who fell in love with a woman he'd always dreamed of, "a country singer with long blond hair down to her ass."

thanks it's apparently from this Lacy doc which I enjoyed listening to/watching as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWOEUlmoHBQ np What is the song Lacy plays on the piano and sings at the end of this documentary? Sounds like the Spirit Of Monk got into him.

Finally read "the Aspern Papers" by Henry James in a copy that previous owners had underlined and scribbled all over. The only reason I read such an awfully defaced copy was to punish myself for not looking for scribbles before I paid that $1 in Half-Price Books.

Pops Daddy O. O. Johnny O.

In "Cootie And Rex: The Big Challenge" you can hear 2 of the most distinctive tenor sax sounds ever, one following the other. Bud Freeman is perfectly clean and in tune and beautiful, Hawkins' sound is so big and rich with overtones that at first it seems out of tune. I loved the solos and chases, too, for a change it's a real true battle of saxes.

Last Labor Day weekend in Albert Tootie Heath's trio, Iverson was quite an inventive bop pianist.

Slim Gaillard Paul Gayten Gay Talese

Mr. Jelly Roll!

Baby Tate Buddy Tate Booty Wood

I'm surprised Tom T. Hall is still alive, wouldn't be surprised if Dylan had no idea that Hall's wife died recently, think Hall was a comparatively limited songwriter but passable for his period 40-odd years ago, Dylan was right to despise "I Love." My friends who put on the U. of Chicago folk festival ca. 1970 told me Hall performed there drunk and berated the audience (who included a number of Vietnam vets) for being unpatriotic and wearing blue jeans. Only time I heard Dylan live was his hit-and-run song at the televising of the John Hammond tribute in the '70s. The lyrics of a lot of his '60s songs were clever, intelligent, look good on the printed page - I hope his later songs maintained that standard.

Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons Mr. Trace, Keener Than Most Persons Mary Backstayge, Noble Wife