White Lightning

I did an interview with Billy Harper about a month ago and asked him about that. Mr. Harper believes that once the White establishment realized that Jazz is worthwhile they "confiscated" it from the Blacks by trying to erase the Black elements of the music - Swing era & White Big Bands. They did the same thing with Elvis. The White establishment used its funds to move the venues away from the Black Neighborhoods into the white ones. Jazz needs subsidy to survive as much as the opera - but the White establishment never subsidized Jazz. They also raised prices. All that chased the Black Audience away from Jazz. In addition, the White establishment "educated" the Blacks to prefer certain musical genres that the Whites regarded as inferior, such as Rap/Hip Hop. That's how mr. Harper regards these issues.

Have a great day and a great year, Guy! Ad Me'ah Ve'esrim

Guys, Thank you so much of the Bday greetings here and via PMs. That means a lot! I had a quiet, rather uneventful (in a good way) birthday. Went out for lunch with my family and then headed for the beach. Once again, thanks guys!

Happy Birthday, Bro!

Clarinet and Organ (Mort Weiss & Joey DeFrancesco)

Happy Birthday!

Wlecome Back! It was a tough week without you.

The Concert @ the Tower of David

Soundcheck

The Jerusalem Jazz Festival took place last week. It was a blast. The Location – The open arena @ the Tower of David was simply incredible, with a perfect Jerusalem weather and sound. The Jazz fest held some very good to excellent concerts, including Slide Hampton's four-trombone band w/Steve Davis, Avi Lebo & Jonathan Volchok (wish you were here, Free for All…) The highlight of the Jazz fest were the two concerts by "The Cookers" – an all-star septet that our own David Weiss assembled: Eddie Henderson, David Weiss (tp); Craig Handy (as, fl); Billy Harper (ts); George Cables (p); Cecil McBee (b); Gene Jackson (d) I was lucky to attend both gigs (being the musical advisor has its benefits…). The first one was excellent, but the second was simply amazing. The group had a great choice of songs: Capra Black & Priestess by Billy Harper, one song each by Cecil McBee & George Cables, and a Freddie Hubbard tune from the album "Free for All". Nice balance between arrangements for 4 horns and great solos. All members were great. I've never heard a bad Billy Harper, especially live. Cecil McBee is still playing amazingly beautiful with atypical choice of notes, Mr. Cables' playing is very tasteful and Gene Jackson's drumming on the 2nd gig drove tirelessly. It was one of the best concerts I've ever attended. I took some pics during the soundcheck and the concert – enjoy!

Congratulations!! Get some sleep... You'll need it this year... one more advise: Minimize the amount of "musical" toys. They will make your life miserable.

I would say - more saxophone! I think sax is easier on the ear than trumpet. How about some Cannonball, LD, Mobley, Mulligan?

Happy Birthday, Bertrand! I hope we can get together once again someday.

That's exactly what Billy Harper told me. That and the fact that he played with marching bands early on and had to have a huge sound while walking.

Happy Birthday!

It's out, then

I second that. I also enjoy his recent Mozart project (I'm not sure if it's out on a CD yet)

Happy BDay, Bass-man!!

Previous thread

I echo Jim's advise re lenses. They are very important for good results. SLR are the best, but They are costly, big and relatively heavy. If you're aiming towards the compact cameras - I wouldn't go to the ultra-compact ones. They are generally priceier because of miniaturization expenses, but usually the results are not as good as the "normal" compact ones - again - because of the lenses. In general - Bigger lenses are better. If you are considering buying the X10 zoom cameras, consider getting one of the new models with the "anti-shaking" mechanism. again - it'll cost you...

RIP mr. Childers. He was a fine trumpet player. I have only 2 CDs with him. One with Jack Nimitz, the other with Carl Fontana. Some fine playing!

Would I absorb his mental problems when drinking his forehead?

I think that his birthday is on the 26th, but I'll spin some of his albums today nonetheless. Happy Birthday to the most beautiful Prince of Darkness of them all!

Happy Birthday, Jim!