7/4

Damm straight.

Which depending on where you live, can be a pretty powerful hatred! The guy in this story is an ass...but I've seen cops do STUPID shit on the roads. One of the dumbest individuals I've ever met was this moron in High School...must have had an IQ of about 50...he's now a deputy sheriff of an entire county. This guy had to take 12th grade 3 times!!!! Doesn't instill much confidence in ye old men in Blue... Wow.

Uh, didn't she do just that? She was on the air when it happened..... Maybe he'll notice that you said something, he's still ignoring me.

I was at the Tigers Tail in Princeton, NJ for lunch a few years ago (up the block from the Princeton Record Exchange) and I heard that voice. Phil Schaap with a small devoted crowd listening carefully to his every word.

They are in a race for ratings. So...eh...Soledad O'Brien was somewhere else before American Morning. Where? Playing 2nd gun to Katie Couric.

Same here. Plus he sounds like he's tired of himself too.

I lasted about 15 minutes with that tribute, even before Schaap was on.

You're welcome.

Same thing out here in New Jersey. Snow showers in April.

The Today show is exactly what I was watching on the morning of 9/11. I think she'll do just fine. I don't really watch network news in the evening.

NY Times review

April 4, 2006 Jazz Review | Enrico Rava At Birdland, Enrico Rava Treats the Mainstream Irreverently By NATE CHINEN, NY Times Italy has yet to produce a more accomplished jazz musician than the trumpeter Enrico Rava. Since the late 1960's, when he was a knockabout presence on New York's thriving avant-garde scene, Mr. Rava has earned a reputation for incisive instincts and an appealingly burnished tone. Somewhere along the line, he became both a part of Italian popular culture and, more meaningfully, a mentor to many of his country's best aspiring players. So it was fitting that Mr. Rava was the linchpin of last week's celebration of "Top Italian Jazz" at Birdland, part of an annual cultural exchange organized by the producers of the Umbria Jazz Festival. With ensembles led by the bassist Giovanni Tommaso and the pianist Dado Moroni, among others, the event lived up to its billing. Notably, all six bands on the schedule had some clear connection to Mr. Rava. None clearer, of course, than the bond between Mr. Rava and his own quintet, which performed on Thursday and Friday nights. Mr. Rava formed the group at the turn of the century, providing a crucible for such raw young talent as the trombonist Gianluca Petrella and the pianist Stefano Bollani. Frequent touring over the last few years has turned it into a powerhouse, as evidenced by Friday's first set. In Mr. Rava's music, mainstream jazz traditions meet with a wry sort of affection. On "My Funny Valentine" — a signature song for two of Mr. Rava's early heroes, Miles Davis and Chet Baker — Mr. Rava played the melody earnestly, but Mr. Petrella's obbligato was a hissing and spluttering stream. Mr. Rava's "Algir Dalbughi" worked partly because of an off-kilter sense of familiarity; its rollicking bop-meets-boogie cadence evoked Charles Mingus's take on Jelly Roll Morton. Mr. Rava imbued most of his solos with the same structure, escalating from a sonorous middle register to a whinnying cry. And the ensemble had a weak link in its new pianist, Andrea Pozza, who seemed wan and disengaged. (Mr. Bollani, who appeared with his own trio, now performs with Mr. Rava as an equal partner.) But the band's cohesion, underscored by the drive of Rosario Bonaccorso on bass and Roberto Gatto on drums, outweighed its flaws. The same was true of the other group on the program, consisting of the Italian pianist Enrico Pieranunzi with the American rhythm section of Marc Johnson on bass and Paul Motian on drums. The three musicians have overlapping histories, and their rapport was strong. At times, the trio indulged in melodic abstraction, most strikingly on Mr. Motian's "Abacus." Its most coherent work was on a waltz by Mr. Pieranunzi called "Mo-Ti"; its coloration invoked the Bill Evans Trio, which figured prominently in the early careers of both Mr. Motian and Mr. Johnson, roughly a decade apart. But that was only the evening's second-best example of Italian-American musical alchemy. The best was a duet featuring Mr. Rava and Mr. Petrella, on a theme by the free-jazz trumpeter Don Cherry. Mr. Rava, who worked with Mr. Cherry in the 1960's, dug in with a fervent sense of swing. Mr. Petrella, born in the mid-1970's, brought something special to the dialogue: an absorbing, almost delirious irreverence. Enrico Rava and Stefano Bollani perform tonight in Chicago,tomorrow in Boston and on Friday in San Francisco.

April 5, 2006 Don Alias, 66, Percussionist and Sideman, Is Dead By NATE CHINEN, NY Times Don Alias, a percussionist who had a long career as a sought-after sideman, working with an illustrious array of artists in jazz and pop including Nina Simone, Miles Davis and Joni Mitchell, died on March 28 at his home in Manhattan. He was 66. His death was announced by Melanie Futorian, his companion, who said the cause was under investigation. Born Charles Donald Alias to Caribbean parents in New York, Mr. Alias liked to say that he learned percussion on the streets, picking up the techniques of Cuban and Puerto Rican hand drummers. While in high school, he enlisted as a conga player with the Eartha Kitt Dance Foundation, which offered classes at a Y.M.C.A. Ms. Kitt herself took him along to the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival, where he performed with the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra, his first professional experience. At the urging of his family, Mr. Alias (pronounced uh-LIE-ess) studied biology at Gannon College in Erie, Pa., and the Carnegie Institute for Biochemistry in Boston. Playing in Boston clubs by night, he met students from the Berklee School of Music, most notably the bassist Gene Perla. It was Mr. Perla who got Mr. Alias a job as a drummer with Ms. Simone, even though he had no experience with a full drum kit. He handled the challenge and eventually became Ms. Simone's musical director. In 1969, his work in her ensemble caught the attention of Miles Davis, who was then developing the hazy jazz-rock that would suffuse his album "Bitches Brew." Hired as an auxiliary percussionist for the album, Mr. Alias ended up playing a trap-set part, along with Jack DeJohnette, on the track "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down." His lean and loosely syncopated beat, inspired by New Orleans parade music, is one of the album's most distinctive rhythms. Mr. Alias played the role of trap drummer again on a 1979 concert tour with Joni Mitchell, in a band that included the saxophonist Michael Brecker, the guitarist Pat Metheny and the bassist Jaco Pastorius. A live recording from the tour, "Shadows and Light," is often cited as a favorite among musicians. Mr. Alias was the first-call percussionist for a host of other artists as well, including the singer Roberta Flack, the alto saxophonist David Sanborn (with whom he toured as recently as February) and the pianist Herbie Hancock. As a conga player, Mr. Alias could augment a rhythm section in a way that was urgent but never intrusive. He also had a hand in forming two bands: Stone Alliance, an electric fusion project with Mr. Perla and the saxophonist Steve Grossman, and Kebekwa, a percussion ensemble based in Montreal. Kebekwa was short-lived, but several years ago Stone Alliance reunited after a two-decade hiatus. The group has three recent live albums on the Mambo Maniacs label. In addition to Ms. Futorian, Mr. Alias is survived by his mother, Violet Richardson Alias; his son, Charles Donald Alias Jr.; his daughter, Kimberlee Marisa Alias; and four grandchildren.

At least she has that going for her.

Promise?

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. I'd rather listen to Meditations.

Now there's a WKCR memorial 'til 11:30 pm edst.

and still no obit, even in the NY Times. it ain't right.

I thought I heard them say the memorial broadcast would be over today by noon or 3 p.m. GREAT show. I listened a bit yesterday before Phil got on air and I've been catching the final hours of the show this morning. They should do more birthday broadcasts so we don't have to wait for someone to die to get some education.

I may go hear Phillip deGruy on Friday. I have his first album, pretty mind blowing.

Come on...it's not about quantity, but quality.

marimbula?

I'm hearin' Jackie McLean on WKCR now... :rsmile: :rsly: