JSngry

One good spin deserves another.

Talking to somebody yesterday about Abdul Wadud, and this came to mind for today.

Monday, June 15 at 7:00pm - 10:00pm in CDT The Margo Jones Theatre 1121 1st Ave, Dallas, Texas 75210 Pandora's Box Special Presentation: Excerpted Poetics from Joe Milazzo's novel "Crepescule W/ Nellie" as read by a cast of Previous Pandora Players and Performers! If that's not enough ... The evening caps off with the poetry of Robin Myric With Musical Guests: Jim Sangrey (tenor sax), Carl Hillman (bass) and Andrew Griffith (drums), aka Jim Sangrey & Summusic. https://www.facebook.com/events/1441646919473431/ http://www.pandorasboxpoetry.com/#!tour/c9a0

The only time I've driven through this, or any, part of Utah was early one morning, right at sunrise, and I seem to remember being really stoned, which, as you can see, was wholly unnecessary.

El Paso, from up high. I've only flown over it, and this looks about right. As described: Gilmer again, this time in the country:

No, you... and so on.

Somewhere, anywhere, everywhere.

Loved/Love it so much that I've still not felt the urge to buy the CD versions, and yes, great book/notes. However - it is LPs after all, so too much "artifact" can ruin your day if you know the material on CD. But between the book and the cover painting (which for some reason really resonates with me in a way I can't fully explain)...if you get a deal, take it, it's Bird, your karma will not go bad. I mean, geez, perfect balance between human and statuegodmonument. And the colors...damn.

Cat played a helluva trumpet, that's all I know.

Who gives a damn for losers? Intonation as a weapon of mass destruction. I'm a fan.

And there we go back to the question- if System Dialing Peoples NOT suicidal, whose Anonymous Art Money did THEY get promised if/when shit hit fan? Peter Sarsgaard and Maggie Gyllenhaal, I presume. "liberal activist actorfans" gonna throw down for Yet Another Exploitation Of A Great African-American Artist By A Cunning White Man? If that was what I staked my ass on...I...might not count on that. Somebody asked earlier about the thanks to Jac Holzman...that's Adam Holzman's dad, and Adam Holzman remains the "wild card" in all of this, in my Make Believe Investigative Journalist eyes.

While I share your fascination with this story, I see the biz side the other way: Ornette is NOT a commodity, both for health & asspain reasons. To be blunt, who gives a fuck what Denardo thinks? However faithfully (let's presume) he's carried forth Dad's perogatives, it's done little good for anyone else (but Art)), all the Harmolodic Verve stuff is out of print (new recordings + reissues) despite their presumed ownership etc etc. If Antibalas can make me, as booking agent, festival and/or club owner $$$, let GuardianDenardo & his lawyers have a ball-- even with Ornette in best fettle, by his own choice he was setting himself apart etc & not really a player in the contemporary live music scene. Here's A's current date calendars by comparison-- http://www.antibalas.com/shows/ you think even 1% of their likely audience heard of or would care about this dispute if we could even explain it to them? What power is O's name? How many gigs has he played in the last 10 years? 15? 20? Yeah, sure there are "loyalists" but what's "loyalty"-- and what should it be, really?-- to such a quixotic cause worth when we got tickets to sell? Ornette & Denardo in their loft/castle is admirable as shit, OK, but it's their life & sure is shit isn't a living for the rest of us. And, obviously, assuming Antibalas not suicidal, O's discography is now littered with "questionable" or "questioned" releases.... well-- as I think you & others suggested earlier-- what's the common factor there? You probably have a saner grip on this, but one thing I've learned is to never underestimate the power of Anonymous Art Money when it gets pissed off. You look at all the Art Money (Anonymous & Otherwise) that has been invested in Ornette over the years, hey, Noble Cause Alert, write a check. "Commodity", no. Icon, yes, and deservedly so. But people invest in Icons just as surely as they invest in Commodities. And also, this is true, booking agents/etc. don't give a damn who' s in the band, they just want the name on the bill and on the stage. Antibalas can get a fucking trumpet player, ya' know? And there we go back to the question- if System Dialing Peoples NOT suicidal, whose Anonymous Art Money did THEY get promised if/when shit hit fan? So many angles to this, and none of them particularly savory, no matter how you come at them.

My only sympathies are with the truth coming out, all of it. And then, pay up as proper. But not before then, and not more than that.

That's my favorite Shepp record, ever. "Concept record" from start to finish.

If it was to happen, it wouldn't be as likely to happen at the player level (although that does happen as well, but it usually is for more personal reasons), but more likely on a management/booking level. And in that regard, Holzman's above the fray at this point, and Ziv is seemingly ensconced in below-the-radar teaching and performance activities, So that leaves McLean, who has been involved in a series of activities, but whose high-profile gig has been Antibalas. So if- IF - it was deemed "necessary" for something to happen, Antibalas would start having "weird things happen" with bookings, and their management would find out it's because of one Jordan McLean being in the band. And then... Shit like this does happen. Work is so sparse and competition so high...there's a reason why everybody says all the right things to all the right people all the time, the politics of the business are really tight right now. I don't know if anybody in Denardo's camp is looking to play that game, hopefully not (and their lawyer's walking back of the "teaching" thing was duly noted here), just that if they did want to, they could. They have the name, they have the power of the name, and I suspect they have access to the money, somewhere, somehow, funds and/or benefactors. I don't think they're not entitled to that, wither, hell, they've more than earned it. Just saying, OC Inc. wants to tangle with Unisonybmg, no, they can't go there. But OC Inc wants to fuck up Jordan McLean, they can. And honestly, they might have a need to to "set an example", because, also honestly, I get an impression of Ornette letting all kind of people into his world over the years, playing all kinds of things, saying all kinds of things, letting all kinds of recordings happen, and then not necessarily keeping tight reins on all of that. Big can of worms here for OC Inc, quite possibly. But it's a good record. Hell, I think it's a great record. And the System Dialing people have their story, which has not yet been told in detail yet. I would hope, for all kinds of reason, that this is not where the example gets set. There are surely more deserving examples to be set.

Whether it was sketchy and/or dumb or just plain ballsy will be determined by what kind of "hard proof" they can produce, and then by how the judge rules on it. I'm wondering if there is a case to be made based on verbal agreement(s) made pre-guardianship to where the refusal to grant permission post-guardianship can be viewed as a breach of contract, or at least a violation of a legitimate good-faith agreement. That would be interesting, as would be any financial remediations ordered based on such a finding if the right judge gets the case. FWIW, I've heard a few stories, 2nd hand but reliable, going back to the 1970s about people trying to make deals with Ornette to release things that he had recorded himself. Apparently there's mountains of it, or were, probably still is. The stories have been consistent - first they have a deal, then they don't, then they do, but it's gotta go thorough somebody different, then the terms change, then they have a deal, then they don't, etc. etc. etc. Charlie Brown & Lucy, non-stop. Which, of course, is Ornette's prerogative. 100%. Just saying, as obvious as the obvious is in all this, the "obvious" might not be as "simple" as it at first looks. Or maybe it is. Either way, it has to go to trial to be found out, and then, who will be the judge? Otherwise, there will be a settlement, no trial, and no real answers. Just a solution.

Other than acting like Dizzy & Chano never happened (and, really? WTF?, this is why the KentonHate still carries a little bit of reality to it, sincerity not as easy to swallow when coupled with disingenuity, sincere or otherwise), anyway, this is some funny shit, and as Earthquake says, these ain't jokes, y'all.. and some Aggressive Big Band to follow up on it.

Just the first of the month and already my mindfuck quota has been exceeded.

The original? Definitely works better as a ballad, imo. Had not knowingly heard Ella's version, but now that you mention it... As a vocal tune, I think I like it better with the verse.

Johnny Hartman on Roost, 1959. Kind of a stealth vocal record, really, worth checking out, imo.

Here's the current version: http://www.local802afm.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/LS-1contract_fillable.pdf This is the standard "club date" contract, or was when I was in the union. Also: http://www.local802afm.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/single_fillable.pdf No idea if that was the language for the Local 42 contract in 1958 or not, but I'd imagine there was something similar in intent in place.

It's nice to have options!

Gilmer, Tx Winona, Tx Henderson, Tx Wills Point, Tx

Wow, Google gets creepy sometimes... http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/fredericknewspost/obituary.aspx?pid=173865877