JSngry

Did Ben Ratliff wake up one day, look at the papers and say hey, it's time to write an article about Cecil Taylor, and WOW, check this out, there's a series of concerts coming up? Were the concert promoters wringing their hands late into the night hoping that somebody, anybody, would notice their upcoming presentations? Would we have this story written this way at this time if not for the upcoming concert series? And are the promoters of the series pleasantly shocked and surprised that the article appeared when and as it did? Once again, "pimping the upcoming concert series" is not at all a bad thing, and neither is writing an article about that uses Cecil Taylor as the hook. Nor, for that matter, is Cecil Taylor "bedazzling" the interviewer. It's all the same game - get people's attention, arouse their interest, get their asses in some seats, and put some of their money in sombodies elses' pockets. It's how people survive in the music business, and it's a good thing. Just as very little of the magic that happens in the music is accidental, so it is that very little of the success that comes in the marketing of the music just happens by itself. People work to make things happen, and if the illusion of magic is considerably more marketable than is the reality of hard work, then all the more reason for the hard work to be disguised as much as possible.

Never too young to learn - don't fuck with a cat!

Father Christmas Mother Superior Gene Lake

I ended up getting into them against my will. There was some kind of spirit there that pulled me in. RIP

1990s, eh?

Jewel Jewell Jewelle Gomez

Sad news indeed...

The purpose of the article is not to profile Cecil Taylor, it's to pimp the upcoming concert series. Cecil's just there to get you to read the article to get you to come out to the series. And don't think that Cecil don't know it!

I know it was! Did you do any between-innings banter? Ads, birthdays, anything? Sounds like a great gig, indeed!

For me, it's casual conversation about the industry, nothing more. I mean. "Blue Note" is a "celebrity name" and everybody talks about celebrities. You get some guy who only talks about people nobody else knows, like his brother-in-law in Muskegon, the guy on his block with the shut-in mom, his barber's two-year old, etc. , and after a while (pretty soon, actually)...there's no conversation to be had, ya' know? Conversation is a social act before it's anything else.

Lee Allen Alvin Lee Alvin Ailey

Announcing? Radio or PA? Either way, it's a good thing. Always wanted to do radio, but there's not much of a market for unpredictable stuttering in that market. Did PA for youth ball back home for a summer or two, though, and loved it.

Because most people have still not learned to tell the difference between "the work of a genius" and "a work of genius". Not sure that I have either, really, but knowing that you don't know is the first step, I suppose. CT & AB are both geniuses in my book. Unquestionably. But is everything they do genius? Hmmm....

C'mon, Jim. Not the same thing, and you know it! Capitol is a much bigger label, releasing records of many more musical styles than Blue Note. I think you get the gist of what I'm saying, don't you? Yeah, I get it, but I ain't buying it. Capitol of the 40s was a label with a reasonably singular vision (their forays into "hillbilly" being the exception, but in that, they parallel another great non-NYC indie label, King). As they grew in the 50s, they expanded their vision but still stayed within certain esthetic parameters (I mean, you got Billy May arranging for records by Sylvester and Tweety Pie AND Frank Sinatra). but eventually (in 1955, to be precise), they went corporate, sold out to EMI (who?), and the rest is history. From Martha Tilton to The Knack, from Albert Ammons to Norah Jones, hey, business happens. Besides, I keep hearing all this talk about "vital" music..."vital" music comes in all forms and all styles. If Don Was can get vital albuums out of both Wayne Shorter (very likely) and Van Morrison (very unlikely, but you never know...) as well as whatever young folk with young ideas he happens to round up then I'll be happy, and not really worry about what the name of the label is. And really, what does "vital" mean anyway...seems to me to be less a subjective quality than an objective one, at least up to a point. However, I don't think that expecting 20-somethings to be "vital" to 50-somethings (and vice-versa) is exactly a subjective proposition... the old folks waiting for the young ones to speak to them and their concerns are more or less delusional, as are the young ones expecting love and respect from the old ones for trying. "Legitimacy" is best bestowed retroactively. In the meantime, take aim, and shoot true.

I been trippin' on the Buddah Cobblestones! among others!

Yeah, and try to imagine Johnny Mercer releasing a Beatles record on Capitol.

Mable (who brought the Black Label) Jack Daniels (who also brought the black label) Coal Miners (who got the Black Lung)

Oh good! I get to eat a fifth of Hellman's and listen to the Lemon Pipers!

You're asking how somebody goes from labor to to lower-management to middle-management to upper-management. Same way(s) as anybody else, I'd bet. For the most part, I like how he's used his business skills. The results, anyway. Haven't heard how the sausage got made, and don't really want and/or need to, not particularly.

Big fan here...so dry, so absurd, yet so wholly believable in some parallel universe that wasn't quite completely parallel. Think I first saw them on the old Dick Cavett late-night ABC show...either there or on Carson when he was still in NY. Only specific I remember was that these guys didn't look like they should be funny at all, at least until they started riffing. They tood their time, weren't at all frantic, just built the insanity, let it develop slowly but inevitably..

I've had these two stuck in my head and haven't been making any effort to them it out. Quite the opposite, in fact. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eraV-DMY5Zk&feature=related

No argument here.

Mariano Rivera carted off field after injuring knee in pre-game warmups http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/5/3/2997648/mariano-rivera-injury-yankees-knee-update

Can you proof that?