JSngry

It is the core of it, yes. Everything else builds upon that, including how I appraoch non-musical situations (of which lately there have been quite a few). It's affected who I fell in love with & married (and why), and I can't see that there's anything more "fundamental" than that. It's at the core of everything I believe morally, politically, you name it. Or I guess you could say that those other considerations affect my musical identity. But at this point it's probably a "chicken vs egg" thing. And every musician I've know who's worth a damn in my book is the same way. Not that they always act on their best impulses (Getz would probably be a prime example, as would Mingus, Max, and a gazillion others), but then again, I believe that when there's a "conflict" like that, it's almost always a result of somebody using the music as "therapy", of it being the one place where they can be who they truly want to be, and would be if only they could. In the beginning was The Word, Sound. Logos. Vibration, You name it. You betcha "sound" matters, and anybody who would treat it so cavalierly as to blatanly steal somebody else's and think it's "cool" is not somebody I want to get too close to, whether it's meeting them on the street or just listening to their records. That's some seriously weird shit right there, and I don't want any part of it. They may think it's perfectly innocent fun, but if an innocent child kills its parents because they think it's "fun", does that result in any less damage? Evil works in all kinds of ways and through all kinds of people. That's just me, though. We really probably don't want to pursue this too much further, because I don't want to give the impression that I think that anybody who enjoys this kind of thing is an accomplice to evil, or any shit like that. I don't think that at all. We take our fun where we find it, and lord knows I enjoy some pretty suspect crap myself. But I do think that anybody who regularly plays in a manner such as that is treading on very, very dangerous ground.

Some days I'm not even sure if I have a head... That about sums it up, I think. There's more gems there than are generally given credit for, but not as many as "we" would like. It's a complicated mess, but if you wade through it all w/o expecting the "records" to be like they were back in the day, there's cumulatively more than a little great Rollins playing to be had

Wow, that's a lot of years to cover... Can I get back to you?

A fair question, and one to which I'm not certain I have a wholly explainable answer. The closest I can come is that I have real strong feelings about identity - musical, personal, and otherwise. The reasons for that are too complicated and personal (and truthfully, not fully known/understood by me) to go into here. Let's just say that I understand study, respect, admiration (love, even to the point of "channelling") and all that. What I don't understand, and find creepy to the point of perversity (literally) is whatever it is that drives an individual to seemingly want to literally become somebody else, not in "spirit" but in exact detail. Maybe it's a "sign of the times" that I've grown up in. I started getting into music (and jazz in particular) when "having your own sound" (i.e. voice, i.e. identity) wasn't just a catchphrase, but a damn near religious imperative. Didn't matter how good you "played", if you didn't sound like you, then you weren't really valid. No doubt, that attitude sprang from an environment where identity, musical or otherwise, was at a premium due to none-too-subtle societal/cultural pressure to not just supress, but to deny same. But whatever the driving force(s), I came to realize that, yeah, it's all too easy to become somebody else's idea of what you should be, and then who are you? If you're not you, then who are you? It seems that if you're not you, or in the process of becoming you, that you end up being somebody else's bitch in some form or fashion. And that's just not something that appeals to me, not even slightly. Comfort at too steep a price is no comfort at all, is it? Now maybe my definition of "too steep" is a little more severe than most folks, but there it is. You asked me about my feelings, and these are them. I mentioned the time in which I first got into music. Well, those times are all but gone. Between Clonetranes, Elvis impersonators, Marsaillian neo-cons, American Idles, and the general-if-subliminal sneaking suspicion of more people than we might realize that music/culture/life as we knew it really is "over" (or is in the process of becoming that), the comfort factor of hearing such detailed impersonations has left the premium placed on individual identity in the dust. Yeah, we all say that we want to hear "individuality", but the world's so different now than what it was 25 years ago that is that what we really want? Is that what "the public" wants to hear? And is it what musicians really want to deliver? Or does everybody involved want to keep some things alive, by any means necessary, that have passed peacefully and honorably into the night? Then was then, now is now, and being "different" than now is pretty easy - just don't relate to it, treat it like it's evil, and hey, you're home free. The means to having an identity has evolved into more a matter of identifying with a certain esthetic than with actually developing an individual voice. Yeah, I know, the number of true individuals has always been relatively minimal (and getting at least a superficial identity by identifying with a "group" is a trait that has always been with us). But the goal has at least had lip service paid to it in degrees ranging from cheap to sincere, and I've known up close and personal more than a minimal number of people who have taken that ideal very, very seriously. Taken as a group, they might have been a lot of things, not all of them "good", but one thing that none of them were was somebody else's bitch. And to me, that matters. A lot. Now, what does this have to do with this particular BFT selection? Maybe nothing, maybe everything, maybe something. Mileages no doubt vary, and wildly. I was going to just let it ride. But you asked me a question, Mike, and this is my answer.

Helen Gurley Brown Cosmopolitan Lady That Chick In The Song Who's A Native New Yorker

Hugh Lawson Richard Dawson Ray Combs

Don't wanna burst any bubbles but I'd say "a fraction of a generation". Numbers can be argued and really don't mean shit. Are you being as ironic as I was?

Don Quixote People Who Eat Quaker Quick Oats Chewy

Still the voice of a generation!

Seriously - I love the cat, but he is not without his quirks, all of which I allow him, but only some of which I feel are relevant to the music. As for the whole "roots" thing, hey - Dylan's never been a rootateer afaic. Going electric was the truest "true" move he ever made. The rest is smoke & mirrors. Especially mirrors, which he uses in equal parts to display/reflect & to hide behind. Nothing "root-y" about that at all, and so what? My sole criterion for a "good" Dylan album - is there at least one thing on it that makes me bust out laughing because I get the joke and find it funny.

Well there you have it - Bob's saying that the "modern times" are all about shameless theivery. Who knew? Still the voice of a generation!

Cinderella Rockefeller L. David Sloane Robert Q. Lewis

WHOA! A whole 'nother type of "JB SIngle"!

And yet here we are.

Al Hirt Bill Payne Rusty Gates

Peter North Lex Steele Harry Reems

Was (Not Was) The Freaks Night People

Deedles Schuur Doodles Weaver Daws Butler

Well hell dude, if you're gonna be the Voice Of A Generation, that's a lot of voices you gotta steal from.

What, no yams?

Not exactly... He's hard to miss on this one: And has a sparse but interesting recorded resume: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...s9kebt7q7z~T40D

Yep.

The fun factor goes up a notch!

If it's Eddie Daniels on tenor from 1968, it might be a fun ride.