robertoart

OMG what is...it.

Correction: I heard from Red Ingle’s son, who informed me that Tedder (correct spelling) was a real person.

How about using cans of cream of mushroom soup for target practice? It still seems like a waste of good soup to me. And food in cans never goes out of date. Still, if the target practice is absolutely necessary and there are no hungry people in the vicinity I suppose it is fairly harmless. What would it be called...Tarcreaming.

Yep, more than likely. This Don Patterson album, features my favourite guitarist 'Blue Grant', What nom de plume did Mr. Jackie use anyway. Was it funny?

Along with Bedazzled and The Producers, my favourite movie. You guys should celebrate creative uses for canned mushrooms and change your gun laws.

What about Little Richard? Fact is Berry was a product of the chitlin circuit (who wasn't). Performance quality not withstanding. Mediocre by temperament and proclivity perhaps. Not by capacity. I would also back in Chuck to get down with the best of them. Back in the day. He played a mean guitar.

No transcendence is not redemption. And transcendence is not born out of guilt. Connelly chooses to quote Chandler's very proscriptive statement that redemption is an identifiable characteristic of art. This is then applied to Be-bop and Morgan by context. Be-bop as a Black cultural and social art is transcendent on almost every level. Black people in America had to find ways to transcend American life. Emotionally, socially and intellectually. They had nothing (as a community and a culture) to redeem themselves for. Or would you argue that Be-bop was not exclusively 'culturally owned' by the Black American world and therefore Morgan's life and music should be seen more exclusively through a personal journey of pure addiction/crime and then redemption through musical talent. I don't think this is an entirely appropriate or respectful position. Hence my complaint about a Black Jazz musician being framed through a 'redemptive' lens. It distorts the retrospective perception. It may be appropriate for Chet Baker and Art Pepper (who also had a similar 'redemptive' quality to his story), but not so much for a Black subject of that era.

“I’m a disciple of Raymond Chandler, who said in his essays that there’s a quality of redemption in anything that can be called art,” Mr. Connelly said last week. Can't say that I totally agree with this redemption stuff. Redemption is far from a given characteristic of any form of art. Although it is especially beloved of those that need to project a melancholic narrative trope in order to 'identify' with the art. Redemption is too associated with guilt, and suggests that 'art' is the product of some kind of 'immanent failure' - that can be transcended by the 'beauty' of the art. In regard to Jazz at least, it strikes me as very much a White way of looking at things, and a typical Existentialist one, overlooking the collective pain of social and economic hardship - and how a music helped transcend and alleviate that - by instead placing the spotlight back on a Romantic interpretation of an individuals particular situation. Once again, no morally wrong act took place on the part of the 'Jazz' culture - therefore no redemption was possible (or needed). I mean whose achieving the redemption anyway. Morgan - for living through a vile 'social reality' - and succumbing to the endemic 'social disease' of drugs to escape that - and crime to survive. Or Mr Connelly, for recognising humanity (and a sympathetic mise en scene) in Morgan's music - and being diverted from the shite popular culture around him.

That's a great little scene! I didn't remember who was in it, but youtube to the rescue: looks like Jo Jones on drums. Possibly the last time Chuck played with a decent band A little bit of the Chitlin circuit for those rich White fellas. Bet they never went here; or wanted too. Or were wanted too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oypAbJj-fEs

Everybody I've ever known who looks like that is at heart a "creative uses for canned mushroom soup" type person, and this article feels like that to me. Mind you, I have no objections to creative uses for canned mushroom soup! Best to stick to the cans. My link

Let me get this straight. You're spending time busking. You need an acoustic guitar. You find a nice Ibanez. Some people think it's crap. You feel bad. But your ears tell you different. You like rockin the low strings. There are evil forces on the street

Who knows? The record label didn't want him mistaken for a White chick?

Alert! MG is listening to avant-garde musicians: George Adams, Byard Lancaster, Yusef Yancey, Garrett List! Have you heard this yet MG? Hank Marr with a very young James Blood Ulmer and George Adams. It defines the word 'raw' . Apparently this band played the clubs in Germany. A very kind man named Arthur Shoulders made a needle drop of this LP for me over ten years ago. I promised to send him a fiver for his generous gesture, but never got around to it. Dear Mr Shoulders, if you read this board, please PM me and I will send you a tenner instead.

Yes. I would say the information in this post is what interests contemporary players these days. Not 'inside/outside' so much. I think ?uestlove has had a impact on younger jazz drummers even though he doesn't play jazz all that often, he's pretty encyclopedic. The influence of integrating drum machine like patterns into acoustic drum set playing has become a part of the expanding the language. Thats difficult for older jazz fans, who love Blakey, Philly Joe, Tony, Elvin and Jack to swallow; the whole drum machine thing is my generation and younger and easier to relate with. On Pat Metheny's forthcoming "Unity Band" album, Antonio Sanchez adds a drum n bass groove to "Signals" the debut of the Orchestrion improv Pat played each night on that tour, but in the case of the record, incorporating the live players into the mix. Its really really cool what Antonio plays on that track, but for people who like swinging, its not all that interesting. Thanks for this. Good info there again. Something useful for the 'emerging' old buggers like me to think about

Would really like to get a hold of this one. Not a lot of reasons for getting hold of this one though. Unfortunately. They opened the floodgates.

In the days before the internet, it's more than likely everyone without direct connections or insider knowledge (ie connections to people with direct connections) would have had any idea of the sexuality of many Jazz musicians at all. Gossip about sexuality wasn't exactly a liner note topic that's for sure. And jazz musicians haven't historically drawn attention to their sexuality as a content (or political point) of their art as is the case in other artistic disciplines. I don't think it's even been much of a hidden subtext as such. Unless others know differently.

Very interesting once again. This may or may not relate to exactly where you are coming from but... I have sometimes played through complex changes (well complex for me) where that is exactly what it felt like. When this happens (all too rarely unfortunately) I will argue against the instincts of my perceptions and say to myself...you really still don't have the skill or harmonic knowledge to be able to play as well as you think you just did Which is probably the 'reality' of the situation...however I have read about one of Ornette's great skills being described as 'motivic development', which is as I understand it, is the approach of taking short melodic statements or phrases and expanded and extrapolating them throughout the course of improvisation. I think this is why I can 'sometimes' sound successful playing over changes, because the chord movement (be it standard or modal) which I know OK but not expertly, provides the extra layer of harmony to make the melodic ideas work. Whereas if I were to try to do this over a more freer approach, a la Ornette, I would not have the skill to really stretch the line or rhythm without the 'support bed' of the changes. Anyway...blah blah blah...how does the concept of motivic development fit in with the harmonic/melodic insights you've written about earlier?

Even if it wasn't, kudos for working the word into the conversation! Well I kinda think it was/is. About a music moving towards it's inevitable point of Afro-centric self determination. It's a big grown up word that cuts through a lot of crap.

And he did. Very sad. RIP.

Except those Mezz Mezzrow solos composed entirely of arpeggios. well this is some of the nicest aaarr-peggios I've ever seen...errr heard

My brother's f-ing hero. Just be grateful you haven't encountered him until now, and walk away, Jim. Just ... walk away. Actually now this thread has exposed me to him, I must say, he's slightly entertaining. Kind of like a contemporary pop culture/social critic. A veritable Frank Zappa of the internets.. with that same smarmy tightrope walking between sarcasm and satire. Or something like that. He's no Cornel West though. A throwback to the recent thread bemoaning those 15 minute millionaires of the blog sphere. This youtube link is mildly amusing. Although I must say his obstinate criticism of the kids drawing of Batman is a bit closed minded. I mean, if we are being asked by the 'Batman' myth to suspend our incredulity, and accept there is a mega-millionaire New Yorker living in an underground cave who dons a cape and underpants, and by night moves across skyscrapers at will - then surely we can also suspend our disbelief and accept that the 'Batman' could also be a cat. A 'batcat'. I mean why not? http://www.youtube.com/embed/xqG6zA3pl50

Can you still buy a vowel

When you have beaches like we do in Australia, and the Summer weather, not sitting on a beach for sometime is almost criminal Australian TV (and movies these days) that's another story. I'm making the best out of a bad situation by indulging in late night re-runs of Becker (still my favourite good natured misanthrope).

Dam. I wish I had that. Just got the 1980's Blue Note/Manhattan reissue. Which I don't listen to as much as I should. Bet this vinyl sounds sublime. First pressing NYUSA Horace Silver's seem to be the most affordable and accessible Blue Note vinyl treasures. Especially on ebay. Well they were as late as last year anyway, when I was still looking. Jimmy Smith too. Don't give up yet Chewy.

Hells Bells, what a stunner she is. And she's Jeff Lynne's bird. I think he might be a bit old for her though. Dirty old man. I bet she met George Harrison. George and Jeff were great mates. Do you think George ever overdubbed his lachrymose slide guitar for her? I bet if he didn't he would have liked to.