Lazaro Vega

1957, Count Basie at Newport (Verve): Roy and Illinois Jacquet are featured on "One O'Clock Jump."

The Day the Lady Died By Frank O’Hara It is 12:20 in New York a Friday three days after Bastille Day, yes it is 1959, and I go get a shoeshine because I will get off the 4:19 in East Hampton at 7:15 and then go straight to dinner and I don't know the people who will feed me I walk up the muggy street beginning to sun and have a hamburger and a malted and buy an ugly NEW WORLD WRITING to see what the poets in Ghana are doing these days I go on to the bank and Miss Stillwagon (first name Linda I once heard) doesn't even look up my balance for once in her life and in the GOLDEN GRIFFIN I get a little Verlaine for Patsy with drawings by Bonnard although I do think of Hesiod, trans. Richmond Lattimore or Brendan Behan's new play or Le Balcon or Les Nègres of Genet, but I don't, I stick with Verlaine after practically going to sleep with quandariness and for Mike I just stroll into the PARK LANE Liquor Store and ask for a bottle of Strega, and then I go back where I came from to 6th Avenue and the tobacconist in the Ziegfeld Theatere and casually ask for a carton of Gauloises and a carton of Picayunes, and a NEW YORK POST with her face on it and I am sweating a lot by now and thinking of leaning on the john door in the 5 SPOT while she whispered a song along the keyboard to Mal Waldron and everyone and I stopped breathing.

Ornette Coleman and friends Royal Festival Hall, London • * • John Fordham* • The Guardian, Tuesday 23 June 2009 Long after the last note, the crowd was still in the hall. Ornette Coleman's final gig, at the Meltdown festival he curated and played at, was carried off with typically wayward flair. His 50-year career has been stuffed with controversies, breakthroughs and accolades, but the 79-year-old sax improviser and composer seemed to sense something special was happening as he moved gingerly along the front of the stage, shaking the outstretched hands of people surging toward him. But then the music Coleman and his guests have been playing at Meltdown has been a revelation: vivid, witty, open and passionate. Coleman and his core band (his son Denardo on drums, Al MacDowell and Tony Falanga on electric and acoustic basses respectively) played Friday and Sunday, after ecstatic opening sets by the polyrhythmic dances of Morocco's Master Musicians of Jajouka. Guitarist Bill Frisell joined Friday's show not as a soloist but as a Coleman collaborator, and quickly became enmeshed in the churning rhythms. Sometimes the sound harmonised, sometimes it veered apart as Coleman blew that great particle collider he calls a saxophone. Patti Smith arrived to fire some edgy spontaneous poetry over Denardo's tramping, elemental drumming and his father's wailing instrument. On both nights, Falanga elegantly unfurled Bach's Cello Suite No 1 as Coleman, playing viola, brought to it a clamour of dissonant improv. The Rite of Spring opening, meanwhile, respectfully mirrored by Coleman's haunting sax line (and by Baaba Maal's soaring voice on Sunday), swelled into the band's own personal rite as a funk pulse grew. Coleman's classic Turnaround, a mix of mournful blues figures and spine-tingling long-note cries, preceded Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, who guested to make the group even more thunderously funky, particularly on the leader's trance-melody classic, Dancing in Your Head. But the encore trumped even that. Bassist Charlie Haden joined Coleman and Denardo's hushed cymbal pulse to play the saxophonist's yearning Lonely Woman, one of the most beautiful of all jazz ballads, first as a lament, then as a piece of absorbingly graceful, though sometimes tentative, swing. The ensuing crowd eruption wasn't just for an extraordinary show - it was for 50 years of Coleman as well.

ARTS / MUSIC | June 25, 2009 Music Review | Diana Krall: The Voice Is Dark and the Emphasis Mysterious By STEPHEN HOLDEN A subdued Diana Krall held forth on Tuesday at Carnegie Hall, where she gave the first of two concerts with a 41-piece orchestra, augmented by a jazz trio. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/arts/mus...l.html?emc=eta1

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.s...roup_groun.html

The Cooper/Hay/VanLente Group did a nice tribute to Freddie Hubbard with his old friend Sweet Willie Singleton as guest trumpeter. This program will re-broadcast Saturday morning from about 8:30 a.m. to 9:55 a.m. Hope you can wake up to "Live From Blue Lake" this week if you missed the original broadcast. Lazaro

Promo copy of the CD for Blue Lake Public Radio.

http://www.jazzonthetube.com/

16 June 2009 From the pool report: The White House Music Series opened Monday afternoon with a jazz studio, featuring a series of classes for about 150 young musicians, and then a performance in the East Room by Paquito D'Rivera and an ensemble of up-and-coming young artists. If you hadn't already known about the jazz event, you would have if you walked into the main part of the building at any point during the afternoon. The entire entry hall level was ringing with instrument tuning as your pooler was escorted into the building. Thanks to Semonti Mustaphi in the FLOTUS press office, your pooler sat in for about 20 minutes in each of three classes. In the Diplomatic Room, about 30-40 middle school-aged kids from the Capitol Jazz Project, the Sitar Arts Center and the Levine School of Music were sitting down to begin a lesson on the blues and expressing experience and emotion through jazz. Instructors were Eli Yamin, a pianist and the director of the Middle School Academy at Jazz at Lincoln Center; Todd Williams, a saxophonist and a member of the music faculty at the Tuxedo Park School; and drummer Tony Martucci and bassist Amy Shook, who the kids knew from other classes in the D.C. area. "Today is a very special day," Yamin told the kids. "It is the first time there's ever been a jazz education session at the White House." He had them each say their name and what instrument they played, then asked them to call out things that made them sad, or gave them the blues. Highlights included "losing my phone," "not being able to play football," "cleaning y room," "certain kinds of school work," and "when somebody steps on my brand-new sneakers." Then he had the kids make noises that would represent sadness -- first they groaned, then they growled, then they sighed. He gave each noise a number, and had them repeat the noise when he called out the number. And then, he and the other instructors started playing a blues called "I'm So Glad," and had the kids "play" their blues noises in rhythm with the song for a few verses. At that point, your pooler went up to the next class. In the State Dining Room, a slightly older, slightly smaller group of kids was watching a lesson by Stephen Massey, chairman of the music department for the Foxboro, Mass., public school system. He and jazz trumpeter Sean Jones were reviewing a swing ensemble from D.C.'s Duke Ellington School for the Performing Arts. The theme of the lesson was "Duke Ellington and swing," according to FLOTUS aides. Massey had the kids playing Ellington's "Perdido," paying particular attention to keeping themselves all on the right time together. "The bass sound is the harmonic center of the band, and so you have a lot of pressure on you in that regard," Massey told the band's bassist. "You sound fine, so that's not a problem." He danced around the room conducting the band, calling out the song's time and clapping his hands when he wanted the trumpets or the trombones to join the saxophones playing the main theme. In the East Room, a band of Marsalises -- trumpeter Wynton, saxophonist Branford, trombonist Delfeayo, drummer Jason and their dad, pianist Ellis -- was teaching a lesson for high school-aged musicians, mostly from two places in New Orleans, the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. Fourteen students had come to Washington for the event. Paquito D'Rivera sat in on clarinet and saxophone, as well as a bassist whose name your pooler didn't have (and who your pooler didn't think was a member of the Marsalis family). The theme of this class was "improvisation and expression through sounds and moods." Leading the session, Wynton Marsalis had the students come up on stage and play a chorus each with the band. Some of the kids had dejected looks on their faces after they finished playing, possibly because they missed notes; Marsalis told them afterwards they had to keep a positive attitude. "You played good," he said. "Sometimes the people who played the best had the worst attitude." Then Marsalis started playing riffs on his trumpet, which he had Branford Marsalis repeat on his sax; Delfeayo Marsalis and D'Rivera did the same thing, with Branford Marsalis copying them note for note each time. The students then came up and tried the same thing, with the sax players following Branford Marsalis and D'Rivera, the trumpet players following Wynton Marsalis and the trombonists following Delfeayo Marsalis. The class wrapped up, and all the students from the other sessions came into the East Room to hear the performance. Wearing a white suit, FLOTUS walked in from the side of the room while everyone was eagerly looking toward the back of the room, near the Grand Foyer; she joked that she had come in through a different door to keep them all on their toes. You should have a transcript of her remarks soon, but she talked about the importance of jazz in her life and how proud she was to hold the event in the White House. "At Christmas, birthdays, Easter, it didn't matter, there was jazz playing in my household" when she was growing up, FLOTUS told the students. After brief remarks, she sat in the front row and listened to the band. "Jazz at the White House -- mmm, mmm," D'Rivera said. He played alto sax and a beautiful wooden clarinet, and a combo of young jazz musicians -- pianist Tony Madruga, from south Florida; bassist Zach Brown, from Columbia, Md.; drummer Kush Abadey, from Suitland, Md.; and tenor saxophonist Elijah Easton, from Washington -- played with him. They did two songs, and then D'Rivera started playing little snippets of famous jazz tunes. When he played the chorus to Dizzy Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts," the whole room called out, "Salt peanuts," including FLOTUS. "Ahh, Michelle knows it!" D'Rivera shouted. Wynton Marsalis came back to the stage to join them for Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia," and the event ended.

Kind of a dull recorded sound, especially on the drums. Worthwhile performances though: http://www.espdisk.com/official/catalog/e029.html

Bill McHenry Quintet: Live At The Village Vanguard http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...558&sc=emaf

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=37284

Standard material, though not so standard arrangements -- things open up in unexpected ways. Those rhapsodizing Roland Hanna solos. Louis Hayes cymbal sounds on the title track are a bit over the top -- he's really bashing in the name of energy, though that's going to be a matter of taste it was a bit distracting to me. Elsewhere, no problem with him. Freddie and Roland Hanna are in great form throughout.

Up for Tuesday night's finale broadcast with Big O recording artists The Cooper/Hay/VanLente Group and special guest trumpeter Sweet Willie Singleton (including a tribute to Freddie Hubbard). 10 p.m. edt June 2nd.

Up for tonight. Happy Memorial Day everyone.

Up for this Saturday morning's re-broadcast of the Big O with Matt Brewer's Dad, AND Monday night's "Live From Blue Lake" with The Hot Club of Detroit.

The less well recorded pieces in his "Listen" section are more recent -- you can hear him gaining confidence.

At 26 this Muskegon, Michigan, native, with a degree in music education, is one musical trumpet player. He's moving out to Portland this week to stay with a cousin and see if he can live on playing music as the struggle continues here in Michigan. In any case, he's been a very good reason to go out and hear live music around the area over the last several yers. The first few tracks on this "Listen" segment were from a radio program done "Live From Blue Lake" with a saxophonist named Caleb Curtis who went to Michigan State and now lives in Brooklyn. Both will be teaching at Blue Lake again this summer. http://www.chrislawrencemusic.org/live/

The Tristano.

Sansabelts are not silly. Don't pimp my ride, GN.

May 13, 2009 The Jazz Datebook: Regular Hits: Saturdays and Sundays from 6 to 10 p.m. The What Not Inn features a revolving cast of local musicians: May 10, vocalist Mary Rademacher and pianist Mark Kahny; May 16th Entourage; May 17th, the Michael Holmes Trio; May 23, the Lakeshore All Star Blues Band; May 24th, Christy G.; May 30th Jack Tabler. Then on Mondays a jam session open to musicians and vocalists and featuring local, regional and international jazz musicians sitting in with the “house” band with pianist Wally Michaels, bassist Jeff Beavin and drummer Jack Wilkins. No cover charge. Music also presented Saturdays and Sundays. www.whatnotinn.com. The What Not Inn is located at M89 and the Blue Star Highway, 2405 68th Street, Fennville, MI. (269) 543-3341. Tuesdays, June 2nd and June 16th from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 The Truth In Jazz Orchestra plays swing and improvisational jazz at The West Side Inn, 1635 Beidler St, Muskegon, MI. They’ve recently added some Gordon Goodwin arrangements to their book and have developed a feature for their fearsome trumpet section. Fronted by West Michigan's legendary drummer Tim Froncek the TIJO is 16 Muskegon’s crowning glory. More from www.tijo.org. Thursdays from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Baton Rouge, LA native Sweet Willie Singleton, or varying cast of Grand Rapids jazz musicians, swing at Gill’s Blue Crab Lounge in The B.O.B., 20 Monroe Ave. N.W., Grand Rapids. Fridays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. live music in the Peter M. Wege Pavilion at The Grand Rapids Art Museum, 101 Monroe Center, Grand Rapids, with a Jazz Encore from 7:45 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, May 15th, The Clifford Music Group; 22nd, pianist Dick Reynolds Trio; 29th, The Neil Gordon Trio. (GRAM is also presenting classical chamber music Sunday afternoon from 2 to 3 p.m.). See www.artmuseumgr.org or call (616) 831 – 1000. Three Fridays a month trumpeter/vocalist/entertainer Sweet Willie Singleton plays jazz in Ada during the dinner hour (6 to 9 p.m.) at the Thornapple Daily Grill, 445 Ada Drive, Ada, MI. (616) 676-1233 www.thegilmorecollection.com/Thornapple/thornapple.html. Fridays and Saturdays from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. live local jazz, blues and other musical forms at The Grand Seafood and Oyster Bar, 24 Washington St., Grand Haven. Live local jazz or blues guitarists on Wednesday evenings from 8 to 11 p.m. (616) 844- 5055. Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Pumpernickels, 202 Butler St., Saugatuck, guitarist Chip Kristi plays jazz for breakfast. (269) 857-1196. Timely Hits: Thursday, May 14th at 7 p.m. the west Michigan jazz collective Mind’s Eye joins the Spring Lake High School and Middle School Jazz Bands for an evening of swing at the Spring Lake High School Auditorium. Information from www.springlakebands.org. Mind’s Eye includes Rob Smith on trumpet and saxophone; Steve Talaga, piano; Tom Lockwood, bass; and Keith Hall, drums. Thursday, May 14th at 8 p.m. Vibraphonist Stefon Harris and Blackout appear in the Dalton Center Recital Hall, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, as part of the Fontana Chamber Arts Winter Season. See http://www.stefonharris.com or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-klKGVbV2hE . Information from (269) 382-7774. The Fontana Chamber Arts is located at the Epic Center, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall, Suite 200, Kalamazoo, MI 49007. www.fontanachamberarts.org. Friday and Saturday, May 15th and 16th at 7 p.m. jazz cum blues guitarist Rick Hicks kicks off a new summer season of Jazz at Gull Landing, 438 South Hancock Street, Pentwater, with his unique mix of rhythm methods. Then Friday May 29th drummer/vocalist Tim Johnson’s Trio with Andy Frisinger on saxophone and Wally Micheals, piano is featured; followed on Saturday, May 20th by Mary Rademacher with the Tim Johnson Trio. On Friday and Saturday June 5th and 6th Ricks Hicks returns, guitar in hand, to team up with Detroit R&B/soul sensation Doc Woodward. Summer officially kicks off Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 19th, 20th and 21st with the legendary jazz organist Mel Rhyne ( ) as a member of the Juli Wood Trio. Information from Gull Landing: (231) 869 – 4215. Saturday, May 16th at 6 p.m. vibraphonist Jim Cooper plays for the Jazz Vesper’s Service at First United Methodist Church, 227 E. Fulton, downtown Grand Rapids. Monday, May 18th from 6 to 9 p.m. Michelle Covington sings with pianist Scott Patrick Bell with percussionist Bob Thompson in the West Michigan Jazz Society’s Jazz Gumbo Showcase presented at The Kopper Top Guest House, 634 Stocking N.W., Grand Rapids. Phone (616) 458 – 0125 for more information. Tuesday, May 19th at 7:30 p.m. Wess Warmdaddy Anderson appears with the West Ottawa High School Jazz band, including guests Max Colley III on drums; Matt Heredia, bass; and Mike Jellic, piano. Wednesday, May 20th from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The Beltline Big Band plays for dancing at The Univeristy Club in the 5/3rd Bank Building, Grand Rapids. See www.wmichjazz.org for information. Wednesday, May 20th at 9:30 p.m. Organissimo opens for the Chicago jam band Lubriphonic at Billy’s Lounge, 1437 Wealthy S.E., Grand Rapids (in Eastown). (616) 459 – 5757 or www.billyslounge.com Sunday, May 24th at 8 p.m. The Hot Club of Detroit plays gypsy inspired jazz attended by swing dancers at The Saugatuck Center for the Arts, 400 Culver Street, Saugatuck. Information from (269) 857 – 2399. Experience the sexy, infectious rhythms of “Gypsy Jazz” with this five-time Detroit Music Award winning group and live swing dancers. The Django Reinhardt inspired sound originated in the night clubs of Paris during the 1930’s and is today heard throughout the world. The Hot Club of Detroit features guitarist Evan Perri, accordionist Julien Labro, soprano and tenor saxophonist Carl Cafagna, rhythm guitarist Paul Brady and bassist Shannon Wade. The fibrous accordion tones of Labro, a native of Marseilles, France, links the Detroit quintet to the French musette style -- a waltz style played in the working man’s watering holes of 1930’s era Paris -- from which gypsy jazz partially sprung. Carl Cafagna, a former Blue Lake faculty instructor, pushes out a robust saxophone sound and has introduced bop and post-bop elements to this gypsy jazz band. Monday, May 25th at 10 p.m. The Hot Club of Detroit plays live on Blue Lake Public Radio at 10 p.m. with support from The Holland Area Arts Council, The Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs and The Gilmore Collection of local restaurants, including The B.O.B. in downtown Grand Rapids, The Thornapple Dailey Grill in Ada and The Kirby House in Grand Haven. See www.thegilmorecollection.com for more information. Sunday, May 31st from 3 to 6 p.m. the Chicago-based Red Rose Jazz Band, led by Michigan-born pianist Joan Reynolds, plays ragtime music by Scott Joplin and jazz by New Orleans pioneer King Oliver amongst others, at The Oakridge Country Club, 513 West Pontaluna Road, Muskegon. Information from The West Shore Jazz Society: (231) 759 -0071; or by mail, P.O. Box 175, Muskegon, MI 49443. The series of early jazz parties continues Sunday, July 12th with Bob Adams Buffalo Ridge Jazz Band; August 9th, Dave Greer’s Classic Jazz Stompers; September 6th The Chefs of Dixieland; October 4th the West End Jazz Band; November 1st, The Chicago Salty Dogs. Monday, June 1st through Thursday, June 4th The Gilmore Collection Summertime Jazz Series features a variety of jazz pianists – Mark Kahny, Wally Michaels, Steve Talaga and Nick Ayoub – at several of the Gilmore Collection restaurants. Music from 7 to 10 p.m. at each venue and musicians are welcome to stop by and sit-in. Monday, June 1st at the Red Jet Café, 1431 Plainfield N.W., Grand Rapids (616) 719 – 5500; Tuesday, June 2nd at The Bluewater Grill, 5180 Northland Drive S.E. (616) 363 – 5900; Wednesday, June 3rd at Mangiamo, 1033 Lake Drive S.E., Grand Rapids (616) 742 - 0600; and Thursday, June 4th at Gills Blue Crab Lounge in The B.O.B., 20 Monroe N.W., Grand Rapids (616) 356 – 2000. More information on line at www.thegilmorecollection.com. Friday and Saturday, June 12th and 13th at 8 p.m. The Boogie Woogie Babies perform their original music revue right out of the big band era with harmonies styled after The Andrews Sisters sung by Francesca Amari, Mary Rademacher and Barbara Wisse at The Red Barn Theatre, 3657 63rd Street (Blue Star Highway and 63rd, just east of exit 41 off of 1-196/US31) Saugatuck. (269) 857 – 5300 or www.redbarnsaugatuck.com for more information. June 14th through June 19th, the 2009 Aquinas College Summer Jazz Camp takes place at Aquinas College, 1607 Robinson Road S.E., Grand Rapids. This years the list of instructors includes bassist Matt Brewer and trumpeter Jason Palmer, two of the busiest young musicians in jazz today. For application forms and other information please see: http://www.aquinas.edu/music/pdf/jazzcamp09.pdf . Monday, June 15th The West Michigan Jazz Society kicks off their new series of Jazz at the Zoo, which continues every Monday for ten weeks, at John Ball Park Zoo in Grand Rapids. Sunday through Friday, June 14th through June 19th the 2009 Keith Hall Summer Drum Intensive takes place at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo. Open to middle and high school students as well as adults, with scholarships now available, the drum intensive offers study in jazz rhythm section concepts; drum set choir; master classes; transcription; listening and analysis; private lessons; and evening jam sessions. Final concerts take place Thursday and Friday, June 18th and 19th at 8 p.m. at the Union Grill in downtown Kalamazoo. Tuition is $400; room and board $325. A non-refundable $50 deposit is due by April 15th. Information from (201) 406 – 5059, or keith@keithhallmusic.com. Thursday, June 18th at 8 p.m. the six piece improvising dance band NOMO returns to Founders Brewing Company, 235 Grandville Avenue S.W. in Grand Rapids. You must be 21 years old to attend. See www.foundersbrewing.com or www.ubiquityrecords.com/press for information on NOMO. Tuesday, June 23rd through Sunday June 28th at 7 p.m. the 18th Annual World Class Jazz Mini Tour gets under way in northern lower Michigan with guitarist Rick Hicks, “Michigan’s answer to B.B. King, Wes Montgomery and Albert King.” The tour opens on Tuesday night at First Street Beach in Manistee; then Wednesday heads over to The Gull Landing in Pentwater; on Thursday riles up the Rotary Pavilion in Cadillac; Friday swings the City Camp Ground in Reed City; Saturday bops the Wenger Pavilion in Baldwin (behind Jones’s Ice Cream!); and Sunday returns to the Gull Landing in Pentwater. The tour will run every week through Labor Day. June 30th to July 5th features Soul/Blues Album of the Year award winners Root Doctor with singer Freddie Cunningham and organist Jim Alfredson; July 7th through July 12th, the New York City All Star Quartet featuring saxophonist Jerry Weldon; guitarist John Hart; organist Akiko Tsuruga and drummer Rudy Petshauer. July 14 – 19th Chicagoan Petra van Nuiss sings with the Andy Brown Quartet; July 21-26, vocalist Rick Reuther with the Tom Hagen/Cherie Lynn Trio; July 28th to August 2nd, vocalist Mary Rademacher with the Mark Kahny Band. August 4th through the 9th, Alberta Adams and Cee Cee Collins Rhythm Rockers; August 11th – 16th, Organissimo with vocalist Freddie Cunningham; August 18th – 23rd New York City area vocalist Nicole Pasternak with saxophonist Ralph Lalama and the Steve Sandner Band; August 25th – 30th the New York City Teachers Band featuring Side-Order and Sax Appeal (a septet of professional musicians who teach in NYC plus west Michigan’s own Tim Froncek on drums). Saturday, June 27th at the Dogwood Center for the Arts in Fremont, The Harry Goldson Big Band presents a tribute to Benny Goodman with clarinetist Harry Goldson and drummer Chris Ames plus special guest vocalist Claudia Schmidt. Information from www.dogwoodcenter.com or (231) 924 – 8885. Thursday, July 31st and Friday, August 1st the Saugatuck-Douglas Jazz Festival returns. July 31st at 7:30 p.m. the festival kicks off at Saugatuck Brewing Company, and then continues on the afternoon August 1st at Coghlin Park and the evening of the 1st at Saugatuck United Methodist Church, Saugatuck Christian Reformed Church and Saugatuck Brewing Company. Musicians to perform include Detroit jazz vocalist Shahida Nurullah, bassist Marion Hayden, the Cooper/Hay/VanLente Group, “One For All” an all-star New York ensemble featuring tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, trombonist Steve Davis, trumpeter Jim Rotondi, pianist David Hazeltine, and bassist John Webber), The Flat River Big Band, guitarist Ron English and many others. Produced in co-operation with the Idlewild Foundation. Information from (313) 965 – 0505 of www.saugatuck.com.

Loosen the Sansabelt and slide into those white Bucs with the heels crushed down. Shuffle! The performance was multi-tracked and the new mix will be featured in the rebroadcast of Organissimo "Live From Blue Lake" on Saturday morning May 24th at about 8:30 a.m. Happy Memorial Day weekend. Then on Memorial Day Night at 10 p.m. The Hot Club of Detroit. http://hotclubofdetroit.com/ Thanks to all the Big O board members for tuning in -- had a nice spike in on-line listenership for the broadcast.

Set up is under way. Nessa is off listening to the Truth in Jazz Orchestra in Muskegon (The West Side Inn, a converted victorian cottage/neighborhood bar = great hang) and might stop in later. Looking forward to tonight. Care to join us?

Up for Tuesday with 'the boys.' LV

She comes out of a classical music background, though been playing jazz for years. Like the way Randy Brecker plays "Wrapped Around Your Finger." He can deal a pop melody like this with authenticity and is able to find some beauty in what is otherwise, lyrically, anyway, a rather unattractive song.