ghost of miles

Yankees with 32.8 WAR on the IL as of April 21: The Yankees’ 2019 run of injuries is virtually unprecedented

Yankees are facing a long West Coast road trip with what amounts to a triple-A/spring training starting lineup. I'm guessing Aaron Judge won't be back till June... as a fan of the team since the 1970s, I can't recall a season in which so many starting players went down, especially this early in the year. Almost all of the opening-day lineup (and the pitcher who normally would have started that game, as well as the SS) is currently on the IL: Gary Sanchez, catcher Greg Bird, 1B Didi Gregorius, SS Troy Tulowitzki, SS Miguel Andujar, 3B Aaron Judge, RF Aaron Hicks, CF Giancarlo Stanton, LF/DH Luis Severino, starting pitcher Dellin Betances, bullpen Much appreciation to the Red Sox, btw, for sweeping the Rays in Tampa. Looks as if Boston's finally finding its groove.

Can't wait to hear that one, Lon! My copy should be arriving today or tomorrow. Right now:

We re-aired Trane ‘63: A Classic, A Challenge, A Change this past week, and it remains archived for online listening.

You got my order yesterday via email! A great chance to pick up some of the sets I don't already have and have been looking to get.

Comrade! I hail from the People's Republic of Bloomington! (And am good friends with Commissar McGerr, as you well know.) I am glad that Kate Smith's rendition of "God Bless America" has been banished, but much more on the basis that Jsngry cites. Slippery slope indeed--and what about artists who've sung misogynistic and sexist songs? (Which still seem to get more of a pass, unfortunately.) Recently I was listening to a 4-CD Nat King Cole box set and heard this song for the first time, a duet performed with Dean Martin: Open up the doghouse Open up the doghouse Rover Rover move it over two cats are coming in Nat you look like a man with a story I sure have I told my wife we oughta save money That's the way it's gotta be Oh gotta gotta be that way She canceled all the charge accounts gave all the gold to me Well I can't see what you did wrong Why was your woman so upset Well I put the money on a horse and he hasn't showed up yet Open up the doghouse Open up the doghouse Rover Rover move it over two cats are coming in Well Dean what's your problem Here it is I gave my wife a beautiful fur coat You did Told her it was genuine mink Rich man I took her out to show it off Then we stopped in for a drink Oh cocktails We I know your wife was really thrilled How come you two had a spat It's easy to see it started to rain the coat got wet And mink just don't smell like that Timber Open up the doghouse Open up the doghouse Rover Rover move it over two cats are coming in Let's hear it Nat You know what you know what though What There's just one way to handle a woman Dean we just got to treat 'em rough Got to slap 'em That's right We got to show 'em who wears the pants Cut out that sissy sissy stuff Now it ain't no use to take abuse Whenever they are cranky or cross Let's put the women in their place and we'll show them who's the boss Open up the doghouse Two cats are coming in ... a forgettable early 1950s novelty song, not even sure why it was included on that 1992 box-set, though it serves inadvertently as a testament to the kind of junk that was making the charts in that particular era. It was startling to hear Cole sing those lines. I don't give the song a pass, either, because the two tough-talking male protagonists are framed as to-be-mocked characters being sent to the "doghouse." It's sexist crap that was standard fare for that age because of the prevailing social norms at the time. But on the basis of this particular song, should we refrain from ever playing NKC's "Stardust" on the air or in a public setting? Of course not, that's totally ridiculous. Maybe the Kate Smith case is an exception because the song in question is a secondary sort of national anthem, but I still think it's a stretch to boot it because she sang other songs with racist content. Boot it on aesthetic grounds entirely!

I love the Talking Heads, and they--like many other artists in different mediums--absorbed or displayed avant-garde influences. Avant-garde influence often, perhaps inevitably, makes its way into the commercial mainstream. But the Talking Heads also wrote catchy songs. Sonic Youth, mentioned upstream and another band whom I love, also wrote songs with pop-oriented hooks (set in a very non-pop sound context,for sure)--or at least they were by 1985 and the release of Bad Moon Rising, several years before their major-label signing. (They never would have been signed on the strength of Confusion Is Sex.) I listen to a fair amount of avant-garde jazz, and while I'm steering clear of the Marsalis good-bad-or-otherwise fracas, avant-garde jazz is never going to have commercial appeal. I love the Art Ensemble of Chicago (have recently been making my way through the 21-CD ECM box), but they are never going to appeal to even a wide jazz audience. I buy their records, I share my enthusiasm with other fans, but it's a more challenging form of jazz to listen to then, say, Diana Krall. (And I don't say that to knock Diana Krall, who's actually an excellent musician). The rewards, IMO, are certainly worth it. How to support the jazz ecosystem for younger generations of avant-garde jazz musicians beyond simply buying their records and attending their concerts is an ongoing issue. I don't engage with it much beyond that because I listen to just about everything on the jazz spectrum, past and present, and put some of my resources into trying to support the jazz scene in my own community.

Yep—Dave actually dropped one of these off at the station yesterday (he teaches here in IU’s jazz program) and I played several cuts from it on our afternoon show, including “Move On Up.” The Ayers track is “Everybody Loves The Sunshine.”

Listening right now to the opening track, “Our Love Is Here To Stay.” Boy, people talk about Bud Powell’s influence on Evans’ mid-50s playing, but I can sure still hear it here in 1969–reminiscent to me at times of peak-Verve Bud. Great evening to be listening to it here in Bloomington.

I have an old CD collection of Halloween-related jazz that cites this track as a Gil Evans arrangement for Ennis. Evidently Allen Lowe used it as well for the Devilin' Tune anthology... I'll have to go check his notes for it when I get home from the station:

Here's the passage from the DownBeat article (sorry, screwed around with trying to upload this through a free hosting site for about 15 minutes and have no idea why it re-rotated the image):

I saw them last weekend at the IU Auditorium and they were superlative for sure. Btw I don't think it will (nor should it, most likely) change any minds in this discussion, but I'll try to post a photo or scan of the entire Miles passage from the DownBeat article later tonight.

Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire performing with the Indiana University Plummer Quintet at IU’s Musical Arts Center. Free concert!

Marian McPartland does a nice version of "In My Life."

PM sent on the Monk Complete London collection.

Jazz critic Nate Chinen now writes the "Take Five" column for WBGO that used to be a feature of NPR Jazz. He focuses primarily on new music, and it's always worth a read (and listen). This week's edition includes the forthcoming Art Ensemble of Chicago release We Are On The Edge: Visions And Visionaries: the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Melissa Aldana, and more

We re-aired Mob-Lee: Lee Morgan and Hank Mobley this past week and it remains archived for online listening.

Last hole of the fourth round. Woods' embrace of his son and mother after winning is quite touching.

Mosaic charged my credit card for the CD today, so I assume that means it will ship sometime this week.

They moved it up because of threatening weather. I think there was even a tornado watch that factored into the decision. Amazing win, that's for sure. I remember watching the final holes of his 1997 Masters win... a long way between there and here. A great comeback story for sure.

This summer: Herbie Hancock and Kamasi Washington announce joint tour From the above article as well: >>Washington is also headlining at Newport, on Aug. 3, but that's far from the only synchronicity he has with his co-headliner. Terrace Martin, a longtime Washington associate, is another one. (It seems likely that Martin will also play with Washington on the tour.) Hancock and Washington also both appeared on You're Dead!, the 2014 album by producer Flying Lotus. And there have been reliable reports that Hancock's next album-in-progress will feature Washington (along with Martin, Flying Lotus and rapper Kendrick Lamar). <<

Dizzy Gillespie running for president? The arrival of the Beatles? The October Revolution in jazz? All of that and more on another Night Lights "the year in jazz" program: Four And More: 1964, The Year In Jazz