ghost of miles

I think there's more room for agreement here than some of us might think. BigBeat Steve, re: your "blacklisted" comment, again I'd say that in the case of this Mercer recording, I think Mosaic should've provided some sort of critical justification within the body of the liner notes for its inclusion--as they have done with other tracks such as Woody Herman's "Uncle Remus Said." I'm guessing that the compacted size of the Select booklet may have been a factor (don't remember off the top of my head who wrote the notes, but many of the individual tracks do not receive commentary... as opposed to a regular Mosaic booklet, where every single one usually does). I want discussion, context, and history--not a "whitewash." What troubles me is the notion of throwing out historical artistic content that contains racism, underlying or overt, without any sort of framing or aesthetic rationale. Allen Lowe is spot-on in what he says above... and points like that, or Jim Sangrey's remark about Johnny Mercer's forays into faux-negritude, all give listeners some sort of sense of where Mercer was coming from in that performance. (Not to mention Harold Z.'s info re: what George Brunis did with the tune?) As the Mosaic booklet stands now, though, there's nothing at all there that I can see which alludes to any of this background. (I went through the booklet twice... possible I missed a reference to it, & if I did please let me know.) Myself, if I'd been the set producer, I would've been tempted to leave it out, since the set wasn't a "complete" one anyway, and since the track doesn't strike me as particularly compelling. But I'm not, I'm just a slightly surprised buyer who's sympathetic to tranemonk's reaction; I'll still be placing the Mosaic order I was planning to place next week, and I'm still going to feature the Mercer set on an upcoming program. Re: the Chan films, I would still say I think Fox was right to accede to the wishes of Asian-American viewers... but I do not know all of the particulars (were they planning to broadcast the films with any sort of before-and-after discussion about why they had offended Asian-Americans so much, or about the general portrayal of Asians in 1920s/30s/40s cinema, and how difficult it was for Asian-Americans to find film work?). Seems like putting the films out on DVD was a very good solution--there's a similar sort of issue with the MR. MOTO films, which I've picked up on DVD in the past year. (And a similar discussion of how the central character in some ways functions as a positive image in the context of the film's era.) This essay makes a decent case for the Chan series: Original link from the California Literary Review here.

Best to you, Tom, and thanks for the great board yourself.

Had my head immersed in work all day long, so please forgive the belated & keep on having a swingin' one!

All due respect indeed to individual mileage, other views, etc., and I KNOW this is a subject that puts many of us on edge. I bought the Mercer set & I like his vocals & his songwriting, as I've said in the thread devoted to this & the Cohn set. The "Ugly Chile" song, when I heard it several days ago for the first time, did bug me--but not to the point of wanting to return the set or anything like that, because yeah, this crap does come with the territory. Easy for us white folk to shrug it off, though. Besides, as I & others have pointed out, Mosaic's included tracks like this before--but almost always with some sort of allusion in the liner notes to the racist content of said tracks. Because this ISN'T some Archeophone collection of "coon songs" (exactly, Alexander, I was going to bring those up even before reading your post tonight), where the whole point is to put across the history of blatantly racist music. It's a set of popular music with tinges of jazz from the 1940s--and being historical music as such, it should have some framing. Some good, g.d. framing of all sorts... you leave out mention of the commonality of black caricatures in the music of the time, you pass over something in silence and you risk condoning it. Historical context seems to me to be a BIG part of Mosaic's mission, so why drop the ball here? Re: the bigger injustices out there, we’re talking about the Johnny Mercer Select, not the Roberts court’s decision that nearly overturns Brown vs. Board of Education or some such, because this isn’t the Politics forum. This isn’t copping out on other, more important issues, it’s simply addressing how any sort of historical reissue label should deal with racist content. And to say that the onus is not on them to frame it, but on all listeners & consumers to come fully equipped to deal with ANY such thing that springs out at them—caricatures of blacks, anti-semitism, etc.—is in my mind the immature, willfully-naïve attitude to take. Talk about growing up! We live in a society and culture all too often dominated by undercurrents of racial hostility. The whole topic is a volatile third-rail issue (as I think this thread proves). People riot & kill over this crap. To just act like people need to “get over it” (Eagles fans check your coats) is irresponsible, on all sorts of levels—morally, socially, and from a dirty old bottom-line business point of view. I think Mosaic’s clued into this across the board and just let this one slip through the cracks. To put something into context is NOT censorship. …that Mosaic acknowledge the problematic racial nature of the performance and then say, “But by golly, Johnny Mercer sings his a** off and therefore we decided to include it!” is a damn far cry from anything even close to censorship. (OTOH I still haven’t heard one compelling musical argument for why this track should’ve been included, when other Mercer sides from the same era were not--it’s not a “complete” set to begin with). And FWIW I don't see Tranemonk calling for a boycott here or a picket outside the offices in Stamford. Not that it ultimately matters, but since it does seem to matter to some folks, if Harold Z‘s post is accurate, then a white songwriter added the provocative part of the lyrics in the 1940s. The Chan films were pulled because Fox got all sorts of complaints from Asian-Americans. Do they need to "grow up" or "get over it" too?? Do the descendents of the racist, oppressive generations before them get to tell the descendents of those who were oppressed what they will and will not find offensive and intolerable?? WTF indeed! Not much more to say, but the pattern here fits the pattern I see a LOT in this culture—something of a dubious nature is said or done, blacks/Asian-Americans/gays/Muslims/Jews/women object, white guys tell them they’re too sensitive & need to get over it. A pattern that happens over & over, actually. (And the spectre of numerous white posters telling a black poster to “get over it” because what he perceived as racism is, well, just him being oversensitive, or immature, or just somehow not as hip to history as the rest of us … uh, sets off all kinds of alarm bells with me. It’s not the first time I’ve seen it happen on a jazz discussion board, either—similar incidents at AAJ and Jazzcorner. Hey, this is OUR music now!) Sorry, but I don’t think we’ve come anywhere near to paying off the bad-karma bill that we ran up over the past several hundred years, to the point that we can say, “Uh, no need for integration plans, no need to take offense at racist content past or present…we’re all groovy now.” I know nobody here is saying that directly, or even thinks they’re saying it, but that’s what the underlying message ends up being. No, not every complaint of racism is necessarily valid, but I'd rather err on the side of caution, given the unholy things that have gone down in this country since Plymouth Rock landed on Malcolm X's ancestors. So if a poster in this community, a person of color, says, "You know, this really bothered me, I wish they would've framed this somehow," then I'm inclined to think he might be in the right. Love & respect to all who've posted in this thread--and I truly mean that--and I doubt I'll post in it again, though I'll almost surely read any responses. I'm never, EVER for shutting down a discussion... especially on a topic like this. EDIT: I'm going to feature the Mercer Select later on this autumn--will post for anyone who's interested in hearing some more of the music. Won't be playing 'Ugly Chile" primarily because I don't hear anything of musical value or interest in it--unlike Sonny Berman & "Uncle Remus," which I will be playing on another program--and yeah, with some "introductory context."

It's totally coming out of the dozens, and it is the same song that you're referring to in your post, Harold. It just comes across in a bad way when Mercer performs it... I've heard other songs from the 1920s/30s/40s written by African-Americans that used similar imagery (far more by white composers, though), and they don't sound good now coming from any performers of that time. I'd be curious to hear that Commodore version; I went back & listened to the Mercer recording again after posting in this thread, and I just don't hear anything in it (as performed by Paul Weston's orchestra) that would make a compelling case for its inclusion in this set on musical grounds. Again, this is not a "complete" set--Mosaic simply chose what they felt were the "jazzier" sides from Mercer's 1940s Capitol era. Disc 2 contains 29 sides in all, so dropping "Ugly Chile" would not have exactly amounted to shortchanging the customer, cheating the aesthetic framework of the collection, or "censorship" (what about all of the other Mercer sides they chose not to include, for whatever reason?). Still, if somebody can make an argument that this recording did deserve to be included--perhaps on the grounds of Mercer's vocal performance--than fine, by all means, go ahead...but I'd still favor some sort of disclaimer. Context may or may not be everything, but it sure provides a better, more accurate picture then merely chunking ugliness out and licensing it in the name of history. There's a LOT of racist garbage from past popular culture that we don't see or hear today, and with good reason... it didn't have much or any aesthetic value in the first place. Birth of a Nation is a good example of something that did, and therefore deserves discussion & viewing today. I don't really hear the musical worth in Mercer's or the band's performance, but hey, I've got a ton of respect for Mosaic & their judgment, running any kind of label is a helluva business, and they obviously felt that it merited inclusion. In his liner notes to the Herman Columbia, Loren Schoenberg acknowledged the potentially provocative nature of the lyrics for "Uncle Remus," then went on to point out the musical appeal of Sonny Berman's trumpet solo. (It's a track I'll be using in an upcoming radio show, btw.) Not exactly a disclaimer, but it had that kind of effect... a similar gesture in the Mercer Select might've mitigated the reactions of some Mosaic listeners. I'd be curious to hear, Tranemonk, what Mosaic's response is to your return of the set (if you feel like sharing it here).

I don't think this is the version Deus62 was looking for, but as re: 1940s versions of "A Train" with vocals, Duke and/or Betty Roche fans have got to check this one out. I posted it already in my Betty Roche Night Lights thread but will repost it here: Betty Roche sings "A Train" w/Duke in 1943 film REVEILLE WITH BEVERLY I couldn't find this clip anywhere when I was preparing the Roche program last autumn--apparently it was posted five months ago on the site to which I've linked. We're getting ready to re-air the Roche show, and out of curiosity I did a Google search (after a look on Youtube failed to produce any results) and turned it up. Great to see a celluloid performance from Betty Roche!

It's OK to put in disclaimers about audio problems with certain tracks, but not about racist lyrics? That's ridiculous. Just IMHO & all that, but all too often complaints about racism, sexism, etc. get dismissed with a cavalier, condescending attitude that indicates to me how far we haven't come. At least grant the issue a little more complexity than the old, dead "PC!!! PC!!!" shout, which has become a crude rhetorical ploy that attempts to automatically invalidate any legitimate concerns that have been raised. To me, a disclaimer would've been the best solution.

They're heeeerrrre.... as of five minutes ago: FWIW most of them were viewing the "Ellington Big Band Set Possible in '08?" thread.

That would've been a good solution too. I mean, if you can insert disclaimers about "audible pops" and such..

The song bothered me, too, and I didn't think there was enough musical merit to justify its inclusion in a set that was not "complete" to begin with. It's a thin line--take "That's What Uncle Remus Said" from the Herman Columbia box. I don't think the lyrics are as offensive as the song tranemonk cites, and Sonny Berman's solo alone makes it a valuable musical track. Hard to set any kind of uniform standard for application, but I probably would've been inclined to leave "Ugly Chile" out. Mercer himself is problematic--definitely southern racism of his time & culture going on with him, and yet he seems to have had a fair number of African-American fans (according to one of the recent bios, a # of African-American listeners who had heard but not seen him thought he was black). In some ways the same issue swirls around Hoagy Carmichael. Not to defend Mercer's attitudes, but in some ways he, like other southerners of the time, may have been more overtly racist, but also much more comfortable with African-American culture than many northern white liberals, who proclaimed their fidelity to civil rights while being more uptight in the presence of black people.

We are getting ready to re-air this program next weekend (you can already listen online to the archived version), but I had to revive the thread right now because I just found something I'd been looking for: Betty Roche & Ellington band do "A Train" from 1943 film REVEILLE WITH BEVERLY Couldn't find this last autumn when I was working on the show... not sure the film has ever been released on VHS or DVD. The site linked to above posted it about five months ago... it's set on a train, and Betty Roche has a hip, swingin' appearance (with members of the band backing her on vocals). Any viewing of the early-1940s Ellington orchestra tends to induce religious-like feelings of ecstasy in me (I'm not kidding) and to see Betty Roche pop out from behind the passenger-car curtains just sent me. I've posted the video link on the archived show page as well.

I posted a bit about the Cohn Select on the Sunday before the board went down, so the post appears to have been lost. The short of it was simply that the Manny Albam arrangements stand out the most to me... at least, they caught my ear more frequently the first time around. Have yet to listen to disc 3, but I'm looking forward to it. Mercer's vocals are an "acquired taste" IMO, and I can understand why some folks aren't too keen on the new Select. I'm grateful for it, and also grateful that there's very little overlap with the Capitol single-CD SPOTLIGHT ON... which might be ticket for those who want some JM but also think that a little goes a long way.

Up for Bastille broadcast on WNIN-Evansville and in another hour on WFIU. I've posted some more videos of Bud Powell in Paris circa 1959, in addition to the ones posted here.

What/how was the music on V. 1 and 2?

Sales of TINTIN IN THE CONGO soar

Disc 1 of this.

I really think that's the primary element at play here. (Although Jsngry's points are all on-the-money, as usual.) I mean, there's no law or rule that anything in the culture has to survive as a popular form. That may seem stupidly simple, but as I & others have said in this thread, the African-American audience has been moving on since the early/mid-1940s...and much of that is "styles changing." All kinds of factors may exacerbate or accelerate those stylistic changes, but they happen, whatever the reasons.

We are going to be listing all of the programs as title-links on the shows page--it will be fairly similar to the current archives page. I had this same concern as well & we will address it. One nice thing about the new site is the tag feature and the search function--you can immediately find & group all shows that reference, say, Coltrane, or Blue Note, or soundtracks/films, etc. Thanks much for the comments so far, and we'll keep working on it. Everything should be finished within the next 1-2 weeks. will all the shows remain archived? Yes, although in the case of repeats, we'll only keep the most recent broadcasts (i.e. audio files) online. I think, counting shows that are already taped but not yet aired, that there are close to 140 in all.

We are going to be listing all of the programs as title-links on the shows page--it will be fairly similar to the current archives page. I had this same concern as well & we will address it. One nice thing about the new site is the tag feature and the search function--you can immediately find & group all shows that reference, say, Coltrane, or Blue Note, or soundtracks/films, etc. Thanks much for the comments so far, and we'll keep working on it. Everything should be finished within the next 1-2 weeks.

Hey all, we are in the midst of launching a new website for Night Lights. Would love to hear from previous or new users--the old site will remain up for awhile, and we'll eventually plug in a redirect for those who go to it from bookmarks. I'm going to be able to maintain this site myself, which will be a tremendous help in making sure that programs get archived in a regular and timely manner, etc. We haven't finished yet--I still have quite a few of the older programs to transfer (they will all eventually show up under title links on the "Shows" page, though many are already available in the monthly archive tabs), and I haven't written blurbs for some of the new additions to the former Book Nook (now an "Amazon store," currently with Larry Kart's JAZZ IN SEARCH OF ITSELF at the very front). You'll see a number of other Organissimo-related links and people on the various pages. Let me know how it does/doesn't work for you, as we're still making changes and experimenting. Thanks much for all of the support I've gotten from here, David

In the years following World War II, a number of African-American jazz musicians took up residence in France, inspired by the relative lack of racism, the working opportunities, and the appreciation that French audiences showed for their art. Jazz greats such as Dexter Gordon, Bud Powell, Kenny Clarke, and Don Byas spent long periods of time on the European continent and made many recordings there; we’ll hear from them as well as trumpeter Bill Coleman, tenor saxophonist Lucky Thompson, avant-garde group the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and more. More here. The program airs this Saturday at 11:05 p.m. on WFIU and will be archived Monday morning on the new Night Lights website.

Didn't switch to Firefox till a few weeks ago, but glad I did--far fewer crashes.

It's hard to throw stones when you live in a globally-warmed glass house.

Didn't get to see the game, so thanks for posting that. I think other countries are going to play--are already playing--a part in the salvation & sustenance of baseball.

The ironic thing is that Clear Channel's streaming will possibly survive, and NPR's might as well.. but guys like the country-juke broadcaster over at AAJ are out of business. Anybody who tries to set up a small radio show online is probably putting his/her fiscal life at risk if the RIAA and SoundExchange get wind of it... is there any way we can starve those guys to death?