ghost of miles

Anybody else here pull out this set in recent days? I've gained a whole new appreciation for it.

Great set all the way through... I particularly enjoy the session with Dick Twardzik and the last disc w/Sonny Clark. The liners are by Simosko, right? It was one of my first Mosaics. I think there might be more from that session with Sonny Berman on a CD called SERGE CHALOFF MEMORIAL.... a couple of tracks that were done under Berman's name and therefore not put on the set? Been awhile since I pulled that one out.

I'm going to sit in for our weekday DJ today, and I'm ending the show with this song: We'll pull together. It's terrible, but we will pull together somehow.

This is so f&*#ed up:

Thanks for posting that, Chris. It makes it clearer than ever that FEMA and the Feds have screwed up royally. I've donated twice to the Red Cross... I sure hope their aid is being allowed through by these idiots. Hopefully the former FEMA guy that the Louisiana gov. appointed will get some things done.

Man commuting now by horse I'm biking more than ever now, myself. My wife has to drive to work, and we grocery-shop once a week... outside of that, we're avoiding car use. Are carpools coming back? They were big for awhile in the 1970s when I was a kid.

I'm not sure who you are talking about. I for one have said I'm not buying shit from anyone. The feds fucked up, but no way in hell can you believe the state and local government did everything they could. They didn't, plain and simple. ← I'm certain the mayor and governor did not perform perfectly... pols at every level rarely do. But do you blame Napoleon for Waterloo, or some sergeant who couldn't hold a line? Custer for Big Horn, or some scout who didn't take out as many Indians as he could have? There is no way that anybody at the local level could have done much more than they did, in terms of what they were facing. From everything I've read, they did a pretty damned good job, for the most part. The overriding issue here for me is whether we believe govt. is something there to help folks when they're overwhelmed, and to protect the public good in general, or whether we think govt. is the enemy of the people and something to use only for partisan hack payback and enrichment (i.e., the incompetent that Bush appointed to head FEMA). After listening to this "government is evil" crap for the past 25 years, I'm just fed up to the point of rage... esp. in regards to what we're witnessing now.

Ya know, why didn't Rudy Giuliani just shoot down those planes on 9/11? He must have known that NYC would be a target.

What disappoints me is seeing some of the board's more reasonable conservatives buying the rightwing spin, based on outright lies, that it's the mayor and the state gov to blame for lack of response. Read that link. And shame on Newsweek and the WaPo for swallowing the "senior official's" b.s. It's amazing that 80% of the city managed to get out. It's even more amazing that some intelligent people continue to insist that those who stayed behind generally wanted to... or that somehow the mayor should have been able to commander every single piece of transpo available in the city... go back and read the Freeper post that I put up earlier. It's amazing that so many got out. It's amazing that so many died afterwards because half of our current administration was either on vacation or out to lunch.

Have a great one, Bill, hope all's well.

Just received word that saxophonist Alonzo "Pookie" Johnson has passed away. He's not well-known outside the Indpls. area, but he was an integral part of the 1950s Indiana Avenue scene and had a group with Wes Montgomery (he can be heard on some of the late-1950s recordings re-released under Montgomery's name). Sad news and rather unexpected, at least to me, as I had not heard anything about his being in ill health.

The mayor ordered a MANDATORY evacuation. That's why 80% of the city's population did leave. Some stayed because they wanted to; many stayed because they had no means of leaving. Here's the Free Republic post defending the mayor:

What other musicians are still unaccounted for? Anybody heard anything about Alex Chilton (Box Tops, Big Star), etc.? Not a jazz musician, but someone who's been tremendously influential... the Replacements even named a song after him.

Agreed. Guy ← Are you seriously agreeing that they should be "tried"? Not sure if there are laws for criminal negligence. Guy ← In order to be consistent you would have put a whole lot of government folks on trial, the mayor and governor included. Chertoff is in way over his head, but is sure appears many local politcians are as well. You won't find me defending Bush on this either. ← The Feds are the ones with the resources ostensibly to handle this and therefore far more culpable, IMO. Did you happen to see the Free Republic post that actually defends the mayor? It's been floating around... I'll try to find it and re-post here. And for those who want to compare him to Giuliani--this is far, far worse than 9/11.

Up for broadcast--and Night Lights' debut--on WNIN in about 10 minutes.

David, I am presently looking for a venue in your neck o' the woods. Any ideas? g ← For Bloomington, I would suggest either Bear's Place (the Jazz Fables series on Thursdays) or Player's Pub. Drop me a PM and I'll try to hook you up with the necessary folks, at least for Jazz Fables.

Man, you guys are clocking Frank Morgan and Bill Frisell! I guess it's already too late to say I saw you when...

This week on Night Lights we honor Sonny Rollins' upcoming 75th birthday (Sept. 7, 2005) with "Sonnymoon," a program of Rollins' recordings with piano giant Thelonious Monk. Monk forged a musical friendship with Rollins when the tenor saxophonist was still in his teens, a friendship that eventually produced some of the 1950s' most compelling jazz records. We'll hear selections from Monk and Rollins' dates for Prestige, their meeting on Monk's Riverside LP Brilliant Corners, and a final studio encounter, recorded for Blue Note in 1957, in which Monk plays musical piano chairs with Horace Silver on the Monk tune "Misterioso." "Sonnymoon" airs Saturday, September 3 at 11:05 p.m. (9:05 p.m. in California, 12:05 NYC time) on WFIU; it also airs earlier that evening at 10 (8 p.m. California time, 11 p.m. NYC time) as Night Lights makes its debut on Evansville's NPR-member station WNIN. You can listen live on either station, or wait until Monday afternoon, when the program will be posted in the Night Lights archives. Next week: "The Man Before Miles: Freddie Webster."

Hell of a gig, gentlemen, and a true pleasure to meet and talk with you all. Just sorry that we didn't utter our wish/request for the Sanford & Son theme! Hope to see you in Bloomington sometime soon... to others who haven't seen the band live, just one warning: bring fire-resistant clothing.

New & older programs will be posted in the weeks to come, along with text & images for them. Previous programs to be put up will include all of the Ellington Treasury Show episodes, "Gil Evans in the 1960s," the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, and more. In the meantime, the four most recent broadcasts are now online: The Big Bands "Two Guys Named Les" refers to Les Brown (1950s Coral recordings) and Les Elgart (1950s Columbia recordings).

It's absolutely appalling... when even the Union Leader goes after Bush, you know it's pretty bad. I'm not going to comment further here, for it would too quickly go into the realm of the political. The situation on the ground in the South speaks for itself.

More on how to help.

Hey, glad you liked it, Sidewinder. That Earland session gets overlooked sometimes, and it's Lee's very last one--done just a couple of days before he died.

My thoughts exactly as I read the news this morning. I'm very grateful for what I have, which came out of circumstances (good parents & living in a generally well-off country) and my own work... I can put off buying that nth Mosaic box and help out folks in need first. Some more ways to help. This came via People for the American Way & John Kerry's mailing list, but I do not believe the message contains any partisan or political references:

I don't think people fully grasp the fallout from this yet.