Noj

Just to be a stickler, if the atheists are right about things, in dying one essentially stops finding anything out. In which case one doesn't actually rest in peace, so much as peacefully cease living. RIP Mr. Hitchens.

You could easily set up a FB page for your BeBop identity. All you need is an email address. No one is forced to upload pictures, or to befriend anyone who might know your real identity. There are a lot of business pages which are entirely impersonal.

I started posting about a variety of topics on internet chat boards more than a decade ago. Now there's Facebook, which is essentially a chat board where a bunch of people I know are at, posting about their day-to-day lives. One more time-consuming distraction for slow times on the job or at home. I don't see the harm.

Yep, that Ramsey Lewis album is cool afaic, bwtfdik?

Thanks Tom Storer and Face Of The Bass (that's crawjo, right?) for your insightful posts. Perhaps it is because I am so immersed in a variety of cultures in Los Angeles that I don't feel as though I belong to any one of them. Or that I don't want to be of any one culture because I enjoy the variety. But ultimately I am white, and of the white American culture, so I'll have to accept its role in my own listening. It's a bit like not realizing you have an accent, because everyone around you has that accent. Or something.

It's not that I think culture is entirely irrelevant, but that I consider it distant secondary information to the sonic criteria I have for musical enjoyment. Culture is certainly relevant biographical information, but when do I reference that while listening? For example, I'm listening to John Coltrane "Out Of This World" from Coltrane (Impulse) right now. I love what the percussion and piano are doing right from the jump, then I hear Coltrane come in and as usual I love his sound. Coltrane's sound takes me back to some of the first jazz I ever loved (a few of the first jazz albums I bought were Giant Steps and Africa/Brass). McCoy Tyner's solo kicks in, and I'm amazed by both his hands. I can keep alternating back and forth between each soloist and Elvin Jones' tireless drumming... Where/when does the culture figure in? I know the cultural origins and the history (and enjoy learning about it), but ultimately when I'm listening the music stands on its own and is speaking to me in musical terms. For another food analogy, when I eat sushi, I'm psyched on the texture and taste of the raw piece of yellowtail tuna on my tongue. It's wonderful to experience, and I take my time chewing it in order to appreciate it. During that enjoyment, it's not likely that I would be sure to filter that enjoyment through some pronounced mental appreciation of Japanese culture in my inner monologue. I might, but it isn't necessary. It's more likely that I'd just enjoying eating while watching sports on the TVs above the bar.

That too, Dan. All that fist-pumping and showboating equals fastball-at-your-ear-flap in MLB.

I'd find it entertaining if someone hit it about 450' to dead center.

I would say that culture (in the sense of the cultural experiences and references that shape us as individuals) is an unavoidable frame of reference. Much of our cultural conditioning is invisible to us, a kind of unconscious. That's not to say it isn't there. Trying to consider art without acknowledging the impact of the culture of both the artist and the audience is like considering fish without water. I mean, does it really matter if it's a fresh-water fish or a saltwater fish? If you only see it on your plate, no. But it matters to the fish, and the fisherman. I'm not sure if that fish analogy translates to music, Tom. There would have to be more types of water or something, but I get your point. From what I've heard of jazz, it's the great melting pot of the music of every culture. Jazz is eclectic and multi-cultural. It's had its fingers in every last sound from the four corners of the globe. There's no denying jazz began from a single American culture, yet American culture has never been as black and white as the great generalizing force of history makes it out to be. To continue with a food analogy, saying jazz is of one culture at this point in history is like trying to get the original broth out of a soup we've been chopping a wide variety of vegetables into while it simmered. The broth isn't the same any more. There's no going back. Payton's "Bitches" record has a decidedly trip hop influence, a genre whose top artists reads like a virtual United Nations member list. Then again my opinion probably just has to do with my own distaste for "cultural identity" which I think is code for "biased toward a group of people for superficial reasons." I think the world will be a better place when every person's identity is his or her own.

Although I recognize the cultural origins of different genres, the aural experience of listening to music is an instantaneous, felt reaction to arranged sounds which makes cultural references entirely secondary. The art is in the noises, and the culture is only as important to me as the labels in the "get info" panel. Although culture is relevant biographical information, it simply isn't as important (to me) as the music. Culture is an unnecessary frame of reference, because my frame of reference is constructed of noises, not cultures. Is that insensitive? Or am I supposed to have the culture in mind while I'm listening to the sounds some of its members created? Art operates on an intellectual level. Music is something our brains just feel and naturally "get." That's why I can enjoy the beautiful compositions of music in which the lyrics aren't in my native tongue. I don't have to know what the words mean to know I find the arrangement of noises beautiful. It's why I love jazz even though I don't play an instrument. When I listen to music from Brazil, I'm wrapping my auditory palate around the tasty noises and letting them spread across my ear drum's taste buds. I'm not thinking of the people of a foreign land. Musicians communicate with sounds, and are mostly concerned with sounds. Isn't the actual culture of a music those who listen and care for its sounds? I think placing a cultural "claim" on a music serves only to highlight the physical differences between like-minded listeners. It's backward thinking, and exclusive.

Is Payton's muse the notion that white people and black people can't be friends; that there is no amicable solution to race relations; that anything which pleases an audience of white people is selling out; that jazz must forever be a reminder of slavery; that what makes jazz "good" from a black American perspective is that which doesn't please whitey? Is true jazz reverse racism? Is the very fact that I (a middle class suburban white man) like jazz what makes it not cool?

I received a "shipped" notice for my copy. Coming on a slow boat, I won't get it until January.

I'd find ghosts comforting, as their existence would indicate there is definitely an afterlife. Has she tried speaking to them? Maybe offering words of comfort, or friendly banter? Maybe the ghosts are just ticked off from being ignored. Maybe it would comfort these souls to have the living recognize their presence in an unexpected way. The pictures do not appear definitive to me. Although I am a skeptic who doesn't necessarily believe in an afterlife, I'm willing to accept that there are more things than have been revealed by science. As energy cannot be created or destroyed, maybe there's an unknown plane for disembodied energy; energy which retains personalities of individuals past... Then the science buff in me says, "That's ridiculous, there are no thoughts without a brain to conduct the energy. No thoughts, no personality."

Thanks GA Russell! I was considering buying a Kindle Fire but decided to stick with my regular Kindle for the time being. I still may join, but will do so during another purchase.

GA Russell, what did you have to do in order to sign up? I have a bunch of stuff in my shopping cart over there, and I ought to qualify if I place the order. However, it's only giving me the option to place the order and a button stating "Amazon Prime Eligible" does nothing when clicked. I'm thinking I will join this service and quit eMusic, just considering the price of a CD against eMusic's new pricing structure...

It's only worth it if you order enough items from Amazon per year that the cumulative cost of shipping would be greater than the membership fee.

I watched the Franklin Scandal video in Pete C's link earlier today. The victims' testimonies seemed pretty damn convincing. Creepy, fishy, and alarming.

50 Vogue Records

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=5hIc2ODfRxQ

Wow, some nerve. If he could drop his ugly ego off at the door, Payton would find more than enough jazz historians and musicians right here on the org board who could more than hold their own in a discussion or a cutting contest against him. Chops don't equal taste. Individual taste can't be dictated to everyone else. Knowledge doesn't necessarily translate to creative genius.

I was trying not to generalize too much, saying "a lot of people" and trying not to say "most." Perhaps electronic music is where some of the would-be jazz fans are getting their instrumental fix. I enjoy electronic music too--and the vast majority of the jazz I listen to was recorded decades ago.

Born Under A Bad Sign (Albert King) Sign On The Window (Bob Dylan) Sign Of The Times (Bob James) Gimme Little Sign (Brenton Wood) Signed, Sealed, Delivered (Stevie Wonder) Next: MONKEY

A big portion of the listening audience that enjoyed jazz instrumentals enjoyed it for dancing. That dance crowd now follows an ever-evolving dance scene. The rave scene. The beat doesn't quit, and jazz has increasingly become less about the beat. Change "songs" to "styles", or even "sounds", and I think you can apply this to most fans of all musics. Most people hit on one or two bags they did, and then spend the rest of their life hanging with them and not really feeling the need to go anywhere else. That's not intrinsically "bad" in and of itself, but it is the reality of audiences, and, really, not just in music. So that's when jazz lost it. When it stopped being about singing/words, or at least really trying to sell a lyrical theme. When it stopped being the hippest, newest thing to dance to. Look at the "jazzy" groups that do gain some sort of popularity: Kenny G-type bland instrumental pop (the people still hear the lyrics in their head and can pretty much karaoke along). Singers, who usually aren't all that hard on the eyes either (Jane Monheit, Norah Jones, etc.). Rap/neosoul infused with "jazzy" elements in support of lyrics.

One of the major obstacles facing jazz is a lot of people don't care about instrumental music, and are only interested in singing. Many sort of get it, but they're really only interested in it in support of vocals, and won't listen to anything beyond an electric guitar solo. Even then, they're just waiting for the sing-along to return. Those who hear the instruments and care about the sounds coming from every member of the band have different ears and a more heightened sense of music. Fans of jazz care more, simple as that. I really think that's a huge issue. A lot of people don't actually like music. They like singing. They relate to what they can sing along with and learn the words to. Or what they can rap along to. They couldn't care less about virtuoso instrumental ability. In addition, many people only want to hear the songs they already know. There's this established core of music they grew up with, which reminds them of good times, and learning new songs is too much work. Anything foreign or unusual isn't acceptable. Easy-to-learn sing-along music, that's what's "cool." It better not be too challenging to learn, and had better establish itself quickly in forced doses if it wants to earn a spot in the rotation. One lady I heard listening to jazz uttered with exasperation, "learn the tune already." That's the extent of her patience for improvisation and variations on a theme.

Llama Serenade - Martin Denny Freedom Serenade - Malone & Barnes & Spontaneous Simplicity Autumn Serenade - John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman Melancholy Serenade - Jackie Gleason Shepherd's Serenade - Dizzy Reece Bonus Tracks: Moonslight Serenade - Glenn Miller & His Orchestra Serenade To A Soul Sister - Horace Silver Violinata (Violin Serenade) - David Grisman Serenade To A Savage - Candido Love Serenade - Barry White Next: BLACK