Dr. Rat

I kind of like the inevitability component of history that comes to the fore in Jost's writings. Much of what he writes is about how one thing leads to another, leads to the next, and to free jazz in the end. It's an almost Marxist way of writing, but very interesting I find, as it looks for connections where you may not suspect them. As it is, I like this way of writing a LOT more than the hero-worship kind the Burns series presented us. How do the books discussed fit in here? Is it inherent to social-history to describe things as a logical result of what went before combined with the circumstances at hand? Or is this a specific knack of lefties like Jost? I think social history has been moving away from the inevitability sort fo argument for a while. You get arguments more about how what happens is conditioned rather than determined by material factors, with individual actors able to react creatively to conditions. This doesn't usually mean hero worship, but a kind of compromise between the contributions of structural conditions and human agency, which leaves the path open for a variety of explanatory methods (psychological, material, ideological, etc.) to be used in a more or less a la carte approach. Though one of these approaches usually dominates at the end of the day: the central theme might be something like: the blues was the result of the industrialization of farm life in the American South, say, but over the course of the book we would recognize the genius of Robert Johnson and wonder what Son House felt about his parents (just an example). --eric

I got to see Benny Carter when he was doing a concert (and recording--a couple of suites) at Rutgers. He was great at handling the crowd. Had us in the palm of his hand. A gracious, charming, man of the world. --eric

Yes, the usual trouble with names: Creation of Jazz. He does as full a job with context (plantations of Louisiana as well as New Orleans, for instance) as I've seen, though I've read only modestly in the Early Jazz literature. But I thought it presented good new ways of looking at things. --eric

I think he's the "Birth of Jazz" guy--and that's an interesting read in the socio-historical mode. --eric

I used to live near NYC and Philly, so I'm used to pretty vital jazz scenes. Now I live in a pretty way out place. We count as an urbanized area, but we're a relatively small one. We have some jazz here: in abrs on weekends, and two "arts center" type series where jazz has been struggling. One message I'm getting is that the gambit of selling jazz as "America's classical music" just isn't working here. This kind of pitch is read as "no fun" and a lot of the venues that jazz gets played in drive that message home with a vengence: no drinks, no smoking, no opportunity to dance. "Jazz as nostalgia" does fairly well, and a lot of the nostalgia groups--we've had Ahmad Jamal and Ramsey Lewis of late, who were pretty frankly marketed as nostalgia trips (remeber that hit?)--still do a solid show and send everyone home happy. But this is definitely not a pitch with much future. "Jazz as art" has an audience, but not nearly as big as that of the nostalgia crowd, and a lot of people seem to try to like acts like, say, Jason Moran, but the general consensus seems to be that these shows generally represent "attempts at art" or that the performer uses artistic status as an excuse for poor showmanship. Something like "jazz as art" means the performer plays to please him- or herself. The tastes of professional musicians and audiences coinciding too seldom to justify the trouble of concert attendance. And "jazz as art" also seems to say "no fun." Meanwhile, blues artists with comparable name recognition (cognoscenti and beyond) like Tab Benoit play to large and enthusiastic crowds. And in bars, groups that freely use jazz as an ingredient in jam band and broadly eclectic contexts do well. --eric

Gioia is a very interesting writer, I think. Everyone has their limitations, apparently Gioia's start somewhere this side of Albert Ayler. As explained above there is no avoiding these limitations coming through. In order to write, one makes choices. In order to love one music, one must have a set of predilections that will make one actively dislike something else. All in all, though, I think Gioia is usually an enlightening read. --eric

Beggar's Banquet for the less radio-friendly stuff: No Expectations, Prodigal Son, Salt of the Earth. This album had a touch of something rarely seen in Stones albums: humility. They didn't get carried away with it though! --eric

I'm reading the Everyman's Library edition, the whole 1,250+ pages. It is fun, and I'm learning a lot too. Wow. Not many people read the whole thing (I haven't and I have some reason to call myself an 18th-century scholar, but early 18th, though). You will soon be bale to speak as a peer with Johnson specialists, should you ever meet one! Enjoy! --eric

I teach a bit, too, and used to a lot more (not music) If this were a young person I would say you owed him a real go at bare competency in this area. As this fellow is older, I'd say talk to him directly about it, find out whether he is most interested in gaining a broad overall competency (gaining which may interfere with his expressiveness temporarily) or whether he's willing to just treat tempo impressionistically and keep pursuing what he does well. As far as what technique to use: I'd guess you'd have to start using material where melody and rhythmic structure correlate very strongly, and I think for this you might have to move away from classical guitar. If you do this I think he'll be better able to hear how losing time distorts the line (and if I read you correctly, he has a gift for line). I used to teach writing, and one of my techniques with young writers was to set their srengths off against their weaknesses: put them in a context where what they see and do well is directly impinged upon by what they do badly. --eric

Yeah, personally I wouldn't mind a bit if Berigan chose to delete this thread. good grief, I'd take a million threads like this, before I 'd want to see another on Cannibals! There's a cannibal thread?! Where? --eric

Ja my boy! TOCJs acquired merely to feed the human impulse to obtain satisfaction for the instinctual needs in accordance with the pleasure-principle!! They should all be sold for cigars and alcoholic beverages that could fill the Zuyder Zee! Commodity Fetishism. We need some commentary out of Marx from the Red Menace! --eric

Paging Berigan!

Which edition of the biography? Johnson is something else. If you want more, try Boswell's London Journal, which has a fair deal of Johnson in it and helps you get to know Boswell a bit better (he's also a remarkable character). --eric

Yes. Can never remember the name of anything, apparently. --eric

I used to have to do a 17-hour detahmarch drive from Philly to Traverse every few months, and my salvation was . . . the Cheese counter at Zingerman's in Ann Arbor. I can remember getting there one day, 6 hours into the ride and 17 hours before having to show up for work. They set me up with the best unpasteurized French sheep's milk cheese. That got me to Pittsburgh. The guy rememebred me when I came back 3 months later, too. God, that cheese was good. They've got lots of other good cheeses as well. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area. --eric

Cool. Thanks. Haven't been working on this particualr project much of late, but I'm bound to get back to it soon enough. Thanks for all the reccomendations on this topic, btw. --eric

Ah, I envy you this experience. The series is terrific, too, of course. LeCarre's first big book--name escapes--is one that's worth looking up, too. I didn't like it the first few times I tried, but then when I did get over the hump I really found it to be affecting as little else in the genre is. The movie of that is alright, too. --eric

Now you've gotta try his music. And God Bless John Wayne --eric

Well, Doctor, I am afraid of your marksmanship, but how can anyone be afraid of that cupcake of a shepherd. Isn't that cute! --eric

That's one of our old morning DJs (and our old studio). I'm wracking my brain trying to remember her name -- I think she went to Specs in Detroit. --eric

--eric

The Condoli brothers did a few sessions of two-trumpet pieces (some in the fifties, and some later, I think) One of the fifteies pieces is on the Mercury Jazz Story, which I thought to be pretty good in a sort of West Coast/show-bizzy mode, though Conte especially was capable of much more than that. --eric

Haven't been following the Eagles much lately, but it looks like they'll get him, according to an article in the Inky this morning. I'm surprised. You're right about the existing receivers. Perfectly good third and forth receivers, all. --eric

Fuller's. Drank a lot of Fuller's at the Rose in South Ken -- their cask beer is very different -- not as malty -- I wish micro-brewers here would give real English style ale a go here (but they seldom go in that direction). Haven't tried the Pete's Red. I'll have to put it on my list. --eric

But Owens is SO not Andy Reid's style, unfortunately. --eric