Dr. Rat

But music doesn't always "do something" with all of these things. It works actively with some of those variables, and it just flies on auto-pilot with others. A lot of times when someone says "it all sounds the same" or "it isn't music" they're just focusing on the wrong elements. And when a genre completely throws over the arbitrary distinction between "musical" elements and "other" elements, like rap does, it makes it difficult to evaluate. You can't just trot out the "musical yardstick" and see how it measures up, because your musical yardstick is irrelevent. So there is a real question as to whether the statement beginning "As music rap is . . ." is a great deal more meaningful than a statement beginning "As novelty meat product, rap is . . ." --eric

Well, I wasn't presenting that tune as some sort of be-all and end-all... I think it's funny and it does give an idea of the range of the form. Saying it's loud and in your face is the equivalent of saying it's rap--that's the style. If you come looking for vocal subtlety when someone's rapping as fast he does, you aren't going to find it very often. And it is a new form, and part of that form is exactly the pastiche element that you so vigorously decry. They don't want someone to come in and play the Bach piece, they just want the flattened out snippet because it's there mostly as a reference, anyway. A lot of this music is less "in itself" and much more embedded into an entire way (actually, I should say, entire ways) of life, with all kinds of contextual references running through it. Which is one big reason the culture / music question is so slippery when dealing with this genre, because it isn't "just music" the way, say, a Mozart opera would be just music today--an aesthetic aretefact with few contemporary referents out there, and those rather abstract and high-falutin'. You are applying standards to this form that just don't apply in the way that you seem to think. Kind of like taking a collection of really groundbreaking news articles and complaining that the prose and imagery just doesn't compare to Annie Proulx. --eric

You don't think America is worthy of study? --eric

Should add that there is rap & hip-hop stuff I like. I like this guy, for instance. --eric

Which doesn't mean that it's impossible for black music to be vulgar or violent or condemnable. Rap and Hip Hop should be able top stand on their merits, without claiming the rejection of the white establishment as justification in itself. The culture of hip-hop seems to be quite a bit different than the culture of jazz. For intsance, the overwhelming predominance of material success as a core value. Making historical parallels is interesting and can give you some new ways of looking at things, but it is no replacement for having a hard look at the particularity of historical phenomena, which almost always leads to an appreciation of the fact that history doesn't repeat itself. If it did we wouldn't have to keep studying it. --eric

I don't see what the costumer's expectations as to temperature have to do with this case. She wasn't intentionally bathing in the coffee, she accidentally spilled it on herself through her own negligence. It just so happened that it did more damage than it would have otherwise because it was as hot as advertized rather than being tepid. I'd be far more ready to blame McD's for serving hot product in a flimsy cup to people in moving vehicles. That seems like it could be negligence. Refusing to play down to customers expectation of mediocrity shouldn't be negligence. Who'd have thought McD's would be holding the line against enforced mediocrity? --eric

Well, it means that there's a somewhat lower chance of getting third-degree burns. According to members of the jury, the punitive damages were awarded not because of the circumstances of the spill, but rather because of McDonald's actions afterward. The jury felt that McDonald's had treated her like crap and blown her off when she asked for recourse. A $20,000 medical bill is pennies to a company that sells $1.3 million in coffee every day, and they wouldn't even offer her that. ← They don't have to pay simply becuase they have the money. They have to pay if they are at fault. Coffee is brewed at or near 200 degrees, that's how you're supposed to make coffee. At what temperature was McD's holding this coffee? --eric

I hear he fell and hit his head pretty badly and had to have brain surgery of some sort. No further word:

Well I thought the point of the original post was "people are stupid becuase they believe Flor could exist" not "people are stupid because they eat off the floor in this restaurant." --eric

OK, now that you see there are real restaurants every bit as bizarre as Flor, who's stupid? --eric

We should post what we think the letter says. --eric

It really flips me off that people constantly mispronounce mise en scene. Man that makes me mad! --eric

No just right stuff, Goldilocks? --eric

Too chewy. Maybe if you could get someone to do the chewing for you. --eric

Don't want to get the kjazz thing going here full scale--truthfully, it's gotten way past it due date over on the other board, but fill in the details a bit about the older station, what they've gotten rid of, what they seem to be trying to do, etc. --eric

Eight more spins for Organissimo this week here at WNMC. You'll be near the top o' the charts again. --eric

Life's too short to pontificate. ← More a rant, no? Perhaps I flatter myself! --eric

Well, hey, yeah, um, er. yeah. I know people like that too. But only casually, if you get my drift. Life's too short! ← Life's too short: now there's a phrase I think ought to be sent to the old dust bin of history. Life's too short to think, life's too short to drive anything smaller than a UPS truck, life's too short not to spend $30 on a bottle of wine. It's like the blanket excuse to live life like a sucker. Every time I hear this phrase now I mentally append "to actually live it." I'm more of a Whitman man myself. Life may be too short, bit there's not a damn thing anybody can do about it except live it, and there's no point in trying to repress the multitudes, cause they're in you. --eric

How do we get Organissimo on Fresh Air? Or any NPR show for that matter?? ← Hmmmmm. . . . Get Larry Bell to sing "Nothing But Flowers" with you (and 101 strings). --eric

Return of the Collective Nervous Breakdown Thread!

CONTACT: Marty Sonnenfeld, Community Communications: W-718-956-9482, or Cell 347-351-4231; or Tami Stephens: 718-638-7903 Jazz Trombonist Charles Stephens Missing Since Saturday The whereabouts of Jazz trombonist Charles Stephens are unknown, and his family is urgently seeking the public's help in finding him. Stephens, 59, was last seen leaving his Clinton Hill, Brooklyn home on Saturday afternoon (August 6th), carrying his trombone in its case. Stephens¹ wife, Tami, however, said that there was no notation on his calendar of a performing or recording engagement on that date. He did not return home that night. Further, the staunchly reliable veteran musician did not show up for an engagement on Monday evening, nor another one on Wednesday evening. A missing persons report has been filed with the NYPD. Stephens is considered a master musician. He performs frequently with such leading big bands as the Duke Ellington Orchestra and the George Gee Big Band. His forty-year resume includes touring the world and recording with such major artists as the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, Dizzy Gillespie¹s United Nations Orchestra, the Illinois Jacquet Big Band, modern Jazz innovators Sam Rivers, McCoy Tyner, and Archie Shepp, vocalists Nancy Wilson and Eartha Kitt, and top R&B and pop stars including Teddy Pendergrass and Li¹l Anthony and the Imperials, among many others. "Charles is well-loved, and 100% dependable. It is extremely unusual for him to be out of contact with his family and friends for this long,² said Bandleader George Gee. ³The Stephens family is desperately seeking any information ­ including where he may have been slated to perform last Saturday, or if anyone may have seen or heard from him since then." Anyone with any knowledge of Charles Stephens¹ whereabouts is urged to contact Tami Stephens at 718-638-7903. # # # # # NOTE: PLEASE FEEL FREE TO BROADCAST OR PUBLISH ABOVE PHOTOGRAPHS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE. * * * Community Communications Agents of Multi-Culturalism www.commcom.com <http://www.commcom.com> 718-956-9482

He's certainly not someone who has all his poop in a group just yet. Didn't see the TV thing, but my guess would be that Vernon Reid would not be a natural pairing for him. --eric

It depends on where you fall on the whole world-electronica thing. Personally I'd rather jettison the electronia stuff--it gets tiresome pretty quickly for me. But practically all the electronic dance music I hear gets tiresome really quick. She can sing though, and create a sense of drama equal or nearly equal to the portentiousness of some the music. --eric

He has Solomon Burke in for a couple of guest spots on one album. Veeeery nice. --eric

MARK STRYKER'S JAZZ HIGHLIGHTS: Trio Organissimo set to lay down greasy grooves at Baker's BY MARK STRYKER FREE PRESS COLUMNIST August 12, 2005 The Lansing-based organ trio Organissimo has been spreading its wings of late, performing more and more frequently in metro Detroit, and that's good news for anyone who loves the life-of-the-party vibe emanating from a kick-butt Hammond organist surrounded by simpatico mates. The trio returns to Baker's Keyboard Lounge this weekend for the second time since May, and this time, the band has a new CD to plug. "This is the Place" (Big O Records) is a gas. Organist Jim Alfredson, guitarist Joe Gloss and drummer Randy Marsh have a gift for classic soul-jazz language and a special fondness for greasy boogaloo grooves. The trio knows how to stomp the blues, bring a Latin twist to a standard ballad, turn up the heat for a rip-snorting romp in 6/8 or get down-and-dirty inside a funky-swamp beat. Alfredson handles the organ duties with panache, guitarist Gloss' solos and accompaniment mesh wonderfully and drummer Marsh lays down a red carpet of boogie with veteran authority. There's nothing too complicated about Organissimo's approach: It's music that reminds of saxophonist Johnny Griffin's aphorism that jazz is music for people who have decided to feel good in spite of conditions. It's a shame that the organizers of the annual Detroit International Jazz Festival have yet to get hip to Organissimo, but perhaps this showcase gig will fuel the grassroots buzz. 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Baker's Keyboard Lounge, 20510 Livernois. 313-345-6300. No cover. Organissimo represents the backend of an especially engaging weekend at Baker's. The bandstand tonight is given over to Urban Transport, a hard-bop quintet band that takes wing on the swinging foundation of drummer Sean Dobbins and features heady flights of fancy by alto saxophonist Dean Moore and trombonist Vincent Chandler. The band has a thick book of originals, and they play like they mean it. 9:30 p.m. Friday. A longtime treasure of the Cincinnati jazz scene, pianist Phil DeGreg is a versatile modernist who plays with the sort of supple authority that raises the eyebrows of his fellow musicians. He turned heads in Ann Arbor the last time he played here, and look for the same thing to happen again. He leads a trio including our own stalwart bassist Paul Keller. 9 p.m. Friday. Firefly Club, 207 S. Ashley, Ann Arbor. $10. 734-665-9090. The River Raisin Jazz Festival in downtown Monroe brings to town some of the biggest names in the instrumental pop world. Saturday headliners include guitarist Earl Klugh at 5 p.m. and flutist Alexander Zonjic at 7 p.m. Sunday culminates with guitarist Larry Carlton & the Sapphire Blue Band at 7 p.m. Music begins at 1 p.m. both days. Admission is free. St. Mary's Park, downtown Monroe. 800-252-301. Contact MARK STRYKER at 313-222-6459 or stryker@freepress.com.