paul secor

The New Lost City Ramblers Graham Nash The Crackers

Ornette Coleman: Town Hall - 1962 (ESP) red label, original issue - at least I bought it when it was first issued. I don't know if there were previous promo or signed issues.

I had no idea of the awards and recognition that Iyer had received. I guess it took a jazz critic to put me wise. Seeing the recognition he's gotten makes me realize why I don't read Down Beat (or any other jazz magazine) and reinforces my opinion of how watered down the music has become and how pointless most jazz "criticism" has become. But those are just my personal opinions, as are my feelings about some of the MacArthur fellowships. But, as I've said before, it's their money, not mine, and they're entitled to do as they wish with it. Anyway, thanks for setting me straight about "the most lauded piano player in jazz". I guess it comes down to who's doing the lauding. One parting shot: Iyer received his Ph.D. in 1998. His dissertation is "Microstructures of Feel, Macrostructures of Sound: Embodied Cognition in West African and African-American Musics.". ... Ingrid Monson, a professor of ethnomusicology at Harvard, said...that "Vijay's dissertation was one of the first to talk about embodied cognition. It foreshadowed the development of a now prominent direction in musical studies, called 'embodiment studies.' The field is less interested in scores and musical theory and more in the cognitive and embodied underpinnings of music." Reading that made me glad that I'm not an academic. At least Iyer made the comment that he regards his Ph.D. "as a hustle".

Heavenly Gospel Singers (Nugrape)

We subscribe to The New Yorker, but my wife pays much more attention to it than I do. I probably would have skipped reading this article, except a friend emailed me, saying that he had read it and had some negative comments about it. So, I decided to read it and make my own judgment. (I should start by saying that from what I've heard of Vijay Iyer's music, he strikes me as a somewhat competent musician, though I probably wouldn't cross the street to hear him play live.) I hadn't gotten far into the article when I came across: "Lately, Iyer, who is forty-four and a Harvard professor, has been the most lauded piano player in jazz." That raised an eyebrow. (And would The New Yorker refer to a classical musician as a "piano player"?) In the same paragraph: "... the critic Steve Greenlee wrote, 'He may be the most celebrated musician in jazz." That raised two eyebrows, and would have raised more if I had them. I have no idea who Steve Greenlee is, but he must reside in a different universe than the one I inhabit. If The New Yorker decides to profile Sonny Rollins (it might be a good idea to try and make up for the "humorous" phony interview they published), Cecil Taylor, Lee Konitz, Roscoe Mitchell, Muhal Richard Abrams, Henry Threadgill, Roswell Rudd, Archie Shepp, or any other musician more worthy than Vijay Iyer; and if they assign a decent writer to do so, I may pay attention to what they publish about music. I probably can't completely fault The New Yorker for publishing this article. Given their backgrounds, a musician who comes from a family of scientists, who graduated from Yale, who has a PHD, and who is a professor at Harvard, is probably someone with whom the editors and writers at The New Yorker can identify with. (Although I believe that Roswell Rudd did graduate from Yale.)

Whitey Bulger Boston Blackie Mercedes McCambridge

The Quarrymen Jan Miner The Diggers

In an earlier post, I wrote that (this article) probably can't hurt. Thinking about it, I'd have to reconsider that statement. It can hurt, in that it's part of the general dumbing down of what the media feeds the public.

Eddie Chamblee: Twenty Years After (Black and Blue)

Henny Youngman The Wife of Bath W.C. Fields

Joseph Spence: Happy All the Time (Elektra/Carthage)

Magic Johnson Screamin' Jay Hawkins The Hoodoo Man

Does it follow that if you're unimpressed, then you're self-conciously hip?

Titian Leonardo Michelangelo

U-Roy: Dread in a Babylon (Virgin)

No offense meant to Mr. DeJohnnette - he's a fine drummer and his ECM recording was one of my favorites of the past year - but if I really sat down and thought about it, he probably wouldn't make my list of top 25 favorite drummers. And nothing wrong with that.

Billy Hill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Hill_(songwriter) Charles Barkley - "The Round Mound of Rebound" Deputy Dawg

Von Freeman: Serenade & Blues (Nessa) Sublime.

He had a long career, but everyone knows him as Fish. It's like a story Jason Alexander told after he complained to an older actor about being known as George Costanza. The actor told him, that's how it's going to be. When you die, your obituary will read, Jason Alexander, who played George Costanza on Seinfeld has died. Accept it and enjoy it. RIP and thanks, Mr. Vigoda.

Respects paid by Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson: http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25454879/michael-jordan-phil-jackson-pay-their-respects-to-late-assistant-coach-johnny-bach

C.P.E. Bach J.C. Bach Johnny Bach

Fats Navarro, Charlie Parker ... : Anthropology (Spotlite) Fats and Bird get the billing, but the Ulanov Metronome All Star group is somewhat disappointing - too much mixing and matching of the musicians - although Bird does have a fine solo on Koko. I'm keeping this for the three Tadd Dameron tracks with Allen Eager and Wardell Gray doing some exciting blowing. From Mark Gardner's liner notes: "Legend has it ... that Allen (Eager) and Bird once exchanged horns and blew a session which was recorded. The cat who recorded it wigged out on the subway and the tape was left on the train. Will it ever be found? Probably not but I bet it would be explosive listening. It was issued Thanks to Dr. Sunenblick and Chuck Nessa for getting this out there for all to hear. Perhaps not explosive listening, but certainly fascinating stuff.

Tiny Tim Bob Marley ghost of miles

I hope that good things come of it. I don't know that it can hurt.