Neal Pomea

I see it as a problem of the politics of naming. All these threads on what is jazz, what is black, what is minstrelsy, what is marriage, etc. should be in the Politics forum because they are all basically political. They all have to do with who has the authority to name things a certain way, or who can effectively bully their way into dominating the language. When I do the math, what I see is people bullying traditionalists with name-calling. The traditionalist can say simply, "That music is not jazz." The "progressive" often responds with personal attacks and calling the traditionalist terms like neo-con, close-minded, reactionary, regressive. You don't see that as bullying? The music evolves and changes. So what. That's natural. We know that. But does it improve? So much of the rhetoric employed by people who say they are just evolving the music connotes that the old music is deficient and needs to be improved. It goes roughly like this: "Your music is old and deficient. Irrelevant. We have come along and improved it. Not only that, we are going to steal the name you have given your music and use it as our own. We will call it jazz. Your old music will be discussed mostly as a historical precursor to current jazz, which is the only jazz that is alive. And not only that. If you object, then we will label you neo-con, regressive, close-minded, etc." First, the stance insults the tradition, or the traditionalist, then it goes even further and appropriates the cool terms that the tradition used to describe itself, piggybacking on the cachet associated with terms like jazz. Then it's a tremendous surprise when such appropriation is not embraced. Amazing!!! Really amazing to me. Don't you see this kind of thing happen in other genres as well? I mean, how can a musician like Ricky Skaggs talk so dismissively of Bill Monroe, as though Monroe's music was somehow primitive and basically a forerunner of modern bluegrass music? How can Beausoleil, for instance, frame itself as an improvement on the proud tradition of Cajun music by mixing in all sorts of elements that don't sound so good together, sort of like marrying a horse and a donkey to get a mule? And then be surprised that a lot of folks say "That's just not Cajun music anymore. Give me something I am used to"? Well, that's just a few words. Not much of a counterweight to the views predominating here. Thanks for reading. This is an interesting thread.

The Farr Brothers, Hugh and Karl, Texas Stomp, 1933-1944 (these are recordings on the side from their main gig with the Sons of the Pioneers). http://westernswing78.blogspot.com/2008/08...dard-radio.html These guys are terrific!

I love Franki Valli and the Four Seasons! No, more than that, I think they were one of the greatest! Sherry Big Girls Don't Cry Walk Like a Man Rag Doll Let's Hang On and then You're Just Too Good to be True COMPLETELY beyond reason. 1962-65 must have done a number on me! And even better? Dion and the Belmonts!

Slap tongue technique on clarinet a la Wilbur Sweatman and other early players also gets to me.

Something about the tone of the sax on the Jackie McLean albums from the 50s on Prestige. Was he using a cheap instrument or something?

I don't think the term "organized sports" is going to make much sense in the near future, if in fact it even makes much sense anymore to children today. Much of the leisure time of children in the United States, at least in the suburbs, is so organized that all sports will be organized sports. Kids may never know the other. They will scarcely believe that once upon a time children met informally, voluntarily, and completely unsupervised on a sandlot or an empty field and picked their own sides for teams and made up the rules as they went along, etc. --- unorganized sports-- as opposed to organized sports and extra-curricular activities assigned by protective but well meaning parents, complete with leagues and schedules and adult coaching and adult umpiring/refereeing, being chauffeured around the county in SUVs, etc., with parents' weekends subservient to the god that is the supposed betterment of their children I played organized baseball, Little League and Babe Ruth League (10-15), in centerfield, first base, and catcher. Catcher was most fun by far! Ahead of my time I got to wear my cap backwards. And I alone on my team got to see the whole beautiful field in front of me, unlike the rest of our defense.

What about the Universal Studios fire? Didn't we conclude that the Decca masters were destroyed? What will be Mosaic's source?

"Recordings" in this context seems to mean albums, i.e. collections of songs on lp or cd, because you are talking about the sequence of songs in a collection. It seems like you are saying that hard bop albums were formulaic. What about swing? Well, swing was not recorded on albums in its heyday. Songs came out as singles mostly. So no, not forumlaic in the same sense.

I think you want to try Commonwealth at the Columbia Heights metro station: http://www.donrockwell.com/index.php?showtopic=9766 My handle on that board is MC Horoscope.

It's official. Managers of the Year: Maddon Piniella

Have a good one!

Happy birthday!

Thank you very much!

Happy birthday! Enjoy celebrating it!

Have a bite, Mrs. Ford. The President will never know.

I don't really find fault with Maddon. It's hard to see how he would NOT be the AL Manager of the Year. Manuel should be the NL counterpart.

Phillies Win! Congratulations! Now, wait til next season!

Phillies small ball it to a lead in the bottom of the 6th, then Baldelli ties it with a homer in the top of the 7th! Thrilling conclusion with Phillies in 5? Or is this NOT the final game of the World Series? ------ ETA Beautiful Phils double play in the top of the 8th leaves the Rays with 4 more outs, with Lidge warming up!

Turns out they play 2-3-2. I am glad they tried to play Monday. There've been too many delays for possible weekend viewers as it is! Also, according to Buster Olney on Mike and Mike this morning the commissioner's office let both teams know on Saturday that it would NOT call a World Series game complete after 5 innings. Play would resume at the point at which a rain delay was called. At least the front offices of the teams knew. We just weren't privy to it.

Rays in 7

Happy birthday and thanks for sharing so many stories!

She was good with Sid Caesar in It's a Mad....World!

Consider what angered the woman in the first place. She got angry all out of proportion because you made a turn she didn't know about. I would say that the woman got angry out of proportion due to her own feeling of some kind of incompetence navigating the city. Then she took it out on you for "making her angry" by lecturing to her son that it was you who was incompetent with your manners due to the way you were brought up. Maybe you too got a little angry out of proportion, feeling put on the defensive by her, which was only natural. If your anger was disproportionate to her "threat," then maybe you just could remind yourself more often that you are not racist after all. Once you realized that the problem was with the lady, not you (as Daniel A. pointed out), you could probably easily let it go. I would say she is definitely confusing her child! GA Russell's point that this might be generational was also interesting.

I suggest John Mayall Back to the Roots which also has some blues players you might like.