Moving On Up: Jay Z

[Noj]

I listen to an Elmo Hope recording with the expectations I have for jazz music. I listen to a J Dilla recording with the expectations I have for rap music. I listen to a Ray Barretto recording with the expecations I have for salsa music. I listen to a Baden Powell recording with the expecatations I have for Brasilian music. I listen to a Mickey & The Soul Generation recording with the expectations I have for a funk band...etc, etc.

Edited January 14, 2007 by Noj

[Noj]

Sangrey and I are on the same page, I see.

[Dan Gould]

I have heard enough to know that it is impossible for me to acknowledge anything worthwhile in these genres. It gives you pleasure? Great. An STD-ridden whore can do that, too, for a time. But when it hurts my ears like 100 dogs, forgive me if I don't exhaust the genres before reaching a final conclusion.

You are free to come up with a definition of music that includes it; I don't have to agree with that definition.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to listen to GDS. Gene Harris makes it a deliciously blue street to walk down.

[JSngry]

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to listen to GDS. Gene Harris makes it a deliciously blue street to walk down.

Are dolphins naturally green or blue? Never could get a handle on that.

[JSngry]

Have a good breakfast (or whatever).

Thanks. Lunch, actually. A nice BIG bowl of Pho with all the ingredients, including "tendon", which is really gristle boiled into an irresitable delicious Gelatanous Flavor Delivery Module aka GFDM, not to be confused with GDS, STD, GNP, or GRP). My daughter and I love the Vietmanese food, and vegetarian LTB goes along because, well, she's LTB.

[Alexander]

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to listen to GDS. Gene Harris makes it a deliciously blue street to walk down.

Are dolphins naturally green or blue? Never could get a handle on that.

I always thought that Dolphin Street itself is green (as in it has trees and such) rather than being a street named after a Green Dolphin.

Maybe they meant "Green-Dolphy Street"...

[JSngry]

Well, I don't know!

I do know that my mom has a copy of the book. First edition or something like that, she picked it up new for some reason. Supposedly not a "good" book, but when I first got into jazz and learned the tune, that title kinda jumped out at me on the bookshelf.

But maybe it's called Green Dolphin Street because the dophins were eco-friendly. I hear they're highly intellegent creatures...

[Alexander]

I have heard enough to know that it is impossible for me to acknowledge anything worthwhile in these genres. It gives you pleasure? Great. An STD-ridden whore can do that, too, for a time. But when it hurts my ears like 100 dogs, forgive me if I don't exhaust the genres before reaching a final conclusion.

I know I've beaten this to death, but this is what I call the "Cultural Gag Reflex." When music "hurts your ears like a hundred dogs," the reason is far more likely to be cultural than musical. Hip Hop and Country are the two most polarizing musical genres, and I believe that it has to do with people's cultural prejudices towards the people who make/consume these genres. Whenever music "hurts my ears like a hundred dogs," that's when I want to sit down and really listen to it. Odds are, once I have confronted my prejudices, I'll find that I actually enjoy the music. I rememeber when I first started listening to Country and Hip Hop. At first, I felt kind of guilty for listening to it. As if this was music that I, a middle-class-white-person-from-the-Northeast-with-an-advanced-degree, wasn't supposed to listen to. This music was not made for me. Eventually, I saw that this attitude was bullshit and that it was what was preventing me from enjoying the music, not the music itself. Now I listen to Country and Hip Hop all the time, and I've found music in both genres that I absolutely adore. It's about being open minded, yes, but it's also about recognizing the absolute subjectivity of taste and experience. And realizing that both are subject to your control.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to listen to GDS. Gene Harris makes it a deliciously blue street to walk down.

Are dolphins naturally green or blue? Never could get a handle on that.

I always thought that Dolphin Street itself is green (as in it has trees and such) rather than being a street named after a Green Dolphin.

Maybe they meant "Green-Dolphy Street"...

I thought it was from a film with Sydney Greenstreet in it.

MG

[JSngry]

Do they have dolphins in Sydney?

That would explain everything if they do.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Do they have dolphins in Sydney?

That would explain everything if they do.

In the harbour. Under the bridge.

MG

[JSngry]

That complicates matters then. The song doesn't have a bridge.

Oh well...

[Dan Gould]

This music was not made for me. Eventually, I saw that this attitude was bullshit and that it was what was preventing me from enjoying the music, not the music itself.

This brings me to something else. First, an observation: I hated disco the same way I hate rap/hip hop. But back in the 70s-80s, I lived a wonderful, disco-free life, because I had control over my exposure to it. I cannot live a rap free life. Not because its all over television. Because I can't escape it in my house, or in my car.

I cannot watch TV without a car driving past my house and drowning out the set. I can be stopped at a light and have my own car stereo rendered mute by a nearby car that makes my car vibrate. So it may be easy to see why my hatred of this "music" is as vociferous as it is.

Which brings me to my response to Alex's comment:

What the hell is wrong with this picture:

A white, 40 year old is sitting at a stoplight when his enjoyment of Lowell Fulson's "Reconsider Baby" is destroyed by a black 20 year old blasting some "song" about bitches?

So don't tell me, Alex, that my problem is my attitude because the "music" isn't "made for me". I have no problem finding pleasure in music that wasn't made for me in 1951, either.

[JSngry]

Sometimes you gotta get revenge on the world. I remember one summer night about 10 years ago, KNTU started playing "Transition" just as I was pulling into a Blockbuster. I shut the engine off, turned the radio up LOUD, rolled the windows down, and just sat there until it was over. People were intimidated!

But sometimes it backfires. One night I was pulling the same stunt at a Kroger w/a Rollins Milestone side, Dancing In The Dark, iirc, and a bag-lady (as in grocery store employee) came over to my car and started asking me who it was, how good she liked it, and all that. Which would've been ok, except that this lady was one of those types for whom just getting the 411 wasn't enough. She started telling me about her grandson who played saxophone and on and on and on. So it works both ways. You gotta pick your spots.

But I don't see what bad pop music played at an unsociably loud volume in public places has to do with the validity of recent developements in musical technology and the widely different uses to which they are being put. Ya' lost me there. But it's Sunday (and a three day weekend!), so let's just let it go, ok? No end in sight for that one.

Frankly, I'd rather find out if dolphins (and/or the streets on which they live) are blue or green. That's not yet been established!

[JSngry]

And although I see Alexander's point, it ain't a solid rule. I really don't like but just a micro-thimbleful of metal and (fill in the blank)-metal, but I know plenty of metalheads, and plenty of them are good peoples with whom I enjoy a nice, casual, "hey how's it going?" 15-20 minute interaction. Don't want to live their life, but hey - good peeps, ya' know? But that music does hurt my ears like 100 dogs, and then some. Violates damn near everything I believe in, musically and personally. But I don't go buggin' on the people who like it. I just don't come around them when they got it playing, and when the pull up besides me with it at an excruciating volume, I jsut wait for the light to change. They got their life and I got mine.

And I wait for the next time "Transition" comes on the radio.

[Sundog]

Funny, seems to me that Lowell Fulson wrote volumes about "bitches."

[JSngry]

I think it was "britches". Britches and hoes.

Lowell was a farm boy at heart.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

And although I see Alexander's point, it ain't a solid rule. I really don't like but just a micro-thimbleful of metal and (fill in the blank)-metal, but I know plenty of metalheads, and plenty of them are good peoples with whom I enjoy a nice, casual, "hey how's it going?" 15-20 minute interaction. Don't want to live their life, but hey - good peeps, ya' know? But that music does hurt my ears like 100 dogs, and then some. Violates damn near everything I believe in, musically and personally. But I don't go buggin' on the people who like it. I just don't come around them when they got it playing, and when the pull up besides me with it at an excruciating volume, I jsut wait for the light to change. They got their life and I got mine.

And I wait for the next time "Transition" comes on the radio.

Nah, you're talking about the obverse of Alexander's point. Metal WAS made for you - it just hurts your ears like 100 dogs.

Now, Dan's point is that he can get Lowell, even though that wasn't made for him, but not some other stuff that also wasn't made for him. Don't mean a thing. There's hundreds of types of music that he doesn't get, most of which he hasn't ever heard. Dan would feel the same if, while he's listening to Lowell, I drove up with a Fatou Guewel Mbalax street parade blaring out. No one can get everything. Get what you can and get it good, I say.

But don't try telling me that Islamic street Mbalax is crap! Tell me to shut up because I'm causing a nuisance. And tell the guy who's playing Rap the same (if you dare).

MG

[Sundog]

I think it was "britches". Britches and hoes.

Lowell was a farm boy at heart.

My bad.

[Noj]

Tramp

You can call me that

I don't wear Continental clothes,

Stetson hats

but I'm a lover

Mama was

Papa too

I'm an honest child

Lovin' is all I know how to do

Call me country

Right from the woods

I'll answer when you call me

Uh baby, that if it, uh

Makes you feel good

But I'm a lover

Mama was

Papa too

But I'm an honest child

Lovin' is all I know how to do

Now whatever you call me

I'd even go for that

'Cause I keep a fat bank roll in my pocket baby

You know I own, uh, three Cadillacs

'Cause I'm just a lover

Mama was

Papa too

I'm an honest child

Lovin' is all I know how to do

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Tramp

You can call me that

I don't wear Continental clothes,

Stetson hats

but I'm a lover

Mama was

Papa too

I'm an honest child

Lovin' is all I know how to do

Call me country

Right from the woods

I'll answer when you call me

Uh baby, that if it, uh

Makes you feel good

But I'm a lover

Mama was

Papa too

But I'm an honest child

Lovin' is all I know how to do

Now whatever you call me

I'd even go for that

'Cause I keep a fat bank roll in my pocket baby

You know I own, uh, three Cadillacs

'Cause I'm just a lover

Mama was

Papa too

I'm an honest child

Lovin' is all I know how to do

We can ALL say that!

MG

[Soul Stream]

'Cause I'm just a lover

Mama was

Papa too

I'm an honest child

Lovin' is all I know how to do

It's really..."I'm the onliest child"

(for those keeping score)

Well, just about to go down and play my gig in the ice storm of '07. Think I'll play Green Dolphin Street tonight.

[Noj]

Thanks for the correction, I transcribed the lyrics by ear. "Onliest?" What's that mean?

[JSngry]

The one and only, as in "The Onliest Monk".

[Aggie87]

Frankly, I'd rather find out if dolphins (and/or the streets on which they live) are blue or green. That's not yet been established!

Why limit our choices in dolphin hues (and music) to what we assume are the only choices?

edit - these particular dolphins appear to exist in Asia. I've also seen pink dolphins personally, swimming in the Amazon River (them, not me!) .

Edited January 15, 2007 by Aggie87