Thursday, December 28, 2006

A meme at last

I've been tagged, or so it seems. If I seem all flustered, it's because this is my first time. The tag comes from Emaw at Three O'Clock in the Morning who got caught up in a recent meme and like that in 70s shampoo commercial, he was tagged by Joel, who was tagged by John B., and so on and so on.

Here's how this one works:
  • Find the nearest book
  • Name the title and author
  • Turn to p. 123
  • Post sentences 6-8
  • Tag 3 more people
I was at work when I was tagged and as a result my contribution comes from one the migraine inducing egghead doorstops that public radio is famous for (779 pages w/ index). Still, if you can parse the academic syntax there's something vaguely familiar going on.

Here I go:

"Mellon: An American Life" by David Cannadine

In the brief period from 1898 to 1900, before Roosevelt entered the White House, America extracted itself from the great depression and suddenly surged forward in ways that amazed and intimidated observers, assuming the position of the word’s most powerful economy -- a position which, a hundred years later, it still occupies. One indication of this energy and expansiveness was a sudden mania for mergers and consolidations. So many vast new enterprises were created, and so great was their power and reach, that some Americans began to worry that these trusts (as they were all called) and their owners were becoming so rich, powerful, and monopolistic as to be above beyond, and outside the law.

Who's next:
Davis Jones
Fred Wickham
Scooter J

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Gerald Ford was delicious



Gerald Ford died yesterday. And how sad is that I've had this Dana Carvey bit stuck in my head all day? Pretty sad indeed.

To think that there used to be moderate Republicans, and that Dana Carvey was once this funny.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Another Up to Date Jazz Update

Just a quick heads up to the four people who read this blog: I'll be doing an expanded Jazz Update on KCUR's Up to Date this coming Monday, December 18.

I wouldn't call it a Best of 2006 edition, but we will be covering some favorites.

What to expect:
  • Christmas jazz ('tis the season)
  • Uilleann pipes (yes, really)
  • Brazilian guitars (and whistles)
  • and (inevitably) a saxophone or two
When to tune in
  • Monday, December 18 at 11:30 central (or so, this is live radio, after all)
Where to tune in
  • KCUR FM 89.3 on your radio
  • kcur.org on your internet device
Image: "Saxophone" uploaded by Flickr user lowlighter, aka Curtis Morton.

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Update
Here's the full list. You can listen to the show if you like; the jazz segment starts 28 minutes in. We didn't get to everything but Steigy tells me next year we may take the whole hour.

Artist: Skafish
CD: Tidings of Comfort and Joy (La Befana)
Track: Jingle Bells
(This cut served a seasonal "bumper" to get us into the segment, but the CD features some very peppy treatments of holiday standards. Pairs amiably with your copy of "Ella Wishes you a Swinging Christmas.")

Artist: Mulgrew Miller
CD: Live at the Kennedy Center, Vol. 1 (MaxJazz)
Track: When I Get There

Artist: Hiromi
CD: Spiral (Telarc)
Track: Edge

Artist: Stefon Harris
CD: African Tarantella: Dances With Duke (Bluenote)
Track: Sunset and the Mockingbird

Artist: Ximo Tebar & Fourlights
CD: Eclipse (Omix/Sunnyside)
Track: Inner Urge

Artist: Romero Lubambo
CD: Softly (MaxJazz)
Track: Just the Two of Us

Others guitarists to mention: Russell Malone, Pat Martino

Artist: Regina Carter
CD: I'll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey (Verve)
Track: A-Tisket, A-Tasket

Artist: Gregory Hickman-Williams
CD: Passages (Shoal Creek)
Track: You Don't Know What Love Is

Artist: Erin Bode
CD: Over and Over (MaxJazz)
Track: Holiday

Artist: Sean Jones
CD: Roots (Mack Avenue Records)
Track: Roots

Artist: The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project
CD: Simpatico (ArtistShare)
Track: Jazzucar

Artist: Roy Hargrove
CD: Nothing Serious (Verve)
Track: Invitation
With Slide Hampton, trombone

Artist: Gary Sivils
CD: Forever Took too Long
Track: Save That Time

Artist: Scott Hamilton
CD: Nocturnes and Serenades (ConcordJazz)
Track: Chelsea Bridge

Artist: Ornette Coleman
CD: Sound Grammer (Phrase Text)
Track: Jordan

Artist: Kenny Garrett
CD: Beyond the Wall (Nonesuch Records)
Track: Gwoka

Artist: Dafnis Prieto
CD: Absolute Quintet (ECM)
Track: The Coolest

Artist: Millish
CD: Millish
Track: Hungry Man No. 1

Hog Wild




OINK! OINK!
Originally uploaded by LeoL30.



Hapless criminals. The news is full of them. And most of the time the headline tells you everything you need to know. For example:

Man Calls 9-1-1 to Report Stolen Drugs

Last week, however, the Associated Press gave us a "strange news" story worthy of the adjective:

Man Fined for Tossing Pig at Hotel

That poorly chosen preposition could give you the mental image of a pig bouncing off a brick wall, but it turns out the porcine specimen in question, a 60 pounder no less, was tossed over a counter inside the hotel.

Snarky grammar lesson aside, let me just say this: I love this story.

Why? Because it really happened, for one thing.

For another, it defies a quick assertion of causality. Which is to say, even after you've read the details, it still makes no sense whatsoever. It seems that Kevin Pugh, the hero of our tale, didn't know the hotel worker and that apparently alcohol was not involved. Either of those would have explained, if not everything, then an awful lot.

- You know what, that Eldon down at the hotel is a asshole.
- Yep.
- You got a pig I can throw at him?
- You gonna bring this one back?

This is apparently the fourth such pig tossing in recent weeks, which makes you wonder if some Fraternal Order of Pig Tossers has formed in Mississippi. Thankfully the pig is reported to have made it through the incident unharmed (although probably more than a little freaked).

Mostly I love this story because it renews my faith in the insoluble mystery of people. And working every day in news, with its never-ending parade of death and mendacity, that faith takes quite a beating.

So here's to you, Kevin Pugh, you crazy SOB.

Friday, December 8, 2006

Jay McShann - RIP

What instruments we have agree
The day of his death was a dark cold day.
W.H. Auden

When word came yesterday that Jay McShann's health was failing, I spent several hours in a fruitless search for a recording I made last year. Here's why I went looking:

The Thelonius Monk Institute sponsored a Tribute to Kansas City jazz at Paseo Academy in April 2005. The day started off with a master class for the jazz band students taught by Bobby Watson and was to conclude with a performance by McShann. I spent most of the morning sticking a microphone in people's faces.

I interviewed T.S. Monk who was in town for the event and is, by the way, a mind-blowing talker. A 25-minute version of that interview with music later aired on KCUR's Just Jazz and may make it to the web someday. I also sat in on the master class and later put together this audio postcard, which aired on KC Currents.

At one point I asked Bobby a lame question about playing with McShann and (paraphrasing here) he said, quite sincerely: "Playing with Hootie always takes you to a special place, a beautiful place."

McShann's one interview of the day went to BET, which was also recording the concert, but I stuck around anyway. Around 11 a.m. the student body assembled (noisily, as student bodies are wont to assemble) in the school's main auditorium. An authority figure came out and told everybody to pipe down, which almost worked. There followed a series of introductions that were tolerated with increased fidgeting until someone finally said "Please welcome Jay McShann" and someone else wheeled Hootie out to the piano. A fitful silence ensued as they helped him onto the bench.

Then McShann's hands moved over the keyboard and something magical happened. From the first notes of a stomp blues, whose title I don't recall, the tension washed out of the room and the kids were up on their feet and with him. He played a short set backed by Gerald Spaits and Tommy Ruskin. Watson joined the trio for one number. They ended with "Jump Your Blues Away," and with the kids still on their feet, ready for more.

Erudite discussions will continue, as they should, about the place of Jay McShann in history of jazz. What bears remembering is that the base of his music's appeal and Hootie's great gift was the transmission of joy.

Follow, poet, follow right
To the bottom of the night,
With your unconstraining voice
Still persuade us to rejoice.

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Also:
KCUR's Laura Spencer put together this fine remembrance.

Happy in Bag has some vintage (and out-of-print) McShann to share.

The Kansas City Star also put together this helpful Hootie history.

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Another asshole makes the news

Flatulence Forces Plane to Land

(12-05-2006) 18:12 PST Nashville, Tenn. (AP) -- An American Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing Monday morning after a passenger lit a match to disguise the scent of flatulence, authorities said.

Monday, December 4, 2006

A Word for Bill McBirnie



The flute may be the least respected instrument in mainstream American jazz. Over the years a lot of sax players have added it to their panoply of skills and many big band arrangements use it for "color" but it rarely stands on its own as a soloist. Of the more than 13 thousand musicians in AllAboutJazz musician directory, fewer than 40 play the flute. Then of course, there was the whole Ron Burgundy incident.

Fortunately, there's room for all in the Church of Swing. So you can add Bill McBirnie's name to the select column that includes Herbie Mann, Hubert Laws, and Yusef Lateef to name a few.

In addition to working as a sideman in the tastefully teeming cultural stew that is Toronto, McBirnie is a member of two latin jazz ensembles. (Not surprising considering that, unlike it's northern cousin, Latin jazz adores the flute.)

McBirnie has put out two CDs under his own label Extreme Flute (which, yes, does seem to be over selling things a bit): Nature Boy (2003) and Paco Paco (2005). He brings precise technique and solid swing to a collection of tunes by Coltrane, Monk and Nat Adderley among others, as well as a dreamy version of Bernier Simon's Poinciana. Samples of McBirnie's work in MP3 form are available here.

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And while we're on under-appreciated jazz instruments, how about the steel pan? (I hear they're a lot easier to pack than a steel drum.)

Check out Anthony Guppy's Over Drunk Blues, recorded live in Japan.