That takes a lot of brass. . .

. . . and ALSO in October (11th, 1941), Joe's brother Lester was born in the historic village of Bartonsville in Frederick, Maryland, Bowie grew up in St Louis, Missouri. At the age of five he started studying the trumpet with his father, a professional musician. He played with blues musicians such as Little Milton and Albert King, and rhythm and blues stars such as Solomon Burke, Joe Tex, and Rufus Thomas. In 1965, he became Fontella Bass's musical director and husband. He was a co-founder of Black Artists Group (BAG) in St Louis.

In 1966, he moved to Chicago, where he worked as a studio musician, and met Muhal Richard Abrams and Roscoe Mitchell and became a member of the AACM. In 1968, he founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago with Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, and Malachi Favors. He remained a member of this group for the rest of his life, and was also a member of Jack DeJohnette's New Directions quartet. He lived and worked in Jamaica and Africa, and played and recorded with Fela Kuti. Bowie's onstage appearance, in a white lab coat, with his goatee waxed into two points, was an important part of the Art Ensemble's stage show.

In 1984, he formed Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy, a brass nonet in which Bowie demonstrated jazz's links to other forms of popular music, a decidedly more populist approach than that of the Art Ensemble. With this group he recorded songs made popular by Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Marilyn Manson, and the Spice Girls, along with more "serious" material. His New York Organ Ensemble featured James Carter and Amina Claudine Myers. (from Wikipedia.com)




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Leaves also fall in October. . .

. . . but musically speaking, Joseph Bowie, the youngest member of the Bowie musician family, began is career in St. Louis, Missouri where he was born October 17, 1953 and raised by his father William Lester Bowie, Sr. & mother Earxie L. Bowie. Joseph’s father was a music teacher and he was greatly influenced by his older brothers Byron (saxophonist & arranger) and older brother Lester, internationally acclaimed jazz trumpeter.

Joe made his first international tour with B.A.G, in 1971 with Oliver Lake, Baikida Carroll, Bobo Shaw, Floyd Leflore & Julius Hemphill moved to Paris to begin his his first major tour with a jazz ensemble. During this time in Paris, Joe worked with other jazz notables; Alan Silva, Frank Wright, Bobby Few and others. He also worked with Dr. John in Montreaux in 1973.

In 1973, Joseph with drummer Charles Bobo Shaw moved to New York City and with the help of Ellen Stuart of La Mama Experimental Theater Group extablished the La Mama children’s theater on the lower east side of NYC. During this period 1973-76 Joe collaborated and performed with Cecil Taylor, Human Arts Ensemble,Leroy Jenkins, Stanley Cowell, Sam Rivers, Ornette Coleman & many more jazz personalities in New York at that time. Joseph became a notable member of the new jazz community in NY. In 1976 he moved briefly to Chicago where he became a Rhythm & Blues specialist, leading bands for Tyrone Davis and other R& B artists. Returning to NYC in 1978 Joseph began working with Punk/funk artist James Chance and soon became a fixture on the new wave scene in NY. Defunkt was born during that time. During the next 25 years, Defunkt has recorded 15 CD’s and Joseph has become a funk officianado throughout the world collaborating with funk entities such as Dave Doran, Sigi finkel, Wolf Wolf, Jean -Paul Bourelly. (from http://www.allaboutjazz.com)




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This is why . . .

. . . I think the media fails us. . .


Originating with (who else?) the Wall Street Journal
and relayed courtesy of (who else?) MSNBC

"Wages have dropped and won't catch up until 2021
How's this for the New Normal?

Our income has fallen since the new millennium began and it isn't expected to catch up until 2021, according to a Wall Street Journal survey of economists' forecasts.

And in bad news for students, not even a college degree is going to help much, some of the 50 economists surveyed believe. Only people with advanced degrees will see any meaningful increase in their standard of living.

The current generation of college graduates will only see a higher standard of living if "they get graduate degrees and are willing to give up a lot of free time," Diane Swonk of Mesirow Financial told the Wall Street Journal. . . "

Sure. They attempted to portray a 'brighter side' at the end, some drivel about the next generation being wealthier than their parents. But I was already bummed once I finished the first part. Who gives a FF about this survey of these economists. (and back to the media) Our dear WSJ and MSNBC friends have already planted the seed irrespective of the lack of weight this one survey and these few economists wield.

Then, fueled by our fascination with the wealthy, beautiful, shallow glitterati (which was born of and is suckled by (guess who!) the MEDIA. . .

Courtesy again of MSNBC (of what would I bitch if not for them?!)
". . . The highest paid “bankster” is Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, who comes in 12th at $42 million, while Larry Fink of BlackRock is 16th at $39.9 million. Goldman Sachs‘ Lloyd Blankfein is way down at $21.7 million.

Many other bank chiefs are also below the S&P 500 CEO average — which for 2010 was $12 million, down 20 percent from 2007 levels. Bank of America‘s Brian Moynihan and Citigroup‘s Vikram Pandit are barely worth agitating against at $2.3 million and $1.3 million, respectively.

ObamaCare could end up helping three of the top-10 improve their lot in years to come. The top spot goes to John Hammergren of McKesson, the largest distributor of both pharmaceuticals and health care I.T. systems. It’s thought to be in a good position to benefit from President Obama’s health care overhaul. With compensation of $131 million this year (most of it from exercising stock options), Hammergren won’t have to worry about waiting in line to see a doctor. Same goes for George Paz (fifth place at $51.5 million), who runs prescription drug distributor ExpressScripts as well as Stephen Hemsley (eighth place at $48.8) of UnitedHealth Group. . ."

I say, "Have at 'em, Occupy Wallstreeters!" Hopefully they (and we who care) will accomplish something. Just give me a call if I can help.

(Pardon me. I must be off to therapy now.)





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Ah, back when we were. . .

. . . all young and relatively carefree, and more frequently than was wise, a gig would turn into a party. . . for the band. Jay remarked more than thirty years later that the band consisted entirely of alcoholics, with the exception of me. In truth I had my moments, but never drank beyond reason during a paying gig, at least that's MY story. One such gig ended badly and practically in fisticuffs. A four-hour was broken-down into time increments as follows. We performed for about one hour, took a twenty-minute break, performed forty minutes repeating the last scheme for the remaining two hours. During this particular job we somehow, and I'm not sure if it began with the first break or later, we simply extended the breaks so that they exceeded, or practically exceeded the actual performance time. At the end, the gentleman with whom we contracted (our contracting was exclusively verbal) did not let our lapse of professionalism go unnoticed. In fact, he wanted to withhold our payment in its entirety. A first, and fortunately for us and future paying customers, a last. We somehow escaped the situation unharmed and if I'm not mistaken, still compensated. Another engagement involved continuous bickering between Greg (sax/vocals) and Jeff (drums) and numerous threats to resign from the organization, all due to excessive imbibing.

NIGHT TRAIN (written by Jimmy Forrest/performed by Ful Treatment circa 1976)



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Talk about 'Gonzo'. . .

. . . sixty four years ago this month a little-known eccentric, introverted pianist walked into the young Blue Note record label's New York studios to make his first solo recordings.

Thelonious Monk may not have been officially or popularly described as 'Gonzo', but what better descriptive to convey the esoteric, cerebral, attractive and (some say) sexy music that he conceived and performed. Monk and Duke Ellington hold the distinction of being the 'most recorded' of jazz composers. Ellington's compositions numbered about 1,000. Monk wrote 70 tunes. Truly an original, even the beret and sunglasses of the beboppers' wardrobe were originated by Monk.

From Wikipedia. . . "At the time of his signing to Riverside, Monk was highly regarded by his peers and by some critics, but his records did not sell in significant numbers, and his music was still regarded as too "difficult" for mass-market acceptance. Indeed, with Monk's consent, Riverside had managed to buy out his previous Prestige contract for a mere $108.24. He willingly recorded two albums of jazz standards as a means of increasing his profile. The first of these, Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington, featuring bass innovator Oscar Pettiford and drummer Kenny Clarke, included Ellington pieces "Caravan" and "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)".

On the 1956 LP Brilliant Corners, Monk recorded his own music. The complex title track, which featured tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, was so difficult to play that the final version had to be edited together from multiple takes. The album, however, was largely regarded as the first success for Monk; according to Orrin Keepnews, "It was the first that made a real splash.""

Monk was one of my original portals into bebop and jazz. The reason, I now think after many years of additional perspective, that his music compelled me so, was what I perceived to be its similarity to much of the progressive, 'art' rock in which I was so interested at the time, with it's unusual angles, unique accents, unbounded energy, incessant rhythm and sheer magnetism. Truly great music.




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Or would you rather be. . .

. . . a giraffe?

(from mentalfloss.com)
"The male giraffe determines a female's fertility by tasting her urine. If it passes the taste test, the courtship continues."

Or would you rather be a mule?
A mule is an animal with long, funny ears
He kicks up at anything he hears
His back is brawny and his brain is weak
He's just plain stupid with a stubborn streak
And, by the way, if you hate to go to school
You may grow up to be a mule

Or would you like to swing on a star?
Carry moonbeams home in a jar?
And be better off than you are?
Or would you rather be a pig?

A pig is an animal with dirt on his face
His shoes are a terrible disgrace
He's got no manners when he eats his food
He's fat and lazy and extremely rude
But if you don't care a feather or a fig
You may grow up to be a pig

Or would you rather be a fish?
A fish won't do anything but swim in a brook
He can't write his name or read a book
To fool all the people is his only thought
Though he's slippery, he still gets caught
But then if that sort of life is what you wish
You may grow up to be a fish

And all the monkeys aren't in a zoo
Every day you meet quite a few
So you see, it's all up to you
You can be better than you are

You could be swingin' on a star

[by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen,
controlled by Music Sales Group
and the Bourne company]

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_the_song_Swinging_on_a_Star_copyright_free#ixzz1ad7tQi5c





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In your neighborhood right now. . .

. . . failed jobs bill; political posturing, hunger in Somalia, assassination plots, inaction in Congress, youth protesting Wall Street and the astronomically rich, debating dittoheads, domestic violence, bombings in Baghdad, hurricanes in Mexico, computer hacking, former European PMs going to jail, radical tax plan from a Republican, Tigers beating Texas. . .

How about a song?



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