Sonny Rollins (with Bob Cranshaw) April 18 Kennedy Center Washington DC

Momentous night last night! Got to see Sonny Rollins with his band which includes the great Bob Cranshaw on bass. Managed to snap some pictures.

Four tickets to paradise?

CONFIRMED: There will be a new AC DC album in 2008!

this means things are going well in vancouver- they have been there working on the record for 6 weeks now so they would not announce this today if they didn't know they have it in the bag- and we can expect a new album and more importantly a tour!!!!!!...i do think this will be AC DC's final tour.

 

good news! gotta put some money in the ac dc concert fund!

 

 

AC/DC working on album for release later in 2008

1 hour, 26 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Australian rock band AC/DC will release its first album since 2000 later this year, according to a posting on the group's Web site (http://www.acdc.com) Friday.

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The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers are working on the untitled project in Vancouver with producer Brendan O'Brien, who has recorded such acts as Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen.

AC/DC's last album of new material, "Stiff Upper Lip," opened at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 in March 2000, and inspired a yearlong world tour.

No tour details have been announced for the raucous rockers, who are known for such heavy-metal anthems as "Highway to Hell" and "Thunderstruck."

The new album will be AC/DC's first for Sony BMG's Epic Records label, which reissued the band's back catalog a few years ago.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman)

Stay classy Israel!

Personal Message:

wow! what a classy attitude on the part of israel towards the man who helped negotiate the camp david accords..i guess gratitude doesn't go so far as to cover helping ensure a former president's safety when he visits your country!! All for wanting to meet someone and talk!!

Israel snubs Carter, declines security help

Mon Apr 14 21:48:13 UTC 2008 By Adam Entous JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli leaders shunned former U.S. President Jimmy Carter during a visit because of his plans to meet Hamas and Israel's secret service declined to assist U.S. agents guarding him, U.S. sources said on Monday. "They're not getting support from local security," one of the sources said, on condition of anonymity. An American source described as "unprecedented" the lack of Shin Bet cooperation with the U.S. Secret Service, which protects all current and former U.S. presidents, as well as Israeli leaders when they visit the United States. Carter, who brokered Israel's first peace treaty with an Arab neighbor, Egypt, signed in 1979, met Israel's largely ceremonial president, Shimon Peres, on Sunday. But Israel's political leadership, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, steered clear of the Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Joe Torre on Greg Maddux

I’ve always had a lot of respect for guys who just say, ‘Here it is, and if you beat me, you beat me.’ That’s the way he’s always gone about his business,” Torre said. “You don’t have to throw the ball 95 miles an hour to be a successful pitcher. I mean, I grew up in the big leagues with Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette and those guys who relied more on command than on blowing people away.

“A lot of times Maddux will beat you with his reputation,” Torre added. “Sometimes, hitters go up there trying to look for too many things. But he’s always going to give you a pitch to hit. The thing is, he has the knack of reading hitters’ body language. It seems every time you take a pitch it’s a strike, and every time you swing, it’s not. He just doesn’t throw the ball straight—and he’s got the guts of a burglar.”

I KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!!

 i could feel the buzz for AC DC growing in the air/atmosphere..i've been saying it for months that people are begging for some AC DC

 

and its now confirmed.. it ain't just me.. its happening folks!....  radio is responding

http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/2008/04/it_started_a_ye.php

 

relevant highlight:

 

At Classic Rock, AC/DC (And The '80s) Gain Current-cy

Entry by Sean Ross

It started a year ago with AC/DC. The client was an upper-demo Classic Rock station that verged on Classic Hits. But they'd thrown a few more AC/DC songs in the test this time and suddenly we were staring at an AC/DC song that wasn't "You Shook Me All Night Long" on the first page. Everybody knew that "You Shook Me" had become an all-ages party song staple at weddings and bar mitzvahs, no longer considered edgy in any way. But "Highway to Hell" hardly seemed to have become that.

Since then, we've seen a pretty wide spread of AC/DC songs start to come back strongly in Classic Rock music tests - sometimes five or six titles with fairly similar scores at a given station. And while that band has had a renewed cachet lately -- used heavily in TV commercials and channeled by multiple newer acts for several years now - their graduation from peripheral act with one mass-appeal song to a more mainstream artist is just one indication that the boundaries of Classic Rock might finally be shifting a little.

More of my jibber jabber:

 

the point of edison research's piece seems to be that "classic rock" is finally expanding its boundaries..and some more classic classic rock stalwarts such as the rolling stones may be a bit played out..read it for yourself and draw your own conclusions..

 

i want to think that what we are seeing is people are beginning to reject the crap indie pussy no balls music movement typified by pansy bands- i will not bother to list them we know who they are..they can be found most nights at the 930 or black cat- and wanting more rawking... we are also seeing increasing sales/market presence on the part of bands responding to this.. think buckcherry which is selling out show after show and has sold over a million copies of their last album..

 

this is great news and the only hope for rock and rolll.. bring back the booze, bimbos and drugs or there ain't much to look forward too..

 

guitar solos can't be far behind...hell the revival of hard rock as distinct from grunge could finally be on its way

 

i guess in fairness we are talking about "classic rock"..but it is interesting that you go to any dc bar on a weekend night and people are rawking out to ac dc or bon jovi.. the bands that we listened to in the late 90s have hardly had any lasting impact...

Let it Rock!!!!!!!!!! Thank you General Franco!

One of the bigger odities in the Rolling Stones catalog is the spanish release of "Sticky Fingers"!!!!!!!

I'd wanted to own one of these for a long time. It is odd because of two differences from the Sticky Fingers we've all come to know and love. Released during General Franco's reign in Spain as dictator apparently at the time government censors objected to the song "Sister Morphine."

I'm trying to imagine how this happened and I think of some overzealous young clerk at a state censorship office having some problem with a song about drugs but his english was too poor to actually get much past the title. The clerk's alarm bell probably rang when he saw the proposed LP cover - designed by Andy Warhol- and featuring a real life zipper (more on that later)and jeans with a nice rock'n'roll package.. he probably then looked at the song titles and said "Morphine"?!?!? that sounds a lot like the droga "morfina"!!!! No no no we can't have that let me earn my bureaucratic wages by typing up a little memo on that... Of course the clerk's english was likely limited or he had no problems with a song named "Bitch"! perhaps the record company submitted the translation "perra" and the clerk thought the song was really about a dog! Brown Sugar didn't even have a translated song title and maybe the clerk chose to overlook that.. I guess the idea of "brown sugar how come you taste so good..just like a black girl should.." probably gets lost in Spain...Come out of the woodwork clerk! Time to cash in!

Anyhow as the story goes the Spanish government objected to the use of the song "Sister Morphine" and the Stones or their record label replaced it on the spanish release of the album with their cover of Chuck Berry's "Let it Rock" which in the UK was a b-side to the Brown Sugar 3 track ep single.. the "let it rock" was recorded live at Leeds University March 13, 1971 and includes Nicky Hopkins tinkling the ivories (he of the majestic solo on Monkey Man!)... So smack dab on Sticky Finger's second side instead getting the slow and ultra depressing sister morphine you get the revved up Chuck Berry rocker! I have to say being the ultra Chuck Berry fanatic I am I always wanted to own one of these..its just a bit of a different album without sister morphine... anyhow the original pressing was in 1971 in spain and the repressing which I bought is from 1980...its tough to find these (original or repress) and most people focus on the different cover (more later) but the fact that Chuck Berry still made his way onto a studio lp by the stones in 1971 is pretty incredible!!..(Note: Chuck Berry wrote some songs under the pseudonym "Edward Anderson" which is why it reads "E. Anderson" on the Side 2 label..his full name is Charles Edward Anderson Berry)

Here's a great youtube of the Stones performing Let it Rock in 1978 at their Fort Worth concert.

Open letter to Michael Gerson at the Council on Foreign Relations

You wrote "Young Obama's strongest arguments are focused on the failures of the past. The older man, by insisting on victory, is more responsible and realistic about the future."
How is it realistic to insist on "victory" when you don't even define what victory is?

It is precisely the term "victory" that is unrealistic and the ones employing it are the unrealistic ones! Wake up or we will be in Irak for no good reason bleeding ourselves dry for 30 plus years!

"Realism" would be to ask what "victory" exactly means and whether its achievable instead of simply stating "we must win!!!".. realism is to proclaim we won and skiddedle out of there- responsibly and in a measured manner of course- so that we can focus on the real challenges facing our nation. Realism is to accept what is self-evident to the eye willing to look!

Wake up Gerson! You are showing yourself to be extremely naive and "young" in accepting that "victory" is attainable. Honestly if this is the best the Council on Foreign Relations can do these days you guys might as well close up shop because all you did in your article is repeat the same old tired conventional "wisdom" and we know where that "wisdom" got us....

best,

serge in dc
ps remember "young" can be penetrating (einstein was young when he had his breakthroughs and so are most people when they make their mark) while "old" can be ossified... i don't know you but you're looking rather "old"...

Barack Obama is dead on

i will say that i have been saying what obama is essentially advocating for a few years now.. the great mistake vis a vis irak was not so much going in as the failure to simply declare victory once we got rid of saddam and just plain leave..

the world could have laughed all they wanted but we would have been rid of saddam - who by no means was our friend- and spared ourselves unecessary loss of blood and treasure not to mention creating a breeding ground for terrorists..without our long term continued massive presence there its hard to imagine that al qaeda would have given two farthings about the place..

morton kondracke- by no means a genius i readily admit- sums it up in these words:

Judging by his agile performance at Tuesday's Iraq hearings, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) now is opting for the famous George Aiken formula from Vietnam days: Declare victory and get out.

Or, rather, as an update on the late Vermont Republican's 1966 idea, Obama would declare the situation in Iraq "manageable" and drastically reduce American forces -- possibly, he suggested, to just 30,000.

Of the three presidential candidates displaying their intellectual wares in questioning Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, Obama surely was the most subtle and shrewd.

Then of course Kondracke messes it up by toeing the national party line that Obama is wrong because we can't leave now! No we must stay forever! Poor Morton just misses the point of what Obama is saying entirely: if we dont' define success in a measured realistic manner we will be there until the year 2034..by that point of course the US will have been bled so dry by this continued fiasco that we'll be begging Argentina to send us soybeans at a subsidized rate so our impoverished citizens can put food on the table!

For the rest of the article check it here

Speechless about this Craigslist ad..

BUSTY CHICKS Need 2 Tickets to Friday GAME 1 CAPS FLYERS - $50 (anywhere)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply to: sale-636594433@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-04-09, 7:18PM EDT


Have 2 extra tickets for a couple
of busty and exciting Capitals fans?

We'll cheer louder than anyone.
And maybe let you buy us some beer.
And maybe more.




Location: anywhere
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 636594433

What Moby said!

CNN: Do you still do that? Go out to clubs every night and crawl home as the sun's rising?

MOBY: I don't necessarily go out every night, but I'm 42 years old and at this point most of my friends are married and they have kids and they have quiet domestic lives, and I'm still going out like two or three nights a week until 5 or 6 in the morning. At some point I think in the interest of dignity I should probably stop, but I still find it really inspiring and it's still a lot of fun.

New Salman Rushdie book coming out..

Allright rejoice finally we get a new Salman Rushdie book. For details go here


I hope this one is readable..lately with Rushdie- i am embarassed to confess- I have difficulty managing to make it to the end.. I know I'm not the only one!

Shelby Lynne- State Theatre, Falls Church, Virginia April 7, 2008

Last night we trekked out to Falls Church to check out Shelby Lynne. Fortunately for us the show was at the DC area's finest live music concert venue. I don't say those words lightly but the State Theatre really is perfectly designed! You can eat at a nice table or you can stand up right in front of the stage. Meanwhile the food is quite good. If they only had a bit of selection on the red wine- rather than a mediocre house red- and served ice tea it would probably be just about perfect.

Anyhow I'd never seen Shelby Lynne live although I had heard her Christmas song "Squat" years ago and its a perennial holiday season favorite. I had purchased her last album and her new album- at Barry Manilow's suggestion- consists of songs associated with Dusty Springfield and was produced by none other than Phil Ramone and recorded at Capitol's legendary Studio A where Sinatra himself put together the finest string of performances in American pop/vocal history. You want to argue about that with me? Think about it before you do!

Shelby took the stage about 9:30 with a four piece band and we heard the opening drum lick of the song that opens her new album: "just a little lovin'" and you could immediately tell that Shelby was going to put her heart and soul into the performance. This was followed by about five other Dusty songs. At one point she waved an LP copy of her new album and joked about how it had taken her 20 years in the recording business to get on vinyl and as I knew from reading an article she wrote on the Huffington Post Shelby loves them old records much like I do! Anyhow she gave an LP to a kid standing front and center and it turned out it was his birthday so he got the works: lp, signed and dedicated, KISS etc!

The version of Tony Joe White's Willie and Laura Mae Jones, live, seemed to go longer than on the record and get into more of a groove. These are the advantages of live shows sometimes. Shelby then played some of her own songs which I'm not that familiar with including the one about cornbread and ice tea. I can't emphasize enough how what we saw last night was a singer really SINGING and really pulling it from down deep. Much like the article I read about her feelings on vinyl and ipods Shelby did radiate a sense of cool. After the show her roadie was kind enough to take my newly purchased LP copy of her new album backstage for her to sign with dedication and all. Very nice! Word is Shelby will be swinging by the area again and playing the Ramshead Tavern in Annapolis so don't miss it!

Santana April 6, 2008 Merriweather Post

Santana & Derek Trucks Band April 6 2008 Merriweather Post

I like the picture where you can see "Derek Trucks" in the big screen behind him right next to him.. These two shots are from the Derek Trucks Band's set last night at Merriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia, Maryland

Congratulations to Andres Romero!

Argentina's big hope in the game of golf won his first PGA championship earlier today. In the picture he waves the winner's trophy following his victory in the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, March 30, 2008. He raked in over a million bucks for his victory! The guy is only 26 years old and you have to like the guys chances to win a major. He already proved at last year's British Open that he's got game.

Baseball is back! HALLELLUJAH!

Oh man its great to have baseball back and how could it have started any better than with the Nats walk off home run victory over the Braves tonight twenty blocks from where I type these words. I elected not to go to this game beacuse I was a bit tired today from a raging birthday party but we've got tickets to a bunch of games and I can't wait to make my presence felt at the new stadium. I will say it is high time Teddy Roosevelt win the President's race!

Thing of beauty...

Yup the original Joao Gilberto "Chega de Saudade" lp Odeon blue label almost turqoise really (as opposed to the second one with the white and green triangle). This came out in 1959 and is the LP that really kicked off the bossa nova (no folks it was not Getz/Gilberto).

FREE TIBET!

Free Tibet! We find the illegal actions of the Chinese government in occupied Tibet completely unacceptable. You going to ban this blog in China????

 

China out of Tibet!

 

Those old scratchy blue note LPs

Man I guess I'm weird but I can listen to the old scratchy blue note lps (or classic prestige lps too for that matter).... The sound is so good on these puppies and the historical significance/rarity of these lps such that I somehow can listen to them even when they are really banged up..I guess what choice do I have if I want to listen to the original lp? I can't well afford to pay $1000 and outbid some japanese dealer particularly now that the dollar is so weak its almost impossible to get your hands on one of these puppies even if you want to bid on it on Ebay... I guess I hadn't thought of it but with the dollar depreciating as much as it has its no wonder that the old jazz lps targeted by japanese collectors and dealers are completely out of reach.. still for some reason I can sit through almost any noise when listening to these old ones... I know that most people would rather listen to the clean newly issued latest remaster or even a repressing but that just ain't me.. it means something to me to have the original... that original carries a lot of history with it.. its been around for 50 years plus...Just got my hands on a few real rarities and I'll be sharing my impressions on them...

Holy cow!

Just realized this week marks the 50th anniversary of the recording of Cannonball Adderley's "Somethin' Else"! An incredible session what with the following lineup (information from www.jazzdisco.org)..

 

BLP 1595 Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else Miles Davis (tp -1/4) Cannonball Adderley (as) Hank Jones (p) Sam Jones (b) Art Blakey(d)

Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, March 9, 1958

1. tk.2	Autumn Leaves
2. tk.3	Love For Sale
3. tk.4	Somethin' Else
4. tk.6	One For Daddy-O
5. tk.11	Dancing In The Dark

Definetly one of those albums I can listen to whenever and still get something out of... I suppose we'll be debating the extent of Miles' role on this one (did he dominate the sessions? was it really an album Miles wanted to cut for Blue Note but couldn't because of his recording contract so he let Cannonball take the credit? My gut and brain tell me no.. this was a Cannonball date although Miles did give him a huge assist...I say that cause Miles would never have given up credit..it wasn't his style.. his style was to take all the credit whether he in fact deserved it or not (see "Kind of Blue" where he refused to give Bill Evans any songwriting co-credit..something Evans' felt jipped about til his dying day). What an incredible lineup.. I mean Miles and Blakey on the same date? You've got to be kidding me...

the Pogues at the 9:30 Club Washington D.C. Photographs March 10, 2008

The St. Patrick's day festivities started a week early this year...undoubtedly the best part of the shows was that Phillip Chevron (he of the guitar) was again with the band after a year break to deal with his health..he played well.. and he sang well during thousands are sailing (a song he wrote and that when he performed in chicago he used to plug obama as his ancestors also sailed from ireland!)...

Shane Macgowan was very with it.. more so March 10 than March 9 I thought or maybe I was less so March 10 than March 9! he even cracked a "joke" about Chevron being "back from the dead".. I saw Chevron outside the club on Sunday in tights!.. guess thats why he uses the harlequin moniker/avatar on the Pogues board when he posts...

The show ended with Fiesta and some Pogues including Shane hitting themselves on the head with so called beer pans... the first night's Fiesta - closing number- featured these perfect chorus words: "ARGENTINA", "BOCA" (my soccer club from Buenos Aires), and "MARADONA"!! priceless! what are the odds?!..no Fairytale in New York which made me glad I caught them two years ago..they played about 110 minutes..very professional..i know cause i heard the sound check from outside the club both days and they were taking it seriously...chevron cut out on the sound check to go to hotel and rest... they had a guy that looked like a guy that gets things done..sort of lock stock and smoking barrels look with a black coat that was running the whole operation including SUVs back and forth to hotels etc....no autographs of my LP as much as I tried but I knew the odds were against me..next time!.......

As you can see from the pictures Shane is filled out a bit but I think the healthier look works for him! The accordion player James Fearnley was spectacular..guess I had not realized how key the accordion sound was...the drummer sang a song both nights..Spider Stacy was also stellar alternating between singing, flute playing, bashing head with beerpan or whatever had to be done..really he is the band leader..Hope we do it again sometime! (NOte: the pictures were put up from earlier photo at bottom to last photos at the top so scroll up if you want to get a sense of the show)..oh one more thing: a shout out to Jonathan, Randy and John who made it a fun night..oh yah and rodolfo working the bar at the old common share now the Blaguard...

Apparently rock stars get a pass on the no smoking DC law... and you know what? I can live with that!

From following this election...

...you get the sense that the voters might be more ready for "change" than the media. The way the press covers the election feeds into the Clinton's (and their consultants/operatives) old politics games. Now Hillary is "lowering expectations" for Wyoming and this is covered in a manner that would lead the voter to think "Oh how smart" when all it is is just plain old politics. So they lowered expectations enough to get away with losing 11 primaries (12 if you count Veromont) in a row and that was OK but it wasn't OK for Obama to barely lose Texas (where he will end up having won in terms of delegates) and lose Ohio and Rhode Island. No, you see my friends its all about the expectations not the votes! I guess what I'm saying is that for all of Hillary's whining about the media coverage - which worked like a charm by the way- the reality is that she has the experience to play the political game the way the media and through their lens the voters expect it to be played. Its tough to effect change when your starting point is the same old crummy election process. What was Hillary's comeback based on concretely? A press corps that felt it had been unfair to Hillary, misinformation and smearing (photos of Obama in strange garb, her appearance on 60 minutes where she stated "as far as she knew" there was nothing to indicate Obama was a muslim).

 

I haven't felt this down in a while actually.

From Andrew Sullivan- pretty funny!

An "As If" Personality

07 Mar 2008 04:27 pm

Psychologist Ellen Ladowsky examines why Hillary Clinton remains so creepy to so many. I prefer Hitch's formulation: the kind of person who never wants the meeting to end. If you've ever been on a condo board, you know the type.

 

Fwd: Pro golfer Tripp Isenhour faces criminal charges for killing hawk in tree with shot

This is the kind of thing that gives human beings- and golfers in particular- a bad name.

 

Tripp Isenhour you are an asshole!

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/pga/news?slug=ap-golfer-birdkilled&prov=ap&type=lgns
 

caveat

Obama was of course required to disclose his numbers for contributions for February. What I'm saying is that disclosing such a huge fundraising month doesn't necessarily help him going forward. It does have to be spun into "I can raise this money now imagine what I can do in the general" but this is complex given McCain wants to accept public financing for the fall if Obama will do so...

and on raising 55 mil

i think it almost hurts him to go public with this number and  i'll tell you why:

 

1. hillary can turn to her supporters and say "you see, we are being vastly outspent..we need your help"

 

2. i- an obama contributor- look at this number and think "shit man , don't come and ask me for more money! you already got 55 million and you need more???" i mean how much money is enough?? i KNOW i am not the only one who thinks like this... he had obviously tens of millions sitting aroudn before texas and could not figure out how to get to hispanics...if i was obama now i'd hire 20 young bilingual hispanics from florida to be my florida hispanic outreach team and send 5 to miami (including a plugged in connected cuban american or two) - and you know he's probably going to have a tough time with cuban americans given his comments about talking to any leader- and the other 15 i would disperse in the other cities (orlando, tampa, ft lauderdale, etc.)..  i would have them there just in case florida does a do over doing the research and talking to different people... he's got a huge problem with hispanics.. he can't lose both the white vote and the hispanic vote and get anywhere..he needs door to door knocking in the hispanic neighborhoods explaining the guy is not a muslim, that he's worked with hispanics as a community organizer (with examples and names)...

 

obama has to get cracking or he's toast.. his campaign seems lethargic and slow to respond... the response to the nafta leaks was slow.. the 3 am ad response should have been much harsher ("she's trying to scare you like bush did..", etc.)

 

 

Mama said knock you out

I guess I went to bed- after further reflection- feeling rather glum and the much needed sleep did nothing to change my mood. The way I have looked at this election to determine the candidate for the general election is that it is much like a boxing match. Unfortunately, Hillary Clinton has always been the presumptive nominee (even in 2004 if she had wanted it!) and as such can be considered the defending champion. As in boxing the challenger has to knock out the champion with a tie going to the champ. The challenger has to always do a little bit more because the "judges" and even the "referee" (and the media) have a bit of in built bias bred from familiarity and comfort in favor of the champion. There's an advantage of a shared history there. I think Barack Obama run a great campaign until the week before Ohio/Texas/Vermont/Rhode Island but while he's knocked down Hillary a few times such as in Iowa, South Carolina, the Potomac primaries, and Wisconsin he just hasn't taken advantage of these opportunities and knocked her out.

 

Hillary meanwhile has gotten back up stronger this time as evinced by her very respectable fundraising numbers as of late. I don't know if other Obama partisans share my sentiments but I for one am a bit tired and wondering just what we have to do to defeat the Clintons once and for all. Now that we hear Florida and Michigan may do a revote I feel it just might be asking too much of Obama for him to knock out Hillary Clinton. It is true that he leads in the delegate count and that the math favors him but its also true that nobody wants the democratic party nominee to back into the general election. Nobody wants the candidate who is doing worse as we get closer to the fall campaign to be the one to get the nomination. This is the great unspoken reality of the battle for the democratic party nomination.

 

At the same time the whole thing is rather depressing because neither candidate has been able to fully galvanize the party behind them and I do not believe a shared ticket will necessarily unite the party particularly if the primaries go on as long as they threaten to. A Hillary only ticket campaign, in my mind, presents the greatest downside for the fall election because african americans I do not believe will easily forgive ignoring Obama while independents and defectors from the republican party will likely not vote for her while the republican party base will come out of the woodwork to prevent a restoration. I have never felt that the likelihood of a McCain victory in the fall is as high as I do now.

election results comment

a fiasco.. so pissed...

 

this woman- hillary clinton- will not go away.

 

having said that my calculations (with an estimate on the still to be allocated delegates [12]) is that Hillary will end up netting 10-12 delegates last night... thats it!

 

Basically she got 190 or 191 to Obama's 180 or 179....

 

Of course the way its being written about in the media you'd think she kicked his ass.. and she did in a way... just not in the way that matters...delegates..there's a lot to be concerned about with obama's effort these past few days..

 

i have to say obama should hire me to run his hispanic outreach efforts because the incredibly abysmal performance shows gross ineptitude..to give up the entire southeast of texas and lose it with margins of the 70-30 variety is insane...i think i have an idea of what happened though..obama spent far too much time talking to people in austin texas which he knew he would carry... i would have taken it to her in hidalgo county... making an effort counts... i also believe the "he's a muslim" smear has worked better with hispanics (and catholics).... my aunt received one of these emails in spanish in argentina (and she believed it too- the wife of a former ambassador!)

 

the second guessing could go on all week.. obviously the last three days the obama campaign completely failed to control the news cycle... was this in part due to the media.. sure.. but there are things you can do to improve your coverage too... i didn't see much reaction from the obama people.. the whole bit over nafta and his advisor meeting with the canadians -i believe- cost him at least 5% of the ohio vote..Obama destroyed hillary in the early voting in texas but there was a big shift to hillary the past few days..

 

so what does this tell us moving forward?

 

there are 611 pledged delegates at stake... to me the magic number is about 1627 or thereabout which is the majority of the delegates (not including florida or michigan)... i do not believe the super delegates will overturn the pledged delegates but of course this is what the Hillary campaign is banking on: that the super delegates will see her momentum in ohio/texas and states to come and decide that she does have the best chance in the fall or at the very least that they can feel free to vote for her regardless of the fact she has less pledged delegates.. then there is the issue of florida and michigan..i do not know how that will play out other than to say the delegates as elected will not be recognized.. but there may emerge a concensus that the states should re-vote and that if obama can't win either of these two (big) states he should not be the nominee.... i have to honestly say that as things stand i do not believe obama would win either michigan or florida.. certainly not florida...and this also could be used by the super delegates to justify trumping the will of the primary voters (ie., look its true that Obama did get the most pledged delegates but he would not have had he either ran in florida and michigan or had the delegations from these states been recognized.

 

obama is probably at around 1378 and hillary is at 1242 or so.... this means to get to 1652 hillary has to win X of the 611 (its like 1627-1242 or whatever her current number of pledged delegates is)... its hard to imagine this happening although it could happen....

 

the next few days are going to be rough for obama and he's going to have to come up with a new gameplan.. his national numbers are on the way down and his numbers vs. mccain are plunging.. this can't be good news..people will be focusing on these numbers and they are going to look bad for obama.... but he'll take wyoming and mississippi.. people will say they don't count or aren't important (one because its a republican core state and the other because it has a huge black population) but he'll hopefully net some delegates and steady the ship... 

 

then its on to pennsylvania where the state's profile doesn't look good for obama (at all!) with the second largest elderly population and a majority catholic population...

 

  

More pix

Pictures of Amigos Invisibles

Los Amigos Invisibles rocks the Black Cat February 16 2008!

So because I'm a lazy sod and never even mention their shows just wanted to give a shout out to Los Amigos Invisibles who played the Black Cat club here in Washington DC this past Saturday night. As usual it was a great time. They kicked it off with the track that got me hooked on them about ten years ago: SEXY! and they never looked back...The night is a bit of a blur... I was in good form downing Fosters oil cans like they were the last ones to be found on planet earth.. Also a shout out to Tina Soumela and Rodolfo Matos who joined us for the pre show festivities and grooved with us at the show... Also have to put in a nice word for the keyboardist of Amigos Invisibles who took my Venezuela Zinga Son LP backstage and got it signed by everyone! THanks man! I won't forget that... The guitarist was also darn cool and came out to talk to the crowd after the show.. Only problem is I got my ears blown out (new sound guy mixing it too loud maybe??? or my ears are really weak)..I feel like I underwent a minor concussion..my ears are still ringing and I'm getting weird headaches which really blows but lets leave it at that and hope things settle back down to normal ASAP....

Now playing- Back in Black!

What an album folks! ACDC's "Back in Black". The biggest selling rock and roll record of all time because, yes, unlike the Eagles Greatest Hits and Jacko's Thriller this is pure rock and roll. Thrilling stuff; a big party in an LP...Originally released on Atlantic SD 16018 pictured above is my highly collectible original promo copy. This may be the high point of ACDC with Brian Johnson but what a high point it is! Every single song kicks ass. If you haven't heard this in a while give it a spin.. you'll be surprised at how fresh it still sounds...As I always say: "Why bands don't take this as a blueprint I just can't fathom!"

Great Live Jazz on 18th St (NO COVER!)- The Butch Warren Experience

Hey friends,

Executive Summary: Butch Warren, legendary 1960s bassist, appearing with great jazz band at Columbia Station on 18th St. in Adams Morgan in Washington DC on Wed nights, Friday nights, Saturday nights, Sunday nights. No cover! Sparse crowd last night. Need to get the word out on this before its gone.


Lets get the word out on this! Even if you're not into live jazz yourself you might be surprised at who is!

I thought I'd help spread the word on this because if we in Washington DC don't support live jazz we are not going to have any live jazz.. And in Duke Ellington's hometown that would be an embarassment and a crime....( FOR MEAT AND POTATOES SCROLL TO BOTTOM)

It was pretty incredible musically and accesible (not crazy weird jazz, not modern fusion jazz but just great straight
ahead old school jazz) but there weren't too many people there so they need your support and that of your friends. Its rare to find this kind of level of jazz at a nice place with no cover (there is a $10 minimum expected expenditure and they band does play for tips).

Butch Warren is a DC jazzman. Plays the upright bass. Did so in the 1960s with many of the greatest of the greats... We're talking Thelonious Monk, Dexter Gordon, Herbie Hancock, Hank Mobley - THOSE KIND OF NAMES- and if you listen to many of the great Blue Note records of the 1960s (He's the bassist on one of the great sessions of all time- Dexter Gordon's "GO" along with Sonny Clark on piano)... anyways you may unknowingly have heard his work ... then again sometimes one takes the bass for granted but when its gone whooooooooooaaaaaaaaa nelly i'm bungee jumpin' and I ain't got no shorts on!

Anyways, Butch Warren went through some hard times(see link to Washington Post piece that delves more into that..) and who hasn't but he's back trying to make it in the real world and leading a jazz band called the Butch Warren Experience and I checked them out last night and was impressed. Butch Warren played on about half the songs and even sang a few tracks. He shares the bass duties with a stand in- Bill "Magic" Lavender. The saxophonist Knud Jensen was very impressive as was the pianist who acts as band leader, Peter Edelman. They played some standards (ie., Stella by Starlight) , some Charlie Parker (ie., Donna Lee) and some Butch Warren original compositions. The bandmembers are very congenial and you can interact with them in between sets. Its not every day you get to talk to a guy that played with these legendary cats but I didn't talk to Butch last night but will do so soon...

So please spread the word to your friends and check these guys out...

They're playing at


The Butch Warren Experience
appearing at COLUMBIA STATION
2325 18th St NW
Adams Morgan

Butch Warren/bass
Bill "Magic" Lavender/bass
Peter Edelman/piano
Eric Allen/ drums
Knud Jensen/tenor saxophone
Olivier Brown/trumpet

Wednesday 8:30 pm - 12:30 am
Friday 9:30 pm- 1:30 am
Saturday 9:30 pm - 1:30 am
Sunday 8:30 pm- 12:30 am

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2007/07/


thank you

Mr. Angus Young- Its time to rise up!!!!!!!!!

AC DC TO TOUR IN 2008?

Listening to AC DC on this MLK day early afternoon- the live album "If
you want blood you've got it"- which is an absolute scorcher. I've
been getting more and more into these guys over the past couple of
years and now they are the act I would like to catch live the most.
Angus Young is a mere 52 so there is no reason these guys shouldn't
kick some serious ass. The word was- apparently confirmed- that AC DC
was going to do a small club gig in Switzerland at the end of this
month but the plug was pulled. APparently word leaked out and it was
supposed to be semi-secret. My guess: they probably wanted to play a
show and see if they still wanted to do it for a big world tour laster
this year. Keep in mind they don't need the money and these guys - and
I'm thinking of the guys who run the band: ANgus and Malcolm Young-
don't do things for the money. They do not even have a greatest hits
album! Think about the money that they would get if they would do the
fairweather fans/mass buying public a favor and put the studio
versions of Highway to Hell and Back in Black (Bon Scott era and Brian
Johnson era) on one CD! It would sell millions. They just don't care
bout stuff like that and in spite of that according to something I
read they made 18 million dollars (australian) last year in spite of
not releasing anything new (DVD came out right at end of year is true)
or playing one show!

So is AC DC going to tour later this year. A friend of mine thinks
based on a live nationa ac dc store having gone up that the deal has
already been signed. I'll tell you one thing though : if these guys
play I am going to catch at least 3 of these shows. There is no band I
want to see more right now. The world needs AC DC right now. Need to
go back to that no frills just thrills Chuck Berry rock and roll.

Perfect music for the pleasant winter blues!

Boy here is an album that never gets talked about. This by all accounts was Lester Young's last recording. This album was recorded March 4, 1959 in Paris. Lester returned to New York very soon after and died March 19. How come this album gets nary a mention on the web? This album has been reissued as part of a Jazz in Paris series or some such under the title "Le dernier mesage du Lester Young" (Pardonez moi mon francais!). However, I could not find one review of the recording itself. I do remember after buying it I read a mini review maybe in the all music guide book which said Lester sounded really weak on this session. But when I went to the all music guide this morning (and say while i am on it whats up with the malware on that site!) I could not find a real review or the same review. This album features Kenny Clarke on drums (Klook!), and some european musicians: Jamil Nasser (bass), Jimmy Gourley (guitar) and Rene Urtreger (piano). This is real late night music or perfect music to watch the snow falling outside (as is the case here today). Its almost like Lester's final revisiting of many old friends. The tempos are real slow but Lester's sound is all beauty (wistful though it may be..).. These are all classic American songs: Oh, Lady be good!, Almost like being in love, I cover the waterfront (Billie Holiday), I can't get started (Billie Holiday did this one too I think), Pennies from Heaven, etc..... The liner notes consist largely of an interview of Lester around the time he was performing at the Blue Note in Paris. The interview is by Francois Postif who writes that Lester used to hang out after playing until 5 am having a drink and in fact the interview was held at 6 am at his house with Lester asking if he could talk jive which he does. Its a very interesting interview particularly keeping in mind that its probably the last.... Its also interesting because it made me think a bit about the movie Round Midnight with Dexter Gordon... I wonder if the movie was at least loosely based on Lester Young..Lester does not have nice things to say about Verve record label head Norman Granz not letting him record an album with strings..And he really gets mad when asked about Billie Holiday.. gets mad not about being asked but about how generally people want to get into people's private business about the drugs they do.. Say by the way why did Billie and Lester want so much to record an album with strings? Was it some sort of status thing or they just were really into the idea.. its well known Billie Holiday was happiest with her own album with strings ("Lady in Satin"). Anyways the music is extremely mellow but nice.. The accompaniment is very tasteful....It does remind one of Billie Holiday's latter recordings. Did Lester have the strength of his earlier recordings? perhaps not- but the expressiveness is all there and to this ears this is a wonderful listen. Originally released on Verve MGV-8378 (mine is not trumpter label but is deep groove- I know MGV 8375 Buddy Defranco is trumpeter so there may be a trumpeter pressing around too but this would seem to be early pressing).

On a Blue Note kick yet again- Grant Green

So finally after a few years of wanting to get my hand on the Blue Note Grant Green "1961-1966 Retrospective" box set I finally found it for a reasonable price. Curiously enough my set was made in Europe and shipped from Germany. Not sure why this is the case. Anyways, I feel like a kid in a candy store again. I mean this set has is jam packed with great jazz and incredible musicians over 38 tracks on 4 cds. I love vinyl but it has just become imposible to get all these records without having to fork over a few kidneys. Of course I have heard a ton of these tracks but not all.. not all.. I would calculate I may not have heard 14 of the 38 tracks compiled although I probably have a bunch of them on mp3 format somewhere..The pictures in the booklet, inserts etc (some should be in the picture immediately above this blurb) are the typical wonderful Francis Wolff photography. Its always interesting to me that these jazz cats always look so sharp in all the pictures. I mean they are perfectly groomed, manicured, dressed, styling gentlemen. All of them. For all the stuff you hear about who was doing what drug or having what problem when you look at the pictures Francis Wolff took they are all dressed to the nine's and styling.

Of course after taking a probably forced leave of absence from the label Green was back at Blue Note in 1969 and cut some incredible yet more on the funky/popular spectrum of things. Bob Blumenthal, like most critics, sort of dismisses the later Green and I feel thats very misguided but having said that the music on this box cannot be argued with or dismissed. Its great jazz. I am not a fan of compilations but for $20 this is a very worthwhile look at my favorite guitarist. Right now I'm listening to Jimmy Smith jamming with Green on their only collaboration now one of my favorite tracks I can tell its Lou Donaldson from the Natural One- Funky Mama- just came on.. This stuff is very hot....Of course Grant Green begins the song... One thing I found interesting is how young Green looks in the pictures be they from his arrival to New York City in 1961 or from later sessions in 1965.. and to add something to the discourse Gran Green apparently smoked Kool cigarretes by the way...

Sean Taylor

So Sean Taylor is dead. Listening to music as much as I do I couldn't
help but be struck by how many violent deaths relatively young black
men suffer. Sam Cooke and King Curtis came to mind.

Rene Bloch: Rene and his pachanga orchestra LP

SO I picked this up yesterday. I was struck by the really cool album cover... there is no credit for the album cover.. anyways the LP is on Capitol Records T-1530 .. must have come out around 1962... Capitol- as I recall- did not have much in the way of latin music.. the full title for the band is "rene and his pachanga orchestra" and the album itself "la pachanga"... the album features a song by johnny pacheco who i guess was just beginning to make his mark.. also some participation from paul lopez on trumpet who co wrote two tracks.. paul lopez has his own website here 
http://www.paulopez.com/paul.htm 
I wonder if Willie Bobo or Mongo Santamaria who at times played in Rene Bloch's orchestra played on this? i doubt it as it would seem to be too late for them to be on it.. anyways the music is pretty good and with capitol's normally good standards on packaging and sound...too bad there are no credits for the band! i note bloch played for perez prado and the album was produced by curly walter..in fact right now i'm listening to paul lopez jamming on his solo on "lola catuna"!

Dean Martin's "A Winter Wonderland"

Listening to the Capitol LP on T-1285 and on a few of these tracks such as Let It Snow, I've got my love to keep me warm and Baby its cold outside I think Dean Martin really hits home runs..

I mean where any of these songs Christmas standards before Dean Martin sang them? I listen to a lot of Christmas music around this time of year and no one does the holidays better than Dino. Oh yah Rudolph ain't nothing to sneeze at..The album cover is a hoot too... Dean is up to his usual no good ways..presumably hugging his girl while exchanging flirtatious glances with a beautiful snow bunny..I guess Christmas is just more fun with Dean Martin than without..without we seem to be left with too much Adestes and White Christmas type stuff...

quote

Here is a quote purported to be from Hank Mobley towards the end of his life.. I found it on the internet and it was part of a pretty good bio but unattributed:


"The doctor told me not to play it, or I might blow one of my lungs out. It's hard for me to think of what could be and what should have been. I lived with Charlie Parker, Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk; I walked with them up and down the street. I did not know what it meant when I listened to them cry--until it happened to me."

Hank Mobley Obituary

I had often wondered if he got an obit in Philadelphia where he died and he did... see below:

Hank Mobley, International Jazz Figure

Hank Mobley, a jazz saxophonist of international stature who played with the leading musicians of the day and made his greatest impact as a member of the Miles Davis group in the 1960s, died Friday. He was 55 and had lived in Philadephia since 1972.

Born Henry Mobley in Eastman, Ga., he moved to the Newark-Elizabeth, N.J., area in childhood and studied music privately. Early in his career he played with the Paul Gayton orchestra and other regional bands.

As a tenor saxophonist, his most important associations in jazz were with the Horace Silver and Art Blakey groups in the 1950s and the Davis aggregation the following decade.

Later he was the co-leader of combos with Lee Morgan, Kenny Dorham and Cedar Walton. In 1967-68, he toured Europe, making appearances in London, Paris, Munich, Rome and other cities in Poland, Hungary and Yugoslavia.

Among the many musicians in his ken over the years were Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Slide Hampton, Wilbur Ware and Philly Joe Jones. He played recently at the Angry Square on New York’s 7th Avenue.

He was the composer of a number of jazz tunes, including "Breakthrough," "The Morning After," A Caddy for Daddy," "The Dip" and "Straight Ahead."

Survivors include his father, Otis Rogers; his stepmother, Lillian O. Rogers; and two aunts, Jenethel Cooney and Rosa Boyer. Friends may call from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Johnson Funeral Home, 46th Street and Woodland Avenue. Burial will be Saturday at Mount Lawn Cemetery, 84th Street and Hook Road, Sharon Hill, Delaware County.
-Philadelphia Daily News, June 4, 1986. Used by permission.

January 11, 1986: Mobley's curtain call?

Interesting.. from the New York Times archives available on the internet we see that Mobley was still perhaps ocasionally playing the sax even a few months before he died..

Hank Mobley Quartet
The saxophonist Hank Mobley will lead a quartet, with Lodi Carr as guest singer, tonight at the Angry Squire, 216 Seventh Avenue, below 23d Street (242-9066). Sets begin at 9 and 11 P.M. and 1 A.M. There is a $7 cover and a two-drink minimum.
January 11, 1986 - Arts - 41 words

Did the revaluation of Hank Mobley begin here?

Interesting article from the New York Times November 3, 1990. Given that when Mobley died in 1986 the Times didn't even publish an obituary it is interesting to see this article. So what happened between 1986 and 1990? Perhaps the 1987 reissue of Soul Station on CD?

Review/ Jazz; Hard-Bop Solos of 1950's By PETER WATROUS Published: November 3, 1990

The small-group hard-bop compositions of the 1950's and 60's are some of the least explored territories in jazz. The music's composers have been seen as improvisers who wrote pieces as vehicles for soloing; the tunes, difficult to play, dropped out of the standard repertory. The sold-out show at Weill Recital Hall on Monday night featured the music of the tenor saxophonist and composer Hank Mobley, who died in 1986. The concert was meant to prove a point about his music's brilliance, and did a good job of it.

Of all the composers of the Blue Note Record label school, Mr. Mobley, who recorded with the label between 1954 and 1970 -- he was anoriginal member of the Jazz Messengers -- clearly loved ambiguity. His compositions, verging on melancholy, usually right themselves with a blue undercurrent that stiffens them; switching emotions as quickly as they switch strains, the compositions unfold logically, piece by piece. And as played by an exceptional group, including Don Sickler on trumpet, Clifford Jordan on tenor saxophone, Cedar Walton on piano, Buster Williams on bass and Billy Higgins on drums, the tunes resonated with emotional power that in no way seemed dated.

But the show was making other points as well. As arranged by Mr. Sickler (who is behind a good deal of the small-band repertory movement) the pieces took on complexity, with riffs, short drum solos and stop-time sections breaking up the traditional string-of-solos form. In addition, Mr. Sickler put together medleys of similar tunes; not all the musicians soloed on each piece, putting the compositions in the foreground and making for an audience-friendly concert. And with the chronology of the tunes ranging from 1955 to 1972, Mr. Sickler brought some light on Mr. Mobley's lesser-known, later compositions.

All of this floated on a perfect rhythm section that locked into grooves with the finesse of a well-tuned sports car. Mr. Higgins and Mr. Walton have a rhythmic affinity, and they would catch the structural changes of a tune with rhythmic cadences that framed the improvisers' statements. And the soloists picked apart the tunes as well; Mr. Jordan, typically, turned modal sections of Mr. Mobley's later tunes into a playground, moving from belly honks to high-pitched pleas to be-bop lines, before being reined in by a tune's sudden harmonic movement. And Mr. Sickler eased his way through the changes gracefully, capturing the bluesy wistfulness and ease Mr. Mobley left as his legacy.

Also check out

www.hankmobley.blogspot.com

I've decided to concentrate my little efforts on this blog but there is some other interesting Mobley stuff I posted on there a while back... Not sure why the google or yahoo searches don't pick up the blog...

More on Mobley's dissapearances from the studio

I had written in my post of a few days ago but the large gaps in Mobley's recording output and ascribed this to problems with drugs but it simply never ocurred to me that perhaps he was jailed for periods. Steve Huey in his bio on the All Music Guide mentions that after the Peckin' Time session "...a worsening drug problem resulted in an arrest that took him off the scene for a year.." and that after 1963's No Room for Squares "...drug and legal problems again put him out of commission during 1964." I look at the pictures of Mobley on the various album covers and its hard to imagine him being arrested. He is about as well dressed and clean cut as one can imagine but then again these pictures often look like they all come from the same session photographed by Francis Wolff so who knows... Its remarkable how little is known about Mobley's life considering he is a pretty big seller currently. Someone ought to do a bio of him before all the primary sources are gone!

Smokin!

So I was wrong....the phrase "Middleweight champion of the tenor.." is to be found in the liner notes to Blue Note 4080.. I just received the Workout album in the mail (a liberty pressing with New York labels)- a record I'd wanted for a long time- and the liner notes by Leonard Feather begin "Henry Mobley is the middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone." This is the statement that we so often read consigned Mobley to ignominity because supposedly people read this and thought it was some sort of insult meaning he was not a heavyweight like Coltrane or a lightweight like Lester Young/Getz.. his sound was in the middle... boring...etc... We read things over and over again and we start to believe they must be true but its hard for me to believe that anyone who bought this album or even just read the liner notes would only have read the first sentence! And the next paragraph qualifies the statement "That is to say, he is not to be compared (and this judgment is made in terms of size of sound as well as fame, fortune and poll victories) with such heavyweights as Coleman Hawkins or John Coltrane, both of whom, in their respective eras, can be considered the most consistently unvanquished. Nor is there any necessity to relate Hank to the lightweights, headed by Stan Getz...." I mean is it possible that this phrase "Middleweight champion of the tenor" could have consigned him to obscurity? I really think this is a case of music critics trying to make themselves important. The review is laudatory and anyone with a passing knowledge of jazz would have recognized Mobley's sidemen on the album, Kelly. Chambers and Philly Joe Jones, as all having played with Miles Davis. Its hard to believe that anyone that enjoyed jazz in 1961 would have dismissed this record because of Feather's phrase. More than likely Mobley's type of jazz- in 1961 - just wasn't "in" and for whatever reason didn't connect with people.

Whatever happened to Hank Mobley? (via Dizzy Reece)

I'd always wanted this one but have found it impossible to find. There seem to have been very few copies printed of the original LP and I never see it on later pressings (i.e., liberty, new york, united artists, etc.). I do think it might be available on a scorpio pressing for 9.99.. not sure about that... but I found a Classic Records pressing and thought it would be cool to have one having heard all the hype.. Well I am impressed with the quality... The platter is heavy and really looks and feels like the original but of course no RVG or ear in the wax..sigh.... The LP cover is not as hard or thick as the original and is shinier ...on the back there is a telling "Courtesy of Blue Note Records.." I am not an audiophile but this one sounds great to me.. Now why was I interested in this one? Well , Hank Mobley firstly.... HE is the tenor man here playing with Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers and Art Taylor... .... but the main reason I was interested in this one is because the recording date on November 19, 1959 predates the one and only great Soul Station session by but a few weeks (February 7, 1960). Save for a live session with Blakey for Blue Note 4015 Meet you at the Jazz Corner in APril 1959 this was the first Blue Note Mobley date since Peckin' Time a session co-led with Lee Morgan dating back to February 1958 and also featuring Chambers and Kelly. And that was his first session since June 1957 on the classic Mobley Blue Note 1568. Its telling that he would go on to record his greatest LPs with both Chambers and Kelly. Leonard Feather who tragically called Mobley the "..middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone" (I believe in the liner notes to soul station) here also contributes the notes with the following reference to Hank; "Mobley's sound, on this track and throughout the album, has more assurance and warmth than ever"(referring to "The Rake") and later on referring to him with "Hank's time is conspicuously cool.." (re: I wishes on the moon). I have to agree with Feather that Mobley does sound different on this LP than he did in his mid 50s to 57 sides. Basically since mid 57 until Soul Station he only co-led Peckin time and played on the live Blakey date (in so far as Blue Note goes...). Ergo, Mobley's recording session work had decreased markedly. 1958 was a very fallow year taking into account that between 1956-1957 he'd been in on something like 38 sessions. He would never recover. He simply would not be recorded as often again. I suppose the reasons must either be that he fell into heavy drug use or that since he was not selling records there was not much desire to record him. The truth probably lies somewhere in between with these two factors reinforcing each other. Its truly a pity because I find his playing on the 1959-1961 period to be more enjoyable than his golden years recordingwise which must be considered 1956-1957. In fact we see that between Peckin Time in February 58 he did participate in the live at birdland twin dates for Roulette (which are not on the level of anything else he was doing) and a private basement jam session (Joe Brazil's) until in March 59 he participated on a rejected Blue Note session and played tenor on a few other rejected sessions -including one led by Sonny Clark- before Blakey took him to Birdland and the Meet you at the Jazz Corner..then it would take until the Dizzy Reece date to get him going again. So what we have is that basically Mobley between the last quarter of 1957 and the end of 1959 had barely been recorded at all! This is an amazing gap. Between Soul Station and Going Up with Hubbard (November 1960) there would be another 9 month gap. SO: 1958, 1959 and 1960 Mobley was recording infrequently. He would join Miles Davis in 1961 (perhaps March) stick around til May (includign the live at the blackhawk stuff) and be out of the Miles circle by May. At this point he would have a failed session in December for Blue Note , Another Workout (great stuff!), which would not be released and there is no record of him having played any music the entire year of 1962! What am I saying? I guess that Mobley really did fall on some hard times.. It remains for biographers to try to piece this all together... What is clear is that after failing to cut it in Miles' eyes Mobley pretty much did not play for 18 months!!!!!! Sad for someone that had cut Soul Station only the year before... mind boggling actually...

Ron Paul

SO Ron Paul raised over $4 million in a single day. The media continues to ignore him at best and at worse put him down as some kook but his message of a return to a more limited government will always play well with Americans because that IS what this country is founded and built on. The revolution back in 1776 was nothing more than a reaction to a British government which had become overly intrusive. The Federalist papers are evidence that the founders wished to construct a limited government. Unfortunately in the present day we have a government- democratic and republican- which has forgotten who is the master and has become all powerful and all present. Living in Washington DC one is struck by their gall and intrusiveness even with simple things such as presidential inagurations, street closings, closing of the capitol steps.. all justified in the name of national security but one suspects responding to ulterior motives.

It is true that Ron Paul is not scoring much in the polls, yet, but I think his message will play well in New Hampshire and I don't expect him to do any worse than second. In a way, and it has been written in other places, Paul is the new Howard Dean filling a vacumn that neither of the major parties wants to look at...

John Coltrane Blue Train

Listening to the 1997 reissue catalog number ST-46095 and I have to say I think it sounds great. In fact all LPs I have from this 1997 series sound great to me. Can't recall which other ones I have specifically but I know Mobley's Soul Station is one of them. Anyways I know there are other reissues by say Classic Records but if I had to have a reissue I'd go with this one I think....Interestingly though the catalog number has the prefix "ST" it is glorious mono. This reissue by the way is on heavy vinyl 180 gram.

dude.........

so i been on blog hiatus.. i hope blog is not dead.............

i leave you with this: will rick rubin produce new bob dylan album in 2008? thats the word on the street.........i'd like to see that...

nice to see manu chao's new album "la radiolina" will have a vinyl release....though at only 51 minutes 2 lps seems much.... hate to have to get up that many times

tomorrow i'm going to see willie colon!!!!!!!!