Sunday, November 30, 2014

I didn't choose jazz, jazz chose me


I guess it would have been nice to have a proper instructor to tell me what to listen to and what it all meant. But that's not the lot I drew.

In every child's life there comes a great emptiness, that point in your life when you realize that Santa Claus and everything else you ever believed in is just so much bullshit. But you have built your entire life around it and its not so easy to let go.  Its the same with music.  That which you thought was great turns out to be the mumblings of morons.

I really heard that sound for the first time in the early 80's but I didn't know what it was or where it was going.  I didn't even know how to find it again.  But it knew me and it knew where I was going.  I didn't know what I was looking for but there was definitely something there. I spent the next 10 years trying to figure it out. There were faint clues but not much else to go on. Mind you this was in the days before reliable streaming so finding real jazz was still pretty much a crap shoot. This same journey might only take a couple months today what with Pandora and all the other resources available now.

So you start searching, and what you think you are looking for is just as fake as what you already have so you have to begin anew. And so you fall into a despair that leaves you open to the offers of the universe and it turns out you simply follow that sound wherever it leads. No structure, no pattern, no instructors, just that sound. Like being an infant again, and as an infant, you have no way to communicate your needs, you just know you have had it before and you want it again and you cry out until you get it.  Nothing tells you what is right or wrong, you simply know what's right.  And when you get to that place on your journey where your ears tell you it's right and you find the architects of the music there waiting for you, then you know you are home.

I didn't have the benefit of a paint by the numbers kit, I just had the faint sound to follow.  Consequently, traditionalists become exasperated with my style because I won't stay within the lines.  What lines?  I hear jazz in places I'm not supposed to hear it.  And much of what passes for jazz is just a never ending mathematical equation with all the joy of an 8th grade algebra class. So I follow what I hear.

Sure, there were Thelonius Monk albums left in the wrong section of the record store that lead me to the party but at that time it was more about the funny looking dude with a scraggly beard and the funky hats. Besides, he didn't play the right notes and it sounded funny. But there was always something about it that would not allow you to let go.  Then again, the path leads you right back to Monk's music.

But once I found the architects, more Diz than Byrd, I didn't, and I still don't feel like I need any instruction.  I know it as well as anyone.  If what I am hearing is not to your liking then maybe its you that needs to change.   I let my ears guide me to the place I should be.  And usually, without fail, my ears lead me to the real music.

Throughout the course of this journey, I have found one simple unwavering truth that guides everything; I am the foremost authority in the world on what I like to hear.

Friday, November 28, 2014

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Thursday, November 20, 2014

There was a time

I may not do the dance
as well as you
But, baby you can bet your bottom dollar
You'll never hear me holler
I'll do the best that I can do



Sunday, November 16, 2014

And the beat goes on

How is it that partisans are allowed to go on the Sunday morning spews shows and peddle one sided bullshit that is demonstrably untrue.

Listen Chuck, you are going to have to add more to the mix than a spiffy new set design if you want to own Sunday morning.  If we just want a run down of the Republican and Democratic talking points we can just go to their respective websites.

Either you challenge their lies or you stop booking them.  The public should be more informed, not more confused, after watching your program.

And another thing, stop with the hack guests who have accomplished nothing more than forming an opinion.  Maybe that gets you invited to the right dinner parties but it makes you look like putz on your own show.  Hell, if that's the case you should book me and get a standing invite to hotdog night.





Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Friday, November 7, 2014

Everybody plays the fool

Hood rule #1a, don't go out like a chump.

The Democrats went out like chumps.

You may go down but go down swinging.


Nobody is going to say this out loud so let me break it down for you.

What you witnessed on election day was the complete and total niggerization of the President, and by extension the Democratic party.  And them suckas walked right into it.

From day one, even before the President took office, the Republican party declared their intention to niggerize the presidency.  All they had to say was "Them niggers is coming for your jobs and your daughters and if you know what's good for you, you will line up and vote for us no matter how detrimental we are to your own individual interests".   It was southern strategy 2.0.  And by and large it worked.

We hate Obamacare and the people who brought it to us, but we sure do love all those things that flow directly from Obamacare, just make sure you call it something else so we feel okay about taking advantage of it.We don't want nothing from niggers or nigger lovers even if its good for us.

Much of what passes for political discourse is offensive and racist and they know exactly what they are doing.  Anybody who challenges them on their race based strategy is attacked as a race baiter (the irony). The Democrats were so afraid to have an honest discussion about race that they became co-conspirators in this little charade.  Well that conversation needs to happen now so everybody get your lies straight.

There probably was not much that could have been done to change the situation on the ground once they successfully niggerized the entire Democratic party.  Remember this occurred over a period of years, not just the most recent election cycle.  If you don't challenge this on day one you lose. But nobody wanted to touch it.  It might have been nice to have a diversity of defenses to see if the strategy could be outmaneuvered, you know, for scientific purposes and all.

The only candidate that came close to anything resembling a defense was Mary Landrieu in Louisiana declaring that maybe, just possibly, perhaps, conceivably, somehow, if you think about it really really hard, if it pleases the court, it might be possible for race to have something to do with something.

I guess we will find out in December if that was enough to get her through re-election.

Regardless of the outcome of the election let's just say we are not amused.  And this time we are blaming both sides because both sides are guilty.  One for tying the knot and the other for pulling the lever.

The question is what now?




Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Monday, November 3, 2014

Sunday, November 2, 2014