Still here

With the groove our only guide...

...we shall all be moved.

Regardless of who actually wrote it, the line comes under the umbrella of His Royal Funkiness one, George Clinton. It is only one of scores of truly once in a lifetime lines that has come to us via George.

It is emblematic of the existence that I increasingly find myself realizing. No sooner than I determine to take the podium on some issue or the other that I find that my peeps have already taken it to the stage. There was no meeting, no memo, no after hours phone calls to coordinate strategy, just many acting as one in unison with the same goal in mind.

The same cannot be said of the cowards who have to check in with the mama ship to find out what they think about a particular issue. They have apparently determined to work from within to destabilize and destroy the concept of one nation under a groove. To which they must be held to account for the funk, the whole funk and nothing but the funk.

Feets don't fail me now!

Southern strategy 2.0

You can run but there is no hiding place

Jazz Japanese style

This is totally nuts. Do drugs if you must, but you need to see this full frontal nudity and all.

The delivery is a little hokey but the tune selection is slamming.

I never planned to learn Japanese but if they keep this up I may have to.

Code name Sweet Biscuit

Curiously, racism's bastard child has questions

We welcome you

Invitation

The funk is back

Having a party

Butterfly, be careful how you touch it

Tell me a bedtime story

Mother lovers and Father rapers

The roots of jazz Be blues!

The roots of jazz are blues?

The roots of jazz is blues

What a backing band

Wait, cause here I come

Do revolutionaries eat fried chicken?

I'm not sure I can say anything that really adds to the experience so just play the clip.

You know you want some.

Why racism is good part 2

Last month, you may recall that I got myself worked up into a bit of a snit about the state of unity amongst folk who, shall we say, ain't no stranger to the hood. These folk seem to have failed to leave a trail of breadcrumbs so they can find their way back to the hood.

I think I pretty much said all that I wanted to say so no need to rehash the leftovers.

Howifininsonever, I wish I had used a different (or perhaps additional) video for the post. Well we're now correcting that oversight. Here is a clip to the original Drop Squad. This one probably didn't make it to your local theater out in the burbs so I recommend you check it out. It is posted on Youtube by one of it's creators and listed as "The Session"

Best line in the film:

"Three negroes, two Saabs and a Volvo and a gallon of motherfuckin spring water ain't no tools for no revolution."

Priceless

Hold it steady right there while I hit it...

Well I reckon that ought to get it



Work Song
Oscar Brown, Jr., Nat Adderly

Breaking rocks out here on the chain gang
Breaking rocks and serving my time
Breaking rocks out here on the chain gang
Because they done convicted me of crime
Hold it steady right there while I hit it
Well reckon that ought to get it
Been working and working
But I still got so terribly far to go

I commited crime lord I needed
Crime of being hungry and poor
I left the grocery store man bleeding (breathing? )
When they caught me robbing his store
Hold it steady right there while I hit it
Well reckon that ought to get it
Been working and working
But I still got so terribly far to go

I heard the judge say five years
On chain-gang you gonna go
I heard the judge say five years labor
I heard my old man [edit] woman scream "lordy, no!"
Hold it right there while I hit it
Well reckon that ought to get it
Been working and working
But I still got so terribly far to go

Gonna see my sweet honey bee
Gonna break this chain off to run
Gonna lay down somewhere shady
Lord I sure am hot in the sun
Hold it right there while I hit it
Well reckon that ought to get it
Been workin’ and workin’
Been workin’ and slavin’
An’ workin’ and workin’
But I still got so terribly far to go

By Oscar brown jr, nat adderley

And on the seventh day they cried mercy

Now you gone respect the law!

In addition to being a supreme musician of the first order, Dizzy was also a first class composer. My favorite Dizzy composition is "Night in Tunisia." The ultimate "sittin in" tune, I defy any breathing human to sit still when this tune is properly played. It is literally against the law in several countries to call yourself a jazz musician and not be well versed in this tune. Should you not be able to play this tune when it is called, band members are lawfully authorized to drag you to the alley out back and kick your ass until you promise to be a better musician.

One of the reasons I always liked Johnny Carson is because he seemed to always have situational awareness. Clearly, he knew that this was no longer the Tonight Show band but that it had become the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra. Carson and Doc Sevrenson had the good sense to yield to Diz doing an impish little encore which sounds loosely based on Manteca, another classic Dizzy composition.

Things to come

Dizzy was fool, in more ways than one. In addition to being a grade A clown and general asshole the man was supremely gifted musically. I mean just thinking about doing something this over the top, much less actually pulling it off, shows that the man simply did not adhere to the same basic laws of physics as the rest of us.

He was a musical god who strode the earth as a mere mortal. At the time of this clip he was no longer a young man but still fully in control of his gifts. He, along with a handful of other gods monk, bird, klook etcetera, had already changed the course of history (a couple, three times) by sheer force of will. And when its been a little while since you last changed the course of history, sometimes you have to strut your stuff, just so folks don't forget that there are thunderbolts in those jowls. Here you have a peacock with all his plumage in full bloom.

Diz was usually outwardly a very humble man in appearance. Not here. His mojo was working and he knew it too. I have never seen the man strut about the stage more confidently than in this clip. I mean come on, doing bebop with a big band at bat out of hell tempo and making it look easy.

Sometimes you just have to put on your pimp coat and make'em sit back and behold the awesome power of a fully functioning starship.

What are you afraid of?

Some people fear heights, others fear spiders or dogs. Everybody has something that crumples their cookies. The trick is to identify that something and confront it head on. Once you realize, that nobody gets out alive most of us can even conquer the fear of death.

Me, I had the luxury of getting pushed. I was forced to confront my fears with no time to anticipate the consequences and no time to compromise. Reality simply was upon me and I had to make peace with it or have it wreak havoc and destruction to my existence.

I'm OK now. But there was a time when I could not countenance being home alone. Now, I revel in it. But it wasn't easy, and it didn't come quickly.

Conquering fear is the rock that anchors the soul.

My invitation to Davos

The postal system must have cut too deeply into it's budget.

That is the only thing that could explain my failure to receive an invitation to Davos Switzerland. Everybody is in Davos hobnobbing, shot calling and in general big balling. Everybody except me that is.

How will they know what my desires are if I am not there to tell them. Surely they need my input.

Anybody else not get an invitation.

Wait your turn

It seems like I have spent my entire life holding doors and waiting patiently for my turn. But it seems the line only grows longer. Meanwhile, legions of "uniquely gifted" individuals seem to always get an exception that is completely and totally unrelated to the fact that they are somebody's nephew or cousin or sister in law.

The faces behind me in the line always seem to be the same, but the faces in front of me seem to change with each passing day. And the unfortunate asshole who has the job of coming out to make the daily announcement for everyone to come back tomorrow always seems to be pretty well fed. Even though they have a truck load of food sitting there for all to see they refuse to let us have it lest we become a little too eager and they might have to shoot people who are trying not to starve to death. I guess going home to watch each other starve is the best of a bad list of options.

I wonder if getting shot to death feels any worse than starving to death.

What do you get when you cross an elephant with a donkey, a jackass