It's on

Can I be me

All the things you are

I've got news for you

Last time I saw Jeanine

Escapade

It's Mufuckin Christmas Time

Love is all around

Why wait

Come Sunday

Have you checked out Warren Wolf

The movement revisited

Doodlin

Told me to be cool

I'm leaving baby

How about a little Goodtar in you life

Love's Train

By your side

Finally

Too close for comfort

Lester left town

I put myself together

I cried last night

That old black magic

Things are getting better

Bring back Nelson Mandela

In an age when it's nothing to carry a grudge against the waiter for bringing the wrong salad dressing it is hard to conceive of the personal wherewithal mustered by Nelson Mandela to subvert the memory of his oppression. And then to subsequently lead his people, and the rest of the world, out of the travesty of apartheid.

Yet here we are, safely tucked away in a world that opted out of a full scale South African race war by disemboweling centuries old racism. And I am not talking about outmaneuvering that bullshit racism practiced in America. South African racism was the gold standard for subjugating an entire majority of people with a viciousness that in hindsight seems like a lie somebody told to besmirch the humanity of the Boers.

Mr. Mandela took full advantage of the freedom that 27 years of incarceration afforded him in order to become the myth. And at the end of those 27 years fully embodying that myth to take on the role of leader and statesman with no more apparent effort than it takes to walk out to the curb for the morning paper. He became the liberator of his people and graciously carried that weight for the rest of his life.

Rest in Peace Madiba

Once you get started

I'm in love

If I had the power

Get with the program

If lovin you is wrong

I don't want to be right

Don't look down

Oops up side your head

Jealousy

The way we were

Just be thankful

Tell me something good

Invitation

If We Had Your Eyes

We'd see things right

Change the world

Pick up the pieces

We're not gonna take it

Tell me where is Brandi

What if

Arne Duncan was right?

Holding on

Ha ha ha, who are you kidding

Tighten up

After the rain

Do what you gotta do

but still holla at mu gurl

Let the music play

Time after time

Speak like a child

Never gonna give you up

That's right, you just got Ike rolled

Who do we think we are

Your world as I see it

Downtime

Think of one

The things we did last summer

Gravity

For all seasons

I love you

I like it

Do YOU like it

Misled

I do not agree

Blue Skies

I come up hard

Don't care 'bout no trouble

Got myself together

I feel the kind of protection

that's all around me

...and the universe is mine

If

We're not losers

The shadow of your smile

I believe in you

Mission accomplished

Ain't no mountain high enough

Nevertheless...

this time is all you have

They never called the Gipper an uppity nigger

On sale now at all Borders Book Stores

Leave it alone

I wish you love

RIP Gloria Lynn

I believe there's an attack of lunacy going around here that...

Which way is up

Danger Zone

Mighty mighty

...all your strength at your command

You're not listening

Style

Everything happens to me

Here come the changes

That's all

Can't buy me love

Ain't nothing in this life free brother

Some things are hard won, earned and internalized. Some arrive on the express train.

Sometimes you win friends and influence people, sometimes you hand out asswhuppins and make enemies.

And sometimes you play to a draw.

But even if you are always outnumbered always outgunned, you can still claim the victory. The trick is to have another token in your pocket so that you can play again.

You've always had the power

What have you learned Dorothy

A mighty long way

Yes or no

Hold tight

Change

Makes you want to hustle

If you can't respect me

Respect yourself

Take the sheet off your face boy, it's a brand new day

W-E-F-U-N-K

Glozell, girl you need to quit, you could have been the featured video for the day but you don't have embedding enabled. So we will just have to go with my motto.


Make my funk the P-Funk
I want my funk uncut
Make my funk the P-Funk
I wants to get funked up
I want the bomb I want the P-Funk
Don't want my funk stepped on
Make my funk the P-Funk
Before I take it home

Safety first

Here we go again

I don't know but I don't want to get too deep

Running back to you

All Kleeer

Don't knock my love

They didn't believe me

Bubble-Gum (I Chewz You)

Devotion

and deliverance, from the fruits of evil

Maybe it's the apple juice

Jumpers

It's gonna take a miracle

Put it all in there

Comes love...

Why try to change me now

Hate on me

...that's what friends are for

Cause after all...

Shake it well

Dance of the infidels

Ya got trouble

right here in River City

Compared to what?

I love the lie and lie the love
A-Hangin' on, with push and shove
Possession is the motivation
that is hangin' up the God-damn nation
Looks like we always end up in a rut (everybody now!)
Tryin' to make it real — compared to what? C'mon baby!

Everytime I see a butterfly

Choose now

If ifs and buts were fruits and nuts we'd all have a merry Christmas

Are you ready for some football

Turn out the lights, the party's over

It can't be like it was

They don't seem to be giving it up

Drop the bomb

Paying the cost to be the boss

Real good hands

History didn't start on 9/11

Now which one of you sombitches has got the paper in your hand

Just a man

Stay low to the ground

At your best you are love

Me, myself and I

That's all I got in the end
That's what I found out
And it ain't no need to cry
I took a vow that from now on
I'm gon be my own best friend

What happens to a buttwhuppin deferred

Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
Like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
Like a heavy load

Or does it explode?

What is this thing called love

God is love mercy mercy me

Groovy people

The Eastern Rebellion is over

A busy week, so we did not have an opportunity to note the death of a jazz giant. Let us now rectify that by acknowledging the passing of Cedar Walton.

I didn't really hear about his passing so much as I noticed much more of his music being broadcast in rapid succession. I heard more Cedar Walton music in the space of an hour than you normally hear in a full week and I just suddenly came to an uh oh moment. Nobody had to say a word. But then again, what more fitting way for word of the passing of an intuitive jazz musician to spread.

Cedar Walton was not well known outside jazz circles, but inside the circle he was a giant. As a pianist composer, he was known for infectious boppish tunes. I always heard great similarity between the music of Cedar Walton and the music of Horace Silver.

Cedar Walton led the music the way I want it to go and he will be missed. I'm sure many were influenced by his music and will take up the charge that Mr. Walton so ably led for many years.

RIP

What you call me?

Where would I be

Happy feelings

Rocket love

You're nobody till somebody loves you

I won't last a day without you

Music

My joy

Remember

Bohemia after dark

Jazz ain't nothin but soul

Tight

I pity the fool

Confessin the blues

Well now baby, don't you want a man like me

You better think about your future

and forget about your use to be

Lazy afternoon

Find a way

To be invisible

If you really love me

Then I won't have to be playin around

Reach for it

George Duke could play anything.

He chose to play a lot of fusionist smooth jazz, but he had the chops to play chunky jazz when the mood struck.

And he could fonk it up with the best of them.

...cause the fonk sho will make it stank

RIP

I'm leaving the choice up to you

Out on a limb

Thinking about you

Rumors

Keep the fires burning

I got my mind made up

Understand this

There are such things

All that I can say

Whether U know it

You have the right to remain silent

Jurors should take due care to exercise this right vigorously.

At the conclusion of serving on a high profile jury it is easy to confuse the final convulsions of that service with your personal 15 minutes of fame.

It is not.

It is easy to confuse the deference afforded a sitting jury with actual power.

It is not.


Your illusion of power is over and you were never in control, any more than a child who decided to go on a skittles run, any more than an ignorant misguided fool authorized only by the authority that flows from a loaded gun who decided to get out of his vehicle to body check a young boy that didn't look right.

At the conclusion of your jury service you have the right to not be accosted by members of society regarding your service. On the other hand, shouldn't society have the right to not be accosted by jury members as well.

Further efforts to explore the inner deliberations of a disbanded jury is nothing more than pornography and can only sow heartbreak and regret.

For the love of God, all of you please STFU and disappear back into your mundane lives.

For the love

I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition

Seems like I gotta do wrong

You can't see me

Just my imagination

The enigma variations

No question about it

The diaspora is back

What you gonna do

for me

Ain't nobody

black

You want to know what is really racists about this country?

That it allows a panel full of white people to go on national TV talking about having to talk to your black children about getting pulled over by the cops and what it means to be black and oh how hard it is to be black in America and what we need to do about it with nary a nigger in sight and nobody seems to think there is anything wrong with this picture.

I mean come on, were there simply not enough black people to go around to all the TV talk shows or did white folks really think they could appropriately speak to black condition.

If you really want to do something about racism in this country give the microphone to black people and then shut up and listen.

And that's what I think about that.

Please pardon me

You remind me of a friend of mine

Hope you don't mind, you look like a friend of mine
and its seldom you find...

Next Level

Elephant in the room

Let's got to work

Dayum

Heartbreaker

I'm still standing

Fool's paradise

Come rain or come shine

Living space

Money makes the world go around

One is the magic number

Its my pleasure

Whisper not

Midnight sun

Freedom sound

Think they will take the hint?

So very hard to go

Come on home

We have conclusive proof that dogs bark at squirrels and wolves howl at the moon.

Film at eleven.

It shouldn't happen to a dream

Bright Mississippi

Where it all begins

When your life was low

Land of the blacks

Do you have an appointment in Ghana

Maybe this will motivate them to get off their asses and quit living off the inheritance

Well played sir

Funny the way it is

Pimp and circumstance

Who's pimpin who

Somebody's got to win

Somebody's got to lose

Now let it breathe

Doin it my way

This is always

Tell it like it is

Think deep

Que sera

As the years go by

Bye bye country boy

Driftin from door to door

Coolin out

Invitation

Pawky

Get it together

Eulogy and light

What did you think they were going to do with the Patriot Act

Everyone who was silent while they were passing and renewing the Patriot Act is now cordially invited to STFU.

However there may be a bright side to this thing. Since the government has all of this data, maybe they could make themselves useful and do something about all of the spammers and bootleg telemarketers who have figured out how to scam the do not call list.

Now that's something that might be worth losing some liberty over.

Pithecanthropus erectus

One for Grew

The world is a less musical place in the absence of one of the greatest and most underrated jazz pianist. Mr. Mulgrew Miller departed this life last week and somehow I missed it.

I briefly heard one station make mention of a tribute to Grew, but in the haste of a busy workaday world I dismissed it as nothing more than folks starting to wake up to his greatness. Maybe, subconsciously I knew what they meant and I just wasn't ready to process it. Sadly, I must now acknowledge that Mr. Miller has passed from this life and no amount of self deception will change that. This blog would not be worthy of its namesake if we did not pause to acknowledge the passing of this great jazz lion.

I cannot tell you technically what it is that makes Mulgrew Miller such an enjoyable purveyor of this music but the proof is always in the listening. His playing had the uncanny ability to consistently remain sonically in the background while simultaneously always being front and center. Upon discovering that he was the pianist on a particular piece of music (and he was the pianist on quite a lot of jazz) my reaction would always be of course he is, who else could it have been. He made it sound easy but no one else has perfected that sound. He was almost single handedly leading the charge in finding the new sound of contemporary jazz piano and for me was the definition of what modern jazz should be. No disrespect to the many fine jazz musicians of the world. There are many great jazz piano players but there was only one Mulgrew Miller. And now he is gone.

Do yourself a favor and familiarize yourself with his music both as a leader and as a prolific sideman. You will actually hear what many other jazz piano players are trying to do.

The jazz community has two consistent and enduring tendencies that I have observed while indulging in this music. One is to have really great one syllable nick names for the best players; Satch, Byrd, Diz, Monk to name a few. And the second tendency is that we gain full appreciation for the great ones only after they have made their mark on the music and permanently layed out.

I think Grew can be added to the list on both counts. I hope I am around long enough to see Grew get his full measure of appreciation.

RIP Mr. Miller

Shiftless, shady, jealous kind of people

Impressions

...and go on from here

Optimistic

I'll be sweeter tomorrow

Born not to know

We do this

How Late Do U Have 2 B B 4 U R Absent

Liberation

What U Need

Unexpected Love

I think I'm losing you

We don't

Sweet Home

Why can't we live together

I've got fifty cents more that I'm gonna keep so...

Hit it!

Its all about love

Just another point of view

What a difference a day makes

Watching you watching me

Pee Wee's big adventure

Sticks and stones

In your own sweet way

Jazz is stupid

If they would just play the right notes

I can't tell you why

How high the moon

Nat Cole & Mel Torme trading fours with June Christy bringing it home, how cool is that.

While Nat was a well known piano bad ass I did not know (or had forgotten) Mel Torme was a drummer.

Spring can really hang you up the most

You don't know what love is

Faceless mindstate

In it without being of it

I and I will see you through

Neither can be bought nor sold

Stop trying to win

And start chopping wood, its gonna be a long cold winter

Starmaker

Reach out

Good morning starshine, the earth says hello

You twinkle above us
We twinkle below

Play them simultaneously

Gloom despair and agony on me

Deep dark depression excessive misery

If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all

Gloom despair and agony on me

Boch to boch

Couldn't hear me tho

Just trying to hold on

Let them eat cake

House of pox or something

I think you might have made your move too soon

Here we go again

More today than yesterday

The Ladies Man

All blues

Hopeless

They say I'm hopeless
as a penny with a hole in it

They say I'm no less
than up to head in it

In my solitude

But Beautiful

Blowin the blues away

Gotta give the people what they want

Lay your cards out

We're gonna make it

Cast your fate to the wind

The Boss

Our man Barack

I lift things up and put them down

I got it bad and that ain't good

Never treats me sweet and gentle
the way that he should...

For I knew I had to rise above it all...

Adam lives in theory

Can't Stay

Fly like a bird

Float like a butterfly

You got to bottle up and go

Well, mama killed a chicken
She thought it was a duck
She put him on the table
With his legs stickin' up

You got to bottle it up and go

Take me to the next phase

I got thunder and it rings

Rachel Bonneau chante Abbey Lincoln - I Got... by Sortiesjazznights

Brother, where are you

The world is falling down

Show me a river that's so deep

Show me a mountain that's so high

Freddie Freeloader

Whatchamacallit

I need to hear from you

Silly

Blue Train

Save your love for me

Pro war and anti choice

Shotgun

So let me understand this. Every underpaid rent a cop is fully and duly authorized to bust a cap in your ass if, in his sole discretion, he doesn't like the way you are behaving. And while there might be some extra paperwork involved, nobody will say shit about it unless there is a video of it.

But let a brother try to draw a bead on your ass sneaking home for the holidays and its an outrage.

Where is all this concern when it really matters?

...and so, we look forward to the day

when we will leave you sombitches to yourselves to solve your own damn problems.

Gone baby, don't be long

It was a very good year

She's no angel

Incoherent blues

Believe

Just about enough

Priestess

Is it not true simply because you cannot believe it

Looking up to you

But no matter how high I get

I'll still be

Got my shit together

Indivisble

Sun is here

Casanova Brown

My name is clairvoyance, and its all too clear

Try again

Its been a long time...

Just a sucka for love

Well alright you freaks

Give it up

Shave and a haircut

Two Bits

Just put your lips together and blow

Looks like we're done here

Anybody need anything just whistle

You know how to whistle don't you...

And humble too

You'll know when you get there

Ooh child

Things are gonna get easier

Its what you do

not what you say

Inner urge

What about us

Time's a wastin'

Visions

People hand in hand
Have I lived to see the milk and honey land ?
Where hate's a dream and love forever stands
Or is this a vision in my mind ?

The law was never passed
But somehow all men feel they're truly free at last
Have we really gone this far through space and time
Or is this a vision in my mind ?

I'm not one who makes believe
I know that leaves are green
They only change to brown when autumn comes around
I know just what I say
Today's not yesterday
And all things have an ending

But what I'd like to know
Is could a place like this exist so beautiful
Or do we have to find our wings and fly away
To the vision in our mind ?

I'm not one who makes believes
I know that leaves are green
They only change to brown when autumn comes around

I know just what I say
Today's not yesterday
And all things have an ending

But what I'd like to know
Is could a place like this exist so beautiful
Or do we have to take our wings and fly away
To the vision in our minds ?