Remembering Chris Rich

Chris Rich was the guy who started this blog. His first post was on 7/18/09. His posts concentrated on musicians like Matthew Shipp, Bill Dixon and George Russell, whom he thought deserved wider recognition and on free jazz in general. His intelligence was palpable and his profane articulateness, his ability to find the right word and put it in arresting context, was startling. No surprise that his writing was insightful, powerful and pulled no punches. 

In 2010, he invited me to post and soon after asked me to take over the blog. I tried to get him to stay, but there was a lot of fucked up troll activity and I think he just got tired of it. When Chris left the blog, he took on this troll behind the scenes, in a long-term grudge match. He chased him around the globe, trying to flush him out and get him, if not arrested, then at least banned. I think he got partial satisfaction on that.

He was a squarish, solid guy, who apparently came from what has been referred to as "good stock;" at least, he referenced ancestors who settled in Yankee redoubts around Massachusetts. He walked ungodly distances and his robust physical presence made him seem like someone who'd be around for a hundred years, but his ingestion of various substances made you suspect that his time here might be shortened.

Chris was a kind of gatekeeper/factotum/contractor at Prof. Chalfen's 186. His digs there were spartan-a mattress, some shelves of cd's and books, ashtrays and tins with pot and tobacco and his computer. He relished the nocturnal accumulation and parsing of data, putting his face inches from the computer screen and extracting information that was invisible to me and probably to you.

He tried hard to help me get a gig when I sorely needed one and hooked me up with the people at AllAboutJazz.com. 

He was a complicated cat and I didn't quite "get" him. I had heard him turn on people and become an enemy you didn't want and I suspected that with a bit of miscommunication, this might happen with me, so I distanced myself. I missed hanging with him, but had enough drama in my life and wanted to avoid any more.

So, I only saw him occasionally in the last few years and what I know about him during that time is limited to what someone else told me. I retain a strong vision of this very vivid person, but mine is an impressionistic view of the man. I invite readers to contribute their own stories and help flesh out the story of the sui generis Christopher Rich, who died last week. 

Out of the Mouth of River

 

Snap, Diddly and Squirt, in person

There were a number of fabulous suggestions for re-naming this blog. But-my bombast notwithstanding-I couldn't quite convince myself to completely ditch "Brilliant Corners." Instead, I decided to extend the name with a submission that completely killed me: "Snap Diddley Squirt: A Jazz Blog.'"

Here's my friend Amy's description of how she and husband Ken undertook the process:

"Steve Provizer was looking for a new name for his illustrious jazz blog. Ken and I love a challenge so we started brainstorming. Then River, our 6 year old daughter, chimed in and said, 'Snap Diddley Squirt: A Jazz Blog!'"  We laughed and laughed. It was the best idea of the evening.

We made an audio recording of our brainstorming session for fun.  You can listen to it here:  

http://radiowednesday.blogspot.com/2012/01/radio-wednesday-jazz.html

Hope that works!!  we still sing it for fun - (with Riv's sing-songy touch she added)   it's very memorable."

Thanks, guys. It certainly worked for me.

Name the Blog; Arbitrary New Rule Imposed

The Rules Committee, having been released en masse from Wormwood Scrubs, has finally met and tweaked the rules of the contest as follows:

An example

Any contestant who wants to make it to the next round of judging is now required to submit a photo of him or herself in a bathing suit; the more revealing, the better.

Candid shots welcome

Submit to: s.improviz@comcast.net.

Name That Blog!

It's been about a year since I became the sole proprietor of Brilliant Corners. Time for a new name. Since I don't have the interest, money or spare precious bodily fluid to do market research, I am soliciting suggestions from YOU. 

So, go through the site. Read a few older posts. Try to distill the nature of the Brilliant Corners balderdash down to its essence. Submit as many names as you want, be they barbaric, cuddly, esoteric, moldy fig-friendly, demographically astute or legally actionable. Let not your ideas be bounded by the strictures of so-called "common sense."


Each submission will be carefully scorned, er, scanned by our crack squad of lackeys. If your submission is chosen, your name will become synonymous with squandered energy throughout the jazz blog-o-lalia. As a special bonus, you will be given keys to the city of Boston by Mayor Menino, or by someone else who is a registered mesomorph.


Now, go muzzle the dog, lock the kids in the basement, give the maid and butler the day off, crack the Armagnac, spin some wax and put on your thinking cap. Good luck, one and all. You may already be a winner.

News of Questionable Interest

A tip 'o the hat to my progenitors at this blog-Chris, Matt and other guests, on whose shoulders I stand. Brilliant Corners, the Little Shop of Jazz Horrors we call our own, has gone over the 100,000 visits mark. Now, how to monetize this financially-challenged demographic...

Go, Occupy Boston!

My band-SLSAPS, laying a little groove on the nefarious proceedings

Top Ten Reasons Why "Best of" Lists Suck

The "Best Of" List Industry continues to grind out the sausages. Downbeat Magazine's recent listing of the 25 Favorite Big Band Albums is not the worst example, but it did snap this camel's back. Call it vain, call it ironic, but in an attempt to undermine this international conspiracy, I offer my own top ten list:


1. Usually there's no commentary at all to validate a listing. If there is, it doesn't.
2. Hyper-selectivity is anathema to discovery. Stumbling through a thicket of sound leads to real discovery, not following a road map.
3. Listing is something you do when you walk back to your cabin after drinking to forget that the ship is about to capsize.
4. Inclusiveness doesn't work. The more people you ask to help produce a list, the more the juice is sucked out.
5. The Net's about self-aggrandizement; no one argues with that. Can't ya be a little more subtle about it?
6. It may be possible that someone could go to a friend's house for a listening session and say "Play me your top 10 Zoot Sim's records." OK, but there are so many more interesting ways to go from one side to the next that if you actually did spend the night with these 10 albums, I'd recommend seeking treatment for OCDC.
7. By reifying the 'experts,' lists decrease, they don't increase, the flow of actual communication. Trust your friend's musical advice, not a stranger online.
8. At least keep the list short. The larger the list, the harder it falls.
9. Getting on such lists only misleads musicians into thinking their gigs will improve.
10. You've probably stopped reading this list by now, which only goes to prove my point.