Jazz Musicians Anonymous

The first step is to recognize you have a problem. Yes, you. Now, harken unto Herman's story below and it may not be too late.

Welcome to Jazz Musicians Anonymous. Please introduce yourself.

My name is Herman and I play the trumpet.

Good morning, Herman. Let's hear a little about the music of your childhood.

Well, most of the records my parents had were the usual thing-Broadway soundtracks, Mitch Miller, Mickey Katz. But there were others, too.

Such as?


Well, there was one by Lena Horne and one by Della Reese. 

What we call "gateway" records. 

Listening to them didn't seem that risky.

That's what they all say. What else?

There was also a-a-Miles Davis record.

Which one, Herman? It wasn't Kind of Blue, was it?

No. Live at the Blackhawk-Friday night.

The hard stuff. This is worse than I thought.

There was something about the whole mythology that was so seductive-not just the music, but the cover photo, the erudite liner notes. The whole thing gave me an incredible rush of freedom. I used to lie under the dining room table and listen to it over and over...


Alright Herman. No need to go down that gory road.
Have you ever tried to put down the horn? 

Yes. And my family and my neighbors were ecstatic. But after a few days, I said to myself "maybe if I just use a mute, and play for a few minutes when no one is home..." 

How'd that work out for you? 

My wife found bottles of valve oil hidden all over the house. There was an intervention and here I am.

Not a moment too soon. Next question: Have you ever tried to substitute another instrument and switch to another kind of music in hopes it would free you from your enslavement?

Yes. I dug a dusty harmonica out of my desk drawer and tried learning Shaky Horton licks. It didn't take. A week later, I gave it to a friend with a soul patch. Then, I couldn't stop myself, I picked up the horn again. I tried watering down the music; you know, practiced using the Idiot's Guide to Clifford Brown; tried sticking to the Arban book and practicing nothing but appoggiaturas and triple tonguing-but I still couldn't keep my mind off you-know-what. 

Pitiful. And then?

In three days I started sneaking peeks at my Berigan Modern Trumpet Studies. Then, I started copping Chet Baker solos...

All right, I get the sordid picture. Next question: What radio stations do you listen to?

Just...NPR.

The truth, please.

Alright! There are some days-Mondays suck, but Tuesday's just as bad-I can't get out of bed without 95.3.

Next question: Do you ping pong between jealousy and disdain when you listen to other trumpet players.

No, no, I can take 'em as they come.

Herrrrman?

Alright, you sadist. I admit it. My girlfriend won't go with me to concerts, anymore. She says she doesn't know whether it's worse to leave with someone smiling smugly or gnashing his teeth in fury.

I pity her. Do you ever have blackouts?

Unfortunately. There was a bleak period when I came under the sway of screamers like Maynard Ferguson, Cat Anderson and Bill Chase. I blew so hard the air in my lungs became compressed to the density of a medium-sized black hole. The back pressure made the veins in my forehead sprout like kudzu on a dead oak tree. More than once I woke up not even knowing if I'd finished my solo.


Thank you, Herman, for your honesty. We can imagine the rest: Increasing isolation from family and friends; radical mood shifts; explosive responses to muzak; paying nightclubs to play; long nights arguing with fellow addicts about Lee Morgan versus Freddie Hubbard. The whole sordid downward spiral. 

I realize now how far I fell. What happens now?

You'll need a sponsor-someone you can call in case it looks like the urge will get the better of you. Stan here will take over that job. Stan plays accordion...

But, Art Van Damme...

...In a polka band.

Ok.


I want you to take home this little booklet and study it carefully. It contains all the stupid, misogynist things that Miles ever said. It should help break down your conditioning. 

FInally, you have to wear this electronic collar. It's been programmed to deliver an electronic shock every time it detects a II-V lick being played.

Seems a bit draconian.

Or would you rather we let the loan sharks get you for what you owe on mouthpieces?

No! I'll do it.

And remember, we'll be tracking your movements online. Any attempts to download Kenny Dorham transcriptions will be dealt with severely. Now, take this recording of "12 Steps to Heaven" and go in peace.

Cool. I love Horace SIlver's composition...

Forget it, pal. Your case is hopeless. Stan drop the net on him.

Top Ten Reasons To Not Eliminate the Soprano Sax.

1. Need something to listen to when on infinite hold with Verizon.

2. Hard to imagine Kenny G. playing the baritone. 

3. Your passport to a lot of notes in a very short time.

4. Only sax named after an HBO series. 

5. Puts the smoooo in smooth. 

6. Weighs less than a Veg-O-Matic (even with the case)

7. Six words: "Do You Hear What I Hear."

8. Continues to provide inspiration for Sidney Bechet to turn over in his grave.

9. Helps stem the tide of the sopranino.

10. It's phallo-tastic!

Tweaking the Jazz Stream

Jazz radio doesn't stand a chance unless DJ/programmers can attract listeners in the new mobile-device-dominated listening environment. 

A group of Boston jazz people have organized to try and snag this growing audience by developing the JazzBird app. I'll be one of the "curators," tasked with trying to set and maintain some standard of quality (which does not involve trying to define "jazz"). 

Jazz DJ/programmers who cut their teeth on "old" radio can't assume their approach will work on smart phones, Androids, etc. They may want to look closely at how people, especially young people and tech savvy elders, now listen to music.

For 70 or so years, bulk/mass was associated with a higher quality of sound, and portability with mere convenience.

                  

Over the last c. 40 years, technology changed all that, delivering hi-fi in small packages. 

At this point, sound in digital form, usually MP3 files, dominates. This is part of a process that's given people access to millions of songs. At the same time, these files come with much less information than LP's or CD's; both musical information (because of compression) and historical information (no liner notes). 

How does radio stand in relation to this? 

I know from experience that the vast majority of young people who do listen to music on the radio tune to a small number of commercial stations, where almost all the talking they hear is ads and other "load," not information about the music. DJ's speak very little, if at all. So, people who have grown up in the digital sound era can either accept a de-contextualized listening experience or go to fan web sites to find out the details they want to know.

Jazz radio generally plays out in a very different way. Jazz DJ's are likely to program several tunes in a row, often long ones, and talk for at least a couple of minutes between sets, telling listeners who all the members of a group are and providing deeper context for the music.

This begs the question: Do DJ's/programmers need to change their approach to keep the streaming audience tuned in on their mobile devices? How much talking should DJ's do and what information should they deliver? 

There's no right answer, of course. People spin jazz because they're emotionally invested in the music and its history. They also tend to be vaguely monomaniacal, with a trace of the didact (mea culpa). Catering to decreased attention spans or dumbing down the music is a non-starter. BUT:

• You can bear in mind the channels of communication that the mobile audience uses: Twitter, Facebook, etc.. Use them to promote your show and announce your social network handles often to allow listeners easy, quick feedback.
• As part of this, you can use more "blindfold" tests and ticket offers-this also helps support live music.
• If the technology really does make it easier for people to find jazz, there will probably be increasingly disparate audiences with varying degrees of familiarity with the music. Finessing that will be tough, but bear in mind that some people snap to when they hear "Jug," while others need to hear the name Gene Ammons. Try to find a balance that doesn't bore one audience and mystify another.
• Have a web site or find space on the station's web site where you can share supplementary material and links with your listeners.
• Make sure your program is archived. You may want to edit it after the fact to eliminate dated material (along with your mistakes).
• Make sure your station's technology allows listeners to choose a bit rate stream that works for them. Paying to make sure you have a wide range of choices is probably worth it.

Readers with ideas about establishing parameters for jazz presentation on mobile platforms, please feel free to share. 

I hope we can make this work.

Make sure to have a nice photo of yourself that people can relate to

Chill Vocals

As I said on the air, we can all use a little chill right now. Here's the show.

Top Ten Lists; Critiquing the Critiquer's Critique

A reader finding an old post and wanting to post a comment about it can be a dose of cod liver oil to a blogger. You re-read the old post with a spirit similar to that of a musician forced to listen to an old solo. 

Thus, I revisited my post "Ten-reasons-why-best-of-lists-suck," written in reaction to a rash of Top Ten Lists. Older but no wiser, I have retractions and emendations to make:

1. Usually there's no commentary at all to validate a listing. If there is, it doesn't.
Mangled syntax(but I still believe it).

2. Hyper-selectivity is anathema to discovery. Stumbling through a thicket of sound leads to real discovery, not following a road map.

No. There's as much to discover on the microcosmic level as there is on the macrocosmic. A careful listening to a single vein of music, if it's fertile enough, can provide as much fuel as a scattershot approach.

3. Listing is something you do when you walk back to your cabin after drinking to forget that the ship is about to capsize.

Well, number 3 on a list is always tough to think of, but mea culpa for this clumsy metaphor.

4. Inclusiveness doesn't work. The more people you ask to help produce a list, the more the juice is sucked out.

True, unless people are asked to critique each other's choices.

5. The Net's about self-aggrandizement; no one argues with that. Can't ya be a little more subtle about it?

Hey-you talkin' to ME?.

6. It may be possible that someone could go to a friend's house for a listening session and say "Play me your top ten 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.

The treatment is coming along nicely, thank you.

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.

Yes, except me.

8. At least keep the list short. The larger the list, the harder it falls.

Jimmy Cliff's lawyers are on my tail.

9. Getting on such lists only misleads musicians into thinking their gigs will improve.

Yes.  It has not been and will never be effective publicity to say:"I was number 9 on Joe M. Figgs' top ten list-but he said the list was in no particular order."

10. You've probably stopped reading this list by now, which only goes to prove my point.

At least I was right about this.

Nature-And Roman Drivers-Abhor a Vacuum

Fifteen of us in the Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band (SLSAPS) were in Rome last week to play in Sbandata Romana, a festival of street brass bands from Europe (and us) put together by the band Titubanda.

We brought our music to the people of Rome-not just in the park where the festival was held-but in streets, markets, bars and restaurants...While there is some overlap in the music played by many of the bands-especially funk stuff-the New Orleans tunes and tinge that we bring sounded fresh, resonated strongly and the reception was, well, splendida. 

I encountered a fascinating city: complex, sprawling and gritty, with pieces of different epochs sprouting out of the sidewalks next to and sometimes, on top of one other. 

Although my impressions are essentially uninformed (readers of this blog would expect no less), the city I criss-crossed in trams and buses seemed very similar to the city I saw in Italian movies of the 30's and 40's. Films like Open City, Bicycle Thieves and early Fellini films were called "Neo-realist," but the reality they represent-at least the pictorial reality-seems so much the same today that the word "Neo" might, by this point, be dropped.

It's a city which balances "slack" and the work ethic differently than we do in the U.S. You gotta love that no one seems to actually pay to get on a tram or a bus. On the other hand, new metro construction creeps ahead slowly. There are always archaeological concerns, of course, but financing with almost no ridership revenue has to be a challenge.

People do bustle and hustle. Street life is fast and furious. Nature and Roman drivers abhor a vacuum and any and all available space is immediately filled by two cars or 5 motorbikes. (parking spaces that would here be taken up by 2 SUV's have 6 vehicles in them). 

On the other hand, many places close for 2-3 hours during the afternoon; meeting times are, ah, flexible and pulses, while beating at an urban pace, seem less susceptible to fibrillation. 

Trumping up a conclusion to this meandering piece would only be gilding what was a lily of an experience. Let this stand as a paieon to the great hospitality of our Titubanda hosts, the wonderful spirit of our fellow bands and to the people who understood how lost Patricia and I were (several times), took us under their wings, fed us, comforted us and guided us on our way. Un milion di grazis!

Riff-Master 2000 App (NSA-Approved).

Hemingway-or Charlie Sheen

Ernest Hemingway Foundation, your efforts to rebrand the novelist's image have not gone unnoticed.  OK, so you got Ogilvy and Mather, a fancy-dancy Chicago public relations and advertising firm to take on the campaign pro bono (what better use of a fancy-dancy Chicago p.r. and ad firm's time?), but we at the Institute and our hard working cadre of unpaid interns have brought this idea to a new level by creating-with the help of our friends at the NSA-the Riff-Master 2000 App@

Riffmaster-2000 Magnified 2 Billion X

Here's how it works: Because of our relationship with insiders at the NSA, we are privy to, well, all the information there is. We analyze your phone records, your internet surfing records, your school records. We also talk to the priest who blessed you, the Imam who berated you and the Rabbi who circumcised you.
 
Then, we use our Juicy Logarithms@ and Jumbo Computers@ to cross reference this mountain, this Himalaya of information, with our musical data base.
                      
Put this together with a real-time log of your retinal movements and BOOM: The real sound track of your life. 

This is no one-size-fits-all-muzak-to-make-you-shop-faster-at-Walmart's, baby-This is putting your Prism dollars to work for YOU!

Ok, still not clear? Let me give an example. It's 8:00 AM. Our profile says you average 6.9 hours of sleep per night, with 3.1 average REM cycles and hungover 12.4% of the time. You score 72 on the Whipsnade Grogginess Scale, with sexual proclivities averaging 53 on the Mitchum-Loren Curve.Your playlist starts the first minute before you wake up with Dream, moves you seamlessly to A Day in The Life, No Sleep Blues (depending), Best of the Strawberry Alarm Clock, Touch Me in the Morning, Monday, Monday (maybe)...

Anyway, you get the idea. It completely frees the RIff Lobe of your frontal cortex to perform more important chores, like remembering the name of that rhythm guitar player who so impressed you in a 1975 Meters concert; the kind of thing that would otherwise have woken you up in the middle of the night.

So, act now, before someone hacks into our data base. Oh, but with the NSA, that would be impossible. Ok, take your time. 

Available as a free download, or in the Premium Cortex Implantation version for $99.00 (subject to local taxes).
                                                     

The Institute and the NSA. Unbeatable.

Duplex Mystery Hour: Jelly Roll Morton

The Duplex Mystery Jazz Hour (6-7 PM, WZBC 90.3; stream: WZBC.org) is starting a new series  "I Know the Name, but Why Should I care?" If you have any ideas about whom I should feature in upcoming shows, please let me know.

First up: Jelly Roll Morton. 

Playlist

NORK "Sobbin Blues" from "Sobbin Blues" (Single, Jazz, 1923) on Gennett

Jelly Roll Morton "Grandpa's Spells" from "Grandpa's Spells" (Single, Jazz, 1923) on Gennett

Jelly Roll Morton "King Porter’ Stomp" from Library of Congress recordings, 1938 (with Morton talking).

Edmonia Henderson "Jelly Roll Blues" from "Jelly Roll Blues" (Single, Jazz, 1924) on Gennett

Jelly Roll Morton And His Red Hot Peppers "Blackbottom Stomp" from "Blackbottom Stomp" (Single, Jazz, 1926) on Victor

Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers "Sidewalk Blues" from "Sidewalk Blues" (Single, Jazz, 1926) on Victor

Jelly & Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers "Dr. Jazz" from "Dr. Jazz" (Single, Jazz, 1926) on Electrola

Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers "Kansas City Stomp" from "Kansas City Stomp" (Single, Jazz, 1928) on Bluebird

Jelly Roll Morton And His Orchestra "Courthouse Bump" from "Courthouse Bump" (Single, Jazz, 1929) on Victor

Jelly Roll Morton And His Orchestra "Pretty Lil" from "Pretty Lil" (Single, Jazz, 1929) on Victor

Jelly Roll Morton "Finger Buster" from "Finger Buster" (Single, Jazz, 1938) on US Recording

Jelly Roll Morton "Creepy Feeling" from "Creepy Feeling" (Single, Jazz, 1938) on Blue Star

Jelly Roll Morton's New Orleans Jazzmen "Oh Didn't He Ramble" from "Oh Didn't He Ramble" (Single, Jazz, 1939) on RCA

Jelly Roll Morton "Spanish Swat" from "Spanish Swat" (Single, Jazz, 1938) on Library of Congress

A Duplex Mystery Trombone Show

The Duplex Mystery Jazz Hour with Steve Provizer 05/16/2013 06:00PM to 07:00PM

Listen here.

Miff Mole "Sugar Foot Strut"(1927) on Columbia 

Jack Teagarden "Shine"  (1940) on Hot Record Society

 Glenn Miller "Swanee Shuffle" (1929) on Columbia

Jack Teagarden "Pitchin" (1940) on Commodore

Red Allen "Struttin w. Some Barbq" from "At Newport" (1957) on Verve 

Bennie Green "Euphoria"(1948) on Decca

Oscan Pettiford "Rhumblues" from "Sextet" (Jazz, 1954) on Vogue 

Matthew Gee solos on King Pleasure's "Don't you Worry About Me" from "Golden Days" (Jazz, 1960) on Hifi Jazz 

Curtis Fuller "Rock and Troll"(1957) on Prestige

Bob Brookmeyer "I Believe in You" (Single, Jazz, 1960) on Verve 

Claudio Roditi "Estamos Ahi" from "Live at Keystone Korner" (Jazz, 1983) on Cbs (US) 

Roswell Rudd "Pannonica" (1965) Video

Phil Wilson "Let's Fall in Love" from "Accentuate The Positive" (1995) on Seaside 

Miles, Bird, Armstrong Simulacrum Kits

The marketing orgy at Brilliant Corners Merch, Inc. marches on!

Inspired by the Thelonius Monk Round Midnight watch, we provided SimulacrumKits@ for Louis Armstrong and Charley Parker (see below). Once more, we have forged an unholy metaheuristic liaison, this time with a coven of disaffected Tampa Bay cheerleaders and created The Deluxe Miles Davis Simulacrum Kit. As with all our kits, it allows you to really "get next" this greatest of jazz improvisers. It includes:

1. Discarded Harmon mute stems (8)
2. Alimony check receipts (too many to count)
3. Harem pants (assorted colors)
4. Two roaches from Ferrari 275 ashtray (Davis ownership certified by Price Waterhouse)
5. 1944 Julliard Conservatory of Music freshman beanie
6. 1954 mash note from Bob Weinstock
7. Kind of Blue limited edition totebag
  
If the Davis Estate lawyers come  a-knockin', we're readin to start rockin'!

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Last summer, inspired by the alliance between Sony and the Miles Davis estate which offered a mouthpiece replica, t-shirts and other fascinating items, we created our own Louis Armstrong Simulacrum Kit. And, we couldn't keep 'em in stock!

Always eager to cater to the whims of the insatiable jazz consumer, we have forged a metaheuristic liaison with a clutch of Ukranian businessmen and created The Deluxe Charlie Parker Simulacrum Kit. It includes:

1. A dental x-ray showing Bird's "upper partials."  
2. A yardbird wing from 1941, preserved in formaldehyde and the wheel from the band bus that probably crushed it.
3. A bottle of Gordon's gin salvaged from the wreckage of the old Birdland, with a letter of provenance from Willy's Liquor Store on 44th St.
4. An early brochure from the Camarillo Chamber of Commerce
5. A box of Dean Benedetti out-takes (so unlistenable that even Ross Russell wouldn't release them, but still...)
6. One oboe reed with a imbedded Mitch Miller moustache hair.

And, for the first 20 buyers, we will throw in shards from the cymbal thrown by Jo Jones in the infamous jam session incident (verification pending).

So act now. Our 'operators' are standing by.

And, as we always say, "it's not re-animation, but it's pretty damn close."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some have castigated the recent alliance between Sony and the Miles Davis estate which offers "A mouthpiece replica of exactly the 'Gustat' Heim 2 model used by Davis especially created by Kanstul," t-shirts and other fascinating items. They even throw in 43 cd's. In fact, those corporate giants don't go nearly far enough in offering a package that can truly bring fans closer to their favorite artists. We have therefore forged a metaheuristic liaison with several Baltic-area businessmen and are delighted to offer the Deluxe Louis Armstrong Simulacrum Kit, composed of:

1. A copy of the gun Armstrong shot off to get sent to the Colored Waif's Home for Boys.
2. A facsimile of the original sisal belt Armstrong used to hold up his pants while delivering coal.
3. A lump of coal.
4. Two half-used packages of Swiss Kriss.
5. A set of 10 designer "do-rags" created in honor of Satchmo's 100th anniversary.
6. An "I Hate Bebop" pin, allegedly worn by Armstrong at an Elks Club meeting in Sept. 1952.
7. A glassene envelope containing a half ounce of muggles that Armstrong forgot he even had.

Act today and we will throw in a re-engineered recording of Armstrong's solos with the King Oliver band, with the rest of that rickety group stripped off and replaced by the same excellent studio musicians Clint Eastwood used to replace Potter, Roach and Haig in the movie "Bird."  Act now. Our 'operators' are standing by. It's not re-animation, but it's pretty damn close.

A Salute to Musicians in the Community

As everyone knows, this was a dismal week here in Boston. The denouement could have been much worse, and we should be grateful for that, but the reverberations will continue for a long time. Bostonians are putting up a brave front, but something like this can't help but linger in our collective psyche. 

There are also ways to rebound from an event like this-lingering tete a tetes over tea or whiskey, bedroom escapades, bowling a couple of strings... Or my favorite: playing or listening to music in the street. 

We had already planned as a band to play on Saturday and we walked onto what was an odd stage, in its way. People had been shut in their houses-under siege, really-for several days. There was still a skittish quality to people's attention. Traffic helicopters drew more than the usual casual glances. Unexpected sudden movements startled more. But, after we finished, we heard how much people had gotten from our music and from our rough, spontaneous choreography and I'm confident that we had helped replenish a vital force that had been drained out of our city.

So too does the music of musicians who go into the streets, the parks, the projects, the nursing homes, the schools-anywhere their communities can access what they have to share. Your work is incredibly important and I dedicate this post to you.

Jazz and hip comedy. April 11 Radio show

"What, me? Worry. Jazz and hip comedy." 6-7 PM WZBC 90.3 FM, stream: wzbc.org 
Featuring Lenny Bruce, Nichols and May, Shelley Berman.

My apologies for not posting the audio file. It was recorded with distortion. Ugh. Here's the playlist:

The Duplex Mystery Jazz Hour (Specialty) with Steve Provizer 04/11/2013 06:00PM to 07:00PM

Clifford Brown “Tiny Capers”

Bob Newhart “Abe Lincoln” from The Button Down Mind Of

Jack Sheldon “Contour”

Lord Buckley “The Train” 
Lambert Hendricks and Ross “Charleston Alley” 

Mike Nichols And Elaine May “Telephone” from An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May

Randy Weston “Lifetime” 

Lenny Bruce “How to Relax Your Colored Friends at Parties” 

Sonny Rollins "Rockabye Your Baby"

Shelley Berman “Woman Hanging From a Ledge” 

George Carlin “Modern Man”

Betty Carter “Frenesi”

That Damned Armstrong Quote

When asked 'what is jazz?' Louis Armstrong said; “If you have to ask, then you'll never know."

This thing shows up all the time-on websites, tweets, facebook. It shows how abysmal and embattled the state of jazz is that people have to self-aggrandize by declaring: “Look at me. I get it. I’m hip. If you don’t get it, hang your aesthetic tail between your legs and get lost.”

Armstrong probably said it. Why not? He said a lot of things. The point is, this quote is as unrepresentative of Pops as any quote you could possibly find. His life was about reaching out; about achieving an emotional connection with as many people as possible. He didn’t separate himself from the unhip. He drew them into his energy.

People, do you really have to use this music as some kind of emotional crutch, like teenagers arguing over their, like, favorite pop star? If you care that new people come into the fold, look at it this way: Non-jazz people are a lot more likely to be drawn to this music if they don't think the people who love it and support it are snotty jerks.

The Roots of Scat

Here is the file of my program of March 21, 2013 that explored the roots of scat singing which, according to no less an authority that Jelly Roll Morton, goes back to the turn of the century.


Here's the Playlist. I guarantee there are people on this playlist that you have never heard.

Jazz Blogs; whither.

Some jazz blogs are straight ahead educational: "Download transcribed solos by Brownie, K.D. Miles, etc." God bless these people.

Most jazz blogs do the work of 'exposing' the music-"The Fearless Fosdyke Four will be at the Bluze and Brew Tavern/Festival/Restaurant this weekend. Don't miss it." Or: "You'll want to check out the FFF's latest CD release on the Gasoid label, available at Amazon/ Walmart/CD Baby/iTunes..." It works better if they post audio or video of the group in question.

Similar blogs, but with more critique, give you a blow by blow of concerts or cd's. These are almost always self-selecting for material the reviewer likes, so seldom is heard a discouraging word. This is often the home of The Top Ten List (see my other post on this menace).

Then, there are interview-oriented sites: "When last heard of, 33 years ago, Desmond LaBrea was on the road with the Jules Verne Aquanauts. We discovered him making baignets in Paduka and asked him why he left the world of riffing for the world of sifting..."

In the blogs above, there is often room for exploring jazz esoterica, i.e.: How many jazz groups have been named after lesser tributaries of the Snake River? I love that stuff.

Then, there are jazz blogs that are more 'meta.' They ask questions and may suggest solutions: "What's up with jazz? Where is the audience? Where's the money going?" "Let's do a Jazz IPO." It is in this arena that the rough-and-tumble lurking in the hearts of jazz people sometimes breaks out. I find the level of emotional engagement here seductive and enjoy this arena. This is where we get closest to experiencing personal agendas, but mostly, the emotion remains subtext, and infuses formal discussions on the redistribution of money, etc...

I have had a long musical life, marked with some pleasure, some pain and, at this point, a feeling of having read the same newspaper headlines over and over. I think this experience helps me sniff out magical thinking. Others see me as cynic. Both views are correct. We're all subject to the vagaries of age, temperament, career success, sex life-It's the human thing and, to the extent that the jazz blog world reflects this ungodly mess, I say it is better for it.

Some say the old battle between the Beboppers and the Moldy Figs was bad for jazz. Don't know. I think it was a reflection of the emotional importance that the music once had in many people's lives. Most homicide victims fall to the hand of someone they love, or once loved. By the same token, you're probably more likely to jump into swirling currents for the adored one. I'm not sure how many jazz bloggers I'd take the plunge for, but that's another story.