The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Line Out: History http://lineout.thestranger.com/blogs/lineout/ Seattle's #1 Weekly Newspaper. Covering Seattle news, politics, music, film, and arts; plus movie times, club calendars, restaurant listings, forums, blogs, and Savage Love. en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. editor@thestranger.com (The Stranger Editor) webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Fri, 24 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Fri, 24 May 2013 18:30:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss The Jazz Diaspora: Gabe's Dirty Blues http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/23/the-jazz-diaspora-gabes-dirty-blues http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/23/the-jazz-diaspora-gabes-dirty-blues Jeffery Taylor <p>If you like to go to record shops and leisurely flip through the bins, <strong>and I know you do</strong>, at some point you will encounter a record called <strong><em>Gabe's Dirty Blues</em></strong>. It should be cheap ($5 - $10) and you should buy it. It is a double LP set of sweaty, raunchy, good-time R&B rockers from the late '40s and '50s, with heavy emphasis on the making of the sexy time. Just listen to <strong>Wynonie Harris's</strong> "Churnin'," <strong>Connie Allen</strong> singing "Rocket 69" or <strong>Bull Moose Jackson's</strong> "Big Ten Inch Record" and you'll understand the salacious intentions of the selector. </p> <p>

Gabe McManus bought the Shamrock Tavern sometime in the late '50s (later called Gabe's) and would rock these selections on the house jukebox. His liner notes offer a brief glimpse into the life of a rough and tumble downtown Seattle bar. "It took 6 months for me and my crazy music to win them over&#8212;and then it was standing room only for years. That was it for 17 years. Jazz and blues&#8212;you never had it so good." </p> <p>Gabe seemed to take it all in stride, running a bar and enjoying the soundtrack while the "pimps, hustling broads and chippies&#8212;gamblers and boozers, seamen and sissies, pill heads and addicts" did their thing. He adds: "It was a rough joint and we only had one light in the place&#8212;the jukebox." Whatever questionable slices of humanity Gabe's was serving, <strong>at least they were rocking</strong>!

</p> <p>The <strong>double entendre</strong> song is nothing new in the realm of jazz and blues and there are many compilations available with fine examples of dirty ditties. Country blues guitarist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Carter">Bo Carter</a> is a prime example of a titillating tunesmith with songs like "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_BSHd_rLe8">Please Warm My Weiner</a>" and "<strong>Banana In Your Fruit Basket</strong>." Many <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokum">hokum</a> numbers from the late '20s and early '30s by Carter, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tampa_Red">Tampa Red</a>, and others were very popular bawdy songs of the day. But, if you want to get straight to the <strong>filth</strong>, and I know you do, check out <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucille_Bogan">Lucille Bogan's</a> "Shave 'Em Dry," which is quite possibly the dirtiest song ever put to wax. I'll let you find that one for yourself, you pervert!

</p> <p><em>Gabe's Dirty Blues</em> is a <strong>party waiting to happen</strong>&#8212;four sides of sultry R&B rockers along with the occasional downright dirty blues. The fact that it was compiled by an old-school Seattle bar owner who was a through-and-through lover of jazz and blues makes it all the sweeter. Next time you see a copy, grab one for yourself and you can thank me later!</p> <p>First, let's have a drink:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/F_lJMRb12Is" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p><small>[More clips after the jump.]</small></p> <p>Now, break out the records:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Rws_7mLTqj8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>The trip will be fine:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mRuNOmdq6No" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/23/the-jazz-diaspora-gabes-dirty-blues#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16855204&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/23/the-jazz-diaspora-gabes-dirty-blues?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16855204&id=comments 0 Thu, 23 May 2013 12:29:54 -0700 The Stranger Radio Soulwax Moves at 500 Guitar Riffs an Hour http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/22/radio-soulwax-moves-at-500-guitar-riffs-an-hour http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/22/radio-soulwax-moves-at-500-guitar-riffs-an-hour Dave Segal <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/26113014" width="500" height="500" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div></p> <p><a href="http://www.2manydjs.com/radio/">Radio Soulwax</a> compiled 500 guitar riffs in an ADD-friendly, hour-long montage of iconic chug and shreddage*. It's a pretty incredible piece of painstaking stitchwork. Wallow in the nostalgia and/or get turned on to new (old) shit. Either way, you can't lose&#8212;unless you just plain hate rock. </p> <p><small>*I know it's a year old, but I missed it. You may have, too.</small></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/22/radio-soulwax-moves-at-500-guitar-riffs-an-hour#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16844486&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History Video Mix http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/22/radio-soulwax-moves-at-500-guitar-riffs-an-hour?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16844486&id=comments 2 Wed, 22 May 2013 11:55:33 -0700 The Stranger Butcher Billy's Superheroic, Post-Punk Cartunes http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/17/butcher-billys-superheroic-post-punk-cartunes http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/17/butcher-billys-superheroic-post-punk-cartunes Dave Segal <p>Brazilian illustrator <a href="http://www.behance.net/butcherbilly">Butcher Billy</a> has a series of <a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/The-Post-Punk-New-Wave-Super-Friends-by-Butcher-Billy/8688795">drawings</a> featuring post-punk and new-wave icons recontextualized as superheroes. The set includes <strong>Morrissey, Siouxsie Sioux, John Lydon, Ian Curtis, Devo, Robert Smith</strong>, and <strong>Billy Idol</strong> recast as comic-book characters you probably read about as a youth. Gawk at the well-wrought pictures <a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/The-Post-Punk-New-Wave-Super-Friends-by-Butcher-Billy/8688795">here</a>.</p> <p>Dunno about you, but this seems to me like a very <a href="http://www.derekerdman.com/">Derek Erdman</a>iacal project.</p> <p>Tip: <a href="https://twitter.com/ptgrw">Jason Pettigrew</a></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/17/butcher-billys-superheroic-post-punk-cartunes#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16791371&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Art ??!! History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/17/butcher-billys-superheroic-post-punk-cartunes?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16791371&id=comments 1 Fri, 17 May 2013 09:47:48 -0700 The Stranger The Jazz Diaspora: A Stitt In Time http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/16/16785987-the-jazz-diaspora-a-stitt-in-time http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/16/16785987-the-jazz-diaspora-a-stitt-in-time Jeffery Taylor <p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:412px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/888c/1368737811--2.jpg" alt="-2.jpg" title="" width="400" height="293" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">&#169;Russell Johnson</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p>Being compared with <strong>Charlie Parker</strong> ain&#8217;t too shabby. But, perhaps, when a critic couches it like this&#8212;"(He&#8217;s) given up all pretence of individuality - I think it&#8217;s time he stopped playing Parker and went back to playing Stitt"&#8212;it&#8217;s bound to sting a little bit.</p> <p>I doubt <strong>Sonny Stitt</strong> dwelled on such proclamations too much. The man was busy working with some of the greatest names in jazz history. <a href="http://www.jazzwax.com/2010/03/sonny-stitt-roost-studio-sessions.html">Stitt&#8217;s output</a> as both a bandleader and sideman was nothing if not prolific, appearing on hundreds of records during the course of his 40-year career.</p> <p>In this <a href="http://www.sonnystitt.com/biography/sonny-stitt-article/">gem of an interview</a> from 1965, Stitt offers great personal insights and a clearly thought-out view of what being a professional jazz musician was all about. This particular quote works well as both a creed for playing music (jazz or otherwise) and how to comport yourself through life in general: &#8220;You can&#8217;t be stepping on people, now-music-wise or any other way. You can dislike what they do, without having to bug the cat who&#8217;s doing it. Maybe you can pass a little hint now and then-what he&#8217;s doing wrong. But you&#8217;re not supposed to try and correct him too much. He&#8217;s got a mind of his own. You got two painters-they&#8217;re going to paint the same picture. Each sees it in his mind&#8217;s eye his own way. So you got two different pictures."</p> <p>In the same interview, he addresses the comparison to <strong>Charlie Parker</strong> (whom he had met and with whom he played early on in both of their careers&#8212;probably when the aforementioned critic was still in short pants): 'Parker said: &#8220;You sound like me.&#8221; I said: &#8220;Well, you sound like me.&#8221; And we agreed: &#8220;We can&#8217;t help that, can we?&#8221; Then we&#8217;d go off and get some beer, play some music, or something'</p> <p>Another fantastic story regarding Stitt's prowess comes from <strong>Art Pepper's</strong> <a href="http://www.interamerica.de/volume-2-2/grandt/">autobiography</a>. Pepper prefaces the account of Stitt sitting in with his band at San Francisco&#8217;s famed Black Hawk and the evening's epic musical battle by likening Stitt to James Joyce and placing him on a pedestal alongside the original alchemists of bebop. The ensuing duel over the changes of &#8220;Cherokee&#8221; had Stitt soloing first: 'He played, I don&#8217;t know, about forty choruses. He played for an hour maybe, did everything that could be done on a saxophone, everything you could play, as much as Charlie Parker could have played had he been there. Then he stopped. And he looked at me. Gave me one of those looks, &#8220;All right, suckah, your turn.&#8221; And it&#8217;s my job; it&#8217;s my gig. . . . He&#8217;d done all those things, and now I had to put up or shut up or get off or forget it or quit or kill myself or do something. I forgot everything, and everything came out. I played way over my head. I played completely different than he did. I searched and found my own way, and what I said reached the people. I played myself, and I knew I was right, and the people loved it, and they felt it. I blew and I blew, and when I finally finished I was shaking all over; my heart was pounding; I was soaked in sweat, and the people were screaming; the people were clapping, and I looked at Sonny, but he just kind of nodded, and he went, &#8220;All right.&#8221; And that was it. <strong>That&#8217;s what it was all about</strong>.'<br /> <br />Sonny Stitt was a saxophonist's saxophonist. He is widely cited as an outstanding and innovative player by other important musicians of his era and beyond. His style and chops still hold sway among jazz musicians to this day. You&#8217;re learning how to play your horn? You&#8217;d better be checking out the &#8216;<a href="http://www.newreviewsite.com/articles/Remembering-the-Musical-Genius-of--Sonny-Stitt-Saginaw--039-s-Lone-Wolf/1186">Lone Wolf</a>&#8217;!<br /> <br /><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PgaTwCNizRc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/16/16785987-the-jazz-diaspora-a-stitt-in-time#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16785987&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/16/16785987-the-jazz-diaspora-a-stitt-in-time?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16785987&id=comments 0 The Jazz Diaspora: A Stitt In Time ©Russell Johnson Thu, 16 May 2013 13:59:23 -0700 The Stranger Access This Random Daft Punk Memory http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/16/access-this-random-daft-punk-memory http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/16/access-this-random-daft-punk-memory Dave Segal <p>With hype for <strong>Daft Punk</strong>&#8217;s <em>Random Access Memories</em>* <a href="http://stereogum.com/1348092/daft-punk-random-access-memories-comment-party/top-stories/lead-story/">spiking</a>, now may be a good time to reflect on a live performance from the French duo&#8217;s early days&#8212;just for stark contrast&#8217;s sake. </p> <p>This 1996 clip from Wisconsin&#8217;s <strong>Even Furthur</strong> festival reveals a unit working with a much rawer, rougher, and ravetastic palette of sounds than heard on Daft Punk&#8217;s post <em>Homework</em> releases. Between you and me, I prefer this side of <strong>Thomas Bangalter</strong> and <strong>Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo</strong>&#8217;s oeuvre. It&#8217;s unlikely they&#8217;ll ever return to this acidic, gritty, meth-y style, but you never know. When you get as big and rich as Daft Punk, you can pretty much do whatever the hell you please (see <strong>the Beatles, Radiohead, Steven Soderbergh</strong>). </p> <p>Tip: <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/data-breaker/Content?oid=14462558">Jayson Kochan</a>/<a href="https://soundcloud.com/air-port">Airport</a></p> <p><small>*I&#8217;m waiting until the hubbub over <em>RAM</em> subsides before listening to it. I think that will yield a more measured analysis. That's how irrational I am.</small></p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SQxqGZUAzOY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/16/access-this-random-daft-punk-memory#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16784244&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History Video http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/16/access-this-random-daft-punk-memory?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16784244&id=comments 0 Thu, 16 May 2013 10:25:29 -0700 The Stranger How Teddy Riley Saved R&B: A Short History of the Man Behind "Rump Shaker" http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/10/how-teddy-riley-saved-randb-a-short-history-of-the-man-behind-rump-shaker http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/10/how-teddy-riley-saved-randb-a-short-history-of-the-man-behind-rump-shaker Charles Mudede <p><em>Teddy Riley &amp; Blackstreet play <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Event?event=16548942">Showbox Sodo tonight</a> with Dave Hollister and DJ Kun Luv!</em></p> <p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:312px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/25a0/1368142415-music-follow-570.jpg" alt="music-follow-570.jpg" title="" width="300" height="211" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Emily Nokes</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div>Let's begin with the big picture. In the 1980s, two big movements defined black pop&#8212;one was black elegance, the other was modern hiphop. Black elegance was introduced by Chic (an R&B group inspired by the album covers of Roxy Music) and elaborated on by the production duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (the SOS Band, Cherrelle, Alexander O'Neal, the Human League). Modern hiphop was introduced by Rakim ("First to ever let a rhyme flow down the Nile") and accelerated by Public Enemy and N.W.A. Both black elegance and modern hiphop offered a response to Reaganomics: the former by way of escapism, the latter by way of street realism. The former's defining image was the flying blimp on the cover of the SOS Band single "Just Be Good to Me," the latter's defining image was the black men behind bars on the cover of Public Enemy's <em>It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back</em>.</p> <p>Eventually, there was a struggle for souls between the two modes. Hiphop, which was still young and still trying to break into the mainstream, began attacking the more established black elegance&#8212;its line of attack was the perceived effeminacy of escapism. Black men were seen as doing nothing but wearing nice clothes and looking in mirrors (watch a Morris Day video). Real men, according to hiphop, did not wear nice clothes (that was for women and gay men)&#8212;instead, they wore military uniforms, tracksuits, and sneakers.</p> <p><u><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/how-teddy-riley-saved-randb/Content?oid=16699587">Continue reading &#187;</a></u></p> Tonight History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/10/how-teddy-riley-saved-randb-a-short-history-of-the-man-behind-rump-shaker?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16723738&id=comments 0 How Teddy Riley Saved R&B: A Short History of the Man Behind "Rump Shaker" Emily Nokes Fri, 10 May 2013 10:03:49 -0700 The Stranger The Jazz Diaspora: Let's Take It Outside Pt. 2 http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/09/the-jazz-diaspora-lets-take-it-outside-pt-2 http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/09/the-jazz-diaspora-lets-take-it-outside-pt-2 Jeffery Taylor <p>If you want to think about music in terms of "models of similar, interval-preserving, registrally uninterpreted pitch-class and metrically durationally uninterpreted time-point aggregate arrays,&#8221; then you really should consult the lifework of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/arts/music/30babbitt.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">Milton Babbitt</a>. Mr. Babbitt is one of the grandfathers of modern electronic music and has left behind an immense career to enjoy and interpret. His contributions to music, the teaching of music and their contemporary implications are worth your scrutiny. No <a href="http://tolleism.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/my-2006-interview-with-milton-babbitt/">Babbitt</a> = no Aphex Twin? You decide.</p> <p><a href="http://destination-out.com/?p=41">Kaoru Abe's</a> career, by contrast, was very short but has left an indelible mark on free music and hard-edged improvisation. A <strong>fierce</strong> saxophonist in line with <strong>Albert Ayler, Peter Br&#246;tzmann, Frank Lowe</strong>, and other frontline free music players, Abe's work in the early '70s preceded and predicated the burgeoning <a href="http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=314">Japanese noise music</a> proliferation of the late '80s and early '90s. His terrifying squalls fall squarely into lease-breaking territory. Play this stuff loud enough and you will be evicted from your apartment in no time&#8212;or, at least, the police will show up to find out whom you are murdering.</p> <p>Speaking about early experiments with the then-new synthesizers, <a href="http://www.furious.com/perfect/ohm/babbitt.html">Babbit</a> said, "I could change certain qualities of a tone while keeping other qualities, like the pitch, consistent. I could hear what I was playing as I was playing it, using trial and error. We had no precedent and we were extrapolating from no known theory. Theories about what could be heard and what couldn't be heard were essentially wrong because they had never been tested in those conditions."</p> <p>Although <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/kaoru-abe-mn0000366246">Abe</a> was extrapolating from known theories, he leaves behind formalities and his playing becomes <strong>purely emotive</strong>, the sounds of a screaming soul. In his own words he was seeking "sound that stops the capacity for judgment." Two disparate starting points and two different ends that test the ideas of what can or cannot be heard as music. You decide.</p> <p>This <strong>mash up</strong> of Babbitt / Abe by <strong>DJ Bold Mushroom</strong> is a terrific alignment of the cerebral academic approach to electronic synthesis and the holistic art of fire-breathing improvisation:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/k66-Ex1Vx6Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/09/the-jazz-diaspora-lets-take-it-outside-pt-2#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16721020&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/09/the-jazz-diaspora-lets-take-it-outside-pt-2?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16721020&id=comments 1 Thu, 09 May 2013 12:14:55 -0700 The Stranger The Jazz Diaspora: The Impossible Thumb http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/02/the-jazz-diaspora-the-impossible-thumb http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/02/the-jazz-diaspora-the-impossible-thumb Jeffery Taylor <p>"Wes Montgomery played impossible things on the guitar because it was never pointed out to him that they were impossible." ~ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Scott">Ronnie Scott</a></p> <p>Do you play the <strong>guitar</strong>? Are you a beginner, an advanced player or somewhere in between? Are you a super shredder like Yngwie, Vai or Satriani? A classical guitarist? No matter what your level of expertise, let&#8217;s try a little experiment. Pick up your guitar and try playing all the things you know how to play using only your thumb on your picking hand. <strong>Easy, right?</strong> Congratulations! Now you can <a href=" http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/10-things-you-gotta-do-to-play-like-wes-montgomery/7590 ">play like Wes Montgomery</a>. </p> <p><a href="http://www.gould68.freeserve.co.uk/wesjmvm.htm">Montgomery</a> developed his <strong>unorthodox approach</strong> simply to keep the volume down when he practiced at home. "My wife came to the door and asked me would I kindly turn that 'thing' off. Well, 'thing'? It was a guitar and amplifier, you know? So I laid my pick down on the amplifier and just fiddled around with the thumb. I said is that better? Oh yes, she says, that's better." </p> <p>Thanks to Mrs. Montgomery his technique, which has influenced countless guitarists, became so ingrained and second nature that he no longer gave thought to this unusual style of playing. <a href="http://www.gould68.freeserve.co.uk/wes%20interview3.html">He explains</a> </p> <blockquote><p>A friend of mine said: "I was just thinking have you noticed where your thumb moves? " and it was a thought, because I'd been worried about the left hand - the neck. If I looked at that, and it comes out, everything's all right. I really hadn't thought about the right hand before. So I decided: when I go up for the next set, I'm going to watch and see what happens. I let it get started first, then I looked back - and it would stop! Just looking at it - I had a block. <strong>So I don't look at it</strong>.</p></blockquote> <p>While you watch this week&#8217;s clip, keep an eye on Wes&#8217;s <strong>thumb</strong> and listen closely to the sounds he produces. Marvel at the apparent ease of his playing style and the gloriously mellow tone of of his guitar. Dig the awesome <strong>articulation</strong> and <strong>speed</strong> of his single line leads and groove on the subtlety of his chording and trademark parallel octave runs.  It's no wonder his name is on the <strong>short list</strong> of jazz guitar greats. Wes was and still is the bomb. Treat yourself and spend a little quality time with Wes Montgomery.</p> <p>The man who, by all accounts, practiced relentlessly to hone his playing to a fine point certainly had a good sense of humor, quipping 'I never practice my guitar - from time to time I just open the case and throw in a piece of <a href="http://wesmontgomerybook.com/tag/harold-mabern-open-the-case-and-throw-in-a-piece-of-raw-meat">raw meat</a>.'</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/g4e9MPFiM-E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/02/the-jazz-diaspora-the-impossible-thumb#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16656055&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/05/02/the-jazz-diaspora-the-impossible-thumb?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16656055&id=comments 1 Thu, 02 May 2013 12:39:25 -0700 The Stranger The Jazz Diaspora: F***ing Records, How Do They Work? http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/25/the-jazz-diaspora-fing-records-how-do-they-work http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/25/the-jazz-diaspora-fing-records-how-do-they-work Jeffery Taylor <p><strong>Emile Berliner</strong> answers the question of what makes a talking machine talk, clearly and tersely: &#8220;Fundamentally it is this,&#8221; he says. &#8220;Sound thrown against the diaphragm makes it vibrate. If a needle is attached to the center, and made to touch a moving surface, for instance, semi-hard wax, the pointing of the needle will trace or cut sound vibrations into the wax. If now the diaphragm and needle are made to retrace the record, the vibratory tracings previously made will cause the diaphragm to re-vibrate and thereby reproduce the original sound.&#8221; </p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_Berliner">Emile Berliner</a> is the man responsible for the invention of the <strong>flat disc record</strong>&#8212;the very same format that record enthusiasts enjoy to this day. The above quote from Berliner comes from an excellent and well-detailed early history of the phonograph titled <strong>"Talking Wax"</strong> by <strong>Leroy Hughbanks</strong>, which you can download <a href="http://www.gracyk.com/talkingWax.html">here</a> as a PDF file. If you have any interest in the early history of records, this is a wonderfully informative place to start. Another good book on the history of records and the early music industry is "<a href="http://www.abebooks.com/Fabulous-Phonograph-1877-1977-Gelatt-Roland-Collier/2032247574/bd">The Fabulous Phonograph</a>" by <strong>Roland Gelatt</strong>. </p> <p>This week's clip offers a rare glimpse of a 1937 recording session with <strong>Duke Ellington</strong> and His Orchestra at Master Records Studio and includes a brief  appearance from the marvelous vocalist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivie_Anderson">Ivie Anderson</a>. It is, perhaps, the earliest account preserved on film of how records were recorded, plated, and pressed. The film shows the production of  78 rpm discs, as the Long Playing record or LP and 45 rpm single were still another dozen years away from being introduced to the record-buying public as a viable commercial format. The process shown is still the basic method for the production of records today. </p> <p>An interesting thing to keep in mind is that at the time this was filmed, electric microphones for recording music had only been in use for about a decade. Prior to 1926 <strong>all</strong> commercially released records were <strong>recorded acoustically</strong>, meaning no electrical signal was involved between the musicians and the recording device (this important development is discussed in "Talking Wax"). Duke's earliest recordings were made acoustically and he must have been thrilled by the technological advances in recording that unfolded during the course of his career. </p> <p>Listen and learn:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SJ0Vn7ul42s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>Bonus Clip:</p> <p>RCA Victor presents Sound and the Story<br />The entire process of recording and manufacturing phonograph records in 1956 explained.<br /><strong>Note</strong>: the first 35 seconds or so are silent.</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Il-F3Rq7heY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/25/the-jazz-diaspora-fing-records-how-do-they-work#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16590296&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/25/the-jazz-diaspora-fing-records-how-do-they-work?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16590296&id=comments 0 Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:46:54 -0700 The Stranger The Jazz Diaspora: If You're A Viper http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/18/the-jazz-diaspora-if-youre-a-viper http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/18/the-jazz-diaspora-if-youre-a-viper Jeffery Taylor <p>A few thousand years ago, some genius figured out that the marijuana plant had <strong>euphoric effects</strong> when eaten or smoked. Once they figured this out, they must have immediately tipped their local musician friends to this groovy plant and its far-out properties of intoxication. The imperial court musicians started wearing dark sunglasses and could be found between sets out in the alley giggling madly and speaking unknowable (to squares) slang to each other. At least that's how I'd like to imagine it went.</p> <p><strong>Paeans</strong> to the magic plant began to appear in <a href="http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2007-05-25/477944/">blues and jazz songs</a> by the late 1920s. In the hip-talking jazz world of that time it was known by such interesting sobriquets as reefer, tea (also T), mary jane, gage, muggles, jive, mezzroll, muta, lozies and weed. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_You%27re_a_Viper">Vipers</a> were the users of the plant and were named such by the hissing sound they produced when inhaling on a reefer stick. <em>Tsss</em>. <em>Tsss</em>. Vipers, man, vipers.</p> <p>These not so thinly veiled references to getting high and feeling groovy sent waves of fear through conservative white America and by the mid '30s an aggressive anti-marijuana campaign was spearheaded by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_J._Anslinger">Harry J. Anslinger</a>. A few of choice quotes from Anslinger include "Marijuana is taken by musicians. And I'm not speaking about good musicians, but the jazz type," &#8220;reefer makes darkies think they&#8217;re as good as white men&#8221; and "Marihuana is a short cut to the insane asylum. Smoke marihuana cigarettes for a month and what was once your brain will be nothing but a storehouse of horrid specters." <strong>What a guy</strong>.</p> <p>Obviously Harry needed to chill out, smoke a joint and listen to some good jazz.</p> <p>Too bad Harry never hung out with <a href="http://www.ukcia.org/potculture/30/mezz.html">Mezz Mezzrow</a>. Perhaps things would&#8217;ve been different if Mezz had explained to him, "It's a <strong>funny thing about marijuana</strong>, when you first begin smoking it you see things in a wonderful, soothing, easygoing new light. All of a sudden the world is stripped of its dirty gray shrouds and becomes <strong>one big bellyful of giggles</strong>, a special laugh, bathed in brilliant, sparkling colors that hit you like a heat wave. All your pores are open like funnels, <strong>your nerve ends stretch their mouths wide</strong>, hungry and thirsty for new sights and sounds and sensations; and every sensation, when it comes, is the most exciting one you've ever had."</p> <p>Blaze one with <strong>Cab</strong>:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/D44pyeEvhcQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>The good <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/08/the-jazz-diaspora-the-right-stuff">Stuff</a>:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/U_ps95TAQRI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/18/the-jazz-diaspora-if-youre-a-viper#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16527994&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/18/the-jazz-diaspora-if-youre-a-viper?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16527994&id=comments 0 Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:00:32 -0700 The Stranger The Jazz Diaspora: And Now For Something Completely Different http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/11/the-jazz-diaspora-and-now-for-something-completely-different http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/11/the-jazz-diaspora-and-now-for-something-completely-different Jeffery Taylor <p>What this week's clip has to do with jazz is, quite frankly, tenuous at best. What this week's clip has to do with <strong>awesome</strong> is everything. Perhaps the editorial powers that be at this fine publication will excuse the delinquency of my jazz reporting duties when they gaze upon the mightiness of biG GRunt. Hey, at least the spelling of <a href="http://www.gingergeezer.net/Articles/articlebiggrunt.html">biG GRunt</a> looks sort of jazz.</p> <p>If you are unfamiliar with the <a href="http://www.iankitching.me.uk/music/bonzos/viv.html">Ginger Geezer</a> and his merry band of cronies, you must correct this oversight posthaste. As you delve into their unique brand of terribly British avant-garde dada music theater you will see that jazz (among many other influences) has indeed been absorbed and regurgitated with <strong>surreal and comically absurd</strong> results. Think of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Jones">Spike Jones and His City Slickers</a> on acid with robots and a shapely leg Theremin and you&#8217;re kind of starting to get close. Kind of.</p> <p>That they started out as a mock "trad" jazz band that spoofed old jazz novelty and music hall numbers from the 1920s is readily apparent on their first recordings as <a href="http://www.vivarchive.org.uk/articles/article-lovers-buggers/articleloversbuggers.htm">The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band</a>. In my book, just titling a track "<strong>Jazz (Delicious Hot, Disgusting Cold)</strong>"  is enough to merit inclusion in this weekly column. biG GRunt was born out of the ashes of the Bonzos and unfortunately didn't last long. The scant extant recordings and this marvelously rocking and ridiculous video clip are all we have to remind us of the powerful weirdness that was biG GRunt. If you are intrigued by this example of psychedelic chicanery, you would be well suited to go back and explore all things <a href="http://www.terrascope.co.uk/MyBackPages/VivStanshall.htm.">Viv</a>.</p> <p>If I'm not sacked for general insubordination and posting such trivial pish posh under the guise of jazz, I'll be back next week with a primer on smooth jazz. (Kidding!)</p> <p>enJOY biG GRunt:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9zcOXaYD_ew" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/11/the-jazz-diaspora-and-now-for-something-completely-different#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16474184&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/11/the-jazz-diaspora-and-now-for-something-completely-different?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16474184&id=comments 5 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:17:44 -0700 The Stranger Notes From the Nearly Famous: The Time Eric's Clothes Were Stolen From the Playboy Mansion http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/10/notes-from-the-nearly-famous-the-time-erics-clothes-were-stolen-from-the-playboy-mansion http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/10/notes-from-the-nearly-famous-the-time-erics-clothes-were-stolen-from-the-playboy-mansion Derek Erdman <p><em>Please enjoy the following story from <strong>Jacob James</strong>' vast collection of wonderful stories about celebs from his brush with fame while playing with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lashes">the Lashes</a>!</em></p> <p>As our band was getting more popular, our record label booked us a series of <strong>high profile shows</strong> in the effort to show off that we were, in fact, the next cool thing. These shows made money but never scored us the kind of cool points they were supposed to. Something always went awry. Three shows stand out in my mind: <em>The Time We Played NASCAR in Florida</em> (we played right before a <strong>staged wet t-shirt contest</strong>), <em>The Time We Opened For <strong>Trey Anistasio</strong> from Phish on a Moored Boat in New York City</em> (aquatic puns welcome), and <em>The Time Eric's Clothes Were Stolen From <strong>the Playboy Mansion</strong></em>.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:372px;background-color:transparent; border:none;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/4452/1365571270-playmates1a.jpg" alt="PLAYMATES1a.jpg" title="" width="360" height="524" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Derek Erdman</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div>We were asked to play the Playboy Mansion through our successful and well-connected A&R guy, when such a thing existed. He had an assistant who had a sister who worked as a publicist for some part of <strong>Hugh Hefner's empire</strong>, and she would do us the favor and book us and then we'd be famous and make everyone lots of money and rule the world. Then we got the contract.<br /> <br />Among the litany of "thou shalt nots" were two particularly strange clauses. First, <strong>we weren't allowed to know the mansion's address.</strong> In an effort to keep its location a secret from fans, hangers-on, and horny teenage boys, we would drive our van to an agreed-upon location. There, we would meet a Hefner employee who would take over the wheel and pilot us the rest of the way. Second, we could only bring two people with us who weren't in the band. No exceptions, and security was tight. <strong>Like, White House tight.</strong> We chose our tour manager and our new acquaintance, Pablo.</p> <p>We'd met Pablo a few weeks prior. A mid-level casting agent, he was the guy that could get aspiring talent their first break. In Los Angeles, it meant that <strong>he was a pretty girl magnet.</strong> Every cocktail waitress and model who had moved to L.A. to work in pictures came out of the woodwork whenever he was around, and he had the gift of gab. Pablo was exactly the kind of guy we wanted hanging out and talking us up to the (hopefully!) scantily clad women we'd be rubbing elbows with later on that night.<br /> <br />Pablo showed up to load-in that morning with something I'd never heard of before: <em><strong>medibles</strong></em>. We were ecstatic. It upped the drama on an already exciting drive&#8212;taking an unmarked van deep into the heart of Beverly Hills to the promised land of bunnies and swimming pools and famous folks!<br /> <br />The van eventually slowed to a stop outside a massive lot, hidden by thirty-foot-tall hedges. The mansion itself was half <em>Downton Abbey</em> and half Cindarella's Castle. Maseratis and Porsches were crowded around the fountain at the center of the valet cul-de-sac. We were breathless. <strong>And the maryjane-packed peanut butter cups were kicking in.</strong> It was like taking a nine year old to Hogwartz School of Magic, and by nine I mean 23, and by magic I mean boobs.<br /> <br />We loaded our gear onto an outdoor stage under <strong>an enormous big-top-style tent</strong> and mumbled through sound check. We settled into our dressing room, which was a corner of the tent that had been sectioned off. Then we started to explore.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;background-color:transparent; border:none;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/d44f/1365571222-playmates2.jpg" alt="PLAYMATES2.jpg" title="" width="500" height="380" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Derek Erdman</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div><br />Past the tent was <strong>the famous Playboy Grotto</strong>. We ducked into the steamy stone enclosure and just stood there, our minds reeling. We discovered the mansion's own private zoo and spent an hour giggling at monkeys and zebras and sloths. We sunned by the pool. We cased the whole grounds. Eventually we were stopped by two huge guards. The one place we weren't allowed, we learned, was inside the mansion itself.<br /> <br />Defeated, we returned to the tent to discover our dressing area had been taken over by a few very territorial peacocks. They were Hugh's personal pets, and we were not to disturb them, because they weren't scared of humans. The full-length mirrors in the room seemed to have <strong>Hefner's personal peacocks</strong> particularly riled up. Two of them were puffed up in front of the mirrors, FIGHTING WITH REFLECTIONS OF THEMSELVES, squawking and pecking and clawing at the silvery glass. The metaphor was not lost on us. We let them have our dressing room.<br /> <br />The sun went down and the party's guests began to arrive&#8212;people poured out of busses and onto the grounds, filling the tent and the pool area, drinking and eating and talking loudly. Something was odd about the party-goers, but we couldn't really say what. <strong>Didn't matter. We had a show to play. </strong><br /> <br />The production schedule had us playing at ten, after an unremarkable rock band <strong>who borrowed one too many riffs from Joe Perry</strong>. We tore through ten songs for a crowd who was much more interested in taking pictures of one another than listening to us. They seemed to be vaguely tourist-y. They appeared just as star-struck to be there as we had been. When our set ended, we figured out why.<br /> <br />The party had been booked by a German video game company who shared a parent company with our label. Their first blockbuster game had been released stateside, and this was their big event to commemorate it. We weren't just playing the backyard of the Playboy Mansion, we were playing the backyard of the Playboy Mansion to <strong>400 German video game coders</strong> and developers and accountants. Only twenty of whom were women.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:444px;background-color:transparent; border:none;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/c6da/1365571402-playmates1b.jpg" alt="PLAYMATES1b.jpg" title="" width="432" height="536" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Derek Erdman</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div><br />All this time had passed, and Pablo hadn't spotted even one Playboy Bunny. Then, at exactly eleven o'clock, the doors to the mansion opened and <strong>a dozen body-painted women slumped out</strong>. Every German head turned, and scores of flash bulbs went off. The girls split into pairs and took posts around the party. <br /> <br />Pablo talked up the two Bunnies in the tent. He introduced them to me as <strong>Jasmine and Ginger</strong>. As we chatted, my fairy-tale daydreams of parties at the mansion seemed more and more naive. These girls weren't there to party; they were on the clock, just like the waitstaff. They were just as <em>weirded out</em> by the party-goers as we were. They had kids to buy school clothes for, credit card bills to pay, and their real names were <strong>Courtney and Susan</strong>. Showing up to a party in bikini bottoms and body paint was just their day job.<br /> <br />Just as Pablo was promising to take a look at their head shots, we heard a commotion around the pool. Two girls were gingerly climbing down two ladders into the crystal water. <strong>The Germans were going nuts</strong>. The bunnies bobbed up and down in the water, their chests hidden from the flashes of cameras by the refraction of the water. They were coyly splashing one another, in a clearly staged vignette designed to give the drunken gamers something to talk about back home <strong>around the wasserspender</strong>.<br /> <br />Their play-fight was suddenly interrupted by a loud <strong>"cowabunga!"</strong> and cannonball splash that ruined the girls' perfectly styled hair&#8212;their fake expressions of lust turned to real scowls of annoyance. A third of our band had joined them in the pool. Scotty floated face down in a dead-man's pose that seemed to channel both Harold from <em>Harold and Maude</em> and Uli from <em>the Big Lebowski</em>. But where was Nate? We scanned the pool for him as the splash subsided. Then he appeared, exploding out of the water like a dolphin right between the two girls. Then, sweeping his seaweed mane of hair out of his face, he froze in place, one hand outstretched to the Germans, and one hand raised perfectly above his head. He stayed there, unmoving as a statue. All eyes were on him. And in that moment, he leaned back, and spit a mouthful of water fountain style two feet straight up into the air. The Germans went wild. <strong>The Bunnies broke into huge smiles</strong>.<br /> <br />The next thing I knew, Eric was in the pool too. I slipped off to the bar to get a handful of drinks. I couldn't have been gone for more than a few minutes. When I came back, the three guys were out of the pool, putting their layers and leathers and pants and crusty socks back on in front of everyone. Nate was hopping on one foot pulling up his pants. <strong>The sunglasses had never come off Scotty, not even in the pool. </strong><br /> <br />Eric wasn't getting dressed though, he was pacing around frantically. In his boxer briefs.<br /> <br /><strong>"Someone stole my clothes!" he said.</strong> "We all left our clothes in this pile, and now mine aren't here!"<br /> <br />It was true. Scotty and Nate were almost completely re-dressed, and Eric's clothes were certainly not there.<br /> <br />"Ok. Well I'll go look in our dressing room for them. Maybe someone put them there," I said.<br /> <br />I went and looked. We all looked. We tore that party upside down looking. We braved the peacocks, kicking them out of our dressing room and looked there too. We asked caterers and bartenders, Bunnies and Germans alike, <strong>but Eric's clothes were nowhere to be found. </strong><br /> <br />We hadn't brought any extra clothing. Who brings spare pants to a party? Eric was forced to wear what little clothing the rest of us could spare. For the rest of the night, he wore a borrowed oxford shirt that was too small for him to button up. Since none of us wanted to give up our pants, Eric settled on a small crimson corduroy blazer tied around his waist backwards-grunge-style, making it look like some sort of half-finished kilt that only covered his front. <br /> <br />There hadn't been any towels to dry off with. Eric was shivering and <strong>his butt was hanging out in the breeze</strong>, covered only by the thin cotton layer of his wet underwear. He looked miserable. And so, half-dressed and fully confused, we walked back up to the bar to try and drink away the difference between the place that we had dreamed about as teenagers, and the reality of The Playboy Mansion.<br /> <br />We never did figure out who took Eric's clothes.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/10/notes-from-the-nearly-famous-the-time-erics-clothes-were-stolen-from-the-playboy-mansion#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16346397&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/10/notes-from-the-nearly-famous-the-time-erics-clothes-were-stolen-from-the-playboy-mansion?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16346397&id=comments 12 Notes From the Nearly Famous: The Time Eric's Clothes Were Stolen From the Playboy Mansion Derek Erdman Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:18:24 -0700 The Stranger Happy Monday, Elvis Costello and Morrissey! http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/08/happy-monday-elvis-costello-and-morrissey http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/08/happy-monday-elvis-costello-and-morrissey David Schmader <p>Now that E and M's <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-dies-aged-87">dreams have come true</a>, let us decide once and for all: <strong>Which lugubrious pop song celebrating the death of Margaret Thatcher do you prefer?</strong></p> <p>Exhibit A: <strong>Elvis Costello's "Tramp the Dirt Down"</strong>:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xy3-R97wDKs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>Exhibit B: <strong>Morrissey's "Margaret on the Guillotine"</strong>:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/smzsIONNh0w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>Now vote!</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/08/happy-monday-elvis-costello-and-morrissey#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16446315&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Death Song History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/08/happy-monday-elvis-costello-and-morrissey?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16446315&id=comments 24 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:50:48 -0700 The Stranger The Jazz Diaspora: Let's take It Outside http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/04/the-jazz-diaspora-lets-take-it-outside http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/04/the-jazz-diaspora-lets-take-it-outside Jeffery Taylor <p><em>"I think one day&#8230;music will be a lot <strong>freer</strong>. Then the pattern of the tune, for instance, will be forgotten and the tune itself will be the pattern, and won&#8217;t have to be forced into conventional patterns. The creation of music is just as natural as the air we breathe."  - <a href="http://www.academia.edu/621042/New_Black_Musicoranti-jazz_Free_jazz_and_Americas_cultural_de-colonization_in_the_1960s">Ornette Coleman</a></em></p> <p>For our first foray into <strong>Free Jazz</strong> territory, we present you with a fine ensemble piece by <a href="http://www.elsewhere.co.nz/jazz/5567/marzette-watts-profiled-2013-everywhere-i-hear-the-sound-of/">Marzette Watts and Company</a>. The clip for this week is an excerpt from the track <strong>Backdrop for Urban Revolution</strong> from Watt's first and only record on the <a href="http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=19661&page=1#.UV3NL7Z5FGE">ESP- Disk</a> label. It is a wonderfully raw and churning example of free playing produced at the height of the roiling American avant-garde scene.</p> <p>Considering the tumultuous nature of the era, it's not surprising that such aggressive music began to emerge in the jazz idiom (although some would refute that this music had anything to do with jazz). Precedents set by <strong>Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, Archie Shepp</strong> and others began to take root with a number of young players and they in turn would rend the fabric of jazz. The climate of the art world, the civil rights movement, the spontaneous theater of 'happenings', increasingly experimental sounds and sights produced by classical composers and filmmakers, all lent themselves to the emotional temperature of the moment and ultimately helped to open up the strictures of the music that came before. Behold, <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:edOZ-Bpck8IJ:http://www.criticalimprov.com/article/download/17/48%2Bessays+about+avant+garde+jazz&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&ct=clnk">The New Thing! Energy Music!</a></p> <p>For the guitar nerds out there, it's also fun to contemplate <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/11/08/guitar-god-sonny-sharrock-on-improvisation">Sonny Sharrock's</a> guitar playing on this track. Recorded December 8th, 1966 this piece of fire music occurred while the charts boasted such pop nuggets as Good Vibrations, Mellow Yellow, Devil With A Blue Dress On and Winchester Cathedral. <strong>Jimi Hendrix</strong> was cutting his first recordings as a bandleader around this same time and, of course, went on to melt faces with his psychedelic blues based guitar pyrotechnics. To think about how Sharrock approached his instrument at this time and for the rest of his career, which as evidenced in this recording was already <strong>incendiary</strong> and yet seemingly devoid of blues phrasings, it is no less revolutionary than that of the Voodoo Child's.</p> <p>Free your mind:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="400" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aur-N2ak0gM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/04/the-jazz-diaspora-lets-take-it-outside#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16418247&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/04/the-jazz-diaspora-lets-take-it-outside?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16418247&id=comments 2 Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:53:29 -0700 The Stranger The Jazz Diaspora: Home Girl http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/28/the-jazz-diaspora-home-girl http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/28/the-jazz-diaspora-home-girl Jeffery Taylor <p>A lesser known (these days) but wonderfully talented musician described in <strong>Leonard Feather</strong>&#8217;s <em>Encyclopedia of Jazz</em> as a <strong>'sparkling modern soloist'</strong> <a href="http://jazztruth.blogspot.com/2010/08/terry-pollard-and-sunna-gunnlaugs.html">Terry Jean Pollard </a>excelled at both piano and vibes. At the tender age of 16 she began her professional career in her hometown of Detroit. Active on the happening Detroit jazz scene in the late '40s and early '50s with a variety of ensembles, she would achieve her widest recognition when she began working with vibraphonist <strong>Terry Gibbs</strong> in 1953.</p> <p><strong>The Gibbs Quartet</strong> featured Pollard as pianist and second vibe player which made for an exciting combo especially when the pair would rock a single set of vibraphones simultaneously! During her tenure with Gibbs (1953 &#8211; 1957), the quartet cut several records together and in 1955 she recorded her sole album as a bandleader for Bethlehem Records, simply titled <em>Terry Pollard</em>. After winning the 1956 <em>Downbeat Magazine</em> New Artist award Pollard left the Gibbs Quartet in 1957 to return to Detroit and raise her family. </p> <p>Ms. Pollard kept busy from her home base, recording with fellow Detroit musicians <strong>Elvin Jones, Yusef Lateef</strong>, and <strong>Dorothy Ashby</strong>, as well as performing over the years with many others, including <strong>Chet Baker, Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Diana Ross &amp; The Supremes</strong>. At one point she also fronted The Terry Pollard Septet, an all-female band that included the wonderful guitarist <strong>Mary Osborne</strong>.</p> <p>Quoted in <strong>Lars Bj&#246;rn</strong>'s book <em><a href="http://www.press.umich.edu/23532/before_motown">Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit, 1920-60</a></em>, bassist <strong>Will Austin</strong> recalls his stint in the Terry Pollard Trio during their long running engagement at the Hobby Bar: &#8220;A lot of musicians would come and sit in. Sometimes Alice McLeod (later <strong>Alice Coltrane</strong>) would come in&#8230;she was something! She played almost exactly like Bud [Powell]. When Terry and Alice got up there, very few horn players wanted to get up there with them. They played up tempos constantly&#8230;that was something to hear! Alice on piano and Terry on vibes.&#8221; </p> <p>This writer, for one, would've loved to have heard that!</p> <p>Dig this fantastic 1956 performance on <em>The Tonight Show</em>:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/T8z6fwq4ZSE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>From her 1955 S/T album:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/u2W_BXVu4Kk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/28/the-jazz-diaspora-home-girl#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16364749&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/28/the-jazz-diaspora-home-girl?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16364749&id=comments 1 Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:35:35 -0700 The Stranger Glastonbury 2013 Line-Up http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/28/glastonbury-2013-line-up http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/28/glastonbury-2013-line-up Dean Fawkes <p><a href="http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk">Glastonbury</a>, continuing its tradition of over forty years, shames all others.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><a href="http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/f1fe/1364439076-glastonbury2013_lineup.jpg" alt="Glastonbury 2013 Line-Up" title="Click For Full Size" width="500" height="708" /></a><ul><li class="imageCredit"></li><li class="imageCaption">Click For Full Size</li></ul></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/28/glastonbury-2013-line-up#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16359957&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Out of Town History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/28/glastonbury-2013-line-up?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16359957&id=comments 1 Glastonbury 2013 Line-Up Click To Zoom Thu, 28 Mar 2013 09:47:05 -0700 The Stranger Brain Goedde and the Art of Rap Signs http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/27/the-art-of-rap-signs http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/27/the-art-of-rap-signs Charles Mudede <p>It was Brian Goedde, the first hiphop critic in a major Seattle paper (he was an editor at The Rocket in the late 90s and a big supporter of <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/sorry-muthafuckas/Content?oid=5938">Silent Lambs Project</a>), who recognized and <a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/The_World_is_Yours.html?id=-t8cHwAACAAJ">wrote a small book</a> about hiphop geography, which comes down to hiphop's fascination with place, hood, street. Recall one of the greatest <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRrM6tfOHds">opening lines in all of rap</a>: "Back in the days on the boulevard of Linden, we used to kick routines and presence was fitting..." As Larry <a href="Jay "Shells" Shelowitz ">posted yesterday</a>, the fascination with place has been transformed into a site-specific art project called "Rap Quotes".... <br /><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="460" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/54yahfgbqQE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><br />The mind behind the project is Jay Shells. He did not get permission from anyone to put up these excellent signs. And if the cops approach him while he is doing his thing, he'll just say: "I'm just an art student."</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/27/the-art-of-rap-signs#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16355561&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/27/the-art-of-rap-signs?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16355561&id=comments 1 Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:50:48 -0700 The Stranger The Jazz Diaspora: Chameleon http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/21/the-jazz-diaspora-chameleon http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/21/the-jazz-diaspora-chameleon Jeffery Taylor <p><small>A century on and the evolution of jazz continues to unfold. There will always be traditionalists and there will always be those who desire to walk the coals to find the next level of blowing. The intention of these weekly posts will not be to hold your hand through the chronology of jazz history, but to give you an idea of the many directions you can choose to go in the exploration of the myriad, complex, and curious forms that fall under the moniker of jazz.</small></p> <p>Herbie Hancock is the kind of guy who has <strong>been there and done that</strong>. Producing <strong>landmark</strong> jazz albums in the '60s and '70s as well as garnering a massive mainstream crossover hit wit <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pERrVMbsCfg">"Rockit"</a> in the early '80s are just a few accomplishments of his illustrious career. A sort of jazz renaissance man Hancock was one of the architects of post-bop, the next in line after Monk and Bud Powell, and continued on to be at the cutting edge of developing jazz/funk fusion. </p> <p>During his time as a member of Miles Davis' <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Davis_Quintet">Second Great Quintet</a> he was simultaneously releasing seminal post-bop records under his own name as well as working on numerous sessions as a sideman. Even after the Davis quintet dissolved, Hancock contributed to the <strong>important and transitional</strong> Davis records <em>In a Silent Way, A Tribute to Jack Johnson</em>, and the superlative <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/a-fusion-supreme/Content?oid=15148585">On the Corner</a>. These forays with Davis were delving deeper into incorporating heavy rock and funk elements and the idea of "<a href="http://ronanguil.blogspot.com/2009/09/time-no-changes-three-masters.html">Time, No Changes</a>" established by the SGQ would reach its pinnacle. It would also distinctly inform the direction of Hancock's solo output in the early '70s. </p> <p>After producing three great atmospheric and funky experimental, psychedelic jazz records in the early '70s Hancock decided to get sexy. The result was 1973's <em>Head Hunters</em> LP, a <strong>milestone</strong> of jazz/funk fusion. Hancock stated, "I began to feel that I had been spending so much time exploring the upper atmosphere of music and the more ethereal kind of far-out spacey stuff. Now there was this need to take some more of the earth and to feel a little more tethered; a connection to the earth.... I was beginning to feel that we (the sextet) were playing this heavy kind of music, and I was tired of everything being heavy. I wanted to play something lighter."  </p> <p>Unlike the dark acerbic maelstrom of Davis' output of the same period the Headhunters did indeed create a lighter more accessible groove while maintaining a deeply funky momentum. <em>Head Hunter</em> is one of the largest-selling jazz albums ever, but its popularity and influence have moved well beyond the world of jazz, and its importance remains undiminished. As the kids say, <strong>it's sick</strong>.</p> <p>Make yourself comfortable and spend some quality time with this <strong>brilliant</strong> 1974 footage:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/puM38Xgz38w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p><br />Ever the <a href="http://www.cyndustries.com/synapse/synapse.cfm?pc=51&folder=may1977&pic=24">gear aficionado</a>, Mr. Hancock demonstrates the latest sampling keyboard (in 1985) to the kids on <em>Sesame Street</em>:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oKoisNv1ftw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/21/the-jazz-diaspora-chameleon#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16311631&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/21/the-jazz-diaspora-chameleon?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16311631&id=comments 4 Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:45:59 -0700 The Stranger Punk Iconoclast Richard Hell Gets Autobiographical @ the Rendezvous http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/21/punk-iconoclast-richard-hell-gets-autobiographical-the-rendezvous http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/21/punk-iconoclast-richard-hell-gets-autobiographical-the-rendezvous Dave Segal <p>Punk-rock catalyst/poet <a href="http://www.richardhell.com/">Richard Hell</a> will be reading from his excellent autobiography <em><a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Dreamed-Was-Very-Clean-Tramp-Richard-Hell/?isbn=9780062190833">I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp</a></em> and discussing it with local music scholar/critic/occasional <em>Stranger</em> freelancer <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Author?oid=118746">Chris Estey</a> at the Rendezvous tonight at 7. (Read Estey&#8217;s review of the book <a href="http://blog.kexp.org/2013/03/20/scribes-sounding-off-richard-hells-dream-and-interview-in-seattle-321/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=scribes-sounding-off-richard-hells-dream-and-interview-in-seattle-321">here</a>.) </p> <p>A member of important NYC groups like <strong>the Neon Boys, Television, the Heartbreakers</strong>, and <strong>the Voidoids</strong>, the Kentucky-bred Hell (real name: <strong>Richard Meyers</strong>; current age: 63) ran away from a Delaware boarding school to New York City, where he met up with his fellow delinquent pal <strong>Tom Miller</strong> (later <strong>Verlaine</strong>) and they schemed and dreamed their way to literary and musical notoriety. Hell&#8217;s haphazardly spiky haircut and safety-pinned, torn and frayed T-shirts as well as his preternaturally cool demeanor and whip-smart lyrics planted fertile ideas in the mind of <strong>Malcolm McLaren</strong>, which led to the conception of <strong>the Sex Pistols</strong>. </p> <p>Hell&#8217;s memoir also serves as a sharply observed portrait of New York&#8217;s world-historical music-biz actions during the &#8217;70s, from the perspective of an impecunious poet/musician working at indie book and video shops. He also dishes some dirt on <strong>the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie</strong>, and other key figures of NYC&#8217;s late-&#8217;70s/early-'80s musical milieu. In the process, Hell&#8217;s famous formulation, the <strong>&#8220;Blank Generation,&#8221;</strong> comes off as paradoxically rich. (He also has a fantastic way with describing the effects of the drugs he used.) </p> <p>Hell paves his Destiny Street with vivid, arresting prose, unspooling incisive observations and anecdotes up through 1984, two years after the release of the album of that name, at which point his musical career was effectively over. An epilogue depicting a chance meeting with Verlaine&#8212;several years estranged from Hell&#8212;looking at books in a dollar bin is incredibly touching&#8212;healing, even. </p> <p>More info on tonight&#8217;s event <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Event?event=16178710">here</a>.</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TDT19fU3a9I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/21/punk-iconoclast-richard-hell-gets-autobiographical-the-rendezvous#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16310941&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Books Tonight History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/21/punk-iconoclast-richard-hell-gets-autobiographical-the-rendezvous?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16310941&id=comments 1 Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:08:51 -0700 The Stranger Notes From the Nearly Famous: the Time Nick and Jessica Were on the Rocks http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/18/notes-from-the-nearly-famous-the-time-nick-and-jessica-were-on-the-rocks http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/18/notes-from-the-nearly-famous-the-time-nick-and-jessica-were-on-the-rocks Derek Erdman <p><small><em>Please enjoy the following story from <strong>Jacob James</strong>' vast collection of wonderful stories about celebs from his brush with fame while playing with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lashes">the Lashes</a>!</em></small></p> <p>A few blocks shy of <strong>the Chateau Marmont</strong> on Sunset Boulevard, there is a small bar called Hyde Lounge. Our friend had a gig there as a weekday deejay, so in 2005 my friends and I spent time there whenever we were in Los Angeles. It's closed now, but in that era the Hollywood heavy hitters that frequented Hyde were there for the exclusivity and the discretion.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;background-color:transparent; border:none;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2013/03/17/1363588089-1363583601-nick_jessica_.jpg" alt="1363583601-nick_jessica_.jpg" title="" width="500" height="499" /></div></p> <p>Not us. We were there to see famous people. Because we were sure we were about to BE famous people. <strong>Like, really soon</strong>. And when it came to celebrity sightings, the Hyde never disappointed.</p> <p>It wasn&#8217;t the muscle, the limos, or the actual red carpet that had us spooked the first time we went to Hyde&#8212;it was the first bar we'd ever been to with its own Social Director. And this one was a sharp-jawed, clipboard-carrying, movie villain <strong>named Mercedes or Portia or Adrianna</strong> or something.</p> <p>The Social Director&#8217;s job is twofold. One, protect the egos of anyone in attendance worth more than a couple million dollars by making sure they have a special time. Two, make things happen as dictated by publicists and managers&#8212;pull the strings, kiss some ass, and dammit, get both those actresses into the same frame for the guy from <em>US Weekly</em>.</p> <p>We checked in, and lists were referenced. Blackberries were consulted and walkies were talked on.</p> <p>"They&#8217;re friends with who?"</p> <p>"They&#8217;re what band?"</p> <p><strong>"Six? Did you say six dudes? And no girls?"</strong></p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:458px;background-color:transparent; border:none;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/d9b2/1363583891-mercedes_.jpg" alt="MERCEDES_.jpg" title="" width="446" height="598" /></div></p> <p>After twenty minutes of chain smoking and trying to look <em>very-unbothered</em> by the wait, we were approached by the Social Director. <strong>Let&#8217;s just call her Mercedes.</strong></p> <p>Mercedes gave us a little speech. It was Mercedes&#8217; party you see, and she made it explicitly clear that we, as friends of the deejay, were not technically invited. We could stay and have a good time, she said, but we were not allowed to bother anyone. And we certainly weren&#8217;t allowed to sit down anywhere. Then she swung open the door.</p> <p>Modern crystal cast a low light on private booths and everything was accented with gold. Sheets of water appeared to be falling indoors, creating a curtain between the lounge and the bar. The stairs were translucent. The place reeked of champagne, expensive perfume, and money. And we reeked of split open Chuck Taylor's, Camel Lights and Rainer. We were way out of our depth. </p> <p>The whole place felt on edge, and I was sure it was because of us.</p> <p>That night, every Hollywood stereotype was in attendance. There were models draped in fabric, actors telling loud stories to their entourages, balding movie producers in Armani. <strong>There was an Olsen twin, AND a twin from Good Charlotte.</strong> There were multiplatinum artists (Incubus!) and two platinum blond leading ladies: <strong>Kirsten Dunst and Lindsay Lohan</strong>; A&R reps and producers and managers and <em>Guys Who Could Get Things Done</em>. And there, sitting in the middle of the floor, were Nick and Jessica. At different tables. Facing away from each other. Looking furious.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;background-color:transparent; border:none;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/429d/1363584084-incubus_.jpg" alt="INCUBUS_.jpg" title="" width="500" height="284" /></div></p> <p>This is not a big deal now. In fact, I had to do some digging to make sure I knew how to spell Lachey. But to people who watched the show <em>Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica</em> on MTV, or who read the hilarious press-releases-disguised-as-celebrity-gossip in <em>InTouch</em> or <em>People</em>, or who watched E! obsessively, or who were in a pop band in the mid 2000s, <strong>it was a deal.</strong> The whole bar was buzzing with it. Nick and Jessica were on the rocks. </p> <p>Jessica was sitting with girlfriends scowling into a martini glass, and mere feet away, with his back to her, Nick was squirming in his seat next to a very nice looking woman with chestnut hair. It was obvious neither of the two stars had been informed the other was coming. At the table between them, the alt-rock band <strong>Incubus looked extremely uncomfortable.</strong></p> <p>Everyone was particularly interested in the real-life newlyweds that night because the rumor was <em>something had happened</em> on the set of one of Jessica&#8217;s projects, and their relationship was falling apart, while episodes like "Newlyweds Two Year Anniversary" and "Newlyweds Together Again" were airing <strong>three times a day on MTV.</strong></p> <p>We made our way through the lounge to the back bar and our initial paranoia began to fade. <strong>Hyde Lounge wasn&#8217;t on edge because of us at all!</strong> They were embroiled in their own Hollywood melodrama&#8212;too busy watching the emotional car crash that was happening between TV&#8217;s couple of the moment. </p> <p>As we hid in the back of the bar we wondered. Did their managers get the time wrong? Did their publicists make their reservations for the same time? Could Mercedes the Social Director really have accidentally seated them so close to one another? Or was this the reality-within-the-reality? <strong>Was this a pre-arranged hyper-real publicity grab?</strong> Were Nick and Jessica acting on television, or acting right now? Had they always been acting? Or had they never been acting? Or Neither? Or Both?</p> <p>We smoked spliffs on the back patio until it was time to go. Each of us had one beer that night. <strong>At eighteen dollars apiece, it seemed silly to have more than one.</strong> We couldn&#8217;t sit down, I had discovered, because of bottle service&#8212;the practice of charging four or five grand for a bottle of liquor and the privilege of being seated. Mercedes had been trying to keep us from owing the bar way more than we could afford.</p> <p>On the way back to the hotel, we all agreed that we kind of hated the Hyde, but it definitely wasn&#8217;t the last time we went there. And it wasn&#8217;t the last time we dealt with Mercedes.</p> <p>END TRANSMISSION</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/18/notes-from-the-nearly-famous-the-time-nick-and-jessica-were-on-the-rocks#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16260750&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/18/notes-from-the-nearly-famous-the-time-nick-and-jessica-were-on-the-rocks?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16260750&id=comments 3 Notes From the Nearly Famous: the Time Nick and Jessica Were on the Rocks Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:34:02 -0700 The Stranger The Jazz Diaspora: An Okie From Muskogee http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/14/the-jazz-diaspora-an-okie-from-muskogee http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/14/the-jazz-diaspora-an-okie-from-muskogee Jeffery Taylor <p><small>A century on and the evolution of jazz continues to unfold. There will always be traditionalists and there will always be those who desire to walk the coals to find the next level of blowing. The intention of these weekly posts will not be to hold your hand through the chronology of jazz history, but to give you an idea of the many directions you can choose to go in the exploration of the myriad, complex, and curious forms that fall under the moniker of jazz.</small> </p> <p>At some point in your life, whether you've known it or not, you've heard <a href="http://www.spectropop.com/remembers/BKobit.htm">Barney Kessel'</a>s guitar playing. A master jazz guitarist <a href="http://vinylfuzz.blogspot.com/2012/12/barney-kessel-interview-jazz-monthly.html">Kessel</a>, who not only played with the biggest names in jazz, was also a first-call session musician during the golden era of the Los Angeles entertainment industry. He transcended playing for a strictly jazz audience by virtue of being a hard-working session player and <strong>crept into your ears</strong> via countless television and film soundtracks. Kessel was also an ensemble player or soloist on a slew of recordings by various popular artists. You've undoubtedly heard his work on recordings by <strong>Julie London, The Beach Boys, The Righteous Brothers, Ike &amp; Tina Turner, Elvis Presley, Sonny &amp; Cher, The Ronettes</strong>, or <strong>Frank Sinatra</strong>, just to name a few. </p> <p>As a teenager, Kessel was lucky enough to be able to hang out and jam (if only for a couple of days) with his idol, <strong>Charlie Christian</strong>. His earliest stints include playing in bands fronted by <strong><a href="http://www.legacy.com/ns/news-story.aspx?t=chico-marx--the-wisecracking-pianist&id=284">Chico Marx</a></strong> (w/ musical director <strong>Ben Pollack</strong>) and <strong>Artie Shaw</strong>, and from there he went on to record and perform with a laundry list of greats, including  <strong>Charlie Parker, Ben Webster, Sarah Vaughan, Art Tatum, Anita O'Day, Oscar Peterson, Benny Carter, Sonny Rollins, Billie Holiday, Hampton Hawes, Stephane Grappelli, Elvin Jones</strong>, and <strong>Bobby Hutcherson</strong>. </p> <p>Along with Christian and the advent of proper amplification, <a href="http://www.operarex.com/Juan%201/J1352%20-%20Barney%20Kessel.jpg">Kessel</a> was an integral figure in bringing the guitar out of its role as a strict rhythmic accompaniment and into the realm of being a dominant solo voice in a jazz ensemble. His influence as a <strong>pioneering</strong> and <strong>formidable</strong> player are summed up nicely by guitarist <strong>Joshua Breakstone</strong>; "In the wake of Barney Kessel, the guitarist was no longer thought of as merely being a subset in the world of jazz, but as a creative, strong, expressive and <strong>vital melodic partner</strong>, and equal to the other instrumentalists." </p> <p>Hold on to your hat&#8212;this clip is straight fire!!</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uAgwe8lSTgw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>A classic bit of <a href="http://www.campusfive.com/swingguitarblog/2012/2/3/barney-kessel-on-jammin-the-blues-1944.html">jazz history</a>:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2v_Y3Pbiims" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/14/the-jazz-diaspora-an-okie-from-muskogee#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16249439&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/14/the-jazz-diaspora-an-okie-from-muskogee?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16249439&id=comments 2 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:15:26 -0700 The Stranger Breaking Down the "Amen" Break http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/13/breaking-down-the-amen-break http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/13/breaking-down-the-amen-break Dave Segal <p>Almost everything you could possibly want to know about the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen_break">"Amen" break</a> can be found in this post on <a href="http://www.openculture.com/2013/03/the_amen_break_the_most_famous_6-second_drum_loop_how_it_spawned_a_sampling_revolution.html">Open Culture</a>. You've probably heard the "Amen" break hundreds of times; it's been sampled in tons of hiphop and drum &amp; bass tracks over the last 30+ years because it is inexhaustibly, undeniably funky and can be fruitfully manipulated in many different permutations. Its origin derives from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Winstons">the Winstons</a>' 1969 song "Amen, Brother," the B-side of their hit single <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgrPgfoLCJM">"Color Him Father."</a> For a music head, not knowing about the "Amen" break is like a writer not being aware of a letter of the alphabet. </p> <p>Read the whole thing <a href="http://www.openculture.com/2013/03/the_amen_break_the_most_famous_6-second_drum_loop_how_it_spawned_a_sampling_revolution.html">here</a>.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/13/breaking-down-the-amen-break#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16240718&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History Classic http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/13/breaking-down-the-amen-break?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16240718&id=comments 2 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:09:54 -0700 The Stranger "The Jazz Age Is Bullshit," Says the SF Weekly http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/12/the-jazz-age-is-bullshit-says-the-sf-weekly http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/12/the-jazz-age-is-bullshit-says-the-sf-weekly Anna Minard <p>Some generations are force-fed misremembered vainglory, some are led off the marbled cliffs of excess&#8212;let's take a moment to appreciate Manjula Martin's take on John Roderick's <a href="http://www.seattleweekly.com/2013-03-06/music/punk-rock-is-bullshit/full/">punk-failed-me screed</a>, the exceptional parody "<a href="http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2013/03/the_jazz_age_is_bullshit_a_res.php">The Jazz Age Is Bullshit</a>." Take it away, Martin:</p> <blockquote><p><strong>My experience of my youth subculture is indicative of everyone else's experience.</strong><br />I, a heterosexual white male in my 40s, really got what the Jazz Age meant. And jazz definitely meant exactly the same thing to other people as it did to me, especially people of color and women and queer folk and younger generations who came after me. I mean, come on. It's not like jazz provided a viable subculture for youth to turn to at a time when many kids were caught between eras, struggling to figure out what to keep and reject of their parents' worlds while battling the larger economic and geopolitical changes at work in the world, not to mention the common brutality of adolescence.</p> <p>And it's not like flapperism did anything for women, either. I mean, an entire subset of young women doing the things boys did and wearing short hair and showing their gams without fear certainly didn't provide other young women with a vision of life beyond the oppressive gender and sexual norms of the past. I mean, people don't even wear corsets anymore, so what's even the point of the so-called flapper rebellion? </p></blockquote> <p>There's seriousness and silliness and it's a hell of a lot of fun. <a href="http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2013/03/the_jazz_age_is_bullshit_a_res.php">Read the whole thing!</a></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/12/the-jazz-age-is-bullshit-says-the-sf-weekly#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16231859&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Mischief History Media http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/12/the-jazz-age-is-bullshit-says-the-sf-weekly?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16231859&id=comments 0 Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:08:43 -0700 The Stranger The Jazz Diaspora: The Right Stuff http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/08/the-jazz-diaspora-the-right-stuff http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/08/the-jazz-diaspora-the-right-stuff Jeffery Taylor <p><small><em>A century on and the evolution of jazz continues to unfold. There will always be traditionalists and there will always be those who desire to walk the coals to find the next level of blowing. The intention of these weekly posts will not be to hold your hand through the chronology of jazz history, but to give you an idea of the many directions you can choose to go in the exploration of the myriad, complex, and curious forms that fall under the moniker of jazz.</em></small></p> <p>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_jazz_violinists">violin</a> is not usually the first instrument that comes to mind when thinking about string solos in jazz. The guitar seems to have dominated, nearly from the outset&#8212;excepting banjo players&#8212;in the melodic stringed instrument soloing department, rather than the symphonic stalwart. Yet, there have been many fine, hot and swinging violinists throughout the history of jazz. </p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuff_Smith">Stuff Smith</a> was <strong>tearing it up</strong> at the the top of the heap (along with <strong>St&#233;phane Grappelli</strong> and <strong>Joe Venuti</strong>) during the halcyon days of the swing era. Early on he was known to play a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroh_violin">Stroh</a> violin in an effort to be heard among the loudest instruments on the bandstand. He later became recognized as one of the first to play amplified violin in a concert setting and endorsed the National Dobro Companies "<a href="http://archive.fiddlesessions.com/feb06/smith.jpg">Vio-Lectric</a>" model. </p> <p>While not as technically advanced as some violinists, Smith's style was<strong> raw and visceral</strong>, not unlike many of the great country-blues players of the same era. According to <strong>Joel Smirnoff</strong> in this fine <a href="http://www.allthingsstrings.com/layout/set/print/News/Interviews-Profiles/A-Salute-to-the-Premiere-Jazz-Fiddler-Stuff-Smith">article</a>, &#8220;His point was not to be sophisticated; his point was to <strong>swing as hard as possible</strong>, and it&#8217;s infectious.&#8221; </p> <p>Smith, like many other black American jazz musicians in the 1960s, moved to Europe late in his career and performed regularly until his death in 1967.</p> <p>Here is a hot number with a young European band:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="400" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5J0t-Fgn6AE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/08/the-jazz-diaspora-the-right-stuff#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16189909&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/08/the-jazz-diaspora-the-right-stuff?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16189909&id=comments 6 Fri, 08 Mar 2013 10:07:02 -0800 The Stranger Thank You Google and Mama Africa http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/04/thank-you-google-and-mama-africa http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/04/thank-you-google-and-mama-africa Charles Mudede <p>This made my day...<br /><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2013/03/04/1362428483-screen_shot_2013-03-04_at_12.06.58_pm.png" alt="Screen_shot_2013-03-04_at_12.06.58_PM.png" title="" width="500" height="230" /></div><br />It's<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/miriam-makeba-doodle-google-celebrates-galvanizing-mama-africa-with-gorgeous-logo-art/2013/03/04/9d707806-847e-11e2-999e-5f8e0410cb9d_blog.html"> Mariam Makeba</a>'s birthday. She died in 2008 right after performing her most famous song, "<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/miriam-makeba-doodle-google-celebrates-galvanizing-mama-africa-with-gorgeous-logo-art/2013/03/04/9d707806-847e-11e2-999e-5f8e0410cb9d_blog.html">Pata Pata</a>", in Italy. She was 76.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/04/thank-you-google-and-mama-africa#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16159171&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/04/thank-you-google-and-mama-africa?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16159171&id=comments 0 Thank You Google and Mama Africa Mon, 04 Mar 2013 12:10:17 -0800 The Stranger The Asshole Glory of Ginger Baker http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/03/the-asshole-glory-of-ginger-baker http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/03/the-asshole-glory-of-ginger-baker Kathy Fennessy <p><div class="blogImageLeft" style="width:265px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/2f31/1362277341-baker.jpg" alt="baker.jpg" title="" width="253" height="145" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Animator Jacob Ribicoff/Snag Films</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div> <strong>Beware of Mr. Baker</strong><br /><em>(Jay Bulger, 2012, US, 92 mins.)</em><br /> <br />Instead of a hagiography filled with kind words from old chums, Jay Bulger's <strong><em>Beware of Mr. Baker</em></strong> revels in opportunities to present drummer <a href="http://bewareofmrbaker.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/TheDevilandGingerBaker_RollingStone.pdf">Ginger Baker</a> in all his <strong>asshole glory</strong>. </p> <p>It's a disrespectful, attention-getting approach that suits its cantankerous subject like one of his old sheepskin coats. According to an IMDb user who caught the film at a London screening, the "fractious Q&A...ended with shouting, swearing, recriminations all round, and Jay Bulger seemingly storming off stage." <br /> <br />Unfortunately, Bulger films himself as if he were part of the profile&#8212;no wonder Baker, who now lives in South Africa, smacked him in the face with his cane in the opening sequence. When you've got a larger-than-life subject at your disposal, <strong>get the fuck out of the way</strong>. Let him narrate, let his friends and enemies narrate, or drop the narration altogether (the better documentaries don't need it).</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="475" height="335" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/c56a_Jd5aPI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><small>About Bond, Baker says, "He was a fat guy" (everyone was fat compared to Baker).</small></div></p> <p>After that unsteady start, Bulger rights the ship by stepping aside and letting the 73-year-old musician tell the story in his own nicotine-stained drawl, starting with his childhood in war-torn Britain. The minute he heard <strong>Max Roach</strong>, he says, he found something "I could relate to." When he wasn't getting into brawls, he was tapping out rhythms on his desk until he found his way to a drum kit, and that was the beginning of that. Alongside the archival material, Bulger adds expressive, painterly animation to bring the past to life. It's a wise move, since the semi-abstract look of the art aligns with Baker's interest in jazz and African music. <br /> <br />By 20, he was a husband, a father, a heroin addict, and the percussive anchor in a series of increasingly popular bands, including Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated and the <strong>Graham Bond Organization</strong>. At this point, other speakers enter the fray, like singer-bassist <strong>Jack Bruce</strong> and Rolling Stones drummer <strong>Charlie Watts</strong>. While Baker praises Bruce as a "fucking brilliant player"&#8212;until he switched from stand-up bass to bass guitar&#8212;he dismisses <strong>Mick Jagger</strong> as a "stupid little cunt."</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="475" height="335" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0zWRjgathjA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><small>Femi Kuti appears in the film to talk about Baker's association with his father.</small></div><br /> <br />From there, Baker talks about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cream-Royal-Albert-London-2-3-5-6/dp/B0009WFFS6">Cream</a>, the power trio he formed with Bruce and <strong>Eric Clapton</strong>. The band made a significant impression on <strong>Neil Peart</strong> (Rush), <strong>Bill Ward</strong> (Black Sabbath), and <strong>Stewart Copeland</strong> (the Police), who are all effusive in their praise. Baker sums up their appeal succinctly: "We were fucking good." <br /> <br />Alas, the tension between him and Bruce, who amassed more writing royalties, would eventually reach a breaking point, after which he and Clapton segued to <strong>Blind Faith</strong> with <strong>Steve Winwood</strong> and Ric Grech. Though that outfit had an even shorter run, Baker calls Clapton "the best friend I've got on this planet." <br /> <br />Bulger concludes by documenting Baker's drum battles with<strong> Elvin Jones</strong> and <strong>Art Blakey</strong>, his work with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fela-Kuti-Music-Weapon/dp/B002ZXZJM4">Fela Kuti</a>, and his obsession with polo ponies, who appear to have received more attention than any of his wives and children. Yet there's something strangely endearing about the man. Though he insults Bulger throughout the film with pithy lines, like "For fuck's sake" and "Don't try to be an intellectual dickhead," his bone-deep respect for the drums always shines through.<br /> <br /><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/beware-of-mr-baker-the-awfully-amazing-tale-of-mad-drummer-ginger-baker/Content?oid=16112944">Dave Segal liked it, too.</a></p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:487px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/ba72/1362281930-baker2.jpg" alt="baker2.jpg" title="" width="475" height="314" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Stag Films</li><li class="imageCaption">From British brawler to South African smoker</li></ul></div><br /> <br />Beware of Mr. Baker, which premiered in Seattle at <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/06/11/i-faced-the-music-and-survived&view=comments">SIFF '12</a>, <em>plays the Grand Illusion through Mar 7. Vivendi Entertainment releases the DVD on May 14.</em></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/03/the-asshole-glory-of-ginger-baker#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16148308&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Jazz History Film http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/03/the-asshole-glory-of-ginger-baker?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16148308&id=comments 10 The Asshole Glory of Ginger Baker Snag Films Sun, 03 Mar 2013 12:03:16 -0800 The Stranger The Jazz Diaspora: Adventures In Tonality http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/02/28/the-jazz-diaspora-adventures-in-tonality http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/02/28/the-jazz-diaspora-adventures-in-tonality Jeffery Taylor <p><small><em>A century on and the evolution of jazz continues to unfold. There will always be traditionalists and there will always be those who desire to walk the coals to find the next level of blowing. The intention of these weekly posts will not be to hold your hand through the chronology of jazz history, but to give you an idea of the many directions you can choose to go in the exploration of the myriad, complex, and curious forms that fall under the moniker of jazz. </em></small></p> <p>Can you imagine sitting down in your easy chair, highball in hand, at 5 pm on a Friday and tuning in to a major network television station to watch a program about jazz? A serious program with an erudite host and a crack live studio band? Seems wildly unimaginable, doesn't it?</p> <p>In 1958 NBC ran a 13-part series hosted by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Seldes">Gilbert Seldes</a>, along with musical director <a href="http://www.jazzwax.com/2009/04/interview-billy-taylor-part-1.html">Billy Taylor</a>, titled <em><strong>The Subject Is Jazz</strong></em>. The half-hour segments provide a plethora of <a href="http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.jots.200019675/default.html">great players and performances</a> (both older standards and newer cutting-edge compositions) over the course of the series, and it must have sent hardcore jazz fans into paroxysms of ecstasy. </p> <p>The clip we present to you today was the last show of the series; it features the great <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Russell_%28composer%29">George Russell</a> as a guest. Mr. Russell offers some insight into his heady ideas on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydian_Chromatic_Concept_of_Tonal_Organization">Lydian Chromatic Concept</a> (which ushered the development of modal jazz), and at the end of the interview segment he accurately predicts the advent of free jazz (or, at least, freer forms of jazz). Now, go ahead and refresh your drink; you've got some serious television to watch!</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Web-tXOlmQA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/02/28/the-jazz-diaspora-adventures-in-tonality#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16132414&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/02/28/the-jazz-diaspora-adventures-in-tonality?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16132414&id=comments 2 Thu, 28 Feb 2013 13:48:59 -0800 The Stranger The Homosexual Agenda: Sarah Rudinoff Rocks the Grunge, DonaTella Drags Up R Place http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/02/22/the-homosexual-agenda-sarah-rudinoff-rocks-the-grunge-donatella-drags-up-r-place http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/02/22/the-homosexual-agenda-sarah-rudinoff-rocks-the-grunge-donatella-drags-up-r-place Adrian Ryan <p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:312px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/e013/1361561600-homo-570.jpeg" alt="SARAH RUDINOFF" title="SARAH RUDINOFF" width="300" height="158" /><ul><li class="imageCredit"></li><li class="imageCaption">SARAH RUDINOFF</li></ul></div><u>FRIDAY 2/22</u></p> <p><strong>THE RUDINOFF RISES, GRUNGE-ISHLY</strong></p> <p>This is a very special edition of the Homosexual Agenda, as we will be departing completely from our usual policy to never, ever pay any attention to <strong>R Place</strong> whatsoever, and instead utterly and bravely pay a whole bunch of flippin' attention to R Place. But first! We are going to discuss something that I pay lots of attention to every chance I get, because FABULOUS: <strong>Sarah Rudinoff </strong>and every glorious little thing she ever does. (Now, I know you love her, too, and if I have to fight you, I will.) What you need to know is that she and a handsome pocketful of deeply talented compatriots have developed a new show that is going to <strong>blow everybody's pubes out</strong> with pure amazeballsness: <em><strong>These Streets</strong></em>. Now, you will want to ask your grandparents about a little thing that happened in the Ancient Way-Before Times called "<strong>grunge</strong>." Grunge was a new and very special kind of music that involved Seattle, garages, and <strong>a lot of no shampoo</strong>. (History!) The women of the era are the focus of this fictional story, which has been created with explosive talent, nerve, and "<strong>over 40 interviews with the people who lived it</strong>." Live music! Live original theater! LIVE SARAH FUCKING RUDINOFF! <em>ACT Theater, 8 pm, $30, all ages.</em></p> <p><strong><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-homosexual-agenda/Content?oid=16044821">Continue reading &#187;</a></strong></p> Tonight History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/02/22/the-homosexual-agenda-sarah-rudinoff-rocks-the-grunge-donatella-drags-up-r-place?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16075270&id=comments 0 The Homosexual Agenda: Sarah Rudinoff Rocks the Grunge, DonaTella Drags Up R Place SARAH RUDINOFF Fri, 22 Feb 2013 11:49:00 -0800 The Stranger Press Release of the Week: TLC Biopic Set to Start Filming in Atlanta!!! http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/02/21/press-release-of-the-week-tlc-biopic-set-to-start-filming-in-atlanta http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/02/21/press-release-of-the-week-tlc-biopic-set-to-start-filming-in-atlanta Anna Minard <p>Hello, my dearest '90s babies. Have you been chasing waterfalls lately? (Fun fact: I thought it was "Jason Waterfalls" for a while. I kind of miss good ol' Jason.)</p> <p>Well, sometimes you get a press release that makes you want to sing, and you just hafta post it almost in full:</p> <blockquote><p>(Atlanta, GA) The much anticipated biopic &#8220;<strong>Crazy, Sexy, Cool: The TLC Story</strong>,&#8221; on Grammy-winning girl group TLC, is set to begin production in March 2013 in Atlanta, GA. Atlanta is the birthplace for the group that rose to unprecedented fame in the 1990&#8217;s as one of the world&#8217;s <strong>most talented, celebrated and highest-selling female groups of all time</strong>. Through very public and high-profile success, turmoil and tragedy, TLC left an indelible stamp of female empowerment that changed the face of the music industry forever. The group was also recognized internationally as pioneers in advocacy for Sex and HIV education.<br /> <br /><strong>Rozonda &#8220;Chilli&#8221; Thomas</strong> and <strong>Tionne &#8220;T-Boz&#8221; Watkins</strong> have signed on as consultants and executive producers for the full-length TV movie... &#8220;We were pleased to learn that production would take place here in Atlanta because it keeps everything true to form... We really want fans to experience our story in an authentic way,&#8221; says Chilli. &#8220;There is so much to our story that <strong>hasn&#8217;t been told until this movie</strong>, it really has to be done the right way,&#8221; T-Boz adds. &#8220;Fans will be able to really understand the dynamic of the group and why that formula has not been able to be duplicated.</p></blockquote> <p>It's for VH1, and apparently they've cast T-Boz, Left Eye, and Chilli as <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0796676/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Drew Sidora</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lil_Mama">Lil Mama</a>, and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1551130/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">KeKe Palmer</a>, respectively. The director is <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0831690/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Charles Stone III</a>, director of <em>Drumline</em>. I'm withholding any judgment until Emily and I take our cross-country road trip to try and secure <strong>walk-on roles</strong> as fans. (We already dress the part, they can't say no.)</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LlZydtG3xqI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><small><em><strong>***This concludes your weekly '90s girl group news update***</strong></em></small></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/02/21/press-release-of-the-week-tlc-biopic-set-to-start-filming-in-atlanta#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16068577&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Breaking News Band History #1 Fan Film http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/02/21/press-release-of-the-week-tlc-biopic-set-to-start-filming-in-atlanta?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16068577&id=comments 1 Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:22:19 -0800 The Stranger The Jazz Diaspora: Let's Get Tiny http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/02/21/the-jazz-diaspora-lets-get-tiny http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/02/21/the-jazz-diaspora-lets-get-tiny Jeffery Taylor <p><em><small>A century on and the evolution of jazz continues to unfold. There will always be traditionalists and there will always be those who desire to walk the coals to find the next level of blowing. The intention of these weekly posts will not be to hold your hand through the chronology of jazz history, but to give you an idea of the many directions you can choose to go in the exploration of the myriad, complex, and curious forms that fall under the moniker of jazz</small>.</em></p> <p>Chances are, if you're playing guitar in the <strong>Art Tatum Trio</strong>, you're probably a <strong>bad ass</strong>. Oh, and you also cut sides for the incipient <a href="http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.com/2012/05/flying-home-parts-1-and-2-tiny-grimes.html">Blue Note</a> label as well as with <strong>Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday</strong>, and a young <strong>Screamin' Jay Hawkins</strong>? Bad ass, for sure. You had a combo called <a href="http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/12292049/Tiny+Grimes++His+Rocking+Highlanders+tinygrimes.jpg">The Rocking Highlanders</a> and the band performed wearing kilts and tam o' shanters? We'll let you have that one, too. <strong><a href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5rahq3KeJ1qbiwbko1_1280.jpg">Lloyd "Tiny" Grimes</a></strong> hailed from Newport News, Virginia and offers an excellent early example of amplified jazz guitar playing on his instrument of choice, a four-string electric tenor guitar. A 52nd Street regular in the 1940s and '50s, Mr. Grimes had a career that spanned four decades. He rocked hugely and he rocked with the giants. </p> <p>Check out these rare clips:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/93EIw41FOFo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HlRvazf3_7k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/02/21/the-jazz-diaspora-lets-get-tiny#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16067843&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/02/21/the-jazz-diaspora-lets-get-tiny?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16067843&id=comments 5 The Jazz Diaspora: Let's Get Tiny Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:14:09 -0800 The Stranger