On July 29, 1946, Charlie Parker was arrested in Los Angeles, after starting a fire in his hotel room. Earlier that day, unable to score heroin, scratchy, drunk on whiskey, he recorded this track, which, depending on your point of view, is either one of the worst records he ever made (Parker’s view) or, despite (because of?) its raggedyness, among the greatest (Charles Mingus’s opinion). After his arrest he was confined, for six months, at Camarillo State Mental Hospital.
Charlie Parker, “Lover Man” (CP, alto saxophone; Howard McGhee, trumpet; Jimmy Bunn, piano; Bob Kesterson, bass; Roy Porter, drums), rec. 7/29/46
The cafeteria in the hospital’s basement was the saddest place in the world, with its grim neon lights and gray tabletops and the diffuse forboding of those who had stepped away from suffering children to have a grilled cheese sandwich.
***
The next day, I set up an iPod dock and played music, not only in the willfully delusional belief that music would be good for a painful, recovering brain but also to counter the soul-crushing hospital noise: the beeping of monitors, the wheezing of respirators, the indifferent chatter of nurses in the hallway, the alarm that went off whenever a patient’s condition abruptly worsened.
***
One early morning, driving to the hospital, I saw a number of able-bodied, energetic runners progressing along Fullerton Avenue toward the sunny lakefront, and I had a strong physical sensation of being in an aquarium: I could see out, the people outside could see me (if they chose to pay attention), but we were living and breathing in entirely different environments.
kaleidoscopic, adj. 1. changing form, pattern, color, etc., in a manner suggesting a kaleidoscope. 2. continually shifting from one set of relations to another. E.g., the music of the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
Art Ensemble of Chicago (Roscoe Mitchell, saxophone; Joseph Jarman, saxophone; Lester Bowie, trumpet; Malachi Favors, bass; Don Moye, drums), live, Europe, 1980s
Part 1
Vodpod videos no longer available.
One of my all-time favorite musicians—no matter the instrument, no matter the genre—is the guy playing bass. If I’m feeling down, he lifts me up. If I’m feeling good, he makes things even better.
***
Part 2
Vodpod videos no longer available.
How many trumpeters play so many different colors?
***
Part 3
Vodpod videos no longer available.
***
Part 4
Vodpod videos no longer available.
***
Part 5
Vodpod videos no longer available.
***
Part 6
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Avant-garde? Their use of polyphony recalls the earliest New Orleans jazz.
***
Part 7
Vodpod videos no longer available.
How many musicians not only roam so widely but swing so hard?
**********
lagniappe
more
Art Ensemble of Chicago with Fontella Bass, “Theme de Yoyo” (1970)
sui generis, adj.A person or thing that is unique, in a class by itself. E.g., Anthony Braxton, composer, reed player, professor, MacArthur “genius” grant winner, one-time professional chess hustler.
Happy (Belated 66th) Birthday, Anthony! (born June 4, 1945)
Anthony Braxton with his 12+1tet, Ghost Trance Music
New York (Iridium), 2008
Vodpod videos no longer available.
**********
lagniappe
musical thoughts
I wanted to live. I wanted to be alive. This experience goes by very quickly. Part of the radiance of a moment, in my opinion, involves that which we call music.
***
Suddenly, Coltrane solos become the “it” of music, when in fact, the records and the notated solos are the sonic footprints, the bone structure of what actually happened in the music.
***
I wanted a system that would be equal to the dynamics of curiosity. I wanted to have a music where I could have some fun.
***
There is the wonderful discipline of music and the ability of music to keep on opening up fresh prospects. I must say, what a discipline!
Today we remember him with a mix of new clips and old favorites.
Gil Scott-Heron, April 1, 1949-May 27, 2011
new clips
“The Bottle,” live, Jamaica (Montego Bay, Reggae Sunsplash), 1983 Cool Runnings: The Reggae Movie (1983)
*****
“We Almost Lost Detroit,” live, Austria (Vienna), 2010
*****
Interview, England (London), 2010
*****
old favorites
Here’s a voice I didn’t know if I’d ever hear again.
Gil Scott-Heron, I’m New Here (out this week)
“Where Did The Night Go” (Gil Scott-Heron)
***
“Me And The Devil” (Robert Johnson)
**********
lagniappe
I’ve had bad times in my life when I’d rather be somewhere else doing something else, for sure. But you get to my age, that shit happens. You get in trouble; you maybe lose some folks—a parent or a friend. Maybe your marriage breaks up, you lose your wife, lose touch with your kid. But what life does not have those things in it?—Gil Scott-Heron (in yesterday’s Guardian)
(Orignially posted 2/8/10.)
**********
I’m the person I see least of over the course of my life, and even what I see is not accurate.
—Gil Scott-Heron (New Yorker, 8/9/2010 [Alec Wilkinson, “New York Is Killing Me”])
Gil Scott-Heron, “I’m New Here” (2010)
(Originally posted 8/24/10.)
**********
It’s a remix world.
Gil Scott-Heron, “New York Is Killing Me” (2010), Chris Cunningham remix
**********
lagniappe
Here’s the original track, followed by a couple more remixes.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
***
With Nas
Vodpod videos no longer available.
***
With Mos Def
Vodpod videos no longer available.
**********
langiappe
musical thoughts
In the dark times, will there also be singing? Yes, there will be singing. About the dark times.
Who else (besides, of course, Bob Dylan) has played so many different roles so brilliantly?
Miles Davis (with Robben Ford & guest Carlos Santana, guitars), “Burn”
Live, Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, 6/15/86
Listen to stuff long enough and it changes—or you do, anyway. Once I might have faulted this for being repetitive. But that’s a bit like faulting roast beef for being meat. Of course it’s repetitive. That’s part of what makes it soar.
• WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University)
—Bird Flight (Phil Schaap, jazz [Charlie Parker])
—Morning Classical (Various)
—Amazing Grace (Various)
• WFMU-FM
—Mudd Up! (DJ/Rupture, “new bass and beats”)
—Sinner’s Crossroads(Kevin Nutt, gospel)
—Give The Drummer Some (Doug Schulkind, sui generis)
—Fool’s Paradise (Rex, sui generis)
—Transpacific Sound Paradise (Rob Weisberg, “popular and unpopular music from around the world”)
Lloyd Knibb, drummer(Skatalites, etal.)
March 8, 1931-May 12, 2011
Lloyd Knibb’s importance to Jamaican music can’t be overstated. The inventor of the ska beat at Coxson Dodd’s Studio One, Knibb created a sound that spread like wildfire the world over.
—Carter Van Pelt, host, Eastern Standard Time, WKCR-FM
music clip of the day 