Jazz Arrival Zone

Self-portrait taken at Grooves Records in San Francisco. More photos of Grooves at The Trail-Off Groove. Yes, the blog is back and running.

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Missives

Rex: You asked about this place once or twice. I've eaten there twice now (a breakfast and a hamburger) and I'm still undecided, but I like the sign.

Rocky: Did you know that Phineas Newborn, Jr. did not pronounce his name like the protagonist of "Around The World In Eighty Days" but rather as "Fine-ass"? I did not either.

Marquis: Don't worry, we can catch "Warrior" at the Penn...or in Roppongi...

Feral Boy: Your free "vision package" should arrive shortly!

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Happy Birthday, Stoner!

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Clapton and Marsalis Play "Layla"

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Telluride Jazz Fest

Telluride, a beautiful town in the San Juan mountains of southern Colorado, each year hosts a Blues and Brews Fest, Bluegrass Fest, and Mushroom Fest - all of them worthy of a visit - but I've just found out about another event that may be even more appealing to certain Clock members. The lineup for this year's Telluride Jazz Celebration (Aug 5-7) includes the Bad Plus, Allen Toussaint, Rita Coolidge, Paquito D'Rivera and the Tower of Power. Learn more here.



Fun Fact: D'Rivera's memoir is cheekily titled, "My Sax Life."

Vijay Iyer Trio plays M.I.A

Jazz Album Covers for 500, Alex

Infusion Diary

5:30AM -- What the fuck is that? Oh, it's the alarm clock I seldom use any longer.

7:25AM -- Drive to Ann Arbor, listening to crazy jazz CD (above). Usually, this time of the morning is better suited to piano trios, but, for some reason, today I enjoy this album more than I have previously (it's my fourth spin). The cover is a recreation of a famous Impulse! Records album that rocky probably owns on vinyl. rocky -- can you call it?

8:10AM -- Where is the freakishly-tall, effusively-cheerful Scandinavian blonde parking attendant? Not on duty. All smooth visits to the Cancer Center begin with her recognizing me halfway through her spiel and saying "You know what to do" while I smile at her like a lovestruck simpleton.

The guy in the booth this morning exhibits all the concern and warmth of a cashier at a dog track. I sense trouble ahead.

8:30AM -- Trouble arrives at blood draw. Nothing will flow from my port. I turn my head and cough, do a handstand, couple other Jack Lalanne moves, to no avail. They take blood from my arm. That's the easy part.

9:10AM -- Adult Infusion takes me in right away. (Patients are usually stacked up like cordwood in the hallway for hours, but not today.) The nurse attempts a blood draw from my port, with more calisthenics from me, but no flow. They'll have to order an anticoagulant from the lab [for the device,not for me] and wait for delivery, or they can start the chemo intravenously, or some combination thereof (the anticoagulant doesn't always take on its first application, sometimes requires several at half-hour intervals.)

I haven't taken chemo through the arm, but it's supposed to burn like hell. I decide to wait on the lab.

9:15AM -- Read New Yorker article on closing of Lower East Side bar/art gallery Max Fish.
Eat complimentary breakfast. Start New Yorker article on crazy Turkish soccer fan culture. Work Sunday Boston Globe crossword. Slumber.

10:30AM -- Lab delivers dose. Dose administered.

11:05AM -- Blood draw success after initial dose. My gamble paid off. Infusion begins w/atavan pill and one-hour pre-hydration drip.

11:30AM -- Headphones on, cue up The Bad Plus-GIVE. Terrible version of Sabbath's "Iron Man", pretty version of Pixies's "Velouria".

1:07PM -- Wake up, need to use restroom. This is a sign to the woman several seats away that I am free to chat. Finish soccer article as soon as politely possible. Almonds and water. Slumber.

3:35PM -- Done. Go home. Eat your vegetables.

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Best "New" Artist Indeed

Rex, in case you plan to launch a campaign against the Grammy judges for awarding Best New Artist to Esperanza Spalding instead of Justin Bieber, here's some hard evidence of the injustice for you: "New" Artist?

Credits: Esperanza Spalding

Year		Album	Artist		Credit
		New Jazz Divas [Shout! Factory]	Various Artists		Composer
2001		Blanket Music/Noise for Pretend [Split EP]	Noise for Pretend		Vocals (Background), Vocals, Bass
2002		Move	Blanket Music		Vocals
2002		Happy You Near	Noise for Pretend		Double Bass, Vocals, Wurlitzer
2003		Transfiguration of Vincent	M. Ward		Bass
2004		Theresa Perez	Theresa Perez		Voices, Beatbox, Bass (Acoustic)
2005		Dorm Sessions, Vol. 3	Various Artists		Bass
2005		Mile: A Hush Compilation	Various Artists		Bass, Vocals
2006		Junjo	Esperanza Spalding		Bass (Acoustic), Producer, Composer, Vocals
2006		New Leaf	Ramona Borthwick		Vocals
2007		Culmination	Lucas Madrazo		Bass, Vocals (Background)
2007		One Summer in Winters	Jeff Alkire		Bass (Acoustic)
2007		Anthem	Christian Scott		Bass
2007		Anthem [Bonus Track]	Christian Scott		Bass
2007		Toys of Men	Stanley Clarke		Composer, Vocals
2008		Esperanza	Esperanza Spalding		Guitar (Bass), Bass (Acoustic), Composer, Vocals
2008		Esperanza	Esperanza Spalding		Bass (Acoustic), Composer, Guitar (Bass), Vocals
2009		7 Lives	Mauricio Zottarelli		Bass (Acoustic)
2009		Jazz and World Music Sampler	Various Artists		Vocals
2009		Folk Art	Joe Lovano		Bass
2009		Big Neighborhood	Mike Stern		Vocals, Guitar (Bass), Guest Appearance, Bass
2009		Big Neighborhood	Mike Stern		Guest Appearance, Bass, Guitar (Bass), Vocals
2010		Mwaliko	Lionel Loueke		Vocals, Bass
2010		Chamber Music Society	Esperanza Spalding		String Arrangements, Bass (Acoustic), Arranger, Producer, Vocal Arrangement, Composer, Vocals
2011		Bird Songs	Joe Lovano		Bass
2011		Disney Jazz, Vol. 1: Everybody Wants To Be a Cat	Various Artists		Vocals, Bass (Acoustic), Arranger

Freddie Hubbard's "Straight Life"

Not the original lineup, but a sweet performance from 1975. (Sartorially speaking, disco is definitely in the studio.) The sound is akin to Davis' contemporaneous "electric period", e.g., Dark Magus, but more melodic (and listenable), and with a welcome dose of Tropicália. Feral Boy likes. Thanks for the heads up, rocky.

Stoner with Strings

In the late '70s-early '80s, whenever I burned out on Detroit rock radio for the day (usually shortly after sundown), I would slide down to WJZZ (105.9 FM) and stay there until they drove me away with Manhattan Transfer or Al Jarreau.

Most of that old WJZZ playlist, as I remember it anyway, is well-represented on the new box set CTI Records: The Cool Revolution, which I picked up yesterday.

Creed Taylor, Inc. was as well known for striking album covers as it was for producing commercially-successful music that pissed jazz purists off.

Check out the blogger at the link for more of the story; or, if you just want to feel as cool and adult as Stoner did for minutes at a time at age seventeen, pick up a copy of Kenny Burrell's "God Save The Child" and give it a listen after dark.

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ATT: rocky

Hey, rocky! I have to drive to Dick Devos country (Grand Rapids), tonight, and part with forty or fifty bucks if I want to see the Bad Plus; but you can check them out Saturday afternoon at the Haight St. Amoeba.

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Trombone Shorty at JazzFest

Important twitter from Stephen Colbert

big government calling jazz a national treasure infringes on my right to consider jazz the sound of feral cats stuck in a bag pipe

Lalo Schifrin Double Feature

I was listening to a Lalo Schifrin album tonight (Lalo=Brilliance) and was thinking if there was anyone cooler than Lalo Schifrin in the world of music. His life reads like a lesson in cool: born in Buenos Aires, studied music at the Paris Conservatoire on scholarship, played in Dizzy Gillespie's band:

Then went on to write the theme music for Mission:Impossible, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Mannix, and film scores including Dirty Harry, Enter the Dragon and Bullitt. Listen to the jazzy build-up to the famous car chase scene:



Schifrin now lives in Beverly Hills in Groucho Marx's former house.

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Iggy Pop

Listen to tracks from the 62-year-old's eclectic new EP (out in June) "Préliminaires" .

Slow Friday

Stoner spent the last hour developing a slow-afternoon-at-work crush on jazz trio leader & noise-rock guitarist Mary Halvorson. Check out the myspace pages of her various bands for some evil-sounding guitar and more fetching snapshots.

A Story About Wayne Shorter

“I remember once I asked Wayne (Shorter) for the time,” Miller told (Shorter biographer Michelle) Mercer. “He started talking about the cosmos and how time is relative.” Miller and Shorter were waiting somewhere – an airport, a train station, a hotel. The band’s (Weather Report) keyboardist, Joe Zawinul, who took charge of such matters as what the road crew was supposed to do and when, set Miller straight. “You don’t ask Wayne shit like that,” he snapped. “It’s 7:06 p.m.”

-- from Ben Ratliff’s book The Jazz Ear: Conversations Over Music

My Last-Ditch Attempt To Convince Feral Boy That Jazz Is Worthy Of His Attention

If this doesn't do it, I'm out of ideas.