tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46545930134168211762012-01-26T15:20:45.474-08:00Ramblings on the obscure and "WTFs" of the popular arts or whatever else I feel like writing about.Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.comBlogger2261100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-84979582352677000332012-01-16T13:55:00.000-08:002012-01-16T13:55:43.734-08:00

Today I did something I'm probably going to have very little chance of doing for the rest of my life, I went to a record store.   Not just any record store but Melody Records, the last independent general record store left in the Washington, DC area. It's been around since 1977 but in the next few weeks Melody will bow to the inevitability of the times and close.  That will leave Barnes and Noble

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-71009390152290411612011-12-28T16:10:00.000-08:002011-12-28T16:17:18.566-08:00

This is the time of year when a lot of internet denizens, professional and amateur, review what things in the popular arts they liked over the last year. In my case that would be music and movies, but I really don't feel able to do a conventional "best of 2011" in either genre. In music, I don't listen to much current rock or pop stuff anymore, usually just paying attention when some

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-51502020617076213132011-12-27T09:51:00.000-08:002011-12-27T10:04:04.024-08:00

Dammit! I've been working on a long post about the past year that I had planned to finish and put up today, but not now. I'm definitely not in the mood.

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-26799214576435513992011-12-02T17:32:00.000-08:002011-12-02T17:34:28.065-08:00

I've got a couple of things I hope to be writing about in the next few days but after hearing the Lou Reed - Metallica opus, Lulu, for the first time, I had to write some quick comments.  The consensus I've seen about this CD online is that it isn't very good. Chuck Klosterman, a writer of some renown, even went so far as call it "totally unlistenable".  As the WWE's Miz would say "Really?

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-7431813794909205022011-11-22T16:51:00.000-08:002011-11-22T16:52:12.791-08:00

  (So somebody has to die before I'm inspired to write here again.  Oh well...) I was looking at the excellent Destination Out website of jazz rarities (http://destination-out.com/) this afternoon when I noticed a mention of "Paul Motian appreciations".  That worried me because there is usually one reason in particular why people start posting appreciations of a particular artist. I checked a

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-63178657323122586122011-09-30T20:40:00.000-07:002011-09-30T20:40:04.338-07:00

I've known about the music of vibraphonist Gary Burton for many years but tonight was the first time I ever got to see him perform live.  Burton has been a long time innovator, both with his technique of playing with four mallets at once and in his mixing of other genres with Jazz, notably country and rock.  He's been around for a long while and it's stunning to realize he is 68 years old. With

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-78683809883227591062011-09-07T16:47:00.000-07:002011-09-07T16:49:56.536-07:00

I don't usually pay that much attention to the Kennedy Center Honors anymore but when I read this year's list of Honorees, a big smile came onto my face. Meryl Streep, Barbara Cook, Yo Yo Ma, and Neil Diamond are all well-deserving but the name that got me was one Theodore "Sonny" Rollins, arguably the greatest Jazz musician alive. When these awards started in 1978 the Kennedy Center was pretty

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-79806601081918667442011-09-02T17:22:00.000-07:002011-09-02T17:22:48.479-07:00

I don't blog that often as it is but last week's Natural Disaster Double Feature temporarily stopped me from even thinking about writing anything. I will finish off my Top 10 Songs list soon but first I want to get to some long overdue thoughts about modern TV comedy, one show in particular. I got out of the habit of watching regular network TV a long time ago, particularly comedies. The only

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-31468815172229297212011-08-26T17:18:00.000-07:002011-08-26T17:23:40.364-07:00

I was fooling around on my computer at my job yesterday (your tax dollars at work) when I ran across a list of my 100 favorite songs that I made up years ago. Looking over it I realized there were a bunch of songs on there that I would replace today so I revised the list a bit and then decided that I'd post YouTube clips of the Top Ten on this blog that come from live performances, music videos

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-36288965802033969482011-08-11T08:59:00.000-07:002011-08-11T08:59:01.714-07:00

It took me less than a year, which is good for me, but I finally caught up with The Social Network over the weekend.  I thought it was a fine movie, engrossing and very well acted, deserving of all the praise it received.  Then I ran across a comment on a blog the other day which I had heard before but I can only now relate to, that it was a travesty that Network lost out at the Oscars to The

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-19397523133550676622011-08-06T13:05:00.000-07:002011-08-06T13:05:15.496-07:00

It seems there's been a welcome change of plans. I've been writing for a while about the imminent demise of Cadence Magazine at the end of the year but they've now sent word there's been a reprieve. Someone has decided to step up and take on the task of continuing to publish Cadence after 2011. The plans right now are for 3 online issues plus one print one a year. Frankly I had gotten myself

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-22136610847256589902011-08-01T16:44:00.000-07:002011-08-01T16:50:24.886-07:00

I slack off far more than I should when it comes to acknowledging artists important to me who have passed.  The past week or so has seen the deaths of Frank Foster, long time Count Basie saxophonist and lyricist Fran Landesman who wrote some of the most literate standards out there including "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most" and "Ballad Of The Sad Young Men".  The one I really had to

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-19951954646772116752011-07-23T15:17:00.000-07:002011-07-23T15:17:24.140-07:00

I keep seeing more and more movies I want to write something about, so I'd better get something down before the queue gets any longer. Kill The Irishman (2001)  - Somebody needs to explain to me how we got to the point where a mob movie with stylistic and cast connections to Tarantino, Scorsese, The Godfather and The Sopranos ends up only getting a token release in a few "arthouse cinemas". 

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-90458482292300018302011-07-18T16:55:00.000-07:002011-07-18T16:55:45.029-07:00

Below is a press release that appeared as part of a release annoucement on the ClassicFlix.com blog.  I've read this over and over but I can still scarcely believe it. PRESS RELEASE: Celebrating the genius of the most beloved comedy team of all time, Laurel and Hardy - The Essential Collection debuts in a stunning 10-disc set on October 25, 2011 from RHI Entertainment and Vivendi

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-18510690276052211632011-07-08T16:49:00.000-07:002011-07-08T16:49:34.282-07:00

The alleged comedy Horrible Bosses comes out in theaters today. I have no interest in seeing this movie. From the TV ads alone it looks about as funny as a severe hernia and I have a lot of trouble swallowing the plotline that some undersized nerd would complain about Jennifer Aniston putting the moves on him. I have been surprised though at the favorable critical reaction the movie has been

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-54903516555810279082011-07-04T10:54:00.000-07:002011-07-04T10:54:58.490-07:00

I'm about to be at a point where for the first time in over 20 years, I'll be wondering what to do with most of my free time.  Since the 80's a large part of my time outside of work has been dedicated to writing reviews for one publication or another, first, movie reviews for the Prince Georges' Post, then music reviews for OPtion Magazine, and since about 1990 Jazz CD reviews for Cadence

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-24595169808434398702011-06-27T16:43:00.000-07:002011-06-27T16:43:10.022-07:00

I saw three movies over the weekend that couldn't be more different from each other.  To wit... THE T.A.M.I. SHOW  A long time ago I saw a movie compiled from footage of both the 1964 concert film classic, The T.A.M.I. Show and its sequel, the 1966 concert film,  The Big T.N.T Show, and I was completely blown away by all the vintage rock and soul acts.  Saturday I looked at the fully restored

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-45448382504157267832011-06-20T17:18:00.000-07:002011-06-20T17:18:26.500-07:00

It's always fun when you run across a review or mention of a film you've never previously heard of and it sounds so intriguing you end up watching it. Sometimes that approach can put you in for an endurance test, but other times you discover something really entertaining.  I stumbled onto the film Boogie Woogie just browsing through Netflix one day. The cast (Christopher Lee, Heather Graham and a

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-77755350952256265592011-06-12T09:43:00.000-07:002011-06-21T14:22:59.430-07:00

I didn't know it at the time but my appreciation for Jazz and musical arranging started when I was a little kid from watching television.  Back then the soundtracks for many shows were Jazz based and that included the old cartoons from the 30's and 40's I saw, particularly the Warner Brothers ones.  From the beginning the soundtracks of the old Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes cartoons used songs

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-91147014352208507752011-06-09T18:49:00.000-07:002011-06-09T18:50:27.537-07:00

One of the things that slightly bothers me about the internet is that on some message boards, you find people who take their love of a certain area so seriously that they get very upset when they feel that something else is taking time or attention away from their precious object of affection (and I'm not even talking about Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin fans). Fro example I was reading the Turner

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-739490096962304792011-06-07T15:41:00.000-07:002011-06-07T16:14:53.608-07:00

Okay, so it was just a couple of days ago that I was bemoaning my lack of posting but here I am doing a long-ass one.  I ran across the Summer Quiz on the blog Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule which is actually a survey of your moviegoing likes and dislikes, not a right and wrong answer quiz.  I wasn't going to do anything with it at first, feeling too spotty in my movie knowledge to give an

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-60658796425429079842011-06-04T10:13:00.000-07:002011-06-04T10:13:16.701-07:00

Well I was going pretty good for a while, putting an entry onto this blog at least every one or two weeks but since mid-April I've been afflicted with the condition depicted above. The words just haven't come.  It didn't help that for a while every DVD I put into my player was either skipping, freezing or not playing at all.  Finally it dawned on me that my player was ten years old. So I went

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-41290907286881410332011-04-17T07:32:00.000-07:002011-04-17T07:32:03.280-07:00

Maybe I don't look at enough movie review websites and blogs but despite all the people out there commenting on this or that film, some movies still seem to slip through the cracks, work singular enough to make you ask "Hey, how come nobody else has noticed this movie yet?". That applies to a title I just discovered, Rage, a 2009 film by British filmmaker Sally Potter.  Potter is not that

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-63172840900264801352011-04-12T17:35:00.000-07:002011-04-12T18:02:37.323-07:00

The thing I love about the piano as a jazz instrument is that a dozen different players, be they Herbie Hancock, Marilyn Crispell, Fred Hersch, Kenny Barron, Alex Von Schlippenbach, Misha Mengelberg, McCoy Tyner, Jessica Williams or anyone else, can sit down at the same piano and play the same song and no two versions will sound the same. And not a single one of them will sound anything like

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-52991813391866311852011-04-02T10:45:00.000-07:002011-04-02T14:00:55.095-07:00

In flipping through TV channels last night I ran across a movie on Encore Westerns called Rockin' In The Rockies. From the description it seemed to be just a 40's B-Western, something I usually pay little attention to, but the cast list caught my eye. The stars were no less than The Three Stooges (!). This was a completely new find to me. I knew about the features the boys made in the early 30's

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-67642944097896367132011-03-25T15:01:00.000-07:002011-03-25T15:01:07.801-07:00

One of the great things about this modern age that most people either don't realize or take for granted is that  every lost or legendarily unseen piece of popular art out there seems to somehow, someway get back onto the marketplace. Comic books, music, TV shows, movies...it doesn't matter. It may be in some limited edition or from some obscure company but eventually someone gets it out there. 

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-73855531637039491852011-03-15T16:45:00.000-07:002011-03-15T16:50:43.844-07:00

A couple of days ago I heard that drummer Joe Morello had just died. Shame on me because I thought he had passed years ago.  Morello is best known for his many years drumming with the classic Dave Brubeck quartet and as such he is responsible for one of my all time favorite bits of music, the introduction and drum solo in "Take Five", a strutting snap and thump that still makes me catch my breath

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-66135600761643025512011-03-06T15:28:00.000-08:002011-03-06T15:28:35.787-08:00

I've just seen two little known movies of wildly varying styles and quality: The first was Don't Worry We'll Think Of A Title which lived up (or down) to the wit of its name.  I first heard of this movie long, long ago on some TV game show when comic Morey Amsterdam mentioned it as a new movie he was working on.  I hadn't run across it again in 45 years then recently I was browsing through the

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-60209690833116502532011-02-28T17:35:00.000-08:002011-02-28T17:35:21.820-08:00

I do most of my movie watching on the weekends and between Netflix, Classic Flix, cable and even an occasional trip to an honest-to-God movie theatre, I can see a very eclectic bunch of stuff over any given weekend. This is what I just saw over the past three days: Shutter Island - Coming from Martin Scorsese, the man who gave us Taxi Driver, The King Of Comedy, Raging Bull and Goodfellas, this

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-28976366716473151532011-02-14T16:53:00.000-08:002011-02-14T16:54:50.634-08:00

There are a lot of things I could write about right now like Esperanza Spaulding beating out Justin Bieber at the Grammys last night (Yay!) but whatever I was thinking got overruled by the news that two figures from wildly different parts of the cultural world died today, George Shearing and David F. Friedman. George Shearing is one of those musical names I heard a lot when I was a kid, since

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-15616590815848429062011-02-09T17:04:00.000-08:002011-02-09T17:06:03.514-08:00

I've finally started going through my box set of the vintage Thriller TV series.  According to most of the things I've read on the show, the common thinking is that it was a conventional suspense anthology show in its early episodes and only really got good when it turned to the horror themes it's most remembered for. In actuality these early shows are nothing to sneeze ateither . I've seen

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-43436429455730712642011-02-01T16:46:00.000-08:002011-02-01T16:46:25.328-08:00

A few days ago I got some unpleasant news that I knew was coming but was still dreading. Cadence, the jazz and improvised music magazine I've been writing for almost 20 years, has announced it will cease publication at the end of this year. The reasons why are obvious. The last few years have been a tough time for all printed publications with increasing hordes of people deserting them to read

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-62538311060760417522011-01-27T17:32:00.000-08:002011-01-27T17:32:35.574-08:00

Tuesday I watched part of the last night of TCM's Hal Roach tribute. First up  was Laurel and Hardy's Sons Of The Desert with Stan's and Ollie's teamwork at its zenith. I would now put up that one upthere with Duck Soup as my favorite comedy of all time. Then I saw a real curio for the first time, General Spanky. On TCM, host Robert Osborne referred to this as the only feature-length "Our Gang"

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-67604434431946857622011-01-19T17:44:00.000-08:002011-01-20T18:31:03.139-08:00

Turner Classics Movie has been commanding more of my attention than usual this month because of their Hal Roach tribute, 24 hours of comedy shorts and other material from the Roach studio every Tuesday. I've yet to do the intelligent thing a movie buff should and buy a DVR or Tivo so I've been limited to watching just what I can when I'm not sleeping or at work. Nevertheless I've been able to see

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-29945493178537600302011-01-17T09:55:00.000-08:002011-01-17T10:00:40.268-08:00

 These are the three latest additions to my CD pile.  I bought all three the first time I actually saw them in a store which is unusual for me. Junko Onishi is a Japanese pianist who I remember liking when she recorded for Blue Note back in the 90's. She reportedly took a sabbatical for several years and suddenly without any fanfare or notice here she is with a new CD on Verve.    Dave Liebman

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-21222842988373843152011-01-15T17:01:00.000-08:002011-01-15T17:01:46.643-08:00

As I hoped for back in October here, Antenna TV came to my cable system this month, even though it didn't seem to fully start until around the 8th instead of January 1 like it was supposed to. With it, came their series of  Columbia theatrical cartoons, Totally Tooned In, which is being shown in a three-hour block from 7 to 10 AM on Saturday mornings. I sat down and watched all three hours today

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-52423324998169087232011-01-14T15:30:00.000-08:002011-01-14T15:30:45.856-08:00

This is the time of year when everybody makes resolutions.  I need to make a lot of personal ones which I won't go into here but as far as this blog is concerned I'm going to try to post a lot more frequently (he said on January 14th). I think my main reluctance in writing here has been feeling like I don't have much to say. I get a bit intimidated when I see the ground covered by a lot of the

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-24296969896437848442010-12-31T18:29:00.000-08:002010-12-31T18:31:22.933-08:00

This is the time of year when everyone in Blogland seems to look back and reflect on what were their favorite movies, music, TV shows, books, etc. of the past year. The only two of those I even halfway keep up with are the first two and I really don't see or hear enough of what is new in either realm to comment the way others do. As far as music goes I do prepare a Top 10 CD list for Cadence

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-27196252236881260602010-12-21T19:57:00.000-08:002010-12-21T19:57:25.912-08:00

Quick thoughts on some movies I've seen in the last few weeks: Private Hell 36 - I saw this thanks to Netflix streaming.  It turned out to be a tough little lowbudget noir film co-written by Ida Lupino and directed by Don Siegel. Two police detectives track down stolen money from a robbery and one decides to help himself to some of the loot. Steve Cochran plays the crooked cop and Lupino plays a

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-22731241161489583412010-12-20T20:35:00.000-08:002010-12-20T20:35:43.630-08:00

There is a long tradition of Jazz big bands holding down once a week residencies in New York clubs.  For the last few months a big band here in Washington, DC has been doing the same thing, the Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra and tonight, after months of procrastination I got my fat ass down to the Bohemian Caverns to see them (which to my embarrassment, was the first time I'd been to the place

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-17868191509500569252010-12-17T17:03:00.000-08:002010-12-18T11:14:33.395-08:00

They always talk about the deaths of famous people coming in threes but the last 24 hours have been especially cruel.  First the news that Blake Edwards, a director whose work I always respected, has died, then the confirmation of the death of the European erotic horror filmmaker Jean Rollin. Now just a few minutes ago I heard about the death of Don Van Vliet better known to music fans and

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-31398963030108589292010-12-05T13:59:00.000-08:002010-12-05T13:59:02.224-08:00

The other night I was in Rosslyn, VA, the kind of urban area the term "concrete canyons" was created for, to see some silent movies. Before the show I went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. The food was all right but they had the depressing screeching of Celine Dion coming out of the speakers as background music. It got me thinking that this bathetic crap has come to represent "adult music" in

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-58848745858928546082010-11-27T09:04:00.000-08:002010-11-27T09:04:36.988-08:00

In the past couple of days I've seen a couple of horror movies that both end with a "big reveal" of a monster.  Together they show there are good ways and bad ways to do this. The bad one is The Maze, a 1953 3-D horror film directed by the great designer William Cameron Menzies.  It's standard "spooky castle" stuff with a titled Englishman shutting himself off from the world in a creepy old

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-68874756843470208762010-11-20T21:47:00.000-08:002010-11-20T21:47:22.457-08:00

It's one thing to hear musicians on a recording but sometimes when you experience them live, you gain an entirely new appreciation for their work. I've heard CDs by Wadada Leo Smith, Vijay Iyer, John Lindberg and Pheroan AkLaff in all sorts of settings but just hearing them live as Smith's Golden Quartet was a revelation. This band has a dazzling, explosive power to it from AkLaff's savage yet

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-29608750707932685942010-10-27T16:34:00.000-07:002011-01-17T09:59:51.079-08:00

Wandering around the internet yesterday, I caught mention of a new cable channel starting on January 1 called Antenna TV. This looks to be something along the lines of the Retro TV channel showing a variety of old shows other channels don't show anymore. Whereas Retro TV gets its stuff mostly from the Universal Studio vaults, this new channel will use all kinds of shows from the Sony archives

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-19354746766135568382010-10-16T15:06:00.000-07:002010-10-16T15:06:51.781-07:00

In the late 1950's and early 1960's, the western genre dominated television to an extent that no other genre has since. In the 1958-1959 season there were 31 western series on the air, which is really amazing when you remember there were only three networks back then. Some of those shows like Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Cheyenne and Maverick are well remembered today. Others have fallen through the

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-75756920424337382962010-10-09T12:12:00.000-07:002010-10-09T12:12:54.669-07:00

A Irish woman works as a high-priced prostitute in New York City in order to pay off a debt to a man who is acting as her pimp. When her mother dies the woman runs away to Newark, gets a job as a beautician and starts a romance with a taxi driver. One day her pimp finds her... You think you know how this story would play out from that description but the film Clare Dolan is nothing like you'd

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-13990065782971232602010-09-13T17:28:00.000-07:002010-09-13T17:28:07.523-07:00

A lot of times these days events advertised as jazz festivals have only a nodding acquaintance with the concept. For example a local "jazz festival" in Silver Spring, MD last Saturday was headlined by Aaron Neville, a great singer without doubt but hardly a jazz guy.  There was another jazz festival closer to me in Rosslyn, VA the same day that really fitknew what it was about featuring acts like

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-9001451091561388972010-08-15T14:50:00.000-07:002010-08-15T14:50:32.961-07:00

You can have Tina Fey. When it comes to funny women on TV I'll take British writer and performer Jennifer Saunders. Her show Absolutely Fabulous was a fearless slapstick classic about two middle aged women boozing and drugging their way through the fashion industry like the Swinging Sixties never ended. Her 2007 show, The Life And Times Of Vivienne Vyle, is even darker, going way beyond what a

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-44919404702217880762010-08-14T14:17:00.000-07:002010-08-14T14:17:37.532-07:00

I was going to write something about the film Fillmore: The Last Days but I happened to see that Abbey Lincoln passed away today. We seem to lose a plethora of giant jazz figures every year. In the last few months alone, Hank Jones, Fred Anderson, Bill Dixon, Harry Beckett and Willem Breuker have passed on. Now it's Abbey Lincoln. She wasn't as overall prolific as other great jazz singers but

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-74745826230669077352010-07-20T16:54:00.000-07:002010-07-20T16:54:14.690-07:00

When there are music or film festivals taking place hundreds of miles from you, you can say you have a reason for not going. When there's one practically in your backyard you have no excuse. So it is that I have been going to the mid-July Slapsticon film festival in Rosslyn, VA the past few years. Slapsticon, which ran just last weekend, is a four-day program of old silent and early sound

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-30121347950443179212010-07-13T16:46:00.000-07:002010-07-13T16:46:57.978-07:00

Goldfish. I watched a couple of very good films over the weekend, Hunger, about IRA hunger strikers in Northern Ireland in the 1980's and Antares, an Austrian drama that told three interlocking stories about tenants of a large apartment house, yet the image I can't get out of my mind is of a damned goldfish swimming across my TV screen. You see besides those two, I also watched a couple of

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-51988251754256734432010-06-29T17:01:00.000-07:002010-06-29T17:02:44.780-07:00

I recently discovered while browsing through Netflix's instant play section that they offer a lot of "B" westerns that haven't been released on DVD yet. In looking deeper through the site the other day, I saw they also had seasons of old TV westerns like Gunsmoke and Have Gun Will Travel beyond what was currently on DVD. Then I noticed a certain word I wasn't expecting to see..."Maverick".

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-71876560790920157512010-06-21T16:28:00.000-07:002010-06-21T16:28:13.472-07:00

I think I heard about the film Forty Shades Of Blue on a blog where someone was listing unknown "great films". After watching this I don't think it qualifies. The premise can be summed up like this: A legendary Memphis music producer has a much younger Russian girlfriend and son. He is visited by his estranged adult son. Do I have to say any more? You know what happens from here. I know what

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-76707425857437343752010-06-14T17:02:00.000-07:002010-06-14T17:02:25.614-07:00

Last Wednesday I got on the Internet and the first thing I noticed was a headline in my email that said "STAN TRACEY TRIO".  I thought it was a notice about some concert in New York or Philadelphia that I had no shot of getting to but I clicked on the headline anyway and learned that British jazz pianist Stan Tracey was playing at the United Methodist Church in Baltimore that coming Sunday, the

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-30351136104264020102010-06-09T18:04:00.000-07:002010-06-09T18:21:27.915-07:00

Archie Shepp seems to have cured my writer's block of the past two months so I thought I'd keep things going by discussing some of the films I've seen recently. By sheer coincidence I saw two films over the weekend that both received acting Oscars and dealt with seriously dysfunctional families (which is a popular subject for award winning movies, come to think of it.      The first was The

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-49190660484498909462010-06-08T17:57:00.000-07:002010-06-08T17:57:05.883-07:00

I moved last month which has given me the excuse to dig out and relisten to a lot of CDs I hadn't heard in years. In the case of the above, I'm just now appreciating what a heavy sumbitch it is. This is Archie Shepp at his firebreathing best live in 1966 in a group that includes Roswell Rudd on trombone, Beaver Harris on drums and the twin bass bottom of Lewis Worrell and Donald Garrett. Shepp

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-994605505965469772010-04-17T15:26:00.000-07:002010-04-17T15:33:19.008-07:00

As promised I checked out a little more of Homicide: Life On The Street and got even more of a feel for how special that show was. It's like no other American network TV cop show I've ever seen. It shows a world of grays, where even the "good guy" cops can guess wrong investigating a crime or do bad things and criminals sometimes go uncaught even when they admit to their guilt. I watched the

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-63150633481468898352010-04-14T16:40:00.000-07:002010-04-14T16:40:11.728-07:00

There is only one TV show I make any kind of effort to watch regularly even in reruns, Law And Order: Criminal Intent. I watched the latest new episode last night and I think that's going to be the end for me. There is nothing in the show I really want to watch any more. All three of the Law And Order franchises have long been the only watchable network television for me. Once I got into

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-50633530778662111662010-02-28T18:15:00.000-08:002010-02-28T18:15:37.835-08:00

I am embarrassed to admit this but tonight, February 28, 2010, I saw the film depicted on the right for the first time. Yeah, I just saw 2001, A Space Odyssey for the first time. Even on a dinky 15-inch flat screen TV, the film lives up to its formidablereputation. I've seen hundreds of movies in my life, avant garde, commercial, exploitation, musical, animated cartoon, horror and any other type

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-52969483719086740612010-02-27T09:28:00.000-08:002010-02-27T09:28:23.750-08:00

For many years I've preferred to get all my musical info from British music magazines. That began in the mid-70's in college when I began to read Melody Maker and discovered exotic names from all sorts of musical genres like Roy Harper, Hatfield And The North, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and the Globe Unity Orchestra. That gave way to the Punk years of the late 70's and early 80's and my allegiances

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-88893367353814436982010-02-14T07:54:00.000-08:002010-02-14T07:54:03.354-08:00

Being snowed in like most of the eastern U.S. the last week, I've passed the time mostly watching a lot of old movies thanks to Netflix, the few DVD sets I have lying around the house and Turner Classic Movies. Something that struck me in watching old 60's and 70's films like The Friends Of Eddie Coyle, The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three and especially The Guns Of Navarone for the first time is

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-62775559163935227502010-02-10T08:23:00.000-08:002010-02-10T08:23:34.828-08:00

I finally got through the "Best of Ernie Kovacs" disc I had. As it turned out this was not a new compilation of Kovacs routines but a 1977 PBS TV show of his work that was compiled from the series of specials he did for ABC in 1961-62 just before his death. Watching this material again I was struck by not only Kovacs' inventiveness and knack for satire but also his reliance on visual humor,

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-34444603655425740122010-02-08T09:13:00.000-08:002010-02-08T09:13:03.574-08:00

I'm going to start periodically writing about some of the magazines I read regularly that give me my main information and perspective on the arts I enjoy and my first subject is Video Watchdog. Video Watchdog is a long-lived glossy-covered little magazine published by Tim and Donna Lucas out of their home in Cincinatti, Ohio. It covers the world of "fantastic video", which over the course of 155

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-72855887833690746152010-02-05T12:00:00.000-08:002010-02-05T12:00:49.444-08:00

Ever since I started this blog, I've bee halfassing it. I only seem to write at rare intervals and when I do I say what comes off the time of my head without much real thought. I've made up my mind to change that. ( I would call this a new year's resolution but it's already February.)  I always thought I didn't have much to say but I've been reading other blogs more and more and I see that others

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-24279203795403264892010-02-02T16:38:00.000-08:002010-02-02T16:38:05.920-08:00

Screw the Oscars! I'm not one of those people who hates the concept of awards shows or thinks they should only be about the movies that made the most money, but now that this year's nominations have come out I realize I could care less about the whole thing this time around.  There is nothing in the nominations that really excites me. I actually did see two of the best picture nominees, The

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-26339920085038346762010-01-18T12:16:00.000-08:002010-01-31T08:00:23.617-08:00

Two more movies I've seen recently... Viva is a very strange animal, a newly made film that is a tribute to the softcore sex movies of the 1970's. A woman named Anna Biller wrote, directed and starred in the movie which has a typical period plot of an abandoned housewife deciding to explore her wild side and get sexually involved with all sorts of period characters like nudists, madams, "art"

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-68770594801519325462010-01-17T19:57:00.000-08:002010-01-17T19:57:18.855-08:00

The most interesting movie I've seen lately has been a classic, The Awful Truth, which I just saw for the first time. It's looked on as one of the cornerstones of the screwball comedy genre but it dones't really have that feel. It has the right plot, Cary Grant and Irene Dunne as a feuding husband and wife who get divorced only to realize they still care for one another, but this movie is

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-55680094912408728032009-12-31T19:37:00.000-08:002009-12-31T19:37:01.339-08:00

I've heard nothing but great things about the Tony Palmer TV documentary "All You Need Is Love", a very comprehensive 17 part documentary on the history of popular music. Now I've seen the first few episodes and I'm a little beumsed. The shows I've seen do have some rare performance footage and impressive interviews with the likes of John Hammond and Eubie Blake, but some of the juxtapositions

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-29595129569644262172009-12-24T15:17:00.000-08:002009-12-24T15:17:19.027-08:00

Lately I've been hit over the head with the fact that it's the end of the decade. I've been seeing all sorts of lists about the best music, TV, news stories, athletes and whatever of the last ten years, so I thought it would be fun to do one myself. My major love is music but I have no way of figuring out just what CDs I have that came out within the last decade so I'm instead doing my twelve

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-4397676954415321372009-12-12T16:20:00.000-08:002009-12-12T17:00:46.381-08:00

This is the first of occasional posts on music I have been listening to, not necessarily new stuff just what I pull out of my collection:Lee Konitz, Satori (Milestone)The great Mr. Konitz from 1974 doing his usual magical liquid improvising, mostly in the company of another iconoclast, pianist Martial Solal. The session is notable for trying to stay up with the times by using electric piano on

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-70373724506035745582009-11-28T12:34:00.000-08:002009-11-28T13:30:40.253-08:00

When historical films are made about long ago periods like the Civil War or the American Revolution, it's easy for the filmakers to get away with little inaccuracies about those times because there is no one from those times alive today to would know the difference. These days more and more films are made about the 1950's and beyond and those of us who were around then can tell immediately when

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-67269365110842103882009-11-22T07:24:00.000-08:002009-11-22T08:02:32.631-08:00

It was said of Miles Davis in his electric period that, no matter what craziness was going on around him on the bandstand, he always played like Miles Davis. The same can be said for one of Miles' innumerable collaborators, the venerable Lee Konitz. No matter what setting he puts himself in, large groups, small groups, duos, solos, with strings, even free improv, he always sounds like himself

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-3259997133008185062009-11-07T20:57:00.000-08:002009-11-07T21:14:55.558-08:00

I've been both an idiot and a snob.When going out to see live music I normally go for people I've heard of, touring musicians I've read about or heard somewhere and ignore all the local talent that constantly plays in this area. I was emphatically reminded how dumb that is tonight by seeing some local musicians at Twins Jazz tonight, the Brad Linde Quartet. They did include one out-of-town guest,

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-82079486213385201052009-10-23T17:20:00.000-07:002009-10-23T18:06:10.593-07:00

I'm the age where I'm seeing a lot of my heroes pass away. Just over the last few months Hugh Hopper, Chris Connor, George Russell and Les Paul have all left us, and now Soupy Sales. I don't remember seeing Soupy here in the Washington, DC area as much as he was in other parts of the country but I do remember a Saturday show on ABC and a show on Channel 20 when it first started in the late 60's.

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-47863538228472495862009-10-18T09:27:00.000-07:002009-10-18T09:59:08.097-07:00

Unfortunately I got sick the weekend after my last post so I couldn't make the Parker - Rothenberg show but I did get a couple of good ones in the last few weeks, including the Overtone Quaret at the Kennedy Center.The Overtone Quartet is one of those "band of bandleaders" deals, a group comprising three musicians well known as leaders, bassist Dave Holland, pianist Jason Moran and saxophonist

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-78442463775018916812009-09-23T18:01:00.000-07:002009-09-23T18:17:32.395-07:00

It's long been one of my quirks that I will get excited about concerts with national artists in other cities but give short shrift to what is happening here in my home town, Washington, DC. When I went to Baltimore's High Zero Festival last year, I was a bit nonplussed to find out that several of the artists there who I had never seen before were from this area.Well, I'm trying to make up for

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-68564779664925966172009-07-04T10:06:00.000-07:002009-07-04T10:33:30.855-07:00

Since I haven't posted in a while here are two clips by the rgeat singer Cassandra Wilson, the first being Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" with Brandon Ross on guitar and the second is Robert Johnson's "32-20 Blues" done with her entire band.

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-8059084240130391992009-06-20T07:34:00.000-07:002009-07-04T10:34:59.955-07:00

A musician like Ginger Baker has earned the right to play whatever the hell he wants to and he has been doing more and more jazz in recent years. Here he is in the company of Bill Frisell and Charlie Haden.

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-79551191356571649592009-06-06T16:09:00.000-07:002009-06-06T16:17:17.249-07:00

Dizzy Gillespie with Arturo Sandoval and Finland's UMO big band doing "Manteca". American, Cuband and Finnish musicians together. Think jazz isn't universal?

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-55264627086592789132009-05-30T14:41:00.000-07:002009-05-30T14:43:03.696-07:00

Here's some more Bill Frisell, this time from 1986 in the group Bass Desires with Marc Johnson on bass, Peter Erkskine on drums and John Scofield dueling on guitar. The only bad thing about this clip is that it cuts off mid-performance.

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-88673260558193909302009-05-24T19:42:00.000-07:002009-05-24T19:46:16.931-07:00

The great guitarist Bill Frisell works in so many formats I had to put a couple of his clips up.First some of his hypnotic solo Appalachian folk-jazz picking...Then a brilliant group jam with a band including Greg Leisz on dobro and Jenny Scheinman on violin.

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-69837968420241264752009-05-23T13:29:00.000-07:002009-05-23T13:30:42.570-07:00

Since I haven't posted in a while, here's an extra for today: some beautiful playing by the ageless master Lee Konitz.

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-72960593857386478132009-05-23T12:53:00.000-07:002009-05-23T13:27:40.120-07:00

I'm gaining a lot of respect for the multidisc DVD collection of old public doman work that Mill Creek puts out. I bought a 12-disc set called Dark Crimes and that has turned out to have in it not only a few classics like The Naked Kiss, and D.O.A. but rare Oscar Micheaux and James Whale films and five episodes of the legendary 50's TV series, Studio One.The other day I ran across a collection of

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-71879630058111058762009-05-11T16:26:00.000-07:002009-05-11T17:00:40.427-07:00

I'm interrupting the usual flow of jazz videos to share two clips I found that show how downright bizarre rock songs were often staged on 60's and 60's TV shows.The first clip is Kenny Rogers And The First Edition doing their initial hit, "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In)" on the Smothers Brothers show in what I guess is supposed to be an approximation of the song's

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-18088264317874156312009-05-10T17:02:00.000-07:002009-05-10T17:21:36.715-07:00

Here is a taste of the quicksilver beauty of the great guitarist Jim Hall.

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-84117046538667098452009-05-07T18:26:00.000-07:002009-05-07T18:32:21.639-07:00

I read a few days that Cecil Taylor had to pull out of a festival appearance in Australia due to an unspecified health problem. He did play a well-reviewed birthday concert in New York two months ago but he is 80 now so when you hear "health problems" you start to worry. I hope he returns to full health soon but anyway here's a little bit of Cecil solo from the 1981 film "Imagine The Sound" with

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-74247362277121779552009-05-03T11:18:00.000-07:002009-05-03T11:25:57.021-07:00

Here's another jazz TV program, this one from the BBC on British trumpeter and composer Kenny Wheeler. Norma Winstone and Henry Lowther are two of the other people in the group.

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-53806875523056754182009-04-26T13:29:00.000-07:002009-04-26T13:32:23.402-07:00

In 1965 British pianist Stan Tracey released an album called "Under Milk Wood" based on the Dylan Thomas play. It contained a piece that went on to become the most famous example of British jazz. Here forty years after the fact are Tracey and the saxophonist on the original, Bobby Wellins, playing that piece again, "Starless And Bible Black".

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-80761484578327294682009-04-25T14:36:00.000-07:002009-04-25T14:43:05.800-07:00

Here is the second part of the "Cool" episode of "The Subject Is Jazz" featuring Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh duetting on "Subconcious-Lee".

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-38389832228549246612009-04-20T17:02:00.000-07:002009-04-20T17:05:03.221-07:00

I ran across this video by accident and I'm just amazed this happened, three of the baddest men who ever picked up a pair of drumsticks, Sunny Murray, Elvin Jones and Art Blakey playing together!

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-50616195945245935412009-04-18T15:04:00.000-07:002009-04-20T17:07:08.419-07:00

An intelligent and hip program about jazz on a major American television network? It sounds like the stuff of fantasy today but back in the 1950s, it was possible. Case in point: "The Subject Is Jazz", a 13 week show that ran on Sundays on NBC back in 1958. JazzVideoGuy has posted parts of the show on YouTube and they are great fun, critic Gilbert Seldes discussing various subgenres in the music

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-76289612039089217452009-04-17T17:23:00.000-07:002009-04-17T17:26:56.646-07:00

A romp through "All Blues" by two gifted pianists, Kenny Barron and Brad Mehldau.

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-47222440713998794312009-04-13T16:05:00.000-07:002009-04-13T16:11:31.376-07:00

I don't remember what the first jazz record I ever heard was but Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" had to be one of them. I still love everything about the piece, the circular rhythm, Joe Morello's authoritative break, Paul Desmond's amazing fluting alto and Dave Brubeck's nagging riffs. This is a particular delightful version of the song by the classic Brubeck quartet done in Berlin in 1966 with

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-80680560194841159672009-04-11T16:30:00.000-07:002009-04-11T16:55:34.338-07:00

Some elegant bossa nova from the great Joe Henderson.

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-56112921804679225012009-04-08T17:31:00.000-07:002009-04-08T17:40:25.995-07:00

I hadn't heard of this singer before I ran across this clip but I really like the way she rocks a Brazilian groove. This also features African guitarist Lionel Loueke, a Herbie Hancock discovery.

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-6594367311482878002009-04-06T16:33:00.000-07:002009-04-06T16:46:10.623-07:00

Magma is one of those bands that creates its own category, a French group around since the 1970's that does a supercharged proggy jazz-rock revolving around a science fiction mythology created by the band's founder, drummer Christian Vander, that even involves the group's vocalists singing in a made-up language, Kobaian. The closest comparison I know would be Sun Ra and his Arkestra. I don't know

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-57387148887757320922009-04-04T15:37:00.000-07:002009-04-04T15:43:06.315-07:00

Okay, finally back to some music. Here is a bracing bit of wotk from the current version of Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet with Vijay Iyer on keyboards, John Lindberg on bass and Ronald Shannon Jackson on drums.

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-9046146147251625782009-03-30T15:57:00.000-07:002009-03-30T17:02:19.569-07:00

If I have a guilty pleasure it's pro wrestling, not so much the neutered silliness that the WWE and its weak imitator, TNA spews out today. For me the great stuff was the NWA shows broadcast out of Georgia in the 1980s' and not the in ring stuff but the promos, the segments where the wrestlers would come out promoting their upcoming shows in a line of trash talking that was compelling, realistic

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654593013416821176.post-73296431145833912652009-03-21T15:51:00.000-07:002009-03-21T16:07:21.069-07:00

One of the more prominent young improvising musicians around these days is guitarist Mary Halvorson. I heard an NPR interview with her where the interviewer couldn't get off the "Wow, dude, you're a girl!" sort of thing but she's proving she has scary chops in a number of settings. Here she is going the power trio route with Trevor Dunn's Trio Convulsant.

Jerome Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525477197462586035noreply@blogger.com0