Friday, November 25, 2016

Saturday Night Tweet Fry - Otherrama For Nov 26


Good evening ladies and gentlemen and all the ships at see. Tonight we are going to take a view, slightly jaundiced perhaps, on some recent news from nowhere. That means a look at Microsoft's foray into the world of quantum computing ... a snippet on a new approach to computer science funding in academia, some commentary of the appearance of container architectures in the big data world, a brief Twitter wrap up of the Thanksgiving football, and some music! Peace! - Dave Goldenway. CLICK!


Thursday, November 17, 2016

From the Vaults: Mose Allison

In honor of his recent passing... a review of a concert 11 years ago.




For his birthday, my brother and I saw Mose Allison at Scullers in Boston. Second show, Oct 21. So glad we did!

I have some of his records and consider him a great lyricist, and master of a true ethos. Quite influential. And blues oriented. But to see him! He is blues poet for sure

He played so many numbers..moved quickly, getting stronger, but always cool. Did Who’s Loving You Tonight, assigning it to Robert Lockwood Jr; Seventh Son, citing Dixon. Did Buddy Johnson song. Do Nothing Til You Hear From Me.

Of course his own numbers are totally unique. To hear them in essence was illuminating. This Aint Me [‘This old grey geezer”], I’m Getting There, Hello Universe, Mind on Vacation, Tell Me Something I Don’t Know...

You say the world is mad
You say that you've been had
You don't like your part in the floor show
You say it's all a bust
There's no one you can trust
Well, tell me something that I don't know

Lefty Frizell’s If You Got the Money treated deftly. In fact, money as a mode, or myth, certainly as a stange concern, appear often in his hipster’s bible. Example: The More You Got, The More You Got to Lose. And Numbers On Paper.

Playing a Yamaha grand. Doing some sparse classical runs. Not striding at all. Occasionally the madcap; Silent movie chases and crash falling leaves. A coda one time that was classic blues close ala Sunnyland Slim

Wearing Addidas sneakers. Black dockers. Blue arrow shirt. Purple Fleece which he delicately zipped and folded, like an old trouper, a couple of numbers into the set. A beat Willie Nelson. A beat poet. A beat poet who can play piano. And sing. Old Philosopher, Well Mean advisor, Oracle of blues. Like last living beat. Was a treat.

Anyway. The world needs a book dedicated to his lyrics. So it is in one place. He wont be on the Hastings for ever. But he is here now.
More on Mose MuseJazz
Profile by Mose Allison : MusicOutfitter

More recent pennings of Mose including 'This aint me'Lletres de les
cançons de Van Morrison: Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison

Site has some lyrics..Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison I guess as
done by Van Morrison
Mose Allison - Official Website
- Biography

A list of Mose songs.AJHF: Archive:
Press Releases: 98.03.02 Mose Allison

Discovered here that Racine's Own Ben Sidran was working with Mose.Mose Allison
Searching for insight into his composition. Found here: "I'm always trying
to be direct and economical," said Allison.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Calvin Coolidge's Grave Reservation, or why did Hilary Lose?



Why did Hilary lose? There is a bias against intelligent woman, she didn't motivate the black vote, Nafta & rich gutted middle America factories and a downtrodden white class woke up for 5 minutes, incumbent party loses White House after 8 years regularly, the debates ended too soon, the FBI got involved (in today's NYTimes, Hilary cites this), 20 years of gerrymandering weighs on outcomes – through this and before, when he vanquished a string of Republican contenders that to an exceptional degree resembled losers on the Apprentice, Trump was lucky. Does any of this sound familiar?

When I was a lad what a kick in the face it was when Nixon took power. In 1968, in March, I'd gone door to door for McCarthy, all my friends had seen the Democratic Convention debacle, had no use for Johnson, or his appendage Humphrey. As the days to election day neared, as they got closer, as we descended like drowning swimmer into November '68, there was trepidation and last-minute push for Humphrey in my little orbit. My girlfriend E. worked at the Racine Public Library, and went through the staff proselytizing for the Happy Warrior, trying to talk people into voting for him. Practicality surfaced, the gap closed, but the momentum was Tricky Dick's. He was the lucky one in 1968.

* * *

There was a display case in the Children's Dept where I worked in those days, and they'd let the student pages like me decorate it. And the bosses were nice enough to let me design the Election one. The idea was to give the kids some positive  public civic feeling. OK!

And there was budget for a whole slew of red white and blue bunting, which I spent.  And I had done one drawing that was going to be the centerpiece: Calvin Coolidge in a Western Native American Honor Bonnet.  It seemed ajar on this Yankee. Coolidge was something of a non-entity as president (he rode to the top as the tough Mass Gov who cracked the Boston Police Strike of 1919). In that glow of his inconsequential aura I was taking solace.

Maybe Nixon as president wouldn’t matter.  Of course it was a long strange trip, as it turned out.

This idea of 'we've been here before' is what what now I would call 'survival instinct response.' Whatever I have of it still, I try now to conjure.

I did two other presidents for the display (three's a meme). Chester A. Arthur (who?) and Benjamin Harrison ( he only lived about two months as president - caught a flu at his inaugural). These came out even more psychedelicized  than Calvin (above).  I can post them if anyone is interested. Psychedelicism was afoot  in those days – that and affordable plastic colored markers.

The message was: Maybe it doesn’t matter who is president -  though I knew - or do now - on several levels, it does matter, and to differing degrees to different segments of the populace. It was so nice of the library managers (ladies, all) too let me follow my doodles.

* * *


So what now? Time to recall the great art created during Nixon's, Reagan's, and Bush Jr.'s admins. Such as (1971- Archie Shepp's Money), (1980 – Jim Carroll's Catholic Boy),  or (2001 – The White Stripes Hotel Yorba)!

Woah to let things come and go again

Woah
To let things come and go again
Ebb and flow and pile up
Misplace themselves and reappear

Titles of many poems
Great confused alarm at the drop of a hat

Blues
Haikus
Yeah

Open
To
All that.


 - Jack Vaughan, Feb 1977