I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend.
ART NOTES - with works marking the 75th anniversary of the film's release, The Making of Gone With The Wind will be at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas through January 4th.
HAIL and FAREWELL to the immensely-talented yet dysfunctional basketball star Marvin Barnes - who has died at the age of 62 ..... pianist Joe Sample - long-time leader of The Crusaders, a staple of jazz (and smooth-jazz) radio stations - who has died at the age of 75 .... and legendary New Orleans recording studio owner Cosimo Matassa - whose recordings of Fats Domino, Little Richard, Dr. John, Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles earned him induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame - who has died at the age of 88.
BRAIN TEASER - try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC.
AT SOME of Italy's top firms, succession plans are often missing, with aging executives at Armani and Luxottica (Ray-Ban and Oakley) hesitant to choose management professionals.
THURSDAY's CHILD is Emerson the Cat - a Colorado kitteh who returned to his home .... two and a half years after he went missing.
THE OTHER NIGHT yours truly hosted the Top Comments diary with a look at how we liberals approach 9-11 .... and has it become easier over time?
GET WELL to the 83 year-old Hall of Fame hockey player Jean Béliveau - recuperating at home from a bout of pneumonia ..... and to the 80 year-old Hall of Fame football player Bart Starr - recovering from a mild stroke he suffered.
THIS NOVEMBER will see the election of a new president in Romania - with the center-left candidate Victor Ponta in a good position against four rivals ... with one pundit noting "There is no significant party with a clean image; every party has had several figures behind bars".
FRIDAY's CHILD is Simba the Hero Cat - an English kitteh who awoke a family after their fire alarm failed to go off (despite being tested just two weeks before) and flee their property .... just seconds before it was gutted by flames.
NOTES ON THIS WEEK'S POLL - for those who are new/infrequent readers, I thought I'd take a moment to explain my philosophy in compiling this poll.
1) I avoid nominating the Usual Suspects (i.e., Limbaugh, Issa, Beck, Coulter, et al) as they are our omnipresent opponents, and - unless they did something this week to truly merit scorn - we should expect nothing from them. The poll is intended not as a statement of general dislike (they'd lose every week) but to be current.
2) I try to include not just US right-wingers: foreign figures, people from the world of business and entertainment, etc. should be included. Also, not everyone is an unlikable person: otherwise good people who screw-up royally deserve a place.
3) I have space for 14 choices, plus the last one which is free-form. The last choice is where you can state "All of the Above", plus (which is more likely) "2-3 of the Above" ...... or to nominate someone that I either overlooked or - especially in some weeks - I didn't have room for. If you choose #15, please give your thoughts in a comment.
4) Every once in a great while - such as the killing of Khadafy or Osama bin Laden - I anoint them as the "Loser of the Week" and ask who came in second ..... otherwise, the poll is like a walk-over election, without any suspense.
5) Finally ... this is for fun! I hope it can be cathartic; enabling one to press a "death ray" at them (on a toy), to get it out of your system. Even if it doesn't ..... hey, there'll be another one next week (most of the year).
SEPARATED at BIRTH - two veteran newsmen: David Sanger - chief Washington correspondent for the NY Times ... and Anthony Mason - senior correspondent for CBS News.
...... and finally, for a song of the week ....................... I couldn't decide amongst these three men and the 1970's instrumental bands they led, so I am featuring them all. These are veteran jazz musicians (close in age) who helped lead the fusion era - where jazz met loud rock music.
Though the era did not last, it accomplished the following: (a) bring these performers into rock venues where they'd not performed previously, (b) introduced many rock fans to their music, whether they stayed with it over the years or not (and many did) and (c) served notice on rockers that they needed to raise-their-game in order to compete for young blues and rock fans. While there were other bands (Weather Report, If, and Miles Davis lineups) it's these three (more guitar-oriented) that most influenced me.
The Yorkshire, England guitarist John McLaughlin began his career in blues, performing with the Graham Bond Organization - with future Cream rhythm section Jack Bruce & Ginger Baker - as well as Georgie Fame. Eventually he gravitated towards straight jazz, with a lightning-fast attacking style of playing that made him recognizable anywhere. After his debut album Extrapolation he moved to New York to play with some giants: drummer Tony Williams' band Lifetime and on Miles Davis' seminal jazz-rock offerings In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew (plus recordings with Jimi Hendrix that were frequently bootlegged. Along the way, he came under the influence of the Indian guru Sri Chinmoy and appeared at shows with short hair, dressed in all-white.
In 1971, he formed his seminal band The Mahavishnu Orchestra which for two years would tour large arenas along with rock groups. Indeed, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler spoke for many when he and Joe Perry first listened to them in awe and asked, "What in the world is this?!?"
Truly an international band, it featured (L-to-R, top to bottom) John McLaughlin (born in England), violinist Jerry Goodman (USA), bassist Rick Laird (Ireland), keyboardist Jan Hammer (Czech Republic, later to compose for "Miami Vice") and the explosive drummer Billy Cobham (Panama). Their loud, unison melodies at top speed made them stand out to any audience, but creative differences led to a split by the end of 1973. McLaughlin formed a larger, more melodic version which played for a few more years, but the first group is considered the "classic version" (which sadly I was not able to see live). You can listen at these links to some of their songs - such as Miles Beyond plus You Know You Know and the classical music-styled Lotus on Irish Streams - to get a sense of their sound.
At age 72, John McLaughlin has had a prolific subsequent career, performing in all sorts of styles (jazz, flamenco, Indian ragas, etc.), whose latest studio recording came two years ago, who has a nice career retrospective and was named by Rolling Stone as #68 on its Top 100 Guitarists of All Time.
Galveston, Texas native Larry Coryell was also at "present at the creation" of fusion music, having dabbled with it as the guitarist in Chico Hamilton's band in 1966, then joining vibraphonist (and future Berklee College of Music dean) Gary Burton's quartet, whose albums represented a milder rock sound than that which was soon to follow. Coryell performed on Herbie Mann's famous Memphis Underground album before beginning his seminal fusion band The Eleventh House in 1973.
Featuring drummer Alphonse Mouzon and original Blood, Sweat & Tears trumpeter Randy Brecker, Eleventh House was not as well known as the other bands profiled here, but was funkier and thus moved easily in rock circles and had better success overseas. Have a listen to songs at these links - such as Ism-Ejercicio and Birdfingers - that will give an example of their sound (which I was fortunate enough to see a performance of). But several personnel changes and uneven material led to their demise in 1975.
At age 71, Larry Coryell has (like John McLaughlin) led a busy life - performing with McLaughlin at times and others in many styles. For years, he wrote a monthly column in Guitar Player magazine, and in just the past few years: he released an excellent autobiography and had a sort-of career retrospective DVD. His current tour brings him to Yoshi's in Oakland next week, and he's the father of two professional musicians: Julian the pop singer and Murali the blues guitarist.
The one non-guitarist of this profile is Armando Chick Corea who is as adept on the grand piano as he is on all sorts of electric keyboards, and yet with a distinctive style. The Chelsea, Massachusetts native's father was a Dixieland trumpeter in Boston, and while attending the Juilliard School in New York, Peter Schickele (aka P. D. Q. Bach) described Chick as "the most awake student I ever taught".
Chick began with several noted bandleaders (Mongo Santamaria, Willie Bobo, Stan Getz and Herbie Mann) before steping out as a leader in 1966. Then (along with John McLaughlin) he spent time in Miles Davis' fusion band, replacing Herbie Hancock, and coming to prominence in a wider arena. After performing in acoustic free-jazz settings, in 1972 he formed Return to Forever - "RTF" - his seminal band.
This began as an electric Brazilian-influenced band, with flutist Joe Farrell and the husband-wife duo of Airto Moreira and Flora Purim. But within a year the band underwent several changes: ending with (L-to-R in photo below) drummer Lenny White, Chick himself, guitarist Al DiMeola and Stanley Clarke - one of the finest electric bassists around, who has had a sterling solo career himself - who adapted the harder-edged rock sound that made them popular on the rock concert circuit as well, and which became the "classic" version of RTF. At these links: you can hear tunes such as Vulcan Worlds and the wonderful acoustic tune No Mystery - and I was fortunate enough to meet them (while assisting a college newspaper reporter) when they played at Hofstra University in New York back in 1975. RTF continued later than the other two bands profiled, but split when the fusion market dried up in the late 1970's.
At age 73, Chick Corea has had a prolific career ever since: appearing on numerous duet/trio collaborations, plus leading various incarnations of his Elektric Band and - whaddya know - his Akoustic Band - plus some classical piano recordings. He has an actiove tour schedule if you have a listen at this link to his composition Spain - one that even non-jazz fans may recognize - you'll know why Chick Corea has won 20 Grammy Awards over the length of his career.
Of the three bands profiled above: Return to Forever had a world-wide reunion tour in 2008, along with a live album resulting (reunion photo below). The Eleventh House had a one-night reunion just last year. The author Walter Kolosky wrote an excellent book on the Mahavishnu Orchestra, but fears a reunion may never take place.
Yet I can safely say: if either the Mahavishnu Orchestra or the Eleventh House ever decided to reunite for a tour - they would have no trouble selling tickets. Jeff Beck would be "Exhibit A" for a rock musician who has been influenced by fusion music, among many others.
So what to choose for a song itself?!? In the spirit of these three bands, perhaps combining musicians from two of them is the way to go. The RTF bassist Stanley Clarke's most popular song School Days captures the essence of fusion music: a catchy melody, a sound accessible to the rock music fan, yet retaining the features that jazz musicians brought to it (plus adding some funk as well). And below you can listen to it - where he is joined by Larry Coryell on guitar.