Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Charlie Parker finds the pretty notes
Charlie Parker makes me grin ear to ear. Here´s a great passage from Thomas Pynchon´s Gravity´s Rainbow about him (Red is Malcolm X):
“Follow? Red, the Negro shoeshine boy, waits by his dusty leather seat. The Negroes all over wasted Roxbury wait. Follow? “Cherokee” bass, the thousand sets of feet where moving rose lights suggest not pale Harvard boys and their dates, but a lotta dolled-up redskins. The song playing is one more lie about white crimes. But more musicians have floundered in the channel to “Cherokee” than have got through from end to end. All those long, long notes..what’re they up to, all that time to do something inside of? is it an Indian spirit plot? Down in New York, drive fast maybe get there for the last set--on 7th Ave., between 139th and 140th, tonight, “Yardbird” Parker is finding out how he can use the notes at the higher ends of these very chords to break up the melody into have mercy what is it a fucking machine gun or something man he must be out of his mind 32nd notes demisemiquavers say it very (demisemiquaver) fast in a Munchkin voice if you can dig that coming out of Dan Wall’s Chili House and down the street--shit, out in all kinds of streets (his trip, by ‘39, well begun: down inside his most affirmative solos honks already the idle, amused dum-de-dumming of old Mister fucking Death he self) out over the airwaves, into the society gigs, someday as far as what seeps out hidden speakers in the city elevators and in all the markets, his bird’s singing, to gainsay the Man’s lullabies, to subvert the groggy wash of the endlessly, gutlessly overdubbed strings...So that prophecy, even up here on rainy Massachusetts Avenue, is beginning these days to work itself out in “Cherokee,” the saxes downstairs getting now into some, oh really weird shit...”
JOS, my novel I´ve got end in sight for finishing in December, it ends when it ends and not when a clock sez, though I am enjoying doing it with you guys immensely.
Posted by Owen on from Barcelona 11/29 at 07:09 AMGreat passage, Owen. You’re right, of course, it will be finished when I’m finished. Mudge won’t be too happy...but is he ever?
The best class I ever took (by far) in college was the history of Jazz...the teacher was kind of a square, but I was exposed to a lot of great stuff. My uncle (a recently retired priest) is probably the greatest source of Jazz infomation that ever existed. One of the best Jazz stations in Chigago used to call him up once a week just so that he could talk about the stuff he knew.
He had a record collection that filled an entire room and one day he wrote me a letter saying I should rent a U-haul truck, drive to Chicago and pick it up. I had absolutely no where to put all of it and my mom knew it would end up in her garage, so I endedd up turing him down...he donated the records somewhere...but to this day I regret not renting that U-Haul.
Posted by JOS on from PR 11/29 at 07:54 AMhi all
you can get the bliar clip here… http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4478946.stm
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/29 at 08:05 AMalso, if you want a laugh…
http://tinyurl.com/c8o5k - look - i used it!!
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/29 at 08:06 AMHi Mickey, Owen, JOS, and Michael. Charlie Parker puts a smile on my face, too BUT Erroll Garner is still my favorite jazz artist. Ken Burns faced some criticism a while back when he did not include Garner in his jazz documentary. Garner won the Playboy Jazz poll back in the 50’s for being the world’s greatest jazz pianist. “Concert By The Sea” might just be the greatest album ever recorded....not bad for a guy who never took a music lesson and never did learn to read music. Maybe that’s what made him so great.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/29 at 08:55 AMGood morning, everyone. Thanks for the excerpt, Owen...and the links, Michael.
Some more Charlie Parker:
“Don’t play the saxophone. Let it play you.”
“If you don’t live it, it won’t come out your horn.”
“Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn. They teach you there’s a boundary line to music. But, man, there’s no boundary line to art.”
Bird knows the best things in life are “free.”
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/29 at 10:08 AM1) Happy belated birthday, Owen! I hope it was spent doing whatever makes you happiest.
2) Happy belated birthday to Nancy, too, and thanks for all the fun the blog’s given me.
3) “Mudge won’t be too happy...but is he ever?” Really now, Big Country, is that fair to say after all the props I’ve given you? Now is it? I’m waiting, young man....
4) I will cross the 50,000 divide later today, yay me.
5) I just heard from my professional publishing contact that I am not remotely finished. I need to “sex up” the sex ring by about 200%, which means inventing some prostitutes. I’ve watched some documentaries on teen prostitution in the Czech Republic that will break your heart. A couple on Internet call boys in the US that are unbearably sad. Playing this for humor, as I have been doing, is more and more distasteful. (For the record, it was done initially to make the subject palatable...it’s all been getting darker anyway...it’s just the initial laughs are now ickier, knowing what I know.) So I’ll win, but I won’t be finished, and I needed to whine about that.
6) Hi MZ, Michael, RMJ my dear, and Joe and Helga when they show up. I’m outta here until Thursday, when I shall be “across” the Great Divide. xoxo
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/29 at 10:30 AMMudge! You’re right...that wasn’t fair at all. Perhaps I was just goading you back to Mickey’s comments section, Richard “The Happy” Curmudgeon.
Posted by JOS on from PR 11/29 at 11:03 AMhello again
it seems all the american radicals have decided to come here for a big party in the next few weeks. i saw david rovics on sunday night (i tried to get him to buy your book mickey!), just been to a lecture by norman finkelstein and cindy sheehan is turning up next week!
lots of eminent ‘persons’
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/29 at 12:10 PMsorry, not ALL the american radicals…
Mickey,JOS, mudge, RMJ, Joe, kier and all else...your all welcome too.
and owen knows the way, he’s from just round the corner
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/29 at 12:12 PMChomsky/Herman interviewed on Iraq:
Posted by JOS on from PR 11/29 at 12:50 PMOn the retraction of the Guardian’s Chomsky article:
Posted by JOS on from PR 11/29 at 12:56 PMI was just outside in shorts...on November 29.
Anyway, in more important news:
http://tinyurl.com/b42jhPosted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/29 at 02:27 PMHello!
Mickey…
Abbie and (Edward) Abbey made good quotes and of course I only use them which feels like they hit the nail right on it´s head.
When you find pages like these,it´s easy though:
http://tinyurl.com/9dzxdI was at the dentist a few days ago it cost me approximately 270 $ for an halfhour and filling three holes,is it the anaestethic which make it so expensive?
Druginformation at my work today,one in tenth of grown-ups is addicted to alcohol they say and that affects often at least three or four more persons lifes,that´s a lot?
Whatever..?
Posted by The poster formerly known as "Old Glen". on from 11/29 at 02:28 PMMickey,
thanks for making my day again - it is quite early on a Wednesday morning in Daylesford: 6:21 am to be precise, and it will be the last day of spring down under as well.
Thanks for the entry from 50AR and for all those fabulous links.
And hi, all of you MZ’ers. I wish I could be where Michael is (on that note, where in Scotland do you actually live?) - I like Norman Finkelstein’s books, especially ‘The Holocaust Industry’, but then his take on Christopher Hitchens, as read in CounterPunch a few years ago, is absolutely spot-on as well:
http://www.counterpunch.org/finkelstein09102003.html.
Ciao!Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 11/29 at 02:31 PMActually it was 6:31 am on Wed 30 November when I finished typing my first entry and now it’s 6:32 am in eastern Australia ..
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 11/29 at 02:32 PMHello Glen and Helga.
Michael, I forgot to drop this hint: I would love to get a copy of 50AR into Cindy’s hands.
Helga, I also like Finkelstein. Had a chance to chat with him for a while years ago. Very mellow, down to earth.
Glen, here’s a Vonnegut quote you might like: “The late twentieth century will go down in history, I’m sure, as an era of pharmaceutical buffoonery.”
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/29 at 02:39 PMMickey, it may be so...more or less?
I found another Edward Abbey quote I agree 100% with:
“Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am-- a reluctant enthusiast...a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it is still there. So go out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains, and bag the peaks.... and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over your enemies, over those deskbound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box… I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards.”...and here´s two as bonus:
“This is what you shall do: Be loyal to what you love, Be true to the Earth, and Fight your enemies with passion and laughter”“Preacher to me: “A dollar for the Lord, brother?” Me to preacher: “That’s all right, I’m headed his way. I’ll give it to him when I see him.”
Posted by The poster formerly known as "Old Glen". on from 11/29 at 02:47 PMhelga - its Glasgow. and since you sent us some nice pictures of daylesford then here is a bit of the centre of town....
Mickey - i saw that too. i don’t know what he is their for but it certainly isn’t to defend saddam. i thought it would be to be washingtons man on the defence team. maybe they think if he comes out with some left wing stuff and criticises bush et al then this might lend the proceedings a bit of credibilityPosted by michael on from scotland 11/29 at 02:48 PMmickey - i’ll do my best but if i manage it you’ve got to send me another one!!
deal?
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/29 at 02:50 PMThanks, Glen. Good stuff.
Michael, if you get Cindy to read my book, I will send you as many copies as you like.
Also, you have an interesting take on Ramsey Clark. I believe he is sincere but I agree with you that he will likely end up hurting the cause by lending credibility to the silly canard that anti-war leftists are pro-Saddam.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/29 at 02:56 PMHi All...I admire Ramsey Clark. He has opened himself up to a lot of criticism by defending Saddam. I think that a lot of people feel that it is a miscarriage of justice to have the US prosecuting Saddam.
Tonight at 9, MSNBC, an interview on death row with Tookie Williams.Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/29 at 03:56 PMHi all.
MZ - Great that you mention Parker in 50AR; even more reason for me to buy it. While on the subject of jazz, there was a great article on Coltrane and the civil rights movement in Socialist Review (dated Oct, 2003). An excerpt:
“On the Sunday morning of 15 September 1963 a dozen sticks of dynamite were planted by white racists in the basement of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. At 10.45am the bomb went off, killing four young black girls aged between 11 and 14.
...Coltrane wrote the song ‘Alabama’ in response to the bombing. He patterned his saxophone playing on Martin Luther King’s funeral speech. Midway through the song, mirroring the point where King transforms his mourning into a statement of renewed determination for the struggle against racism, Elvin Jones’s drumming rises from a whisper to a pounding rage. He wanted this crescendo to signify the rising of the civil rights movement.”
Posted by RT on from Houston, Tejas 11/29 at 03:56 PMRT, the link didn’t work but I still like what you excerpted. Is it me or does it seem less high profile artists are aware today than in Coltrane’s time?
RMJ: There is much to admire about Clark and his book The Fire This Time is essential Gulf War reading. I just think he will be sound bit to death by the corporate media.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/29 at 04:37 PMmost (not all) high profile musical artists are an amorphous lot till the record companies get a hold of them and mold them.
they are also a supine bunch after that. can anyone really tell one girl or boy band fom the next lot?
the reason for this is not because art and society is drifting that way, it is that the methods of distributing it are increasingly down to the companies so less ‘dangerous’ bands are signed.
in trying to tone thigns down they have actually made it worse for themselves because with all these mass-produced and mss-marketed bands around record sales have been increasing for independent labels making good music but they have consistently fallen for the sort of bands that get in the top 20.
finally, if little corporate band, signed by corp, tunes written by corp, style by corp,
clothes by corp, try to do or say anything political, then little corporate band are out on their ass.so ends the ballad of little corporate band.
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/29 at 04:48 PMtroble brewing in venezuela…
http://tinyurl.com/du2scPosted by michael on from scotland 11/29 at 05:19 PMDemocracy being stifled in the Land of Chavez? Looks like a job for Dubya…
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/29 at 05:27 PMthats what i was thinking
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/29 at 05:29 PMMickey, I agree that the corporate media will try to do a job on Ramsey Clark but I was surprised just now to hear that MSNBC did an interview with him yesterday. I did not see it but the viewer reaction today was mostly positive for Clark. When I was arrested one of the things on my sign was the list of US war crimes as compiled by Clark. The main part of my Appeal of the conviction is that the jury was not allowed to see that information. If I am remembering correctly, I got that list of war crimes from “The Fire This Time”.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/29 at 05:35 PMMZ - As per you question, I think Michael echoed my sentiments on the matter…
From the BBC article Michael posted: “National Assembly Speaker Nicolas Maduro said the US embassy was working with opposition groupings such as Sumate to encourage abstention and scepticism about the neutrality of the election board.”
That says it all…
Q: Why has there never been a coup de tat in the United States?
A: Because there’s no American embassy in Washington.
Posted by RT on from Houston, Tejas 11/29 at 05:42 PMThanks for the nice pic of Glasgow, Michael! I am quite a fan of ‘Taggart’ actually, and that is set in Glasgow no?
And Mickey, I envy you your chat with Norman Finkelstein. He has a great website btw: http://normanfinkelstein.com. Hope the man visits Australia in the not too distant future!
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 11/29 at 05:44 PMyes but it would be fair to say that its not particularly representative. it is, after all, a tv show.
great joke RT
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/29 at 05:55 PMHi RT, about a US coup...Every US election since 1947 should be declared invalid.
http://tinyurl.com/dvn7bPosted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/29 at 05:56 PMTed Kennedy (or at least his speechwriters) came up with a good one: “Shamefully we now learn that Saddam’s torture chambers reopened under new management, U.S. management.”
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/29 at 06:15 PMWritten by Ramsey Clark: http://tinyurl.com/7qnef
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/29 at 06:22 PMRight with ya RMJ - great article.
Re: U.S. management > change the management, but not the firm.
.
Re: U.S. democracy > change the management, but not the firm.Posted by RT on from The Buyou City 11/29 at 06:26 PMThanks Mickey for the link in comment #35 “...The very detention of Saddam Hussein is illegal. The U.S. invasion of Iraq was a war of aggression, an offense called “the supreme international crime” in the Nuremberg Judgment. Prisoners held by the U.S. as a result of this war of aggression must be released, or turned over to the United Nations, or the International Criminal Court, and not a jurisdiction of its choice....”
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/29 at 06:36 PMGreat stuff here, sorry to arrive so late. Mickey, gotta say thanks for the Charlie Parker bit. My three biggest influences, in order of my discovery of them: Charlie Parker, Maceo Parker, Evan Parker, none of whom are related. There are some important things left out of your Charlie Parker story though, like the fact that he further disregarded mainstream respectability by showing up at gigs and recording dates without a saxophone. Organizers had to purchase cheap, sometimes plastic, saxophones, which he played stunningly (check “The Quintet” album recorded in 1953 in Toronto and his recording of “Lover Man"). I think it’s important that it didn’t matter how expensive and “proper” the instrument was--it was all in him.
That quote “Don’t play the saxophone, let it play you.” That’s it all right. Take it from me. That’s what’s missing in standard saxophone teaching these days.
Anyway, we just came back from an incredible evening in Amsterdam where we attended a presentation by the wonderful duo known as the Yes Men (http://www.theyesmen.org/). Direct action meets art meets satire meets exposing corporate and institutional insanity and irresponsibility. Great stuff.
Posted by Keir on from The Hague 11/29 at 07:13 PMWell, I doubt we’ll be doing that, eh Rosemarie?!
Right now, or this coming weekend, Montreal is hosting a major conference on global warming. Most of the world is watching. We, however, won’t even participate…Brief Summation of US Foreign Policy: “#### You!”
Great to reread your coup d’etat article.
Didn’t Herr Truman create the CIA with that same sweep of the pen? Imagine, an organization dedicated almost exclusively to the creation of chaos, horror, and wretchedness… for the greater good, of course.Great conversation going on, guyz. A wonderful read. And, hello, Mudge - nice to see you, however briefly. And Hi to all…
From John Steinbeck:
“I wonder why progress looks so much like destruction.”Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/29 at 07:17 PMHey Keir - sorry I didn’t see ya…
Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/29 at 07:19 PMHello Expendables. Thanks for the rather eclectic discussion here today. An excellent day on the board, I’d say.
P.S. I finished my novel (sic).
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/29 at 07:57 PMHi Mickey! Congrats!
It looks like we’re seeing some nice, early CIA work in Venezuela. Well, they’re just getting warmed up, I’m sure. Wait till their “second set!”
Warning: Long Post…
Rosemarie, I suspect that every US election should be declared invalid…
According to Jerry Fresia: “Never has a US President been elected by a majority of the nation’s adult citizens… to a large degree, this is due to the fact that the Constitution was designed to discourage, not encourage, the participation of the majority.”William Appleman Williams: “Our...Founding Fathers knew the ideas, language, and reality of empire...It became...synonymous with the realization of their Dream...Under the leadership of Madison, the...convention of 1787...produced (behind closed doors) the Constitution. Both in the mind of Madison, and in its nature, the Constitution was an instrument of imperial government at home and abroad.”
No special popular elections were held to select delegates to the Constitutional Convention, instead, the delegates were selected by state legislatures. Moreover, the convention was called - just to amend the Articles of Confederation, which was the prevailing law of the land, at the time. Any proposed changes had to be approved by ALL of the states. But the framers slipped past the various legal stipulations. They designed an entirely new, centralized government, and inserted in the document that it should go into effect when ratified by only nine states.
J.W. Burgess: “What the Framers actually did, stripped of all fiction and verbiage, was to assume constituent powers, ordain a constitution of government… and demand a plebiscite thereon, over the heads of all existing legally organized powers. Had Julius or Napoleon committed these acts, they would have been pronounced coup d’etat.”
Madison:
“In framing a system which we wish to last for ages, we should not lose sight of the changes which ages will produce. An increase of population will of necessity increase the proportion of those who will labor under all the hardships of life, and secretly sigh for a more equal distribution of its blessings. These may in time outnumber those who are placed above the feelings of indigence.”
“...our government ought to secure the permanent interest of the country against innovation...”Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/29 at 09:02 PMFor the cherry on top of Joe’s reality cake, Emma Goldman remidns us: “If voting could change anything, it would be illegal.”
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/29 at 09:15 PMOr, to rephrase RT’s excellent lines, somewhat -
We changed the names and repainted the structures, but we held firm to the sordid traditions of aristocracy…Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/29 at 10:15 PMHow about this one from Poltergeist?
“You moved the cemetery but you left the bodies, didn’t ya? You left the bodies and you only moved the headstones. You only moved the headstones. Lies. Lies.”It’s 10:18. Signing off from a very rainy Astoria, NY.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/29 at 10:18 PMVery agile, Mickey.
Well, what about Craig T. Nelson, in the same film, stoned, standing up on the bed, pushing out his stomach, pulling it in, pushing it out, pulling it in: “Look Honey… before...after...before...after...”It’s been raining here, too, Mickey - for days, it seems, though there was some sunshine for a while this afternoon. Tonight the weather guy says: “There’s a significant storm on the way.”
And, while we’re at it - what about all these tornados, recently? I thought they were hot-weather storms…
I wonder if the temperature of the world is increasing, somewhat, adding water to the atmosphere, and increasing weather volatility....?
If so, there could be some really frightening events on the way.
I’m going to alert the authorities, right now. They’ll want to know!G`Night, my friend.
Sorry I got in so late… strange day, strange life.Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/29 at 11:26 PMIMPORTANT
http://www.blairwatch.co.uk are compiling a list of websites, blogs and magazines who will publish the downing street memo relating to al-jazeera if they get it. please add your sites/blogs etc to the list…
also, al jazeera journalists have set up a blog in order to try and get support for not being bombed! please take a look…
http://dontbomb.blogspot.comPosted by michael on from scotland 11/30 at 04:54 AMoh and kier - i met the yes men last year. nice day in the pub. they are a scream.
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/30 at 04:55 AM
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