The Squeeze

Here in the Chicago area, gas prices are very high - between $3.99 and $4.19/gallon. Of course, the pump price seems to bump up a few cents almost every day as oil trades ever higher due to intense worldwide demand, tight supplies, a weak U.S. dollar and rampant speculation. If these prices hold or continue to increase, the level of waste and inefficiency in the U.S. economy will decrease over the long haul - people are already cutting back on unecessary travel, using mass transit more often and buying smaller, higher MPG cars. So in the long run, this spike in prices will lead to innovation and a reduction in our dependence on fossil fuels. But in the short run, there is pain. For example, one of the trips people don't seem to be making is the drive to local blues clubs in the Chicago area.

The Mystery Band played at the famous Harlem Avenue Lounge in Berwyn last Saturday. We had a great band, and we even had decent promotion for a change - the Chicago Sun Times wrote a positive blurb on the show in the weekend section last Friday. Despite this effort, the show was sparsely attended. OK - it was raining - but I think gas prices are having a negative impact on nightlife. Most blues fans are members of the middle class, and they are now flinching over the cost of a night out - gas is the biggest issue, along with higher prices for food, drinks and almost everything - and they opt to stay in with a DVD and a meal from Pizza Hut.

I felt bad that we didn't draw - our last show at the Harlem was pretty full - and it hurts in the pocketbook for both the band and the club owner.

But hey - the Mystery Band rocked out anyway. It doesn't matter if we have 10 people or 10,000 people - we are going to burn as hot as we can.

A Story To Feel Good About...

The gentleman pictured above is Phillipe Quint, a rising young classical violin star. He left the Soviet Union in 1991 and is now a U.S. citizen (Yay!). The dashing Mr. Quint had a brain cramp on April 21 and left his $4 Million Stradivarius violin in a taxicab that took him from the Newark Airport to his crib in Manhattan. D'oh!! The driver, Mr. Mohammed Khalil, got the instrument back to Mr. Quint. The violoinist was quite pleased, so he threw a free concert for the guys at the cab stand at the Newark Airport. Here is the article on the event from today's New York Times...

May 7, 2008
Cabdriver Thanked for Returning a Stradivarius
By RICHARD G. JONES

NEWARK — The violinist stood on a makeshift stage between two lampposts crowned with a patina of bird droppings, under a weathered vinyl canopy hastily erected outside Newark Liberty International Airport in the taxicab holding area. The audience watched him in awe, about 50 drivers in three rows, their yellow cabs a few feet behind, some lined up neatly, others askew.

As Philippe Quint spent half an hour playing five selections, the cabbies clapped and whistled. They danced in the aisles, hips gyrating like tipsy belly dancers. “Magic fingers, magic fingers,” one called out. Another grabbed the hand of Mr. Quint’s publicist and did what looked like a merengue across the front of the “stage.”

Afterward, the virtuoso was mobbed by drivers seeking his autograph on dollar bills, napkins and cab receipts.

“It was so pleasing to see people dancing — that never happens,” said Mr. Quint, 34, a Grammy-nominated classical violinist. “These people, they work so hard, I doubt they get a chance to get out to Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center.”

So Mr. Quint took Carnegie Hall to them, in a miniconcert that was his way of expressing a simple sentiment: Thank you.

On April 21, Mr. Quint accidentally left a Stradivarius violin, valued at $4 million, in the back seat of a cab that he took from the airport to Manhattan on his return from a performance in Dallas. After several frantic hours, the Newark police told him the violin had been found and was at the airport taxi stand with the cabdriver who had taken him home. The two connected, and the violin was returned.

“Anybody out here would have done the same thing,” said the driver, Mohammed Khalil, waving a hand at his laughing, dancing colleagues.

The city of Newark awarded Mr. Khalil, who has driven a taxi here since 1985, a Medallion, its highest honor. Mr. Quint gave him a $100 tip when the violin was returned, but he wanted to do more, so he arranged for Tuesday’s concert in a parking-lot-turned-theater.

Clad in black, with his dark hair falling over his closed eyes, Mr. Quint dazzled the crowd with a theme from the movie “The Red Violin”; Gershwin’s “It Ain’t Necessarily So”; a Paganini Variation; and the Meditation from Massenet’s opera “Thaïs.” Joined by his friend Michael Bacon, a guitarist (and the brother of the actor Kevin Bacon), Mr. Quint played a piece they had composed, “Seduction Blues.”

On the horizon, there was the blocky spire that was the air traffic control tower. Every now and then a seagull would alight on one of the trailers where the cabbies play dominoes during their wait for fares. Occasionally, a silhouetted plane would glide by overhead, providing a rumbling accompaniment to the music.

But despite the setting — or maybe because of it — Mr. Quint’s audience seemed particularly moved by his gesture.

“I like that he came here,” Ebenezer Sarpeh, 46, said, in the accent of his native Ghana. “And, yeah, the music, I like it.”

It was Mr. Sarpeh who burst into spontaneous applause on several occasions and started yelling “magic fingers” during one particularly deft moment. Later, he took a turn in front of the stage and his fellow cabdrivers laughed and cheered while he shimmied and moonwalked, the Newark Taxi Cab Association’s answer to Justin Timberlake.

Like many of the cabdrivers in attendance, Mr. Sarpeh said it was the first recital by a classical violinist that he had ever attended. A few confessed that they had little more than a passing familiarity with such music. But they were proud to surround Mr. Khalil, who sat front row center in a black suit with a pink shirt and matching tie.

“If one cabby does something good, we feel like we all do something good,” said Patrick Cosmeus, 43, who has been driving for a decade and seemed a little sheepish as he admitted that he had seldom found anything more valuable than a forgotten cellphone in his taxi. “But everything we find, we always return it,” he added.

“Everything we find is valuable to someone,” Mr. Khalil pointed out. “If you lost your pen, you would think it was valuable.”

The violin that Mr. Quint left behind, which had been lent by two benefactors, was still being inspected for any problems from its journey, so he played the Tuesday program on a Guarneri.
Afterward, Mr. Quint posed for photographs with Mr. Khalil, whom he has also invited to a September concert at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. As he signed autographs, he retold the story of his lost violin and its triumphant return.

“He saw how distressed I was,” Mr. Quint said of Mr. Khalil. “He just gave it back to me and he noticed I was in no condition to go home by myself. So he said, ‘Why don’t I give you a ride home?’ I said, ‘No, no, it’s OK, I’ll take a bus, I’ll take another taxi. He said, ‘No, I’m happy to give you a ride back, because you’re my last customer.’”

As he had planned for months, Mr. Khalil retired from driving a cab the day he took Mr. Quint home.

Don't you feel a little better about the world after reading this story?

The First Job

I am lucky to have four children, ranging in age from 12 to 26 (the boy is the oldest: the other three are girls). The two older offspring have launched into adulthood and are off the parental payroll. My next eldest daughter, Amanda, is 16 years old - a magical/terrifying year in the typical human's life. My youngest girl has just turned 12 and is gingerly navigating the choppy waters of middle school. It is the 16-year old that has had the biggest life change recently - she has taken Her First Job.

Amanda has always been fascinated by plants and nature - she loves to hike in the woods, and she can stare at flowers for a very long time without becoming bored. It seemed very sensible to follow this passion into the workplace, so she applied for and was hired as a part-time worker in a major nursery in our area. It is quite interesting to observe the changes in Amanda's perspective now that she is in the workforce - she is incensed when a co-worker slacks off, she is delighted to hang around plants all day and she is interacting easily and comfortably with many strangers (Amanda has never been an extremely outgoing person in the past, but she is when she is on the job).

Like any parent, I am proud of what she is doing at this nursery. I am also relieved - it looks like she will be able to navigate her working life successfully. It looks like she will come off the parental payroll, just like her tow older siblings. Whew.

Another Living Musician I Love - Gary Valente

As a former trombonist, the sound of a well-played sliphorn stirs my blood and causes my heart rate to increase. Gary Valente has the most intense tone of any trombonist - indeed, his raucous, growly shout is unique among all instrumentalists. His use of dynamics (from pianissimo to triple fortisimmo), the rip-roaring glissandi, the splattering stacatto attack - this guy is unique. But it isn't his technique that grabs me - it is his towering passion. Gary Valente is the only trombonist that causes me to choke up when I listen to his solos. I just don't know why I react this way, can't tell you specifically what it is that sends me over the edge.

I first heard Gary Valente on the "Carla Bley - Live" album, which was recorded in San Francisco at the Great American Music Hall ("GAMH") in 1981. The GAMH is still open; the building dates back to 1907, but the GAMH began operating in 1972 (I saw Duke Ellington at the GAMH in 1973, less than a year before he died). Gary's "star turn" on the "Carla Bley - Live" album was "The Lord is Listening to Ya, Hallelujah." This tune is a total gospel rave-up; it is on my top ten list for instrumental performances. This is a great tune for people that want to start investigating Valente's work. His other stuff with Carla Bley is also great, and Gary is on at least one of Joe Lovano's records ("Worlds," 1995). Valente is also on George Gruntz's 2006 album, "Tiger By The Tail." As far as I can tell, Gary Valente has not put out an album under his own name, which is too bad.

So check out Gary Valente - you won't be sorry.

Gone Too Soon - Sean Costello

This is from the Bob Corritore Blues Newsletter:

RIP Sean Costello 4/16/79-4/15/08: This shocking and sad news just in from Steve Hecht of Piedmont Talent: Blues singer/guitarist Sean Costello was found today dead in his hotel room in Atlanta, Georgia. He would have been 29 tomorrow. Cause of death is not known at present but details will posted on the Piedmont Talent website as they are revealed. Sean had recently released his fourth CD, We Can Get Together on the Delta Groove Record Label, and was a featured guitarist on the acclaimed new Nappy Brown CD Long Time Coming on Blind Pig Records. A handsome young man with amazing guitar ability, a fine voice, and a strong sense of carrying forward the tradition of the blues, Sean was a rising star with a brilliant career in front of him. In a world where we sorrowfully watch so many elder statesman of the blues pass, the loss this youthful bright light is especially hard to take. Rest in peace, Sean.

This is a shocking loss - too soon, Sean, too soon.

Little Arthur Duncan is Sick

This doesn't sound good - 75-year old Little Arthur Duncan, the "real deal" harp blower and blues shouter, was rushed to the University of Illinois hospital over the weekend for emergency brain surgery. He is in intensive care, apparently conscious and somewhat responsive. According to Twist Turner (Arthur's drummer for the past 30 years), he had a golf ball-sized tumor in his brain.

I am a long-time admirer of this man. I hung out with him whenever I had the opportunity (see photo above). A wonderful fellow and one of Chicago's greatest blues performers. We are praying for his recovery...

Good Bye, Michael "Blue Stew" Miller

I lurk on "Blues-L," a list-serve devoted to blues music and blues people. One of the most prolific posters was a gentleman that went by the handle of "Blew Stew," which was the name of his band. Michael Miller had a wicked sense of humor and lots of interesting insights. He died a week ago; the word went out on the list and the members were pretty stunned - he was only 56 and no one knew about his health struggles. So we Blue-L members (aka 'Zellers) are coping with cyber-grief. Mike Miller was one of those musicians that worked hard, had serious talent, but did not gain wide fame - which is, of course, the lot of most musicians.

Here is Mike's obit, posted on his website.

Michael Paul Miller, lead guitarist, singer, and songwriter for Blue Stew, passed away at his home on April 8, 2008 at the age of 56 years.

Mike graduated from Oxnard High School in 1970 and began touring across the US performing in various bands. While at a gig in Minnesota he met his future wife Julie and moved back to California to start a more stable lifestyle. He graduated from the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood in 1981 with the goal of becoming a studio musician, but as he had difficulty reading sheet music this goal never came to fruition. Instead he continued with bands and eventually joined Blue Stew. In 1983 he married Julie and they had one son, Justin.

Blue Stew became a key focus for Mike and allowed him to write and play numerous songs in his 14 years with the band. Mike and the band originally enjoyed local success before getting recognition further afield, with the last recognition winning the Santa Barbara IBC and traveling to Memphis to compete in the 2008 International Blues Challenge Final.

Mike's life and musical inspiration came from many sources, but his struggle with living with Tourette's Syndrome, which is a genetic disease that manifests itself by vocal and motor tics, severe headaches, A.D.D., and severe depression, was a key factor in many of his songs and lyrics. Mike kept his struggles with Tourette's Syndrome private, but spent many hours on the internet helping other families deal with the disease. The Tourette's made him unable to maintain a normal job, so he found his solace in drawing, songwriting, singing, and playing guitar. Besides constant writing and listening to music, he also enjoyed music trivia, watching movies, playing with his dogs, and anything that included his son Justin.

Mike believed in the power of music and the ability it had on changing people's lives, including his own. With Blue Stew he wrote numerous songs for their four albums in addition to performing. In 2002, Mike set up recording equipment in his bedroom and for months he would be alone in his room recording every instrument and every vocal on his own and the result was his very personal album, Homeward.
Mike lived for the feedback from others and just wanted to have his music heard and although to many he was a star, his depression would always make him feel less worthy. As a way to have his music spread, we would like to offer his Homeward album available for download with your donation. Your contribution will go directly to the family with a portion donated to the Tourettes Association to raise awareness of the disease. The family thanks you all for your love and support.

May our memories of Mike be an inspiration for all and may his spirit live on through his music.

Yoko Noge and Jazz Me Blues at the Velvet Lounge

I finally made it out to see Yoko Noge and her "Japanesque" Jazz Me Blues band last weekend - they had a date at the Velvet Lounge in Chicago. The Velvet Lounge is operated by the great saxophonist, Fred Anderson; he has run the joint since 1982 - it moved from its spot on S. Indiana around the corner to Cermak about a year ago. I am ashamed to admit that this was my first visit to the Velvet. Fred was at the door, collecting cover charges, last Saturday night. My jaw dropped - this would be like Charile Parker covering the door at Birdland.

The picture above is Yoko with her husband, soprano saxophonist Clark Dean. Clark didn't play with the band during the set I saw at the Velvet Lounge - Jimmy Ellis was playing alto. Mr. Ellis is up there with Fred Anderson, Sonny Rollins, Von Freeman and other senior practioners of the jazz saxophone art. He has performed with a huge range of talented people - from Nat King Cole to Sun Ra. His work with Yoko Noge last Saturday was stunning - his tone was keening and beautiful, his demeanor was joyful.

The rest of Yoko's band was equally killer. The regular bass player with my band, E.G. McDaniel, was in the rhythm section; Jimmy Burns, the blues superstar, played guitar and contributed some vocals, and Joe Junkins was on drums. Rounding out the band were some Japanese instrumentalists. Tatsu Aoki played the shamisen (the traditional Japanese 3-stringed cross between a guitar and banjo - you would recognize its sound if you heard it). It was a total hoot to hear Aoki-san jamming away on the shamisen, plinking out blues riffs. He usually plays bass in Yoko's band. There were also two taiko drummers in the band - I didn't catch their names - but they contributed much drive and flash to the music.

Yoko Noge is a unique musician. She plays piano with authority and power - not surprising since she learned her craft from the legendary Erwin Helfer. And her voice - wow! It is hard to describe. Very soulful, not "sweet" - Yoko is not a typical crooning female vocalist. At times, she reminded me of the late, great Betty Carter - adventerous, unconventional and delightful. Yoko projects a warm, kind aura - you feel better about life when you are in the same room with her

So now I am an offical Yoko Noge fan. Anyone who has not heard this great musician needs to get with the program. She plays every Monday at Andy's in Chicago. Go see her!

Making a Record

This is a picture of the control room at Reeves Audio Recording, a hidden gem of a recording studio in Evanston IL. The owner-operator of this temple of audio recording glory is Mr. Jim Reeves, an old-skool superstar recording engineer with cutting-edge equipment and technology. My buddy, bass player EG McDaniel, introduced me to JR. He has served as engineer/producer for recordings by Sly Stone, War, Wynton Marsalis, Count Basie, Johnny Winter, Lou Reed, Gregg Allman, Mott the Hoople, ZZ Topp, and a host of others. He has been in this game for 45 years or more, and his 64-track recording studio is absolutely top-shelf.

The Mystery Band has been receiving repeated requests for a recorded sample of our music. I have waved these off for over a year, but I finally decided to move ahead and make a professional recording. There will be a dozen original tunes on the disc, all from the quirky, twisted mind of Mr. G.

We got all the tracks in the can in about ten hours of studio time. I have never participated in a lengthy recording session as the leader of a band - it is weird. Every musician is in a different room to isolate his contribution and record it on a separate track. Eye contact is pretty much eliminated, and all communication between musicians is done over the headphones and via video monitors. This makes it tougher to be spontaneous and "call audibles" during a tune. The Mystery Band is all about spontaneity and happy accidents that produce good music. This is hard to recreate in the studio.

I have been listening to the rough cut of the tracks for over a week and I have started to return to Jim's studio to fix glitches. It seems like the fixing is tougher than the initial recording - it took JR and I three hours to get an acceptable version of one song!

This is all costing some serious coin, so the project has shifted from being a goof/hobby expenditure to more of a business endeavor. I want to sell enough copies of this disc to break even (at least). I think that will mean selling 800-900 copies of the CD (or generating equivalent revenues from track sales on-line). This is a pretty lofty goal for a part-time bar band........

Gruenling and Guyger

Joe Filisko's Monday Night Chicago Advanced Blues Harmonica class at the Old Town School of Folk Music was jammed on March 24th. Dennis Gruenling and Steve Guyger were visiting to play and promote the Little Walter Jacob tribute album "I Just Keep Lovin' Him," assembled and produced by Dennis (Mr. Gruenling also performed on most of the tracks). Steve and Dennis are a study in contrasts - Guyger is a craggy, broad-shouldered, compact man well into his 50's; Dennis is a tall, slender guy in his 30's with very long hair. They are united by their devotion to blues harmonica generally and Little Walter Jacobs in particular.

Dennis' album is delightful, and I am very impressed with the way he is building a multi-faceted musical career - he is a performer, a recording artist, a teacher, a blues disk jockey and a harmonica microphone technician. This is a busy young fellow.

Ah, yes, the Great Little Walter.......

Harmonica players all know how important Little Walter was to the instrument. More than any other player, he inserted the blues harmonica sound into the American culture. His creativity and aggressive musicality placed him above any other player. Yes, he built on the foundation established by John Lee Williamson (Sonny Boy I), but he took it far, far beyond the point that Williamson reached.

Dennis and Steve took the Monday night crowd on a tour of the world Little Walter created...from the early years through his jazzier, jump blues period. it was terrific.

The group that assembled at the Old Town School of Folk Music was amazing - lots of harmonica stars in the room - Dave Waldman, Jim Leyban, Tom Albanese, Buzz Krantz and many others. We are lucky the Chicago fire marshall didn't poke his head into the small classroom - it was filled to 3-4 times its recommended occupancy, with several people (including me) sitting on the floor at the feet of the two harmonicists.

An observation - we were celebrating the life and artistry of an African-American blues genius, who died violently in Chicago at the age of 39, cutting short a life that may have continued to produce great musical innovation. Yet there was not a single African-American in the room - all white folks of various ages and genders, with a sprinkling of Hispanic people. Is this due to a lack of outreach on the part of the organizers of the event or a lack of interest in the blues legacy by African-Americans in Chicago? Probably a combination of both factors. It would have been cool to have Bob Stroger there - he played with Little Walter - or Billy Branch. It seems strange to be celebrating an African-American artist without the participation of African-Americans.

What the Hell???!!!

My day job took me to New York on Monday through Wednesday of this week. I got to hear about Govenor Spitzer's flame-out while in the Big Apple! It was pretty interesting. How can high IQ guys be so incredibly stupid? And immoral? And embarrassing? Hey, I have been married for almost 20 years and my wonderful wife and I are now quite middle-aged. Guess What? We love each other too much to act like idiots, even though it might give us a short-term thrill. And we definitely have lower IQ's than Eliot. Conclusion - high IQ's do not indicate that a person is of high quality.

For some reason, this whole story makes me feel shitty. It seems like another indictment of immature/horny male baby boomers. Man, I know a few middle-class Eliot Spitzers. Guys who cheat on their wives to amp up the excitement in their lives. Guys who bring mistresses into their marital homes when their wives are out of town. Guys who go to strip clubs and get their rocks off during a $500 lap dance performed by a 19-year old college freshman. Bleah. Its better to stay home with Rosie Palm and her five duaghters. That is safe sex, man.

Live Band on the Radio

So it was snowing and wicked cold last Thursday, but the Mystery Band had a commitment. We schlepped out to Glen Ellyn IL to play live on "Hambone's Blues Party," a two-hour long show on radio station WDCB (90.9 FM), the public radio station at the College of DuPage. Hambone is an extremely fine person, working hard to present blues, R&B and soul music to the public - he is an advocate of the blues. Not surprisingly, he is an advocate in his "day job," too - he is an attorney in a law firm in downtown Chicago. Here is a shot of Hambone in "attorney mode."

I have never claimed to be a professional musician and this was my first time playing music live on a radio show. We squeezed two guitarists (Tony Palmer and OSee Anderson), a bass player (EG McDaniel) and a drummer (James Carter) into the tiny studio. Hambone had me play harp direct into the broadcast mike - no amplification - so I was hanging out there with no Fender to hide behind.

Yeah, I was nervous.

The show turned out OK, though. I thought it sucked until Hambone played the tape for me. Once again, I appreciated the great talent of my Mystery Bandsmen - they covered for me and carried me through the show. I don't have many recordings of the band (this was the first semi-professional recording we have done) so it is interesting to hear how it sounds - the good parts and the rough spots. It was both humbling and inspiring, if that makes any sense.

I highly recommend Hambone's show - every Thursday evening, from 10 PM until Midnite on WDCB, 90.9 FM. He has many of Chicago's excellent blues artists playing live in the studio - folks like Tom Holland, Chainsaw DuPont, Joanna Connor, Mat Skollar and many, many others. Hambone is doing a very good thing for Chicago's blues community and he deserves our support and gratitude.

Buddy Miles - Another Big Loss

I have been a Buddy Miles fan dating back to the Electric Flag days. He died too soon...RIP Buddy. Here is the obit from his hometown paper in Omaha NE.

Buddy Miles, an Omaha drummer and singer who played with legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix, died Tuesday night at his home in Austin, Texas.

The 60-year-old musician died of congestive heart failure, said his publicist, Duane Lee, of Dallas.

Born George Miles Jr. in Omaha in 1947, Miles had been fascinated with drums since age 6. "His father found him outside in the back yard practicing on some trash can lids," said Miles' partner, Sherrilae Chambers of Dallas, in a 2004 interview.

He joined his father George Miles' jazz combo, the Bebops, at age 12. Miles dropped out of Omaha North High in 1965, a few days before he was to graduate, to pursue a career as a professional musician. He received an honorary diploma from the school in 1998.

In 1967, he co-founded the Chicago band Electric Flag with Mike Bloomfield, who had just left the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. The group broke up after its second album, and Miles formed the Buddy Miles Express.

He met Hendrix in the early 1960s but didn't begin collaborating with him until 1969, when Hendrix produced an album by the Buddy Miles Express.

Miles was drummer on Hendrix's landmark "Electric Ladyland" album before officially joining Hendrix's Band of Gypsys with bassist Billy Cox a few months later. Miles wrote the Hendrix classic "Them Changes."

He worked with a variety of acts through the years, including the Ink Spots, Ruby & the Romantics, Wilson Pickett, the Delfonics, Stevie Wonder, Bootsy Collins, David Bowie and Santana.

"You name it, he sat in with them," said longtime friend Victoria Rose, who met Miles at a party in Hollywood when she was 17. She and her husband saw him perform last September at a club in Seattle.

During the early '70s, Miles was imprisoned twice on drug convictions.

In 1986, he became known as the voice of the California Raisins in a commercial campaign that yielded his hit rendition of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and a platinum "California Raisins" album.

Omaha musician Craig Balderston remembers jamming with Miles occasionally in the Mighty Jailbreakers, a local band, during the mid-'90s.

"He would sit in and sing with us. He was a fantastic drummer and a fantastic singer," Balderston said.

In 2004, Miles performed at the Omaha Riverfront Jazz & Blues Festival and was inducted into the Nebraska Music Hall of Fame that year. In 2005, he was inducted into the Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame.

"He was a great, influential musician and a wonderful person and friend," Rose said. "He was just a good soul. I think he's up in heaven with Jimi now. I think they're rocking."

His mother, Frances Miles, died in 1999. His sister, Gloria Miles, died in 2002. Survivors include his Chambers, a niece, nephew and stepchildren. A private memorial service will be held. ---

Matthew Curry - 12-year old Blues Guitar Hero

On February 7 - less than a week ago - at the New Lafayette Club in Bloomington IL (downstate from Chicago, home of Illinois Wesleyan University and Illinois State University) an amazing scene unfolded. There was a group of touring blues stars in town for a one night stand on one of the coldest days imaginable. Tommy Castro (guitar) from San Francisco, Ronnie Baker Brooks (guitar) from Chicago, Magic Dick (harmonica) from Boston and Deanna Bogard (keyboards and sax) from Baltimore were pouring out energy at a mid-week, in-transit, on the road gig. The show was hot, then the band brought up a local player - a 12-year old blond kid named Matthew Curry. THIS KIDS CHOPS ARE BEYOND BELIEF!!!!!!! IllinoisBlues.com sent a link out with its newsletter (Blues Blast). Anybody out there who reads this blog, check out young Matthew! He is a prodigy, a savant. You can see some concert footage by clicking here. Right after this youngster finished his first tune with the band, the power grid in Bloomington failed - a complete blackout!! A coincidence? I think not! Too many hot blues guitarists sucking up the juice last week in downstate Illinois.

Whew!

The Question

The greatest achievements of Western Civilization are the implementation of its core ideas - the importance of human rights, rationalism, freedom of thought and expression, the supremecy of law and equality under the law, the separation of church and state, self-criticism and governance via liberal democractic principals (that is "small l" liberal, not "Big L"). As Americans ponder the candidates for president (indeed, all candidates for any political office), the "big picture" question is "Who will further the implementation of the core ideas of Western Civilization in the United States of America?"

All other issues are secondary.

Super Tuesday - Something is Different This Time

I voted at 6:00 AM this morning, eager to beat the rush. My polling place is Washington School on Main Street (can't get much more middle-American than that!). Nothing much has changed at my polling place over the years, except you can use a touch-screen electronic polling machine instead of a paper ballot (choice left to each voter). The same senior citizens handle the poll monitoring and organization duties, the same folks stumble in at 6AM to vote (my friends and neighbors).

Then, something different. I saw Charlotte, a high school girl who recently turned 18 years old, in line and bright-eyed. She was with her mother, Laura. I have watched Charlotte grow up; she has been my neighbor since she was born. Like most teenagers, she is not usually conscious at 6AM, but today she was up and totally focused on casting her first vote ever in this 2008 Illinois primary. She registered at Evanston Township High School on her birthday.

I am an old voter; this is election day number 20 for me; I always show up right when the polls open. I have never seen a teenager at the polls at 6AM before. HMMMMMMM....

I suspect that this is the "Obama Effect," and it made me feel happy.

Another Living Musician I Love - Jon Hendricks

Jon Hendricks loomed large in my musical upbringing. I did lots of serious listening and hanging out in Berkeley in the early to mid-1970's, and Jon was a local guy. He taught some courses at UC Berkeley and Cal State - Sonoma, but he also would show up in various places to sing. He is an enormously creative lyricist and an ebullient singer who basically invented the world of vocalese (writing lyrics to fit instrumental jazz tunes, including the complicated bebop solos). He might be most famous due to his role with Lamberts, Hendricks and Ross - the vocalese trio that gained a measure of fame in the 1958-1964 period. But his work covers a lot of ground, including theater, television and journalism. Jon left California in 2000 and returned to his hometown of Toledo OH (quite a massive change from the Bay Area). He was appointed Distinguished Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Toledo.

Jon would pop up at obscure bars and coffee houses when I was hanging around Berkeley during my college years. And he still pops up unexpectedly. Here in Chicago, the vocalist Kurt Elling is a huge Hendricks fan, so he brings Jon to his gigs. There was a great night at the Green Mill night club on Chicago's north side a few years ago - Jon and Kurt sang together, and some of it was included on Kurt's disk - "Live in Chicago." If you want to hear something fun and awesome, check out Kurt and Jon doing "Going to Chicago." Two singers and a bass fiddle walking the blues - wicked stuff, man.

Quote of the Day

This is from the Great David Byrne of "Talking Heads" fame (but he has many other claims to fame)....

"I'm loathe to advocate something because it's good for you or because it's morally or politically correct. I'd rather advocate something on the basis that it's fun and feels good."

I am with you, brother.

A Musical Winter Weekend in the Chicago 'Burbs

It was wicked cold last Friday night, January 25. Mr. G and the Mystery Band was booked at Bill's Blues in Evanston. We didn't think anyone would show up due to the bone-cracking chill and the blowing snow, but a reasonable number of hardy souls came out, God bless 'em. The Mystery Band did its best to throw some heat to the crowd. We covered as many bases as we could - shuffle blues, slow blues, funk, rhumbas -- even reggae. With the great OSee Anderson and Anthony Palmer on guitars, E.G. McDaniel on bass, and Cool James Carter on drums, I was fronting one of the best bands in Chicago. We had some transcendent moments. I am very lucky to have an opportunity to play with these guys.

On Saturday night, I drove the old Subaru out to Carol Stream, an hour away from my house, to hear the Harry Garner Band. Harry is an old friend and fellow harmonica geek/vocalist. He is an impressive sight on the bandstand, with his fedora and biker tattoos. Harry has charisma and an effective, gruff voice that nails every song. Harry's band included one of Chicago's top father/son blues teams, Mark and JR Wydra. Mark (the dad) is a veteran player who supported Eddy "the Chief" Clearwater for many years. His son, JR, is a young guitar slinger who brings energy and indie-rock sensibility to the blues. Mark was playing bass on this gig; the second guitarist was one of Mark's students. (I missed his name, but the guy could play!). Harry's band was playing a joint called "Manhattan's," a suburban bar & grill that was full of mostly middle-aged, middle-class Midwesterners. As Harry said to me, "Ya gotta read the crowd." He had them pegged, and added some covers of the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Elvis to the blues mix. It was effective, and the dance floor was crowded with inebriated baby boomers. Some of these folks could dance. Most of them had no clue and no sense of rhythm. But, what the hell, they were having fun.

One last comment - Harry has lived the life of a bluesman, even though he is from Philadelphia, not Helena, Arkansas. He has overcome some challenges, and he is an admirable person.

On Sunday, E.G. McDaniel took me over to Reeves Audio to meet Jim Reeves. Jim is one of those unsung heroes of the music industry - a top-knotch recording engineer. He is also a fine musician ( a multi-instrumentalist) and singer. Jim has been recording, mixing and producing records for well over 40 years. He was the bullmoose engineer on hit records by Edgar Winter, Johnny Winter, ZZ Top, Gregg Allman, The Manhattan Transfer and many, many others. He set up his recording studio in Evanston IL about fifteen years ago and it is a thing of beauty. Large, incredibly well-organized and tricked out with enormous amounts of equipment, this place had me salivating. I have decided that the Mystery Band will record its first CD in this studio. Jim Reeves is a grizzled New Yorker with a big heart for musicians. I think it has been a tough slog to sell the services of a fancy recording studio in this digital age - seems like everybody has a mini-studio in their basement now.

The temperatures became a little less brutal Sunday night, so I hung out at the Stained Glass in Evanston. No music there, but my eldest daughter manages the bar. The Stained Glass is a fine dining establishment with a deep wine list. I had a nice glass of bordeaux. It was a perfect way to finish a great winter weekend in Chicago.

Francis Clay, Blues Drummer - RIP

We lost one of the great ones. Francis Clay was THE blues drummer, second to none. Blues drumming is an underestimated art, requiring a very sophisticated and subtle sense of the beat. Here is a note from Bob Corritore's newsletter:

FRANCIS CLAY - NOVEMBER 16, 1923 - JANUARY 23, 2008: Another legendary Chicago blues master has left us. J.D. and Laura Diamond report the passing last night of drummer Francis Clay Born in Rock Island, IL, on November 16, 1923, Clay quickly found a love of music. He first picked up the guitar at age 5 and soon switched to drums. By age 14, he was playing professionally and found leanings towards jazz. He had an entrepreneurial spirit and dabbled in music lessons, a booking agency and a recording studio. He worked with George "Harmonica" Smith in the late 1940's, toured with jazz organ great Brother Jack McDuff in the early 1950's and landed a 4 year stint with the acclaimed Muddy Waters band in 1957. It was his time in Muddy's band that he is most famous for and great records such as "Got My Mojo Workin' ", "She's 19 Years Old" and "Walkin' Thru The Park " would not have been the same with out his brisk, interactive beat. In 1962, he left Muddy to form a band with James Cotton and then worked with Otis Rush and Buddy Guy before rejoining Muddy's band in 1965 for a two-year run. He would go on to work and record with Lightnin' Hopkins , John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed , Otis Spann , Shakey Jake , Victoria Spivey , Sunnyland Slim, Big Mama Thornton , and many others. Some classic albums on which Francis Clay performed are Muddy Water "Live At Newport", Muddy Waters "Sings Big Bill Broonzy ", Otis Spann "The Blues Is Where It's At", James Cotton "Pure Cotton" and John Lee Hooker"Live At Cafe Au-Go-Go ". He would retire from drums due to knee problems and crippling arthritis and settle in San Francisco, California where he was an honored elder statesman of the blues in his community. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Francis was a frequent guest of honor at Randy Chortkoff''s annual Little Walter Festival in Los Angeles, and was presented with the festival's "Hall Of Fame Award". His last recording, released in 2004, was a guest appearance on Johnny Dyer 's "Rolling Fork Revisited" (produced by Mark Hummel, where he plays a cut backing Johnny with fellow Muddy alumnus Paul Oscher . He was a kind and gracious man who was proud of great history in blues music. We will miss him greatly.

Pete Candoli and Bob Enos Join Gabriel - RIP

Sometimes I think that the Reaper uses the buddy system - he takes folks two-by-two so they have a partner as they cross over to the other side. Two great trumpeters passed away this week - Pete Candoli, the screech specialist who played lead with so many great big bands, and Bob Enos, the long-time horn man in the band, "Roomful of Blues." I have clipped their obits from their hometown papers. Here they are:

Pete Candoli, 84: jazz trumpeter
Known for his high-register work, the musician played with such big names as Dorsey, Herman, Kenton and Beneke.

By Jon Thurber

Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

January 16, 2008

Pete Candoli, one of the top high-note lead trumpeters in jazz who performed with some of the leading figures of the big-band era, has died. He was 84.Candoli, whose brother Conte was also an acclaimed trumpeter, died Friday of prostate cancer at his home in Studio City, according to Sheryl Deauville, his life partner of 22 years.From a childhood in Mishawaka, Ind., Candoli forged a six-decade career and was featured in bands led by Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Tex Beneke and Les Brown.While with Herman's First Herd during World War II, Candoli became known for his high-register work and even wore a Superman costume while performing the specialty number "Superman With a Horn."He moved to the West Coast in the early 1950s and established himself as an excellent studio musician. He can be heard on two of Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn" albums and was sometimes seen playing in the background on the television show.According to his website, Pete Candoli also arranged and conducted for Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee. Frank Sinatra would often fly him to Las Vegas for gigs.When they weren't working in the studio or with "The Tonight Show" band for Johnny Carson, the Candoli brothers were a popular attraction at Southern California clubs, concert halls and festivals, often leading their own band.A gifted showman, Pete Candoli perfected an impression of Louis Armstrong that became near-legendary. "The first time I did my version of Louis was when I was touring in Japan with Benny Carter and a bunch of all-stars," Candoli told jazz writer Don Heckman some years ago."At that time the biggest thing in Japan other than the national anthem was [Armstrong's recording of] 'When You're Smiling.' So when somebody found out I could sing like Louis -- that was it, I had to do it at every concert."Candoli was born June 28, 1923. He and his brother, who was four years younger, were encouraged to take up music by their factory-worker father, who wanted a better life for his sons. Their father performed in an Italian marching band in Mishawaka, which is adjacent to South Bend, and the boys grew up in a house full of instruments, including the trombone and saxophone.A prodigy, Pete was mostly self-taught on the trumpet. He got his union card before he was a teenager and was playing gigs, including Polish weddings, around his hometown, Deauville said.He began playing with Sonny Dunham's orchestra in 1941 and went on to work with a long string of other name bands, including Herman's First Herd. While with that group, he recommended his brother Conte for a job, and Herman ended up hiring him.In the 1970s, Candoli established a nightclub act with his wife, singer Edie Adams. He sang, danced, played trumpet and directed the orchestra.His marriage to Adams and an earlier marriage to singer-actress Betty Hutton ended in divorce. Conte died in 2001 at the age of 74.In addition to Deauville, Candoli is survived by daughters Tara Clair and Carolyn, two grandchildren and a sister, Gloria Henke of Mishawaka.

Roomful of Blues trumpeter dies in hotel, heart failure suspected
January 15, 2008

DOUGLAS, Ga. --Bob Enos, who played trumpet in the band Roomful of Blues for 26 years, died at a Georgia hotel while touring with the band. He was 60. Douglas Police Chief Clifford Thomas said Enos appeared to have died in his sleep from natural causes Friday morning, hours after playing a concert at the Douglas Country Club. "Whether it was a heart attack or a stroke, I'm not sure," Thomas said Tuesday. "There was no sign of foul play."

Enos' last album with Roomful of Blues, titled "Raisin' a Ruckus," was released Tuesday on Alligator Records.

Enos joined Roomful of Blues in 1981, adding the powerful soloing voice of his trumpet to the eight-piece ensemble's punchy horn section and stylistic mix of blues, jazz, swing, R&B and soul. A native of Boston and resident of Wareham, Mass., Enos took up the trumpet at 14 and studied at the New England Conservatory of Music. He cited Louis Armstrong as his main influence. Before joining Roomful of Blues, he toured with The Platters and the jazz-fusion group Channel One. He played with the Roomful horn section on session recordings for Stevie Ray Vaughn, Pat Benatar and Colin James.

"Bob was one of a kind, a unique talent," Roomful of Blues guitarist and bandleader Chris Vachon said in a statement. "The band obviously feels devastated. When you work as closely together as a band like Roomful does, each person is family -- we're like brothers."
Bob Bell, who managed the band for 21 years until retiring in 2002, said Enos always wowed crowds with his ability to hit high notes on pitch. He also never let his performance slip despite demanding tour schedules that kept the band on the road up to 250 days a year.

"He was a road warrior -- he'd say that proudly," Bell said. "He'd look you in the eye and say, `This is what I do for a living.' And in the next breath he'd say, `I'm very lucky.'"

Despite Enos' death, the band opted to continue its tour and headed to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for its next gig on The Legendary Blues Cruise, a seven-day Caribean concert cruise featuring multiple artists. Former bandmember John Wolfe was replacing Enos.

Bell said Enos would have wanted the band to keep going. "It's a way of life for these people, and just to stop and say `We can't go on anymore' isn't going to get any bills paid," Bell said. "If it had been anybody else, Bob would've been just as torn up but said, `Hey, this is what we've got to do.'"

Chicago Blues Tour - January 19, 2008

Blues University is hosting the Chicago Blues Tour again in January. The start of the year is always a great time for blues shows in Cihicago - Buddy Guy plays his own club (Legends) all month, the Chicago Blues Tour is always scheduled for the middle of the month, and most of the top local players are in town - not as many touring opportunities in the dead of winter.

Johnny Drummer is one of the featured artists on the Tour this year. Here is a photo of Johnny at Lee's Unleaded Blues surrounded by his fans...


Here is the info on the Blues Tour. I would be there myself, but I have a gig that night...

7 clubs, 8 bands - live blues pub crawl
RSVP not required

Blues University® and the City of Chicago once again host the Chicago Blues Tour-- on Saturday, Jan. 19th. The tour, a “pub crawl” event connecting 7 of Chicago’s famous south-side lounges featuring live blues, departs from the Chicago Cultural Center at 77 E. Randolph St. Tickets include all transportation and admission charges for a nightlong blues adventure which this year includes classic lounges like Lee's Unleaded and East of the Ryan, as well as popular venues such as Linda's Place and The Tast. Buses depart from 6 p.m to 8 p.m., and then begin shuttling between clubs from 8 p.m to 2:00 a.m. Tickets (including discounted tickets through January 5th) are available through the Chicago Blues Tour website, http://www.chicagobluestour.com/wp/. Advance tickets are strongly recommended, as the tour often sells out. The website also includes details on participating clubs and performers.

A special advance party at the Chicago Cultural Center from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. will feature Dale Anderson and Mark Riggenbach, collectively known as The Delta Jets, an alt-blues duo from Green Bay Wisconsin. They perform in a stripped-down drums & guitar format which has been popularized recently by bands such as The White Stripes, although the Jets’ music is more informed by the early Delta recordings of Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, Son House. The Jets will also be featured on the tour, alternating sets with “Delta Crush” blues guitarist Chainsaw Dupont, fronting his band the Blues Warriors, at the Taste Entertainment Center, starting at 8 p.m.

Blues University® sponsors classes and events that expand the understanding and
audience for blues music. The Chicago Blues Tour began in 1990 as the West Side
Blues Tour and has expanded in scope to include live blues venues throughout
Chicago. The City of Chicago has helped promote blues tours through the Mayor’s
Office of Special Events since 1998. Blues U.® maintains an online archive of
blues information and is also launching a blues news service in 2008.

Some Thoughts on Being a Kid (by Arrested Development)

Arrested Development has been my favorite hip-hop group for ten years. They sent the following email out via MySpace yesterday....

Jan 5, 2008 2:55 PM
Subject: Those Born 1920 - 1979

THOSE BORN 1920-1979 -- TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.....As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or airbags. Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-Ade made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms.......WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! If YOU are one of them CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good . Baba Oje' - Arrested Development

Wandering through Wisconsin

Now the holidays are officially over. I saw the New Year in at Bill's Blues Bar, with Eddy "the Chief" Clearwater rockin' out on stage. I left right after midnight and walked home through an absolutely beautiful New Year's snowfall. It was magic.

On New Years Day, we had a little open house, with Hoppin' John (black-eyed peas and rice) and sparkling beverages (Spanish Cava, beer, carbonated soft drinks). Music broke out - bass, snare drum and harmonica backing vocalists and rappers. Lotsa fun.

And on January 2nd, Mr. G and fam decided to escape to the north. We headed to Wisconsin with no reservations and vague plans. The Volvo was packed with two adults, two strapping female offspring, and the two dogs (psychotic cat, obese hamsters and the three filthy bunnies stayed home).

We ended up in Horicon, WI - the town at the southern tip of the Horicon Marsh. This is a fantastic natural wonder, over 32,000 acres of cattail wetlands. It is often called the "Little Everglades of the North" and it is home to a diverse collection of plants and animals. It is also a popular stopping place for migratory birds, most notable Canadian geese. We thought that we would do a little hiking and a little bird-watching - there are lots of raptors that frequent the Horicon Marsh in winter.

It was beautiful, but wicked cold. The marsh was coated in snow, frozen solid, with dead cattails sticking up and rattling in the wind. We tried to hike, but single-digit temps and a gusty wind made it a tad too raw even for hardened Chicagoans. We hit the Horicon Marsh educational center instead, and limited ourselves to scenery visible from the automobile.

We crashed in Horicon, at the Royal Oaks Motel. Mrs. G quickly dubbed it the "Bates Motel," and it did hold a passing resemblence. The proprietor was a quirky chap, eager to please, with a classic northern Midwest accent - "Oh, geez, if I'da known yer comin' I'da warmed up the rooms, then. Its pretty darn nippy, doncha know." And so on. The accommodations at the Royal Oaks Motel were...um...basic. Indoor plumbing, a TV, rock-hard foam rubber pillows and a not-too-saggy bed. Oh geez. We decided to stay just one night.

So we got up yesterday and spent more time touring the marsh. Around mid-day, we decided to head farther north and trekked through Waupun and Ripon. The family saw the sign for Oshkosh - "Hey, isn't that where they make the famous overalls? Oshkosh B'Gosh?" So we spontaneously decided to head to Oshkosh and visit the Oshkosh B'Gosh factory store to buy some cool retro overalls.

Bad idea. Horicon was a lovely little town with a great diner (the Mothers Day Restaurant), a few bars, several churches, a John Deere factory and no fast food joints. Oshkosh is a generic middle-sized, midwest city that wasn't looking very attractive on a cold winter's day (and it had fast food joints on every corner). And the Oshkosh B'Gosh company went "blooey" over ten years ago - sold to a kids' clothing company; the factory and headquarters in Oshkosh are long gone. The adult-sized overalls are no longer made by Oshkosh B'Gosh - just kids' clothes. It seems wrong for a company to be slapping "Oshkosh B'Gosh" on kiddie clothes manufactured in China.

Our best option in Oshkosh was a Super 8 Motel that allows dogs. It was nicer than the Royal Oaks Motel, but it had no charm whatsoever. The dogs seemed to like it, though.

The 15 year old daughter was up at 8AM this morning, lobbying for an early return to civilization in order to visit friends in for the winter break. I was happy to accommodate. We are back in the E-Town abode, happy that we saw a little countryside. But happier still to be back in comfortable surroundings.

Back to Music: Another Living Musician I Love - Otis Clay

Frank Zappa once said "Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid." I agree with his sentiment. So enough with the desperate state of the world and back to the music!

And let's talk about Otis Clay!

Most consumers of pop music think that "Trying to Live My Life Without You" was a Bob Segar tune. Yes, Segar had a hit record with that tune, but it was the great soul singer, Otis Clay, that first unleashed that terrific song back in 1972. Otis has a back story that sounds familiar - he grew up in Waxhaw, Mississippi and first started singing in church at the age of four. He came north to Chicago in 1957 and started singing with the "hard gospel" groups that were common in town at that time. He sang with the the Gospel Songbirds and the Sensational Nightingales. In 1964, Otis "crossed over" to secular music.

Otis had a number of successes early in his soul music career. You might remember some of his tunes - "That's How It Is," "I'm Satisfied" and "Got to Find A Way." Otis Clay's biggest successes happened in the early 1970's - that is when "Trying to Live My Life Without You" climbed the charts. But then, disco hit in the mid-70's, and Otis wanted nothing to do with that shit. Many soul singers rolled into the disco scene (the O'Jays, et al), but Mr. Clay stuck with the powerful emotion-packed soul music that he loved. His music disappeared from the radio and his records stopped selling in the U.S. So Otis did a very smart thing - he toured overseas, starting in 1978, where soul music was still hot. He is a bona fide hero in Japan and he also found audiences in Europe. Check out this video from one of his mid-90's tours of Germany.

Otis never really broke with his gospel roots. He continues to perform as a gospel singer - he headlined the Gospel Fest in Chicago last summer. So Otis is a double threat guy - a gospel star as well as a successful soul/blues man.

His vocal chops and physical presentation is classic old-school soul at its finest. I feel fortunate that I have seen him perform here in Chicago. Otis Clay always lays his heart on the stage.

Santa/Satan

Hawh hawh hawh!!!!!

The Lull Between the Holidays

Yes, some of that money you spent during the Christmas shopping season was wasted - cash down the drain. And yes, you did have a few too many and played the drunken fool at the family Christmas party. But now the ripped wrapping paper and leftovers have been cleared away and things are relatively calm, until New Years Eve. So how should you spend the lull?

I have an idea - LET'S WORRY ABOUT THINGS THAT ARE BEYOND OUR CONTROL!!

1. RECESSION: According to the Economic Cycle Research Institute, 7 out of 10 Americans now believe that we are or soon will be in a recession (and economists will tell you, expectations tend to lead the economic cycle). The leading home price indicator is at a 6-year low, consumer confidence is dropping and oil prices are hanging in there in the $90+/barrel range (at $97/barrel this morning). We have just completed the 6th year of economic expansion; this is longer than the average growth cycle since the end of World War II. I think 2008 will be a down year. Mr. G sez, "Buckle up, people, it is going to be a bumpy ride."
2. PAKISTAN: Some nutjob just killed Benazir Bhutto. This nation is absolutely chaotic. David Andelman wrote an interesting piece for Forbes.com on the mess in Pakistan. It is a long-standing quagmire and the U.S. continues to sink deeper. Money quote from Mr. Anderson: "America's experience in Pakistan, and in scores of other countries around the world, has demonstrated one critical reality. At one point in the trajectory of any dictator, you own him. At another point, he owns you. We've reached that point now with Gen. Musharraf. There's a good chance that Benazir Bhutto might have been able to break this cycle. Now, however, Gen. Musharraf has an excellent excuse to postpone or cancel elections he was no doubt little interested in holding in the first place." So we have nuclear-armed nation on the brink of civil war/state collapse. Wooo! This is a real-world horror show. Many terrible things could happen. So are ya worried yet?
3. Global Warming Confuddlement: Al Gore has declared that catastrophic climate change is "imminent," that it is "an emergency," folks claim that the Artic summer icepack could be gone in a generation or so. This is my favorite free-floating worry. When I hear people speaking of "global warming" in passionate tones, I get the same feeling I get when the Jehovah's Witnesses come to my door - THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE BELIEF!! But Wait!!! The New Statesman, a Brit Socialist magazine, just printed an article by the BBC's science correspondent stating that the temperatures from 2001 through 2007 have been statistically the same - no warming for the past six years! Eh? A statistical blip? CO2 levels have been marching up every year but not the temps? Now I am completely confuddled.

I could go on, but I won't. Three enormous problems that I can't control is enough to carry me through the New Year holiday.......

Good Bye, Mr. Peterson

Oscar Peterson left us last Sunday - very bad news for piano jazz fans like me. He leaves a magnificent body of work, as bandleader and accompanist. I liked Nat Hentoff's reflection on Oscar, which appeared in today's Wall Street Journal. Here is what Nat wrote...

Oscar Peterson:
A Jazz 'Behemoth' Moves On
By NAT HENTOFF
December 27, 2007

Only when it was absolutely necessary, Oscar Peterson wrote, would he go on stage before a concert to check out the piano, because doing so "might lead to preconditioned ideas, and they can in turn interfere with the creative process so essential to a creative jazz concert."

For Peterson, who died on Sunday at age 82, his full mastery of the instrument enabled him to keep striving for what to him was his ultimate reason for being. In his equally masterful autobiography, "A Jazz Odyssey: The Life of Oscar Peterson" (Continuum, 2002), he said of the "dare-devil enterprise [the jazz experience]" in which he engaged for so many years that it "requires you to collect all your senses, emotions, physical strength and mental power, and focus them totally on the performance. . . every time you play. . . . Uniquely exciting, once it's bitten you, you never get rid of it. Nor do you want to; for you come to believe that if you get it all right, you will be capable of virtually anything. That is what drives me, and I know it always will do so."

He wrote that after a stroke in 1993 that, at first, limited the use of his left hand. But "the will to perfection," as he called it, kept driving him, and as a result he regained much of his customary skill, and with it the satisfaction of continuing to surprise himself.

Born in 1925, Peterson was mandated by his father to practice piano at a very early age; but it was hearing Nat "King" Cole that fired his enthusiasm, and he won a talent contest at the age 14. By the 1940s, Peterson was already a presence on the radio in his native Canada and in Montreal clubs. But his audience began to greatly expand when jazz impresario Norman Granz heard him and brought him to New York's Carnegie Hall in 1949 for one of Granz's "Jazz at the Philharmonic" concerts, where the competition was so intense that many careers of the participants were enhanced.

Granz became Peterson's manager and close friend as they toured Europe and other continents. Also a producer of records on his Verve and Pablo labels, Granz extensively featured Peterson, not only as leader of his own trios but also as an accompanist for a wide range of other jazz masters whom Granz recorded. Among them were Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Carter, Ben Webster, Billie Holliday, Duke Ellington and Roy Eldridge.

As classic jazz players used to say of extraordinary peers, Peterson had "big ears." In all the varying contexts of these Granz recordings, he remained himself while also being completely consonant with the diverse stylists on those sessions.

A fascinating section in his autobiography describes what each soloist required of Peterson as an accompanist. For instance, Eldridge "would slide over to me and quietly ask, 'Can I get my strollers, please?' By this he meant that he intended to start simply with a mute aided by Roy Brown's bass in the lower register.

"He trusted the remaining members of the rhythm section not only to sit out and allow the excitement to build between him and Ray, but more importantly, to anticipate exactly where to re-enter and move him up a few notches emotionally."

Moreover, as a writer from the inside of the music, Peterson's profiles of other longtime associates prove him to be a master practitioner of jazz history and criticism. As he wrote: "To have played for these and other behemoths of the music world certainly served to educate me in areas in which that type of education just isn't available [and] served to deepen my true realization of the immensity of the music we know as jazz."

Because of the scores of albums Peterson recorded, it's difficult for me to select any as the best. So, subjectively, two that make me rise and shout are, "The Oscar Peterson Trio at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival" (1956) and "Night Train" (1962). (Both are on the Verve label).

Another autobiography that matches Peterson's in moving the reader into the life force of jazz is Sidney Bechet's "Treat It Gentle" (Da Capo Press, 2002). He writes of growing up in New Orleans: "That music, it was like waking up in the morning and eating. . . it was natural to the way you lived and the way you died."

And for Peterson, the pleasures of being inside that music recalled, he wrote, "the joyful exclamation [guiarist] Barney Kessel produced after [the] first evening in my trio. He came over to me after the last set, shook his head, and said with that Oklahoma accent, 'Oscar, that was better than sex!'"

Wherever he went around the world, Peterson's effect on audiences demonstrated the truth of Art Blakey's invitation to extreme pleasure: "You don't have to be a musician to understand jazz. All you have to do is be able to feel."

Mr. Hentoff writes about jazz for the Journal.

Main & Chicago Ave in Evanston IL - A Historic Piece of Real Estate; GONE

I am not sentimental about buildings. There are architechtural masterpieces that qualify as works of art, and then there are old buildings that are not especially beautiful. The two-story commercial building at the corner on Main Street and Chicago Avenue in Evanston was not a stunning architechtural gem. But the old structure had some serious history. It is now gone, torn down, a hole in the ground waiting to be filled by another nine-story, 71 unit generic condo building. The new building will be uglier and taller than the old building. Condo prices in the new "Main Street Station" development range from $299,000 to $540,000. With the decline in the real estate market, I am not sure these units will be absorbed quickly. Maybe the folks that really want to be close to the CTA elevated and METRA trains will shell out for these condos, but I doubt it.

So lets talk about The Main, as the old building was once known in my neighborhood.

Yes, it was a squat, unattractive structure, but it was old. I guess that it was built prior to 1900. It had a few decorative touches, but it was a pretty basic building that covered an entire block. In the early 1970's, a local real estate developer, Ed Noonan, decided to renovate the old girl and turn it into a shopping complex. This did not turn out to be a mall, however - the original structure was retained, the mechanical systems were updated, and the floor plan was altered to provide space for a variety of retail establishments on the first floor. Office space for various professionals (doctors, dentists, lawyers, massueses, etc.) was available on the second floor. Ed pulled off a rare real estate project, improved an old building and the neighborhood was better for it. He named the new shopping center "The Main." It was cool.

Shortly after the re-opening of The Main, a locally-famous and controversial tenant moved in. Amazingrace was a coffeehouse/collective that was born in 1970 on the Northwestern campus. It was awash in the hippie ethos of the time (leftist philosophy, organic food, folk music, communal living, etc.). Amazingrace and the university had a falling out, and the performance activities of the collective moved to The Main in 1974. Amazingrace became one of the best music venues in the Chicago area - and maybe the world - for three years. The collective expanded from folk into jazz, blues, soul and rock. In addition to Bonnie Koloc and Jim Post, Amazingrace hosted Luther Allison, The Siegel-Schwall Blues Band, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Gary Burton, Jean Luc Ponty and the Grateful Dead. I saw Charlie Mingus there in late 1976, shortly after I arrived in Evanston from Berkeley CA. The Amazingrace space in The Main was unique - there were no food and drinks served (it didn't have a kitchen), and if I remember right, there were no seats. Patrons sat on a series of carpet-covered risers/steps that surrounded the stage. It was an awesome club, but it was run by anti-business/anti-profit hippies who were always bickering with each other. They fell behind on their rent, and the new owner of the building booted them out. A convenience store took over the Amazingrace space.....

Another wonderful business in The Main was the Main Cafe - a classic "breakfast all day" diner that is the mark of a quality neighborhood. The Main Cafe lasted quite a while - I think it was still operating in the early 1990's. The owners had the good fortune to receive the first license to operate a liquor store in Evanston (which is thriving on Davis Street); the diner business looked less exciting than selling hootch to thirsty college kids. I think there was a fire at the Main Cafe that precipitated its closing, but it has been gone for fifteen years now.

Travel agencies, carpet emporiums, optometrists, pizza joints, health clubs, and miscellaneous clothing retailers have all called The Main home through the years. And yes, the condo building will have first floor retail space, but it will probably charge higher rents, which means larger, higher volume venues (I am thinking that a Cosi's is coming to my neighborhood soon).

At one time, the intersection of Main and Chicago Avenue in Evanston was anchored by The Main, a nice old bank building, a convenient parking lot and the old Main Newstand. Now we have two butt-ugly condominium buildings and a construction site. Well, at least we still have the old newstand.


It is not an improvement to the area, that's for sure.

I understand that it makes sense to concentrate housing units around the mass transit spokes. I understand that folks like that "condo lifestyle" and they want to live in Evanston - close to Chicago but with suburban amenities. But the Chicago Avenue corridor from Dempster to South Boulevard is now choked with monstrous condo builidings that look like they were designed by the 1960's Soviet Union School of architecture. Why has this "progress" been so damned ugly?

Frank Morgan - Heir to Charlie Parker - RIP

Be careful who you idolize, and how you idolize them. That is the message of Frank Morgan's life. He had an all-consuming admiration for Charlie Parker, and learned how to blow be-bop alto like the Bird. He also took up the Bird's bad habits, and ended up in and out of prison due to his use of heroin. From the late '50's through the mid'80's, Frank was off the scene due to incarceration - robbery, drug posssession, etc. He would get out, do another crime, and go right back in. He finally played his first New York club engagement in 1986; he got clean and stayed clean.

Frank gave us 20 years of great jazz; he found out he had cancer just last month and he went down quick. here is the Washington Post obit.....

Frank Morgan: 1933 - 2007
Noted jazzman who made a comeback

Heir to the hard-bop style of Charlie Parker had 30-year hiatus caused by addiction
By Adam Bernstein

The Washington Post

December 19, 2007

Frank Morgan, 73, a jazz saxophonist of impeccable ability, whose claim to the mantle of the celebrated Charlie Parker was clouded by his heroin addiction, died Dec. 14 at his home in Minneapolis. He had colon cancer and kidney failure.

Mr. Morgan, whose father was a guitarist with the vocal group the Ink Spots, was considered in his teens a promising interpreter of hard bop, a swing style of lightning pace.

Despite a 30-year absence from performing caused by addiction, he was remembered as someone who could bring emotion to the frantic sound in a way few had mastered since Parker. Parker, one of the great geniuses of saxophone, died from drug abuse at 34 in 1955.

Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis once said of Mr. Morgan's playing: "What comes out of his horn is soulful, full of fire and timeless."

In 1955, Mr. Morgan debuted as a solo artist with a beautifully made hard bop collection, but for the next three decades he was sidelined by heroin addiction and arrests. He served prison terms in California penitentiaries and formed a small ensemble at San Quentin prison in the 1960s with another addict and sax player, Art Pepper.

He credited a conversion to Islam during the end of what he called his "prison career" as a turning point for the better as well as an acclaimed series of performances at New York's Village Vanguard jazz club in 1986. A year earlier, he cut his second album, "Easy Living," which won praise.

With a bebop revival under way in jazz, Mr. Morgan made the most of his second chance. He said he was able to wean himself off drugs through methadone.

He was leader on more than a dozen albums. Among those he played with were Marsalis, pianists McCoy Tyner and Hank Jones, guitarist Kenny Burrell and singer Abbey Lincoln.

As a youth, he played the guitar but switched to alto saxophone after his father took him to hear Charlie Parker in Detroit. The younger Mr. Morgan said he began copying Parker's drug habit in hopes of channeling his talent. He was a full-blown addict when they met again a few years later.

In 1987, New Yorker writer George Trow collaborated with Mr. Morgan on a musical about his life, "Prison-Made Tuxedos," that ran off-Broadway in 1987. But Mr. Morgan, who performed in the show, expressed ambivalence about having to relive those years every night.

"I mean, I want to remember it, but I didn't want to dwell on it and deal with it again every night," he said. "I saw a lot of people killed. I'm out of that now."

Once asked why so many jazz musicians became addicts, he replied: "It's about being hip. Jazz musicians would rather be dead than not be hip."