Rene's Apple

It is imperative that I update my blog

2011-08-16T11:14:00.001-04:00

That should do it.

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers-"Pick Yourself Up"

2011-02-01T11:03:00.005-05:00

Here's yet another version of "Pick Yourself Up", this time by Fred and Ginger.

Fred pretending to be clumsy is not only hilarious, but may well represent the greatest acting job of all time.

UPDATE- I know that here I'm testing the Black and White Rule, in which people under a certain age automatically look away when they see something in B & W.

If you're my age (51) and you do this, you're a certified philistine.

Donna Lee, Clifford Brown, and some French dude

2011-01-15T12:50:00.001-05:00

The immortal Clifford Brown's amazing "Donna Lee" solo played on recorder by some dude named Benoit Soave'. Not a gimmick-it actually works musically.

H/t-Trumpet Kings

The circus is in town, with all its wonders

2011-01-11T14:44:00.002-05:00

Being just an inch taller than Aloysius, I too am a medical marvel. Stolen from the always clever Dr. Boli.

Wonder if Aloysius knows Mr. Kite?

Nat King Cole/George Shearing-"Pick Yourself Up"

2011-01-10T18:12:00.000-05:00

A few days ago I posted the Sinatra and Diana Krall treatments of this classic song.

I always enjoy hearing great artists' different ways of attacking standards, so let's give a listen to Nat Cole's version, here with George Shearing, from their wonderful early sixties collaboration.

Corrinne May-"In the Bleak Midwinter"

2011-01-05T14:05:00.001-05:00

A lovely treatment of In the Bleak Midwinter by Catholic singer Corrinne May.

H-t: Crossed the Tiber.

Father Brown and the cross

2010-12-30T18:07:00.005-05:00

Rene's Apple's "patron saint" (see the URL) GK Chesterton's unforgettable Father Brown, as played perfectly by Alec Guinness in the 1954 flick of the same name. Great stuff.

H/t-Terry Teachout.

UPDATE: Guinness and his wife Merula converted to Catholicism in 1956.

'Twas the night before Kwanzaa, and Whitey was supposed to be nervous

2010-12-24T13:00:00.000-05:00

Turns out its origins aren't so innocent-read Kathy Shaidle on same.

Google loves this blog

2010-12-21T12:10:00.002-05:00

Type "John Salmon" into your handy Google box, and this blog comes up first. Still.

God knows why, since it's long been known that this site is remarkably unpopular world-wide, and it's not like I update it with any great regularity.

Just as I suspected...

2010-12-21T11:34:00.001-05:00

Have a Merry Christmas anyway.

Frank Sinatra/Diana Krall-"Pick Yourself Up"

2010-12-08T11:54:00.001-05:00

Unfortunately, not Frank and Diana together. I like the little Shearing bit in the Krall version.

Diana does an awful lot with a small voice and not what you'd call huge piano chops.

Jeff Beck & Imelda May conjure Les Paul and Mary Ford-"How High the Moon"

2010-12-06T13:56:00.004-05:00

Never heard of Imelda May, but she certainly does a creditable Mary Ford. Clearly Jeff Beck has no problem aping the legendary Les Paul.

Not exactly how Charlie Parker did "How High the Moon", but great stuff nonetheless.

Stolen from Chaz at Dustbury, who, just as clearly, has impeccable taste.

Holly Cole, Basia-"The Waters of March"

2010-12-06T09:46:00.003-05:00

One of the finest songs ever written-Jobim's "The Waters of March"-as done by Rene's Apple fav Holly Cole. Great art work compilation, by whoever the hell it is who posted this on Youtube. I could use some March right now.

And also Basia with the same song:

Frank Sinatra-"You've Brought a New Kind of Love of Love to Me"

2010-12-04T11:40:00.003-05:00

More Frank, from his Capitol (i.e., peak) years.

UPDATE: We had this record when I was a kid, and every time I hear it, I still anticipate the skip the record had just when the string section kicks in.

Tine Thing Helseth-"In the Bleak Midwinter"

2010-12-01T12:32:00.001-05:00

Kind of breaking a rule here-I've posted this before. But Helseth's treatment of this lovely Christmas piece is worth another listen. She is a phenomenal Norwegian trumpeter in her early 20's.

Leslie Nielsen, home plate ump

2010-11-29T15:49:00.004-05:00

Leslie Nielsen, aka Frank Drebin the cop, pretending to be an umpire to find out who was trying to kill the Queen (it was Reggie Jackson, of course). Accompanying music by another Rene's Apple fav, Randy Newman, with his "I Love LA". Enjoy.

UPDATE: Here are the best moments from Neilsen's "Naked Gun" flicks, several of which feature the immortal OJ Simpson as Nordberg. This might be the best collection of sight gags in the history of man:

Benny Goodman/Teddy Wilson-"Body and Soul"; "Lady Be Good"

2010-11-27T10:16:00.004-05:00

Here's Benny in 1980, still playing well-but the real treat is his old Quartet partner Teddy Wilson's piano playing, with all its elegance and swing. I wonder how many thousands of times these guys played "Body and Soul" in their careers?

Lionel Hampton, of course, was the last living member of the classic Goodman quartet....Hamp died in 2002.

UPDATE: Here's Benny showing off his stuff a little more, on "Lady Be Good". Funny how he pauses to get the audience, which may've been holdovers from the Lawrence Welk Show, to stop the mindless clapping.

Which reminds me of the Buddy Rich joke about Welk-"Welk decided he'd get a little hipper one night, so he decided to play some Ellington. But his intro was a little dicey: 'Now we are going to play the Duke Ellington classic, 'Take a Train'".

Carmen McRae-"I'm Gonna Lock my Heart"

2010-11-27T09:43:00.002-05:00

More Carmen, here from the 60's. This is how it's done, folks.

Nancy LaMott-"Two for The Road"

2010-11-24T14:37:00.004-05:00

I usually feature jazz or jazz -influenced vocalists here...Nancy LaMott was more of a cabaret singer. But she had a gorgeous voice, perfect phrasing, and was well-respected beyond the narrow world of cabaret. Here's Nancy with Mancini's lovely Two for The Road, which was featured in an Audrey Hepburn-Albert Finney movie that I've never seen.

UPDATE: The link, which features tons of pics of the extremely lovely Audrey Hepburn, is definitely worth a click.

Carmen McRae-"No More Blues"

2010-11-24T14:20:00.001-05:00

Ella may have been The First Lady of Song, which I certainly wouldn't dispute, but Carmen McRae was The First Lady of Swing. Here's a fine 1979 reading of Jobim's "No More Blues".

UPDATE: According to the "always-authoritative" Wikipedia, NMB may've been the very first bossa nova song, dating back to 1958.

Holly Cole-"Que sera', sera'"

2010-11-18T18:55:00.001-05:00

The wonderful Holly Cole gives us another departure from what you'd expect when you hear a song title-the groove here is Ray Charles, not Doris Day. Enjoy.

Holly Cole-"Little Boy Blue"

2010-11-17T12:16:00.001-05:00

The hippest kids' story ever.

Diane Schuur/Maynard Ferguson-"Besame Mucho"

2010-11-14T13:51:00.005-05:00

Maynard's high-octane style might not seem ideal for backing vocalists, but in fact he did fine work with jazz vocal icons such as Irene Krall, Chris Connor, and, a few years ago, Diane Schuur. Enjoy.

Frank Sinatra-Ella Fitzgerald-"The Lady is a Tramp"

2010-11-10T10:29:00.001-05:00

How can I resist posting my two favorite singers in one of their rare appearances together? In fact, this '60's Sinatra TV special may well be the only time they worked together. Enjoy!

Frank Sinatra/Nat King Cole-"Fly Me to the Moon"

2010-11-10T10:06:00.004-05:00

This is from a Sinatra TV special dating to, obviously, 1969 (Frank refers, wittily, to the recent moon landing). FS in great form.

One of the many things that amazes me about this man is that, though he clearly was the great pop balladeer of his (or any) age, he could also swing like hell.

UPDATE: Let's also throw in Nat King Cole's treatment of FMTTM-which, complete with the verse, is almost a different song entirely-as Will Friedwald has it, this is Fly Me to the Moon vs. In Other Words.

Ignore the cheesy accompanying "art".

Frank Sinatra-"I Won't Dance"

2010-11-08T15:51:00.000-05:00

Frank from his 50's peak.

Nat King Cole-When I Fall in Love

2010-10-30T10:38:00.004-04:00

As always with Nat, no comment needed.

Poulenc-Sonata for Flute and Piano

2010-10-20T20:33:00.001-04:00

Classical Connect - Free classical music online

Most of the "classical" stuff I post here is brass music, but I really like this piece by one of the 20th century's finest composers, Francis Poulenc. Enjoy.

Nat King Cole-"Unforgettable"

2010-10-16T13:19:00.001-04:00

As always with Nat Cole, no comment needed. (Except that this is from Nat's historic TV show of the late '50's. Who says the 50's were a cultural wasteland?)

Prokofiev-Peter and the Wolf

2010-10-14T13:59:00.003-04:00

Just a little exercise in nostalgia-man, how I loved Peter and the Wolf as a kid. Listened to it over and over again. Still sounds pretty good! Just part one here, but of course the rest is available at Youtube.

UPDATE: Oh yeah, the narrator is some dude named Gordon Sumner.

Laszlo Simai-Gershwin Preludes nos. 2 & 3

2010-10-14T13:14:00.004-04:00

Masterful job by trumpeter ~~Smail~~ Simai-few "classical" guys could do so well with the jazzy/bluesy inflections of these pieces.

~~Smail~~ Simai is, by the way, apparently no relation to Lazlo Toth.

Buddy Rich/Maynard Ferguson-"Straight No Chaser"

2010-10-09T10:32:00.000-04:00

Buddy Rich and a typically tight band with a hot rendition of Thelonious Monk's "Straight No Chaser". Not sure who the soloists are, but the tenor team is wailin'. From 1970 or so.

Also-Maynard Ferguson's version (no embedding allowed for some reason). Jeff Lashway on piano; Paul Armstrong on trumpet. 2001.

Nat King Cole-"Mona Lisa"

2010-10-08T11:01:00.002-04:00

No comment necessary. I mean it this time (!)

Arturo Sandoval-"I Remember Maynard"

2010-10-08T09:50:00.007-04:00

From one trumpet great to another-here's Arturo Sandoval's tribute to Maynard Ferguson. The arrangement features a cool quote from MF's classic "Frame for The Blues" (by Slide Hampton).

Arturo's "Trumpet Evolution" CD is a brilliant tribute to a whole constellation of trumpet stars, from classical guys like Maurice Andre', to jazzers like Bunny Berigan, Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Maynard. Sandoval's treatment of the tune "Maynard Ferguson", written by Shorty Rogers for Maynard during their Stan Kenton years, is essentially unplayable by anyone else, and it probably is the only tune on the CD Arturo doesn't nail.

UPDATE: Let's add Arturo's "Maynard Ferguson".

For that matter, here's MF with the same tune, with Stan Kenton and the band on Ed Sullivan, circa 1952.

Maynard Ferguson-"Dayride"

2010-10-06T09:59:00.003-04:00

This is an object lesson in how to execute a fusion piece without losing your artistic integrity. Yes, fusion led to Kenny G(orelick) and his irksome peers. But, for a time (ending around 1980), there was a lot of good music done under this rubric-Weather Report, Mahavishnu... and Chick Corea's Return to Forever, whose tune (written by uber-bassist Stanley Clarke) Maynard and the gang perform here. This is circa 1979.

Clarke, not that anyone cares, is yet another jazz great from Philadelphia, The City of Brotherly Swing.

Stanley's website.

Nat King Cole-"Too Young"

2010-10-05T10:26:00.003-04:00

Let's hear a little more from Nat King Cole. Here's "Too Young." No commentary necessary.

All right-I'll allow myself a little Archie Bunkerism here-remember when popular entertainers had actual talent?

(Ignore the incredibly lame visuals.)

UPDATE: If you hear daughter Natalie's version, you do find, unfortunately, that the apple does fall far from the tree. Natalie can sing lightly swinging material, but anything that requires a feel for lyrics and their meaning is a disaster.

Chet Baker/Nat King Cole/Bill Evans-"Autumn Leaves"

2010-10-04T09:55:00.006-04:00

Here's one of my ultimate trumpet heroes, Chet Baker, with a 70's rendition of "Autumn Leaves." I could do without the electric piano (Bob James), which doesn't really work in this context, but still Chet's in good form. The Paul Desmond alto sax solo is just okay.

And here's Nat King Cole, also with Autumn Leaves. This looks to be from Nat's historic TV show of the 50's. Boy, Nat didn't have great range (he didn't swing much-as a singer that is-he could swing like hell on the piano), but within that range, he was incredible.

Just another in a long series of posts on my favorite trumpeters.

UPDATE: Speaking of favorite trumpet players-the best jazz site on the Net, Jazzwax, is doing a series of interviews with the legendary Clark Terry. Clark's played with pretty much everybody, including storied stints with Basie and Ellington.

FURTHER UPDATE: Let's include Bill Evans' idiosyncratically swinging treatment of Autumn Leaves. Evans was the most influential pianist of his generation. The bass player, from the comments at Youtube, seems to be the great Eddie Gomez. This is from, I assume, the mid 60's, after Evans' revolutionary trio with bassist Scott LaFaro. Gomez' bass solo would likely be simply unplayable for most of his peers.

Spike Jones-"Laura"

2010-10-02T11:36:00.001-04:00

In keeping with the rather stuffy classical mood we've established, let's hear a little Spike Jones-this is "Laura".

Spike and His City Slickers actually play this one straight (supposedly he eventually wanted out of the comedy business) for a while, then they revert to form. He was a genius, no doubt.

Nemes/Nakariakov: Brandt Concertpiece no.2, for trumpet

2010-10-02T11:06:00.003-04:00

This is trumpeter Balazs Nemes playing Concertpiece no. 1 2 by Wilhelm Brandt.

I had neither heard of the composer or piece before running across both on Youtube today. The quickie Wikipedia article on Brandt tells us that he was one of the late 19th Century's greatest trumpet virtuosi, and this is certainly a piece that deserves to be more widely performed by "classical" trumpet players.

Nemes has a funny expresssion on his face at the end of his perfrormance, as if he'd botched it, but this is a reasonably good job. He's not an elite player, by any means, in terms of tone or assured technique, but he plays a fairly difficult piece well, if not brilliantly.

Here's the same work, as performed by the masterful Sergei Nakariakov:

Maynard Ferguson-"I Love You"

2010-10-01T09:50:00.002-04:00

Here's Maynard Ferguson from 2004 with a hot arrangement of Cole Porter's "I Love You". Good thing Cole's executors never heard this, or they might've sued, as the lawyers running Jerome Kern's estate threatened to do over the Charlie Barnet and Maynard wild treatment of "All the Things You Are", from 1949 (!).

In any case, this is MF very late in the game-his legendary chops are nowhere near what they'd been, and this is a band that's too small to really be a big band, but definitely isn't a small group...and yet this works, mostly because the quality of the writing (in this case, the chart's by Grammy nominee Steve Weist) and playing are both so high.

The making of Pat Williams' "Aurora"

2010-09-30T10:39:00.001-04:00

Pat Williams is one of Hollywood's best composers. He's also done some great big band albums. Here's a fascinating video on the making of his new big band album, "Aurora".

It's available at Artist Share.

Count Basie-"Shiny Stockings"-not to mention Ella Fitzgerald (!)

2010-09-29T10:57:00.003-04:00

If the Basie band playing Frank Foster's classic "Shiny Stockings" chart doesn't improve your mood, your mood may not be susceptible to improvement. Sonny Cohn with the trumpet solo. Great use of dynamics! Basie's bands always had the quietest "quiets" and loudest "louds".

UPDATE: Let's also hear Ella Fitzgerald, live in 1972, with "Stockings".

.

Toshiko Akiyoshi Big Band-"Long Yellow Road" & "Strive for Jive"

2010-09-25T09:43:00.006-04:00

Toshiko Akiyoshi led fantastic big bands for several decades (the band was Down Beat magazine's critics' choice as best big group several times in the late 70's and early 80's)-in recent years she's stuck with smaller aggregations that feature her own excellent Bud Powell-ish solo work on piano.

Her chief soloist with the big band was husband Lew Tabackin, a tenor saxist and flutist, who is yet another jazz great hailing from Philadelphia. Toshiko did pretty much all the writing herself, which ranges from robust swing to Japanese delicacy.

She is, undoubtedly, one of the most important women in jazz history, and the music's greatest female writer, with the possible exception of Mary Lou Williams.

You may wonder why I always give jazz clips a "pop culture" label. This may even offend the more easily offended. The truth is that jazz occupies an odd middle ground between "art music" and more popular forms. Or rather, at its best, it is art music, that also has a certain degree of popular appeal. Music that is art for art's sake, and lacks that appeal, to me is rather pointless.

I maintain that big group jazz, with proper promotion, could be far more broadly popular than it is today, as thousands of high school and college kids are playing this music, and loving it. I also maintain that no music in the world better combines fun with high-level musicianship.

UPDATE-Let's also include "Strive for Jive", which appears to be from the same concert.

If you want to hang out here...

2010-09-22T10:34:00.003-04:00

Just groove to The Count.

Here's "The Heat's On" and "In a Mellowtone".

The content, such as it is, is over at Twitter.

Britten-"Fanfare for St. Edmundsbury"-Major, Nemeth, Nemes

2010-09-21T12:00:00.002-04:00

Modern brass writing that actually has melody-or, should I say, melodies. What'll they think of next?

Those funky looking trumpets are rotary valve jobs-sort of the Wankels of the brass family.

H/t-Trumpet Kings

UPDATE: If you'd like to read about composer Benjamin Britten, the editors at Wikipedia stand ready.

Count Basie-"Freckle Face"

2010-09-17T14:07:00.001-04:00

Object lesson is medium-tempo swinging, here from the Basie band in 1977. Great trumpet solo by Bobby Mitchell.

Ah-the '70's-my high school years! That's when I was getting into this kind of music-Maynard Ferguson, Don Ellis, Woody Herman, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis...and the inimitable Count Basie.

Django Reinhardt-"September Song"

2010-09-10T09:49:00.002-04:00

I wanted to post something from Sinatra's September of My Years, given the coming of the season, but I couldn't find much of it that I liked on Youtube, except for an alternate take of the title song, in which Frank messes up the lyrics, but still sings the hell out of it.

Anyway, here's the great Gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt with The September Song, which also appeared on Frank's "September..." album. What a master! This is from 1947.

I haven't featured too many guitarists here, but I guess I like the same people everybody else does-Wes Montgomey, Pat Martino, Jimmy Bruno, Mark Knopfler, et al.

Fifteen albums, fifteen seconds

2010-09-07T11:21:00.006-04:00

Terry Teachout, the ultimate culture maven, has been tagged to name fifteen albums that have left a lasting (presumably circular) impression upon him.

I haven't been tagged, but I thought I'd join in the fun. These aren't necessarily the best examples of the work of any of the artists mentioned, with the possible exception of Sinatra's "Only the Lonely", but just albums from these performers that got me into their work. For example, I'd rather listen to Rubber Soul or Revolver from the Beatles, would call Maynard Ferguson's 1958-1964 Roulette label work by far his best, rather than the early '70's MF Horn, and Ellington freaks see the early '40's Ben Webster period as Duke's best.

Terry and I both include Ellington, Nancy Lamott, and Steely Dan on our lists.

Frank Sinatra-"Only the Lonely"

Maynard Ferguson-"MF Horn"

Steely Dan-"Royal Scam"

Weather Report-"Heavy Weather"

Miles Davis-"Kind of Blue"

Duke Ellington-"New Orleans Suite"

Beatles-"Sgt. Peppers"

Joan Armatrading-"Me Myself I"

Chet Baker-"She was Too Good to Me"

Arleen Auger-"Love Songs"

Dawn Upshaw/Thomas Hampson-"Old American Songs"

Dawn Upshaw "I Wish it So"

Nancy Lamott-"My Foolish Heart"

Maynard Ferguson-"Live at Jimmy's"

Count Basie-"The Basie Big Band"

UPDATE: Don at Scuffulans hirsutus, duly inspired, has come up with his own, rather unique, list.

Count Basie/Butch Miles-"Whirlybird"

2010-09-03T10:27:00.002-04:00

The drums as a solo instrument usually leave me bored. Unless it's somebody with monster chops like Buddy Rich or Louie Bellson, a four bar break is usually more than enough. And nothing's more annoying than a small group where they feel the need to have the drummer (and bass player!) take an extended solo on every tune. Ugh.

But then again, there are people like Butch Miles, who played drums with the Basie band in the '70's. He has those monster chops. Here's Butch tearin' it up with Basie on Neal Hefti's "Whirlybird".

Count Basie/Carmen McRae-"Bye Bye Blackbird"

2010-09-02T10:52:00.007-04:00

The swingers-Count Basie/Carmen McRae, circa maybe 1975.

Please overlook Carmen's eyelashes, which appear to have been borrowed from Tammy Faye Bakker.

UPDATE: Here's Miles Davis with "Blackbird". Not one unnecessary note!

Holly Cole, "I Can See Clearly Now"

2010-08-30T10:51:00.004-04:00

Forget the word, "cover". This is a transformation of a nice little song into something entirely different. Not sure why Holly Cole hasn't had a bigger career; I guess she's not easily categorized.

UPDATE:

Let's also include "I am Calling You."

Barack Obama-Kid tested, Muslim approved!

2010-08-27T09:37:00.006-04:00

Barack says he's a Christian. Heck, he belonged to a Christian church for decades. Of course that church, as we know, was Rev. Wright's Jew-baiting institution.

Make no mistake-a church that foments hatred of Jews, who are the spiritual grandfathers of us Christians, can be no more than nominally Christian, but for the sake of charity we might assume Obama didn't agree with the man he called his mentor. The alternative, then, is that BHO belonged to Trinity UCC merely for political reasons, which I wouldn't exactly call that a ringing endorsement of Obama's principles-if he has any, other than naked ambition.

In any case, Muslims seem to like him best, according to Gallup.

He pulls a 78% approval rating among that group. Atheists and agnostics approve at a 64% clip. And, despite The Bad Rev. Wright, and Obama's obvious distaste for the cause of Israeli self-defense, Jews give him 61%. Next come Catholics at 50% (say it ain't so!), Protestants at 41% (evangelicals aren't separated out), and Mormons at 24%. The overall figure is 48%.

Maynard Ferguson-"At the Sound of the Trumpet"

2010-08-25T10:29:00.001-04:00

Let's hear a little more Maynard Ferguson, shall we? Here's MF from 1969 or so, with "At the Sound of the Trumpet". This is another one of those great MF arrangements that both blow the doors off and swing like crazy.

It's the thoroughly legitimate love child of Kenton and Basie.

Utterly unlovable immigrants

2010-08-24T12:12:00.001-04:00

These "folks" are Canadian.

Geese, that is.

To name but one example-there are a s###-load (and s###-load really is the right word, considering their habits) of these at Haverford College, as they easily outnumber the hoity-toity students there, but no one would ever consider the best thing for man and beast, and just slaughter the nasty curs...because that would be "inhumane". But I dare say you won't find a pro-life professor on that campus.

Link via Miriam's Idea's.

Maynard Ferguson-"Somewhere"

2010-08-23T11:00:00.003-04:00

In honor of the 20th Century's greatest brass player, on the fourth anniversary of his death-here's Maynard Ferguson with "Somewhere", circa 1969. No one combined chops with melodicism more than MF.

Another in a long series on my favorite trumpet players.

The Internet...

2010-08-21T11:07:00.002-04:00

...the best place for advertisers to reach that critical "sad and lonely" demographic group.

Has the Net replaced the taproom?

At least in taprooms people sometimes talk face to face-Issac Asimov predicted our addiction to disembodied contact years ago.

Obamacare and breast cancer treatment-not a matter betwen a woman and her doctor

2010-08-19T12:50:00.005-04:00

So-the FDA may revoke previous its approval of Avastin for breast cancer. The talk of "death panels" was just an ugly bit of conservative demagoguery? Not so.

If you have metastatic breast cancer, Avastin won't extend your life much, if at all-probably. Likely nothing will. But chemotherapy can be like anti-depressants-what doesn't work for someone else, or even most people, may well work for you. And Avastin may make those last few months far less symptomatic.

Yes, it's frightfully expensive. But, whatever the cost, shouldn't the choice, the weighing of the plusses and minuses, be between you and your doctor?

Isn't that what the left-wingers always tell us about abortion? (I'm not arguing for the pro-choice view, which is forgetting an important party in the equation, obviously.)

Instapundit on same.

Wynton Marsalis, Mark O'Connor-"Sweet Georgia Brown"

2010-08-18T14:09:00.000-04:00

Hard to swing much more than this. Wynton's recent chop problems are a bit noticeable here, but he's still playing more trumpet than 95% of his peers. Nice, unobtrusive switch to a more "modern" groove halfway through.

Palin-absolutely right on Ground Zero mosque

2010-08-16T11:13:00.000-04:00

Those (few) readers of this blog know that I'm not a big fan of Sarah Palin. But she's unquestionably correct on the mosque issue. This needs no comment, other than to note Obama's amazing ability to perform the unforced political error pretty much 24/7:

Mr. President, should they or should they not build a mosque steps away from where radical Islamists killed 3000 people? Please tell us your position. We all know that they have the right to do it, but should they? And, no, this is not above your pay grade. If those who wish to build this Ground Zero mosque are sincerely interested in encouraging positive "cross-cultural engagement" and dialogue to show a moderate and tolerant face of Islam, then why haven't they recognized that the decision to build a mosque at this particular location is doing just the opposite? Mr. President, why aren't you encouraging the mosque developers to accept Governor Paterson's generous offer of assistance in finding a new location for the mosque on state land if they move it away from Ground Zero? Why haven't they jumped at this offer? Why are they apparently so set on building a mosque steps from what you have described, in agreement with me, as "hallowed ground"? I believe these are legitimate questions to ask.

This (isn't) just in

2010-08-12T11:00:00.001-04:00

Antarctic sea ice refuses to follow mainstream media narrative.

So when is the inauguration, anyway?

2010-08-10T10:00:00.001-04:00

Some dude named Barack Obama (funny name, that) keeps running around the country claiming that Pres. Bush has made an unholy mess of things.

I guess things will get better when somebody new, young, progressive takes over.

What's that? You say this Obama guy already is President? He's already spent trillions? He's already bought himself a car company or two? And things still suck?

Never woulda thought it, Vern.

Free the dahlias!

2010-08-09T10:45:00.002-04:00

Face it-it's at least as noble a cause as finding the "real" perpetrators of 9/11.

Everyone in the know, knows that 9/11 was a dastardly deed plotted by the builders of The American Commerce Center in Philadelphia, who wanted to knock down (haha) their competition.

Anyway, I hear The Dahlia Liberation Army has a copy of Obama's real birth certificate, too. (Turns out his real name is Herman G. Weinstein).

Patty Hearst, tied up at the time. was unavailable for comment.

Hope and change!

2010-08-04T10:01:00.001-04:00

US drinking rate hits 25 year high.

Am I blaming this on Obama? Sure, why not? If government is the surefire means to solve all human problems, as the President keeps assuring us (by his actions, even as he says otherwise), then surely there it should've solved the problems of binge drinking, underage drinking, winos on the streets, etc., by now.

As for me personally, I'm a near teetotaller-never wanted the Irish disease.

Anyway, I'm not really persuaded that alcohol is good for your health, despite the cardiovascular benefits, because of the increased cancer risk. Even if booze is on net beneficial, that is almost certainly only true for men, since women metabolize the stuff so slowly that one drink a day amounts to moderate drinking for the more tipsy sex. Who actually drinks like that?

Global warming continues apace...

2010-08-03T10:46:00.000-04:00

...as the Southern Hemisphere sees lots o' record cold.

I'd love to buy into a theory that, no matter what happens, all events are seen as corroborating said belief system.

Including the long-term upwards trend in Antarctic sea ice.

Victor Borge/Marilyn Mulvey

2010-07-30T09:53:00.000-04:00

This may be my all-time favorite Victor Borge routine-the Great Dane with Marilyn Mulvey-great comedy, but you hear a little of his superb piano touch, and her wonderful voice. Education, with humor.

"She doesn't touch my piano, I don't lay hands on her coloratura!"

Nancy Sinatra-These Boots...

2010-07-28T12:43:00.002-04:00

This may be a camp classic, but Nancy S was hot stuff.

Dig those ultra short Star Trek-esque outfits! Ah, the 60's.

"Two randy vicars"

2010-07-26T09:24:00.000-04:00

Iowahawk gives us the history of two of our finest vicars, whose base desires led them far from their seemingly divinely appointed destinies: one "Rev. John St. Edwards, Lord Plaintiff of Durham", and his stodgy contemporary, "Albert des Gores II, Confessor to the Sodomite William of Clinton".

Since this is the always brilliant Iowahawk, I need say no more-just read it.

"Mother of all repeal bills"

2010-07-24T11:23:00.000-04:00

...the resident lefties at Talking Points Memo say this about (the lovely) Michele Bachmann as if that were a bad thing.

Trust us, and the mood of the public-it's not.

Repeal it all-"stimulus", bailouts, Obamacare, the Robert C. Byrd Memorial Senatorial spittoon, the whole nine yards...and start from scratch-with a new Congress.

And maybe a new Constitution while we're at it.

Lifestyles of the lavish liberal set

2010-07-18T16:36:00.001-04:00

The indispensable Victor Davis Hanson on the "new" world of money and politics-the rich folks are on the Left, nowadays:

It’s surreal to see President Obama play the class-warfare card against the Republicans while on his way to vacation on the tony Maine coast, and even more interesting to note that now gone are the days when the media used to caricature Bush I (‘Poppy’) for boating in the summer off the preppie-sounding Kennebunkport. The truth is that the real big money and the lifestyles that go with it are now firmly liberal Democratic. . . .

The more the polo-shirted Obama seems obsessed with golf, and the more he seems to prefer the landscape of the elite (who navigate the Ivy League, Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Upper East Side, Cambridge, etc.), the more we wonder whom exactly he’s railing about.

Useful applications of sophisticated modern logic...

2010-07-17T10:20:00.000-04:00

...in today's Army, and

...in the animal world.

This is the kind of thing I'd post....

2010-07-12T17:52:00.004-04:00

...if I were to post something:

Historians locate King Arthur's Round Table:

Researchers exploring the legend of Britain’s most famous Knight believe his stronghold of Camelot was built on the site of a recently discovered Roman amphitheatre in Chester.

Legend has it that his Knights would gather before battle at a round table where they would receive instructions from their King.

But rather than it being a piece of furniture, historians believe it would have been a vast wood and stone structure which would have allowed more than 1,000 of his followers to gather.

. .Camelot historian Chris Gidlow said: “In the 6th Century, a monk named Gildas, who wrote the earliest account of Arthur’s life, referred to both the City of Legions and to a martyr’s shrine within it. That is the clincher. The discovery of the shrine within the amphitheatre means that Chester was the site of Arthur’s court and his legendary Round Table.

Also, I'd probably add some wry comment like, "Not a moment too soon on that discovery".

And, surprisingly enough, Camelot is nowhere near Hyannis Port.

You see, the reason I haven't been posting much lately...

2010-07-01T09:41:00.005-04:00

...is that all I do on the Internet of late is play chess and watch Victor Borge videos. I can't imagine better ways to waste time.

Here's classic Borge, from the '50's presumably, this time with with leather-lunged vocalist Sergio Franchi.

"Just follow me", says Franchi. Watch Victor take that advice literally.

Astrology made worthwhile-finally!

2010-06-25T16:53:00.002-04:00

Dr. Boli produces the kind of precise predictions I've always wanted from those who ply the astrology trade, such as:

Libra. The woman in front of you in line at the bank will smell of mixed cheap perfume and stale cigarettes. You will sneeze.

Aries. Your hair will not be very cooperative today.

Taurus. The milk in the back of the refrigerator is past its sell-by date, but it should still be drinkable until Friday.

And his prognostication for me was dead-on:

Virgo: The mail will be at least seventeen and possibly as many as twenty-two minutes late today. It will contain two bills.

Victor Borge/Dean Martin

2010-06-23T19:18:00.002-04:00

An unusual comedy team does "musical punctuation".

Victor Borge-The page-turner

2010-06-21T18:19:00.002-04:00

One of a million classic Victor Borge routines-The Pageturner, who turns out to be his son (not mentioned in the video here, though.) Fun stuff.

Tine Thing Helseth, Neruda trumpet concerto, 2nd Movement

2010-06-19T13:17:00.001-04:00

Here's my new favorite "classical" trumpeter, 22 year old Norwegian Tine Thing Helseth, with the lovely 2nd movement from Neruda's trumpet concerto. Brilliant, as always. Tine, that is. The unnamed orchestra is a little dodgy at times.

Yet another in a long series of videos of my favorite trumpeters.

Ideal for our future acquisition of Quebec

2010-06-15T13:13:00.001-04:00

How would the flag look with n states? In honor of Flag Day (24 hours late.)

H/t- Pun Salad, who reports that someone at TIME never heard of this event. And of course, we never heard of the writer, someone with the suspiciously Net-ready name of "Kayla Webley".

Hmmm...these "mass" media types wonder why they're so disconnected from the rest of us, and why nobody reads them any longer.

You can bet the Luces knew all about Flag Day.

Kitty bill collectors

2010-06-14T17:42:00.003-04:00

Why do I love this stuff so much?

H/t-Cute Overload (of course.)

Acme brand falling anvils research

2010-06-14T11:31:00.000-04:00

Dr. Boli has a wonderful opportunity for risk-takers who need an extra buck or two.

Wile E. Coyote need not apply.

This is good, even though the masses like it: Miles Davis, "So What"

2010-06-14T11:14:00.001-04:00

Every once in a while, music is both popular and good. Truth be told-it's not really all that unusual-think of Sinatra, Benny Goodman, the Beatles...

We just think it's rare, because popular music today, which is produced to appeal only to callow youth, and to be heard on lo-fi I-Pods, is so universally abhorrent.

But Miles Davis' 1959 ( I'm also of '59 vintage) "Kind of Blue album" is justifiably seen as a classic, and is in the collection of all sorts of people who don't really like jazz (just like so much of Dave Brubeck's output, whose popularity is also more than justified). And this likely represents Miles at his peak. I'd rather hear this band-Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb-than even the 60's Hancock/Shorter/Carter/Williams band.

Enjoy!

(Another in what must be, for non-trumpet fans, an excruciatingly long series of my favorite trumpet players.)

Nancy Wilson-"Satin Doll"

2010-06-10T10:45:00.001-04:00

I posted a little Duke Ellington the other day...let's stay in that groove and listen to the inimitable Nancy Wilson with Duke's "Satin Doll". Nancy is incapable of not swinging, and she has a powerhouse band behind her on this one. Not sure who, but obviously not a studio orchestra. Great stuff!

UPDATE: The indispensable Jazzwax site did a series of interviews with Ms. Wilson a couple months ago. Nancy's a charming, intelligent, and strikingly beautiful woman.

Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie-"Hot House"

2010-06-09T10:05:00.002-04:00

From Norway comes a request for Charlie Parker.

Here Bird does his always-bluesy (regardless of the tempo) thing with "Dizzy Gillespie", on Hot House. Note Diz's untilted trumpet bell. And check out Diz's smile after the hot piano solo from someone who will remain nameless (Al Haig?). From a Downbeat mag awards show circa, what, 1948?

140 characters or less

2010-06-08T14:35:00.000-04:00

As noted a couple days ago, you're more likely to find me on Twitter than here nowadays (does anybody but me say "nowdays", nowadays?).

Not sure if the content there is better than what you'd see here, but at 140 characters or fewer a pop, it's perfect for my hip, young, multi-tasking readership.

All one of you.

Elmer Gantry, POTUS

2010-06-05T13:13:00.003-04:00

Barack Obama presented himself as the high-minded guardian of the nation's very soul when he ran two years ago (seems like a thousand by now.) He wouldn't just fix the economy; he would drive all the evil-doers out of the temple of American politics, using scornful rhetoric and his deadly Obamaeye.

Amazingly, this all-too typical product of Chicago politics was believed by millions, including more than a few conservatives who really should've known better.

No surprise, perhaps, then, that Obama's turned out to have more in common with Richard Nixon than Billy Graham, as Rich Lowry notes:

Obama made a high-minded, ethical politics absolutely central to his appeal, and yet hasn’t betrayed the slightest reflex to deliver on it...

It [the WH political team] certainly has nothing to fear from the reliably house-trained attorney general, Eric Holder. He has opened a flimsy criminal inquiry into BP to abet the White House’s shame-and-blame campaign, but would be hard pressed to investigate White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel even if $100,000 showed up in his freezer...

H-t: Miriam's Ideas.

UPDATE: Numerous mistakes corrected.

Follow me on Twitter! (at your peril)

2010-06-04T09:32:00.002-04:00

If there's no new "content" here on my regular blog, or even my baseball blog, you can always check my Twitter site, where my wry observations on the human condition (and booger jokes, as Dave Barry would say) are featured with some regularity.

Also, I steal stuff from people with actual talent.

An aside-it's sad when you have to use spell-check to fix your rendering of words like "baseball", "featured", and "regularity". The Internet is turning us all into idiots-me faster than most.

Duke Ellington/Cat Anderson-"The Opener"

2010-06-03T10:17:00.002-04:00

Duke and band, from what looks to be about 1960, featuring the great (and vastly under-rated) Paul Gonsalves on tenor sax, and a skyscraper-high solo from Cat Anderson on trumpet.

Notice how much Cat swings before he ever plays a high note. In context, his upper-register work is fun, but Cat never came close to matching Maynard Ferguson's huge upper-register sound. Of course, over about double C, nobody really has a fat sound, and that extreme register is just an effect, though an entertaining one, if done with control.

Duke tried to recruit MF for his band, more than once-imagine Cat and Maynard in the same trumpet section!

Another in a long series on great trumpet players.

If Larry King wrote this blog

2010-06-02T09:38:00.003-04:00

(Another in a series).

Two words for Tipper Gore: I'm available!

I can't decide which is more compelling-the NBA Finals matchup between Boston and LA (didn't know Cousy was still playing!), or the impending World Cup test between Botswana and Congo. Those Africans know their "football"!

Sure, Pres. Obama can't fix that pesky Gulf leak, but watch me try to fix my dentures in the morning-now that's a real adventure!

I still think I have better taste in ice cream than my extremely tight childhood bud Sandy Koufax.

"Sex in the City 2" may be a flop, but three of the four women in that bunch remind me of five of my eight ex-wives.

I hear that new Joan Rivers documentary features her tasteful, Earth-saving, "green" approach to timeless beauty. And Joanie is still the funniest gal in show biz, I don't care what Carson thought.

Say what you will about George Lazenby, I still think he was the best Bond. What a hunk!

I've taken up Pilates, I have a Kindle, I have a widescreen TV, so everything's up to date in King City...but what's this Internet thing? Is it for hair care, or what?

Art Linkletter/Lucille Ball, 1965

2010-06-01T09:36:00.002-04:00

The obvious thing to say when somebody like Art Linkletter dies is that nobody under 40 probably has the slightest clue who he was.

It's also true, no doubt. Here's the once ever-present Art interviewing the equally once-ubiquitous Lucille Ball, whom I guess that under 40 crowd may know of, because "I Love Lucy" is still, amazingly, being re-run-and is still funny. Of course, Lucy is funny here, too, once she gets past a little initial nervousness.

Lucille Ball, nervous in front of a camera? Yup, a little.

I think Lucy's elaborately coiffed hairstyle would probably run you a couple hundred bucks today. Kudos to Lucy for saying The Dick Van Dyke Show, my own favorite of all time, is her favorite program.

H/t: About Last Night.

Bugs Bunny conducts

2010-05-28T11:55:00.003-04:00

The person in charge of an orchestra is "this backwards man, this view obstructor, known to us as the conductor", Victor Borge wrote.

Here Bugs is a backwards-facing man with a malicious streak.

H/t: Thoughtful Gestures.

Is dangerous global cooling on the horizon?

2010-05-28T11:40:00.001-04:00

No one knows, of course.

There is no need, or justification, for the anti-AGW crowd to ape Al Gore ("The Conscience of All Mankind") and claim that the path of the climate is predictable. It most assuredly isn't: we don't have good enough models, or fast enough computers, to say anything for sure about where the climate is headed.

But Alan Sullivan, who has to be considered a serious nominee for the coveted title of The Smartest Guy on The Internet, thinks what's happening with the Sun is bad news, and that solar output-caused cooling, which is at least as great a risk as human activity-driven warming, may well be the result. This is an argument that bears consideration:

First, the sun has relapsed into incredible quietude during the last six weeks. There is a history of stutters early in a rising cycle, but not quiet like this, as deep as the deepest minimum.

Second: unprecedented late season snows have fallen in various locations around the northern hemisphere.

Third: the equatorial Pacific has lapsed almost overnight from fading El Nino to a rapidly chilling and spreading La Nina. We are about to see

Fourth: Siberian lows continue to drop through the Gulf of Alaska and aim for California. Models continue the run of winter storms well into June. This is unheard of. Winter storms also continue in the North Atlantic. One of them is spinning off Jacksonville tonight.

Too much stuff for this to be just weather. The sun is the driver and something is up with the sun. It may be departing even the precedents from several hundred years ago. “Climate change” may be nearer than anyone thinks. But it is not the change they expect...

Wry or rye?

2010-05-27T12:51:00.000-04:00

How do you prefer your bread?

The most ridiculous sentence ever written

2010-05-25T15:39:00.001-04:00

The New York Times illustrates its warped set of priorities:

Scientists including Stephen Jay Gould and Edward M. Purcell, who won the 1952 Nobel Prize in Physics for work on magnetism in atomic nuclei, have dabbled in baseball statistics mostly as a diversion from more substantive matters.

It's best not to mess with tradition, British/Canadian style

2010-05-25T15:07:00.000-04:00

So say the folks at Brits at Their Best, who advise our friends from The Great White North not to to do away with Victoria Day, colonialist British origins notwithstanding, just yet:

This is dangerous because Victoria Day marks the beginning of summer in Canada, and we should not like to see summer arriving any later in Canada than it already does. When it's 30 degrees F. in northern BC on the evening of May 22nd, any further delay seems risky indeed. We can only add that Victoria Day celebrates the British Queen who gave her name to an epoch and on whose empire the sun never set. You might not like the Victorians, but their achievements in science, literature, political reform and world wide exploration still amaze those intrigued enough to study them.

Then again, as our local bunch of ~~street thugs~~ skaters prepares to battle it out ("oot") for Lord Stanley's over-sized shaving cup, perhaps hockey-obsessed Canadians don't realize it's not still winter.

Maynard Ferguson, "Airegin"

2010-05-24T17:43:00.002-04:00

Yet another in a long series of my favorite jazz and classical trumpeters.

Here's Maynard playing the classic, amazingly exciting '60's chart (by Mike Abene, I think) on Sonny Rollins' Airegin. ("Airegin" is Nigeria spelled backwards, by the by.) This recording dates from 1980. The great alto sax solo is by Mike Migliore; guitar by Tom Rizzo.

Enjoy!

Death and movie-time fun

2010-05-22T15:34:00.001-04:00

Seen in comments stream at a chess website I frequent:

I agree...long-term you just can't cheat death...for reference go watch the Final Destination movies...

I never heard of these flicks, but the unavoidable stealthiness of The Grim Reaper has long been apparent to most, even before the rise of Hollywood. Even before "A Christmas Carol", for that matter. (I think it's safe to assume that the poster of the above is a rather callow individual).

It's nice that the moguls of LaLa Land are now seeing fit to make sure that our nation's youth, whose only reference point to empirical reality seems to be LCD pop culture, won't grow up thinking that Death is only an option.

Not an issue for my generation-we'd already seen Jim Morrison and such buy it way before their time.

Tine Thing Helseth, "Mitt hjerte alltid vanker"

2010-05-21T11:27:00.017-04:00

(The title, I think, means "Mitt Romney digs the trumpet". Or, "I wish to see a menu".)

More Tine Thing Helseth, that ultra-talented 22 year old Norwegian trumpeter, here with this lovely, traditional Norwegian hymn. You cannot get a better sound of a trumpet than this, and her phrasing is simple and perfect.

Let's make sure we get rid of all the illegal aliens...

2010-05-20T12:22:00.004-04:00

(Nope, Chico Escuela is not the problem.)

...although we actually have no idea how many illegals there are.

Meanwhile, high levels of immigration are linked to lower crime rates.

Sociologist Robert Sampson:

Cities that experienced greater growth in immigrant or new-immigrant populations between 1990 and 2000 tended to demonstrate sharper decreases in homicide and robbery. The suggestion that high levels of immigration may have been partially responsible for the drop in crime during the 1990s seems plausible...

Yet more evidence of the mindlessness of the nativist crowd. We should be more concerned about fixing the problems of the native born, seemingly permanent underclass-whose maladies are linked to high rates of out of wedlock births and poor education-rather than worrying about immigrants, illegal or otherwise, who merely amount to convenient scapegoats.

Ray Charles-"Feel So Bad"

2010-05-15T12:25:00.000-04:00

No comment necessary, except that if this doesn't do anything for you-you may be in a Twilight Zone episode-i.e., Jack, you're dead.

Oil spill makes 21% of public more likely to support off-shore drilling

2010-05-15T12:15:00.002-04:00

So says a Public Policy Polling survey.

Makes sense to me.

All seriousness aside, as Steve Allen used to say, there is some logic here, though most of the 21% probably weren't paying attention (that's what happens when you call when people are closely eyeing Vanna White doing her thing).

Anyhow, since drilling is safer environmentally than delivering oil by tanker, DRILL BABY DRILL!

God, how that pisses off the liberals when you say that.

I will admit, however, to mixed feelings on the subject, as I've always liked blackened shrimp.

SPILL BABY SPILL!

Over-sized guy loses belt...

2010-05-15T11:51:00.000-04:00

but "his" pants don't fall down.

H/t-Scribal Terror.