Tuesday, May 28, 2013

It's just your opinion man...

All on one night and All for $2.25.  



...but it's also my blog-- so I'm gonna indulge myself and continue on to celebrate  some soul brothers (and sister) who...

...unlike some of the names on the poster (left) never came to enjoy as large a following, and hence my eagerness to pay tribute. 


B. Traven. Author of  The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and  The Death Ship.  Both masterpieces. The Mexican Jungle books ain't chopped liver either. And his personal history is about as strange a mystery as anything ever dreamed up in fiction.
                                                                 “Anyone who is willing to work and is serious about it will certainly find a job. Only you must not go to the man who tells you this, for he has no job to offer and doesn't know anyone who knows of a vacancy. This is exactly the reason why he gives you such generous advice, out of brotherly love, and to demonstrate how little he knows the world.” 
― B. TravenThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Benny Carter. "You got Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and my man, the Earl of Hines, right?  Well, Benny's right up there with all of them cats. Everybody who knows who he is calls him King--he is a King!"  ---Louis Armstrong.
                                       
Was recently listening to one of Benny's early versions of I Can't Get Started (Vernon Duke & Ira Gershwin) and whew...it's what dreams are made of. 
Cornell Woolrich.  (Also wrote as William Irish) Not everyone's cup of tea cause few like it that strong and bitter, but for the hard core  Noir fan, nobody did the inner demons of desperate measures better.  Best known for Rear Window  (Hitchcock watered it down) and The Bride Wore Black, but lesser known titles like Fright and one on the right surpass those.

"Just two more people sharing a common human experience. Infinite in its complexity, tricky at times, but almost always successfully surmounted in one of two ways: either blandly content with the results as they are, or else vaguely discontent but chained by habit. Most women don't marry a man, they marry a habit. Even when a habit is good, it can become monotonous; most do."  -- Cornell Woolrich Angels of Darkness

Preston Sturges.  Okay, he's far
from obscure or forgotten by those in the
know, but how many know?  Sturges is the
screwball comedy master.  Literate, witty,
smart social satire plots that surprise with
characters that delight-- he blended them
all. He wrote and directed all his best films,
and therein lies the key (see Woody Allen,
Coen Bros., Albert Brooks, Tina Fey,
Trey Parker & Matt Stone, Billy Wilder) that
makes all the difference.

Top of the list:
The Great McGinty, The Lady Eve,  Sullivan's Travels  The Palm Beach Story ,
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek , Hail the Conquering  Hero. 

“THE POLITICIAN
If it wasn't for graft, you'd get a very low type of people in politics. Men without ambition. 
Jellyfish!
CATHERINE
Especially since you can't rob the people anyway.
THE POLITICIAN
Sure...How was that?
CATHERINE
What you rob, you spend. And what you spend goes back to the people. So where's the 
robbery?  I read that in one of my father's books.
THE POLITICIAN
That book should be in every home!”
---The Great McGinty

"I just play to the goddess of music-and
I know she's dancing."
Taj Mahal.  For a short spell there
in the 70's, it looked like he was the one
who would keep us funky and
real for years to come.  And he did, but he
remained on the fringes and moved to
Hawaii for a while to re-charge after too
many years fighting labels and labelers.
But he's back, still doing his gravel voiced
(but like Satchmo, oh so musical) down
and dirty groovin with that syncopated
home-cooked gumbo cooked up from
every rhythm driven style on the planet.


Steps Ahead (The Original)
Last is this album with five peerless
masters weaving a dazzling sonic quilt.
Go to Amazon to see what the crowd
thinks (5 stars from all but one) --but
sadly, it's a small crowd and album is
only available now as an import-
but maybe you can find elsewhere for
downloading.  I can listen to this every day
(which I did when it first came out)
and be enthused anew every time.
Brecker, Erskine, Gomez, Manieri and
(drum roll please) INTRODUCING
ELIANE ELIAS.  Two tracks in particular:
Islands and Pools--latter penned by the late
great Don Grolnick.

Here they are playing Islands that begins with some (goofy?) B'Roll footage of museum
sightseeing in Copenhagen (as tune plays) where this was shot live in 1983.  This 
is what my son Will used to call "smile" music.  Gomez and Erskine lay down the
latin spiced groove while arpeggiating angel Elias and masterful Manieri explore
all the melodic side streets and Brecker lays back just covering the head. Play it loud!


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