REVISITATION RIGHTS 10 R.E.M.: Early Snapshots and Final Farewell Snapshot 1: It was not a pretty persuasion. In fact, I’m sure I was fairly well pissed off. There we were at our second or third Jazz Fest in New Orleans … Continue reading
CLARENCE CLEMONS / THE BIG MAN DOWN FOR THE COUNT Let’s just say I’m hoping the “always comes in threes” death trinity principle doesn’t hold true this time because with Clarence Clemons moving on to the next phase on the … Continue reading
WIT AND WISDOM OF GIL SCOTT HERON Gil Scott-Heron is gone. This one hurt, even as the deaths inevitably pile up among artists you grew up with as we hit that late 50s/earlys 60s age range that always struck me … Continue reading
Always been more than a bit ambivalent about the whole concept of mentoring, at least when it applies to the music world we run in. You just learn and soak up everything from everyone you come in contact with, peers … Continue reading
Don’t it figure that Arhoolie’s 50th anniversary just happened to overlap with the publication of John Szwed’s biography of Alan Lomax? An unfortunate but appropriate coincidence that continues the pattern of Lomax overshadowing the celebration and half-century legacy of Chris … Continue reading
BLUES FOR TWO GREENS AND MOORE Sad to hear about Gary Moore’s death at 58. Always sad to hear of any musician going before his full time would seem to be up, but then it’s not that unusual (and I … Continue reading
AFRICAN CONNECTIONS I Listening to Junior Kimbrough again recently brought it all back home—how much that guitar tone had nagged and nagged at me, so damn familiar you know you’ve heard it before somewhere but can’t place it for the … Continue reading
THE CAP’N AND HIS MAGIC MUTANT BOOGIE BAND Funny, I had it in mind to write something on Captain Beefheart for a few months, probably because I happened to be listening to his CDs around the time the usual litany … Continue reading
ORNETTE AND OUTRAGE Amazing, absolutely amazing. At 80 years old, Ornette Coleman is still capable of generating overt displays of outrage without doing anything more than playing his music the way he wants with the people he wants. The latest … Continue reading
In the midst of all this full-blown industry overkill of the 40th anniversary of this or the expanded deluxe edition commemorating 25 years of that, one anniversary somehow seems to have slipped by this year unnoticed. Fitting enough, one supposes, … Continue reading
