Wednesday, January 24, 2001

11:22 PM
Raymond Scott: Reckless Nights & Turkish Twilights
Scott's career as composer, bandleader, and electronic-music pioneer is just beginning to be rediscovered. Here, he mixes swing jazz with classical forms, exotica (long before there even was such a thing), and his own hyperactive melodies to create a timeless sound. Many of the bouncy tunes are recognizable from their constant use in cartoon soundtracks over the years: the classic "Powerhouse," a jittery mix of an edgy scherzo and a relentless march (as well as a favorite of Looney Toons composer Carl Stalling); the jaunty "The Toy Trumpet"; and the dizzying "Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals."

That review is from Amazon.com The music is not really jazz. Jazzlike. The pieces are incredibly well rehersed but no improvisation. Still wonderful to hear and you have all head him if you watched Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Ren & Stimpy, The Simpsons, and Animaniacs.

It made me want to hear some real pre-war jazz. I've been watching Ken Burns PBS movie "Jazz". While there has been a lot of criticism, it is still riveting. I've been listening to jazz for years but this certainly expanded my jazz world, particularly pre-be-bop. "Jazz" let me see how this music grew and put the different types into a jazz continuum. There was one big jazz composer that seems to be left out and that was...

Jelly Roll Morton: Birth Of The Hot: The Classic Chicago "Red Hot Peppers" Sessions 1926-27
Jelly Roll Morton was at a creative peak in Chicago in 1926 and '27, surrounded by first-rate fellow New Orleans musicians and with plenty of opportunities to record. Many of the musicians who contributed to Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings appear here--trombonist Kid Ory, banjoist Johnny St. Cyr, clarinetist Johnny Dodds, and his drummer brother Baby Dodds--while George Mitchell contributes sterling cornet leads. Each track is a compressed masterpiece, a jigsaw puzzle of written composition, improvised ensembles, solos and duets, often with sound effects and bantering comic patter thrown in.

A beautiful digital re-mastering. Truly hot! A great recording. Classic New Orleans Jazz. Now onto Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Hot Sevens.

Sunday, January 21, 2001

11:57 AM
The web is a great place to find out about the mysteries of life. Scoop on Poop and Facts on Farts pretty much covers most of the mysteries. Courtesy of Ethel the Blog.

Thursday, January 04, 2001

11:39 AM
The fraud of American "peacemaking"
This article in Salon covers covers some of the history of the Palestinian/Israeli mess. It has interesting comments on the history of the Israeli settlements and their role in this nightmare.

1:24 AM
Oh, yes! The christinelavin.com records site is finally live. It's what I have been working on the past couple of months. It's part of the Christine Lavin web site that is done by my partner Zoe.

I'm looking for another shopping cart site to do. Do you need one?

12:47 AM
America's Tribes
In the past 40 years, the Democratic and Republican parties in the US have almost entirely switched places. But a longer-lasting contest underlies this strange history,says Michael Lind—a struggle between two tribal coalitions, the socially-minded Puritans of the north and the colonial gentlemen of the south.

This essay is from the UK. A very interesting view on our political parties. The scary part is that it really makes sense. More sense than anything I've read from this side of the pond.

I found it in a remarkable site called Arts & Letters Daily which says it's about ideas, criticism, and debate. Check it out.

Monday, January 01, 2001

11:41 PM
01-01-01 - It looks good. We made it to the beginning of the *real* millenium. I should be catching up on this weblog. I spent most of November and December (when not watching CNN and the non-election) working on the new shopping cart site for Christine Lavin. The domain name is still being transferred. Hopefully it will be done Tuesday. (Network Solutions sure makes it hard to do simple transfers like this.) Finished it 3 days before Christmas and then was sick the day after Christmas. Feeling fine now and ready to get caught up.