GeneBlog

Jazz's Ancestors and the AFM

2008-08-17T15:09:00.003-04:00

This caught my eye right away in the table of contents for the April 2008 International Musician, the monthly newspaper of the music union, the American Federation of Musicians (AFM). Describing a cover story on pianist Joe Sample:

"Joe Sample...always comes back to his roots...his love of jazz's ancestors - soul, gospel and R&B."

Whaa? I must have missed that day in Jazz 101 talking about R&B being an ancestor of jazz. I can't believe no one at the music union caught that.

The Anthrax Bomber

2008-08-13T21:09:00.004-04:00

The anthrax bombings were once again in the headlines with the FBI announcing they had figured out whodunnit. Problem is that their suspect (a Dr. Bruce Ivins from USAMRIID, the Army's germ laboratory at Ft. Detrick, MD) died from "an apparent suicide" shortly before the announcement and the entire case seems to hinge on weak circumstantial evidence. Here are some questions that, if I were on a jury, would give me a reasonable doubt as to their conclusions:

Why wasn't an autopsy performed on Ivins? Only a blood test was performed and found that there was a large dose of Tylenol and codeine. An autopsy might reveal traces of the strain of anthrax used in the attacks, which still is inconclusive but an autopsy seems like a given when the government's prime suspect dies of unnatural causes.
Is there a definitive answer as to whether the attack anthrax had additives that point towards weaponization? There have been conflicting answers about this from numerous researchers, government spokespeople and the media. If there were not any additives how did the anthrax disperse so freely after being in envelopes through sorting machines etc?
There doesn't appear to be any evidence that the letters were written by Ivins - no matches from the handwriting, no DNA.
Why does the FBI think a lone, crazy guy did it rather than a group?
The FBI has stated the flask of anthrax that matched genetically to the attack anthrax was in the the sole custody of Ivins but other employees at USAMRIID said other researchers had access as well.
There is no evidence placing Ivins in NJ to mail the letters other than the FBI's very weak link that a storage closet for a sorority that Ivins was obsessed with is near the mailbox where the letters were mailed.
The substance abuse counselor that Ivins was seeing (Jean Duley - long history of substance abuse problems herself, including DUI offenses while seeing patients) has minimal credibility and seems to have been given sensitive case-related information by the FBI. Was she given a deal to finger Ivins and thus a motive to make stuff up?
Ivins apparently had a history of mental illness and substance abuse. How would someone with so many problems be able to hide incriminating evidence from the FBI for 6-7 years while they pursued Hatfill?
Was Ivins given a polygraph and what were the results?
The FBI made a point that Ivins was staying late in the lab during the times around the attacks and could not explain why. They claim he was alone - is this verified? Could he have been meeting someone there, for example another woman?
The access logs for this lab say he stayed late exactly 2 hours 15 minutes for three consecutive nights. Has this type of coincidence happened with other researchers as well? And is it unusual for nerdy researchers to stay late at their lab? And government employees to stay late right after 9/11?

Things I Learned About Moving

2008-08-10T18:06:00.004-04:00

Here are a few things I learned from a recent move:

Household stuff is like mold - it grows without you realizing it and it lurks in dark places
Gas is always cheaper at the exit you just passed or the one that's too far away
Port-a-johns CAN fly and they ARE dangerous
Allow a few more extra days than you think you'll need
Friends and family are priceless and will help you make it there.

DC Parking

2008-07-11T01:01:00.002-04:00

I came out of a gig recently and found DC tag CS 2210 parked ~~behind~~ ON THE BUMPER of my car. They were partly in what remained of my spot and partly in a no parking zone. Some people.

Blue Skies and Clouds at a Gig

2008-07-11T00:29:00.001-04:00

Taken at a gig in back of a Jewish center curiously called Jazz, Jews and Booze.

How much do you charge?

2008-06-11T23:34:00.004-04:00

"How much do you charge?" is a hard question to answer sometimes when it comes to music. Most musicians charge different amounts depending on the nature of the event and sometimes how they perceive the hiring person's ability to pay. The object is to not quote too high of a price for fear of being rejected nor too low of a price. Other musicians, mainly less experienced ones, will sometimes even "play for the experience/exposure," a.k.a. free, in a commercial establishment which really messes things up.

I'd someday like to do a survey of jazz musicians and what they charge for different types of events venues. I would want to find out what people would charge for a 3 hour gig in a restaurant vs. a jazz club vs. a wedding reception vs. a concert hall vs. a school vs. a friend's 2nd cousin's graduation party etc. and ask what area of the country the respondents are located in. I wonder if more transparency and uniformity in what musicians charge would help strengthen the jazz working class when it comes time to talk money. What would the "living wage" for a jazz musician be?

Solar Tax Credit Bill Fails

2008-06-11T23:08:00.006-04:00

Senate Republicans managed to scuttle a bill that would extend energy tax credits for companies investing in solar and other renewable energy sources:

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/ecogeek/564/senate-nixes-solar-tax-credits.html

The Republicans were upset that the bill would be offset by closing tax loopholes for hedge fund managers operating offshore funds. Hedge funds, which are basically secretive, unregulated financial playgrounds for the rich, are apparently more important than finding a solution to energy problems which affect poor and middle class people the most. Hopefully technology will advance to a point where a person or community could easily and cheaply generate their own energy and not have to be at the mercy of the oil industry and their political enablers.

Red Garland vs. Wynton Kelly

2008-06-01T12:38:00.000-04:00

Here's a quick comparison of the styles of Red Garland vs. Wynton Kelly:

Red Garland	Wynton Kelly
more legato touch	more staccato touch ("pop")
block chords with root-fifth-octave in right hand common	block chords not as common and many times they just have an octave in the right hand
uses more blues devices sometimes repeated over several choruses (see "Soul Junction" for example)	favors b5 more frequently
long phrases a la Bud Powell	uses triad arpeggios frequently sometimes with b5; sometimes with tremolo "fanfare"
eighth notes are a tiny bit straighter than Kelly's	eighth notes have a triplet feel (try playing transcriptions with boogie woogie triplet left hand to get rhythmic feel)
Left hand chords are frequently played on the upbeat of 2 and 4 or with a "Charleston" rhythm	Left hand chords frequently consist only of 3rds and 7ths

Lennie Tristano and White Jazz vs. Black Jazz

2008-05-20T01:05:00.005-04:00

Some interesting analysis from pianist Ethan Iverson with a cameo by mega-critic Stanley Crouch on the Tristano school, racism and white jazz vs. black jazz:

http://thebadplus.typepad.com/dothemath
/2008/05/lennie-tristano.html

http://thebadplus.typepad.com/dothemath
/2008/05/a-note-on-trist.html

http://thebadplus.typepad.com/dothemath
/2008/05/warne-marsh-lee.html

How would the Wynton Marsalis school (to pick a lighting rod example!) fit in with a simliar analysis? Iverson's comment about jazz and American slavery being related is powerful as well as disturbing - associating such a beautiful American art form with something so repulsive - and deserves an article of its own. I'd agree that slavery brought the African influence that is a fundamental part of jazz but I wouldn't say that black jazz musicians are only creative because of this and this seems to be implied by these kind of statements. With there being more white jazz musicians than black jazz musicians today (I'd say very unscientifically from observing musicians on gigs and at other concerts a 70/30 split) I'd like to see Iverson and Crouch give their take on racial issues in jazz today.

Corporate gigs

2008-05-16T15:18:00.004-04:00

I had a good gig last night for a private corporate event on the Chesapeake Bay in Stevensville, MD. even though no one was listening closely. These "corporate gigs" have a number of pros and cons. On the bad side no one listens very much to the music that you're playing. That's not to say that the people don't listen at all or don't appreciate having music at their event; they do - they're just focused on socializing more. On the plus side these type of gigs frequently offer better working conditions than "club dates" or even wedding gigs. Much better pay (enough to actually support the fortunate musicians who do many of these types of gigs), food is usually included, the venues are frequently nice and the staff that you deal with are usually very professional. I just think it's important to balance these background music gigs with ones where people are actually listening and interested in hearing the type of music that you're playing.

2 Amy's

2008-05-16T15:13:00.002-04:00

Here's a picture of a margherita pizza from 2 Amy's in Washington, D.C. This restaurant is one of only about 21 in the US that are certified by the "Pizza Police" as making authentic Neapolitan-style pizza. Whatever they're certified it's very good pizza although the pizzas aren't cut so you have to work a little bit before you can dive in. Their cannoli are really good as well.

Don't Buy a Navigon GPS

2008-05-16T14:51:00.003-04:00

Don't buy a GPS made by Navigon. Not because they might break after a month (which mine did) but because their customer service is horrible. After the Navigon 2100 that I had gotten wouldn't power on, I called the customer service number a number of times trying to get a replacement but was given the "run around" each time. The phone rep even refused to give me a manager when I requested one. I eventually returned it to the store where I had bought it. If you want a GPS try one from Garmin, Magellan or TomTom.

NSO w/John Williams

2008-05-09T00:53:00.003-04:00

Here's a photo from the National Symphony Orchestra w/John Williams conducting. This was the finale from E.T. and my favorite piece of the evening.
The first half of the concert was narrated by Martin Scorcese and featured music from films by David Lean (Bridge Over the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia) while the second half was narrated by Steven Spielberg and featured his own films and Williams' music.
The orchestra played well but I thought the second half had more energy than the first.

Post Office: Don't recycle our stuff - it's illegal

2008-04-30T13:38:00.004-04:00

A Post Office in Colorado says recycling old priority mail boxes to send other packages is a federal crime:

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/16072154/detail.html

Thanks USPS for helping save the planet!

Totonno's

2008-04-29T00:08:00.004-04:00

I had a chance to go to NYC recently with my friend Brad for a lesson with Lee Konitz and to see a concert by Chris Byars. Along the way we stopped at Totonno's Pizza near the Coney Island section of Brooklyn. This is a picture of the half-sausage, half-cheese pie we ate.

I had never had a pizza cooked in a coal-fired oven before so the amount and flavor of the char on the end crust was new for me. Eating there felt more like eating in someone's house than a restaurant and I'd definitely recommend it if you're heading to New York.

The Big Word Project

2008-04-22T23:07:00.000-04:00

I just paid $4 to a web site called thebigwordproject.com to link the word "gene" to my website. I'm curious whether it will drive traffic to my site.