A Few Jazz Notes

...is a jazzonian e-newsletter published weekly unless the author is somehow incapacitated. It details the thriving jazz scene in Columbus, Georgia and the surrounding Chattahoochee Valley, written exclusively by

Rusty Taylor, the jester-singer for the vocal jazz band Southern Standard Time

Salutations Fellow Jazzonian,

Greetings!...Welcome to your weekly excursion into the ebullient world of playful rhetoric sponsored by the words torporific:

torporific (adjective): causing sluggish activity.

Example

It has been suggested by people... lots of people... lots of good, descent people... I mean, they may be descent... but these people... and there are a lot of them... record-breaking crowds of people... who claim that Mitch McConnell is, in fact, a turtle; his torporific persona proves it.

--Annonimous

* * *

It's Not Jazz But...

Opelika's Songwriter's Night features my friend Ted McVay this Wednesday, November 29 at The Sound Wall at 605 Avenue B in Opelika, AL from 7-10 pm CDT, which is 8-11 pm EDT. Opelika's Songwriters Night features local and regional songwriters 'in the round' at The Sound Wall. Come and enjoy fine original songs performed by the writers themselves in an intimate listening environment. No cover. BYOB.

Enjoy the newsletter...

Last Week at The Loft

Columbus, GA's Weekly Home for Jazz

Last week's featured musician is from Sao Paulo, Brazil: Paulo Siqueira, and he was beyond awesome. He plays the tenor, alto, and soprano saxophones; the flute; and the bassoon. That's right... the bassoon! Joining him onstage was his friend Chris, who plays percussion, and he had an unusual setup that included a tambourine that was hooked up to an electronic amplifying thingy that allowed the musician to play funky rhythms with his fingers, fist, palm, and knuckles that added a really groovy, not-so-subtle beat that had my soul yearning to dance to the syncopated beat.

Paulo Siqueira also has a CD that I bought: "até a última faixa," which probably translates into something groovy, which the CD is. I'm not a music critic, but the music makes me happy when I listen to it. There is something really special about polyrhythmic music that seems to evoke a light-hearted whimsy combined with a certainty that everything will be all right... that Tuesday will follow Monday... that each sunrise is a special gift... that Love is available to the lowliest minion... that Life is wonderful. Place this CD into your player and crank it up. If you're not dancing in seconds, your heart is beyond repair... but hearts are incapable of dying when the soul is comforted, and Paulo's music certainly soothes my soul.

War on Christmas

Thanksgiving Day has come and gone, leaving nothing but the bitter aftertaste of tryptophan and gluttonous regret, yet, already, a tsunamic deluge of Christmas Consciousness has inundated our social fabric with, among other more innocuous stimuli, radio stations (dedicated to over-stimulating the purchasing impulses of those of us who are too easily coerced to justify our acceptance of rampant avaricious purchasing with religious or nationalistic absolution) that devote seemingly inexhaustible resources towards enticing their listeners to purchase sybaritic commodities that are eagerly consecrated by a nearly cultic imbroglio of consumers who sanctify the destructive and demagogic aspects of Capitalistic speciousness with the panegyric extolment of habitual and disgusting prodigal behavior disguised as a celebration of the natal anniversary of a major religious icon and the excessive commercialization of Patriotism and Religious Compliance to Cupidity in the name of one's chosen deity interwoven with an illusory national security and economic prosperity that rewards money-hoarders while pushing penury beyond the scope of concern--and beginning in early autumn, the musical industry sponsors a three month celebration of massive consumption by playing a popular Christmas-themed musical agenda exclusively save advertising, this, together with television channels that play cheesy Christmas-themed romances throughout the year, engulf our sensibilities with pyroclastic efficiency, yet... There's a war on Christmas!

Every time I hear somebody spew these vile words, I roll my eyes upward with intense pubescent hubris. War on Christmas? No! It's a war on the commercialization of an alleged unconsummated birth of a child by a teenaged virgin! A child born of a virgin? That is impossible! That is a miracle! And if you believe that that is the reason for the season, than its commercialization should piss you off as well.

While viewing the recent Iron Bowl, which was won by Auburn, I, along with every other person in the television audience, was subjected to an endless barrage of advertisements that were created with the exclusive agenda to stimulate the viewers' purchasing inclinations. Among the products and services used to entice capitalistic impulses was a fast food restaurant that coveted the spending money of people who pursue a dietary menu by exciting their formidable appetites with high definition images of pedestrian food stuff as artisan cuisine. One dude comments how he and his partner hadn't eaten such epicurean treasures for such a low price since they were in college. His partner reminds him that while he went to college, the other was in denial, which the former calls a "good school." This reminded me that Trump University's most popular degree was from the College of Denial.

Weekly Area Jams

Red Light Cafe Jazz Jam

Every Wed at 8 pm ET

I have not been to the weekly jazz jam at Red Light Cafe, but it is hosted by the Gordon Vernick Quartet, and I am a huge fan of Gordon's, so I'm planning to go soon, and when I do... Ha! I'm very likely to get excited. Fo' mo' info, click here.

Apache Cafe in Atlanta

Every Wed at 9:00 ET

Al Smith's Midtown Jam Session @Apache Cafe!  Contemporary Jazz , Soul, R&B vocalists jam Session. Featuring live band led by keyboardist Al Smith! Vocalists are invited to sign the list and jam with the band, musicians can sit in too... a must attend! Different Dj spinning on the back patio each week! SPECIAL GUEST HOST EVERY WEEK! Doors open at 9pm and list-sign up is at 9pm. Event admission, the day of, at the door, is CASH. Fo' mo' info, click here.

1048 Club in Montgomery

Every Sun at 9:30-12:30 CT

The 1048 Cafe is in Montgomery, AL. The weekly Jazz Jam led by Sam Williams, 9 pm CDT, $5 cover. I don't really know that much about it, but the 1048 has a jazz jam every Sunday from 9ish 'til whenever. Apparently the jam draws some incredible musicians. Fo' mo' info, click here.

On Thursdays at Noon, make a lunch date with our region’s finest musicians. A Little Lunch Music is an informal, come-and-go performance presented by JCSM and coordinated by musician Patrick McCurry. You can sit in and listen to the entire performance, dine in the Museum Cafe from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. CT, browse the Museum Shop or explore the galleries.

For more info, click http://jcsm.auburn.edu/event/a-little-lunch-music-fall-2017/2017-09-07/.

Jazz Association of Macon

We Promote Jazz in Macon

and Middle Georgia

Our purpose is to:

Encourage and support creation, presentation, and preservation of jazz music.

Support the creation of new audiences for jazz music.

Provide education and information about jazz.

Encourage young musicians to learn and appreciate jazz.

Develop a network among local and regional jazz advocates.

Increase awareness of jazz events and musicians in our community.

To read their blog, click here.

Area Musicians

Actually, this is a link to a page of my personal website, but it makes it much easier t maintain. It is a dynamic list of area musicians that will, hopefully, be continually updated until I can no longer do it. If you are a musician who is not listed or you are listed but with invalid info, please let me know, and I'll make the appropriate revisions. Thank you, and click here to visit the link.

High Museum of Art: Atlanta Jazz

Live jazz in the Robinson Atrium at the Atlanta High Museum of Art every 3rd Friday of the month. Fo' mo' info, click here .

On-line Radio

Video of the Week

I wonder how many remember the true grooviness of the Muppet Show?

The second video: In 1981, the earliest version of Cobham’s Glass Menagerie (with guitarist Mike Stern and multi-instrumentalist Michal Urbaniak) recorded the Stratus album, but by year-end the band had changed personnel. This live version of “AC/DC” features the original version of the group.

The catchy and funky tune serves as an infectious vehicle for solos by Urbaniak on the lyricon and Stern, making one wish that this ensemble had stayed together much longer.

Personnel:

Billy Cobham, drums

Michal Urbaniak, lyricon

Mike Stern, guitar

Gil Goldstein, keyboards

Tim Landers, bass

Christmas Music by Area Musicians

Some area musicians have recorded Christmas music. Simply click on the cover art, and the link will send you to a magical, virtual store where you can buy the music. If I've missed an area musician who has recorded Christmas music, let me know and I'll include it here. Support local musicians; otherwise, Santa will leave you coal in your stockings.

Joe Gransden

I'll Be Home For Christmas

If you know of an area musician who has recorded a Christmas CD, please let me know. Thanks.

Memories of Columbus Jazz

Memories of Jazz

The History of Swing and Jazz in the Columbus, Georgia Area

From 1940 — 1980... Who played... Where they played

by Gene Kocian

Part Two of Memories of Jazz is The Bands: The Edgar White, Suzy Freeman, and Jimmy Fuller Bands . The photo introducing this chapter is of Tommy Tucker's Band at the Idle Hour Park Ballroom in 1938. The opposite much smaller photo is of the Eva Haines Band on the George W. Riverboat in 1938 with three unknown musicians.  

The author recalls that in the late 1920s or early 30s the Suzy Freeman Band played in a lot behind Dinglewood Drug Store, which was located, at the time, at the triangle atop Wynn's Hill where Wynnton Road and Buena Vista Road intersect. This interests me specifically because there is a drive-through liquor store in that building now, and the Dinglewood Pharmacy is still on Wynnton Road, a bit more east, right across the street to AFLAC's corporate headquarter.

By the way, Dinglewood Pharmacy is home to the Lieutenant's wold famous scrambled dog, which is a hot dog bun laid flat on an elongated shallow bowl with (at least when I order) two cut up hot dogs smothered in Lieutenant's chili, topped with small cubes of cheddar cheese, slathered with mustard and Tabasco sauce and crackers. There's a major controversy about whether or not the Lieutenant is the originator of the scrambled dog—there's a cat in Albany who claims to be the culinary inventor of the scrambled dog, but I know the Lieutenant, and he's a really nice dude, so I will always support his claim as the culinary marvel's inventor even if hard evidence supports the contrary. Legend has it that when he was governor of the great state of Georgia, Jimmy Carter would send state troopers, sirens a-blazing, to retrieve the scramble dog to the state capitol.

The last photo in this section is of Jimmy Fuller's waiving a baton at the University of North Carolina dance band featuring Warren Clayton and John Best, a trumpeter who played with the bands of Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Bob Crosby, and Benny Goodman. This section comes quietly to an end with the tease of reading about Fletcher Henderson and the Cuthbert Jazz Festival.

Peace Through Music

Valediction

Electric Boobs

Elton John is one of the most recognized popular musicians ever. He's been making music seemingly forever, and one of his early hits was "Benny and the Jets," which has the lyrics: "She's got electric boots and a mohair suit/ You know I read it in a magazine." Innocuous enough. Sure... but this song came out in the early 70s when I was around ten, and what I heard with my prepubescent ears was: "She's got electric boobs and a Mohawk, too/ You know I read it in a magazine." Yes, even at the age of ten, I was fascinated with the female anatomy.

My paternal grandmother was an irrevocably Catholic widow, a strict but loving disciplinarian who raised nine children and babysat for probably one billion other children. In the living room, she had two portraits: one of her husband, my grandfather (who sat regally in a chair, a young, beaming man in his late thirties, cross-legged and smiling at the camera in his tan U.S. Army uniform) and a portrait of Jesus with piercing blue eyes and light brown hair highlighted with subtle streaks of blonde. It wouldn't surprise me if her house had been blessed by the pope before the Catholic Mass' text was translated from Latin into secular vernacular. It was always the center of practically every family event, an embryonically comforting venue that always salved the conflicts that oft arise between loved ones.

Again, it was the early seventies. I was only around ten, Elton John's song about Benny's jets could be heard every time one turned on her radio; rock-n-roll was in its prime, guitar solos lasted at least ten minutes; hippies still rallied in Haight-Ashley; the culture evoked a less rigid morality, especially concerning the unadorned human body; sexual exploration was strongly encouraged, and nudity was celebrated. (Yet, in Alabama, George Corley Wallace centered his political platform of keeping segregation alive in the South.) 

If my mammary, uh... memory... if my memory serves me correctly, Grandma was in the kitchen cooking, which seemed to be all she ever did. It is early afternoon; I walk into the television room and see my uncle sleeping on the couch, which wasn't unusual 'cause he worked nights, but "The Graduate" was on the ol' boob tube. (boob... I was ten... and very affected by mammillary influence. Hell, my favorite piece of fried chicken is the breast!)

If you are unfamiliar with "The Graduate," it is a movie starring a young Dustin Hoffman, a middle-aged but visually stunning Anne Bancroft, and a nubile Katharine Ross. Hoffman's character is named Ben Braddock, who has recently graduated from college. His parent's are encouraging him towards a lucrative career, but Ben is more into lying around the pool. Soon, however, he is seduced by the wife of his father's best friend... Mrs. Robinson, the same Mrs. Robinson addressed by Simon and Garfunkel in their hit song. 

Mrs. Robinson's daughter Elaine, played by Katharine Ross, has also returned home, and Mrs. Robinson has no intention of losing her sexual playmate to her daughter, but her cuckolded husband and Ben's parents coax the youngsters to go on a date. As a show of solidarity with his more mature sexual partner, Ben takes Elaine to a strip club, and this really upsets the younger woman. She runs away. Ben chases her, catches up with her, apologizes, and, of course, they fall in love, which creates the conflict of the story.

The scene of the stripper really caught my ten-year-old attention. The "actress" had tassels hanging from her nipples, but she rotated them in opposite directions by undulating her deviously sinuous body in slow, especially seductive waves that easily derailed my mind far, far away from any of the Lord's commandments, especially the one about coveting my neighbor's wife. The dancing boobs, to me, was freaking awesome. Obviously, these were "electric boobs." I still don't know what a mohair suit is, but if a woman has electric boobs, she would definitely have a Mohawk haircut, too. The irony of this story is that my unexpected introduction to the sensuously stimulating electric boobs occurred in my paternal grandmother's sacrosanct house that was still damp from its domiciliary baptism. All I know is that electric boobs are far more fascinating to stare at than a portrait of Caucasian Jesus.

Peace Through Music