The Jazzonian Jazz is Diversity. Jazz is Democracy.  #Wheelchairistocracy From the demented mind of Rusty Taylor Jester and Vocalist for jazz band Southern Standard Time

A Monthly Newsletter June 2018 The Jazzonian is a quirky e-newsletter published monthly unless the author is somehow incapacitated. It details the growing jazz scene in Columbus, Georgia and the surrounding Chattahoochee Valley, written exclusively by Rusty Taylor, a Mercer alumnus and the quadriplegic jester-singer for the vocal jazz band Southern Standard Time. The newsletter takes a rhetorical approach to current events from the point of view of a progressive student of Life who, for thirty-two years and counting, has been unable to perform even the most rudimentary acts of daily living. But he can write... and sing. 

Points of Interest in this week's issue It’s A Jazz Thing; You May Not Understand You Say You Need A Revolution Constantly Morphing Word of the Month Constantly Morphing The Jazzonian It’s A Quad Thing; You May Not Understand Groovicus Maximus Maxine Waters Robert Mueller Is My Hero The Revolution Continues Valediction

Salutations Greetings!... And welcome to our new monthly e-newsletter! As you can see, my Muse has been inspiring my loyalty to her rhetorical largess. In our most recent e-newsletter, I strongly hinted my intentions to supplement my jazzonian musings with therapeutic venting of vitriolic diatribe against the forty-fifth president of our nation. I was hesitant… a bit anxious… because I am ready to scream my incredulity that the principles that were established by our nation’s founders are in danger of being rendered a pile of forgotten memories. Not one of you people who actually read this e-newsletter requested to be un-subscribed from my mailing list. Thank you. And now… I’m going to make this weekly e-newsletter a monthly series… at least for the immediate future. I simply need more time to collect my thoughts, record them, and to present them in a cohesive manner conducive to my writing style that is continually in a state of revision. To this end, I’m going to add another especially persuasive theme to my e-newsletter that I may call It’s A Jazz Thing; You May Not Understand . I am, hopefully obviously, developing within the e-newsletter a theme of separation between jazz (as well as other emulous genres of music to which one must actively listen in order to fully enjoy the maximum amount of auricular pleasure) and the other forms of less complex music that may be very enjoyable as well but that lowers compositional complexity in order to appeal to the least common denominator and, thereby, desperately fails to reach the level of intellectual and emotional intrigue that jazz and classical music avail. This intended separation is not an exacting conflict that promulgates exclusive loyalty to jazzonian beauty; it is simply an invitation open to everybody to acknowledge a demarcation between the levels of complexity within the broader theme of Music, an umbrella that includes the cooing of a dove juxtaposed against Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Charlie Parker’s solo on “Confirmation.” The world of visual art (a recreational medium of which I am mostly ignorant except from a ridiculously fundamental, possibly pubescent perspective) also unintentionally provides a platform to debate a similar theme. Again, I am almost totally ignorant about the world of visual arts save that there exist some artwork that speaks to my yearning to expand mental complacently into a questioning of whatever it is that inspires a static acceptance of the status quo compared to pursuing a more fulfilling path to ultimate expectations that challenge comfort against this potential… the difference is between staring at a piece of art and wondering how one person can create something so mind-blowingly [sic] awesome and something that’s simply nice to look at. To me, Jackson Pollock’s art is an anomaly, but maybe that’s the response that he wanted when he created a style of painting that looks, to me, like an explosion in a paint factory; it is visually stimulating, but the creative effort, to me, seems lazy and lacks creativity. Had it been only one or two portraits of serendipitous paint-roiling (an act duplicated by pachydermous endowment), I will fain concede it a masterstroke of imaginative scheming to highlight his other more cerebrally brilliant works of art. I am not plangently descanting that Pollock’s art is unworthy, but there is a hierarchy that I, personally, find hard to ignore. All art (and music) is beautiful; however, if we as a species need to strive for impossible perfection in whatever we do, then we need to place Leonardo de Vinci high above Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol; otherwise, we may as well put a third-graders multi-hued crayon-influenced art-scrawl in a museum instead of on the refrigerator. Music has a similar hierarchy. I love rock-n-roll, but to place Foreigner’s Hot Blooded against any Pat Metheny composition is like comparing a Tootsie Roll to a red velvet cake. Both are enjoyable, but one is worthy of encomiastic laud while the other gets an “atta boy.” The crux of this e-newsletter will always be to promote the area’s jazz scene above other forms of music that can be adequately performed with less ingenuity. Trump bashing is also a secondary diversion, but Trump’s faddy appeal will soon evanesce into obscurity. When that happens, Jazz will be honored, once again, as a popular form of auricular thaumaturgy, and I will be able to concentrate on its joyous renaissance. Peace Through Music

A Jackson Pollock Painting

Abel 2, Inc. Mission Statement: To enhance the Quality of Life of People with Disabilities and the Under-served by Creating Music and Arts opportunities for Employment and Enjoyment! Are you a Performing Artist (singer, dancer, musician, actor, comedian, poet, etc.)? Do you have a disability?   Do you know anyone who is?   ​ Abel 2 wants you to promote your talent! We are in the process of building a database of performing artists with disabilities who reside in the Southeast. Send us the contact name and information on our "Contact Us" page or email us at [email protected]. Be sure to include your talent, level of experience, head shot, and video of one of your performances. Click on banner for more info.

Bad Joke of the Week Painful Puns Hangover - the wrath of grapes. Income tax - Capital punishment. Egoist - one who is me-deep in conversation. My pet pig got laryngitis; she feels disgruntled. A used car isn't always what it's jacked up to be. Two silk worms were in a race; they ended up in a tie. A burglar stole the toilet at the police precinct; officers don't have anything to go on.

Tweets of the Week If you condemned @kathygriffin but are defending @therealroseanne b/c “free speech,” you are a giant hypocrite. And probably racist. —Jackie Schechner

Groovy Area Jazz Programs Schwob Jazz Orchestra (Columbus State University) Alabama State University Auburn Knights Augusta University Berry College Emory College of Arts and Sciences Florida State University Georgia State University Georgia Southern University Jacksonville State University Kennesaw State University Valdosta State University University of Alabama University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) University of Georgia University of South Alabama University of West Georgia

Groovy Upcoming Events Friday, June 1 – 7:00 PM doors / 8:00 PM show ET – An Evening with Leo Kottke at Variety Playhouse in Atlanta. Leo Kottke (born September 11, 1945) is an acoustic guitarist. He is known for a fingerpicking style that draws on blues, jazz, and folk music, and for syncopated, polyphonic melodies. He overcame a series of personal obstacles, including partial loss of hearing and a nearly career-ending bout with tendon damage in his right hand, to emerge as a widely recognized master of his instrument. He currently resides in the Minneapolis area with his family. Fo' mo' info, click here. Friday, June 1 – 8 pm Eastern – Gregory Porter Tribute To Nat King Cole With Atlanta Symphony Orch at Atlanta Symphony Hall. Fo' mo' info, click here. Sunday, June 3 – Papamichael featuring Jimmy Haslip, Sonny Emory, and Randy Hoexter will play at the City Winery in Atlanta. I, personally, am only familiar with Randy Hoexter and am a huge fan, so I'm comfortable in predicting that a musician of his esteem garners very reputable musicians. I would bet my home that this gig will be worthy of your time to experience. Fo' mo' info, click here. Sunday and Monday, June 3 and 4 – John Pizzarelli Duo Live in Concert at Eddie's Attic (a venue that is totally wheelchair INACCESSIBLE...) World-renowned "genial genius of the guitar," John Pizzarelli has been hailed by the Boston Globe for "reinvigorating the Great American Songbook and re-popularizing jazz." Tickets for his performances are moving quickly! In addition to being a bandleader and solo performer, John has been a special guest on recordings for major pop names such as James Taylor, Natalie Cole, Kristin Chenoweth, Tom Wopat, Rickie Lee Jones and Dave Van Ronk, as well as leading jazz artists such as Rosemary Clooney, Ruby Braff, Johnny Frigo, Buddy DeFranco, Harry Allen and, of course, Bucky Pizzarelli. For more information, click here. Friday, June 15 - 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM. The Wren's Nest. Experiencing Jazz - Jazz, Blues & BBQ. Style. Relax, relate, release, as we open up our 3rd Annual Jazz Matters at The Wren's Nest Concert Series. T. C. Carson, singer/actor, best known for his portrayal of Kyle Barker on the hit sitcom "Living Single" will open up our series, along with performances by The TuTuff Band, The Edwin Williams Experience & Emerging Jazz Artists and more. Tickets Available Online: here. For More Info, call 404-474-1211. Friday, June 22 – Manhattan Transfer at Atlanta Symphony Hall starting at 7:30 pm Eastern. Fo' mo' info, click here. Tuesday, July 3 at 8 pm Eastern Time – The City Winery of Atlanta presents MADOCA™ Kawahara a.k.a. MADOCA™ [pronounced "ma du ka"] is a world-class keyboardist and composer, Grammy voting member & publisher: ASCAP member, and national recording artist, whose latest release is on the Smooth Jazz Network Top 100 Charts. Her style is a fusion of contemporary/classic jazz, soul, funk, Latin and salsa -- providing musical sustenance for your mind and soul. Fo' mo' info, click here. Friday, July 20 - 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM. The Wren's Nest. Experiencing Jazz: With a Little Soul, Funk & A Whole Lotta Jazz. Artist not yet available. Tickets Available Online: here. For More Info, call 404-474-1211. Friday, August 17 - 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM. The Wren's Nest. Artist not yet available. Tickets Available Online: here. For More Info, call 404-474-1211. Friday, September 21 - 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM. The Wren's Nest. Artist not yet available. Tickets Available Online: here. For More Info, call 404-474-1211.

This Month at The Loft Columbus [GA's] Home For Jazz Music Upcoming schedule: June 1. The Scheoder Coligium June 8. The Bluenote Quartet with Reggie Sampson June 15. The Chris's Otts Quartet June 22. David Banks Gospel Jazz June 29. The Madeo Quartet Also. June 24. Kevin Bails is doing a CD release gig. More info to come. Start time... 6-ish. This is going to be a really big deal. More info to come.

It's A Jazz Thing; You May Not Understand For a while now, I’ve been rhetorically employing the metaphors of “Jazz is Diversity,” and “Jazz is Democracy” as a tool to emphasize the concept of a group of people’s equanimity when executing jazzonian intrigue. I am now including the metaphor “Jazz is Baseball.” The Atlanta Braves are, once again, a very good baseball team, and I have been, consequently, watching more baseball (while reading… Russian Roulette ). I have also been watching television shows that recapitulate the most recent baseball action, which includes an emphasis on replaying video footage of impressive athletic mastery, especially defensively. I was just now watching one of these ubiquitous recap shows that presented, for my television-viewing pleasure, a play wherein a shortstop—while running toward second base to gather in a ground ball—has to awkwardly and athletically readjust his body to throw out the batter who is running to first base, after the defensive shortstop slightly fumbles the ground ball. The pitcher adroitly covers first base because the first baseman is out of position, and although the scenario was originally set up perfectly for a double play, the defense did secure one out in a complicated series of events that appeared to have been fastidiously choreographed but was, in fact, a set of spontaneous events. Sure, the ballet-like athleticism seemed orchestrated, but it wasn’t. Baseball player’s practice this scenario with the importunate and redundant repetition of a toddler’s incessant call of “Mamma… mamma… mamma” long after the toddler has forgotten the reason for the infernally ever-droning echo. This practicing allows baseball players to creatively improvise when unexpected inconveniences capriciously arise. Jazzonian improvisation uses the same scenario to enable the virtuosic spontaneity when soloing over complex chord changes. That’s one thing that makes jazz so fun to experience: Combined with other tools, spontaneous composition is awe-inspiring. Peace Through Music

Word of the Month con·sue·tude n. Custom; usage. --con-sue-tu-di·nar-y adj.

Make Concert Stages Accessible The next time you go see a live musical group, check out the stage. Does it have a wheelchair ramp leading from the audience to the stage or are their steps? Is there a wheelchair ramp backstage? Is there handicapped parking where the performers load and unload? Chances are that the venue doesn’t provide these accommodations. It’s like this: my biggest challenge as a quadriplegic jazz vocalist is finding accessible stages on which to perform. I was once raised up to a five-foot high stage using a forklift and a wooden palette because the stage was not wheelchair accessible. Fortunately, I didn’t die. Point is that there are few wheelchair accessible stages; otherwise, I’d sing much more often. It’s easy to see why this isn’t a mainstream problem: there are few “physically challenged” performers, but that’s merely an excuse encouraged by indifference. We handicapped performers exist and are eager to share our dreams with fans who dig what we do. But why are we unconsciously ignored? That’s easy: Being unable to perform even the most rudimentary acts of daily living is a major downer; the wheelchair, quite frankly, is a symbol of lost hope. Let’s face it; it’s a marketing problem, and this is where you come in to save the day. Physical handicaps are wrapped in lugubrious imagery, but not every moment of life in a wheelchair is steeped in mournful decay. Believe it or not, I laugh every day… some days more than others, but if life were perfect, I, for one, would take a bite of forbidden fruit to find some excitement from the decay of entropy (the hypothetical tendency for all matter and energy in the universe to evolve toward a state of inert uniformity). What I’m trying so desperately to connote here is the fact that having a physical challenge can, at times, be fun and inspirational. What we need is positive imagery, and here’s where I ask for a favor from you, dear reader, and it has to do with social media, more specifically, using the ubiquitous #hashtag: will you help by coming up with a #hashtag meme that has positive connotations for the handicapped and send it to me. This could be fun. Maybe I can come up with prizes for creative contributions. Regardless, this could be the beginning of a social movement that witnesses an outcry of creative energy by talented people who have difficulty overcoming the obstacles that are hidden from people who can hop out of bed running full tilt. By the way, I’ve come up with a possible #hashtag meme that might work: #FantastAbility. What do you think? The gauntlet has been dropped. Do you accept the challenge? Please reply to this email with as many suggestions as you want, and challenge your friends as well. Let’s see if we can extend this conversation internationally. (Actually, when you send in your suggestions, include the name of your hometown city. We’ll see how far this request goes.) Let’s make the wheelchair a symbol of fun… or grace… or intelligence… or, dare I say it? Let’s make the wheelchair Sexy! Make Concert Stages Wheelchair Accessible

Jazz Etiquette  There are few absolutes in life, but this is a definite one: do not stand in front of the bandstand playing air guitar, air trumpet, air bass, or air drums. This activity irritates the musicians. It is disrespectful to both musicians and fellow listeners. It also makes the air player look like... well, there's really no need to spell this one out. Please, save those air moves for the National Air Guitar Championships held annually in Las Vegas. In today’s society, texting is as ubiquitous as sunshine is to day. Please, do not text while watching live jazz; if you're not into the performance, leave. Along the same line, turn off the cell phone. If you are so important that you cannot miss calls, perhaps you - and everyone else in the audience – would be better served if you did not go to hear live music. If you'd get upset watching somebody else do it then it's wrong for you, too. Try not to get up and walk out in the middle of a song. It is rude, akin to walking away from someone who is speaking directly to you. Likewise, please refrain from talking during the music. No one came out to hear about your day. More often than not, other audience members came to hear the music. Most jazz musicians and seasoned listeners will agree that it is acceptable to clap after the solos that each musician takes. However, it is a good idea to keep this applause to an enthusiastic minimum because the next musician usually has already well begun her solo. By the time the claps and cheers fade, the audience has missed a good section of the next solo. Be a good listener. Learn to notice the interaction amongst musicians on stage. An understanding of their communication with each other will help novice listeners, and those not familiar with the song, to learn when the song has ended. Clap, cheer, whistle, or shout, after the last notes of the song are played, not during. The most important rule of etiquette when it comes to live jazz deals with the type of common sense your grandmother believes you possess: be respectful. Other than that, have fun. Jazz is inclusive and strongly embraces peaceful harmony. It is the type of music that demands active listening to maximize the musical experience to its most positive conclusion. If you have an uncontrollable urge to get aggressively plastered, go listen to a more kitsch musical performance. Hardly anyone there will notice. Peace Through Music

It's A Quad Thing... You Might Not Understand I just had lunch at Dinglewood Pharmacy (in Columbus, GA) and you know what that means? That’s right! Lieutenant’s “nearly world famous” Scrambled Dog! (says so right on their menu!) And I shared the cherished time with my parents and a dear friend of mine who is insidiously dying from cancer. My friend is fighting a courageous battle, but its conclusion is obvious… when viewing it objectively, so I am trying to spend as much time with her as possible (and to NOT get on her nerves). She is a beautiful and strong woman and will be heart-shard piercingly remembered after the contract on her terrestrial manifestation has been forfieted, and the initial eardrum-exploding shock from the sudden expulsion of her redoubtable life force that had just previously animated her corporeality will transmogrify into a low, murmuring rumble that shivers the entire planet with the dread sorrow of not having any more time to tell her that she has been loved… intensely… coupled with a sincere hope that when her recently freed spiritual life-force escapes its biological incarceration, her soul will still somehow continue its journey in a positive, loving, peaceful manner… But then I start thinking about the simultaneous despairing reality of life’s duality and the equaling amount of energy that must counteract the extremes of an eternal dichotomy, and this gives me pause… the sober reality that equal parts of the Universe are divided into the yin and yang that defines existence . Nobody knows what will happen after we shuffle off our mortal coil, and when staring death directly in her screaming blood-splotched eyes, one realizes at that very moment that the only truth about the transition into whatever is beyond our terrestrial manifestation is that the entire experience is strictly personal… all the help I have had throughout life will not be rallied around whatever awaits me beyond this life. That moment is the ultimate reason for my terrene existence. It’s hard for me to believe that the number of significant digits in my annual salary won’t help me much here. Still, I hope that my friend’s soul is blissful even though her death will slice through my heart so easily that I will spiritually bleed out before I feel the pain. Thank Gott A’mighty that only an insignificantly exiguous amount of humanity will be affected by my friend’s passing. Most of the world will never know about her life… her struggles, her rape, her marrying too young to a testosterone-riddled, leather donning, bandana sporting, reflectively sun-glassed, motorcycle-riding, didn’t-realize-he-was-a-coward, pedophile who raped her daughter; the cancellation of her son’s potential baseball-influenced ticket to a collegiate scholarship because he was caught smoking a doobie; her struggles in the corporate world she silently endured because she couldn’t afford to lose her health insurance, which, ultimately, will have taken her life more quickly than not. My friend’s life is the story of our generation’s main theme, which is that the majority of our people struggle to make it through their quotidian life-schedules while an insignificant number of privileged people possess so many of the planet’s resources that they have to dexterously manipulate even more massive amounts of resources to maintain everything they hoard. Quite simply: a small number of people have so many specious baubles that they could easily help those whom they claim to pity but, instead, they pay massive amounts of their idolized wealth to keep their remaining idolized wealth safe in a vault of some redoubtable banking fortress that costs many, many more specious baubles that the baubles are no longer shiny and fun to look at. A revolution is brewing in the offing, a laser-thin line of the most cavernous and blackest mist in distant anger, haughtily stalling with swaggering confidence, a foreboding energy rumbling with inaudible vibrations that tremble the earth with anticipatory authority, a elephantine clarion that the status quo is soon to be no mo’. I hope my friend lives long enough to realize that her story will be heard; it is embedded in the majority of us progressive believers in a moderate utilitarian terrestrial reality while existing in the period of our species’ development when the thought of instant personal gratification has overridden the very thought of helping people who suffer more. We live in a time when individual comfort is more important than the nurturing of community, a time when the irrational over-hoarding nature of unregulated Capitalism is molding, sculpting, and forging into form and content many specious soi-disant seekers of a convenient truth and turning them into insatiable coveters of golden calves who hoard for no other reason than to parade their gilded interpretations of beauty before a small handful of artificial bons vivants… they are that desperate for approval, even when it is bereft of any moral or civil obligation, so they unconscionably restrict the access to extraordinary pieces of art meant to be shared with the world—a single unconsciously condescending instance of – by donating ten dollars to the ‘Get Rid of Hatred’ fundraiser for the Foundation of Mother Superior’s Superiority House of Hubris while pan-frying filet mignon for his prize-winning canine pet while offering his houseguests a baloney sandwich —kind of indifference to one’s sense of privilege. We exist in a time when—and a location wherein—a majority of the population actually lives in challenging circumstances, but their emotions are too easily manipulated by nefarious corporate deviousness from cerebrally challenged pencil-neck prepubescent thuggery that also possesses massive amounts of political currency, which it uses to further manipulate unjustified loyalty from self-manufactured emotionally charged negativity while ludicrously enriching personal coffers. Although… The majority of this minority that currently wields seemingly insurmountable sway is insidiously yet indifferently encroaching on the forbidden accidental exploration of the Shakespearean “undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns” i.e. the sudden smiting of their own opulent existences. The young people who are poised to take over have seen quite clearly the discrimination by their ancestry. Plus, women, and especially women of color, have discovered their collective strength. The revolution is coming, and the ensuing Matriarchal approach to government will embrace diversity. History will determine the zeitgeist during the space-time continuum within which I roam upon the surface of this planet, and it is a theme I can’t possibly know under my current spiritual manifestation; however, I am willing to predict that future generations will look at the history of our contemporary species as a time that was the catalyst for a global revolution that will have brought about hundreds of scores of peaceful prosperity with major changes in the government and the economy, when those who had been previously in power will have plummeted with asteroid-colliding intensity as a direct result of the intolerably expected reaction against their hoarding and narcissistic indifference to communal nurturing. Peace Through Music

You Say You Want A Revolution I apologize for the discursive meandering of thematic intent from the prose of The Jazzonian e-newsletter a few weeks back; however, in my defense, I simply wore down… just a bit… emotionally. I currently exist within the blasting zone of a metaphoric crater that has been pounded into its xeric circular concave form by the frothing apoplexy of a bigoted pyroclastic fury, an irrational passion of mind-buzzing militant aggression that has manifested and metastasized in the thoughts of too many ignorant yet pitiable possessors of semi-sentient musings, and this unmanageable outrage burns white hot fuel on mountains of kindling doused with an extremely flammable gas simply because of an immovable nescient pride that rejects any modicum of doubt that the aggressors’ opinions are irrevocably veracious… and that any contradictory rejection will be sentenced to fatalistic expectations. We’ve all seen it. I’m not a particularly political dude; I’m really utilitarian, simply wanting what’s best for the majority, and this inclusion is planetary. I really dig diversity… that’s why I dig jazz so much—jazzed on jazz, but I digress… To recapitulate: I am penning my apology for the recent lexical and semantic lack of linguistic cohesion in my now monthly e-newsletter; although, the reason for the lack of rhetorical connection is… dum… dum… duhnnn… fatigue. An overt frothing vitriol has infiltrated our nation’s current political discourse, which has stimulated my Muse’s passion, and my accompanying mental fatigue is due to Her enticing deific largess; the emotionally draining pride (and its accompanying guilt) that I possess and esteem is because She, for whatever reason, has chosen me as Her vehicle for dissemination: I record Her concupiscent sentience with such passion that I sometimes grow tired relatively quickly… but it’s what I do… how could it be any different? So… To assuage the anxiety that sometimes overwhelms my more pragmatic confidence, I watch publicly funded television on FreeSpeechTV (not NPR because they accept mega-donations from oil and gas interests that negatively affect the necessary objective reporting of chemical and oil spills, etc., but I digress…) I am nearly consumed with progressive political punditry. It reminds me that a vast majority of our nation’s citizenry are ashamed and incredulously disappointed about the farcically childish allegory—the insatiable infantile hoarder of emotional negativity —who currently resides in a really big and really white mansion in our nation’s Capitol and is diurnally throwing fist-clenching, purposeless, stomp-marching, brine-sweating, swollen red-faced and screaming tantrums because he is finally realizing that he may not be the smartest man who ever walked the face of the earth… believe me. The puffy, sanguine-hued porcine recreant in the Oval Office, for better or worse… uh, OK… for worse… the embarrassing Muscovite Marionette represents our nation’s current political identity, and it is mocked, intergalactically [sic]. Myopic violence encroaches upon my emotional salubrity with ignorant, aggressive images and verbal rhetoric proffered by nefarious representatives of our nation’s major Christian conservative political cult as they pontificate acceptance and development of policies with mean-spirited intentions that violate my personal pursuit of happiness. There is hope, however. It may be a bit down the road, but an extended period of peace is in the near future. The planet will unite and promulgate peaceful and utilitarian moderation through eclectic diversity. Peace Through Music

Constantly Morphing The Jazzonian I am currently at a crossroads. Before me awaits two divergent paths, and I’m currently leaning toward taking the path less traveled. Here’s my perturbation: I love jazz. OK. That is NOT the vexing enigma that awaits my response; it is a simple empirical statement: Subject-verb-object, but it is the most earnest impetuous for my writing this weekly e-newsletter. Initially, I simply wanted to encourage folks to check out the growing influence of jazz in Columbus, Georgia and the surrounding area that includes the cities of Atlanta, Montgomery, Auburn, Opelika, LaGrange, and Tuskegee, cities in the Chattahoochee Valley, the piedmont and the plains of east Alabama and west Georgia; however, as time continued its monotonously insidious and irreversibly linear trek—or, more appropriately, as Donald J Trump the Kleptocratic Moron (an epithet meant in the most endearing way of which I am capable for a man who is the paragon of what I would teach my son to avoid emulating in any way)… as Trump trump’s my emotional equilibrium, my inspiration to promote jazzonian diversity has melded with a burning yearning to promote a progressive antithesis to Trump’s agenda. Trump is ignorantly and effectively unraveling the moral quilt that had been woven together by our nation’s opium-inspired founders who skillfully threaded the tapestry of our political ideal with the weft and warp of communal diversity (harmony) and social empathy (melody); unfortunately, our political identity is now haphazardly wed with shotgun encouragement to one’s metaphorical underaged cousin, a nuptial that has been hastily arranged with myopic patriarchal authority in order to preserve a waning exploitation of the status quo that had given the authoritarian leader the illusory and specious power he so desperately clings to, but I digress… As a result of all the nastiness that surrounds me, I began adding additional content to the e-newsletter, subtly at first, about our nation’s precipitate transmogrification into a country run exclusively for corporate domination at the expense of the democratic ideology framed by our nation’s founders. In the fall of 2017, I began using a computer application program that expedites the creation and maintenance of this e-newsletter for a reasonable cost. I tried it on a whim (and a very reasonable introductory cost) and found that I really like it; it gives the e-newsletter a surprisingly professional, award-winning sensibility, but as the creation of the weekly electronic periodical became less time consuming, the undeniable revelation of our current president’s lack of business acumen (or his lack of even a rudimentary understanding of, well… of, quite frankly, anything…) affected me to the point of fostering a slightly more aggressive disparaging of the hypocrisy by which I have been surrounded since Reagan was ignorantly deified as our nation’s greatest president after his “trickle-down” economic policies initiated the ever-widening gap between opulence and penury that, in turn, catalyzed the portraying of the poor as enemies of the state and encouraged legislation that led to: mass incarcerations, ridiculous gerrymandering, voter restrictions, and the weakening of governmental agencies in charge of assuring that corporations don’t poison Flint River combined with allowing—with impunity—mega-corporations’ NOT taking responsible civil actions to prevent catastrophic oil spills and other environmental hazards, governmental agencies that oversee train derailments, abusive child labor restrictions, and all of the current oppressive and bullying lack of civility. This unregulated lust to exploit our planet’s resources for individual augmentation became more formidable in my youth when flocks of misguided ovine sequacity lauded “Reaganomics” as a utilitarian economic panacea instead of the divisive and coercive tool of exploitation that not only callously incarcerates its victims into lives of corporate indentured servitude but does so with such obfuscatory diligence that the victims laud their demeaning plight while embracing anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT, anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic nastiness and blaming the “outsiders” for their ineptitude while strongly encouraging with irrational emotion a cultic acceptance in their own unjustified superiority to them whom they openly disparage. So they vilify other disparate members of society who look and think differently—superiority based solely on the inconsequential pigment of one’s skin. I was a bit concerned when I initially added the more political vilipend to the jazz-inspired e-newsletter, but that was before I realized that people actually read The Jazzonian . OK. I’ve always known that a handful of people read the e-newsletter, but I thought that I was mainly writing to angels, to ethereal weavers of a universal tapestry, the celestial rug-makers in charge of recording the history of everything. It was this ignorance that encouraged my initial involuntary but pejorative political commentary. I thought only a few friends read it; however, I discovered earlier this year that the application that I now use to create each weekly issue of the e-rag also calculates and reports the number of people who open or doesn’t open the e-newsletter, people who subscribe or unsubscribe from the distribution list, how many bounces (how many e-newsletters weren’t accepted into the contacts’ mailbox for whatever reason), and the number of contacts who don’t even open the email containing the e-newsletter… and guess what? Surprise, surprise, surprise! I have more readers than I would’ve ever anticipated. Not a large number, mind you, but more than I deserve. The sobering realization is that all of you are much smarter than I am. The pressure is on; fortunately, I am effectively emotional and creative enough to engage your superior minds… briefly… as long as my Muse inspires me. I sent the e-newsletter of two weeks ago reluctantly. I realize that it wasn’t the most cohesive rhetoric I’ve ever penned, but the emotion was intense. I totally went overboard, but I must confess that I was overwhelmed. I think every one of you belovéd readers out there in virtual reality is as immersed as I in the current worrisome space-time continuum that comprises our terrestrial reality, but there is hope; the world is witnessing the fall of the cultic religious institutions that have held sway over global power for millennia. The current fad of despotic authoritarian outrage stems from a desire, by disparate religiously motivated ideologies, to create theocracies: Christian conservatives of the U.S.A., the radical Islamic extremists, or anybody who adheres to a cultic dogma that states an arbitrary faith that everybody else who thinks differently is destined to a sulfuric hell of fire and brimstone or some other horrific post-terrestrial torture for human beings that God created but who have differing pursuits of happiness. I am at a crossroads, and I’ve decided that I will continue to try to inspire anybody interested in rejecting the status quo for something significantly different, to inspire change into matriarchal inclusion instead of clinging to patriarchal exclusion. My concern is that some of you really intelligent readers are too caught up in maintaining the status quo simply because it is so much easier. Fortunately, we still have the First Amendment, and even if every one of my readers unsubscribe to receive this now monthly e-newsletter, I will still record my thoughts as I have been since college. To reluctantly quote the Muscovite Marionette: “We’ll see what happens” with the glaring difference that I actually have a plan to accomplish something positive. Peace Through Music

Groovicus Maximus Maxine Waters Back in the 80s I watched a movie called “Beverly Hills Cop” starring Eddie Murphy. In one scene, Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) borrows his partner’s police badge, walks into a white redneck bar with his pistol drawn and says, “I’m your worse nightmare: a black man with a badge.” Last week, Maxine Waters connoted a similar theme… but far more eloquently. Note that this is a repeat, but it is so powerful: Democratic congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) recently refused to yield the floor to a congressman after he told her to stop talking about discrimination, as reported by Elle . The Winston-Salem Journal reported that the exchange came during a session in the House of Representatives in which representatives were debating a measure designed to prevent discrimination by automobile dealers in their car-loan process. Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA), whose family is in the auto-dealership business, according to the Journal, said that after 65 years in the industry, he didn't understand how people could "reduce" the issue to discrimination. "Women have been taken advantage of, too," Waters said in reply, according to the Journal. "This resolution is one part of a widespread Republican effort to make it more difficult to hold financial institutions responsible. Video of the encounter picks up at some point during the exchange, as Kelly was saying, “We are trying to make sure that we’re making America great, every day [and] in every way. And the best way to do that is to stop talking about discrimination and start talking about the nation.” “I want you to know that I am more offended as an African-American woman than you will ever be,” Waters said in response. “And this business about making America great again: It is your president that’s dividing this country.” Someone attempted to interrupt Waters, but she would not yield. “Don’t tell me that we don’t understand,” she admonished Kelly. “That’s the attitude that’s been given towards women time and time again,” Waters went on, responding directly to the congressman, despite the reminder from chairman Tom McClintock (R-CA) that all remarks should be directed to him instead. “I respect the chair, but don’t stop me in the middle when you didn’t stop him in the middle. And so I shall continue,” Waters said, before speaking directly to Kelly again. “Don’t you dare talk to me like that and think that somehow women don’t understand what goes on on the floor of automobile dealers.” The chair interrupted Waters again with another reminder to address him instead of Kelly. “I don’t appreciate that you did not interrupt him when he was making those outrageous remarks about him (sic) knowing more about discrimination than I know about discrimination. I resent that, and I resent the remark about making America great again,” Waters said. “He’s down here making a speech for this dishonorable president of the United States of America. Having said that, I reserve the balance of my time." Waters ended her speech by refusing to yield or allowing Kelly to speak while she retained the floor. “I do not yield not one second to you,” she said. “Not one second. Not one second to you.” --Teen Vogue May 11, 2018 Peace Through Music

Robert Mueller Is My Hero Because of Robert Mueller’s internal investigation that is barely a year old, the son of one Russian oligarch is in jail, and there have been about eleven indictments sprinkled in with a few confessions of guilt. Mike Pence, with the hubris of enhanced condescension, jokingly suggests that the investigation be concluded. However, after years of another internal investigation by Ken Starr into an allegedly illegal White Water scandal, we all witnessed 0 indictments; although, Ken did uncover a consensual act of fellatio. Note: at no time did the GOP deign feigned concern about governmental overreach or the amount of time it took to get Bill Clinton to admit a consensual act from a woman other than his wife… and let’s not even consider the fact that the #MeToo movement is still uncovering non-consensual acts of sexual aggression and depravity as being ubiquitous in both political parties as well as every other major corporation or influential family since… hell, it’s been going on since humanity adopted a patriarchal form of government. All sexual predators should have their genitalia removed, and money needs to be removed from politics. Hillary Clinton’s seven Benghazi investigations ran for about 2.5 years from May 2, 2014 until its conclusion on December 12, 2016; she even submitted herself to over eight hours of intense bi-partisan questioning by congressional leaders. (Anybody who honestly believes that Donald J Trump could survive that kind of grilling probably believes that he’s really intelligent.) The Benghazi investigations brought up zero indictments even when the GOP controlled congress. Again, the GOP did not question governmental oversight nor have they ever encouraged Trump to undergo the tough grilling process to which Hillary was subjected. From wikipedia: The New York Times reported that "the long day of often-testy exchanges between committee members and their prominent witness revealed little new information about an episode that has been the subject of seven previous investigations… perhaps stung by recent admissions that the pursuit of Mrs. Clinton's emails was politically motivated, Republican lawmakers on the panel for the most part avoided any mention of her use of a private email server." The email issue did arise shortly before lunch, in "a shouting match" between Republican committee chair Trey Gowdy and two Democrats, Adam B. Schiff and Elijah E. Cummings. Late in the hearing, Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, accused Clinton of changing her accounts of the email service, leading to a "heated exchange" in which Clinton "repeated that she had made a mistake in using a private email account, but maintained that she had never sent or received anything marked classified and had sought to be transparent by publicly releasing her emails." It is becoming increasingly obvious that the current executive branch of the government as well as the GOP faction of the legislative branch are desperately trying to influence the judiciary branch to condone then grand ol' party's making ludicrous amounts of blood money not only with nefarious and illegal foreign authoritarian assistance but by subjugating the middle- and lower-classes into accepting their divinely sanctioned penury. Fortunately, the judicial branch is filled with equally egocentric players, and their powers are formidable. Peace Through Music

Interesting Blogs and Websites by Interesting People A Blog by Dallas Smith A Blog by Susan E. Mazer Collaborating since 1984, Susan E. Mazer and Dallas Smith create some of the finest contemporary instrumental music available. Our compositions for harp and woodwinds merge the aesthetics of jazz, classical, and world music into an experience that feeds both the intellect and spirit. Extending beyond the boundaries of genre, our unique sound has a richness in melody, rhythm and sonority. Visit their website by clicking here. Now available in more than 750 healthcare facilities in the U.S. and Asia, The C.A.R.E. Channel’s stunning nature video and original instrumental music provide a therapeutic tool for use at the patient bedside, waiting areas, and public spaces in acute care hospitals, residential care facilities, hospice/palliative care units, cancer centers, children’s hospitals, and rehabilitation centers. Fo' mo' info, click here. The Rude Pundit - Proudly lowering the level of political discourse. Randy Hoexter is a jazz pianist, composer and educator living in Atlanta. He is currently the Director of Education at the Atlanta Institute of Music. His recent release, “Fromage” Featuring bassist Jimmy Haslip, Drummer Dave Weckl, and the finest of Atlanta jazz musicians has been receiving rave reviews. His previous recording “Radiant” with Mike Stern, Dave Weckl and more, also received critical acclaim. Fo' mo' info, click here. Jimmy Haslip  World-renowned bassist Sam Skelton  Saxophone/woodwind virtuoso and educator Trey Wright  Gifted guitarist and composer Kit Chatham  Brilliant percussionist and drummer Carl Culpepper Virtuoso guitarist and educator Jazz Evangelist Great jazz blog and reviews. Wonderful freelance writer Candice Dyer

The Revolution Continues I am no longer amused? or shocked? or intrigued? or interested in trying to figure out what motivates people in general. I realize that life can be challenging, but to disregard everything in pursuit of personal gratification, especially at the cost of community, is worthy of a post-terrestrial incarceration within the most inaccessible vestibules of Dante’s Inferno. I have friends and family, seriously thick kith and kin, who plangently ejaculate with the impassioned histrionics of Shakespearean intensity that they are christian conservatives , that they uphold, maintain, and nourish the moral teachings attributed to Jesus while supporting the GOP. Reaganomics is cupidity, plain and simple, and to disguise it as a moral imperative is unconscionable; mass incarceration is racism, plain and simple; Social Security is not a handout; health care should not be a for-profit institution… in a perfect world, everyone would be healthy and healthcare would consistently lose money… intentionally; to compel one’s self to actually endorse the privatization of pharmaceutical companies is… well… how anyone can truly accept that jacking up prices for medicines simply to make a profit is anything any spiritual adviser would eagerly promulgate is beyond my limited cerebral abilities. George W. Bush’s preemptive military conflict with Iraq was a sin. Preemptive War is premeditated murder, plain and simple. The “trickle down” economic fiasco lead to the economic downturn of 2008 and still contributes to the ever-widening gap that separates the insanely wealthy from them who are dying from preventable diseases or malnourishment. For the most part, the GOP is what Noam Chomsky claims is “the most detrimental agency against American Democracy that our nation’s history has ever experienced.” Sadly, some of my friends and family are one-issue voters. Yes, abortion, but the GOP has been playing them since before I was born. How many times has the GOP been the dominant party? And how many times have they brought up a vote to abolish it in congress? And don’t claim that the Republican presidents were preoccupied with international matters such as war. The current kleptocratic government passed its tax-cut-for-the-rich budget while dealing with international crises in Israel, Russia, Afghanistan, Syria, Qatar, and all the "shit-hole" nations of Africa. (I am dumbfounded how anybody could respect the current usurper of our nation’s highest office… and I won’t even address Trump’s emetic reaction against the physically handicapped… in this essay.) The GOP has incessantly coaxed the morally annoying with loquacious orations condemning the act of abortion as reprehensible to an omniscient, omnipotent, gender-less deity, but that is merely lip service to get votes so that they can privatize the industrial war machine and anything else so that the GOP can more easily make ludicrous amounts of money. The #sad thing about this series of events is that fear is the motivating force behind many of these bad decisions. Even #sadder, is the fact that the lives of the fearful flock that follows the fear-mongers so aggressively live really comfortable lives. I don’t see why they are so afraid. I agree that abortion is a messy circumstance, but I’ve never had to directly deal with it. I don’t like beets, plain and simple. Just don’t like ‘em at all. If beets were somehow totally eliminated, I would never notice. Beets are that disinteresting to me. Immediately following my writing this paragraph, I will stop thinking about beets, but it’s totally outrageous for me to think that I could vote for a politician to eradicate all beets, as if my pursuit of happiness is more important than my beet-loving mother’s. To actually believe that I am so unique and special that my distaste for beets, something that does not affect me in any way, can litigate its existence is the epitome of unjustified arrogance. I’m not justifying abortion. Again, I have never been affected by it, but it’s hard for me to understand how any woman can accept anybody else’s telling her what she can or cannot do with her body. Women have been subjugated by society for millennia; they’re still subjugated by the Catholic Church (they can’t be priests or any part of the institutional hierarchy); they’re subjugated with less pay; if she’s the wife of the vice president, she cannot meet with another man without her husband’s presence. (I’m willing to bet that Mike Pence’s closet is actually an ossuary! Ha!) In some countries, woman still must adhere to strict sartorial and moral restrictions simply because they do not possess a Y-chromosome in their DNA. There are woman who claim to be strong and independent, yet they still acquiesce, like bleating sheep, to the outdated belief that women are not physiologically or psychologically capable to think for themselves. And what has become of “judge not lest ye be judged” or “whatsoever you do to the least of my brother, that [is what] you do onto me”? The abortion problem seems easy to me: if a woman declares that she wants an abortion because she cannot support it economically, the government that forces her to bear her child must financially support that child throughout its life by feeding and educating the child to her potential. Sure there are people who will take advantage of the situation, but why is that an excuse to not even consider it as a viable option. If one is a "pro-lifer," she must admit that if one child actually benefits from such a Christian act of kindness, her success would justify another child's father's indiscretions. And does it really matter that a child may become a success if her parents cheated the system? Does not the life of that child matter? I guess not... especially if she doesn't look or think like a white person. I don’t agree with Nazism; Scientology; Fascism; white supremacy, unregulated capitalistic wealth-hoarding; that affluence is an indicator of intellectual or financial acumen; preemptive war; mass incarceration; the infallibility of the pope (really?); or the fantasy that the Civil War was not fought because of slavery but exclusively for state rights even though each Confederate state officially declared war on the United States and that in each declaration of war, slavery was cited as an issue, but do I, as an average citizen, have the authority to make these acts illegal simply because I don’t agree? Sure, some of these activities result in the deaths of innocent people, but it really riles me when I hear a single-issue anti-abortionist call herself morally conservative when she claims that the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were justified by the same god who commanded “Thou shalt not kill.” That’s a very simple commandment. How can you justify killing anybody when the sacrosanct law, that is believed to be penned by god herself, is very clear? Yet they still justify killing some… I guess if the victims don’t look or act like them. This is why Jon Benet will be remembered for centuries while Sandra Bland’s grave will decay with indifference. I’m not a homosexual, either. Well, I don’t think I am. I am a fifty-four year old bachelor who has never been in love. If I’ve never fallen in love, how can I possibly know that, if I ever do fall in love, it has to be with a woman? Anybody that I fall in love with would have to be an extraordinary person, and this qualification isn’t gender exclusive. I am also a quadriplegic unable to perform even the most rudimentary acts of daily living. Obviously, I am very vulnerable to many possible inauspicious situations. Too many times in the thirty-two years of my paralysis have I been assisted, often through very humbling circumstances, by homosexuals. In fact, if I were to list groups of humanity that have helped me from most helpful to least, homosexuals would be second after women who’ve had children. Heterosexual males are the least empathetic group by a long shot. Should homosexuality be illegal? Once again, homosexuality does not affect me directly. Like abortion, it’s the thought of homosexuality that is repulsive to people who are offended by it. I’m willing to bet that a vast majority of anti-abortionist rhetoric comes from people who will claim that they have never met anyone who has had an abortion. Similar claims are made by people who claim to have never met a homosexual. How do they know? Jewish people during Hitler’s reign of terror had to wear special identifying symbols to signify their ilk. How are homosexuals or women who’ve had abortions thusly recognized without disrupting their rights to privacy? Homosexuality is not an exclusively contemporary fad. It’s been around for a while. If homosexuality is abrogated, do we expunge all the wonderful creative artistry of people like Elton John or Truman Capote or Ellen DeGeneres? Here are the facts: There are very decent people who have silently slipped into a mobbish (or cultic) mentality simply because of pride. They’ve been subtly coerced into believing that their lives will be miraculously (divinely?) enhanced with minimal effort, a belief, a faith—or, more specifically, a wish, a fanciful desire based on emotional yearning—that their lives should be better than they currently are… that their lack of success has little or nothing to do with their specific life-choices, that their social failures are not their fault; that they are victims because the nefarious government—the same government that protects their lifestyles with the most powerful military force on the entire planet; the same government that forbids child labor; the same government that has, in the past, prevented monopolies that were created to exploit the citizenry to the unconscionable avarice of an unregulated plutocracy, i.e. fascism… or mobocracy. These decent people have been misguided to reject the same government that provides social services such as firefighters, the police department, the EPA, CDC, FAA, FCC, public schools, etc., so they vote to take money away from these social services to give to people who already possess too many of the planet’s resources. Basically, these very decent people have been duped by the GOP into believing that sybaritic wealth-hoarders would benevolently “trickle down” that wealth so that everybody on the planet would benefit. How has that worked out? For nearly forty years, the GOP has embraced Reaganomics as the panacea that would lead to… well, hell… I honestly don’t know what was really expected; it seems so damned ridiculous now. I remember taking a macroeconomics class at Columbus State University in the early 80s, and when the professor explained the “trickle down” theory, I couldn’t help but think it a fiasco that to give unconscionable Robber Barons more money would lead to a sacrosanct revelation into a more beneficent, utilitarian mindset from callous misers... as if the Robber Barons of the early Industrial Revolution suddenly became empathetic to the under-represented masses of humanity huddling on the shores of Ellis Island instead of transmogrifying into the megalomaniacs who purchase luxuriantly gilded accoutrements used to transfer feces and urine to a distant cesspool, a bejeweled water closet used for an act of ultimate privacy simply because they could. I have never seen a golden toilet, nor have I met anyone who would brag about owning one in public. I, personally, find it difficult to accept that, had I the ability to do so, I would ever purchase a golden throne to the exclusion of practically everyone else in the Universe (‘cause let’s face it, the gilded comfort station would exist adjacent to my bedroom and would therefore be used by myself or, possibly, my wife after an extensive vetting process including up to three references). How could one comfortably muse—over whatever one muses while defecating and, presumably, listening to Mozart as pufts of aromatic mist indulges one’s olfactory with rose water intrigue—while not two miles down the street a single mother—who had the misfortune to fall in love with a man as disrespectful of humanity as Donald Trump but who cannot financial support (or exploit for personal gain) his indiscretions—pours a glass of milk for her prepubescent daughter to stave off the hunger that ravishes her digestive tract. The current GOP, since Reagan (or maybe Nixon), has, for nearly forty years, duped average people into believing the farce that government is, by its very nature, corrupt, so they’ve been meticulously (insidiously) dismantling governmental agencies all in an effort to privatize them. That, by definition, is fascism. fas·cism (f ² sh “¹ z ”… m) n. 1. Often Fascism . a. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism [bold and italics for emphasis]. b. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government. 2. Oppressive, dictatorial control. [Italian fascismo , from fascio , group, from Late Latin fascium , neuter of Latin fascis , bundle.] --fas·cis“tic (f … -sh ¹ s “ t ¹ k) adj. Corporate America (as festooned by the Koch brothers and the Mercers) is exclusively interested in hoarding money for the economically elite, i.e. the aristocracy, the plutocracy, the kleptocracy. They want to get rid of governmental regulations that forbid corporations from poisoning rivers with their production waste or oil spills; they want to make it illegal to sue corporations. It’s actually mind-blowing but in a dreary way. Although things look dim, the future is bright. Trump and his lackeys, including much of the GOP, is going down. There is a revolution brewing (beer, tea, soup, it doesn’t matter; it’s all inclusive…), and it’s an international cry for democratic principles. Women, especially women of color, and the youth, worldwide, are protesting in the streets, and their messages include diversity, empathy, peace, love, understanding. Here at home, we’ve witnessed the attempted destruction of our nation’s republic that is a direct result of the decision, indecisions, visions, and revisions of insecure, pasty-white, corpulent, glabrous, and gelatinous men who would never get laid if it weren’t for the speciosity of their feigned power, the deceptive attraction by hermetically sealed plastic women with far more superficial mammiferous silicon cosmetology than mental acuity. Donald Trump, the GOP, Netanyahu, and Putin are going down… or, at least their powers will be totally eliminated, leaving them as worthless monetarily as they already are defined by their mendacious behaviors. I’d like to see the unethical prison of Guantanimo Bay destroyed, but if it is still around, I’d find poetic justice in its use to incarcerate all three international criminals. The only thing more poetically justified would be that when Trump is carried off to prison, the arresting officer be a physically handicapped Afro-American Islamic woman lesbian who smashes Trump’s awkwardly coifed head against the automobile’s body as she slams him into the backseat. Oooh. That felt good. Peace Through Music

Weekly Area Jams

Eighth and Rail Every Tuesday 7 - 10 pm CT The Eighth and Rail in historical downtown Opelika, Alabama is the venue for a wildly groovy weekly jazz jam as hosted by the Jane Drake Jazz Band. It's a cozy celebration of life that has become a buzzing collection of jazz-loving fanatics gathered together in a coterie of peaceful, fun-loving positive energy. I am downright proud as a peacock with enhanced LED-flashing feathers to participate in the jam on a regular basis, and I really love it! Proprietor Mike Patterson makes the wonderful sushi and Miss Tiffany keeps the affable atmosphere at a lovely level of emotive satisfaction. Plus... they serve an awesome cheesecake that'll make you wanna slap yourself so hard as to tell horrific knock-knock jokes to mimes. No lie. We have really talented musicians come in from the bi-state area: Auburn, Montgomery, Tuskegee, Columbus, LaGrange, Fort Valley, et al. The jam begins at 7 pm and ends at 10 pm CT. Hopefully, I'll see you there. Eighth and Rail Website

Venkman's Jazz Jam Every Tuesday starting at 8 pm ET Venkman's is a nightclub in Atlanta, a venue that Joe Gransden uses for his weekly jazz jam. This is where the Who's Who of the Atlanta Jazz Scene come together to dazzle us mortals. It's free and starts at 8 pm ET. Fo' mo' info, click link below. I've participated in this jam a couple of times, and I love it as well. Joe Gransden always welcomes me with a smile that will melt antarctic glaciers in the middle of winter, which, oddly enough, is during June through August... when it's so hot and humid in middle Georgia that my toenails sweat. Nevertheless, Joe's band often includes keyboardist Kenny Banks (sometimes Kevin Bales), drummer Chris Burroughs and bassist Craig Shaw, and these cats kick it. When I find the transportation, I'm going. Venkman's Website

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 .

Brin's Wings in Montgomery Every Wed from 6 to 9:00 CT Brins Wings in Montgomery presents Coleman Woodson Jr. Jazz Jam from 6-9 CDT. No cover. Fo' mo' info, click here .

La Salle Bleu Piano Bar in Montgomery Every Wed from 6 to 9:00 CT Jazz jam La Salle Bleu Piano Bar, 9 until, no cover. Fo' mo' info, click here .

The Suite in Columbus, GA Every Thursday at 9:00-11:30 ET Thursday, January 11 from 9-11:30 p, EDT Live Jazz - Big Saxy Thursday, The Chemistry Project Band starting at 9 pm at The Suite Bar and Grill .

Irish Bred Pub in Montgomery Every Sun at 9:30-12:30 CT Third Thursday jazz jam session at the Irish Bred Pub Montgomery, 78 Dexter Ave, Montgomery, Alabama 36104, Corner of Dexter Ave and Perry St, 3 blocks from Capitol. 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 .

The Suite in Columbus, GA Every Sun from 6:00-11:30 ET Michael Johnson and the Silent Threat Band plays at The Suite in Columbus, GA from 6-11:30 pm ET at The Suite Bar & Grill, 5300 Sidney Simons Blvd. Fo' mo' info 'bout the band, click here .

Piccolo's Lounge, Auburn It's not a jam, but the Piccolo lounge offers a comfortable, clubby environment. Leather club chairs, a cozy fireplace and comfy banquettes serve as a relaxing getaway. Enjoy a single malt scotch and relax and unwind from a hectic day or meet friends to hear live jazz every Friday and Saturday night, of non-home football game weekends. Fo' mo' info, click here .

A Little Lunch Music at Jule Collins Smith Museum, Auburn University

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 here. February 15 - pianist Vadim Sarabryany February 22 - TBA March 01 - guitarist Luther Enloe March 08 - soprano Patty Holley March 15 - no concert - Spring Break March 22 - pianist Lawrence Quinnett March 29 - Wolf and Clover April 05 - soprano Noemi de Silva with pianist Beibeilin April 12 - mezzo-soprano Janet Hopkins April 19 - David Banks Gospel Jazz Experience April 26 - Duo Echo May 03 - TBA May 10 - TBA May17 - euphonium artist Marie Robertson

Video of the Week Chomsky says, "Has there ever been an organization in human history that is dedicated, with such commitment, to the destruction of organized human life on Earth? Not that I’m aware of. Is the Republican organization—I hesitate to call it a party—committed to that? Overwhelmingly. There isn’t even any question about it."

Lyrics Wasted on the Way Look around me, I can see my life before me Running rings around the way it used to be I am older now I have more than what I wanted But I wish that I had started long before I did And there's so much time to make up everywhere you turn Time we have wasted on the way So much water moving underneath the bridge Let the water come and carry us away Oh when you were young did you question all the answers Did you envy all the dancers who had all the nerve? Look round you know, you must go for what you wanted Look at all my friends who did and got what they deserved So much time to make up everywhere you turn Time we have wasted on the way So much water moving underneath the bridge Let the water come and carry us away So much love to make up everywhere you turn Love we have wasted on the way So much water moving underneath the bridge Let the water come and carry us away Let the water come and carry us away By Graham Nash

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

WCUG 88.5 Cougar Radio - Columbus State University. KUNR 88.7 Reno, Nevada. KNCJ 89.5 Reno, Nevado. Saturday Night Jazz hosted by Scot Marshall and Dallas Smith (Columbus, GA native) - Scot and Dallas bring their rich musical experiences together in "Saturday Night Jazz" to feature music which ranges from the latest releases to jazz classics and occasional recordings by local artists, as well as announcements of upcoming local jazz events in the Reno-Tahoe area. "Saturday Night Jazz" is supported by the Reno Jazz Orchestra and For the Love of Jazz. Dallas' program airs on KUNR (kunr.org) from 10pm-12am PST/1am-3am EST. The 9pm-1pm EST broadcast is on KNCJ (streaming via the kunr.orgwebsite). WCLK 99.1 Atlanta's Jazz Station, Clark Atlanta University. Adore Jazz - Adore Jazz makes listeners relax, feel, think and smile through listening to the finest vocal jazz. WTSU 88.9 Troy State University - Ray Murray's Jazz Radio Show Saturday nights at 10 pm Central Time. WVAS 90.7 Montgomery - Jazz, Blues, News, and views.

Interesting Links Columbus River Center Montgomery Alabama Performing Arts Center Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, Birmingham Opelika Alabama Performing Arts Center Alabama Shakespeare Festival Springer Opera House BB King's Montgomery, Alabama Perfect Note Restaurant and Music Hall, (New Venue), Birmingham, Alabama Jule Collins Smith Museum, (A Little Lunch Music Series), Jazz Matters @ The Wren's Project

Jazz Matters @ The Wren's Project Preserving a musical culture, tradition & Art Form   Jazz Matters , Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that believes Jazz Matters, because music matters.  Jazz is America's only original art form and this national treasure was created by African Americans. It is our vision to Preserve a Musical Culture, Tradition & Art Form by: educating & developing new audiences; inspiring new Jazz artists; and providing a forum for artists to perform and perfect their craft Peace Through Music

Valediction It disappoints me ineffably that there still exists people who support Trump. I don’t know what Trump could do to lose the obsequiousness of his supporters, but it’ll happen. Trump’s supporters are desperate to justify their lack of speciously extravagant success even though societal rules have been molded for their personal exploitation, so they grasp onto emotional self-righteous complacency at the expense of an objective intellectual inquiry. I wonder how plangent the negative response would be if I were to shower a beloved celebrity with rhetoric I could easily and veraciously convey about Trump’s character? Oh yeah… it happened to Bill Cosby, which, admittedly, broke my heart… almost as much as finding out that some of my most belovéd kin are “strongly partial to their own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.” (The American Heritage Dictionary) There are some people in our country, a nearly insignificant minority, who believe in the Manifestly Destined justification for our nation’s overt policy of aggressive imperialistic expansion... that some benevolent, omniscient, and omnipotent deity has traditionally accoutered aboriginal genocide to expand the power of European pulchritude appended to a nescient narcissistic self-indulgent behavior. It is ridiculous to me that these non-ruminate ruminators of fake-news cud believe that their infallible deities not only condone but actively pursue the destruction of their antagonists by natural disasters or other violent acts of health and nature (including paralysis), but when the “chosen” are diagnosed with fatalistic health irregularities or tsunamis the day after Christmas, the malfeasance that earned culpability and garnered the “punishment” has been absolved by deific authority of the highest degree and the devastating life-altering calamity is then blamed on demonic antics. I call it the Job Acquittal even when contemporary offenders are incapable of Job’s emulous patient, non-aggressive reaction to the supernumerary insults upon his hitherto peaceful life. How can anyone cry injustice so plangently when Life throws them a very challenging situation and then they have the incredulity to claim association with Job? Peace Through Music

Donate If you can afford it, and you think this newsletter worthy, please send a $5, $10, or $20 check or money order to: The Jazzinian FUN’d Drive 962 Washington Road Hamilton, Georgia 31811 It ain’t that I’m a Luddite, it’s just that I don’t know how to add a donate button that auto-magically-electronically transfers funds into my banking account. Besides, “the man” always seems to have his too-large-to-fail hand reaching out, palm upwards, in anticipation of remuneration he doesn’t deserve, fees he assesses for banking services rendered electronically via a computer application written by an underpaid intern. I guess, in a sense, I am more like Ned Ludd, the English laborer who was supposed to have destroyed weaving machinery around 1779 because he felt that technology would destroy employment for the laborer, except that I won’t physically destroy anything… other than, perhaps, the practice of usury; I merely want the practice of charging interest on loans to die of entropy. So, I reckon that I am a Luddite in that I believe in moderation and that humanity thrives when the mind and body are engaged instead of when one uses her wit to absquatulate with unjustified and excessive wealth, especially when she’s done nothing to earn it. I currently pay out $20/month to use Constant Contact to publish this weekly newsletter. Well, it’ll be $20/month after the $10/month introductory offer expires… soon. If I could, I’d earn the money by singing, but my options are limited to accessible stages, which are not very common at all, and there aren’t many stages exclusively for jazz. Jazz is only granted a small piece of the pie… but it’s my passion. Seems like my only concert options are The Loft in Columbus, GA and Eighth and Rail in Opelika, AL; although, in Opelika I use a portable ramp to get onstage; one does what one has to do. When I sing at Venkman’s jazz jam, the soundman brings the microphone to my table, but I’d love to be on stage. How else can I perfect my secondary ambition to be a standup comedian. Incidentally, I currently take a sleeping pill because one of the side effects is somnambulation, but I’m still waiting to awaken ambulating. I also have ambitions to sing onstage with my friend Ted McVay whom I’ve known forty years. We have a unique sound that, I believe, can and will be appreciated by a wider audience. We harmonize really well together, and the songs he writes are creative, witty, poignant, and fun to sing. Once we get a bit o’ steam, we’re bound to be a formidable, creative musical energy, positive, peaceful, loving. I will then, hopefully, make enough dough to overpay the people I need to assist me in acts of daily living. My family has already done so much for me and need a break. Thirty-one years is an awful long burden… thirty-two this April 18. ‘Til then, if you are able to comfortably part ways with a few bucks, I sure could use it.

Social Media Experiment In an ignorant attempt to exploit social media to expand my personal fan base, I've created this section to list hashtags and other metadata that might auto-magically give more access to the newsletter I write. Hope it works. #Wheelchairistacracy #SouthernStrategy #QuestForBest #GroovicusMaximus #FantastAbility #WheelChairistotle #SCI #Handicapplication #Impairistotle #MuscoviteMarionette #BlackLivesMatter  #Wheelcherry #RudePundit #MakeStagesAccessible  @SSTJazzVocalist @frangelaDuo @JoeGransden @AtlantaMagazine @VenkmansATL @rudepundit @MalcolmNance @EricBoehlert @CharlesPPierce @StephMillerShow @JohnFugelsang @Thom_Hartmann @anniesellick  @TheRealTBone

‌ ‌