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 Weekly Newsletter
April 30, 2018 C.E.

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, a Mercer alumnus and the quadriplegic jester-singer for the vocal jazz band Southern Standard Time
Points of Interest
in this week's issue

  • Salutations
  • Groovy Upcoming Events
  • This Week at The Loft
  • Last Week at The Loft
  • It's A Quad Thing (You May Not Understand)
  • Valediction
Salutations

Greetings!...

Don’t give me a mountain oyster and call it seafood.

I must apologize for the tardiness of this week’s e-newsletter as well as for its discursive and lengthy manifestation, but, among many other distractions involving the impotence of our nation’s highest office and the blundering, bumbling, stumbling, fumbling lackeys that are his support team, it’s been a busy week for me. I usually put together this weekly publication every Monday when I go to the brand-spanking new Harris County public library in Hamilton, Georgia because their computers are much better than anything in my house, and the staff are so dad-blame nice and helpful. However, this past Monday, April 30, I traveled to Atlanta for a fundraising jazz jam at the Red Light Café for Abel2, Inc., a nonprofit organization spearheaded by international singing sensation and dad-burn wonderful person Myrna Clayton . Her nonprofit has a mission to help entertainers with physical handicaps to find accessible staging. Also, my friend Ted McVay and I busked last Saturday for about three hours. Busking, if you’re not aware, is playing music in public for tips. This was our second attempt, but this time we didn’t hook up microphones, so I had to exert more effort to be heard over the drone of downtown din, and that wo’e my fat ass out. Completely.

The sober reality of this past, busy week is that last Friday was the season finale concert for the Schwob Jazz Orchestra under the guidance of Dr. Kevin Whalen, and I haven’t enough time to shower the jazz ensemble with the encomiastic praise I believe it deserves, especially since the concert featured Andrea Guiffredi , an international trumpeter from Italy who blew me away in the same manner as when I saw Maynard Ferguson in Columbus State University’s Fine Arts Theater back in the mid ‘80s or Arturo Sandoval in the former Three Arts Theater off of Tenth Avenue and Warm Springs Road. Plus, Friday’s finale included three vocalists: Victoria Evans-Cash , Allison Kershner , and Dan Murray , and they rocked. The concert was wonderful. From the initial notes of “Love For Sale,” when the four trombones played in melodic unison so that it sounded like a single instrument, I sat mesmerized by the brash and brazen splendor of big band phenomenon and remained transfixed until the final note rang out into the abandon of Universal infinity. Fortunately, the concert has been recorded for posterity. Check out the video of the week to hear the concert. It really kicks.

Many of you dear readers (both of you) know that I try my best to participate in the weekly jam every Tuesday at Eighth and Rail in Opelika, Alabama, and it is hosted by the Jane Drake Band; however, last week, the staff went on vacation. Word has it that they enjoyed their time off. Imagine that. It seems to me that this week’s jam was especially cozy. The band was on, more than likely like Donkey Kong, but, to be honest, I really have no idea what that means. I do know that sax legend La’Roy Bodiford joined the jam, and his playing is so sweet and dulcet that I involuntarily smile with mercenary intensity. Seriously. I really dig his style, tone, and timbre. Also, Columbus guitarist extraordinaire Elwood Madeo stopped by for the first time, I believe. I think that he enjoyed himself. As with practically every jazz jam in which I’ve been involved, there are always moments of magic. This past week’s jam had three solid hours of enchantment.

Speaking of area jazz jams, I have arranged transportation to participate in the weekly jazz jam that kicks off every Wednesday at Brin’s Wings in Montgomery, Alabama from 6-9 pm Central Time (7-10 pm Eastern Time) on May 9th with my friend Jennifer Dunford. The jam is hosted by Coleman Woodson II, and it’s my understanding that his son Coleman Woodson III will also be there. This will be my augural visit to Brin’s so I am twitterpated with anticipation. Obviously I’ll have more details about the jam after my visit, but I’m expecting some serious musicianship and that I will have a blast. Wonder if the establishment serves any wings? Beer? We’ll see.

Before I forget, my friend and guitarist Taylor Pierce will be playing at Piccolo's Lounge in Auburn this Saturday evening starting at around 8 pm Central Time. I don't know yet who will be playing with him, but I really dig Taylor's style and know that the gig will be great. I have arranged transportation, so unless something crazy happens, I'll be the dude in the wheelchair smiling like I got away with a minor malfeasance.

I was recently blessed by celestial puissance to have been invited to participate in the fundraising jazz jam for Abel2, Inc. this past Monday at the Red Light Café in Atlanta. Abel2, Inc. is a nonprofit organization spearheaded by my friend and Mentor Myrna Clayton. Abel2’s mission is to give opportunity and support to creative artists with physical disabilities, which is dear to my heart.

Myrna Clayton is preparing for her upcoming EurAsia tour with the U.S. State Department’s American Music Abroad Program. One might say she’s becoming a music ambassador. While Myrna typically tours solo, performing with local musicians from city to city, Myrna will tour/perform in EurAsia with her own band: Marcus Williams (drums), Ron James (sax), Thomas Blalock, Jr. (bass: electric /upright), and Philip Adair (piano/keys). They call themselves “The Myrna Clayton Experience.” When she returns, Myrna is eager to offer Atlanta audiences — and those joining from around the world — an international “green” performance on World Environment Day June 5th, 2018. Starting this week, Myrna will bve in Washington D.C. before she and her band travel to Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, and Moldova. Talk about Peace Through Music.

Peace Through Music


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 Abel2Nonprofit@aol.com. Be sure to include your talent, level of experience, head shot, and video of one of your performances. Click on banner for more info.
Ted McVay and Rusty Taylor are slowly moving into the limelight by singing Ted's original songs in what they're calling Progressive Folk. They've been busking for a couple months as they are preparing to find public venues. It's not jazz by a long shot, but it does contain vocal improvisation. Earlier this year, a friend serendipitously videoed their busking in downtown Columbus, Georgia. It is now on youtube, and you can view the video by clicking here . Hopefully, we'll see you soon on a stage near you.
Bad Joke of the Week

Joke of the Week
What do you get when you cross the Atlantic with the Titanic?
Half way.
—Fozzie Bear
Tweet of the Week

Robert Mueller vs. Rudy Giuliani is comparable to the Navy Seals vs. the Cub Scouts… and if you need metaphoric clarification then you probably believe that Donald J[ackanapes] Trump the Kleptocratic Moron is the healthiest president in the history of our nation’s republic.
—@SSTJazzVocalist  
Groovy Upcoming Events

  • Saturday, May 5 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM, Taylor Pierce will be fronting a trio of jazz musicians at Picolo's Lounge in Aubrun.
  • Friday, May 25 from 7-9 pm – The inimitable Tyrone Jackson will have a CD release party at The Loft in Columbus, Georgia. I, personally, am a huge fan of Tyrone. The cat can play.
  • Saturday, May 5 Earl Smith Strand Theater in Marietta, Georgia at 8 pm the Georgia State Jazz Orchestra. Fo' mo' info, click here. An intimate evening with the GSO Jazz combo and a special guest vocalist you’re not going to believe!
  • Sunday, May 6 at 12:30 pm at Venkman's in Atlanta features Shakta Jazz Trio with Chapman and Watters. Fo' mo' infom click here.
  • Monday, May 28 at 8 pm – Big Bad Voodoo Daddy 2018 marks the 25th anniversary of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s remarkable arrival onto the music scene. Since it’s formation in the early nineties in Ventura, California, the band has toured virtually nonstop, performing on average over 150 shows a year, and has produced a sizable catalog of recorded music, with sales of over 2 million albums to date. Early on, during their legendary residency at the Derby nightclub in Los Angeles, they reminded the world, in the midst of the grunge era no less, that it was still cool to swing. The band, cofounded by singer Scotty Morris and drummer Kurt Sodergren, was at the forefront of the swing revival of that time, blending a vibrant fusion of the classic American sounds of jazz, swing, and dixieland, with the energy and spirit of contemporary culture. Fo' mo' info, click here.
  • 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 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: https://jmatthewrensnest.eventbrite.com. For More Info, call 404-474-1211.
  • Friday, July 20, 2018 - 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: https://jmatthewrensnest.eventbrite.com. For More Info, call 404-474-1211.
  • Friday, August 17, 2018 - 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM. The Wren's Nest. Artist not yet available. Tickets Available Online: https://jmatthewrensnest.eventbrite.com. For More Info, call 404-474-1211.
  • Friday, September 21, 2018 - 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM. The Wren's Nest. Artist not yet available. Tickets Available Online: https://jmatthewrensnest.eventbrite.com. For More Info, call 404-474-1211.
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This Week at The Loft
Columbus [GA's] Home For Jazz Music


This week at The Loft, The Blue Note Quartet with Reggie Sampson. From Los Angeles and currently living in Fort Benning, Reggie has graced the stage at The Loft enough to garner fans of his sax playing. Always a good show and great music, I recommend your checking this very talented musician. I'm not sure who will accompany Reggie, but I am very sure that he'll employ really groovy musicians. I look forward to the concert and hope to see you there.

Peace Through Music

Upcoming schedule:
  • May 4. The Blue Note Quartet with Reggie Sampson.
  • May 11. Impressions farewell concert.
  • May 18. The Messy Cookers from New Orleans.
  • May 25. Tyrone Jackson CD Release Party.

Andrea Giuffredi
 From Wikipedia

Columbus State University's Schwob Jazz Orchestra closed out their season this past Friday, April 27 at The Loft in a wonderful celebration that was supplemented with the brazen energy of virtuoso trumpeter Andrea Giuffredi, pictured above. Andrea is not only incredibly musical, he's also very funny. After his introduction, Andrea ambled onto stage in a neon-enhanced jacket that he had bought the jacket earlier that day in downtown Columbus, Georgia.

From wikipedia:

Andrea Giuffredi started playing trumpet at the age of 9. He entered the Conservatory at 14, and at 16 he got his first professional job in the trumpet section of the RAI (Italian National Television) Symphony Orchestra in Milan. Since then he’s worked as a freelance Principal Trumpet in the most important Italian symphony orchestras. In particular he worked on a regular basis for the RAI (Italian National Television) Symphony Orchestra in Milan and Turin, “Arturo Toscanini” Symphony Orchestra in Parma, “Teatro Regio” Orchestra in Parma, “I pomeriggi Musicali ” in Milan and occasionally “Teatro Comunale” in Florence and “Teatro alla Scala” in Milan for a total of over 25 years of experience as a professional symphonic Principal Trumpet.

He played under the most famous conductors, like Riccardo Muti, George Prêtre, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, in the world’s most famous concert halls. He performed baroque repertoire for several years with Claudio Scimone’s “I Solisti Veneti”. As a pop musician he has been working for years with the Mediaset network, performing in several successful TV shows on Canale 5.

In his career he had the honor of performing with several iconic artists such as Luciano Pavarotti (RAI Pavarotti International), Ennio Morricone, Liza Minnelli (RAI Porta a Porta). As leader he recorded three original recordings for Summit Records in the USA. He was invited four times as a guest at the International Trumpet Guild Conference, that every year features a selection of the most influential trumpet players of the world. In recent years he concentrated on his career as a soloist, and he became one of the most famous and appreciated trumpet players worldwide, with his characteristic virtuoso and melodic style.

He has remarkable success in particular in Asia (Japan, China, Taiwan), where he performs on a regular basis accompanied by important Symphony Orchestras. He held masterclasses in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Oceania. His career allowed him to perform in the most important concert halls in Turkey, Japan, Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Finland, Greece, China, Mexico, France, United States, Bulgaria, Romania, Iraq, Tunisia, Egypt, Spain, Malta, Albania, Israel, Russia, Czech Republic, Croatia,Australia, Taiwan, Brasil and of course Italy. Since 1993 he is Professor of Trumpet at the Civica Scuola di Musica in Milan “Claudio Abbado”

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!

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 am fifty-four years old… and I was recently approved for assistance from Hospice! I have been a quadriplegic unable to perform even the most rudimentary acts of daily living since a car accident left me paralyzed on the date that for me, personally, will be the most infamous of my life: April 18, 1986… just over thirty-two years ago, but it is only now, through Hospice, that I qualify for CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) assistance five days a week. The CNA will now get me out of bed, dressed, bathed, and in my chair, which my septuagenarian parents have been doing for the past eight years or so, and, yes, they need a break. The reason I now qualify for the kind of assistance—that I’ve needed since I broke my neck—is because I went into total renal failure last July and almost died. In fact, my family doctor asked me if I had my final preparations in order; he then pulled my parents out of the Emergency Room to suggest they contact our family’s priest. One of my kidneys works at an estimated ten percent; the other is weakened and slightly swollen, but because I am on Hospice, I qualify for the CNA assistance plus some other benefits to facilitate my living or, more specifically, my dying. As a qualifying factor for my maintaining Hospice benefits, I cannot visit my doctor for renal reasons before contacting their services first. The reason I qualify for Hospice is because I am expected to die of kidney failure.

I just wish that my congressmen (and, yes, they are men ... and Republican) to think about this the next time they go to their respective doctors for a checkup that is covered by their legislated healthcare package. They and their GOP profligates unconscionably voted to destroy Affordable Care Act without offering a viable alternative while retaining their healthcare options (which is easily as self-serving as their not allowing weapons in the Senate Chambers but allowing “open and carry” weapons practically everywhere else including bars… they've even proposed outrageous legislation to train teachers to carry weapons into classrooms, but I digress…). They don’t even try. They did not get into politics to become public servant to help their fellow man but as a way to enrich themselves, their family, and, if possible, their friends, but when I die of kidney failure, they will be held responsible. I am fifty-four years old; I have less time left than the time I’ve already spent living, but, thanks to my writing and singing, I am just now living as I should have been throughout my life... years after I was terminated from my "real world" job.

I broke my neck at the tender age of twenty-two; had I universal healthcare, I would’ve been pursuing my dreams from the beginning. Instead, I went back to school after I broke my neck and got my B.A. in English with a minor in computer science. I then got a full-time job, a tax-paying job, as a computer programmer for 16 years before I was fired for reasons that, had I been born a christian conservative, I’d have sued the company for a considerable sum of money; I’m just not that dude. I “played the game,” and by this I mean that I grasped the feigned conservative propagation of cheap labor. It’s been the history of the United States from the beginning: a government of the people vs. kleptocracy. Slavery built this nation; there are no two ways about it. Slavery is merely a horrific symptom of Supremacy, the errant belief that one is better than anyone else simply because…

Do you remember the Tories of the early stages of our nation’s history? (It wouldn’t surprise me if you’ve never been taught History; the dumbing-down of the average citizen is part of the christian conservative mindset that treats average citizens like me as the necessary chattel that does the menial tasks necessary for the hierarchy of corporate America the opportunity to exploit soi-disant Sardanapalian lifestyles while the proletariat live simplistic lives of moderation sanctioned by god, but, again, I digress…)

The Tories were members of a British political party that was founded circa 1689 C.E. Tories were opposed to the Whigs and have been known as the Conservative Party since 1832. During the American Revolution, Tories favored British authority; they were called Loyalists; they embraced the status quo because they thrived while others suffered the indignity of supplication. They are the supporters of traditional political and social institutions against the forces of democratization or reform; they extol political conservatism, which is individualism at the cost of community. Tories morphed into the Robber Barons, which, according to my online dictionary are “American industrial and financial magnates of the latter 19 th century who became [ludicrously] wealthy by unethical means, such as questionable stock-market operations and exploitation of labor. The Robber Barons became the GOP who embraced the absurdity of “trickle-down” economics and the deregulation of governmental agencies created to quell deleterious social behavior that exploits the weak. The GOP now has the power, but major changes are “blowing in the wind,” baby; they’re “blowing in the wind.”

Women, especially women of color, and the younger generation are grumbling, and this once barely audible murmur has morphed into a drone that has further developed into a wail of despondency against Individualism

There is a biblical proverb that states… well, there is a biblical proverb that states whatever the hell you want it to. If you look hard enough, the bible is filled with so many contradictions that one can find justification for anything. Hitler and his lackeys justified the Holocaust; slave owners justified treating human beings worst than animals; religious institutions justify the supplication of women and the alienation of homosexuals; nationalists justify deportation of “illegal” aliens, gerrymandering, and voter-restrictions; CEOs of for-profit prisons justify mass incarceration; CEOs of for-profit pharmaceutical companies justify labeling marijuana a drug as nefarious as opium while allowing alcohol and its distributors the reverence expected for foreign dignitaries; Right-to-lifers justify closing down affordable feminine healthcare to penurious women just because… well, to tell you the truth I’m not really sure why, but it seems ridiculous that these single-issue voters care so much for an unborn baby but then expect it to become a warrior in preemptive mass murder when they become 18; people who appear normal decry Obama’s and Michelle’s marriage, again, for reasons I can’t begin to understand, yet they laud Trump’s third marriage to a centerfold while dozens of women allege sexual improprieties, his grabbing pudenda, his leering of nubile beauty contestants, etc. people at a recent rally chanted for Donald J[ackanapes] Trump the Kleptocratic Moron to receive the Nobel Peace Prize when he has openly mocked the handicapped.

Can you say “hypocrite”?


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 CandiceDyer
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
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.

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

Schwob Jazz Orchestra had its final big band jazz concert on April 27, 2018 with three wonderful vocalists Victoria Evans-Cash, Allison Kershner, and Dam Murray, and international trumpeter under the direction of Dr. Kevin Whalen. Wonderful job by the band.
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.
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

Beatrice would not be amused.

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 verbally 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 malnutrition. For the most part, the GOP makes Noam Chompsky muse “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.” Click here to read the article.

Sadly, some of my friends and family are the 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 intoleration of 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, genderless deity, but that is merely lip service to get votes so that they can privatize the industrial war machine and anything else they can that makes 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 fearmongers 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.

How is this any different than abortion? Sure, abortion deals with a human life… two actually… well, three… ok, maybe birth affects a whole village, but how is that any different than war? We can make abortion illegal but not war? I suppose that the cessation of normal maturation for human beings ceases to be a factor once an embryo reaches the age of 18 and can be sent to her death in a preemptive war. Once that baby escapes its biological sanctuary (or prison from which a premature release is certain death), one’s moral obligation to that human being has been completely fulfilled. Oh yeah, God has a special golden path to heaven’s premium gardens for people who believe this shit, as if the child of a woman violently raped by a drug addict, a child born with a drug addiction and whose life is destined to be one of hardship can and will be ignored once he cries out and air fills her lings. That is why we have prisons… so that the less fortunate can have three meals a day and a bed, even though they don’t deserve it.

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’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. Yet there are woman who claim to be strong and independent, and 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”?

I don’t agree with Nazism; Scientology; Fascism; white supremacy, unregulated capitalistic wealth-hoarding; affluence as 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, 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 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 Stephanie Miller?


But that’s similar to despising an Ivy League educated Constitutional lawyer who has been married to one woman whom he adores and has two beautiful children whom he seemingly adores as well yet embracing an unscrupulous businessman who has been married thrice and who oversaw a questionable University that had to be shut down because it was fraudulent. (These are the same sequacious ovine mammals who believe that the gelatinous mound of flabby carbon is actually the healthiest person to have ever been elected president.)

Here’re 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 forbade child labor; the same government that prevented monopolies that were created to exploit the citizenry to the unconscionable avarice of an unregulated plutocracy, i.e. fascism… or mobocracy; the same government that provides social services such as firefighters, the police department, the EPA, CDC, FAA, FCC, public schools, etc.—takes money away from them to give to people who think, act, and look differently. Basically, they have been duped by the GOP into believing that by giving a ludicrous amount of money to people who are already incongruously wealthy much more money, people who are successful because of their soi-disant moral or intellectual supremacy, that these 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 the 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 purchased 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 it 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 be used 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 over while defecating, presumably listening to Mozart as puffs of aromatic mist indulges her 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 to humanity as Donald Trump is 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 child's fragile 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 (f²sh“¹z”…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…-sh¹s“t¹k) adj.

Corporate America (as festooned by the Koch brothers and the Mercers) is exclusively interested in hoarding money for 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

The latest tax-cut legislation as championed by the coward and sycophant Paul Ryan is a direct result of


As an interesting aside, it’s fairly revealing how quickly Trump supporters jumped to condemn Bill Cosby for his deliberate lascivious transgressions and yet fight so vociferously that the orange jackanapes, who publicly boasted of grabbing pudenda, has been railroaded in a witch hunt, but let’s not bring race into it. That would be as easy as deciphering black from right… uh, I mean white… black and white.

Of course, I once paid an outlandish amount of money for a steak in a fanciful restaurant in Nashville just to say I did it, which, in all honesty, is as bad as buying a gilded toilet. But I reckon that’s between me and my spiritual deity and something I will, ultimately, confront… probably as I’m staring directly into the bloodshot eyes of the Grim Reaper.

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 international. 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 top as she violently shoves him in the backset.

Oooh. That felt good.

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