Friday Night Is Music Night: Sudamericanos, by JD

This week we have a Latin American flavour! (Programme notes at the end.)














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Notes:

"Girl from Ipanema" (Garota de Ipanema) was written by Antônio Carlos Jobim in 1962 with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. It is thought to be the second most recorded pop song in history, second only to Paul McCarthey's "Yesterday" The English lyrics were added later. According to a recent BBC programme about the song Moraes hated the English translation as it turned the girl into an object of lust where the Portuguese lyric was all about 'this vision of grace' Here is a good explanation of the difference between the two- https://oregonexpat.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/garota-de-ipanema/

Violetta Parra was a Chilean singer and songwriter whose most famous song was "Gracias a la Vida" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gracias_a_la_Vida

"Alfonsina y el mar" was written by Ariel Ramírez with lyrics by Félix Luna. Ramírez plays piano here for Mercedes Sosa. The song is about Argentina's most famous poet Alfonsina Storni who committed suicide in the Mar del Plata. She had incurable breast cancer so took that option instead of living in pain for years. "Although her biographers hold that she jumped into the water from a breakwater, popular legend is that she slowly walked out to sea until she drowned." The lyrics of the song reflect that legend. https://www.poemhunter.com/alfonsina-storni/biography/

I was intruduced to the music of Mercedes Sosa by my (ex) wife many years ago and I have loved it ever since. Sosa was a huge star in the Spanish speaking world and was admired and respected by musicians all over the world to the point where she recorded with the likes of Joan Baez, Luciano Pavarotti and even Shakira!

Mercedes Sosa's funeral was broadcast live on Argentine TV and the song "Alfonsina y el mar" was sung and played there.

"Famine, The Unanticipated Catastrophe", by Jim in San Marcos

Image source: http://www.ccis.edu/courses/hist323mtmcinneshin/week08/feedingchinamanopium.jpg

The Great Bengal Famine of 1770, commented on by Adam Smith in "The Wealth of Nations" (1776) was caused by links between China tea, silver and opium. 
One starting point to explore the issue is here:  

https://defence.pk/threads/opium-wars-connection-to-indian-bengalis-famine-genocide-by-britian.288292/

(Image and caption added by Sackerson)

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People assume that famines are caused by a poor growing season. This is true in agrarian societies where everyone farms. However, a financial world banking catastrophe could lead to the same result; where starvation occurs from lack of funds to purchase food. Also, we may be fast approaching a limit where food production can’t keep up with the increased population. War in the Middle East, is curbing a lot of farm production, which is leading to starvation for many.

And then there is global warming. Once the North polar ice cap melts, the Gulf Stream ocean current could change its direction a tad, making Eastern Europe too cold for food cultivation.

A famine could affect a large part of the world’s population. We are at a point now, where bad weather, financial instability or political instability, could determine who will live or die. A nuclear skirmish in a quest to grab resources, could make food very scarce in some areas.

The next famine will not be anticipated. It may be an economic or financial disaster that triggers it. When it happens, the logistics of transporting food to those that need it could be very hard to accomplish. Imagine a high-density population area like India, where many are already at starvation levels and barely surviving. This could be the end of the road for them.

Without the means to purchase food, life is a real struggle. Most of us are not in a position to grow and produce the food we need; we pay others to provide it to us. Those in the third world who are starving to death slowly, could be the medium for new super diseases that the rest of the world will have to deal with in the future. It is this group, with very weakened immune systems, that could be the incubator for a future plague far worse than any war imaginable.

The funny thing is, the third world was our source of cheap labor. As our economy slows down, the funds that made life possible for them will disappear. That thought worries me. A hungry mountain lion is not going to knock on your door and bargain with you over the price of its next meal -- your pet dog in the back yard.
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Reposted from Jim's site, original here:
http://greatdepression2006.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/famine-unanticipated-catastrophe.html

The Saxophone Range: A Gallery Of Classics, by Wiggia

Following on from the tenor sax all the other versions of the instrument fall into place, none more so than the alto sax with which Charlie Parker did so much with to change the direction of modern jazz and begat be bop. Although he died at the age of 34 he packed more into those years than most of us would in treble that time. There is to much to write about Parker without filling pages so a link to his Wiki page is justified, he earned his dues as they say:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Parker

There was also an autobiographical film of his troubled life, “Bird”, made in 1988 .

This is “Koko” with Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach on drums recorded in 1945, Parker's and jazz's first be bop album.



In direct contrast to the style of Parker there was Johnny Hodges with the Ellington Orchestra and Paul Desmond who became hugely popular with Dave Brubeck; a million miles away from Parker in style but giving huge pleasure to millions on record and live.This from Hodges is almost an Ellington and Hodges calling card:



And here from the Pacific College album, the Oberlin album before this was one of my first jazz album buys, with Brubeck in ‘53; a classic Desmond performance:



At the other end of the sax scale is the baritone. Normally a backing instrument, it was used by Gerry Mulligan, a New Yorker by birth. He was an early cool jazz exponent, an accomplished piano player and also of other reed instruments , and he was also an arranger and composer. He played with all the greats of the time and several small groups later in life including Brubeck; a unique sound.

This is another case of little of value live being available; here with Ben Webster is as good as it gets. Mulligan was also responsible for a rash of jazz film scores after he was responsible for the score to I Want to Live in ‘58, a film that had Susan Hayward in the title role:

Gerry-Mulligan-&-Ben-Webster-Quintet_Whos-Got-Rhythm.mp4 from brunosaeg on Vimeo.


And whilst others like Pepper Adams made a mark with the instrument, the only other player that I liked was Serge Chaloff. This is a later number and better recording, giving tonality of the instrument full justice. Not nearly enough was heard of Serge, who apart from a heroin addiction that caused gaps in his playing also developed cancer of the spine and played and lived in appalling agony in his last years.



Roland Kirk was a multi-instrumentalist who not only played a wide range of them on records and live but often several together; this wasn’t a gimmick, it was part of his approach to his music. He was another who despite being blind from an early age and suffering poor health - he had two strokes and the last one was fatal - gave so much in his performances that he became hugely popular and rightly so, one of my personal favourites. Here he is with McCoy Tyner in ‘75, just two years before his passing:



Another of the younger (he is in his sixties now) exponents of the saxophone is the hugely accomplished David Murray. This version of Billy Strayhorn's Chelsea Bridge is as good as any:



This is for JD who some time ago said (in jest?) That no one could play the soprano sax in the modern age. John Coltrane made this number one of his greatest hits with the instrument. Again the original album version available has awful sound; this one is not great, but it is live and gives a half decent version of this iconic number:

My favorite things - John Coltrane from A JAZZ SUPREME on Vimeo.

The forties through the sixties begat most of the greats of the saxophone era following the foundations laid by the likes of Carter et all. It also saw the start of another form of music started by Ornette Coleman, free jazz - that was also the title of his ‘61 album that started the movement. I personally have never been able to go that route: whilst appreciating the technical ability and the fact that proponents were as with all “art” trying to move on to the new, I simply did not enjoy listening to most of it so my recollections are few and muted.

The only one from whom I have heard anything I like is Anthony Braxton who is prolific in his output, over a hundred albums since the sixties and a multi reed instrumentalist; not all is my type of music but amongst his more staid works are items I like and as a promoter of this style he is as good as any currently playing, and easier on the ear. Later, apart from playing all saxophones from piccolo to ultra bass, he also started to play the piano more than in the past as he went on another tangent, none of which was my cup of tea , but this is:



I could go on forever, there are just so many old and new that should be on any list, and that is the problem. All “lists” are finite, that is the nature of them, so I will finish with this from one of the most celebrated modern jazz albums of all time, Something Else, where we have in a stellar group Julian “Cannonball” Adderley playing alongside Miles Davis; for me, Adderley's solo is up there with any of them - enjoy:

Friday Night Is Music Night: For Those Who Toil, by JD

The Scorcher

source

Although it would have been difficult for Pringle to look other than a gentleman, with his slim athletic figure clothed in the sweater, the cycling suit, and the cap and badge (especially the badge), he presented a fair likeness of the average Sunday scorcher. The manners of the tribe he fortunately saw no necessity to assume. 

To perfect the resemblance, the scorcher being comparable to a man who shall select a racehorse for a day's ride over country roads, it was necessary to "strip" his machine, so, removing the mudguards and brake, and robbing the chain of its decent gear-case, he substituted the "ram's-horn" for his handlebar.

R Austin Freeman and John Pitcairn – The Adventures of Romney Pringle (1902)

The scorchers are still with us but I'm not so sure about the gentleman cyclists who looked down on them with such disdain over a century ago. 

MUSIC: Great Tenor Sax, by Wiggia

It is often said that the trumpet is the most defining instrument in jazz, it would be difficult to argue with that in the early days, but as the be-bop era came in the saxophone which had never been far from the front line became almost certainly the most influential instrument, Adolphe Sax had no idea what would happen to his invention when it appeared in 1841.

Many of the traditional jazz bands had saxophones in the line up, many didn’t. but once the big band era got going front lines of saxophones became the norm and it became in all its forms the driving force for most of the groups in the be-bop age.

Here I want to give some examples of the names playing the tenor saxophone that made their mark in jazz and have stood the test of time, and some of the more contemporary players who almost certainly will do the same. This is a very crowded genre, there like most of us have favourites we like to push as the best of etc, it is impossible to include all and by necessity some will have to be left out even when they automatically can lay claim, with their importance in jazz, the right to be included.

I start with Stan Getz, one of the founders of cool jazz, a West Coast advocate who had no problem fitting in wherever he played, probably best known outside of jazz circles for his association with Astrud Gilberto and the Girl from Ipanema - a huge hit in its time - and a whole period where he played and promoted Bossa Nova sounds with many influential jazz greats. He had a unique smooth sound that is never ruffled or out of place. He started at fifteen and served his apprenticeship firstly with Jack Teagardens band and then the Kenton , Dorsey, and Goodman bands before embarking on a long career in his own name.

The Steamer is my favourite album from ‘56 and I do have an extensive collection of his work; videos of him are rare or withdrawn for copyright reasons or both and the good stuff apart from the Bossa Nova era just isn’t there, so…. here with Charlie Byrd, one of the all time great guitar players and Desafinado:



And an earlier Falling Leaves.

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John Coltrane was way out in front when it came to pushing the boundaries in jazz, so far out he completely lost the plot in later life but fortunately the bulk of his work remains where it should be, at the top of the pile.

Influenced by Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins and later Charlie Parker he was playing with Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostik and Johnny Hodges before his late fifties association with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, a glorious period; but his debut album as leader, Giant Steps was a seminary album, it blew me away when I first heard it and the melodic chords on this were not just very difficult to play but constituted a new sound in the saxophone, much imitated later.

All the compositions on this album were his own and the three key change chord progressions are not only difficult but gave a magic sound.



Coleman Hawkins is one of the mainstays of jazz saxophone and one of the most influential of all players. Born in 1904, you could say he saw and played it all and indeed went the full gamut of music styles and was as influential in the be-bop era as any other. His version, everyone considers this number to be the high point of accomplishment i.e. when is x going to give the definitive version, is considered the best by most.

Body and Soul:



Lester Young born in 1909 was along with Hawkins the early vanguard of modern jazz, learnt the hard way with his family band in Vaudeville, left at eighteen and went to Kansas City where he met and joined Count Basie's Orchestra and later joined Fletcher Henderson. He also worked with Billie Holliday, another one with that effortless style that just seems so easy but isn’t, known as the President for his long position in the jazz hierarchy.

Here seen with his sideways playing style in a short film, not his best number but again they are hard to come by:



Ben Webster, another “oldie” learnt piano and violin at an early age then learnt the saxophone, was in Kansas City at the time that it was a melting pot of talent, played with many bands in the thirties and ended up with Ellington for many years. After he left in ‘43 he played with many and various artists and on his own, came to Europe in ‘65 and lived out his last years playing and living in several countries including the UK.

He never really embraced the new modern way and was still in the blues and swing style to the end. He died in Denmark and after his death a foundation was set up for the promotion of jazz in the country; it has become a prestigious award. This is from the sixties here in the UK with our own, then young, Stan Tracy on piano:



Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis could never be accused of being pigeon-holed, with his music played with many different bands groups from soul to avant-garde he could blow with the best of them.

This is from ‘65, emerging from one of the greatest front lines ever assembled in jazz to perform this rousing solo:



Sonny Rollins: born in ‘30 he grew up in Harlem and was given his first musical instrument at the age of seven an alto sax, he started as a pianist and switched to tenor sax in ‘46. His high school band had, apart from himself, Jackie McLean, Art Taylor and Kenny Drew, not bad for a high school or anywhere else for that matter.

In the early fifties he was arrested for armed robbery and went to jail and later again for a breach of parole for using heroin; in ‘55 he entered the Federal Medical centre to try and break his habit and volunteered for the then experimental methadone treatment, it worked and he emerged clean, though feared his music would suffer. It didn’t, and he went on to greater things.

He played with Miles Davis Booker Little Max Roach and Clifford Brown but in ‘56 he made his seminal album Saxophone Colossus. The next three years saw him make more successful albums with various artists and formats.

In ‘59 he became frustrated with his own perceived musical limitations and took his now famous music sabbatical, during which he would play solo on the Williamsburg Bridge so as to not disturb the neighbours. He returned to performing in ‘61 with the album “The Bridge”.

After another sabbatical in ‘69 he returned again in ‘71 and has not stopped playing world wide since and has a huge recording catalogue.

This is a rare video of the time playing St Thomas (his birthplace) from the Colossus album:



Another piece with some of the more contemporary musicians will follow later.

Friday Night Is Music Night: Celtic Visionaries, by JD

Imbas forosnai is a gift of clairvoyance or visionary ability practised by the gifted poets of ancient Ireland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbas_forosnai

Imbas is an Old Irish word meaning poetic inspiration, with overtones of ecstatic mysticism. It is the heart of the practice of filidecht, the sacred poetic tradition of Ireland and Scotland.

A gift of the Goddess Brighid, it is found in the three cauldrons within each person. The cauldrons, turned through joy and sorrow, take the raw materials of our emotions and our lives and transform them into an alchemy of poetry and magic, opening our eyes to the Otherworlds and to poetic truth and power.
















"To create is to stretch one's hand into a realm beyond sequence, beyond time, beyond death - beyond even the meaning of these words - and to share in the magic of the gods. Exiled from Eden, we are the builders of Eden, carving the everlasting forms of which we are the shadows." - John Carey; associate professor at the Department of Celtic Languages and Literature, Harvard University.

"A wood engraving by an unknown artist that first appeared in Camille Flammarion's L'atmosphère: météorologie populaire (1888)"
. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flammarion_Woodcut_1888_Color_2.jpg