Gary also did the paintings which frame all of the stages, including these at the A&E stage.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Festival Postermaker
For the past few years, Gary Houston of Voodoo Catbox has made the festival posters. They're always distinctive, and he makes them the old fashioned way, silk screening.
Gary also did the paintings which frame all of the stages, including these at the A&E stage.
Gary also did the paintings which frame all of the stages, including these at the A&E stage.
Speaking of Ron Rogers
Here he is at his booth, next door to the Festival store, and standing in front of the piece that is on the Festival tabloid schedule, which was also the cover of last Friday's Oregonian A&E section.
Ron is known for his coffins of dead blues and soul musicians. I have his James Booker coffin on my living room wall.
This piece is being made into a poster and will be introduced for sale at this year's Bite of Oregon, August 10-12 here at the waterfront.
Ron is known for his coffins of dead blues and soul musicians. I have his James Booker coffin on my living room wall.
This piece is being made into a poster and will be introduced for sale at this year's Bite of Oregon, August 10-12 here at the waterfront.
Delmark Finally Gets His Due
As singer/guitarist Delmark Goldfarb was tuning up, behind him was a big surprise. For the past 20 years there have been multiple people claming to have started the Blues Festival. Delmark is one of them. When the first "Rose City Blues Festival" was over in 1987, lawsuits were flying and bad blood generated that endured these two decades.
Just before Delmark started performing, Greg Johnson (here) and Terry Odor stepped up and gave him an award from the Cascade Blues Association giving Delmark credit for starting the Blues Festival.
Delmark was visibly moved.
Delmark with Terry Odor (a fellow blogger). Delmark, Music Millennium's Terry Currier and artist/producer/musician Ron Rogers have released a CD from the Rose City Blues Festival LP that was released in 1988. They've added tracks from Paul deLay and John Lee Hooker which were not on the LP.
Just before Delmark started performing, Greg Johnson (here) and Terry Odor stepped up and gave him an award from the Cascade Blues Association giving Delmark credit for starting the Blues Festival.
Delmark was visibly moved.
Delmark with Terry Odor (a fellow blogger). Delmark, Music Millennium's Terry Currier and artist/producer/musician Ron Rogers have released a CD from the Rose City Blues Festival LP that was released in 1988. They've added tracks from Paul deLay and John Lee Hooker which were not on the LP.
Schmoozing
Fiona Boyes seems to be everywhere. And yes, the rumour is true, she is moving to Portland. Seems as though former Paul deLay bassist Dave Kahl has had a lot to do with it. Welcome, Fiona! A very good addtion.
Nobody gives enough credit to the people who keep the show moving. Getting bands in and out, setting up gear, making sure the sound is right and generally taking care of business. This is Bill, who manages the North End stage.
Nobody gives enough credit to the people who keep the show moving. Getting bands in and out, setting up gear, making sure the sound is right and generally taking care of business. This is Bill, who manages the North End stage.
Mary Flower and Avon(?)
Before Mary Flower, who always amazes with her fingerpicking and singing did a workshop on blues styles, she chatted with Terry Currier, owner of Music Millennium and one of the truly great people in Portland's music scene.
And then it was on the blues. She did a medley of Mississippi John Hurt tunes which, as she pointed out, actually fit more in the "Piedmont Blues" catagory, although MJ wasn't from the Piedmont area. They just didn't have a Piedmont Blues designation when the ole smiler was around.
Del Ray with Steve James prettied up the A&E stage. Turns out Steve was old friends with Portland artist Ron Rogers (see above) when they played music together in Austin. Steve is also friends with Fred Stern, the Rainbow Maker.
This is the most puzzling booth at the festival. Avon. Yeah, Avon. I walked by it and heard Techno coming out of the booth. Not that I have anything against Techno, but at a blues festival? As you can see, folks weren't beating down the doors to get in.
And then it was on the blues. She did a medley of Mississippi John Hurt tunes which, as she pointed out, actually fit more in the "Piedmont Blues" catagory, although MJ wasn't from the Piedmont area. They just didn't have a Piedmont Blues designation when the ole smiler was around.
Del Ray with Steve James prettied up the A&E stage. Turns out Steve was old friends with Portland artist Ron Rogers (see above) when they played music together in Austin. Steve is also friends with Fred Stern, the Rainbow Maker.
This is the most puzzling booth at the festival. Avon. Yeah, Avon. I walked by it and heard Techno coming out of the booth. Not that I have anything against Techno, but at a blues festival? As you can see, folks weren't beating down the doors to get in.
Early July 5
As I said when I was introducing Eric Hatcher and the Worker Bees, "The early bird gets the best seat in the house." Btw...the Hatcher band is a nice mix of old and young. Their pianist Mario Carboni is somebody to watch out for. He's got a New Orleans thing that's exellent.
When I was walking around just after opening, I stopped and talked with Loretta Harrison at her Praline booth. NOTE: it's pronounced PRAW-line, not PRAY-line. If you stop by say it that way or you'll sound like one of those people who say Are-a-GONNN. You would'nt want that, would you.
Loretta is from New Orleans and has had a booth at Jazzfest for twenty years. Her motto: Not just a creamy, chunky, delicous piece of candy, but a piece of New Orleans. Here website is here.
When I was walking around just after opening, I stopped and talked with Loretta Harrison at her Praline booth. NOTE: it's pronounced PRAW-line, not PRAY-line. If you stop by say it that way or you'll sound like one of those people who say Are-a-GONNN. You would'nt want that, would you.
Loretta is from New Orleans and has had a booth at Jazzfest for twenty years. Her motto: Not just a creamy, chunky, delicous piece of candy, but a piece of New Orleans. Here website is here.
Dis Dat or D'Udda---July 4
I don't know if it was Peter Dammann's idea to have John Boutte sing the SS Banner before the fireworks, but it was pure genius. Anybody who heard it will never hear that tune the same way again.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
John Boutte
Spelbinding, electric, inspiring, political and full of soul.
He's the concience of New Orleans. Wait, let me put that another way, he's the voice of New Orleans reminding the concience of America (what's left of it) that the current government has abandoned an entire city and left it in ruins.
He reprised the version of Randy Newman's "Louisiana" as he did at 2006's New Orleans Jazzfest in which he changed the lyrics from "Six feet of water in Evangeline" to "Six feet of water in the lower nine." As he continued to sing the song and bring the lyrics up to date, people openly wept in the audience.
He was the highlight of the day.
The Hot 8 Brass Band
When I introduced them, I said that they knew how to put the word party in the word party! I wasn't kidding. New Orleans' Hot 8 shifted gears for the whole festival!
Their style rough and tumble and very street. More Rebirth than Dirty Dozen.
....and the crowd danced and danced and danced.
After Norman....
This is Fiona Boyes. If you haven't heard about her, you will. She's from Australia and is one tough cookie on stage. Nominated for "Best Contrmporary Blues Album" in what used to be the WC Handy Awards in Memphis, there are rumours that she may be moving to Portland!
She's already hooked up with a pretty good band, including former members of Paul deLay's last band, Peter Damman on guitar and Dave Kahl on bass.
.....and Fiona knows who to choose on keys...the one and only Janice Scroggins.
Nice Start!
That's Fred Stern's Rainbow Over the Willamette. In close cooperation with the Portland Fire Bureau and one of their fireboats, around 5pm, when Fred calculated the sun would be in the best position, the boat unleashed 32,000 gallons per minute of river water and you see the result!
Fred came to Portland from Las Cruzes, NM to make this rainbow. Read more about it in Monday's post.
As the crowd got huge...
...Boogie Cat Norman Sylvester Boogied down.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Just added
Just when it looked like Ron Rogers was going to be shut out of this year's festival, he's not. The artist,who's work was on the cover of last Friday's A&E section of the O will display his famous coffins of blues and soul musicians in a booth next to (or near) Gary Houston's. Gary does the Blues Festival poster every year...he does a lot of posters, and he does them the old fashioned silk-screen way.
It's nice that the two of them will be neighbors.
It's nice that the two of them will be neighbors.
Tuesday Night's Blues Cruise
As somebody said last night, "We got three decks of pure pleasure."
I said that when I was introducing Lurrie Bell and it was true. On the cruise which official opened the 2007 Waterfront Blues Festival the bottom deck of the Portland Spirit had New Orleans' John Boutte and Salem's Mark Lemhouse. On the second deck was Portland's The Insomniacs and Chicago's Lurrie Bell with Pinetop Perkins. On the top deck was New Orleans' Hot 8 Brass Band.
Hard to know where to go.
I stuck with the Hot 8 most of the time because since very few New Orleans bands come through Portland anymore, I am like a dry sponge ready for some OF IT this week.
The Hot 8 look like they just stepped off the streets of the 9th Ward or Treme and they sound like it too. Like a lot of NO brass bands, they play familiar soul and funk wit the mawchin beat. The whole deck was dancing. Paul Ronan who has done a NO radio show on KPSU for years (although he's currently taking a break) was resplendent in white on white on white including a white fedora.
Peter Damman DID make it on the cruise, although he didn't play.
Toward the end of the cruise, I went to the bottom deck where John Boutte had the people there spellbound with his unique soulful singing, accompanied by a fantastic guitarist. Most of the crowd may have been upstairs with Lurrie Bell, but the last half hour with Boutte who sings like no other (except maybe Sam Cooke)made the cruise for me...except the dancing part with the Hot 8.
Look for him today at the festival.
Boutte kept on singing as the boat pulled up to the dock and folks started lining up to get off. His last two songs were "You Haven't Done Nothing" which he sang with justifiable anger, dedicated to those responsible for the continuing tradgedy in NO. He ended with a wonderful inspiring Mahalia Jackson tune which sent us off the boat, if not sanctified, very inspired.
I'm off to take Fred Stern the Rainbow Maker to a meeting with the Fire Department out on NW Front where they keep the fireboat.
I said that when I was introducing Lurrie Bell and it was true. On the cruise which official opened the 2007 Waterfront Blues Festival the bottom deck of the Portland Spirit had New Orleans' John Boutte and Salem's Mark Lemhouse. On the second deck was Portland's The Insomniacs and Chicago's Lurrie Bell with Pinetop Perkins. On the top deck was New Orleans' Hot 8 Brass Band.
Hard to know where to go.
I stuck with the Hot 8 most of the time because since very few New Orleans bands come through Portland anymore, I am like a dry sponge ready for some OF IT this week.
The Hot 8 look like they just stepped off the streets of the 9th Ward or Treme and they sound like it too. Like a lot of NO brass bands, they play familiar soul and funk wit the mawchin beat. The whole deck was dancing. Paul Ronan who has done a NO radio show on KPSU for years (although he's currently taking a break) was resplendent in white on white on white including a white fedora.
Peter Damman DID make it on the cruise, although he didn't play.
Toward the end of the cruise, I went to the bottom deck where John Boutte had the people there spellbound with his unique soulful singing, accompanied by a fantastic guitarist. Most of the crowd may have been upstairs with Lurrie Bell, but the last half hour with Boutte who sings like no other (except maybe Sam Cooke)made the cruise for me...except the dancing part with the Hot 8.
Look for him today at the festival.
Boutte kept on singing as the boat pulled up to the dock and folks started lining up to get off. His last two songs were "You Haven't Done Nothing" which he sang with justifiable anger, dedicated to those responsible for the continuing tradgedy in NO. He ended with a wonderful inspiring Mahalia Jackson tune which sent us off the boat, if not sanctified, very inspired.
I'm off to take Fred Stern the Rainbow Maker to a meeting with the Fire Department out on NW Front where they keep the fireboat.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Another Festival Blogger / Wither Peter?
Terry Odor (aka Blues Slave) will be working one of the stages at the festival and blogging throughout. Read his blog here.
In other news, Peter Damman, known to most of you as the hot guitar slinger in Paul deLay's band, is known to the rest of us as the man who books all of the music at the festival. You'd never know he's in the middle of the hurricane from his demeanor. He's one cool customer.
The fact that he gets to play with many of the legends who perform at the festival might have something to do with it.
He may or may not be coming on the Cruise tonight. Hope he as the time to do it. Would be nice to get away from the maddness and in front of the awesome talent onboard.
In other news, Peter Damman, known to most of you as the hot guitar slinger in Paul deLay's band, is known to the rest of us as the man who books all of the music at the festival. You'd never know he's in the middle of the hurricane from his demeanor. He's one cool customer.
The fact that he gets to play with many of the legends who perform at the festival might have something to do with it.
He may or may not be coming on the Cruise tonight. Hope he as the time to do it. Would be nice to get away from the maddness and in front of the awesome talent onboard.
Rainbow Maker Rehearses / First Cruise Tonight
Yesterday afternoon, Rainbow Maker Fred Stern sailed south on a Portland Fire Bureau's fireboat from it's dock on NW Front St. to the Blues Festival site and then met with the Portland Harbormaster, Clay Fuller who is the major domo of the Blues Festival and Jean Kempe-Ware the festival's hard-working media relations person.
While KATU's weather man looked on and his videographer's camera rolled, the fireboat shot water high into the air at a rate of 32,000 gallons a minute and made a rainbow. (Don't worry, the water comes from the river and goes back INTO the river!)
Fred will thrill the crowd on Wednesday around 5pm when the fireboat makes its official appearance and the rainbow comes with it.
The Festival cranks up on Wednesday but tonight it's the first Blues Cruise. The Portland Spirit sails at 10:30. It's the 20th Anniversary Kickoff Hoodoo Moon Cruise with John Boutte, The Hot 8 Brass Band, Pinetop Perkins, Lurrie Bell and Oregon's Mark Lemhouse. I'll be on board. Since it gets back to shore at 1:15am. I'll write about it Thursday morning, after some sleep.
Usually, there's non-stop dancing and a lot of beer, etc. I could write later tonight but it might look like this. ahifoklfadfjaofjkaldfenqaiopgbyuafnheoahfoew. See?
While KATU's weather man looked on and his videographer's camera rolled, the fireboat shot water high into the air at a rate of 32,000 gallons a minute and made a rainbow. (Don't worry, the water comes from the river and goes back INTO the river!)
Fred will thrill the crowd on Wednesday around 5pm when the fireboat makes its official appearance and the rainbow comes with it.
The Festival cranks up on Wednesday but tonight it's the first Blues Cruise. The Portland Spirit sails at 10:30. It's the 20th Anniversary Kickoff Hoodoo Moon Cruise with John Boutte, The Hot 8 Brass Band, Pinetop Perkins, Lurrie Bell and Oregon's Mark Lemhouse. I'll be on board. Since it gets back to shore at 1:15am. I'll write about it Thursday morning, after some sleep.
Usually, there's non-stop dancing and a lot of beer, etc. I could write later tonight but it might look like this. ahifoklfadfjaofjkaldfenqaiopgbyuafnheoahfoew. See?
Monday, July 02, 2007
Two stories on this week's Blues Festival
Here's a story of mine on this week's Waterfront Blues Festival. And a related story on Fred Stern the Rainbow Maker who will make a rainbow over the Willamette. All on the new website livepdx.com.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Democrats, Who Pays Your Bills?
The question isn't how much money the Democratic candidates have raised. The real question is: Where did the money come from?
Here are the questions they should be asked at the next "debate:"
1. How much did you get from the Health Industry?
2. How much did you get from the Insurance Industry?
3. How much from Oil companies?
4. How much from the banking industry?
5. How much from the military industry?
6. How much from Wal-Mart? From GE? From Murdoch? From Disney?
In other words…
To whom are you beholden. That's more important than any policy question they might be asked. They can fudge policy issues. They MUST answer these questions.
Anything else is obfuscation. Is Obama authentic? Let's hear him disavow any contributions from these corporations. What will Hillary say? She vacuums money from big health.
It doesn't matter what you say you're going to do when you get elected. What matters is who has paid your bills and enabled you to get elected. Those corporations don't give money, they spend money and they expect a return.
Tell us, o authentic Dems, who pays YOUR bills?
This also appears on huffingtonpost.com
Here are the questions they should be asked at the next "debate:"
1. How much did you get from the Health Industry?
2. How much did you get from the Insurance Industry?
3. How much from Oil companies?
4. How much from the banking industry?
5. How much from the military industry?
6. How much from Wal-Mart? From GE? From Murdoch? From Disney?
In other words…
To whom are you beholden. That's more important than any policy question they might be asked. They can fudge policy issues. They MUST answer these questions.
Anything else is obfuscation. Is Obama authentic? Let's hear him disavow any contributions from these corporations. What will Hillary say? She vacuums money from big health.
It doesn't matter what you say you're going to do when you get elected. What matters is who has paid your bills and enabled you to get elected. Those corporations don't give money, they spend money and they expect a return.
Tell us, o authentic Dems, who pays YOUR bills?
This also appears on huffingtonpost.com
Monday, June 25, 2007
Waterfront Blues Festival Daily Blog Coming!!
I'll be blogging every day from the 2007 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival beginning Tuesday, July 3 and ending Sunday July 8!
A short piece of mine on Brian Davis
Appeared in the Living Section of today's Oregonian. Read it here.
Brian is a percussionist for Pink Martini and the leader of the Lions of Batucada, Portland's Brazilian marching band.
Brian is a percussionist for Pink Martini and the leader of the Lions of Batucada, Portland's Brazilian marching band.
Friday, June 22, 2007
KMHD Playlist 6/16/07
Sorry about not putting up 6/9's. I was out of town.
10:00 PM Wayne Horvitz Duke Monologue
10:06 PM Paul deLay Band All Cried Out The Last of the Best
10:12 PM Dave Milne You Pea Ess Present Tense
10:16 PM Mylab Pop Client Mylab
10:27 PM Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengrs Plexis Three Blind Mice Cedar Walton tune...live at The Rennaisance in L.A.
10:32 PM Shoehorn Jumpin' with Shoehorn Shoehorn Swing
10:39 PM Keith Schreiner Robert's Decsion Unreleased
10:42 PM Dahlia Ease Up Emotional Cycles Jen Folker, vocals
10:48 PM Derek Sims & Keith Schriener Details Unreleased
10:56 PM James Booker Goodnight Irene Junco Pardner
11:07 PM Nancy King & Glen Moore There Is a Small Hotel King On the Road Rob Scheps, sax
11:12 PM Darrell Grant Blues For the Masters Truth and Reconcilliation
11:16 PM Ramsey Embick Nica's Dream Solo Piano
11:24 PM John Callahan Portland Girl Purple Winos In the Rain
11:31 PM John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman My One and Only Love John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
11:37 PM Dr. John More Than You'll Ever Know In a Sentimental Mood
11:41 PM Kronos Quartet Turn Out the Stars Music of Bill Evans Vinyl
11:47 PM Beliss Atahualpa Beliss
11:50 PM Dexter Gordon Ruby My Dear Great Encounters Vinyl
12:00 AM Eric Dolphy Fire Waltz The Great Concert of Eric Dolphy
12:13 AM Eric Dolphy Bee Vamp same
12:26 AM Eric Dolphy Number Eight same
12:40 AM Eric Dolphy The Prophet same
10:00 PM Wayne Horvitz Duke Monologue
10:06 PM Paul deLay Band All Cried Out The Last of the Best
10:12 PM Dave Milne You Pea Ess Present Tense
10:16 PM Mylab Pop Client Mylab
10:27 PM Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengrs Plexis Three Blind Mice Cedar Walton tune...live at The Rennaisance in L.A.
10:32 PM Shoehorn Jumpin' with Shoehorn Shoehorn Swing
10:39 PM Keith Schreiner Robert's Decsion Unreleased
10:42 PM Dahlia Ease Up Emotional Cycles Jen Folker, vocals
10:48 PM Derek Sims & Keith Schriener Details Unreleased
10:56 PM James Booker Goodnight Irene Junco Pardner
11:07 PM Nancy King & Glen Moore There Is a Small Hotel King On the Road Rob Scheps, sax
11:12 PM Darrell Grant Blues For the Masters Truth and Reconcilliation
11:16 PM Ramsey Embick Nica's Dream Solo Piano
11:24 PM John Callahan Portland Girl Purple Winos In the Rain
11:31 PM John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman My One and Only Love John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
11:37 PM Dr. John More Than You'll Ever Know In a Sentimental Mood
11:41 PM Kronos Quartet Turn Out the Stars Music of Bill Evans Vinyl
11:47 PM Beliss Atahualpa Beliss
11:50 PM Dexter Gordon Ruby My Dear Great Encounters Vinyl
12:00 AM Eric Dolphy Fire Waltz The Great Concert of Eric Dolphy
12:13 AM Eric Dolphy Bee Vamp same
12:26 AM Eric Dolphy Number Eight same
12:40 AM Eric Dolphy The Prophet same
Friday, June 01, 2007
Welcome Back Dr. Jack!!
Welcome back Dr Jack!
While you were gone we here in Oregon passed the nation's first and most logical Physician-Assisted Suicide law, the Oregon Death With Dignity Act. Under it, after a process involving two doctors, and a lot of other screening, those who have a prognosis of six months to live or less, can get (usually) a fatal dose of liquid Nembutal and die peacefully, surrounded by family and friends (if they choose) or in solitude.
The religious fanatics who run things in Washington tried to knock out the law, Dr. Jack. It went to the U.S. Supreme Court. We won.
We're sorry you went to jail for the concept of controlling one's death the way one controls one's life.
We wish you had been able to control your own life these past years, when you were locked away.
The vanguard of any movement begins with those who push the limits outrageously. You did that. We understand. We may have disagreed with some of your tactics, but we know where you're coming from…a sense of medical ethics that says, "The patient is the boss. The patient has the right to die as he chooses."
The rest of the country? Consider this. Consider that you have been diagnosed with a terrible lung disease that will cause you to be shorter and shorter of breath, gradually getting worse day after day. You find yourself gasping for breath and know that soon you will suffocate to death…as though someone put a pillow over your head.
Say you knew someone who had had the same disease, and you saw how he deteriorated. You watched him gasp for breath. You knew he was going to suffocate one day soon. And now it's you. You're going to suffocate to death. A long, lingering terrifying death.
What would you want to do? If you were not bound to a rigid and illogical set of religious rules, most likely you would say, "I want out before I get like that. I know what is my fate. Don’t' make me suffer. Please don't let me suffocate."
Right now, the politicians answer is, "Sorry, Charlie. Take a hike."
The dirty little secret is that, all over America, doctors and nurses are conspiring to help such people die. They take the risk of losing their careers and even facing jail time if caught. They don't get caught. They do help people die.
Everybody else looks the other way. Does this make sense to you?
I'm pleading your case, Dr. Jack.
We're glad you're back. I have the feeling we haven't heard the last from you.
I hope not.
this also appears on huffingtonpost.com
While you were gone we here in Oregon passed the nation's first and most logical Physician-Assisted Suicide law, the Oregon Death With Dignity Act. Under it, after a process involving two doctors, and a lot of other screening, those who have a prognosis of six months to live or less, can get (usually) a fatal dose of liquid Nembutal and die peacefully, surrounded by family and friends (if they choose) or in solitude.
The religious fanatics who run things in Washington tried to knock out the law, Dr. Jack. It went to the U.S. Supreme Court. We won.
We're sorry you went to jail for the concept of controlling one's death the way one controls one's life.
We wish you had been able to control your own life these past years, when you were locked away.
The vanguard of any movement begins with those who push the limits outrageously. You did that. We understand. We may have disagreed with some of your tactics, but we know where you're coming from…a sense of medical ethics that says, "The patient is the boss. The patient has the right to die as he chooses."
The rest of the country? Consider this. Consider that you have been diagnosed with a terrible lung disease that will cause you to be shorter and shorter of breath, gradually getting worse day after day. You find yourself gasping for breath and know that soon you will suffocate to death…as though someone put a pillow over your head.
Say you knew someone who had had the same disease, and you saw how he deteriorated. You watched him gasp for breath. You knew he was going to suffocate one day soon. And now it's you. You're going to suffocate to death. A long, lingering terrifying death.
What would you want to do? If you were not bound to a rigid and illogical set of religious rules, most likely you would say, "I want out before I get like that. I know what is my fate. Don’t' make me suffer. Please don't let me suffocate."
Right now, the politicians answer is, "Sorry, Charlie. Take a hike."
The dirty little secret is that, all over America, doctors and nurses are conspiring to help such people die. They take the risk of losing their careers and even facing jail time if caught. They don't get caught. They do help people die.
Everybody else looks the other way. Does this make sense to you?
I'm pleading your case, Dr. Jack.
We're glad you're back. I have the feeling we haven't heard the last from you.
I hope not.
this also appears on huffingtonpost.com
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
My DB Cooper Inside Edition Adventure
I did the field production (including interviews), not the story. It aired 5/21/07.
My KMHD Playlist 5/26/07
10:00 PM Wayne Horvitz Duke Monologue Show theme
10:03 PM Stan Bock Ensemble The Godfather You're Check's In the Mail
10:11 PM Maceo Parker Splashin' Southern Exposure
10:23 PM Janice Scroggins Bethina Janice Scroggins Plays Scott Joplin Vinyl
10:29 PM Max Morath The Chrysanthemum--An Afro-American Intermezzo Max Morath Plays Scott Joplin Vinyl
10:34 PM Eubie Blake The Baltimore Todolo The 86 Years of Eubie Blake From Vinyl
10:39 PM Mac Potts Untitled Unreleased Mac plays all instruments
10:47 PM Dexter Gordon Cheese Cake Go From vinyl
10:53 PM Wayne Horvitz Sweeter Than the Day Band ? Unreleased Live at Cafe Paloma, March 11, 2007. Thanks Wayne!
11:03 PM Bernard Herman All the Animals Come Out At Night Taxi Driver Soundtrack
11:07 PM Willlie Ruff/Dwike Mitchell Chelsea Bridge/Upper-Manhattan Medical Group Strayhorn Vinyl with Tom reading
11:16 PM Gil Evans Orchestra Orange was the color of her dress then blue silk Live at Umbria Jazz
11:25 PM Ruff/Mitchell Passion Flower Strayhorn Vinyl
11:32 PM Pink Martini Cance e Dance Hey Eugene! a Phil Baker tune
11:36 PM Dan Balmer Rain Thanksgiving
11:42 PM Nancy King & Steve Christopherson Perennial Proximity Vol.1
11:46 PM Oregon Spanish Stairs Oregon In Moscow
11:51 PM Joey Baron Time To Cry We'll Soon Find Out
12:04 AM Miles Davis Right Off A Tribute To Jack Johnson Vinyl
12:30 AM Miles Davis Yesternow A Tribute To Jack Johnson Vinyl
12:58 AM Extremo the Clown Finale Extremo and Friends
10:03 PM Stan Bock Ensemble The Godfather You're Check's In the Mail
10:11 PM Maceo Parker Splashin' Southern Exposure
10:23 PM Janice Scroggins Bethina Janice Scroggins Plays Scott Joplin Vinyl
10:29 PM Max Morath The Chrysanthemum--An Afro-American Intermezzo Max Morath Plays Scott Joplin Vinyl
10:34 PM Eubie Blake The Baltimore Todolo The 86 Years of Eubie Blake From Vinyl
10:39 PM Mac Potts Untitled Unreleased Mac plays all instruments
10:47 PM Dexter Gordon Cheese Cake Go From vinyl
10:53 PM Wayne Horvitz Sweeter Than the Day Band ? Unreleased Live at Cafe Paloma, March 11, 2007. Thanks Wayne!
11:03 PM Bernard Herman All the Animals Come Out At Night Taxi Driver Soundtrack
11:07 PM Willlie Ruff/Dwike Mitchell Chelsea Bridge/Upper-Manhattan Medical Group Strayhorn Vinyl with Tom reading
11:16 PM Gil Evans Orchestra Orange was the color of her dress then blue silk Live at Umbria Jazz
11:25 PM Ruff/Mitchell Passion Flower Strayhorn Vinyl
11:32 PM Pink Martini Cance e Dance Hey Eugene! a Phil Baker tune
11:36 PM Dan Balmer Rain Thanksgiving
11:42 PM Nancy King & Steve Christopherson Perennial Proximity Vol.1
11:46 PM Oregon Spanish Stairs Oregon In Moscow
11:51 PM Joey Baron Time To Cry We'll Soon Find Out
12:04 AM Miles Davis Right Off A Tribute To Jack Johnson Vinyl
12:30 AM Miles Davis Yesternow A Tribute To Jack Johnson Vinyl
12:58 AM Extremo the Clown Finale Extremo and Friends
Thursday, May 24, 2007
A Column by David Vest
"I don't understand these people!"
So You Thought They Were Gonna End the War
by David Vest
Welcome to the Show, kid.
The Democrats have "surrendered" on Iraq. Liberals are "shocked." And all the innocents who didn't know any better, didn't see it coming, feel "betrayed."
Poor Duncan Black, better known as "Atrios," is nearly at a loss for words: "People hate Bush, hate Republicans, and hate this war," he protests, and yet the Democrats caved!
"I don't understand these people," he wails.
Precisely.
Keith Olbermann, using the same tone of humorless, near-postal anger he uses in every commentary, no matter the topic, calls the Democratic rollover a "Neville Chamberlain moment."
I prefer to think of it as a teachable moment.
At a time when even conservatives have come to loathe Bush, when people who thought he was going to round up all the "illegal aliens" and deport them are so upset, they think impeachment's too good for him, the Democrats labor to craft legislation "acceptable" to him.
Liberals have already spent six and a half years loathing Bush -- longer if they live in Texas, a state whose statutes are said to recognize two classes of persons: Fuckors and Fuckees.
(Republicans and Democrats, the big shots, belong to the former class. You and I belong to the latter.)
There is nothing particularly wrong with loathing Bush. It only becomes a problem when it prevents progressives from finally figuring out that the people they're really going to end up having to fight are the Democrats.
As Big Walter the Thunderbird used to say, "Sho' is tough."
Right now, both major parties are playing dodge ball with the planet, trying to avoid "ownership" of Iraq. The only way at this point to "own" the war is to stop it, and there is no serious move afoot to make that happen.
Having used antiwar sentiment, and disgust over Katrina, to regain control of Congress, the Democrats have no intention of relinquishing power. They all "support the troops," who are being asked to "lay down their lives for America" in far Mesopotamia -- but you didn't expect these people you elected to lay down their political careers for the good of the country ... did you?
Of course not. Already Michael Tomasky is praising the Dems for practicing "smart politics," as though winning the White House in 2008 were far more important than "merely" ending the war in Iraq.
How quickly "put us into power and we'll change things" becomes "put us into power and watch it change us."
For the corporate powers behind the candidates, the rule is as it ever was: from time to time, things have to change in order to stay the same.
But (someone protests), can't you at least admit that the Democrats are better than the Republicans? And if you love the country, or care about the world, aren't you obligated to support the lesser of two evils, even if it's only slightly less evil?
To which I reply: What's really evil is being forced to choose between people on the one hand who support the war, and accuse anyone who questions it of "helping the terrorists" -- and people on the other who oppose the war, criticize the war, pledge to the end the war, and then vote to keep it going.
Or being asked to choose between the village idiot and someone who's consistently outsmarted by him.
Once upon a time, Bill Clinton filled the Interior Department with "environmentalists." Bush filled it with oil company hacks. Who was more honest?
Lo and behold, when they cut down the old growth forest, it didn't make much difference to the trees and the rivers and the critters, whether oil company insiders or professional environmentalists were sitting at the desks in Washington. Eight years of Clinton-Gore, two terms of Bush-Cheney: the toxic dumps remain, and only the rhetoric has changed, to protect the naïve.
Demonstrably now, it makes no difference to the war whether Republicans or Democrats control Congress. Do you suppose the shooting will end, on the day when a refined, well-spoken Democrat, who reads poetry perhaps and scorns the religious right, and who doesn't embarrass us when receiving foreign dignitaries, succeeds the bumbling oaf Bush?
Think so? Or do you suspect people will soon be wailing, "I don't understand these people! They control Congress, the White house, and the military! Why don't they stop the war?"
Perhaps apologists will go on CNN to reassure us: "The president wants to stop the war, really. But first she has to form a consensus, and set her legislative agenda in Congress, and build up her political capital. And when, not if, she wins re-election, then in that second term she'll be free to act, and she'll have that mandate, and I think you'll start to see some movement on ending this war."
Sound about right?
Look. Millions of people marched in the streets trying to prevent the invasion of Iraq, long before Bush sent a cruise missile into a Baghdad neighborhood trying to "take out" Saddam Hussein with one wild lunge, like the man who shot Liberty Valance. Without result, in either case.
People marched and listened to speeches and then went home. The opinion of the multitudes counted for nothing. No one in power saw the slightest need to pay attention to them. They're still not paying attention. Why would they, as long as those bags of money keep coming in through the transom?
The system is broken. It can't be fixed. As long as the Fuckors run it, it will continue to be utterly unresponsive to the will of the Fuckees.
The system tolerates, even welcomes antiwar people, but it co-opts them if it can. Just as the oil companies co-opted Earth Day, and just as the nuclear power industry hopes to turn global warming into a wholly-owned subsidiary.
In one party, if you're antiwar, you can get a job as Rudy Giuliani's foil.
In the other one ... well, if you still "don't understand these people," what's it going to take?
As the great working class poet Charlie Musselwhite says in "Black Water," the devastating post-Katrina anthem from his CD Delta Hardware:
"Hello America -- are you ready for more?"
First published here: counterpunch.org
David Vest can be reached through his web site at www.rebelangel.com. A new CD featuring him, "The Last of the Best: Live Recordings by the Paul deLay Band," will be released on June 12.
Buy it here.
So You Thought They Were Gonna End the War
by David Vest
Welcome to the Show, kid.
The Democrats have "surrendered" on Iraq. Liberals are "shocked." And all the innocents who didn't know any better, didn't see it coming, feel "betrayed."
Poor Duncan Black, better known as "Atrios," is nearly at a loss for words: "People hate Bush, hate Republicans, and hate this war," he protests, and yet the Democrats caved!
"I don't understand these people," he wails.
Precisely.
Keith Olbermann, using the same tone of humorless, near-postal anger he uses in every commentary, no matter the topic, calls the Democratic rollover a "Neville Chamberlain moment."
I prefer to think of it as a teachable moment.
At a time when even conservatives have come to loathe Bush, when people who thought he was going to round up all the "illegal aliens" and deport them are so upset, they think impeachment's too good for him, the Democrats labor to craft legislation "acceptable" to him.
Liberals have already spent six and a half years loathing Bush -- longer if they live in Texas, a state whose statutes are said to recognize two classes of persons: Fuckors and Fuckees.
(Republicans and Democrats, the big shots, belong to the former class. You and I belong to the latter.)
There is nothing particularly wrong with loathing Bush. It only becomes a problem when it prevents progressives from finally figuring out that the people they're really going to end up having to fight are the Democrats.
As Big Walter the Thunderbird used to say, "Sho' is tough."
Right now, both major parties are playing dodge ball with the planet, trying to avoid "ownership" of Iraq. The only way at this point to "own" the war is to stop it, and there is no serious move afoot to make that happen.
Having used antiwar sentiment, and disgust over Katrina, to regain control of Congress, the Democrats have no intention of relinquishing power. They all "support the troops," who are being asked to "lay down their lives for America" in far Mesopotamia -- but you didn't expect these people you elected to lay down their political careers for the good of the country ... did you?
Of course not. Already Michael Tomasky is praising the Dems for practicing "smart politics," as though winning the White House in 2008 were far more important than "merely" ending the war in Iraq.
How quickly "put us into power and we'll change things" becomes "put us into power and watch it change us."
For the corporate powers behind the candidates, the rule is as it ever was: from time to time, things have to change in order to stay the same.
But (someone protests), can't you at least admit that the Democrats are better than the Republicans? And if you love the country, or care about the world, aren't you obligated to support the lesser of two evils, even if it's only slightly less evil?
To which I reply: What's really evil is being forced to choose between people on the one hand who support the war, and accuse anyone who questions it of "helping the terrorists" -- and people on the other who oppose the war, criticize the war, pledge to the end the war, and then vote to keep it going.
Or being asked to choose between the village idiot and someone who's consistently outsmarted by him.
Once upon a time, Bill Clinton filled the Interior Department with "environmentalists." Bush filled it with oil company hacks. Who was more honest?
Lo and behold, when they cut down the old growth forest, it didn't make much difference to the trees and the rivers and the critters, whether oil company insiders or professional environmentalists were sitting at the desks in Washington. Eight years of Clinton-Gore, two terms of Bush-Cheney: the toxic dumps remain, and only the rhetoric has changed, to protect the naïve.
Demonstrably now, it makes no difference to the war whether Republicans or Democrats control Congress. Do you suppose the shooting will end, on the day when a refined, well-spoken Democrat, who reads poetry perhaps and scorns the religious right, and who doesn't embarrass us when receiving foreign dignitaries, succeeds the bumbling oaf Bush?
Think so? Or do you suspect people will soon be wailing, "I don't understand these people! They control Congress, the White house, and the military! Why don't they stop the war?"
Perhaps apologists will go on CNN to reassure us: "The president wants to stop the war, really. But first she has to form a consensus, and set her legislative agenda in Congress, and build up her political capital. And when, not if, she wins re-election, then in that second term she'll be free to act, and she'll have that mandate, and I think you'll start to see some movement on ending this war."
Sound about right?
Look. Millions of people marched in the streets trying to prevent the invasion of Iraq, long before Bush sent a cruise missile into a Baghdad neighborhood trying to "take out" Saddam Hussein with one wild lunge, like the man who shot Liberty Valance. Without result, in either case.
People marched and listened to speeches and then went home. The opinion of the multitudes counted for nothing. No one in power saw the slightest need to pay attention to them. They're still not paying attention. Why would they, as long as those bags of money keep coming in through the transom?
The system is broken. It can't be fixed. As long as the Fuckors run it, it will continue to be utterly unresponsive to the will of the Fuckees.
The system tolerates, even welcomes antiwar people, but it co-opts them if it can. Just as the oil companies co-opted Earth Day, and just as the nuclear power industry hopes to turn global warming into a wholly-owned subsidiary.
In one party, if you're antiwar, you can get a job as Rudy Giuliani's foil.
In the other one ... well, if you still "don't understand these people," what's it going to take?
As the great working class poet Charlie Musselwhite says in "Black Water," the devastating post-Katrina anthem from his CD Delta Hardware:
"Hello America -- are you ready for more?"
First published here: counterpunch.org
David Vest can be reached through his web site at www.rebelangel.com. A new CD featuring him, "The Last of the Best: Live Recordings by the Paul deLay Band," will be released on June 12.
Buy it here.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Pink Martini---The Concert and Afterparty
I have a frame of reference. I've seen Pink Martini a dozen times over the past ten years and I have never seen them better than they were at The Schnitz on Tuesday, May 15.
Period.
As I wrote in my livepdx article Thomas had a difficult time with "Hang On Little Tomato." Everybody knew something was not going well, but the band has such good will that we put up with the years of delays and looked forward to their second album.
Why they couldn' t have just put out a concert album in the meantime escapes me. When "Tomato" was released, we all said nice things about it, but many of us hid our disappointment. Count me in on that. I did an Art Beat TV piece on China Forbes around the release, and in it I avoided that disappointment.
Come to find out Thomas was just as dissapointed.
That's why it was such a relief to find "Hey Eugene!" to be so bright and full of happiness, even in the sad songs. That vibe carried over to the concert at the Schnitz. China was in great voice, Thomas was lively and gay (I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. I meant it in the old fashioned way.) He's one of the few people who is gay and gay.
The first half of the concert was made up of tunes from "Eugene," done perfectly, not as note for note replicas but almost. My favorite from the album was my favorite in the show, "Cance e Dance," a gorgeous Brazilian-styleded tune by their bassist Phil Baker. The tempo was slightly faster in concert. The David Yorke Ensemble was on stage to help and Phil played rhythm guitar. I could have gone home after it was over and been completely satisfied.
After the concert, at the afterparty in Bluehour, I told Phil I thought it was one of the most beautiful tunes I had ever heard. I thought he was going to cry. I meant it.
After the intermission, Thomas introduced March Fourth Marching band saying he wanted to run away and join them. They played four tunes by themselves, complete with dancers, stilt and otherwise. No fire dancers allowed in The Schnitz, however.
They began with "Space Hole" their signature tune, accompanied by a hula-hoop dancer of great dexterity, ingenouity, grace and humor.
They stayed on stage for "Das Vedanya Mio Bambino," Pink Martini's language mashup which ends with the chorus of "The Happy Wanderer."
The band played older tunes which did not sound dated or shopworn, but rather familiar and sweet. It is always fun to see percussionist Brian Davis workout on the traps for the band's swring tune. Their encore was (take a wild guess) "Brazil," which was accompanied by all of the guest artists. Thomas told me one time that he could play "Brazil" until the day he dies.
We don't mind.
When we walked up the stairs to the afterparty at Bluehour, China was at her most slink-ely lucious sitting outside the door and holding court. I was very gratified when she thanked me for the Art Beat piece I had done on her. She said he had always thought about calling but never did. Well, um…I appreciate it, no matter when it comes.
Inside was a madhouse. Somehow we found a couple of seats next to OBT's Christopher Stowell's table. Chatted with Northwest Film Center's Bill Foster, hugged Thomas and got drinks.
It was full of the beautiful people, hair done perfectly and dressed in Pearl Chic. All of a sudden, in walked the members of March Fourth, still in their band unis and making Bluehour seem more like Portland.
Bassist/singer Belinda Underwood slinked in looking lovely and hanging with pianist Benny Green. I told him how unusual it was to have two former Betty Carter pianists in the same town. Darrell Grant is the other.
A couple of small but tasty martinis later, it was time to go.
Period.
As I wrote in my livepdx article Thomas had a difficult time with "Hang On Little Tomato." Everybody knew something was not going well, but the band has such good will that we put up with the years of delays and looked forward to their second album.
Why they couldn' t have just put out a concert album in the meantime escapes me. When "Tomato" was released, we all said nice things about it, but many of us hid our disappointment. Count me in on that. I did an Art Beat TV piece on China Forbes around the release, and in it I avoided that disappointment.
Come to find out Thomas was just as dissapointed.
That's why it was such a relief to find "Hey Eugene!" to be so bright and full of happiness, even in the sad songs. That vibe carried over to the concert at the Schnitz. China was in great voice, Thomas was lively and gay (I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. I meant it in the old fashioned way.) He's one of the few people who is gay and gay.
The first half of the concert was made up of tunes from "Eugene," done perfectly, not as note for note replicas but almost. My favorite from the album was my favorite in the show, "Cance e Dance," a gorgeous Brazilian-styleded tune by their bassist Phil Baker. The tempo was slightly faster in concert. The David Yorke Ensemble was on stage to help and Phil played rhythm guitar. I could have gone home after it was over and been completely satisfied.
After the concert, at the afterparty in Bluehour, I told Phil I thought it was one of the most beautiful tunes I had ever heard. I thought he was going to cry. I meant it.
After the intermission, Thomas introduced March Fourth Marching band saying he wanted to run away and join them. They played four tunes by themselves, complete with dancers, stilt and otherwise. No fire dancers allowed in The Schnitz, however.
They began with "Space Hole" their signature tune, accompanied by a hula-hoop dancer of great dexterity, ingenouity, grace and humor.
They stayed on stage for "Das Vedanya Mio Bambino," Pink Martini's language mashup which ends with the chorus of "The Happy Wanderer."
The band played older tunes which did not sound dated or shopworn, but rather familiar and sweet. It is always fun to see percussionist Brian Davis workout on the traps for the band's swring tune. Their encore was (take a wild guess) "Brazil," which was accompanied by all of the guest artists. Thomas told me one time that he could play "Brazil" until the day he dies.
We don't mind.
When we walked up the stairs to the afterparty at Bluehour, China was at her most slink-ely lucious sitting outside the door and holding court. I was very gratified when she thanked me for the Art Beat piece I had done on her. She said he had always thought about calling but never did. Well, um…I appreciate it, no matter when it comes.
Inside was a madhouse. Somehow we found a couple of seats next to OBT's Christopher Stowell's table. Chatted with Northwest Film Center's Bill Foster, hugged Thomas and got drinks.
It was full of the beautiful people, hair done perfectly and dressed in Pearl Chic. All of a sudden, in walked the members of March Fourth, still in their band unis and making Bluehour seem more like Portland.
Bassist/singer Belinda Underwood slinked in looking lovely and hanging with pianist Benny Green. I told him how unusual it was to have two former Betty Carter pianists in the same town. Darrell Grant is the other.
A couple of small but tasty martinis later, it was time to go.
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