Etta James: A Singer With Lots of Style

In the late 1930s, Etta James was born in Los Angeles, California. She really got her musical star going strong in the 1950s. Johnny Otis got Etta James moving right along with a group he put the name of 'Peaches' on. Before long, Etta James was on tour with people like Little Richard, Marvin Gaye and Bo Diddley. Little Richard and the rockin' Bo Diddley could truly get the job done, also.The woman became a success with some strong and so profound R and B tunes. It was good that she worked with numerous big names because it gave her work a lot of good polish and style. Listened to her sensational song 'Something's Got a Hold on Me' recently and my, my it was so terrific and powerful. When she developed that song 'At Last' it was really tremendous. Her voice is dominant and has so much musical impact. Bless you Etta James.

Mama, Thanksgiving and Southern Culture

This is a culture piece about my mother and Thanksgiving.

My mother was a marvelous and so creative South Georgia woman. She taught French in our town's High School. But for most of her years she was a social worker. Even though she had a good work ethic and labored hard she still had time foe making great Thanksgiving meals for my Daddy and me. There is very little as delightful as a wonderful, delicious Thanksgiving meal with succulent turkey, dressing and cranberry sauce and pecan pies and red velvet cakes for the desserts. I have so many lasting and very profound terrific memories of all those Thanksgiving meals my Mama made. I know that the holidays with all their hearty family memories are indeed an integral part of the Southern culture. Memories are a beautiful blessing for all of us.

Paul Klee's Innovative Concepts of Art

The somewhat odd paintings of Paul Klee are a bit hard to fathom. Yet, if a person just calmly stands there and studies the precise almost eerily minimalist conceptions of this superior artist from Switzerland then one can't help but be vigorously overwhelmed by his innovative artistic stylings and vital aesthetic rubric. Some of Paul Klee's early work echoed the grand influences of Henri Matisse and Paul Cezanne. I like the dizzying emotionalism of Henri Matisse and Paul Cezanne. Finally after going more into a Cubist mode, Paul Klee produced unique jewel-oriented paintings in his own terse but so achingly truthful language. Admittedly just like some of the political blather espoused by some of the non-erudite Middle East analysts, the art of Klee is hard to visually and emotionally comprehend. Indeed with others like Georges Braque a person could access the art truisms a little easier. Politically, the bizarre politics of the straining Middle East are much akin to the confusing art vision that a soul finds so prevalent in the mixed blessing that is the intense art of Paul Klee. The Paul Klee idea modes of the odd world of machines and unusual buildings is a puzzle and yet so useful in stirring all of us to think which is one of the fascinating and trenchant good meanings of the world of art and the ideas interlaced within it.

Sonny Rollins, a superior saxophonist!

Sonny Rollins is a tenor saxophone giant. The big sound with the vivid soaring solos just overwhelms the listener. Needed a gigantic pick-me-up today so I listened to two fantastic Sonny Rollins numbers....'The Bridge' and 'St. Thomas.' The exuberant, passionate playing of Rollins packed a quite inventive jazz musical punch. One of my favorite thrills about Sonny Rollins is the fact he surrounds himself with clever sidemen. Superb in this regard is the bass man Bob Cranshaw. The high-impact style of Bob Cranshaw is somewhat akin to the remarkable bass work of the famed Paul Chambers. Superior bass men can help jazz leaders out so much and of course Bob Cranshaw and Paul Chambers represent good evidence of this. Enjoy the tremendous big tenor sounds of Sonny Rollins today. Have a so remarkable Saturday!

Curtis, Marvin.....Fellas with Soul!

Power singing...truly making a soul feel so good. That spells out the magic of Curtis Mayfield. Listened to his huge satisfying music today and bless me...it felt so good. The man born in Chicago's projects had a wonderful way with his songs. The music just charged up the room. I especially love the great numbers, 'People Get Ready' and 'SuperFly.' This guy is a powerhouse. Just like Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield has huge charisma. Yeah, Mr. Curtis Mayfield and Mr. Marvin Gaye have super music that makes me get on up and dance.

Thoughts of a one-time Band Guy

Some thoughts on the people of Georgia and our culture. When I was about 11 years old I got involved in playing the saxophone. There in my Southwest Georgia town of Cairo I wanted to join the band. I loved music. I had me a good band and instrument instructor. Oh he was a tough man of hard discipline, but things worked out fairly well. The thing that frustrated me was all the social weirdness that started coming my way. Back then football dominated everything. And socially the good looking girls could not stand the band boys, who are now called band geeks. I got bugged because like most mixed up young males I did not want to be treated like a nothing or meaningless soul. So I got more and more into culture. My school had a good drama program so I started enjoying acting. The biggest joy in my life came when I did well in a feisty one-act play by the great Russian playwright, Chekov. Most of the people in my class could not hardly ever figure us thinking types out. They thought we were creeps who read too much and liked music and the arts. One of the amusing things in my life now is the fact I have enjoyed the steadily increasing popularity of the interesting television show 'Glee' which tries to show the fun that can be had with good music and dance programs for young people. I feel good knowing that some teenagers now can really have fun and not just be subjugated by the crass social mechanisms of football mania with all its intense social pushing around of young minds.