Sunday, May 29, 2011

Keith Jarrett.......Super Piano Man!

Keith Jarrett....my what a truly fascinating jazz pianist! Listened today to 'When you Wish Upon A Star' and the marvelous standard, 'On Green Dolphin Street.' The merry, lyrical and so pianoforte-poetic genius of the jazz man Keith Jarrett is exciting and makes all music fans thrilled. It is a joy to hear jazz piano styling that has so much poignant lyrical quality. And that is what Keith Jarrett really produces. His rendition of 'On Green Dolphin Street' represents a memorable jazz performance. A fine one!

Elvis Presley, the Great Man of the South

Memorial Day weekend has me really thinking hard about life, music and of course the wild dimensions of American pop culture. Elvis Presley and the man's strong music have sort of dominated my brain today. The giant phenomenon of the marvelous Elvis burst like an exploding rocket on the American popular culture scene and things were never the same again. The raw, visceral and powerhouse sexy music was a mighty profound musical cocktail to swallow. When I was a younger guy I went insanely happy just loving the exciting, fine music of the guy from Mississippi and Tennessee. The sly, rockin' sounds of 'Hound Dog' and 'Don't Be Cruel' were sensational musical experiences, But I figure the thing that got to me was the so marvelous sense of passion that the man of the South, Mr. Elvis Presley had. Certain songs of his hit me deep inside my soul. I especially loved the melancholy and so haunting and beautiful 'Crying in the Chapel.' Also when I first heard that wild and full of passionate, jumping song 'Jailhouse Rock'....well my goodness.....it just got me so excited I just about busted out crying and laughing whoop-it-up style at the same time. Yes, people there are very few joys in life that smack us hard like the mighty Elvis Presley singing those great juggernaut numbers of his. On this very magnificent Memorial Day weekend let us all give thanks for our veterans and also for a super soul of the South (and Also an Army man) the one and only Mr. Elvis Presley.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Joplin Missouri Brutal Tornado

Last night (Sunday, May 22) a horrible tornado hit Joplin, Missouri. The city was hit so hard. The destruction makes all of our hearts so heavy. My closest friend lives in Joplin...Have tried hard to get in touch. So much electricity out...Can't Reach Anyone. Hoping and praying my friend is alive. He and I were overseas together when I was in the Air Force. The American culture is strong. Hoping and praying the people of Joplin and all the Midwest are somehow going to be all right in dealing with this gigantic devastation.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Some Good Vince Gill Songs

'Go Rest High On That Mountain' and 'When I Call Your Name' are two good songs sung by the mighty Vince Gill. I like the man's clear poignant delivery of his tunes. He has a way of bringing the fine nuances of American culture together. His music is like grand, red wine. Today I went to a beautiful picnic and also I listened to some good Vince Gill songs. What a good day.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Frank Sinatra Music...So Satisfying

Frank Sinatra songs are full of so much zesty style. The man has that phrasing mode down, perfectly. And the sleek and wondrous thing about Frank Sinatra is the way the artist really draws everyone into his singing these beautiful songs. I listened today to 'That's Life.' 'Strangers in the Night' and oh my....that lovely stand up and cheer number, 'New York, New York.' How wonderful this Friday is. All has gone great and then having Sinatra music, too.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

An 'I Walk The Line Tuesday

Fine Tuesday. I loved listening to Johnny Cash sing the super song, 'I Walk The Line' today. The man called Johnny Cash is full of art and soul. The raw, perfect voice and fine guitar work is so tremendous. Oh my goodness. yes. The sound of the mighty man, Mr. Johnny Cash is so great! Georgia people and all of us enjoy good J. Cash music.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

'East of Eden' is Classic Cinema

Yesterday I watched a super film. It was the clever 'East of Eden' with James Dean. I had seen the work before but again it was so good to watch the incredible acting genius....the man of the decades, James Dean. This story based on the good book by the great writer, John Steinbeck, is a unique story telling the tale of a young guy and his tormented family problems as he was growing up in a town in Northern California. The acting work of James Dean, the incomparable Julie Harris and also the feisty Raymond Massey is so truly terrific. It is a fabulous thing being a film buff and enjoying super cinematic art, the kind that is found in 'East of Eden.'

Friday, May 13, 2011

Grant Green, Lewis Grizzard...Happy Times

Fine, easin' right along jazz guitar music sure is interesting to me. Especially when the jazz guitar man is the super guy, Grant Green. I used to have a friend, an Atlanta writer named Lewis Grizzard. He used to write about enjoying all the good, simple pleasures of life. Well I remember the words of Grizzard and when I listen to great jazz guitar guys like Grant Green....well...my, my....it makes me really smile. Today, I massively enjoyed Grant Green playing that fabulous standard, 'My Favorite Things.' That made me a happy camper as us older souls say. On the Green work I was listening to they also had the ace of the keyboard, the marvelous individual, McCoy Tyner. That fella' can produce excellent keyboard jazz. Oh, Yeah! Oh my...this has been a so great Friday. Why yes indeed, my friends.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Good Luck to The Hawks!

Big game tonight. Go get 'em Hawks....Get yourself a good game Josh Smith, Jeff Teague, Jamal Crawford. Hope my great Atlanta Sports Culture Hawks guys get it done with the Chicago Bulls this evening.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Atlanta Hawks: Super, High-Energy Guys

Professional Sports (especially the powerhouse that is the NBA) is an important cog in our cultural engine here in Metro Atlanta. I like to savor super sports times. Lord, yes. OK listen... all of you....last night The Atlanta Hawks really took it to a feisty Chicago Bulls team in a huge playoff game downtown. The Hawks slammed the Bulls by a wild score of 100 to 88. One hot part of this game was the fine defensive work on the part of the Atlanta guys. The high drama got me excited, because I got tickled watching the strong play of J. Teague (Hawks No. 0) while he took it hard to Chicago Bulls superstar, Derrick Rose. The game had plenty of big-time fun for us happy-go-lucky NBA fans. It was sensational watching the high-energy performance of The Hawks mighty Josh Smith as he rolled up 23 points and 16 rebounds last night. I love NBA Playoff Basketball. Lots of rapid, fast-fire action and the joy of watching great guys thinking fast and getting the job done in a terrific way.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Mark Rothko....A Profound Modernist

Here I go with another blog on meaningful creative souls. The powerhouse wild art that is abstract expressionism lights up my being. A favorite artist of mine in this category of "super" guys is Mark Rothko. This man's art has so much vigorous emotionalism built into its structure. In rather clever innovative contexts he was able to mix the systems of expressionism and surrealism. Mark Rothko always backed up the artist's right to total freedom in creating his works. Mark Rothko was born in a part of Russia that is now Latvia. He came to the United States in 1910 and got the others in his family brought over in the year 1913. Later in his life Rothko came up with rigorous indeed profound color field kinds of paintings. Rothko makes his esthetic surges into art sleekness by letting us have quite unusual shapes. He has landscapes and yet indeed they are not landscapes. For they push the envelope much as the unique music of John Cage offers new vistas and poignant journeys into the dynamics of the human soul. In the vivid art of Mark Rothko just as in the modernism-inflected music of John Cage there is an iconoclastic wild tremendousness that is so completely engaging. The art of Mark Rothko has the brilliance of "cutting edge" thought processes. Indeed this essence is refreshing. The color rectangles of the wild art of Rothko.....Ah! This kind of passion injects terrific energy into all our brains.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Jackson Pollock Art Has Terrific Power

I think I'm going to write on art for a little while. Abstract art is so clever. you have to work at it to "get it" as the street folks say. Many times in my life I have been amused by how people react when you say you like brittle, odd abstract art. I know my mother used to only like mainstream art fellows like Renoir and Monet and perhaps T. Lautrec. Therefore, it tickled me when she got befuddled about the very idea that I would be enthralled by a social iconoclast like Jackson Pollock. Anyway I figure the decisive,emotional abstract art of Jackson Pollock has so much linear and vigorous mind processes with its intrinsic and certainly not coy essences of its "Action Painting." It sends one into a terrific sense of lucid happiness when one is engulfed by the bright and loud art of a miracle great man like the sensational Jackson Pollock.

Monday, May 2, 2011

What A Major Story!

The BL story last evening is huge. A giant vibe of strength is going through our culture. There is a truly new music happening. Thanks to all...especially the good intel people.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

The Modern Jazz Quartet: Big Jazz Power

Classic modern jazz with its soaring, so haunting melodies can fascinate all of us with our yearning for meaning brains. The heady brew that is the jazz music of the strongly potent Modern Jazz Quartet inserts in one a major impact of dollops of musical superior experiences. Listening today to the beautiful sounds of The Modern Jazz Quartet performing 'Django' was so wonderful. Oh and then there was also the fact I enjoyed so much the vivid and sonorous composition with the terrific defined beat...of course I am making reference to the miracle of poignant jazz tunes...the one they call 'Bags Groove.' Indeed, when one listens to the especially super piano work of the great John Lewis and the sophisticated man of the vibes, Milt Jackson of the MJQ then.....it is a so merry and happy world of musical jazz fun we live in.

Nice Writing

THE GOOD terse writing of Ernest Hemingway is a real joy.  He does not use too many adjectives.  His 'Torrents' is a fine tome.