Monday, December 31, 2012

Psy, THE GREAT ONE!

JUST SAW PSY, the great genius on ABC New York New Year's show on the mighty ABC.  This guy from the Great Korea is magnificent.  His brilliant music and sensational dance skills electrify us all. I was feelin' blue but then I experienced the FABULOUS PSY from New York City.  When Psy's 'Gangnam Style' exploded right there on my great Sony TV I felt so marvelous and so happy I just about cried like a baby. The wild, high-energy sounds of PSY on New Year's Eve (Dec. 31, 2012) are so WONDERFUL!

This Odd Year

STRANGE is the way to describe this year.  I have tried and tried to figure people...but I cannot.  I am tired of the chaos and the heinous absurdity. Please help us, Lord. Get our culture OK.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Kenny Dorham

STRONG TRUMPET players are a real wildly good joy.  When one hears the bold, shiny jazz of the masterful trumpeter. Mr. Kenny Dorham ,then one knows true happiness.  Like the wise Lee Morgan and the delightful Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Dorham knows how to make profound, so modal and so ultra-moderne jazz on his mighty horn.

Get Inspired

FEELINGS OF NEED going on.  Let us be happy with what we have.  Many memories going through the brain are wonderful things.  If we can feel music, art, film and other creative ideas then we are all right with the world.  Good music, especially, can get us inspired.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

'Double Indemnity' A Film of Cleverness

BILLY WILDER was a film director of genius.  His fiery 1944 film, 'Double Indemnity' wows me in a tremendous sense of dramatic excitement.  This weird noir story focuses on bizarre dealings of a mean woman trying to run a scheme to get rid of old hubby and make the big bucks.  Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray bring this film roaring to life.  The vile ugliness of the yuck wife sickens and yet even though there is so much seduction and raw seductive balderdash (pointed at poor Fred McMurray) going on, still the story is crafty and on so many levels a saga of how gross females and pathetic males can be with each other.  Criminal activity is often loaded with horror and in many ways this cinematic tale of a female psychopath or sociopath is full of the turgid meanderings of a berserk soul who lacks empathy or care toward other souls and the point is that this woman will just about stop at nothing to get what she wants.

The Weather Makes Us Culture Conscious

CHILLY WEATHER TODAY makes the guy known as me really think about our culture.  This time of year gets us all thinking about our basic ideas and how rough things can be especially dealing with the fiscal cliff.  PLEASE PROTECT US from FISCAL CLIFF CHAOS!

V Fun 1

MONTE CARLO in Vegas is big fun.  The place has lots of style  Ditto for the great historic place, The Flamingo.

John Lee Hooker

BLUES NUMBERS OF JOHN LEE HOOKER are fabulous.  The huge sound of energetic guitar and strong voice of Mr. Hooker really sells songs, beautifully.  Love that 'Boom, Boom, Boom' song of John Lee Hooker's.  It is so good. 

Thriller Films are Awesome

MY IDEA OF BIG FUN happens to be thriller films.  The movies that really engage our brains are so interesting.  The odd films like 'Talented Mr.Ripley' and 'Lady from Shanghai' are certainly memorable escapist flicks.  Also, the wild 'North By Northwest' is gigantic fun.

Johnny Mandel

A FAVORITE jazz composer and arranger is the super and thoughtful soul, Johnny Mandel.  His sounds are full of lovely music awesomeness.  I love the sleek tune he brought to life...'The Shadow of your Smile.'

Hank Mobley....Thoughts Again

BIG TENOR SOUNDS are really good.  Today, I listened to the truly magical jazz of the fine sax man, Hank Mobley.  The guy's sterling work on the historic Blue Note label amounted to big, awesome jazz.

Yamaha keyboard is Grand

FUN TIME today.  Chilly days mean special good moments.  I enjoy my Yamaha keyboard on cold and so harsh days like today.  Playing the super keayboard is feisty therapy.

Ray Brown....Super Man on the String Bass

THINKING JAZZ right now.  The style and the engaging jazz musical savvy of the vigorous Ray Brown on the string bass is terrific.  The work of Ray Brown with the clever Oscar Peterson on piano is very engaging. The sense of capricious jazz verve Mr. brown brings to performances is sleek and satisfying.  Jazz is strong because of souls like Ray Brown.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Atlanta Christmas Fun

MY YOUNGEST granddaughter loved her new pillow pet she got for Christmas from us on this great day, December 25th in historic Midtown Atlanta.  There is something bright, shiny and very terrific about the joy that brightens our lives when we experience the smiles and happy times of young children.  The lovely culture that is the South is so wonderful.

Happy Young Lady on Marvelous Christmas Day 2012



Saturday, December 22, 2012

Alto Sax today.

Going to play alto sax today.,,major fun time. Will solo at north Atlanta event..let's enjoy ourselves...heh, heh.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Cold wind..,brrrr!

This cold wind is tough today. Need to read plenty of toasty Charles Dickens today. love Chrismas season ,

Monday, December 17, 2012

A Culture of Traumatic Dimensions

WHAT IS GOING ON?  The horror of the brutality of last Friday, December 14 is still sticking in my mind.  How can this heinous insanity occur?  It hit me so hard when I saw the news from the state of Conn.  I think we need to deliver some kind of new perception to our young individuals in this country.  The odd and extremely decadent chaos that is an assault on the innocent is too much for us to bear.  Let us pray that we try to communicate with each other more and more and stop making mean souls or maybe the term is disgusting cultural madmen.  Let us try to evolve a new brand of culture...one that is filled with hope and not the harsh, agonizing chords of despair.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

'Autumn Leaves'

GREAT FILM LAST NIGHT!  I settled down last evening to watch a fascinating 1956 film on Turner Classic.  The movie was a sleek and packed with verve piece called 'Autumn Leaves' starring Joan Crawford and Cliff Robertson. This film also had a stunning performance by the delightfully feisty Vera Miles.  This particular screen gem puts the focus on a middle-aged woman (Joan Crawford) who has a tremendous amount of harsh loneliness going on.  She meets a strange much younger man (Cliff Robertson) and a striking so odd relationship begins to develop. After a little while the Crawford character marries the Robertson character in Mexico.  Later, when the ebullient couple returns to Los Angeles she abruptly discovers her man was married before to a woman named Virginia Hanson (Vera Miles) and Crawford finds her new husband has all kinds of very strange baggage....the man is really one huge lie after another.  The film goes on a brusque schizophrenic binge and believe me the Robertson character just goes heinously psycho.  I found this movie compelling and cinematically remarkable because it hits one on so many  levels.  It delves deeply into the morass of modern hell that is seen in contemporary lonely lifestyles with all of the ugly trappings that involves.  This Robert Aldrich film is a brilliant work because it indicates how brutal life experiences can smash our emotional inner selves so violently.  In this film the performances of Crawford and Robertson are tremendously creative...indeed the journey into the tragic lonely horror of bizarre lives is very overwhelming.

Turner Classic Has Tons of Creativity

I KNOW for sure that Turner Classic channel gets us some very unique films.  And believe me it represents wonderful viewing for so many of us.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Friday, December 7, 2012

North Carolina Art Rocks

This picture by a creative North Carolina artist is a depiction of a pretty Greek isle. I love art for it shows the grand side of us all.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Red Rodney: Creative Trumpeter Indeed!

INNOVATIVE jazz trumpet guys are lots of fun to listen to. Red Rodney was a powerhouse bop musician in the late 40s and early 50s and believe me this guy could conjure up very fine solo work again and again in his sleek performances.  In 1949, Rodney got into the Charlie Parker quintet and his work was recognized as terrifically profound.  A bit later Rodney got going on the mighty flugelhorn and that worked out well, also.  At many appearances Red Rodney made a fine name for himself even appearing at the White House and doing a show for President Clinton. 

But of all the mighty Red Rodney work I really love the work he did with Charlie Parker.  The sound of the strong Red Rodney trumpet and the energetic alto sax of Mr. Parker is an indication of grand, ground-breaking jazz music.  Let us remember the wonderful Mr. Red Rodney, a great man of the trumpet.

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.