Monday, December 24, 2012

"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"

The greatest Christmas song ever written. Just a few good versions. My favorite is Tony Bennett with strings. But it doesn't have the crucial original lyric: "Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow." That's the whole point of the song!

Anyways, I can't decide whether to watch It's A Wonderful Life, or Sense And Sensibility.

Big storm coming in tomorrow night. Might be another chance to give the easement a try with the plow.

Some kind of peace, any kind of contentment, to you guys and your families.

switters and Moonpie

Friday, December 14, 2012

Just Another Day

Yeah, yet another day that I'm almost grateful that death has spared my mom and my dad from having to see... the very worst of inexplicability and helplessness, and, well, hopelessness.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

The Duke

"The Duke" is Dave Brubeck's greatest composition, and a great tune. Inspired by Ellington and Darius Milhaud, with whom Dave studied briefly, the best version is, as many songs are, by Gil Evans with Miles Davis on, I think, Miles Ahead. (I won't check my vinyl in the garage.)

1. Chord progressions that, on a cheat sheet look arbitrary, sound to the ear organic.
2. Not so much the birth of the cool as the puberty of the cool, "the cool" being more or less the west coast response to bebop.
3. Really fun to play if you can wrap your head and hands around the constantly morphing chord changes.
4. Played in the exact right tempo, it swings hard whether solo piano or quartet or big band.

Though more often than not, Dave's experimentation with polyrhythms and progressive harmonies feuded with both Paul Desmond and what ended up being the legacy of novelty in jazz, and most hardcore (and arrogant!) jazzers would find Dave's music ultimately gimmicky. Understandable, but not necessarily fair.

Album to own: Time out.

Definitely a worthy ambassador of jazz and a tremendous human being. Which is more important we'll still never know.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Whew.

Well, Dog and I made it through deer season again, without getting shot, or shot at this time.

Good job, Dog!