another old woman

Friday, July 18, 2014

Muddy Waters & Johnny Winter - I Can't Be Satisfied

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Rest In Peace

Johnny Winter has died. He was on tour and died in his room. First reports say it was from health problems -- he was 70.

A tribute Fri.

Gunther Schuller - Variants on a Theme of John Lewis (Django)

John Lewis presents contemporary music " Jazz Abstractions "
Eric Dolphy (fl), Robert DiDomenica (fl), Jim Hall (g),
Eddie Costa (vib), Bill Evans (p), Scott Lafaro (b), George Duvivier (b)
Sticks Evans (ds), The Contemporary String Quartet
rec. 20/12/1960 NYC

Charlie Mariano - Chloe

rec. 21/12/1953
Charlie Mariano (as), Stu Williamson (tp), Frank Rosolino (tb)
Claude Williamson (p), Max Bennett (b), Stan Levey (ds)

Dial 202 Charlie Parker.

Dial 202. Charlie Parker plays Cool Blues, Relaxing at Camarillo and Bird's Nest.

Kenny Dorham plays Blue Friday

Sidemen are Paul Chambers on bass, Tommy Flanagan on piano, Art Taylor on drums

Blue Note 5056 Jutta Hipp Quartet plays Don't Worry 'Bout Me

Jutta Hipp- These Foolish Things(Live)

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Grant Green - Lazy Afternoon

Grant Green - It Ain't Necessarily So (1962)

Musicians: Grant Green (guitar), Sonny Clark (piano), Sam Jones (bass), Art Blakey (drums)

Friday, July 11, 2014

Charlie Haden is gone.

Charlie Haden has died. If you do not know who he is -- well, he was one of the greatest bass players that ever lived. Progressive Jazz, Avant-garde Jazz, progressive politics, etc., etc.

He was one of the original members of Ornette Coleman's ground breaking group.

Please follow link for more information
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/11/1313352/-A-Great-Tree-Has-Fallen-Charlie-Haden-1937-2014-R-I-P

The bass intro is Charlie Haden. He was also the founder of "The Liberation Music Orchestra".

Go to YouTube. Listen to all the VERY different music he embraced. Then bow your head.

We have lost another master.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Radical Fundamentalists are just that, no matter what God, Prophet, Redeemer, etc., etc., etc. they worship. EVERY religion has its folks who HATE everyone who is not a part of their CULT. After all, that's what it really is, a group of CULTS.

Beliefs, Facts and Money Conservative Delusions About Inflation

This from Dr. Krugman this past Monday. Please read.

Follow link to original
-----------------------------------------------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/07/opinion/paul-krugman-conservative-delusions-about-inflation.html?_r=0

On Sunday The Times published an article by the political scientist Brendan Nyhan about a troubling aspect of the current American scene — the stark partisan divide over issues that should be simply factual, like whether the planet is warming or evolution happened. It’s common to attribute such divisions to ignorance, but as Mr. Nyhan points out, the divide is actually worse among those who are seemingly better informed about the issues.

The problem, in other words, isn’t ignorance; it’s wishful thinking. Confronted with a conflict between evidence and what they want to believe for political and/or religious reasons, many people reject the evidence. And knowing more about the issues widens the divide, because the well informed have a clearer view of which evidence they need to reject to sustain their belief system.

As you might guess, after reading Mr. Nyhan I found myself thinking about the similar state of affairs when it comes to economics, monetary economics in particular.

Some background: On the eve of the Great Recession, many conservative pundits and commentators — and quite a few economists — had a worldview that combined faith in free markets with disdain for government. Such people were briefly rocked back on their heels by the revelation that the “bubbleheads” who warned about housing were right, and the further revelation that unregulated financial markets are dangerously unstable. But they quickly rallied, declaring that the financial crisis was somehow the fault of liberals — and that the great danger now facing the economy came not from the crisis but from the efforts of policy makers to limit the damage.

Above all, there were many dire warnings about the evils of “printing money.” For example, in May 2009 an editorial in The Wall Street Journal warned that both interest rates and inflation were set to surge “now that Congress and the Federal Reserve have flooded the world with dollars.” In 2010 a virtual Who’s Who of conservative economists and pundits sent an open letter to Ben Bernanke warning that his policies risked “currency debasement and inflation.” Prominent politicians like Representative Paul Ryan joined the chorus.

Reality, however, declined to cooperate. Although the Fed continued on its expansionary course — its balance sheet has grown to more than $4 trillion, up fivefold since the start of the crisis — inflation stayed low. For the most part, the funds the Fed injected into the economy simply piled up either in bank reserves or in cash holdings by individuals — which was exactly what economists on the other side of the divide had predicted would happen.

Needless to say, it’s not the first time a politically appealing economic doctrine has been proved wrong by events. So those who got it wrong went back to the drawing board, right? Hahahahaha.

In fact, hardly any of the people who predicted runaway inflation have acknowledged that they were wrong, and that the error suggests something amiss with their approach. Some have offered lame excuses; some, following in the footsteps of climate-change deniers, have gone down the conspiracy-theory rabbit hole, claiming that we really do have soaring inflation, but the government is lying about the numbers (and by the way, we’re not talking about random bloggers or something; we’re talking about famous Harvard professors). Mainly, though, the currency-debasement crowd just keeps repeating the same lines, ignoring its utter failure in prognostication.

You might wonder why monetary theory gets treated like evolution or climate change. Isn’t the question of how to manage the money supply a technical issue, not a matter of theological doctrine?

Well, it turns out that money is indeed a kind of theological issue. Many on the right are hostile to any kind of government activism, seeing it as the thin edge of the wedge — if you concede that the Fed can sometimes help the economy by creating “fiat money,” the next thing you know liberals will confiscate your wealth and give it to the 47 percent. Also, let’s not forget that quite a few influential conservatives, including Mr. Ryan, draw their inspiration from Ayn Rand novels in which the gold standard takes on essentially sacred status.

And if you look at the internal dynamics of the Republican Party, it’s obvious that the currency-debasement, return-to-gold faction has been gaining strength even as its predictions keep failing.

Can anything reverse this descent into dogma? A few conservative intellectuals have been trying to persuade their movement to embrace monetary activism, but they’re ever more marginalized. And that’s just what Mr. Nyhan’s article would lead us to expect. When faith — including faith-based economics — meets evidence, evidence doesn’t stand a chance.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

To Hell With Them!

Read this cartoon. Now, perhaps you will understand why a 75 year old woman really does not even want to READ the "news", never mind post it on her blog. The current "backlash" against women's rights, the dismissal of woman as human beings - outside their status as wives, daughters, or some other creature attached to some "all powerful" MAN, disgusts me. This regression, this move back to the way it was in my youth is doomed to failure simply because when these supposed "men" get what they THINK they want from women, they realize it's just not enough, is not satisfactory, and does not address what ails them today -- their lack of autonomy, their lack of agency. When most men can no longer support their family on what they earn, when their wife HAS to work outside the house to support the family, perhaps a more equitable division of labor is inevitable. That may be one reason there are more divorces in "red states" than there are in "blue".

Anyway, just understand there is little difference (to women) between "Radical-Right-Wing-KKKonservative-Christians" and "Muslims" - of the current "fundamentalist" variety.

Please follow link to original
------------------------------------------------------------
http://cabdrollery.blogspot.com/

Friday, July 4, 2014

Texas Tenors -- NO, not the singers -- Tenor Sax players. Look them up.

There is a group of Jazz Tenor Sax players who were/are dubbed the "Texas Tenors". Here is a sample of their music. Enjoy.

Illinois Jacquet

Stompin at the Savoy by Milt Buckner (organ), Buddy Tate (tenor sax) and Wallace Bishop (drums).

James Clay (ts), David "Fathead" Newman (ts), Wynton Kelly (p),
Sam Jones (b), Art Taylor (ds)
recorded April 26, 1960, NYC

From King Curtis & Champion Jack Dupree Live from Montreux June 17th 1971 with Cornell Dupree on guitar, Jerry Jemmott on bass and Oliver Jackson on drums.

Next, perhaps the mentor of them all: Buster Smith - alto sax (usually). He was one of Benny Motens "Blue Devils", and was reputed to be one of Charlie "Bird" Parker's teachers.

So, there they are -- Illinois Jacquet, Arnett Cobb, Buddy Tate, David "Fathead" Newman, King Curtis, and Buster Smith. Go to youTube, look them up, listen to their music, play some other stuff -- you'll be amazed at what you find. It's a treasure trove. Broaden your horizons -- amaze your friends -- and listen to some great music.

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood (Long version!)

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Just an aside

I recently watched a World Cup game between Algeria and Germany. Nothing odd about that, a lot of folks watched it. A tough, hard fought game, with Germany coming out on top, 2-1.

All during the game they had crowd shots. Celebrations, dancing, waving flags, etc., etc., etc. Both sides were doing it. Both the Germans and the Algerians. There was one glaring difference. On the German side both men and women celebrated. The Algerian side was only MEN. I did not see ONE WOMAN! Believe me, I was looking.

So, what the Algerians seem to be saying is that women are not allowed out at a sporting event, where their "evil sexuality" would tempt the innocent, wholesome men. Those poor men who would not be able to deal with the innate sexual nature of women -- especially if a bare arm, a calf, or (shudder) a shoulder were "exposed".

These wholesome men seem unable to control themselves -- and, it appears our Muslim friends do not expect them to.

Come to think of it, all our "Conservative Christians" seem to believe the very same things. In fact, it appears any woman who is INDEPENDENT in any way risks being labeled a SLUT -- whatever that is.

We MUST NOT allow our nation, or any CIVILIZED nation to regress to the 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th century. Women are HUMAN BEINGS and are entitled to all the EXACT SAME RIGHTS AS ALL OTHER HUMAN BEINGS (MEN).

I know I'm old, but at the same time, I no longer want to live in a time where women were seen as "lesser", the way it was when I was young, and still is to some extent today.

Happy Birthday USA --- and Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong always claimed to have been born on July 4th 1900. Doesn't matter if it's true or not --- it's fitting.

Happy Birthday to the USA and Happy Birthday "Satch".

Even if you hate "Dixieland Jazz" you just HAVE to listen to "West End Blues" -- an ALL TIME CLASSIC if there ever was one.