I Wish I Had Thought Of That

Barney and Grendel have friends in the building. Well, at least they say hi to each other and they see eye to eye, because they’re all little fuggers. It’s the whole butt sniffing figure-out-the-pheromones kinda relationship. I think you know what I mean. They’re dogs after all.

This evening, their friend Sammie came across a different kind of playmate. Sammie is a Lhasa Apso or a Bichon Frise. He’s one of those dogs that looks like a dust mop with legs.  Sammie is visiting his friends down on the second floor. In the spirit of the season, they thought some company for Sammie would be a good idea. To cover all the bases, Sammie’s hosts are also celebrating their wedding anniversary today, so what’s the big deal? Lemme tell you.

A romantic dinner and company to entertain you guest are always nice, so J killed two birds with one stone figuratively speaking and purchased 4 cuddly little lobsters. While the water was coming to a boil on the stove, the condemned crustaceans were turned loose on the kitchen floor so they could meet Sammie.

Sammie was perplexed at first and approached warily while the lobsters mostly sat in the middle of the floor and tentatively waved their securely banded claws in the air. Three of the aqueous quartet weren’t too lively, but the fourth was up for a little more excitement. It proceeded to shamble across the floor a little more aggressively to chase Sammie towards the corner. It waved it’s claws in the air while Sammie continued to move backwards with a suspicious glance.

Now maybe Sammie’s hosts and I are somewhat cruel, but I for one thought this was quite the scene. Before the pot beckoned, the lobsters got to meet a vertebrate, and Sammie saw how the other orders of life live. I keep thinking about how Barney or Grendel would react when faced with a ten-legged crustacean. They’ve met lots of other creatures like cats and horses, so why not add an ocean dweller to the list?

Blast From The Past

I’ve just been watching a DVD containing footage from Miles Davis’ performance at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. It’s pretty amazing stuff if you’re into the later electric music of Davis. It’s really weird music, and very difficult for a lot of people to wrap their heads around. There’s Jack Johnson, and the Bitches Brew, and some live recordings from the Fillmore that document this music. The electric music of Miles is quite radical because it’s usually an extended jam rather than a tightly structured thing. It can take a while for the thematic material to emerge from the intense groove.

The records are wonderful, but getting the visual side of it as well makes it something else. On this visual record, there’s a who’s who of modern jazz players. I’d like to see if you can keep your jaw from hitting the floor before you finish this list: Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, David Holland, Jack Dejohnette, Airto Moreira, Dave Leibman, Herbie Hancock, and more. It’s remarkable that Davis had the foresight to hire these guys and more remarkable still that they are all playing and performing successfully almost 40 years later leading their own groups. Especially so in jazz.

It’s an amazing thing to see Davis performing. My pal, the burger flipper and I went to hear Miles at the OKeefe Centre back in 1980. There’s an intensity that the man brought to playing live that is simply astounding. I’ve heard lots of musicians perform in my day, and I think only a handful approach that same level. It’s not about volume or speed. It’s hard to define, but I think most people hear that ethereal quality in an extra gifted musicians’ playing.

Joni Mitchell said it accurately when she compared Davis’ electrification of jazz to Bob Dylan plugging in and using an electric guitar to play folk music. There was a similar shift, and a lot of people were shocked. The old methods had to change, and a lot of purists feelings were hurt. It didn’t matter whether it was jazz music, or folk music. What was shocking was the change from an acoustic setting to an electrified sound.

It’s interesting to see this footage now, because it’s not shocking at all to hear electric instruments in almost any setting. Maybe the classical snobs of the world are pissed off at Nigel Kennedy putting down his Stradivarius and pickup up an electric violin, but that’s the only example I can think of. Miles brought electric music to the world, and the world stood up and took notice. People hear electric instruments and don’t really think anything untoward is being done in the music. What a difference 40 years makes. What a difference Miles Davis made.