Passing Notes

11/30/12

PN 223 - Jacqui Sutton - 'Notes From The Frontier'

Singer Jacqui Sutton talks about the long road to a new sound -- Frontier Jazz -- as well as her band and some of the songs on her new album.

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11/29/12

Five from Flavorwire's 100 New York Writers

In an impressive display of New York arrogance and New York prowess, Flavorwire rolled out a list of the 100 Most Important Living New York Writers. As the article says, "New York has ever been the center of the American literary universe." Okay, that's true. Sigh. But that can't help Flavorwire's annoying decision to format the list into a 100-page slideshow, so I hope you like clicking the NEXT button. We here at Passing Notes would never do something like that. We put pretty much everything in one place and keep the ads to a minimum. You're welcome.

But I will coat-tail a bit here on Flavorwire's wardrobe. Over the past few years, I've had a chance to talk to a few writers on the FNY100MILW list. And they are, preceded by their ranking, slideshow free, links to the podcasts included. . .

4 - Salman Rushdie, talking about Luka and the Fire of Life

51 - Pete Hamill, talking about Deadline Artists and Tabloid City

56 - Alex Ross, talking about The Rest is Noise

81 - Karen Russell, talking about Swamplandia! and, from 2007, a text-only interview about her collection St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolves

90 - Adrian Tomine, talking about Scenes from an Impending Wedding

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11/28/12

Video Jukebox - JazzGrass

I'm always interested in intersections of musical traditions and styles -- as jazz has always been open to a wide world of influences -- and country and bluegrass are no exception. Today's V-Juke takes a quick sampling tour through some intersections of note -- Jacqui Sutton, Bela Fleck, David Grisman, Alison Brown, even Willie Nelson and Bob Wills. On Friday, Jacqui Sutton will be on Passing Notes to talk about her new release with the Frontier Jazz Orchestra, and she'll have a little more time to explain her musical universe on Sunday's Segment3 as well. In the meantime, enjoy the video playlist -- especially the sound of those banjos.

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Reader's Notes - Take Your Child To A Bookstore Day

We're a family of readers. My wife and I have a couple of young boys -- five and three years old -- and while the older one is starting to work his own way through simple books, the younger also enjoys sitting down and following the narrative in pictures from page to page. They do that without much prompting from us, thank goodness. And everyone loves to snuggle up together at bedtime and read a handful of favorites -- Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Gorilla, Goodnight Cujo, you name it. All the more reason to mark Saturday, December 1 on your calendars as Take Your Child To A Bookstore Day. Follow the link in the previous sentence for more description of the worldwide event, as well as a searchable map to find the nearest participating bookstore. And when that quiet old lady says, "Hush," you hush!

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11/27/12

PN Archives - The Pope, Frank Constanza, and Me

It's never to early to start your holiday planning, and in the interests of the usual frustrations of the season (commercialism, holiday expectations, fruitcakes), I want to remind everyone -- well in advance -- that other options are available. Namely, the Festivus traditions. There's even a book about it now, if you really want to get into the deep practice of Festivus. To help explain my own relationship with Festivus, I'll repost a Flak Magazine podcast from Days of Yore (2005). Enjoy. Or not. Or you could watch the relevant episode of Seinfeld. Or not. Whatever. Just remember that Festivus is December 23 and get your poles ready.

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Leave a review, for Frank's sake!

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Reader's Notes - Block Button Bind

I've written from time to time about the need for the United States to develop a more civil public discourse and to work more intentionally toward building consensus on many pressing issues. I'm not alone, to be sure, even as the last presidential election has shown that the cable-news, political advertising, and social media can bring out the absolute worst in sectarian perspectives. All the more encouraging, then, is a blog entry like Edward Champion's today at his Reluctant Habits. In a thorough, thoughtful, and link-laden post, "Why the Block Button Encourages Fear and Threatens Community," Edward Champion examines the perils of contemporary media's capacity not just for giving us only the perspectives we prefer, but, with the "block" button, the ability to silence any voice that we might disagree with. One shot and you're done, folks. It's not sexy, people, but it's required reading, if you ask me.

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11/26/12

PN Unscripted - Ishmael Reed

Movie Monday - The Legend (Nina Simone)

Beginning an occasional feature here -- Movie Mondays -- I'll call your attention to video that's out there in watchable formats online, and today's is The Legend, a feature on singer Nina Simone. There are several sections to the whole documentary, but it's certainly worth the trouble.

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11/25/12

Sunday Time Warp - Playlist 11/25/12

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Song, Artist, Album
Luna, Jeff Babko, Crux
Yeti, Hardcortet, Do It Live
Manifestation, David Gilmore, Numerology
Chocolate Wonderfall, Karl 2000, Karl 2000
Sprung Monkey, Garage A Trois, Emphasizer
Hambone Steaksauce, Mother Funk Conspiracy, The Mother Funk Conspiracy
Blue in Green, John McLaughlin Trio, Live at the Royal Festival Hall
On The Other Side, Gretchen Parlato, In A Dream
Summertime, Jacqui Sutton, Notes From The Frontier
Dapper Dan, Lonnie Smith, The Healer
Strut, Jimmy Smith, Dot Com Blues
Basehead, Corey Harris, Greens from the Garden
Betty Ball's Blues, Taj Mahal, Conjure: Music for the Texts of Ishmael Reed
Trio Blues, John Scofield - Steve Swallow - Bill Stewart, Live performance - 2010
Nostalgia Is For Suckas, Jeff Babko, Crux
Midnight Dancer, Jesse Fischer & Soul Cycle, Retro Future
Little Birdie, Vince Guiraldi, Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Freedom Jazz Dance, Brian Auger, Oblivion Express

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Kiva, Kickstarter, Fiverr - When a Little Goes a Long Way

With so many people throwing around money on Black Friday (hiss!) and Small Business Saturday (hurray!), allow me to suggest a few more ways to spread your hard-earned cheese around. Kiva is a microfinance organization committed to ending poverty around the world by making loans available to entrepreneurs in the developing world. For those who might like to help out the in the area of culture -- and perhaps a bit closer to home, Kickstarter is a platform that collects small donations to help fund creative projects; I was more than happy to kick in a little last year to fund the Harvey Pekar memorial in Cleveland. And, if you're looking to get something back for your dollars, you might consider fiverr, an online marketplace that provides all kinds of cool services starting at $5 a pop. Basically, anything that can be produced over the web -- logo for your soccer team, translation of Farsi into English, reading a script in the voice of Fake Patrick Stewart -- you can get cheap at fiverr. Happy shopping -- and the money you spend here will make someone else happy too.

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11/24/12

Video Jukebox - Skerik

You might know him from his Syncopated Taint Septet, Critters Buggin, Garage A Trois, The Dead Kenny Gs, or even the Bandelabra, but any way you hear it, it's always Skerik. Here's a dozen performances from Skerik across a variety of projects over the years.

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11/23/12

PN 222 - Big Savings (from the PN Archives)

11/20/12

PN Unscripted - 'The Onion Book of Known Knowledge'

From 'The Onion,' Editor Will Tracy and Head Writer Seth Reiss talk about the Onion media empire's new comprehensive guide to everything, 'The Onion Book of Known Knowledge.' Oh, and onion.

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The Onion

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11/19/12

PN Unscripted - Senator Bob Graham

Florida's Bob Graham -- Governor and Senator -- talks about his novel 'The Keys to the Kingdom,' his love of books and of writing, with a little bit of politics thrown in.

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Bob Graham Center for Public Service
The Keys to the Kingdom
America, the Owner's Manual

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11/16/12

PN 221 - Campbell McGrath and Edwidge Danticat - Miami Book Fair

Two South Florida writers and MacArthur Fellows talk about their work in advance of this year's Miami Book Fair.

Campbell McGrath
Edwidge Danticat
Miami Book Fair

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11/9/12

PN 220 - Building Better Elections

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Pro Publica's Free the Files Project

Fix The Primaries

The Century Foundation - Improving Elections

[transcript of broadcast]

I want everyone to know that my suggestions for building better elections come from a non-partisan place – or at least as non-partisan as I can manage. I really don’t care to discuss the particular policy points of any political party – I just want to consider how we might get a better result from the general process of electing people to office. I’m going to assume that an electoral system that encourages citizens to be informed, that strives to represent the perspectives of many different types of people, and that facilitates voter participation – that a system working from those principles would be worth having. If you can’t come with me this far, then I can’t help you.

First of all, I think we need to know more about the money that campaigns spend on paid political advertising – particularly in television. In the 2012 presidential campaign alone, a billion dollars (give or take) was spent on TV ads. I have to wonder– given the profits that must come from political ads – how much television journalists and their bosses are willing to examine the truthfulness and reasonableness of what all candidates have to say. It seems to me that there’s a conflict of interest at work here. How tough can a reporter be on a candidate when his or her own station relies on that candidate’s campaign for revenue?

Now, the non-profit news organization Pro Publica has recently collected, in a very raw form, all the information that television stations were required to turn over about political ad buys. But this information has not been sorted through in any way, so not much can be gleaned from it. Not yet, at least. Pro Publica is asking citizens to help them process the information through their ‘Free the Files’ project, which you can learn about and take part in by visiting their website – propublica.org. Remember, we’re talking about billions of dollars directed toward national, state, and local elections. It might be useful for us all to know the effect that all that money has on how we’re informed – or misinformed – about candidates and issues.

Pro Publica's Free the Files Project

Secondly, I suggest that the presidential primaries be redesigned. The current primary system is a reaction to the messy 1968 Democratic convention, and is designed to smooth out the process of choosing a presidential nominee. These days, and perhaps even back in 1972 when it all started, New Hampshire and Iowa are not the places to begin the primary season. Iowa and New Hampshire? Both these states are far too rural and far too homogeneous to produce candidates that reflect the more general and diverse concerns of the rest of the country.

Let me break it down for you. In 2012, over 80 percent of Americans live in urban areas, whereas both Iowa and New Hampshire still have over a third percent of their people living in rural areas. And both Iowa and New Hampshire are overwhelmingly white, about 95 percent. In the United States, nearly 13 percent of the population identifies as African American, almost 17 percent identifies as Hispanic, and another five percent identifies as Asian. Iowa and New Hampshire, on a fundamental level, do not look like much of the rest of the United States.

I propose – wait for it – a balanced presidential primary system – where groups of five or six states, both small and large, are divided into two week primary periods. We could get through the primaries with a nice distribution of states over a five month period. The first round primary, in February, might include Iowa (why not?), along with Maryland, Wyoming, Arkansas, Wisconsin, and Florida. You can drop California by itself in the middle of the sequence. The final round (at the end of June) could have, let’s say, Mississippi, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Texas. Granted, travel costs would be higher, but candidates would have to address a more representative range of issues in having to run for a much more diverse set of voters.

Fix The Primaries

Finally, and most painfully (Florida, I'm looking at you) we need to improve the voting system itself. The guiding principle here should be to help more eligible people vote and increase the efficiency of the voting process. We need to improve the ease of registration while taking reasonable steps to prevent voter fraud. We need to create guidelines and accountability for how ballots are designed, as well as making sure that ballot initiatives are written so that each item is clear and concise. Forget tradition, we need to move election dates to weekends – Saturdays and Sundays. We need to stop treating early voting like a political football and set a standard early voting period and procedure. We need to ensure that all voting sites have enough well-trained staff and enough materials and equipment for people to vote without confusion and excessive hardship. There’s no reason why anyone in Florida, the next time we have an election, should be standing in line for five or six hours just to exercise one of the most basic rights we have. I understand all the concerns about the process, but to deny or impede any eligible voter the right to cast a ballot is to do a great wrong.

The Century Foundation - Improving Elections

So – improve the voting system, rework the primaries, and follow the TV money. Let’s get started on that work as soon as we can. We all deserve better.

11/4/12

Sunday Time Warp - Playlist 11/4/12

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Song, Artist, Album

Happy-Go-Lucky Local, Jimmy Smith & Wes Montgomery, Jimmy & Wes - The Dynamic Duo
Roxanne, Jordan Young, Cymbal Melodies
Away (Anuradha & the Maiti Nepal), Christian Scott, Christian aTunde Adjuah
Old Folks, Joey DeFrancesco, Wonderful! Wonderful!
Joey D, Joey DeFrancesco, Wonderful! Wonderful!
Wagon Wheels, Joey DeFrancesco, Wonderful! Wonderful!
Senor Blues, Shirley Scott, Queen of the Organ
Butter (For Yo' Popcorn), Jack McDuff, Down Home Style

No Hype Blues, Deep Blue Organ Trio, Goin' To Town - Live at the Green Mill
Blues on the Corner, McCoy Tyner Quartet, McCoy Tyner Quartet
The Sidewinder, Lee Morgan, The Sidewinder
Times Are Hard on the Boulevard, Jared Gold, Supersonic
My Little Humidor, Galactic, Organi-ized
Freedom Jazz Dance, Eddie Jefferson, Things Are Getting Better

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Segment3 - Joey DeFrancesco

Joey DeFrancesco talks about Larry Coryell, Jimmy Cobb, his new album 'Wonderful! Wonderful!' and learning to play trumpet by watching Miles Davis. (31 minutes)

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11/2/12

PN 219 - Joey DeFrancesco - 'Wonderful! Wonderful!'

The organ legend "Joey D" talks about working with Larry Coryell and Jimmy Cobb, as well as the influence of Miles Davis on his trumpet playing.

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10/31/12

Video Jukebox - Joey DeFrancesco

This week's video jukebox offers a full two hours of one of the world's greatest organists, Joey DeFrancesco. From Joey on the "keytar" with Miles Davis in the late 80s, to some of his most recent performances, enjoy the great sound of the Hammond B3 played by Joey D!

Joey DeFrancesco will be the featured artist on this Friday's Passing Notes and Sunday's Segment3. We'll talk about his new album, Wonderful! Wonderful! with Larry Coryell and Jimmy Cobb, his time with Miles, and much more.

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10/30/12

PN Unscripted - Alyn Shipton on Cab Calloway

10/29/12

Reader's Notes - On Ware's 'Building Stories'

Jacob Brogan, writing for The Comics Journal website, provides an interesting take on Chris Ware's remarkable new Building Stories. Brogan's piece, "From Comics History to Personal Memory," examines the development of Ware's storytelling interests from his earlier masterwork, Jimmy Corrigan - The Smartest Kid on Earth. I've got my own copy of Building Stories, and it comes in its own box -- almost like a classic board game -- as if the reader should assemble its combinations of posters and booklets in whatever arrangement pleases them. It's hours of fun for the whole family, sort of. Here's Brogan's article.

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10/28/12

Sunday Time Warp - Playlist 10/28/12

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Song, Artist, Album
Seven Minute Mind, The Bad Plus, Made Possible
Backin' Up, Jeff Coffin and the Mut'et, Into The Air
Dig On It, The Skinny, Dig On It
End of the World Party, Medeski Martin and Wood, live performance
Texas Twister, Greyboy, Freestylin'
Mother Tongue, John McLaughlin - Joey DeFrancesco - Dennis Chambers, live performance
I'm Gonna Tell You This Story One More Time, Bela Fleck with the Marcus Roberts Trio, Across the Imaginary Divide
Summertime, Jacqui Sutton, Notes From The Frontier

Somebody Done Stole My Blues, Clark Terry - Chris Woods, Lucerne 1978
Midnight in Harlem, Tedeschi Trucks, live performance
Inside Outside Woman Blues #3, Gov't Mule, By A Thread
Blues Power, Albert King, Live at the Filmore
Mr. Pastorius, Miles Davis, Amandla
Para Oriente, Trio of Doom, Trio of Doom
Dark Prince, Trio of Doom, Trio of Doom
Freedom Jazz Dance, Tony Grey Trio, live performance

10/27/12

Reader's Notes - Penguin-Random House Merger

In the past decade, much has been written about the demise of books, of reading, and of literacy -- a cultural erosion fueled by the growth of digital media and a variety of personal electronic devices. From my point of view as an educator going back to the days just before The Great Digitization, matters are not so alarming. I have always been bemused about the hand-wringing over the decline of writing and reading. My purely subjective experience tells me that, on the whole, young people write more and read more than they ever did, albeit in different ways than in the old exclusively print culture.

The merger between mega-publishers Penguin and Random House is an interesting development in that it should create a $4 billion-a-year company able to compete with Amazon -- at least in the reading business. We should stop calling it the "book business," perhaps. What the new Penguin-Random super-publisher will have that Amazon does not is the cultural capital of its people -- the editors, designers, and publishers who bring out thousands of titles each year. If Amazon is open to the raw forces of the market as far as popularity is concerned, then Penguin-Random House might counterbalance the popularity-engine of Amazon with its own thoughtful, culturally informed perspective.

The global scale of both enterprises is unsettling, but consider that, for writers outside the super-publishers and super-retailers, The Great Digitization has opened up many venues for self-publication and self-promotion. If anything, the alarm over "declining literacy" and "the death of books" is more likely driven by the fact that there's so much more information available through so many more channels than every before. Similar things have been said about film and music. If anything, what's needed more than ever are experts who surf the waves of information for the good stuff -- and the search and selection tools to find it for ourselves.

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10/26/12

PN 218 - Tim Dorsey - 'Pineapple Grenade'

Tim Dorsey finds another crime caper for Serge Storms and Coleman in his latest novel, Pineapple Grenade, set in Miami, of all places.

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10/25/12

Video Jukebox - Medeski Martin and Wood

10/24/12

Reader's Notes: Novel of the Century

Here's a sure conversation-starter among readers: the six books on the shortlist for the "Novel of the Century." The University of Edinburgh, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the study of English Literature at that institution, will award the James Tait Black Prize for the "best of the best" English language books of the past 100 years. A fair article about the award can be found at The Independent's website, but if you want to see the list, it's as follows:

Nights At The Circus by Angela Carter
The Heart Of The Matter by Graham Greene
A Disaffection by James Kelman
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Crossing The River by Caryl Phillips
The Mandlebaum Gate by Muriel Spark

Have read them all -- and, in my civilian job, having taught two of them --it would be unfair to say which is the definitive best, but I know I have my favorite. I don't suppose my personal choice would be too obvious?

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10/23/12

PN Unscripted - Seth

Seth, the Canadian comics artist, writer, designer and 'archaeologist of ephemera' talks about The Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists, as well as editing the work of Charles Schultz and Doug Wright.

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10/21/12

Sunday Time Warp - Playlist 10/21/12

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Song, Artist, Album

Freedom Jazz Dance, Miroslav Vitous, Infinite Search
Bird of Fire, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Bird of Fire
Sophisticated Honky, Orgone, The Killion Floor
Boom Boom (Out Goes The Lights), Little Walter
I Love You More Than Ever, Blood Sweat and Tears, The Collection
Song For Bobby Smith, Gil Scott-Heron, Winter in America
Never No Mo' Blues, Jimmie Rodgers, Never No Mo' Blues
Dirty Muther Fer Ya, Honeydripper's Duke's Mixture, Roosevelt Sykes
Mule Skinner Blues, (Blue Yodel No. 7), Jimmie Rodgers, The Very Best Of
Me And My Chauffer Blues, Memphis Minnie, Blues Classics
New Blues Old Bruise, Chick Corea & John McLaughlin, Five Peace Band: Live
Who They Want Me To Be, Christian Scott, Christian aTunde Adjuah
Of Fire (Les Filles de la Nouvelle Orleans), Christian Scott, Christian aTunde Adjuah
The Last Broken Heart (Prop 8), Christian Scott, Yesterday You Said Today
New New Orleans (Kind Adjuah Stomp), Christian Scott, Christian aTunde Adjuah
Teddy Ruxpin, Kneebody, You Can Have Your Moment
Mob Job, Pat Metheny & Ornette Coleman, Song X (20th Anniversary Edition)
Old School Cylons, Greyboy All Stars, Whatever Happened To Television?
Summertime Killer, Calibro 35, Calibro 35
Locomotive, Mop Mop, Kiss of Kali
54-46 Was My Number, Toots and the Maytalls, In The Dark
Drive My Car, Soulive, Rubber Soulive
Tilt, Cadillac Jones, Junk in the Trunk

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Segment3 - Christian Scott

Talk and tunes with the prodigious trumpeter, composer, and bandleader -- mostly about his latest release, Christian aTunde Adjuah.

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