EDGEFEST [18] 2014 - Very Sound!

The 2014 EDGEFEST in Ann Arbor, Michigan at, and because of, the Kerrytown Concert House -- Deanna Relyea, Director and Dave Lynch, EdgeFest Founder and Director (1997 - 2006) -- was a tremendous artistic success. To my ears it was the best EdgeFestival in recent years. Most, perhaps all!, of my oldest and dearest friends were there -- Bill, Bill, Carole and Jim. This year's EdgeFest had as its theme (or 'hook' in the lingo of PR) the contrabass. There were virtuosi all over the Kerrytown space: I heard Diana Gannett, Mark Dresser, Mark Helias, Brad Jones, Harrison Bankhead, and the ubiquitous William Parker. The percussionists Tom Rainey, George Schuller, and the ubiquitous Hamid Drake were essential to the music, providing melodious rhythmic magic. I hadn't heard of the splendid percussionist Aveeayl Ra who provided everything rhythmic for Harrison Bankhead's quartet.
  There were numerous sonic surprises for me. The virtuosic saxophonists Roy Nathanson (as & ss) and Mars Williams (ts & ss). I had not heard of either of these fine musicians before. I regret having missed Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass) group with Mars Williams and the always inventive percussionist  Tim Daisy.
  Harrison Bankhead's quartet with Mars Williams and Ed Wilkerson, reeds and Avreeayl Ra drums gave a musically thrilling performance on Friday (10/17/14). William Parker's "In Order to Survive" played two sets of inspired music on Saturday (10/18/14). His regular group consisting of Hamid Drake (d), Dave Burrell (p), Rob Brown (as), and Lewis Barnes (t) was augmented by Steve Swell (tb) and Kidd Jordan (ts).
  The 2014 EdgeFest provided its audience with some of the world's finest creative, improvising musicians and This Music (the late Bill Dixon's term) of the highest order.      

Lots of Love to Oliver Lake, Hamiet Bluiett, and David Murray

Oliver Lake

Hamiet Bluiett Being Honored

Bright Moments: Guelph Festival 2014 & EdgeFest 2014

Distressing military action at home and abroad has kept me from my blogging activities - I've been obsessed with reading The Guardian, Truth Dig, and Juan Cole's blog, Informed Consent. My other recent reading obsessions have been Thucydides and David Hume - jolly stuff.

Guelph Music Festival
My friend, Jim Murphy, and I have attended five or six Guelph (Ontario, Canada) creative music festivals. Past highlights have included Anthony Braxton, William Parker's Curtis Mayfield Project, Marilyn Crispell, Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra with Carla Bley, Henry Threadgill, Peter Brötzmann, Kidd Jordan with Joel Futterman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada is a charming college town with good food and delightful pubs featuring fine Canadian ales.
    As I write, I'm listening an exciting CD entitled Beyond Quantum that features Anthony Braxton, reeds; William Parker, contrabass; and Milford Graves, percussion.
    Highlights of this year's Guelph Festival were the trios of pianist Randy Weston and Milford Graves with D. D. Jackson, piano and Kidd Jordan, tenor saxophone and The Sun Ra Arkestra led by alto saxophonist Marshall Allen. I must note straight away that the dance company that performed (can't say "danced") with the Arkestra was not a good idea. The Arkestra was very hot and hit every thing it played, from Duke Ellington's Black and Tan Fantasy through Sun Ra's tunes, Body and Soul and Cocktails for Two. The dance company was an unmusical distraction.
    The Milford Graves, D. D. Jackson, Kidd Jordan performance was high energy, free improvisation of the highest order. I was pleased to see and hear D. D. Jackson in this context.
    P.S. DAMN! How could I have failed to include pianist Vijay Iyer and his trio? They gave a wonderful performance.

EdgeFest 2014 - Ann Arbor, Mi.
The EdgeFest begins October 15 and runs for four days, ending Saturday with William Parker's all star band: Dave Burrell, Kidd Jordan, Rob Brown among others. This years festival features the contrabass. I'm certainly looking forward to being in Ann Arbor and not in Columbus, Ohio.
    Below are links to a YouTube documentary about Milford Graves and David Murray.

David Murray & Raymond White

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tNqs8hs9p4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU3La5e9r6U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu4GmHNw4is

Letter to Christopher Hitchens

January 11, 2010

Dear Sir:

Because you reckon yourself to be the expert on

religion, world affairs & c., one can understand why

you would believe the stage of letters is not big

enough for you and Gore Vidal. Just as you didn't

give Richard Robinson enough credit in 'your' book

on religion; you don't give Mr. Vidal enough credit

for being nearly on the mark where you are so far

off the mark in your views on world affairs---

especially United States foreign policy.

It appears to this reader that your Vanity Fair article

establishes that Mr. Vidal and his views have

become strange (outrageous). But "strange" in what

sense? I direct your attention to Gregory Vlastos'

Socrates, page 1 where, regarding Socrates'

"strangeness", Vlastos cites Alcibiates' speech

about Socrates in the Symposium:

"Such is his strangeness that you will search and

search among those living now and among men of

the past, and never come close to what he is

himself and to the things he says." (221D)

Mr. Hitchens, you have not come close to revealing

to your readers Mr. Vidal's 'strangeness'. When you

attempt to see Mr. Vidal and understand his

strangeness and his irony, you see someone else.

Who could it be?

To invoke (and give credit to) Karl Kraus: Mr.

Hitchens, like psychoanalysis, "you are the disease

that reckons itself to be a cure". And like the

psychoanalyst and the preacher you are overpaid

for what you profess to do. What disease? The

Pop-Journalist's disease. The Fox 'News', CNN

diseases:

"I'm Christopher Hitchens, I'm (used to be) a

serious journalist. Gore Vidal used to be a lot of

fun, and almost serious. I'm Christopher Hitchens, I

write for Vanity Fair.... Gore Vidal gives interviews

to everyone but me.... I'll fix that. I'll blast the

interviewer and interviewee. I'll sell some

magazines!"

"Success is counted sweetest by those....."

I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Like you, I

used to be a fan of yours.

Happy Days,

Raymond White

Columbus, Ohio

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/02/hitchens-201002

Spike Lee Dogs Woody Allen - Rediscovering Pauline Kael

Spike Lee's 2002 film, 25th Hour was shown on one of my cable channels a few days ago. I'm not a fan of most recent films that I've seen. Having spent so many hours viewing innovative European, Asian, and other non-American films at the Detroit Institute of Arts — its Detroit Film Theatre, part of the the fabulous '60s experience; — over the past twenty years I haven't been inclined to view films in commercial film theaters — especially not in Columbus, Ohio. The bits of Mr. Lee's other films that I have seen haven't impressed me. But let me say straight away that I don't care for movies that much anyway — like opera there are too many people involved. There are occasional surprises however. In my February 24, 2014 post I wrote:

 Watching Play It To The Bone it was hard for me to imagine that this film was made in America. It also joins the ranks of my British favorite films - Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Layer Cake. It also joins the very dark French comedy(?) Crime d‘ Amour (Love Crime) by the late Alain Corneau on my faves list.

    To this short list, I add Spike Lee's 25th Hour. First of all one has to give Mr. Lee credit for being able to get his films produced and presented at all. What follows is not a review of 25th Hour. What I'm up to in what follows is a comparison of certain aspects of Mr. Lee's 25th Hour with Mr. Woody Allen's Manhattan.

    Both films are homages to NYC: Allen's is pre-9/11, Lee's is post-9/11. Both films feature scenes shot at the East River. Both East River scenes include two people and a dog. (See below) Both are love stories centered on mistrust — mistrust of love with its attendant betrayal. Manhattan is an upper east-side fantasy with a private high school love interest of Allen's character (Isaac), restaurants: Elaine’s and Russian Tea Room. 

    The 25th Hour has an adult (teacher) and a 17 year old private high school love interest—Jacob (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his student (Anna Paquin), a club/disco scene and Brighton Beach Russian/Ukrainian gangsters. Both films treat socio-economic privilege: in Woody Allen's Upper East-Side fantasy the street to the private high school experience is paved with parental/trust fund gold; Spike Lee's way to a private high school education is through a basketball scholarship granted to his main character, Monty, an economically disadvantaged young man, the son of a NYC fireman. There is this difference between Allen's and Lee's portrayals of sexual (and other) relationships between young women (17 year old's) and middle-aged men: in Allen's picture 'money will permit and buy one love; in Lee's picture Jacob's 17 year old student's interest in her teacher is founded on the student's desire to 'persuade' the teacher to change her grade. The teacher refuses to change the student's grade in spite fantastic desire. Allen's character, Isaac, doesn't display any moral misgivings about his relationship (sexual or otherwise) with his 17 year old mistress. 
    Allen's Isaac wants to make the grade - "How was I?" in bed sort of thing, while Lee's Mary just wants her grade changed. When asked by her teacher (Hoffman) to offer her interpretation of Andrew Marvell's poem, "To His Coy Mistress", Mary (Paquin) replies (something to the effect), "The guy was horny, and he wanted her to give it up". In Lee's world, the teacher was horny in deed, but the student wanted her teacher "to give it up", wanted a better grade.   

Manhattan (1979)

 Dog, Mary (Diane Keaton) & Isaac (Woody Allen)

25th Hour (2002)  

Monty (Edward Norton), Dog (Monty’s only friend) & Customer

In the USA love was not racially blind. Black artists who gained presence in the national media, such as Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Paul Robeson, Ethel Waters . . . , Lena Horne, and Nat King Cole, faced particular racist restrictions, most obviously in the movies, where they were never allowed to appear in romantic situations. David Schiff, The Ellington Century, p. 159

Terence Blanchard composed and conducted the music soundtrack for Spike Lee’s 25th Hour. The music is dirge-like, a lamentation for New York City and for the characters of the film — small change in The City's financial, cultural, and unethical transactions.

When I began this Woody Allen and Spike Lee Manhattan v. 25th Hour comparison I was prompted by my uneasiness with Woody Allen's New York stories, with his Anne Hall, Manhattan, Deconstructing Harry. My wife and I use to eagerly await Woody Allen's new films. And we enjoyed the afore mentioned NY stories. Upon leaving Detroit twenty years ago, and relocating to Columbus, Ohio my wife and I have been out of the movie-viewing business. There were two major reasons for our movie withdrawal: there's nothing in Columbus like the Detroit Institute of Arts' Detroit Film Theatre (DFT). When we lived in Detroit, we experienced so many great films at the DFT that we became spoiled by the (1) DFT's big screen and (2) it's director Elliot Wilhelm's adventurous programming. During our 20 year Columbus, Ohio movie drought, we've seen at most 10 films at our two 'art house theaters', Drexel and Wexner Center (Victoria's Secret).

Woody Allen's films were eagerly awaited by my wife and me. However, a friend of mine who's aesthetic judgement I trust without reservation, dismissed Woody Allen's films tout court. Liking a film or films of a Woody Allen or a Spike Lee is one thing. Criticizing films on aesthetic grounds is another thing. I enjoyed, liked, Woody Allen's films. Indeed, Allen's London, Paris and Rome films are quite awful. But I liked his NY films. But there's a trick here - I just like NY films; I love NY too!

When compared with other New York City directors - e. g., Cassavetes, Coppola, Lumet, Scorsese and Lee - there's something of interest missing from Woody Allen's films. There aren't any brown, black or beige characters in Allen's New York City films.

What about the character Cookie in Deconstructing Harry? Cookie's portrayed by a black actress, the character's black? There's also an Asian hooker in another of Allen's films. He also features big band jazz in his films' soundtracks. He plays jazz music on Monday nights.

What about that?

I know, I know! He also wears corduroys and tweed odd jackets.

I just find Woody Allen's films, his jokes, his actors, the love and death stuff past the moment, dishonest, and trite. Woody Allen operates like a real estate developer, a mall magnate - doesn't matter if the project/film is ugly and/or overbuilt/oversold or a straight-up bust, the developer/auteur gets paid first. Woody Allen could name his Rolls Royce 'First Draw'.

Not to be completed ....

Thom Pride - In Memoriam

My dear friend J. Thom Pride passed away today in William Beaumont Hospital, in Royal Oak, Michigan. Thom's first wife, Sharron; her sister, Denise; and his friend Ken Hansen were at his side when he died at 1:53PM. Thom had been my friend since the mid-1950s. Martinis and music won't be the same. Below is something that I wrote about Thom in October, 2012.

J. Thomas Pride

Something Very Hip Happened

In Highland Park

R. W. White

12 October 2012

This evening at 11:15 PM, October 12, 2012 I am thinking about Thom Pride.

Thom has leukemia. He was diagnosed with this awful, painful disease within the

last month. Because of his age–nearly 73 years old—there is little that the doctors

can do for him, except pain medication for his terrible pain that he experiences

around the clock. He cannot eat regular foods because of the intense pain that

eating brings with it. As a pre-teen, I witnessed my maternal grandparents suffer

from the intense pain that came with their cancers. Thinking about Thom’s present

painful life this evening, and feeling both his presence and the presences of Hobert

and Mamie Thomas; and considering Thom’s present pain and the past pains of my

grandparents, has disturbed me and upset my calm life—I can’t find the right music

this evening. So, I’m writing down these inadequate thoughts against the music—

it’s Bach’s Goldberg Variations playing now, previously it was Bobby Hackett with

Jackie Gleason’s Orchestra, before that it was Chopin, before Chopin it was Liszt.

Usually I cannot read while listening to music; but most often I can write while

listening to music. This evening I need music and I need to write about Thom Pride

and me. Gustav Leonhardt’s harpsichord and his Goldberg Variations sound awful

to these ears this evening. I’m afraid to try Lady Day; Billie Holiday would destroy

me I fear. Ah, let’s try James Moody—someone who Thom and I grew up with

(musically) in Highland Park—has to be hip doesn’t it?

This evening I’m thinking about my first vivid impression of Thom Pride—

T. Pride to some. The image that I keep coming back to concerns an afternoon,

lunchtime DJ program that Thom hosted in the auditorium of Highland Park High

School. (I’ve got Mr Moody’s “Flute N The Blues” with “Little” Johnny Coles nice

trumpet solo followed by “Birdland Story” with that fabulous vocal by Eddie Jefferson

helping me now.) This impression is from 1958. Thom was spinning Yusef Lateef’s

recent LP Jazz for Thinkers. During these halcyon days, days without mobile

phones, text messaging, email and associated bothers; we liked to think of ourselves

in soulful, knowing terms; we convened for weekly symposia on Fridays and Saturdays;

often these drinks parties filled with music, discussions, and lame hits on those

present—the objects of our desires—were held at my house at 124 Massachusetts.

Our Sunday evenings were often spent at Pieter Wiest’s Colorado address. These

Sunday symposia were held without drinks and without music. At Pieter’s house

on Sunday evenings we tried to get our stories of the previous Friday and Saturday

straight, going on about our lame or non-existent hits and surfeit misses with the

Misses. These were quiet beautiful times. Whether Thom was involved in all of these

weekend sets or get-togethers, I do not remember; but I feel today that his presence

was everywhere in Highland Park—he was indeed a “big man” on the HPHS campus.

After having been released from Highland Park High School (HPHS), Thom and

I ran the streets together—Twelfth Street, Hamilton Avenue, Boston and Chicago

Blvd.s; in the Chit-Chat Lounge talking to a couple of prostitutes just back from a

Baptist convention in Windsor, Ontario, Canada; staying out of sight in the Rage Bar

on Davidson when the nightly brawl was underway; trying to get next to sadity girls

on Boston and Chicago Blvd.s; attending “get-togethers” or “sets” in the company

of Percy Lyle, Floyd Bright, Frank Paritee, Ralph Cooper et al., in our three or four

button, three piece suits, button-down shirts, print ties looking like the Modern Jazz

Quartet or straight out of GQ. There were basement parties with very hip music—

rhythm and blues and Blue Note jazz (Brubeck’s Jazz Goes to College, especially

“Balcony Rock” recorded at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor thrilled us too).

Then there were other nights when Thom heard that something was going on at

a cousin’s crib. So we’d fall by cousin X’s. Even in our formative, post-HPHS days,

Thom knew everyone—I’ve rarely been anyplace with Thom when we didn’t run into

someone who Thom knew. There were occasions when Thom and I actually did get

next to a couple of young women. On one of these occasions Thom was paired with

Miss Y and I was paired with Miss Z, or so I believed. Thom had another idea. He

called me to inquire about a trade , his Miss X for my Miss Z. He claimed that he

had done a survey and his proposed substitution of X for Z would be best. So long

as I was next to either X or Z it didn’t matter to me. And in fact the subsequent

arrangement was quite satisfactory for me.

When we were in high school, “Frantic” Ernie Durham was our disc-jockey. Our

DJ used to call on a woman who lived in the Willard Elementary School neighbor-

hood. Ernie-D’s creep occurred at a precise time each weekday night—around 11:30

PM, I think. Our gang would sit on the overpass at Davidson and Hamilton and

wait for Ernie-D’s Cadillac convertible (I recall that D’s ride was white, similar

to “Doc” Greene’s). When “Frantic” Ernie drove by we’d shout “Frantic, Frantic,

Frantic . . . ”. Highland Park “creeps” seldom went unnoticed.

Thom Pride conferred massive displays of kindness and generosity toward me

throughout much of my life. When Maria and I were married in 1965, Thom and

Ralph Cooper gave a large reception and party for us at the Pontchartrain Hotel in

downtown Detroit. He got me a job at J. Walter Thompson. And he gave me a job

with his company, JTP and Associates when I didn’t have a job—I did produce an

ad in The New Yorker for Turnbull’s Mustard while at JTP.

I imagine that Thom’s regard for me and my fortunes were among the reasons that

my mother, Joyce Lorraine (White) Kilpatrick regarded Thom so highly. It was also

because of my mother’s high regard that Thom regarded me as his brother.

Thom showed my mother and my stepfather, James Kilpatrick, a lot of love in return.

Thom was a very good athlete, especially in tennis and golf. After I was married,

I took up tennis - I was never very good; I thought I was good because I could serve

and return serve; but before and after serve and return of serve, I couldn’t “ball”,

as they say today. Thom and I used to play on Sunday mornings at Palmer Park.

Thom would appear sometimes with a tennis-ball canister of martinis, having been

up into the early morning hours enjoying, among other things, martini-like items. I

didn’t have a chance at beating Thom at tennis.

I never played golf with Thom; I wouldn’t have dared.

. . .

As Amiri Baraka wrote of the pianist Walter Davis, Jr., I’m sure that:

Wherever [Thom] is, something very hip is happening!