Episode 64: Gavin Walker - The Politics of Jazz

Episode 63: Maureen McGrath - Bullying, The Whole Story

Perhaps you think this is funny. I do not. Not only is it retrograde, but it is a dreadful abuse of children

De-Spare Me, puleeeze (Rhymes with sleeze)

B.C.’s Conflict Commissioner Paul Fraser says he sees no problem investigating an allegation against Premier Christy Clark, even though his son is a longtime friend of Clark’s and works as a senior official within her government. “I don’t perceive a problem in making a decision in this case that will have nothing to do with my son’s career,” Fraser said Thursday in response to a question on the issue by The Vancouver Sun.

 You cannot make up stuff like this.

But you can read the whole story here.http://bit.ly/RJ5MCM

t won't make you feel any better about the comic sham we used to call a democracy here in beautiful British Columbia, but you can read it.

There's Prodigies and then there's this kid...a little gift from our friend Peter McBride in Prince Georgee

VERY STRONG - MUST WATCH sent to us by Norman Farrell of Northern Lights

THREE NEW TV SHOWS

Below you will find the three latest SHAW TV shows. We recorded the piece on ACTIVE AGING back in July before our summer break, and the next two items on RESTORATIVE JUSTICE and PROJECT LIMELIGHT over the past two weeks.

On Monday, our guest will be David Moscrop, who believes that men should be active feminists.

Cheers,

David

KIDS AT WORK

JUSTICE FOR ALL?

GETTING ON?

Phyllis Diller

In the mid-'80's, I spent an entire day with Phyllis Diller in her home on Rockingham Drive, right down the street from where O.J. didn't murder anyone.

She was a warm and gracious host.

During the interview, which we were filming for a CTV show called "The Performers," Phyllis made me deviled eggs. The whole piece took place in her bright red kitchen, with her at the counters and me sitting at an old-fashioned work table in the middle of he room.

In the living room, she had a marvelous oil painting of her great friend and mentor, Bob Hope.

I remember especially two moments in our conversation.

Me: Phyllis, when you were writing ad copy for a radio station in Sausalito and supporting five children by yourself, did you have any idea that you had this much ambition?

Phyllis (Slamming down the fork she was using to mash the eggs in a bowl): Absolutely! I wanted it all and I've got it all!

When we finished the interview, she sat at the work table, smiled and said, Thank you, Gregory Peck.  So sweet.

In addition to being one of the most successful lady stand-up comics of all time, she was a movie star, played the lead in "Hello Dolly" on Broadway and on tour practically everywhere, and was an accomplished concert pianist. I first met her when she played with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. I was doing a play at Stage West Dinner Theatre with Norman Fell ("Three's Company's Mr. Roper") and he took us backstage after her wonderful performance.

As often the case, the best place to read an obit when we've lost a good person is the New York Times. Here it is.

ONE, SINGULAR SENSATION

I was sitting in what was then the CBC cafeteria on Hamilton Street.

I saw Marvin Hamlisch walking down the front steps. I dashed out and introduced myself. I was working as a story editor for the evening television news.

Would he do an interview with me please?

"They've already turned me down," he said.

That year Marvin Hamlisch had done the impossible. He won the Oscar, the Tony and Emmy and a Grammy all in one year! Rita Moreno got all four prizes but not in one season as Hamlisch did.

And this was the year that he was here in town to do two concerts with the VSO at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and the year that CBC supper hour news had no room for him.

Not to worry, I said. I'll arrange it.

"Only on one condition," was his answer. "Get me a piano."

I got him the piano and we did a terrific piece which included his performing a beautiful new song by him and Carol Bayer Sager called "Two Boys." He also told some wonderful Barbra Streisand stories. (SEE THE VIDEO FOLLOWING.)

When certain people die, the only place to read the obit is in the New York Times. Enjoy and remember the tunes as you go about your business today.

A Little Classic

PALIMPSEST

Gore Vidal, 1925-2012

Prolific, Elegant, Acerbic Writer

By CHARLES McGRATH

Published: August 1, 2012 

There's your headline in yesterday's NY Times. Read the whole story. Vidal was a terrific writer and a wonderful lively character and he will be missed.

fuel to the fire

Thanks, Susan!

CHICKEN LITTLE, HERE

Forget all the other noise passing as news:

The Premier pretends to care about the environment. The Premier has one setting - Snarl. She loves a fight, a contest, running for office or an arm-wrestle. She wouldn't know a pipeline if she fell over it. Worse, she shows her basic values. You want us to carry the risk of this thing? Give us more loot.

It's OK. We have only a few more months of this lack of leadership and vision and then we can start slogging the next guy.

NBC's Olympic coverage is late, pre-empted by the web and xenophobic in the extreme? Try the genius  over at CTV. Last night they spent three or four hours trumpeting a great tennis match between Canadian Raonic and French star, Tsonga. How many times did the granite Brian Williams - clearly the most boring sportscaster in history - tell us that a real treat was on the way?

When the coverage finally arrived - a 3-setter that ended 25-23 in the third for Tsonga - what we lucky souls got to see was a 90 second summary. Thanks, boys. Super coverage.

So forget all that.

There was only one real story and it stretched over at least two days and this was it:

Blackout cuts power to 670 million Indians

This is the future, kids.

 This story, which I expect to see repeated in one form or another on a regular basis coming from every place on earth that may still have the power with which to transmit the tale, is where we are heading.

Between air conditioning, the internet and the colossal inability of governments to do almost anything right, I believe we can predict meltdowns of so-called basic services of this magnitude to appear with frightening regularity.

Canada is a bubble.

We live in an amazing paradise. No mortar shells, no banks run by Bob and his cousin, Neil, an apparent abundance of space and natural resources and governments that may be stupid and annoying, but are not shooting or arresting citizens by the carload for their thoughts or opinions.

How long can it last?

I have no idea.

But I am not placing any bets.

THE WHOLE STORY

The liner notes below are all about the video that follows. Most lovers of jazz could not tell you how many times they have listened to this album. If you don't know it, here it is. So many You Tube pieces are small tastes; this is the whole matzoh ball. Savor it and save it.

Mile Davis - Kind Of Blue Full Album Concert Full HD Kind of Blue is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released August 17, 1959, on Columbia Records in the United States. High Quality Sound Audio FLAC Which Preserve Quality of Original Uncompressed Audio Sound Recording sessions for the album took place at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City on March 2 and April 22, 1959. The sessions featured Davis's ensemble sextet, which consisted of pianist Bill Evans (Wynton Kelly on one track), drummer Jimmy Cobb, bassist Paul Chambers, and saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley.

After the entry of Bill Evans into his sextet, Davis followed up on the modal experimentations of Milestones (1958) and 1958 Miles (1958) by basing the album entirely on modality, in contrast to his earlier work with the hard bop style of jazz. Though precise figures have been disputed, Kind of Blue has been described by many music writers not only as Davis's best-selling album, but as the best-selling jazz record of all time. On October 7, 2008, it was certified quadruple platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It has been regarded by many critics as the greatest jazz album of all time and Davis's masterpiece.

The album's influence on music, including jazz, rock, and classical music, has led music writers to acknowledge it as one of the most influential albums ever made. In 2002, it was one of fifty recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. In 2003, the album was ranked number 12 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Accolades

Kind of Blue has been cited by writers and music critics as the greatest jazz album of all time and has been ranked at or near the top of numerous "best album" lists in disparate genres. In 2002, Kind of Blue was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.In selecting the album as number 12 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, Rolling Stone magazine stated "This painterly masterpiece is one of the most important, influential and popular albums in jazz". On December 16, 2009, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution honoring the fiftieth anniversary of Kind of Blue and "reaffirming jazz as a national treasure". It is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, described by reviewer Seth Jacobson as "a genre-defining moment in twentieth-century music, period."

Track listing
All songs written and composed by Miles Davis except where noted (see content section for more information). Only six complete takes of the five songs on the album exist:.
No. Title Length
1. "So What" 9:22
2. "Freddie Freeloader" 9:46
3. "Blue in Green" (Miles Davis and Bill Evans) 5:37
4. "All Blues" 11:33
5. "Flamenco Sketches" (Miles Davis and Bill Evans) 9:26
Reissue bonus track
No. Title Length
6. "Flamenco Sketches (Alternate take)" 9:32
Tracks 1, 2 and 3 (side one on the original vinyl release) recorded March 2, 1959; tracks 4 and 5 (side two) recorded April 22, 1959. All tracks recorded at Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York City.
Personnel

Musicians
Miles Davis -- trumpet, band leader
Julian "Cannonball" Adderley -- alto saxophone, except on "Blue in Green"
Paul Chambers -- double bass
Jimmy Cobb -- drums
John Coltrane -- tenor saxophone
Bill Evans -- piano (except "Freddie Freeloader"), liner notes
Wynton Kelly -- piano on "Freddie Freeloader"

MILES DAVIS - KIND OF BLUE (Full Album)

A Little Russian Night Musik

THE UNIVERSAL TONGUES - MUSIC/DANCE