Fayettenam... an Iraqi Abstraction?

Who knew the blog could turn into a diary? I am so knackered from lack of sleep, but I am forcing myself to write anyway. The annoying sounds of automobile engines, the incessant screaming in my ears (tinnitus from infrasonic pollution), the standing wave in our house, the sound of machine gun fire, the shaking of the earth from Howitzer fire. Charlie Rose said he thought to many Americans the war in Iraq was an abstraction. Try living in a town that trains military soldiers. Try living in a town from whence the 82nd Airborne is dispersed. Try living in a town at war where 5 dead GI’s come back in one week, and the chaplain has to notify their families. An abstraction? I have to watch Charlie rose to find out what I am feeling, because my feelings are all over the chart. It is a relief to hear things on his program about Iraq, because one way or another those feelings find their way back to Ft. Bragg and then Fayettenam. Tar Heels or not. Duke Blue Devils or not. North Carolina State Wolfpack or not. No matter in ‘Nam. Here there is the country’s largest Harley Davidson store. Here is where EPA emissions interestingly overlook hundreds of straight pipe exhausts spewing noise and hydro-fluorocarbons into the air. The Fayetteville Police Department is understaffed by 30 officers because of either low pay or danger on the job. Consequently the state’s window tinting law is severely neglected, and people drive around on shiny custom-made rims in total obscurity. When I get my car inspected by the governmental watchdog that is the OBDll test (Argh!!!) they tell me it is an $80.00 fine for each window tinted too dark. Still an invisible army circles the streets. Traffic lights in ‘Nam are uncommonly long. In the sweltering summer heat and humidity you can sit at a traffic light for over three minutes, donating your hard earned dollar to the CARTEL. It pisses me off! I just want to turn my engine off and ride my bike, rather than being exploited by a traffic signal. Crazy? Try living here.

The Fender Rhodes Mark ll

My first “live-playing rig” in bands was the 73 key Rhodes Mark ll Stage Piano with a pair of Leslie 60 tone cabinets. This particular Rhodes was a Cadillac so-to-speak, because Rhodes had improved the action and gave it a flat top. Now you could put another synth on top of the Rhodes without worrying it would come sliding off during a gig. The action on the earlier Rhodes was like playing a mattress. The Mark ll was a pleasure to play, and I used it a lot. The sound of the Rhodes is not heard that much in today’s music, because “pop” has taken over the airwaves. Meaty keyboard sounds were the mainstay of the l980’s, but virtual synth technology must have pushed these quality instruments right out the door. I put a Rhodie pre-amp in my Rhodes that gave it active treble and bass boost. You also now had to plug it in or else use a 9 volt battery. If you left a ¼” patch cord plugged into the input jack, it would run the battery down. You needed a big Phillips head screwdriver to get the four screws out that held the harp down. This is not something you want to do on a gig, so I just put a little plug on the dash and used a Radio Shack AC adapter. The Stage version of the Rhodes had no amplifier of its own, so you needed a specialty amp of some sort. The Suitcase version had its own stereo amps built it with a control for tremolo speed. The Leslie 60’s, although rare, were the perfect augmentation of the Rhodes piano sound. They were two wooden speaker cabinets each with a ten inch heavy duty cone speaker. The beauty of the 60’s was they emulated stereo tremolo by using a rotary capacitor that actually was turned by an electric motor. There is a belt and pulley system that was controlled by a pre-amp you mounted on the music rack of the Rhodes. There was a control for volume and one for the speed of the tremolo. I can’t say for sure what the effect was. Some would say chorusing, some maybe an auto-panning or phase shift, but in any case it sounded lush and sweet. Just holding down a chord on the Rhodes would move you. The first synthesizer I owned was a Sequential Prophet 600. It was a scaled down and cheaper version of the popular Prophet 5. It had the unique ability to store patches dialed in on the analog controls. This was a huge breakthrough back in the day. A microprocessor accomplished this with a little touch pad with numbers. The filters and analog oscillators on the Prophet were its claim to fame, and it lush sound was the perfect compliment to the Rhodes piano. I used this combination for many years before moving to an upstairs apartment. As soon as you begin moving that Rhodes up and down those steps, its incredible weight becomes a problem. Luckily to this day I still have my original set up, and it still operates when I chose to use it.

And Furthermore...

I have been on ships where because of the orchestra the ship's ratings rose to No. 1 in the fleet. I have also been in bands where the inexperience and neurosis was so severe it created an almost seemingly insurmountable "darkness." The flash video "Ship of Darkness" humorously tries to address this issue. I am aware of ALL these issues, because I have been through it. The fundamental difficulty for the pianist in a showband is the nature of the rhythmic concept utilized in the recorded tracks of the production shows. It is easy for a skilled musician to surmise there is something "amiss" about the tracks. Many many bands fight amongst themselves or simply fall apart because they do not understand what is happening. I know what is happening in the tracks as well as what is happening in the written music, because I have produced 13 CD's of my own using a Macintosh computer and Mark of the Unicorn's Digital Performer. I went to Ohio State to work on my doctorate, but one of my prerequisites was to learn computer music. While the university offered instruction and some crude machinery, I eventually invested the time and money to build my own home studio. Over the course of two years I pieced together a basic MIDI/Hard Disk Recording system that let me record my own projects. Over the preceding years of collegiate study and with a keen interest in keyboard technology, I had accumulated a nice collection of vintage synthesizers. Although buying used equipment became almost a hobby, it began with the need and desire to have the best "live-playing" rig for gigs. I have had several configurations of keyboard equipment, each appropriate for the style of music I was playing at the time. To make a long story short it was easy to begin producing projects via MIDI, after I assembled the computer system. I will always be indebted to the surplus department at Ohio State for giving me the scrap computer parts to use as the basis for my system. I knew that sound and feel were the two necessary components to make a MIDI project good enough to sell commercially. My vintage synths solved one of these problems, and 12 years of classical piano lessons along with the almost constant study of jazz and commercial music solved the other. I can proudly say after finishing 13 complete CD projects that I am proud enough to market, I never once used the “quantize” feature in Digital Performer. Everyone knows that "feel" is the heart and soul of music. A beginning or novice Showband piano player is in for a shock, when he hears the recorded tracks of a production show for the first time. They are generated by the computer, either by a MIDI file that is generated from a notation program, or from a sequencing program in which the arranger quantizes the tracks metronomically. This all but destroys the original "feels" of the tunes, but does provide an easier way to play the music with a recorded click track. This can wreak havoc on the keyboard player, because if the band is not aware of the existence of differing styles of music, and they have only done ships for their experience, they can only play in this ONE rhythmic concept. The concept most widely used by cruise ship arrangers is "pop," where the eighth notes are inhumanly and unmusically close together and places them "over the quarter note" both ahead and behind the real pulse. For a keyboard player to try to match this rhythmic inflection, he must sacrifice everything related to musical study. It really is absurd to expect a keyboard player to play this way. If one does not know better and everyone else in the band has little difficulty playing this style, this disparity can destroy a good piano player. Luckily I keenly am aware of this abnormality, and this awareness is what has allowed me to continue working in the Showband. It is never easy, but I use music as my tool to succeed. I know I will be fighting a continuous battle with the rest of the band when it comes to performing production shows. My success is based on the continual study of the music, its appraisal in a historical context, and my ability to perform it authentically with good feeling. This "good feeling" is the only thing that will sway young minds into abandoning a rhythmic concept they see as easy and appropriate for Showband performances. Studying and learning many, many styles of music, both American and South American takes years. Luckily I have put in that work. It is with this awareness I feel it is necessary to let the both of you know why I pursue the Showband piano spot. I don't particularly enjoy playing the music, but I am one of the few players that can succeed where others fail. Igor, who I replaced on the Serenade, was criticized for using a physical motion that looked like he was clawing at the keyboard. Similarly on the video they show on ships about the rehearsal of production shows, there is another keyboard player playing using this ridiculous motion. Trying to match a rhythmic concept that is based on the strumming of a guitar and the rhythm of spoken words for a keyboardist is insane. That is what "pop" is. That is why growing up I had no interest in any radio music that used guitar as it's feel creator. Piano feel, as exhibited in the gamut of music produced in the l980's by keyboardists such as Dave Foster, is something completely different. Ultimately it is the reason why that music was successful. It is powerful and moving, not contrived and superficial. Miraculously near the end of my contract on the Serenade, the ship for some reason accepted this concept and I was able to perform the shows authentically. There is musicality in Stage to Screen that the pre-recorded tracks can't begin to extract. I was amazed each time I made a discovery of this type. These unactualized musical concepts were what elevated the success of the show to previously unattainable ratings. It did give me a newfound respect for Wade Hubbard's abilities, but it also paints a clear picture of how drastically short the pre-recorded tracks fall. Luckily I remember these devices and did my best to document them in the written music. I will wait until a later time to open up that can of worms. I felt it best to convey to you the depth of my understanding of the Showband piano spot, and my willingness to take gigs that are all but sub-standard. It is a challenge and one that I usually enjoy.

An Open Letter about Ship Showband Piano

Having worked for Carnival for over three years and Princess for one contract, I have learned in Showband situations it is usually best to keep your mouth shut about the music. Fellow musicians do not like it when you talk about the band, the music, or the relative performances within the band. With this said I also know that if you band is going to be any good, you have to KNOW what is happening musically. Because I have almost three degrees in music it is easy for me to analyze music. I know for a fact that the written music that is presented to you on most cruise ships is not of a professional standard. You accept this because it is one of the prerequisites of the job. The way I solve this problem is by analyzing the music. Given enough time I methodically go through the written music, often times correcting it in the process. The written music to Stage to Screen, upon perusal by any professional level pianist, is almost unplayable. This music is absolutely one of the worst “part extractions” with no corrections I have ever seen. Vibeology was not much better. After getting yelled at by David Bently I got tired of the constant pressure and spent over 15 hours correcting the music, so it could be played be a live person. Sasha asked me what the problems were, and it was not difficult to show him. The most common problem is the writing of piano chords that have way too many notes and are spread all over the keyboard like mud. They, as one of my drummer room mates remarked, look like four mallet marimba music. The jumps and skips in register with virtually no time in between chords makes it impossible to play as written. When you are reading the music “on the fly” it is a complete head fuck, because often you are looking at something that does not make musical sense. I had read several places on the internet that the cruise ship show Stage to Screen was one of the lowest rated production shows on the ocean. When given this show a second time on the Serenade, I made a decision. You can either leave this show the way it is and have a bad time for four months with a burly, unplayable show, or you can fix it and try to make it better. The former was not an option. In one brief lull between five different drummers in one contract, I used the spaciousness of our cabin to fix the music. Note by note, measure by measure, I thought through the music and with a bottle of white out and a No. 1 pencil, I corrected the music until it made sense. Three years of coursework toward a DMA in Composition I think gives me the credential to make these changes. After approximately 15 hours I was done. From then on I could now practice and learn the music from a players perspective. Coincidentally I did exactly the same thing on the Sovereign of the Seas. Both Flashback and Dancin’ to the Movies were quality shows with music that was accessible to the general public. In this case unlike the written out nature of Stage to Screen, the majority of the parts were not written out. From years of experience playing in the showband, I know this is where you rely on the recorded tracks. I listen to the tracks, absorb and decide the style cognitively, and then write in the rhythmic figures that are appropriate for that style. Luckily I also have enough years of experience playing in bands (beginning in l980) that it is not much trouble to do this. As long as I have the time necessary I almost always will improve the show from the “pop-styled,” quantized, and computer-generated track. Igor, they joked on the Serenade after I got there, used to stab at the keyboard in an inhuman and unmusical way. As a result and for various other reasons I heard, Sasha fired him. Because I have been in the same situation over and over in differing Showbands, I just learned that although the tracks are quantized in a particular fashion, you should play the music naturally. That takes knowledge and experience and study of the shows. I have done this on every ship I have taken. Unfortunately the majority of the inexperienced players working ships have no idea this little conflict is happening all the time. They, as any drummer, guitar, or bass player can easily do play “pop” style. On a keyboard instrument that relies on the rebound of the keystroke, there is a finite amount of resolution that can be achieved. This is what makes piano feel unique and different. One can say in a sense piano feel, which occurs when the piano provides the comping rhythmic feel, is looser. On all three instruments I mentioned, none of the players has to wait for the key to reciprocate and thus if allowed may only learn one musical style, “pop.” This works well for the production shows, because they us this rhythmic concept. At first I wondered when I heard these mysterious tracks if the arranger even knew what they were doing. After hearing this style over and over, I finally just realized they use it because it is an easier way to play. Just turn on the click and it goes. This creates a deep and disturbing problem for any piano player, because if they attempt to play in this style where the 8th notes are too close together, it begins to look like a circus show. You have to play so far ahead of the beat and so far behind at the same time, all musicality is removed. There is no phrasing, nuance of dynamics, or feeling whatsoever. No pianist calling his instrument the Piano/Forte probably will want to make the concession. Knowing all of this previous information, learning the music cold for me is the only thing that assures I will keep my job. Ultimately on all contracts given time, this situation is going to make itself known. If you have seasoned players with much live playing experience, then they are usually open to quality musical interpretation. If you have young, insecure players they can easily tighten the rhythmic resolution up so much, it becomes difficult for the pianist to play at all. I have been in both situations where the band is willing to take the more piano feel, and where the rest of the rhythmic section declares martial law in “pop” and refuse to even entertain the thought that such a divide can exist. “You mean I would have to study the shows, analyze the styles, and then be able to play many styles at the drop of a hat?” This is way more than most Showband musicians are willing to do. I left Princess because after shedding FOUR differing production shows, all in different styles, the remainder of the rhythm section proceeded to come in and bullshit their ways through the shows. This was not good enough for me. If a particular ship does not want what I have to offer, then there is no point in my being there. This is the way I feel. Luckily at RCCL the bands and musicians seem to have wanted what I have to offer. I try not to relay this information too often, because it usually is too much for any young musician to handle. They still think music is magic and you just play what you feel at the moment. Like our last drummer on the Serenade, there should be no reason to talk about the music. The Serenade had a wealth of problems, of which I devoted myself to, because the gig can either be a nightmare or an okay experience. I fixed the written music, I avoided conflict with five different drummers who were all my room mates. I tolerated a crew that was over half homosexual. I watched new hires be humiliated in rehearsals, and I watched egos out weight performances. I did it all with a devotion to the job and the craft and the art of music. It appeared to me there was a fair amount of nepotism and politics at work on the Serenade. I ignored it all and tried to make the band better, because that is the right thing to do. I don’t necessarily want to be a career ship player, but these jobs are some of the few left in the world of professional music.

Depression, the Pursuit of Honesty?

I have a few further comments on depression. One major cause of depression is the suppression of an interpersonal conflict that has never been resolved. Even after resolve or “closure” has been achieved there are a variety of uncontrollable things that can trigger a similar recurrence. If the people around you are not aware of you newfound closure, and if they have not achieved similar enlightenment, similar surroundings and situations (i.e. nature) will likely trigger a similar bout. That is how nature works against us as human beings and why it is so important we remain flexible in our lives. If a traditional “American” lifestyle was to predicate how we live, no one would be free to move away from unhealthy surroundings. Buying a home, often known as one of the most powerful forms of equity, is not conducive to flexible living unless one owns many homes around the country or world. That necessitates money, more money than the average American has. That is why I have often stated as my American philosophy, “One must have much money today to buy the things Americans were afforded two decades ago.” It used to be clean drinking water, clean air, and a quiet environment allowed us to live fairly healthy psychological lives. To achieve the same amenities today, you must buy them. Who was it that came up with the great strategy to pollute our fresh water and sell it to Americans in little bottles? We can’t say with certainty that some unknowing economic force planned this. It is more likely that with diminished governmental watch dogging (i.e. the weakening of the Environmental Protection Agency and the dismantling the Federal Office of Noise Abatement) this naturally occurred. If government doesn’t make conservation a priority, big business always has and will overstep their boundaries in the private sector and encroach upon the rights of the American people. The most blatant example of this was the inception and passing of Eminent Domain, a law which allows the federal government to take privately owned land for “private” use. This is not use by the public or the government, rather use by private businesses that want the land. As well as being a clear breech of the Constitution, this legislation attempts to demoralize the American people by stating irrevocably business is more important than the quality of life of the common people. On top of this many private businesses have abandoned American workers by outsourcing their assembly line-like jobs to China and India, countries with what seem to be burgeoning economies. Is this the end result of a Free Trade Agreement, where both government and private business abandon the American people in search of more prosperous pastures for themselves? One can only think that Dick Cheney, with his constant distracted demeanor, has always only been thinking about his own personal interests, Haliburton. I have always wondered why he never seemed focused or even engaged in any policy-making with the press or the American people. It seemed like his decisions were being dictated by some unseen force, possibly his own personal interests in the discovery and drilling of oil. Akin to Eminent Domain, a law that gives little explanation as to why it takes one’s land, a “State of War” of the union perversely gives the president martial law in enacting legislation of his choice with little or no explanation of its intent except for the seeming good of the American people. We should ask ourselves the question again why this sitting president led us into such a now unwanted war. Depression in a nutshell occurs when the human soul is not allowed the freedom to feel an honest response to a real situation. No matter how strong attempts are to cover up reality, the human psyche has the power to destroy itself over the seeking of honesty. That is why the youth of America coined a meaningful phrase which on the surface seems like a ghetto cliché. “Keep it real.” The media-exploited sound byte “keeping it real” should become our National Anthem. All the anachronistic patriotism once effective in psychologically uniting the country for a common good, now falls drastically short because the “American Dream” is no longer within our reach. To wake up to this prospect everyday in a world where “old money” is mortared in stone, Wall Street is hawking tonic on the street corner, media is superficial propaganda of the rich, and government looks after only its own personal interests is to wake up to an America filled with darkness and despair. The commercial, saccharine, pop music can not continue to disguise the real truth in America, because with our neglected polluted environment the resulting depressive state of our people will cause America to self-destruct. Who is going to run the country then? All ready we have had foreshadowing of such events. How else can we define the widespread outbreaks of murderous teen violence in our public schools? Can it be coincidental that so many youths have responded similarly across America? The search for truth may be the unifying pinnacle of the human soul, and depression may be its watchdog. It is unfortunate “spin” has taken a front seat to children’s lives.

Depression, It Gets Me Down!

I’ll never forget going to a punk music seminar at East Carolina University. It was not what we expected. A band was screaming this phrase on top of raucously loud music in front of a mosh pit. Depression is a serious illness. I see advertisements for depression-related products all the time on late night TV. Having suffered from depression before and having taken a few years to get it under control, I would like to offer a few insights into the disease. Our medical establishment has not been able to find tangible causes for many of the new disorders that have appeared during the decade of the l990’s. It is common knowledge our drug companies don’t have stellar reputations for supporting the common good of the public. Bill Maher joked on Tavis Smiley and said they really dislike competition from the illegal drugs including marijuana, “That never killed anyone.” (It looks like to me Sandra Bullock might be a toker!) I say that because on my last cruise ship I worked with a musician who was a reformed cocaine addict. He said he had been clean for 4 years, yet his mannerisms and behavior still reflected what appeared to be influences of drugs. When examining Nature vs. Nurture, it seems easy to understand your environment will play a very large part in shaping your personality, emotions, and intellect. Because children, like pets, naturally feel things it stands to reason their behavior may be shaped more readily by emotion than cognitive thought. I have found in my life’s experiences, that it is a fine juggling act you must do between using your mind and your emotional instincts. As human beings, electronic spirits housed in a vessel of flesh and organs, it is normal we would want to feel good in our bodies. I have found there could be three distinct ways we can achieve that goal. First and most obvious is the physical state of our bodies. If our bodies are well taken care of, i.e. not grossly over-weight or malnourished, we have a better chance of feeling good. I find relaxation and sleep contribute to a facile mind and therefore a better state of body. Second, emotion can play a large part in effecting how we feel if we let it! My discovery after 3-4 long years of dealing with depression was, "Emotion is often a detrimental entity." If you rely upon external emotion to be happy, than more than likely you are going to be disappointed. Maybe this is what growing up is all about. The Walt Disney penned world of feeling, caring, larger than life animated characters may not be what is best for us our mental health. Certainly when a child can not understand words such as, “Please be quiet, honey,” and “Stop crying,” emotion can and will play a role in controlling their behavior. Having grown up in the American South, it seemed natural that parents used emotion to control their children. There must be something designed by God in the genetics that miraculously allow parents to override their children’s emotions. This could be a good or bad thing. If your parents experienced positive emotions when you were a child, then this will become part of your own emotional profile. If on the other hand your grew up surrounded by negative emotions, it is likely you as a child will be effected negatively. I think this is common in America and probably everywhere in the world. Because our divorce rate is so high, because millions of Americans have no health care, and because the “family model” of the American dream no longer functions economically, children have been suffering with few places to turn. It used to be our public schools helped. When I was in high school our high school was a social hub. There were all kind of extra-curricular activities that promoted social well-being. Clubs offered opportunities to serve the community. Sporting events allowed healthy, competitive physical activity. That band and chorus allowed the actualization of music. School was the hub of our existence, not our enemy. I’m not sure if that is the case now. In a society in which the family unit is no longer as stable as it once was, it seems crucial the integrity of our public schools be maintained. Back to drugs. Human beings by nature our creatures of habit. When you have been involved with something or have been feeling something for so long, it becomes part of your instinctual behavior. I learned when picking myself up from the American South and relocating to the Midwest, it is important to remain flexible in your emotions. I learned to discard many of my prior emotional instincts and re-learned social behaviors in a different way. This was one of the keys to curing my depression. Negative emotion that was controlling my mood had to be rethought, re-evaluated, revamped, and re-implemented. I had to change the way I knew how to feel and my dependence on that emotion. At that point I began using my brain as the driving force in my life and also my musical expression. Over time I learned how to shape and mold my feelings the way I saw fit in a way that was positive for me. Co-workers often joke, “Your life is only in your m-u-u-u-s-i-c!” That is because like Greek tragedy when you love you are destined to lose. When I invest tangibly in a piece of original music, I know the feelings that I actualize in it will remain there forever. They will not divorce me and take my house and car. I shifted my personal needs from human-based to music, because music seemed more reliable. Being a professional musician is difficult, because to be good one most ‘feel’ the music they are playing. Music at its highest level is expression, so it stands to reason if you are to play music well, you must understand and feel instinctually and emotionally what the music says. This means musicians at their best are actors with great demands for analytical preparation. You must give yourself to the project and allow your emotional psyche to be the puppet of the project. This can become tiring if the expression or emotion in the music is of dischord with your own personal experiences. Emotional memory at its worst can disable the mind and therefore the human being. It is a monumental challenge to discard negative perceptions and reactions to specific felt emotion and reprogram yourself for a more healthy response. I have found this to be the biggest challenge in life, because as human beings our soul is the very root of our existence. It is necessary to make us human, but it also can be chaotic and detrimental to our very survival. Back to drugs. When things of this nature are occurring external substances are not a help. In fact external stimulation is often a large problem in understanding one's own feelings. Eastern religions utilizing meditation and Zen philosophy allow getting in touch with one’s self. This is crucial to free one's self from the negative stimulation of the frenetic pace of television, the remarkable “rat race” that has become everyday life, and an environment whose influences are causing ADHD and the others. When I am left in a room by myself free from the influences of the environment, I usually can find inner peace. It is balancing the need for social interaction with its negative influences on healthy psychological development that is the challenge.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Wynton has Left the Building!

Wynton was on Charlie Rose the other night. Most people know Wynton, so you don’t have to use his last name, Marsalis. Wyton comes from a whole family of musicians. Ellis, his father, is a pianist. Most people know Branford, because he lead the tonight show band for a while. I think there is a brother/trombone player in there too. Wynton has carried a reputation for a while of being a bigot and a jazz snob, but in light of occasional shortsighted comments, he has been a quality purveyor of jazz music. We need to see more of him. We need to hear more jazz music. I agree with what Wynton was saying, and it was astonishing to me Charlie Rose was defending the cultural influences of Rap and Hip/Hop music. I don’t have anything against Hip/Hop. Hip/Hop is or was modern culture, and it swings just like traditional jazz music. I played in an “old school” R&B/Hip Hop band for two years before working cruise ships, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was one of the most enjoyable times of my life. There is meat in that music, but Wynton was right saying the music is no longer being produced by the people that are consuming it. Business has stepped in and is attempting to exploit the genre. As a result Hip/Hop has died a superficial death. Punk rockers will tell you, “Rage Against the Machine,” or rebelliousness against the mainstream is what makes music unique and good. When Greenday signed with a major record label, their following thought they had sold out. For a while Greenday was a joke, until they tried to resurrect themselves with the album American Idiot. Who are these people on VH-1 spouting vitriol against the integrity of American Idiot, Rick James, hair bands and others? What credibility, just like Simon, do they have in trying to judge American popular music? I would like to see these musical credentials sometime. I think nine years of collegiate music study are enough to merit some musical judging. I don’t think daddy’s money buying a TV station is qualification enough to become a news anchor, an actor, or a talk show host. That is why I don’t watch Carson Daily, Jimmy Kimmel, Craig Ferguson or Jay Leno. To me these men have no soul. Craig Ferguson appears to have ridden the boat to America with visions of lollipops and roses in his glasses. He is too happy for me, like a spoiled child that has never seen bad times. I can’t watch that. Dave, on the other hand, before he came a reincarnate Ed Sullivan, I could watch. Dave has a sardonic sense of humor that comes from growing up in Ohio. When I moved from North Carolina to Ohio for the firsts time, it took over four years to acclimate to the Midwest. The people and culture were different, and at first I didn’t like it. Over time and with some resistance I dropped my southern roots and became a Midwesterner. I found Ohians to be much more deeply rooted in reality than anyone in the South. Southern gentility has a place, and many people prefer it. I learned because of what I have been through, southern gentility is not reality. No one in his world gives you anything, so adopting an “I’m okay, you’re okay,” attitude is self defeating. It takes a little hard core Yankee New York attitude to make it in this dog eat dog world. That kind of reality once was reflected in both Rap and Hip/Hop music. Because of 9/11 no one knows what reality is anymore. I don’t think most Americans want to wake up everyday and think, “My life today is battling some invisible, Muslim, terrorist that wants to take my life.” Maybe we as a country are in denial over our current state of culture. Battling our own domestic machine is at least familiar to us. Our country has always done that. The hippies, with the use of drugs, are a prominent example of anti-mainstream behavior. I personally don’t think drugs should have anything to do with it. I was somewhat dismayed to learn that the “Electric Cool-Aid Acid Test,” was all about drug culture. Being a jazz musician myself, I know for certain one does not need drugs to become accomplished in a particular art form. I found out first hand marijuana is bad, because it contributed to a miniature nervous breakdown I had years ago. I said to myself, “I will never smoke pot again,” and I haven’t. The beauty of Hip/Hop was it came from the “hood.” Poor, urban, often gang-related youth felt a need to express themselves. The digital sampler had a big influence on the sound of this music. The early machines had poor digital to analog converters that produced a grainy sound that became popular. Low bit or low sample rates were almost analog-like and were very expressive. Over time the almost crass high end chink of the sampled hi hat and the low-pitched droning kick drum provided the framework upon which most Hip/Hop was built. It has not been that long ago that making music was about collecting good equipment. The sound of the equipment was the sound of your music. This was a fun process, and local used music stores were a musician’s paradise when configuring a small studio in your home. It could be computer-based music production has had a negative effect on Hip/Hop. Originally many Hip/Hop producers used an Akai drum pad controller to program their beats. This instrument was a digital drum machine with pads on the top that could be played live to simulate a good drum feel. When the computer took over complete production of the music, the human element was lost and Hip/Hop quickly lost its expressive soul. Pop has continued with this trend and many of the bands we hear today do not show any awareness of previous live styles of playing. The original appeal of Hip/Hop was the beat or groove, and without this the music dies. Let’s thank Wynton for pointing that out.

A Culture of Selfish Homosexuality

I can’t get the thoughts out of mind. Anderson Cooper 360. To put it bluntly, my title would be Pedophiliac, Incestuous, Homosexual Priests. I understand the need to expose this young man’s pain, a youth in distress with seemingly no where to turn. His parents are divorced. He has no one to talk to. He turns to his priest. His priest immorally, selfishly, and hedonistically takes advantage of his new charge. Did we really need to hear the sexually explicit reflection of this activity? Does it do more harm than good to hear details of pedophilic crime? Then when one ponders the onslaught of recent news stories in America documenting similar occurrences, what are we to think of our current culture? From where did this misuse of the title of religion come? Religious extremism has been blatantly forced into our culture since 9/11. It is not difficult to understand, the misrepresentation of religion for selfish and often violent reasons. “God says we must kill the infidels.” Now must we must include our domestic sexuality, a God given privilege traditionally delegated by marriage, in this phenomenon? How could polygynous Mormons, depraved serial killers, and murderous, drug-addicted, pedophilic, homosexual priests subvert our culture in America? What has happened to our country that we have allowed this to proliferate? What has happened to our very existence that there seems no way out except to submit to such evil and heinous behavior or suffer genocide? Has hope of happiness, health, and prosperity been lost in American society, and why? Viewing the recent wave of lobbying for mass acceptance of homosexual marriage, warning flags should be appearing everywhere. Of course it is wrong to stereotype. Because a few bad apples have crept into the sack does not mean that all are bad. With homosexuality still a largely misunderstood social behavior, it would be advantageous to raise a cautious eyebrow. In the past homosexuality has been accepted but kept on the low down. The humility shown by the purveyors merited acceptance by society, but the current trend in most of our commercial sports must have influenced this act. Recently humility in life in general has taken a back seat to selfish grandstanding. Lost was the sense that we were excelling with a purpose in mind greater than our own monetary gain. In was the act of parading one’s own personal achievements provocatively in the faces of our competitors. Media has fed on this mistake, erroneously adopting this behavior as a means to sell their product. This was the beginning of the shallow and meaningless capitalism the rest of the world loathes. “Do you not mean anything more than yourselves?” In a nutshell when religious pundits say, “Any religion where God sacrifices His own son, is not any religion I will subscribe to,” should summarize the selfishness. The whole point of religion, the meaning, the soul is exemplified by this epic event. God sacrificing His only son is what puts human life in perspective. You will always know there is something far greater than your own existence as a human being. God sacrificed His only son, Jesus, for us! This is humility, a kind of humility the entire human race should reexamine and adopt, because without it and God, there is no future for us. Heterosexuality comes from God. The quintessential relationship of a man and woman is one thing that defines human existence on earth. Consequently the spoils of this relationship are the rewards we reap for Christian behavior. During the decade of the l980's, this was at the forefront of pop culture. The screen writer John Hughes best personified this American/human behavior in his successful films. Whereas 9/11 has cast its shadow of doubt on our cultural heritage, we as a country can not allow a violent, foreign, tyranneous regime operating under the guise of religion to attempt to reshape our personal values. If we are to continue to develop and flourish, we must keep abreast of our recent and historical cultural heritage and not allow the attacks of evil to subvert our country.

"We Ain't Got No Education!"

I asked earlier what was our current culture? What has been the culture of the United States? For one music has always been an integral part of our society. The entertainment industry based in Hollywood, California has always been a place of dreams, a place where “greater than life” things can happen. It used to be music was a vital part of that entertainment. What happened? Who decided that music would die in entertainment? As a few musicians may suspect, it began with the inception and use of MIDI on commercial sound stages. Once where were great recording halls, sound studios where orchestras would play live and be recorded for feature length films and television. Music was important! As a result it was good. It was quality. What determines quality in music? Whereas I used to be affluent in judging almost any kind of music, lately my senses have become dulled by the skewing of real music and thus music education. Music is not some mysterious anomaly that burgeoned when a folk singer picked up a guitar and started to sing. Way before the Hum Strummers there was a lineage of the history of music that began in Europe. Considering Europe has been around centuries and centuries longer than the existence of the United States, it stands to reason here is where we would have to look for the real origins of music. The subject of the history of music in America is different, vastly different. It is filled with names such as Steven Foster, George Gershwin, Scott Joplin, Bill Monroe, Cole Porter, Aaron Copland, Charles Ives, and Miles Davis just to name a few. We must remember the history of music in no ways credits Rap, Hip Hop, R&B, Soul, Rock ‘n’ Roll, or Jazz. These are all derivative from where music came. Music in Europe was mostly centered around the church and the worship of God. Imagine! Music given to us by God to exalt in His glory. Music consequently is a naturally occurring phenomenon God has blessed us with from birth. The Suzuki and Kodaly methods of teaching capitalize on the “naturalness” of music flowing freely through the human soul. Universities and colleges, because they have to justify the arts to their administrators, put the history of music up in an ivory tower and often complicate the teaching of it to glorify themselves. It is actually very simple, from the music of the ancient Greeks to Schoenberg’s 12 tone method of composing. Music theory is a bit complex, but it has basic theorems that hold true and give it rationale. Creativity in helping to define music beautifully allows the bending of those rules in the sake of the natural expression of music. “If it sounds good, it is good,” some say. I don’t think music is sounding very good. What is good? I would like to define music directly as a product of the human soul and therefore human condition. Does it move me? Does it speak to me in some way that relates to me as a person? Does it try to explore a human condition? Does it enlighten in some way? These are the qualifications of music, NOT, “Will it sell a product?” There is nothing wrong with trying to sell a product with clever music. My masters degree was based upon this premise. Commercial music is commercial because it deals with commodities, whether they be products or the music itself. Being clever has always been a good selling factor for products, but it seems American media has forgotten this. Payola has all but destroyed commercial radio. Corporate monopolies have all but destroyed television and film. Still the cultural heritage of our very recent past should not just have suddenly disappeared like it seems. What happened? It seems “talent” is no longer a requirement in the production of entertainment removing entertainment from the arts. “Simple strokes for simple folks?” Media as a whole are and have been greatly underestimating the human soul. If we try to judge American mainstream society by their unwillingness to vote, then we are selling them short. If we try to judge them by the current state of public education, we are selling them short. The only way to know the American people is to listen to them, and not in the context of a contrived game show were they are asked to do repulsive things for money. Isn’t that just like the worst bully in your elementary school daring you to set the teacher’s desk on fire? Likewise isn’t subverting the vocation and craft of singing by suggesting any untrained, unskilled American can do it an underestimation? Where has our traditional system of education and therefore our recent cultural history gone? Have we separated education so far from the mainstream that they no longer may peacefully coexist? Has our current regime in government created such a chasm between our educational system and our youth population that our whole society has unraveled? It seems so, Number One.

What is Culture?

What actually is “our” culture? I guess the term “cultural heritage” should have something to do with our current cultural state of affairs, since Conservatives have been in political power recently. Conservatives are resistant to change. They like to keep things as they always have been. Is this good enough to remain in political power in the United States of America? We have experienced nothing akin to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September ll. Previously we had never experienced anything like the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in l995. We certainly have never seen anything like the mass destruction of the birthplace of jazz music, New Orleans, Louisiana. Should slavery be good enough for us, if it was for our forefathers? Should suffrage? Should prohibition? Should the murdering of our civic and social leaders be good enough? I think all would agree, “Keeping things like they have been,” is not a good idea. Read the news. New events are happening everyday, new issues that demand thought, reflection, and analysis. Illegal immigration, till recently, has not been a problem. This country, culturally, is made up of immigrants who migrated here seeking freedom from their own tyrannous countries. Obviously things change. New needs must be met. The reeds in the swamps resist the hurricanes, because they are flexible; they bend. Unwaivering policies that seek to govern based on extinct cultural practices are an anachronism. Culture changes. It evolves; it doesn’t always evolve. Sometimes it de-volves, and that seems to be what is happening now. Maybe rock music, or mall hair, or break dancing aren’t the cultural pinnacles of the world’s greatest superpower, but at least they give us humanity. I don’t know what our culture is now, or what it is supposed to represent. It seems we have become bullies, bullies demanding the spread of our own system of government unfairly to countries that should be able to choose for themselves. Was the demise of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall what were best for Russia and Germany? They may have been from our perspective, but were they good for them? The threat of all out thermonuclear war has subsided, but have these countries flourished culturally? Less then a decade later alternate countries have resurrected similar concerns over war. Russia used to be a great competitor in science. What are they now? Americanization or the annihilation of unique foreign cultures in the sake of globalization is a mistake. What after all are we as human beings without culture to represent our humanity? I don’t know. What is it we are supposed to do? What are we to aspire to? What things do we hold in high esteem? If tending to the "nine to five," paying bills, buying gasoline, eating fast food, and watching TV are our highest accomplishments or aspirations, then we aren’t much.

Calling a Spade Communism

VH-1 for the first time in a L-O-N-G while had one of their semi roc-u-mentary programs on the tube. I have all but given up on hearing or seeing good bands anymore on television. Why was the decision made to add cornball “reality” type programming to what formerly were channels devoted to music? Did America just suddenly lose interest in music videos? Is it there is no product? Nightclubs have all but disappeared except for the legendary Apollo Theatre in Harlem. It has sustained the test of time. This particular episode on VH-1 rebutted some of the comments in one of my former posts. I said, as related to the Biblical story of Sampson, that hair is in some way empowering. Whether it makes you feel good as a sensory/tactile entity or whether it allows you to express individuality is subordinate. Let’s call a spade a spade. Tipper Gore, a conservative political regime, and the media all unfairly type cast “hair” as a tool of El Diablo. The addictive tendencies of what appear to be hedonistic rockers became the personification of a style of music that freely and rightly represented the thoughts and feelings of many in our youth population at the time. Whew! Another mouthful of words. Let’s call a spade a spade and let the needs of the masses supercede the slandering of the few, the masses being the creativity, individuality, freedom, and future of our people as a whole. There are always a few who are offended; often times they are “Old Money.” The conservatives want things to stay the same, because it is comfortable for them. They have always had most of the money, and logically and by habit they want to keep that money. A shift of power of who has and controls money means a shift in politics. The founders of this country can not let that happen, can they? “We must remain in control of this great “F-R-E-E” nation. As you can easily surmise the country of America is not really free. Maybe we are free as a nation, free from the dominance of Royal rule, free from Apartheid in Africa, and free from mass genocide and sectarian violence. We are also free from the evolution of Western Civilization, and that is important to the future of the United States of America. Bill O’Reilly said many in America want “the” Scandinavian model of governmental rule. He, as a conservative, is against this. “Let’s keep things like they always have been,” but that means generally speaking those with money keep the money. That isn’t really the idea expressed in our Declaration of Independence. If we really are to be able to pursue our own happiness, it is not in our best interest to have individuals in political power that do not support this idea. That means that our governmental system is somewhat responsible for Christian behavior. Upon perusal of the definitions of both Socialism and Communism, these definitions refer solely to an economic system. The definitions of both democratic and republican are a little more telling. A democracy is the community's governing through its representatives for its OWN benefit. That to me coincides with the ideas stated in our Declaration of Independence. “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” Republican on the other hand simply means, “a nation or state in which the citizens elect representatives to manage the government, which is usually headed by a president rather than a monarch.” It seems we have two philosophies of politics available under a system of government that seems to be overtly democratic as stated in the Declaration of Independence. That means the burden of upholding our Constitutional rights is in the hands of the people by way of their voting rights. For whatever reasons that the people lose faith, become disinterested, or simply neglect their responsibility to uphold our beliefs and therefore our rights, allows corruption of our philosophy. Let’s thank God that the youth of America became aware, became enlightened, and rallied to vote to change what has been happening. If the Republicans were to remain in power, by the very nature of the definition of the word republican, the possibility would continue to exist that the basis of the founding of our country could be in jeopardy. If we simply elect representatives to manage the government, then as has happened in the former U.S.S.R, government could becomes corrupt. It seems to me our mistake in electing republican rule supports the very definition of Communism and created a movement stated in its definition, “the overthrow of (noncommunist) societies, (governments) in behalf of the laboring class, usually as the result of a series of struggles of class conflict." With the election of money Communism is created. Controlling money has always been the key issue in rule of the United States, and is it this oppression of our economy and people that selfishly attempts to maintain “Old Money,” therefore conservatism in a political system that has come to be defined as Communistic? Let's let hair be only hair and call a spade a spade.