FIRSTS - NEIL ARMSTRONG 1st MAN ON THE MOON DIES

Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012)

So there are a few historical signposts in history for every generation where you remember where you where when you heard the news. The biggies for my father's generation there was the bombng of Pearl Harbor and V-J Day. For my grandparents it was all defined by a larger event, The Great Depression. My generation remembers where they were when Kennedy was shot, The Beatles on Ed Sullivan and watching Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon.

When JFK announced the space program it was thrilling to a boy of seven years old. When John Glenn orbited the Earth, I was transfixed. I didn't miss one launch from Cape Canaveral (nee Kennedy). Walter Cronkite kept me posted. I read all about the astronauts, did book reports on them. I was transfixed by every thing about them as was everyone I knew. We'd get in the little yellow and red tepee in the backyard having ditched our Indian headdresses for empty cardboard ice cream buckets we'd scavenged from Baskin-Robbins and spray painted silver to use as helmets.

I was 12 years old and a child of the 60s when Apollo 11 set off for the moon. We had been dropped off at Green Oak Ranch Boys Camp in Vista, California for another summer time week of archery, horseback riding, making lanyards, studying nature and tormenting our camp counselors. But the first thing we did was run to the mess hall to watch television as Neil Armstrong took those historic steps. Of course, at the time we would never doubt the validity of anything we'd seen on TV.

Why just a couple of years earlier I was appalled when I was at the West Hollywood Sheriff's station where my father was Captain and I saw them bring in some "hippie protesters". One of the more vociferous among the young placard carrying, colorfully clothed "trouble-makers" was Bob Denver from Gilligan's Island. I was very upset that they had arrested him since I didn't even know he'd finally made it off the island. But I digress...

But the moon landing fueled our imaginations. It made us see the Earth from space for the first time and something in me felt a little scared. Finally, for the first time in my young life was I aware of the fragile nature of existence as I knew it. I was beginning to think of bigger questions than who had to pretend to be astronaut Michael Collins and stay in the tepee when we played Moon Landing in the backyard.


Here's the NYTimes Obit of Neil Armstrong
Below is a 51 minute special report on the APOLLO 11 moon landing from YouTube:

And as is always of interest to note, there are always other theories...here is a smattering of them from gawker.com.    

photo of Neil Armstrong: NASA. Original photo of moon over the mtns. from Rt. 38 outside of Redlands, CA (c)2011 Brad Riesau

JAZZ NEWS - RON MILES "QUIVER" w/ FRISELL & BLADE

Trumpet Luminary RON MILES Releases Quiver (Enja/Yellowbird), October 9 Live Recording Featuring Trio with BILL FRISELL and BRIAN BLADE Master trumpeter Ron Miles injects his radiant, lyrical tone directly into the lifeblood of American music on his latest release, Quiver. A compelling, inviting trio date with guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Brian Blade, Quiver combines the singing melodicism of American folk musics, the heightened communication of the most progressive jazz forms, and an entrancing, airy openness. The album finds three genre-defying musical masters at their creative best, lacing easy camaraderie with virtuosic interaction. “I conceived it so that there was a lot of space in the music,” Miles told writer and session annotator Chip Stern, “which just makes it a perfect vehicle for Brian and Bill, who are so purposeful in the way they think through a phrase with all of the silences intact and create all of this motion and energy without any wasted gestures or by playing a whole bunch of notes.” Miles is solidly grounded in the jazz tradition yet open to all manner of ethnic, popular and classical sources - let alone down-home American folk. Just try not to be intoxicated by the joyous hoedowns and hosannas of “Just Married,” in which country music and blues share a glorious two-step. Miles’ keen sense of those qualities which elevate the joy and drama of the very earliest jazz recordings enlivens the trio’s forays into roots elements of the music as well as its more modern iterations on Quiver. On “Guest Of Honor,” Miles infuses post-modern nods towards Scott Joplin with personal and political feeling. “Honor is my son’s name,” Miles explains. “I always wanted to do something syncopated in a ragtime manner, and it got me thinking about Scott Joplin and the opera which preceded ‘Treemonisha,’ which was ‘A Guest Of Honor.’ We don’t actually know what the music sounds like, because it was never sent to the copyright office. Apparently ‘A Guest Of Honor’ referenced the story of how Booker T. Washington was invited to the White House by Teddy Roosevelt, with all the controversy that subsequently ensued. And so while we tend to think of Joplin writing upbeat music such as “Maple Leaf Rag,” here he was writing political operas as far back as 1903.” On Miles’ more modernist conceptions, from the jagged hesitations and stutter steps of “Bruise” to the Ornettish exposition of “Rudy Go Round,” the composer’s love of extended forms, asymmetrical abstractions, and dramatic syncopated dances between dissonant and consonant elements rings just as true as his forays into the music’s earliest roots - as do the torchy tenderness and lyric splendor of his balladic interpretations, such as “Days Of Wine And Roses” and “Queen B.” The music on Quiver expands brilliantly on the technical and spiritual foundations this Denver-based, 49-year-old musical trailblazer has crafted for himself since graduating from the Manhattan School of Music in 1986. The album is a logical evolution of Heaven, his deceptively quiescent 2002 duet recital with Frisell. “If we were going to add a third person,” Miles says, “we both agreed it should be Brian more than anyone else because he is one of the most musical drummers on the scene.” In fact, it’s hard to imagine many other drummers approaching this music with both the pianistic elegance and intellectual discretion to lay back and allow the action to come to him - never truncating the conversation with some nervous compulsion to fill every inch of space with excitement. Witness how Blade sets the table for the old-timey jazz feeling of Miles’ brilliant re-working of that Roaring Twenties chestnut “There Ain’t No Sweet Man Worth The Salt of My Tears” with some of the most beautifully inflected mallet phrases this side of Big Sid Catlett and Elvin Jones, even as Frisell gets up on his Charlie Christian soap-box, while Miles seemingly channels the spirit of Lester Bowie in his solo passages. In short, on Quiver Miles brings the history of jazz up to date by neither disregarding its history or by remaining enslaved to it, instead giving an extremely personal account of the divergent branches of the music’s immeasurably rich family tree. “Listening to composers the likes of Scott Joplin, James Reese Europe, Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington on one hand, and improvisers such as Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry on the other, is both humbling and inspiring,” Miles concludes. “And as much as anything, after a lifetime’s study, what this music has given me is a sense of the enormity of spirituality; of being American, of being African-American; of how privileged I am to walk that path and how much work I still have to do. There are so many people who’ve inhabited this music: living it, writing it, playing it, listening to it. So you just find a way to be you in it, to find your way in it. That’s what we’re trying to do on Quiver.” Release Date: October 9, 2012 Ron Miles official site www.enjarecords.com Publicity Contact: Matt Merewitz - Fully Altered Media 347-384-2839 matt@fullyaltered.com fullyaltered.com twitter.com/fullyaltered

JAZZ NEWS: Celebrating Peace: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Cindy Blackman Santana & more | Hollywood Bowl

Celebrating Peace: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Cindy Blackman Santana & more | Hollywood Bowl

Don't miss this special musical evening under the stars featuring Dave Holland, Zakir Hussain, Marcus Miller and special guest Carlos Santana. Watch for the review of the show here at SCHLOCK THE MONKEY later this week.

FIRST COMPLETE NEW SONG FROM DYLAN STREAMED TODAY

Here goes folks...

Bob Dylan's highly anticipated and much promoted new CD, TEMPEST hits the streets on September 11 and today NPR debuted the first streamable complete song from the new release.

The lead track from the album, "Duquesne Whistle" was debuted today here on NPR'S ALL SONGS CONSIDERED. It's a swinging number that starts out sounding like an old, moldy recording of some drummerless '40s Western Swing or a train heard from around a bend and then suddenly it leaps out before the first verse into a the present tense of a full, smokin' roadhouse vibe -- slapping bruses on snare, chuggin' upright pulse and power chord electric guitars, shuffling jazzy rhythm guitar, loping pedal steel and what I presume are Dylan's own organ comping.

 photo by AP

The lyrics to the song were co-written with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. Since Garcia's passing in 1995, Hunter has been collaborating quite successfully with a wide range of talented writers (watch for my upcoming post on Robert Hunter) and has written with Dylan on and off since 1988 most notably co-writing most of the songs on Dylan's acclaimed 2009 album, Together Through Life.

"Duquesne Whistle" is a train song. Both Dylan and Hunter's individual songwriting catalogs and the roots of the American folk, blues, country and rock music that they share are filled with songs about trains.

Yes, Dylan's voice is craggy and croaky but no doubt as to what he is singing and how much fun he is having. With his crack road band behind him on most of the album alongside a couple of ringers including Los Lobos' David Hidalgo, this is another in Dylan's line of rootsy, quality efforts.

Full album review coming soon...

Here are the lyrics to DUQUESNE WHISTLE as heard on a first pass. Any corrections please let us know. We will add (c) information as soon as it is confirmed.

Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
Blowing like it's gonna sweep my world away
I wanna stop at Carbondale and keep on going
That Duquesne train 'gon rock me night and day

   You say I'm a gambler, you say I'm a pimp
   But I ain't neither one 
   Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
   Sound like it's on a final run

Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
Blowing like she never blowed before
Blue light blinking, red light glowing
Blowing like she's at my chamber door

    You smiling through the fence at me
    Just like you always smiled before
    Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
    Blowing like she ain't gon' blow no more

Can't you hear that Duquesne whistle blowing?
Blowing like the sky's gonna blow apart
You're the only thing alive that keeps me going
You're like a time bomb in my heart

   I can hear a sweet voice steadily calling
   Must be the mother of our Lord
   Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
   Blowing like my woman's on board

Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
Blowing like it's gon' blow my blues away
You old rascal, I know exactly where you're going
I'll lead you there myself at the break of day

    I wake up every morning with that woman in my bed
    Everybody telling me she's gone to my head
    Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
    Blowing like it's gon' kill me dead

Can't you hear that Duquesne whistle blowing?
Blowing through another no good town
The lights on my lady's land are glowing
I wonder if they'll know me next time 'round

    I wonder if that old oak tree's still standing
    That old oak tree, the one we used to climb
    Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
    Blowing like she's blowing right on time






Listen to Duquesne Whistle here at NPR's ALL SONGS CONSIDERED

FESTIVAL NEWS - DOHENY DAYS - SEPT. 8-9

DOHENY DAYS TO ROCK THE BEACH...

SITTING IN THE DARK - THIS WEEK'S MOVIES

All movies this week were rented from Redbox...and yes beware of some plot give-aways below.

RAMPART ***

Woody wasn't bad at all. Decent acting throughout. Not nearly as good as the trailers looked but not horrid if you like crooked cop stories. I liked the portrayals of the characters for the most part but the story sort of jumped around with out a lot of flow. Great casting though and I liked the look of the film. Love movies made in L.A. It’s fun to see how they really capture the vibe of the area.

HAYWIRE **1/2
A starring vehicle for the young pioneering fighter in Women's MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), Gina Carano from director Steven Soderbergh. Many big name actors are also involved including Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender and Antonio Banderas. All but Douglas get there asses kicked by Carano. Other than the fight scenes there is not much of interest here. Carano is not yet an actor and the script was less compelling than Soderbergh's usual fare. Imdb's synopsis of the plot is short, sweet and about all you need: "A black ops super soldier seeks payback after she is betrayed and set up during a mission."

TRUST ***

Fourteen-year-old Annie (Liana Liberato) is contacted by another teen online and they become friends in spite of the fact that she keep catching him lying about things, including his age. When tehy finally arrange to meet in person her "boyfriend" (Chris Henry Coffey) is in his mid-30s not a 20-year-old college student as he had claimed. Her parents (Clive Owen and Catherine Keener) are torn apart by Annie's continued devotion to this man. Well-acted and disturbing. Unfotunately, Keener didn't have a lot to do in the film. Too bad for she is alwas wonderful in anything she does. Directed by David Schwimmer.

THE WHISTLEBLOWER ***1/2

Rachel Weisz plays a true life American police officer who works as a observer and peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia. She becomes involved in exposing a multi-national cover-up campaign of corruption, violence, and human trafficking. Weisz was pregnant when first approached about this film and passed, but later when the project was offered again she accepted and did a great job in the part. See her in theaters now in the BOURNE LEGACY. 



BAD ASS **1/2

Danny Trejo is just great as always and truly IS a Bad Ass. What I found out in the bonus footage that I didn’t know is that he was a champion boxer in the California Penal System before he was an actor. A-ha. The script was horrible though the fight scenes were very well-done. This low budget film even used old bus chase footage from RED HEAT to end in the story in the same way as that old Schwarzeneggar film did. Even most of the director/writer Craig Moss’s bonus commentary was boring, weak and shed very little light on what the film was trying to achieve. There were some fun moments and homage’s to other films which were nice distractions from the stilted script. The kid actor who played “Frank Vega”’s foul-mouthed young next door neighbor was fun. Now the thing I liked most other than the action and Danny’s decent job was the use of downtown L.A. and the hood. A very L.A. looking movie. The opening credits montage is pure barrio. Having the Mayor (Ron Perlman in a very small role) and Panther (Charles S. Dutton is wonderfully strong as the heavy) taking a meeting from Elysian Park up by the Police Academy overlooking Dodger Stadium is a great shot.

MACHINE GUN PREACHER ***1/2 Gerard Butler in this story of a violent, low-rent Pennsylvania hood who gets out of jail, sees his ex-junkie/stripper wide has found God, gets in trouble again and changes his ways and finds Jesus. Which leads him to have a vision of starting a church and then building an orphanage in war torn Sudan. This is based on a true story of Sam Childers who goes to the Sudan and takes justice into his own hand doing what ever he can to help the orphans including shooting up the bad guys. Well-done but a flop in the theaters. Cost an estimated $30 MILLION and only did $1.1 million internationally in it’s first 11 months on screens. I almost passed this by because of the title. When I mentioned it to friends, every one of them said unprompted, "Horrible title. Not something that appeals to me." Actions fans don't want preachy and religious types don't want shoot-'em-ups, it seems. Of course, when it comes down to it action movies are full of moralistic pontificating and religions are at war all the time. I thought it might be too preachy but they painted this guy as someone who would do anything for justice. Butler was good. Very intense. Footage over the end credits with the real-life Childers is interesting.

HICK **** starred Chloe Grace Moretz who played Isabelle in HUGO as a young girl brought up by white trash in Nebraska (Juliette Lewis is her oblivious mom) who runs off with a slimy white guy (Eddie Redmayne) then is picked up by his ex, a hot slutty wild one (Blake Lively who was even better here than in SAVAGES). In her travels the 13 year old is shown first hand the violent, sleazy, abusive side of life. Quite a traumatic misadventure. Done with light humor amidst the sleaze and violence. Moretz is superb as is the whole cast in this actor’s film. Redbox reviews HATED this movie but it seems people are complaining about things like subject matter when if they had read the description of the film they might have steered clear. It was a very well cast and written film and a cautionary tale. I see a lot of irresponsibly parented kids in the town where I live and parents should watch this with their young teens. There is indeed a very tough world out there and this film addresses these issues directly, with taste and humor and a sense of realism that rings true if you have ever been around situations like the ones shown. The use of select music by Bob Dylan is wonderfully done. SOONER OR LATER’s line “I didn’t really know how young you were…” is perfectly placed and the wonderful theme music is Dylan’s instrumental “Suze” which appeared as “Suze (The Cough Song)” on bootleg recordings for years before being officially release on Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3: Rare & Unreleased, 1961-1991

WRECKED ***

Like The Edge and 127 Hours, this is a survival story. Man against nature and his own human nature comes to task. Adrien Brody is trapped in his wrecked car in the middle of nowhere. He has no idea who he is or how he got there. His hallucinations distract him but his survival instinct takes over but this film is more about Brody’s emotional state, his guilt and desires manifested as his confusion and fear overwhelm him and his scattered memories begin to flow over him. What is real and what is not seem to be the real questions here. Oddly, this film seems to have played in only one theater for one week. A physically and emotionally riveting performance by Brody based on a very simple premise. Interesting that the movie was filmed ins chronological order and that writer Christopher Dodd wrote it very spontaneously and sees it as a metaphor for getting a movie finished. Again, it seems as if so many of the people bitching about this film didn’t really seem to watch it very carefully. People seem to a) have very little imagination or b) ability to take anything as something other than literally. Why they’d bother even taking the time to comment on it online or even watch it is beyond me.  

'Mama said knock you out': LL Cool J broke burglary suspect's nose, jaw, ribs

Rapper/actor LL COOL J took his family's security into his own hands giving a beating to a criminal who broke into his home. CNN's coverage


More info on LL Cool J's classic song, "Mama Said Knock You Out" here

 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

  "One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain."

-- Bob Marley

The first time I saw Bob Marley & The Wailers was about 4 weeks before the video above was filmed. The night was May 17, 1976 at the Santa Monica Civic and I'm looking for any video, audio or a set list from that night. Quite a pivotal evening for me. I became a hardcore BMW fan that night and still would rather dance to no one more.

BIG BEAR LAKE FILM OPPORTUNITIES DELIGHT LOCAL CINEASTS

With the Village Theater closed August 15, film buffs in Big Bear Lake are left with three first-run films in town each week (occasionally 4) instead of the usual five we've been used to for years. But for cineasts and fledgling film buffs alike, this small town, only 2 hours away from the bright lights of Hollywood still has offered plenty of filmic fun.

In late August, there was a wonderful special event for film fans on the mountain: A rare showing of the landmark silent film, THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD from 1924. So rare these days to see a silent film anywhere but late at night on TCM. In first the penny arcades then the silent movie halls was where the industry learned it's craft, where film making sprouted wings.

Starring Douglas Fairbanks, Julianne Johnston and Anna May Wong, this swashbuckling adventure was presented at a fundraiser for the Community Arts Theater Society of Big Bear Lake (C.A.T.S) in their Olde Tyme Movie Night series.

Of special interest to film fans was the organ and sound effects accompaniment by renowned musician Bob Salisbury which gave old and young alike a chance to experience what it was like in the Golden Age of silent film before talkies revolutionized the movie industry.

The film was shown on the side if C.A.T.S. Warehouse Theater and the admission price of $20 included the film, pasta dinner served by the adjacent Broadway Cafe, and popcorn. It was a beautiful, summer evening and a perfect occasion to get out and see a film under the stars.

In the early years of it's development before jet travel and superhighways made getting away from it all a more world-wide opportunity, Big Bear Lake was a hideaway spot for the Hollywood film industry. Not only did they make 100s of films in the rustic grandeur of the surrounding wilderness areas but many stars had weekend homes throughout the Bear Valley.

Proximity to Hollywood still brings a passionate film goer to the mountain and locals have many wonderful opportunities in the summer time to catch movies around town.

On select Saturdays this summer families have enjoyed MOVIES ON THE BEACH at the Swim Beach Amphitheater on Park Avenue. A fun place to take the kids for family fare like Happy Feet 2, Cars 2 and The Muppets Movie. With an open snack bar and beautiful sunsets that lead right up to movie time, these are great events for kids and mom and dad as well.

All of this leads up to the 13th Annual BIG BEAR LAKE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL taking place September 14th-16th. Known for it's annual Screenwriters Competition, this year the festival honors Academy Award winning screenwriter Tom Schulman, whose first feature script for Dead Poet's Society won him the coveted Oscar statuette in 1990. He has also written screenplays for Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, What About Bob? (my favorite of his projects and the last film I saw in a drive-in theater, by the way), Medicine Man and Holy Man in addition to becoming a leading director and producer as well as executive with the Writers Guild of America and the Writers Guild Foundation. Schulman will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award for Screenwriting from BBLIFF.

See a trailer on the Big Bear International Film Festival here.

Being honored posthumously with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Cinematography is the great cinematographer/director/photographer, Jack Cardiff. His camera work won an Oscar for Black Narcissus (1947) and The Red Shoes, The African Queen, and Death On The Nile. He worked alongside legendary directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston, Orson Welles, Joseph Mankiewicz, Laurence Olivier and King Vidor. A wonderful documentary, Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (2010) is being screened during the festival.

From the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival's website:

"BBLIFF was founded in 2000 to showcase the emerging talent of screenwriters and independent filmmakers within the idyllic setting of Big Bear Lake. Our goal is to nurture a festival that is highly creative, filmmaker friendly and which provides an educational experience for people interested in all aspects of the film industry."

The BBLIFF features three days packed with events, screenings of features, shorts, student films, panels and Q&A sessions, parties and even a film camp. Find out more about the schedule of events, including Screenwriters Competition, here.

Thanks to Monique and Brandon R. Miller of BBLIFF for assistance with this article.

JAZZ NEWS - TROMBONIST CLIFTON ANDERSON 3rd CD DROPS 9/25

Trombonist-Composer

CLIFTON ANDERSON

Releases His Third CD, and so we carry on,

On Daywood Drive Records, September 25, 2012

 With DONALD VEGA (piano), ERIC WYATT (tenor sax),
ESSIET ESSIET (bass) and STEVE WILLIAMS (drums)

Recording Also Features Special Guest Artists:
MONTY ALEXANDER, BOB CRANSHAW, KIMATI DINIZULU,
KENNY GARRETT, STEVE JORDAN, WALLACE RONEY,
JEFF "TAIN" WATTS, WARREN WOLF and VICTOR SEE YUEN

"With people increasingly faced with turmoil, uncertainty and crisis,
I wanted to create music that uplifts the listener and offers a sense of hope to prevail."
- Clifton Anderson

"Trombonist Clifton Anderson gives US the soul, substance and spirit to carry on.
Listen closely, this music will move you through the days ahead in spite of..."
- Gary Walker, WBGO Radio

What happens when you get a bunch of friends together? Trombonist, composer and producer Clifton Anderson went into the studio in September 2011 to record and produce his third release as a leader, and so we carry on, with a stellar lineup of guest artists who also happen to be his friends. The featured friends -- pianist Monty Alexander, soprano saxophonist Kenny Garrett, bassist Bob Cranshaw, trumpeter Wallace Roney, percussionists Kimati Dinizulu and Victor See Yuen, and drummers Steve Jordan and Jeff "Tain" Watts -- blended seamlessly with Clifton's working band, pianist Donald Vega, tenor saxophonist Eric Wyatt, bassist Essiet Essiet and drummer Steve Williams, to create a musical blueprint for hope, renewal and carrying on.

and so we carry on opens with its title track, an original composition full of intense tones and powerful energy, letting listeners know that this is stress-relieving, feel good music. In total, there are six new original compositions, each brilliantly crafted to take the listener on an emotional journey to provide musical relief for motivation to navigate through hard and confusing times. There are also three uniquely arranged standards; the Rogers & Hart ballads "Where or When" and "Falling in Love with Love," both given fast-paced treatments, and a bright, sunshiny take on the eternally optimistic "Tomorrow," from the musical Annie.

The provocative CD cover image by artist Rudy Gutierrez is a disturbing mixture of chaos, turmoil, and just plain old scary stuff. Clifton Anderson hopes that the musical journey on and so we carry on will be the right antidote to enable people to feel better after listening.

Clifton Anderson was born on October 5, 1957 in Harlem, New York City. He grew up surrounded by music. His father was a church organist/choir director, and his mother a singer and pianist. It was no surprise that Clifton exhibited an affinity for music at an early age. When he was seven years old, he got his very first trombone, a gift from his uncle, legendary tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins. 

Clifton attended the prestigious Fiorello LaGuardia High School of Music and Art in New York City and is a graduate of The Manhattan School Of Music. In 1983, Clifton got the call to join his uncle Sonny on the road. For over three decades, he performed as a member of Sonny’s group and toured extensively with him around the world. Clifton has also appeared on ten of his recordings and has produced four releases for Sonny’s label, Doxy Records. 

In 1997, Clifton released his first recording as a leader/producer on the Milestone label entitled Landmarks. Landmarks received critical acclaim internationally and made the top ten playlists on US Jazz radio coast to coast. At the end of 2007, Clifton went back into the studio as a leader to produce the highly anticipated, critically-acclaimed Decade (2009). 

Clifton has worked and performed with a “who’s who” of diverse musical legends, such as Stevie Wonder, McCoy Tyner, Frank Foster, Slide Hampton's World Of Trombones, Dizzy Gillespie, The Mighty Sparrow, Lester Bowie, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Paul Simon, Carlos Garnett, Terumasa Hino, Keith Richards, Muhal Richard Abrams, WyClef Jean, Geri Allen, T.S. Monk, and Charlie Haden, among others.

and so we carry on 

Clifton Anderson
Release Date: September 25, 2012
Label: Daywood Drive Records
Distributed by BFM Digital

Management:

Brian McKenna / McKenna Group Productions

brian@mckennagroupproductions.com

Publicity:

Stephanie Dawn Agency {SDA}

Steph Brown

StephbSDA@gmail.com
Davida Garr

garrgirl@comcast.net

JAZZ NEWS - NEW CD FROM PIANIST SEAN WAYLAND

Visionary Pianist/Composer SEAN WAYLAND Releases His 21st Album, Click Track Jazz: Slave to the Machine, Vols. 1 & 2 (Seed Music), October 9, 2012 Double Album Release Features Wayne Krantz, Keith Carlock, Mark Guiliana, Donny McCaslin, Nate Wood, Mark Shim, Jochen Reuckert, Orlando Le Fleming, James Muller and Matt Penman Australian-born pianist, composer and keyboardist Sean Wayland creates a stunning work of improvisational jazz/funk on his latest recording, Click Track Jazz: Slave to the Machine, Vols. 1 & 2.  A creative star of Sydney’s jazz scene, Wayland relocated to Brooklyn in 2005 (following a brief earlier stint in New York) and has spent a good part of the last decade living in New York touring and recording mostly with his piano trio featuring Jochen Rueckert and Matt Penman. All the while, Wayland has maintained a high profile in Australia through his collaborations with Australian virtuoso guitarist James Muller and drummer Andrew Gander. Rueckert and Penman both feature prominently on the new double album, which also heavily features rising drum star Mark Guiliana.  An extremely prolific instrumentalist and composer, Wayland mines a vein of jazz which has its roots in such influential recordings as Herbie Hancock’s Thrust, Alan Holdsworth’s Secrets and John Scofield’s Blue Matter.  Wayland delivers 26 fresh-sounding compositions on Click Track Jazz as he effortlessly combines influences ranging from jazz piano greats Herbie Hancock and Kenny Kirkland with jazz funk and fusion masters Allan Holdsworth and Wayne Krantz, both of whom Sean has worked with in the last year. Wayland’s studies of composers of various idioms find expression in the truly rare grooves of Click Track Jazz. Deeply rooted in the jazz piano tradition, Wayland strongly feels funk rhythms and electric instruments to be equally worthy of exploration by the serious musician of today. Click Track Jazz combines the tradition of the acoustic jazz piano trio with modern rhythms and newly created instruments including Sean's own programs created on the computer-based Nord Modular G2X synthesizer. “Actual Proof,” from Thrust, is a real American masterpiece,” Wayland says. “The way it’s recorded, Herbie’s Fender Rhodes playing and Mike Clark’s drumming created an entirely new genre. I heard Holdsworth’s Flat Tyre right after 9/11 while gigging in Japan. The sounds of the synths there really captured me.  That’s when I realized it was possible to do something very interesting and original with synthesizers.” Click Track Jazz features a heady rollercoaster ride of rapt musicianship and inspired melodies, across-the-bar-line improvisations and seriously unctuous groove machinations. Vol. 1 includes “Belt Parkway,” with its darting acoustic piano, swirling synthesizers, and slippery rhythmic syncopations, bop-flavored quartet vehicle, “Boxing Day,” the Holdsworth-tinged synths and arrangement of “Conglomerate,” the Hammond B3/acoustic piano infused drive of “Flypaper,” the Wayne Krantz enlightened ruminations of “Marshmallows,” and Americana-inspired closer, “Stop I Want to Get Off.” Bringing a fresh perspective to American standards, Wayland finds a unique slant on Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” to introduce Vol. 2. Over a pulsing Mark Guiliana rhythm, Wayland improvises on a Nord Lead modular synth, the duo battling like Ninja swordsmen, Coltrane’s classic melody eventually erupting through the smoke before the song spins out and collapses, as quickly as the track began. Wayland explains the significance of finding and playing with Guiliana in the context of his larger body of work. “I think Mark has revolutionized improvised drumming. It's a real step forward in the language and concepts. He sounds like what has been in my head for years and previously only my computer drum programming could realize. It’s actually a dream come true to hear my music performed by him. I believe that over the last few years of playing and touring, we have developed a unique way of playing together.” Other highlights of Vol. 2 include the odd phrase-shifting explorations of “Mark Is Enough,” the atmospheric synth tonalities of “QY70,” “Technocalypse,” with its squirrely melody and gently insinuating rhythms, and the ominous “Waiting for the Computer to Take Over.”  Throughout Click Track Jazz, Wayland merges various strains for an album that is simultaneously challenging, refreshing, and forward thinking. A graduate of Sydney’s Conservatorium of Music where he won the Jack Chrostowski Piano Award and was a finalist in 1993’s National Jazz Piano Awards, Wayland arrived in New York City in 1999 and soon became a fixture on Harlem’s chitlin circuit, and a regular at Lower East Side haunt, The Living Room, supporting Madeleine Peyroux and Jesse Harris. Constantly learning, recording and expanding his knowledge base, Wayland also adapted his keyboards to suit his vision. “I’ve spent a great deal of time tinkering with what’s possible,” Wayland explains. “For synthesizers, I created a patch that allows me to transpose the whole keyboard by playing notes on the bottom octave.  Rather than spending time practicing insane chromatic systems I can play them on the spot.” Since arriving in New York, Wayland has recorded at a furious clip with a compelling collective of like-minded musicians. Most recently, Pistachio and Pistachio 2 (featuring Keith Carlock, Tim LeFebvre & Adam Rogers from 2009), Live at 55 Bar Dec 2009 (featuring Mark Guiliana & Jeff Hanley), and The Show Must Go On (featuring Rueckert & Penman, 2010) paved the way for Wayland’s most powerful statement yet, Click Track Jazz: Slave to the Machine, Vols 1 & 2. “The new record is an attempt to straddle multiple styles,” Wayland says.  “It blurs the division between playing rhythm changes, actually having a chord sequence and having no chord sequence.  Overall, I wanted to make a funky, improvised record that was also as acoustic as possible.”  Release Date: October 9, 2012  www.seanwayland.com Publicity Contact: Matt Merewitz - Fully Altered Media 347-384-2839 matt@fullyaltered.com fullyaltered.com twitter.com/fullyaltered

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I am big! It's the pictures that got small."
        - Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond
        in Sunset Boulevard (1950)

HOW DID I MISS THIS?: JONI MITCHELL / JAMES TAYLOR / PHIL OCHS - LIVE IN 1970

2CD SET CELEBRATES 

AMCHITKA: The 1970 Concert That Launched Greenpeace

FEATURES SETS BY JONI MITCHELL, JAMES TAYLOR and PHIL OCHS

I just heard a couple of wonderful tracks from this 2009 CD release and I've ordered up my copy and can't wait to hear the whole thing. This previously unreleased live concert recording from October of 1970 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver was a free show that helped launch the newly founded GREENPEACE organization. 

This features James Taylor at the height of his early stardom, Joni Mitchell at her early commercial peak before she began jazzing up her music with full bands and jazz harmony, still pristine and folkie and delicate, and Phil Ochs who often got lost in the shuffle of the 60s folk movement due to his sticking to his political/protest stance while Dylan led the charge away from that same place and into the rock n roll world. These three solo acoustic sets by these major stars had long been unavailable until the release of these historic concert tapes to celebrate 40 years of GREENPEACE.

There are some real treats here for long-time fans. Mitchell's song "Hunter" had never previously published by Joni on any recordings (though she played it live at the time)*. There is also a very rare cover by Joni tagged onto the end of her then biggest hit "Big Yellow Taxi": she adds a fun version of the early rock classic originally a hit in 1957 by Larry Williams', "Bony Moronie". There is a rare and wonderful duet with Taylor and Mitchell chiming in on Bob Dylan's classic, "Mr. Tambourine Man". You'll also hear many of your early favorites from each of them, songs that became signposts of the singer-songwriter era.

Phil Ochs was near the end of his storied career though he lived until 1976 when he tragically took his own life. He was a master of the topical song and a riveting performer in his early years before bipolar disorder and alcoholism stripped him of his focus in the early 70s. This is a great chance to hear the artist in front of a packed house singing some of his best known tunes like "I Ain't Gonna March Anymore" and "Changes". His voice is crystal clear at this show and is a wonderful introduction to those who may have missed out on him the first time around. Worth checking out also is the moving Ken Bowser documentary film, Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune which was released in 2010.

All proceeds from the sale of this compact disc release or download go to GREENPEACE. Read more about the story behind the concert, reviews of the CD, hear excerpts from the show and buy the CD at the AMCHITKA CONCERT website.

*Here is a rare video of Joni performing the unpublished tune "Hunter" just about a month before the Amchitka Concert. I am always so stunned by early video of Joni. How strongly formed her artistic sensibilities were, how she changed so from album to album, a true artist on her own terms. Her voice so angelic and taking what the pure vocal sound of Joan Baez had led with in the years before Joni sprang from the Saskatchewan wilderness of her youth. Mitchell's unique guitar tunings, flowing melodic invention and striking beauty drew you into some of the most distinctively iconoclastic lyrical perspective this side of Bob Dylan.

SITTING IN THE DARK - THIS WEEK'S MOVIES

But I absolutely am addicted to going to the movies. As you have read in my introduction to this blog and elsewhere or if you have tried to reach me on bargain nights at the various theaters wherever I am, you know I am sitting in the dark, shutting up (for once) and diving into some popcorn deeply involved in whatever alternate universe I am exploring from my aisle seat.

I like stories. Sure songs, novels, poetry, paintings, conversation, a smattering of television are okay. But when at all possible, that walk into big dark room where the illusion of being drawn into the bigger-than-life story being laid out on that huge screen is just about as good as it gets for me.

Yes, I have been accused of "liking everything." WRONG! Did you see BATTLESHIP? Oy. But, I DO like the movie-going process. I enjoy checking out how a movie was made, what I would've changed to make it better. I had to see INCEPTION three times in the theater to have any idea of what was really going on. But each time I was stunned by the artistic achievement of the visual and sonic aspects of the film. I bought the DVD and get some new insight every time I see it. I have seen ERASERHEAD two dozen times at least and 1/3 of those on the big screen. No idea what the hell is going on but I can't stop watching and I haven't MISS a David Lynch film since.

Direct focused interaction with the transportational artistic devices in film present demonstrative elements that allow one's own imagination, interpretive skills, emotional moods and perspectives to contextualize life in ways the overwhelming speed and roar of the real world blur in our daily lives. Leaving a theater with new perspectives on human relations, individual achievements, empathetic experiences as well as the distinct possibility of just leaving life's pressures and intrusions behind for a couple of hours is well-needed in these stress-filled times.

It is not an accident or even a product of marketing that has long made movies popular in times of economic, emotional and societal depression. Escapism is not just for hiding out from reality's travails. It fosters perspective, needed distance or at times the neglected focus about our place in this universe that helps us to deal with our everyday issues.

But, really, in spite of all the high fallutin' rationale, I primarily just like stories. Stories about people, places, things. Stories with laughs, suspense, thrills, horrors, sexiness. Stories I don't have to live through in real life. Other people's stories but stories that in some way foster some glimmers of being part of something bigger than my own little worries, my own ego-centric world view. They let me get a sense of some kind of shared humanity, some kind of hopefulness, of poignant pain, unrealistic or improbable futures, or different, distant pasts that allows us a better chance of living a more considered, thoughtful and observant life. Movies help me see that my world is just a small fragment of a much larger existence out there where the chances that anything can and does happen, a world of limitless possibility, untapped imagination and breathless humanity. Bring it on.

##

1999 photo from the Will Viner collection

I mourn the passing of the Village Theater in Big Bear Lake. It closed on August 14. Rumors that another theater company is interested in opening up with second run films, i.e. films you may have missed in the theaters in the recent past, (generally movies are about 4 months old). The hard part these days is that 35mm movie grade prints are rarely produced other than for first run films.  I do see films at the Academy in Pasadena which was a beautiful old theater when I was young and now is a multi-plex of 5-6 screens (?). Their prints are generally pretty good so it can be done. Hopefully, that will come to fruition here. But for now, these are only rumors and the "FOR SALE OR LEASE" sign is still out front.

What I would love to see is a resurgence of what used to be called "repertory cinema" houses. This town may not be the place, but who knows. College towns are good for this. The great Ken Cinema in the North Park section of San Diego was a treasure. Programming ws eclectic and exhilarating and I spent many nights a week there while in college when I should have been studying but how could I resist? They changed the programming 3-4 times a week and always featured double bills. Mon-Tues might be two Woody Allen films of fairly recent vintage. I recall a double bill of Bananas and Take The Money & Run while Sleeper was in the first run theaters across town. I first dug the films of the great director Stanley Kubrick when on a Wed-Thurs they showed a dbl. feature of Dr. Strangelove and Paths of Glory. There might be a Bogart night or a couple of days of films by the legendary surrealist Luis Bunuel. More popular fare hit on the weekends and every Friday at midnight was, of course, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Always double bills and always good prices and always lots of butts in seats.

Whatever goes into the building, Bear Valley movie fans will miss the familiar faces of the long-time staff (most of them will move down the street to the Village Theater on Pine Knot) and young Big Bear students who often held their first jobs behind the candy counter in this classic old theater will have to count on their memories from now on to conjure up their own nostalgic moments. For movie buffs, losing two screens in town would be a real shame. While my mom was a movie buff and Dad had a cheap drive-in movie pass when were were growing up, we also drove to Hollywood for big name releases once and awhile, did the Universal tour, met a few movie stars and have only missed one Oscars broadcast since I was 10. While I have my favorite stars (Depp, DeNiro, Cruz, Johansson...), directors (Woody Allen, Pedro Almodovar, Christopher Nolan...) and genres (foreign, epics, psychological thrillers...)

Village Theaters business owner Will Viner posted the following thank you to long-time patrons here: www.villagetheaters.com

I personally will miss the old theater. In spite of the roller coaster rise and fall of the sloping rows of seats which sometimes puts your line of vision below the shoulders of the people directly in front of you (I have learned which rows NOT to sit in), the projectors and sound in the old theater were the best on the mountain and as with all of the theaters in the E&W theater chain, the prices are unbeatable and I'm told will continue at the Pine Knot Avenue location. Having a neighborhood theater where you see folks you know every week and you can share the movie-going experience helps create a sense of community that you can never get in the big suburban or inner city multi-plexes and in this day and age where every mall and street in the country features the same cookie-cutter chain stores and marquees, it is nice to have a place that feels your own. Like a good neighborhood bar, a favorite local band or a breakfast joint that knows your order before you walk in the door. Memories are built like this. I wish nothing but the best of luck to Will and Bruce and my good friend Koley who I met when she was just a teenager behind the glass in the ticket booth so many years ago. They and their staff have created a friendly and smiling environment where, in this small mountain burg, the locals and tourists alike can enjoy a quality night out on the town.

Regarding my personal tastes, in addition to the 2-3 movies a week at the Village Theaters, I still head down the hill driving two hours each way a couple of times a month for a day or two and camp out in the Laemmele Theaters in Pasadena or the Landmark Theaters in Hollywood to see that latest independent, foreign and art-house flicks. And Lord knows the bargain bins at K-Mart and Big Bear's indie owned Blockbuster have provided a recent plethora of B-pictures, old classics and the odd essential addition to my DVD collection for next to nothing. Nothing like batch of "sale" priced movies to cheer me up. I won't even get into my NetFlix habit which has blown up exponentially since I gave up my exhaustively expensive cable bill two years ago. Too many films, not enough time.

The profusion of Hollywood blockbusters is generally what we get on our 5 screens in the little town, lots of kids movies, horror and teen-aged fare which is needed to keep the theaters afloat. Once and awhile the wonderful folks who run the theaters respond to the requests of their more discerning crowd and bring a spectacular, more critically favored film (i.e. indie or less of a box-office smash) to town and we love them for it. Recently, THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL (not the greatest title for a film) played for a week and I heard not one bad thing from anyone lucky enough to catch it. It was delightfully written, compellingly acted and a visual feast. Coming soon to town will be the surprise romantic all-star hit of the summer, MOONRISE KINGDOM and the Lee Hirsch documentary BULLY. Both sound like must-see films for those looking outside the general car chase and animated summer fare.

Well, all of this by way of introduction to this new more regular movie review column. I will try to keep the reviews weekly and brief from now on and my mix up some DVD and NetFlix fare along with theatrical releases in the future but primarily I'll be giving my own, highly opinionated capsule reviews of recently viewed films.

This week in theaters:

TOTAL RECALL
Colin Farrell, Bookeem Woodbine, Bryan Cranston, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bill Nighy
****1/2
Directed by Len Wiseman
Remake of the 1990 Arnold Schwarzeneggger vehicle of the same name (originally directed by Paul Verhoeven). This one was light year's better, in my humble opinion. Not only was the acting predictably not as stiff and formulaic but the visual sensibility was up there with BLADE RUNNER and A.I. as a stunning glimpse at a futuristic world not so far from our quickly changing, present day timeline. This world is bleaker and grittier than either of the scenario's shown in the above SciFi classics but as compellingly created by the filmmakers. Based on Philip K. Dick's short story, "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale"...this new version stays firmly planted on Earth while the book and original had sub-plot set on Mars. Dick also wrote the books/stories that were the basis for the films "BLADE RUNNER", "MINORITY REPORT", "ADJUSTMENT BUREAU", "SCREAMERS", "IMPOSTER" "PAYCHECK", "KING OF ELVES", "A SCANNER DARKLY", "NEXT", "CONFESSIONS D'UN BARJO"...PKD is my all-time favorite sci-fi writer and was a unique and odd and compelling human being...read him. Some of his most popular work are "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" (aka Blade Runner); "The Cosmic Puppets", "Martian Time-Slip", "A Scanner Darkly" and my own personal fave "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch." Buy them all!!! www.philipkdick.com
  

THE CAMPAIGN

Will Ferrell, Zach Ganifikanis, John Lithgow, Dan Ackroyd, Dylan McDermott
***1/2
Directed by Jay Roach
Not the hilarity fest I had hoped but lots of fun, off-color and ridiculous moments as is to be expected from these guys. Ferrell was much more low-key than usual playing an unlikeable dolt and Zach the big scene-stealer playing a delightful dweeb who challenges the incumbent Ferrell in a last minute bid for a seat in Congress. The ensuing cutthroat campaign nearly destroys them both. And no, I don't limit my reviews to movies staring people named Farrell/Ferrell. I'd review a new movie by the Farrelly Brothers as well, if there was one out now. In the meantime, here are some others...

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Marion Cotillard, Tom Hardy, Michael Caine, Joseph Gordon-Leavitt
****1/2
Directed by Christopher Nolan
I rarely see films twice in a theater (getting to be a habit with Chris Nolan's films), but I wanted to see the final showing at the Village Theater and I was quite taken with this third in Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. While a bit long and convoluted plot wise (takes a LONG time before we ever see the Batman cowled and hittin' it), I loved the look of this film. Nolan is a stunningly visual director and the cast here was A-list good though Anne Hathaway while fine and gorgeous lacked the stylized cattiness of previous Catwomen, Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry. Tom Hardy, another favorite actor in Nolan's films (as is co-star Marion Cotillard) is intense and practically unrecognizable as the villain, Bane. Nolan's trio of films is so much darker and more adult oriented than the Spiderman series.

Last week or two:

THE WATCH

Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughan, Jonah Hill, Richard Ayoade, R. James Ermey
***
Directed by Akiva Shaffer
A fun comedy though not great but some laughs and a nice diversion. Vaughn's dry delivery and Stiller's befuddled but persistent hero save the pic from just silly, nothingness. There are good lines throughout but not a lot of super, great lines as four bumbling wanna be hero's form a Neighborhood Watch when aliens invade the solitude of their suburban town.

SAVAGES
Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, John Travolta, Benecio del Toro, Salma Hayek
****1/2
Directed by Oliver Stone
Well acted by the incredible cast, this is one of my favorite movies of the year. Travolta and Del Toro are sublime. This is the story of two local pot growers servicing the medical marijuana stores who get involved in an ill advised involvement with a Mexican drug cartel owned by Hayek. Del Toro is simply menacing in this role.



on DVD:

FROM DUSK TILL DAWN

George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, John Hawkes, Fred Williamson
****
Directed by Robert Rodriquez
I had forgotten how much fun this movie was. Though the vampire horror make-up looks a bit over the top these post-Twilight days, it was state-of-the-art back in the day. The creepiness factor rules this film with Tarantino's role taking the cake (he also wrote the screenplay). Really a Grindhouse movie stylistically with a bigger FX budget (master Special FX man, Tom Savini even has a starring role) this one is just a hell ride from start to finish. I love Lewis and Keitel's performances and the opening sequence in the liquor store is edgy and twisted in a Peckinpaugh-Meets-Pulp Fiction way. Great color and score add to the garishness of the whole shebang. Not to mention one of my favorite songs, DARK NIGHT by always riveting L.A. band, The Blasters (hear the abbreviated version under the FDTD credits above and a cool more recent live version below.