Dub El, et al @ BoCav 11.28.06

If you haven't checked out Belgian Beer Happy Hour at Bohemian Caverns on Tuesday nights, I highly recommend it. Not only do you get a great deal on really good brews (no Blue Moons [i.e., fake white beers perpetrated on the world by mega-corps]), but you can hear the DJ stylings -- and often the live music -- of W. Ellington Felton, who, as the opening act for Esthero at the Birchmere in mid-August, was off the hook and whose newest joint, Outrospective: Me Then, Me Now, is excellent as well. (Usually, I would link to a site where you can purchase an album, but in this case, it's best to buy directly from Dub Ell at a gig, at the Caverns, or if you just see him on the street.)

Here's what he has to say about the goings-on this coming Tues. (11.28.06 [with a couple of links added by yours truly]):

Do you love GREAT MUSIC, Cool People, Great food, and BELGIUM BEER?

Where can you get ALL of those things in ONE place?

DUB's PUB!!!
Every tuesday @
Bohemian Caverns
2001 11th Street NW [Google map {which allows driving directions}; across the street {at 10th and Vermont exit} from the U St. Metro stop]
Washington, DC
http://www.bohemiancaverns.com/

W.Ellington Felton spins rare grooves, classic hip hop, and the world's best underground and indie soul.

join him as he features Global and Local musical, visiual, and graphic artist.
Chimay, Delirium, Duvel, and other great belgium beers are on sale for half price...
there is a food menu that features delicious Appetizers and Entrees....

This Tuesday, November 28th 2006 Join us for a special meet n greet, listening session and performance, and celebration for the release of "Ancestors" By: The W.E.S. Group

Echoes of ancestral and native sounds can be heard in this collective of talented musicians, whose folk jazz and acoustic approach create a distinctive sound of peace and beauty. Exceptional musicians in their own right, the collaboration of these seasoned musicians exhibits the passion and spirit of a “great camp meeting in the promised land” of jazz.

ABOUT W.E.S.: http://www.myspace.com/thewesgroup [and http://www.thewesgroup.com/ as well]

W. E. S. (William E. Smith, Ph.D.) – Through studying, composing, teaching and living music, saxophonist/composer W.E.S. has sought to enrich the lives of others through sound. His family roots go deep into the history of jazz and the African-American experience. W.E.S.’s grandfather and great-uncle, owned a music publishing company in the 1920s and published music that was performed by the great King Oliver as well as Noble Sissle. Many musicians used to come by the family home on the south side of Chicago including Art Tatum. W.E.S.’s cousin Warren Smith Jr. played percussion with the Miles Davis, Gil Evans orchestra and many other notable performers. In the spirit of this legacy, W.E.S. himself has performed nationally and internationally with his group and with jazz greats such as James Moody, Donald Byrd, Kenny Burrell, Wynton Marsalis, and Jon Hendricks.

After leading a quartet under his own name (The Will Smith Quartet) for several years, W.E.S. decided to form a group with a different focus. He wanted the group to transcend the traditional classification of jazz from strictly art music, to music that has a world flavor and is not only enjoyed but inspires the best in people. W.E.S. is currently an Assistant Professor and the Jazz Ensemble Director at American University and gives lectures on jazz and hip hop at the University of Maryland, University of Delaware, and Howard University.

HERE ARE SOME REVIEWS:

"Smith's passion is evident from-the-jump. He has a kind of take no prisoners approach that is full of youthful fire…"

Willard Jenkins, JazzTimes Magazine

"[Will is] an accomplished musician with a confident sound and an appealing repertoire, who brings to mind "the legacy of John Coltrane."

Mike Joyce, Washington Post

"Smith freely channels the spirits of Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, and other masters with minimal derivativeness, but comes up with his own muscular style."

Eric Brace, Washington Post

"The persistence of memory," Micsrosoft style

Last night, while up late post-nap (one must nap post-roast butternut squash soup with walnut chantilly; sage-crusted filet of beer with honey-glazed carrots and bleu cheese potato gratin [with a merlot reduction, of course]; one slice each of chocolate truffle torte and lemon macadamia cheesecake; one glass each of pinot grigio and pinor noir; several glasses of water; and four glasses of port [the last at bin1700, the bulk at 15 ria {and no, I didn't base my choices of venues on whether the establishments were e.e. cummings-like in their names}]), I read a fascinating article in Fast Company about a Microsoft bigwig (Gordon Bell) who, for the past seven years, has been electronically documenting every iota of his being, thus creating, for all intents and purposes, a "perfect memory" over that time span. In fact, he's even gone so far as to scan in documents, pictures, etc., as far back as a photo of his mother shortly after her birth in 1900. In other words, the MyLifeBits project is fairly comprehensive in mapping Bell's entire life (i.e., from birth through this, his 73^rd year on this spinning orb).

This article raises many questions about what memory is, how it works, its importance, etc. Being a person who is known for having a somewhat vast capacity for storing useless bits of trivia within those three pounds of whatever it is that lies within my cranium), the idea of a "perfect memory" is very alluring, but I suggest you take a look at the article to make up your own mind (pun only partially intended).

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To learn more about the painting above, click here.

My non-Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving

If you don't fully understand that reference, click here.

Just in case you're horrendously bored, here's the menu from which I shall be dining tomorrow for my Thanksgiving feast.

As far as the day's football games go (NFL, that is):

• Miami over Detroit 20-10;
• Dallas over Tampa 24-7; and
• Denver over Kansas City 17-14.

Not too happy (yet)

Just found out that Steely Dan is playing a live gig in Santa Ynez, California in mid-January. I don't know if the duo is playing with their fans' minds by calling that page "Steely Dan: Live '07," thus giving, at least this fair fanatic, the idea that more shows may be forthcoming. We shall see.

The crime of the century

43 years ago today, a bright fall day in Texas turned to tragedy. I have to admit that, for many a year now, I have had a gruesome fascination with American political assassinations -- from the well-known and über-discussed (JFK and Lincoln) to those barely registering anymore in the historical memory (Garfield and McKinley). For example:

• In consecutive quarters (or perhaps it was trimesters) in 11th grade U.S. history (i.e., 15 years ago [or thereabouts]), I did extensive research and writing on the Lincoln and JFK murders.
• I own both the original cast and revival cast recordings of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins -- and saw the latter (a Tony winner for the Roundabout Theatre Company) at Studio 54 (yes, that Studio 54) in 2004.

My curiosity for the morbid has now broadened into one for the generally darkly criminal (e.g., The Devil in the White City, which I just finished yesterday and recommend highly for anyone with like interests or just plain history buffs [e.g., the Ferris Wheel and Juicy Fruit gum both made their debuts at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition]).

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On a lighter note, I hope you and yours have a great Thanksgiving tomorrow.

JuMo, part deux

Following up on my previous baseball post:

• ESPN.com's Keith Law thinks Morneau had no business winning the MVP (subscription to ESPN Insider required [I don't have it, but the headline annoyed me, to say the very least]) and, to my great surprise (note sarcasm here), advocated for Jeter (and for Mauer as well, to be fair).
• On the flip side, thanks to Baseball Think Factory's Baseball Primer Newsblog for pointing me in the direction of an NYC columnist who actually predicted a "Twin killing" relative to the MVP and CYA. I think I see pork products floating past my office window as I type...

Happiness is...

...and no, I'm not going to go all Peanuts on you.

Of late, my favorite things are:

• my customized Liverpool long-sleeved home shirt (thanks to Randy for the groomsman gift card that enabled this purchase); and
• Starbucks' Vanilla Latte (and yes, I just endorsed a mega-corporation's product - again).

JuMo=MVP

I can't believe a member of the Twins actually won the AL MVP - especially when "The Golden Boy" was in the running. Congrats to the Canadian slugger, as well as to the other three Twins who received votes in the race (Mauer, Santana [belated kudos on your easily-won and well-deserved CYA], and Nathan). This helps to make up for the loss of Soriano for those of us who care about the Nats as well.

Click here to see a slideshow of Morneau's season, courtesy of Twincities.com, which houses the the St. Paul Pioneer Press' online presence.

Just a question: does anybody else think that Morneau looks like WWE champion John Cena?

RIP, Robert Altman (updated)

Film director Robert Altman has passed away at 81. My favorite Altman movies:

• Gosford Park (my favorite);
• Kansas City;
• The Player; and
• Cookie's Fortune.

I've never seen many of his most important films (e.g., M*A*S*H, Nashville, etc.), so my list is far from bearing great insight into the auteur's career.

An interesting coincidence: I got The Long Goodbye from Netflix late last week and it's still sitting on top of my DVD player, yet to be viewed.

FYI: "RIP" is often taken to stand for "rest in peace," but, in fact, it originally stood for requiescat in pace, which is Latin for - what else - "rest in peace."

**UPDATE**
I moved the slide show previously at the top of this blog to a post by itself.

**UPDATE**
Thanks to Richard Wall, via Lew Rockwell.com, for the photo above. The article to which that links is a very interesting take on Altman's films, by the way.

Sign of the apocalypse, number 582

Apparently, in the land of The Lord of the Rings and Lucy Lawless, kids don't actually have to use fully-formed words to pass national exams. Sometimes, technology really messes up the way(s) in which people communicate.

I'm so done w/ the system that stores my music

I'll figure something else out as it's locked me out yet again!

I lied (about not being able to post, that is)

I would be remiss if, at a minimum, I didn't pass along a note of praise for my friend Chris' "new music" group, the Great Noise Ensemble, which I had the good fortune to hear this past Friday (11.17.06) at the Sumner School.

During the performance, they performed:

• a ritornello centered on variations on late-16th- and early-17th-century sacred music composer Michael Praetorius' "Puer Natus in Bethlehem";
• a concerto with 10 movements - each featuring a different instrument or instruments - by GNE tubist Blair Goins (second and fourth movements featuring banjo and cello and piano, respectively, available for online listening);
• a four-movement piece by violinist Heather Figi entitled "The Softest Bite," which draws heavily from Satie (his "Gymnopédies" are among my favorite "classical" works) and the vamping of jazz bassist Avishai Cohen (I didn't pick these components out - it was in the program); and
• a post-modern classical fusion extravaganza called General Electric, which, to my mind, evoked the pomposity of ELP, the sonic density of Mellon Collie-era Smashing Pumpkins, the symphonic ambitions of The Moody Blues (circa 1967), the Kraut-electro-rock of Tangerine Dream, and the Americana of Copland (these, I picked out, but have not had confirmed nor denied).

It's true that the type of music GNE plays is not for everyone (I'll admit to having a bit of difficulty with some of the work myself), but if you're a bit adventurous and appreciate musicianship in a very pure form (and you live in or around DC), you should definitely give them a listen.

*** out of ****

Music's back, but my witty repartee isn't

Got the music to work again, but I'm so tired right now that I can't even begin to consider blogging today. Hope y'all will forgive me (and yes, I said "y'all").