2005-12 Vital Source Mag – December 2005
Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane
By Blaine Schultz Blue Notewww.bluenote.com About a half-century ago, giants walked among us. They wrote and played music for extended low-key club dates, performing special concerts and releasing records periodically. Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane were two of these giants, and this recently discovered November 29, 1957 recording from the Library of Congress vaults is a vital contribution to their respective legacies. In the summer of ‘57, Coltrane joined Monk’s group at an NYC club called the Five Spot. The Carnegie Hall recording presents the group in more genteel surroundings. Regardless of venue, these musicians are at the height of their powers, Monk certainly the more established and Coltrane ready to open doors previously unseen. If Monk’s piano playing is less spiky and angular than typical (if there is such a thing as “typical Monk”), he certainly gets into the loose sparring with Coltrane’s sax. Opening with “Monk’s Mood” from the early show, the soloists riff and dance around and through each other’s phrases. By the second tune, “Evidence,” a slipstream opens up and Coltrane blows at will. This is the early stage of his technique of playing the notes of a chord in succession—later to be called “sheets of sound”—still within the tune’s melody. But with the benefit of hindsight, it seems he’s testing the boundaries for his later masterworks. Ahmed Abdul-Malik ‘s bass provides a sinewy walking line that is both strong and resilient enough to support and propel the tune. At several points, Monk and Coltrane play unison lines to state a tune’s theme. The effect is a thickness and depth that sounds like more than a piano and saxophone, with the keyboard sounding concise and the sax just on the verge of over-blowing. Credit also Shadow Wilson’s drumming and cymbal work, which seem to have been brought into focus with the digital mastering. The closing tune, a partial take of “Epistrophy,” can be heard as Monk’s statement of purpose. On this night there is a feeling of openness and genuine collaboration. Monk is ultimately unique and not always the easiest player to get a grip on. But this evening he, Coltrane, and the others sound unguarded in their enjoyment. VS
Dec 1st, 2005 by Vital Archives
Forgotten Milwaukee
By Frizell Bailey Few would argue that a quality education is critical to a child’s success in life. There is a clear correlation between educational attainment and income level. So it would seem a no-brainer that the surest way to tackle the economic disparity that exists between blacks and whites in Milwaukee would be to offer poor blacks students a quality education. However, black students in Milwaukee all too frequently fail to receive one. According to a 2004 Milwaukee Public Schools Report, 61 percent of MPS seniors graduated in 2003. Broken down by race, the study found that while 71 percent of white students graduated, only 56 percent of black students did. Why is there such a huge gap between white and black graduation rates? The easy answer would be to talk about the failures of Milwaukee Public Schools, which are, according to critics, the logical culprit. Educators, the argument goes, simply are not doing their jobs. We need more accountability. We need to rid ourselves of these no-account teachers who simply want a paycheck. Some see a solution in school choice. The Choice Is Yours.In 1990, then-Governor Tommy Thompson signed a state budget into law that included a pilot program allowing 1 percent of Milwaukee Public School students to opt out of the district in favor of private, non-sectarian schools. Then in 1995, Thompson proposed expanding the program to include religious schools. The Legislature approved the measure, making law what would become the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). At the heart of the issue for proponents of school choice is a free market. Just as in any other industry, the theory goes, public schools have no incentive to innovate if there is no real competition. The thinking has been that parents, given a choice, would remove their children from failing public schools and enroll them in “better” private or charter schools, given the choice. As for public schools, they would either learn to compete or go the way of the dinosaur. Either way, students would receive a better education. This rationale, of course, fails to consider one fundamental element of human nature. People will do anything for money. Who’s Minding The Store?Perhaps the biggest criticism of choice schools is that there is insufficient accountability. And there is perhaps no more glaring an example of choice school failure than Harambee Community School. Cleveland Lee, the school’s chief financial officer, was found guilty of theft and filing false income tax returns. Lee embezzled almost $750,000 from the school, using the money to buy luxury cars and remodel his home instead of educating students. Legislative leaders have tightened oversight of choice school finances in the wake of such scandals. But these new rules still do not give the Department of Public Instruction authority to oversee the educational programs of these schools, though in recent weeks DPI has sought to enforce educational standards as outlined by existing minimum school standards law. Anyone Can Teach?Within the program’s current structure, there are no qualification requirements […]
Dec 1st, 2005 by Frizell Bailey
The Brian Setzer Orchestra
By Kevin Krekling Surfdogwww.briansetzer.com It’s that time of the year again. A time for shoveling snow, mistletoe hookups, eggnog hangovers and Brian Setzer Christmas albums. The former Stray Cat is back again with his second holiday record in three years. And, what you get here with Dig That Crazy Christmas is pretty much the same as what you got with 2002’s Boogie Woogie Christmas. But we’re talking about a guy who has changed virtually nothing about his style since the early ‘80s, so what do you expect? The album is simply Setzer reworking old Christmas classics in his familiar uptempo, horn-driven, rockabilly style. But given the fact that the two newly penned originals are easily forgotten duds, and that Setzer’s voice sounds pretty rough, the album is actually quite fun. Does it stack up to A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector? No. But, at the same time, it’s not ‘NSYNC Home For Christmas, and that is something we can all be thankful for. So, if you’re looking for something festive, fun and tolerable to throw on this holiday season, this may be right up your alley. VS
Dec 1st, 2005 by Vital Archives
Sex, Drugs, and Nudity on New Year’s Eve
The English language has yet to devise a single word to adequately describe my feelings for the holidays. The entire month of December – and that beloved, drunken evening known as New Year’s Eve in particular – has always been fraught with heartache, loss and occasional unsolicited nudity. Instead of employing pedestrian terms like “dread,” “fear,” or “sheer, unconditional panic,” the best way to illustrate my aversion for this time of year is through complicated yet familiar thoughts we’ve all experienced, like “the disgust you feel the day after an imbecilic president is re-elected,” or “that sinking feeling you get when you’re watching a sub-par episode of Charles in Charge and you realize your left leg is on fire.” To drill this home even further, I’ll share a few of my personal moments from New Year’s Eves past, presented in the always-entertaining bullet point format: 1998: I find myself lying on the floor and handcuffed to the foot of an unknown girl’s bed while another couple “sleeps” on the bed itself. I’m half-drunk, half-asleep and in a matter of minutes, half-clothed. Imagine the priceless look on my face, however, when I discover that not only am I without a condom, but that one of the people on the bed is an ex-girlfriend. Along with becoming yet another footnote in a long line of humiliating, holiday-themed sexual encounters, this will mark the first and last time I make out with a girl with a pierced tongue. Oh, one more thing: the seductive music this girl deemed fit for our anonymous New Year’s tryst? The soundtrack to Blade Runner. 2000: Out of my skull on a laundry list of illegal substances, I find myself staying at the San Francisco home of two bona fide 60s hippie burnouts. Actually, “home” really isn’t the proper term to describe the place. “Vaguely creepy, clothing-optional, secluded cabin in the mountains” is more apt. While there, I’m treated to such time-honored holiday pleasures as naked swimming, naked hiking, and something called “Goquet” (a family-invented golf/croquet hybrid that also happens to be clothing-optional). The topper? In a drug-induced haze, I slowly come to the frightening realization that a fully nude 65-year-old man is serving me turkey. 2003: On my birthday (December 28) I’m informed that not only have I been fired from my job of five years, but because of a past run-in with the law, I’m required to go back to my hometown and perform 200 hours of community service. New Year’s Eve finds me drunk and alone, contemplating the many ways one could kill oneself with a half-bottle of whiskey and a tire iron. When I finally sober up sometime in early February, I move back in with my parents and spend the next two months vacuuming floors at a nursing home, as well as assisting a few of the more catatonic residents during rousing games of bingo. I pine for Milwaukee while sleeping on the floor of my empty boyhood bedroom. …Which brings us, more […]
Dec 1st, 2005 by Matt Wild
The Darkness
By Erin Wolf Atlantic www.thedarknessrock.com When The Darkness crash-landed on the stagnant rock scene two years ago, it startled hordes of music fans into stupefied wonder, creating either strong affinity or distaste. Cheeky hair metal can produce nothing but strong feelings. For those hordes still recovering from the initial shock of their first release, Permission to Land, The Darkness bring it on back with their latest, One Way Ticket to Hell…And Back. Somewhere, Freddie Mercury is listening intently to his emulating, three-octaved vox counterpart, Justin Hawkins. Hawkins, sibling Dan, Ed Graham, and Frankie Poullain have become Britain’s most-loved (and hated) rock band for sheer bombast, guitar solos straight from the ‘80s and stage personas amplified by J. Hawkins’ elaborate cat-suit costumes. The Darkness again come clawing through the paper bag that has confined rock music for nearly a decade. One Way Ticket to Hell…And Back slams another dose of tongue-in-cheek, elaborately sung and lovingly frosted heaven down our throats. Take the medicine with a spoonful of sugar or leave it. More solos, more vocal trills, more arena-rock bliss, more flippant than ever, The Darkness’ latest is just more. Confident to the point of annoyance, The Darkness rip through tales of rock-star woe, complete with cocaine sniffing. More orchestrally polished, thanks to producer Roy Thomas Baker (who also has worked with Queen and The Who), the band experiments with piano sounds, bagpipes, sitar, Moog and enough pan flute intro to satisfy Jethro Tull. From Bryan Adams-esque ballads to the fist-pumping title-track, One Way Ticket sounds more pulled together, more ballsy, and more competent: they don’t take themselves seriously, yet they can seriously play their instruments. The Darkness return with a triumphant scissor-kick in the air. VS
Dec 1st, 2005 by Vital Archives
