I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend, Halloween .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES — an exhibition of four artists entitled Live/Work— emphasizing the studio in their practices, while one showcases how a father and daughter collaborate on their processes — is at the Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin through March 19th.
On display in Sheboygan, WisconsinYOUR WEEKEND READ #1 — is this essay about Democrats in rural western Virginia, who are seeing more activity (and more outspokenness) than they have in years, and are playing a long-game to make inroads in the region.
HAIL and FAREWELL to the Louisiana-born “swamp-rock” guitarist Tony Joe White— the composer of “A Rainy Night in Georgia” which Brook Benton made famous in 1970 — who has died at the age of seventy-five.
THE NEW GOVERNMENT in Spain (headed by prime minister Pedro Sánchez) is seeking a more liberal budget than his conservative predecessor, with his finance minister saying, “We’ve years being told that the crisis was over. The time has come for Spaniards to feel it.”
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Fluffy the Cat— an Ohio kitteh rescued from a tree by a combination of firefighters/tree service workers, but not for the normal reason (chased by another animal) — instead, firefighters theorize she was grabbed by a hawk and deposited in a tree.
Fluffy the CatCHEERS to the author Stephen King— who has a program for students to be able to make a film adaptation of a selected list of his non-optioned short stories — and thus a group of teen-aged students in Wales will be able to make a film version of his short story Stationary Bike in exchange for …. $1 and a DVD of the finished project.
PROGRAMMING NOTE — I will be travelling the next two weekends (one an annual trip to see friends in Albany, NY and the second to the annual Drinking Liberally conference in Savannah, Georgia). If you live near the Savannah area, most events are open to the public — Kosmail me and I can give you the details (it is the weekend following the election).
I will probably have a Sunday diary for next weekend (and may also for the following weekend) but will not be in the Friday Cheers & Jeers the next two Fridays. Will return on the middle Friday in November.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Raj the Cat— a Lubbock kitteh who went missing four years ago before a Texas Tech student caring for him brought him to a vet … where they discovered the microchip.
Raj the CatYOUR WEEKEND READ #2 — is this essay about the conservative writer Salena Zito — of the “take Trump seriously, but not literally” fame — and how she is part of asking the man-and-woman-on-the-street …. just from selected streets.
CHEERS to the veteran diplomat whom Ethiopia’s parliament has elected as president, Sahle-Work Zewde— Africa’s only current female head of state — who promised to push for gender equality while working with the reformist prime minister (Abiy Ahmed) who has appointed women to 10 out of 20 cabinet posts.
THE OTHER NIGHT yours truly hosted the Top Comments diary with a look at the woman who founded a fine arts gallery aimed at the general public, Isabella Stewart Gardner— whose institution exists in Boston to this day, surviving the 1990 notorious “World’s Largest Art Heist” and deserves more recognition.
BRAIN TEASER - try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC.
SEPARATED at BIRTH — TV stars Jamie-Lynn Sigler (The Sopranos) as well as Shiri Appleby (Roswell, UnREAL).
Jamie-Lynn (b. 1981), Shiri Appleby (b. 1978)...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… he's been referred to as the "William Faulkner of jazz" and Pete Townshend of The Who called him "the epitome of restrained screaming power." But Mose Allison was perhaps best described by Ray Davies of The Kinks as "the missing link between jazz and blues." That duality, though, hampered his career: "There's a lot of places I don't work because they're confused about what I do" was his own take. Still, he remained someone who could be slotted in on most any music festival's line-up without seeming out-of-place.
Mose Allison was born in 1927 in Tippo, Mississippi and grew up working on his grandfather's farm: plowing, baling hay ... and listening to jazz on a wind-up Victrola. He began piano lessons at age five and - after a stint in the 179th US Army Ground Forces Band - entered college (first at Ole Miss) as a chemical engineering major, but wound up graduating from LSU with a degree in English. He discovered Béla Bartók and began playing at local clubs. Mose relocated to New York City in 1956, eventually settling on my native Long Island in 1963 (where he lived much of the rest of his life), raising four children including musician daughter Amy.
Once in New York, Allison recorded with Al Cohn and Bob Brookmeyer yet it was his work with Stan Getz that got him noticed. He formed his own trio in 1958, signed with Prestige Records (and also for a short time at Columbia) before settling down at Atlantic Records - he signed with its jazz division president Neshui Ertegun (Ahmet’s brother) in less than ten minutes.
Over the years, Allison's blend of witty lyrics paired with unconventional blues structures within a cool-jazz format made him a favorite with musicians across the world — and with a particular following in Britain: where the fact that a white man seemed at home singing the blues helped increase the popularity of the blues in the 1950's.
Here are some of his songs that have been covered by others: "Young Man Blues" (a famous cover on “Live at Leeds” by The Who), I'm Not Talking (The Yardbirds, The Bangles), "Stop This World" (Diana Krall), "Everybody Crying Mercy" (Maria Muldaur, Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello), "Look Here" (The Clash), "Days Like This" (Bill Wyman) ..... and his most famous tune about the Mississippi State Penitentiary, Parchman Farm - (diversely covered by John Mayall, Bobby Gentry, Johnny Winter, The Kingston Trio and Hot Tuna among many others).
Van Morrison even recorded an entire album Tell Me Something of Allison's tunes. Frank Black of The Pixies says that the band's song Allison is a tribute to Mose.
After his last recurring studio release in 1998, he had concluded that — since his back catalog was no longer selling well — well, there was no need for any new recordings.
But the producer Joe Henry wore him down, leading to the critically acclaimed 2010 release The Way of the World - which concludes with the song This New Situationfeaturing Mose Allison in a duet with his (aforementioned) daughter Amy. Meanwhile, Rhino Records released an compilation album Allison Wonderland of his best-known works: which can serve as an excellent introduction to him.
Mose Allison died in November 2016, just four days after his 89th birthday. He had a social consciousness, railing about the lack of empathy on the part of the powerful and about the link between colonizers to interventionism. He received three Grammy nominations, was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2013 and had a plaque dedicated to him on the Mississippi Blues Trail in 2012.
His son John had this apt remembrance of his father:
“He was socially relevant before Bob Dylan, satirical before Randy Newman and rude before Mick Jagger, so I once asked him, ‘How come you are not a big star?’ ”
“He replied ... ‘Just lucky, I guess.’ ”
Mose Allison in the 1960’s .. ... and earlier in this decadeMy favorite Mose Allison song has to be Your Mind is on Vacation…. which, ummm …. speaks for itself. And below you can listen to it.
Sitting there, yakking right in my face I guess I'm going to have to put you in your place If silence was golden, You couldn't raise a dime
You always laugh when things ain't funny You try to sound like you don't need money If talk was criminal, you'd lead a life of crime
If you don't like the song I'm singing, just grin and bear it All I can say is: if the shoe fits, wear it If you must keep talking please, try to make it rhyme?
Because your mind is on vacation and your mouth is working overtime
x xYouTube VideoP.S. — in today’s poll, I have placed the bomber and shooter as co-losers …. can’t bear to have them as “choices” … so this week’s poll is “Who came in third place to them?