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Thanksgiving 2013 & Music Expressing Thanks
I thought to celebrate this wonderful day of Thanksgiving, I'd compile music with lyrics that express thanks in various ways. Music from these artists (arranged alphabetically):Louis Armstrong, J. S. Bach, Charles Ives, Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley, Pat Metheny, Charles Mingus, Me'Shell Ndegéocello, Sam & Dave, Hank Williams
My Favorite 9 Minutes of George Duke - Did A Vehicle Did A Vehicle Did A Vehicle
Yesterday, August 6, 2013, I learned that George Duke had died. George Duke, to me, was a mythical character. I loved so much of his playing and singing, and I couldn't figure him out because of his great diversity and depth. He was a great pianist, keyboardist, singer, band leader, sideman, creator, performer, improvisor, persona and, according to so many who knew him, wonderful and kind man. By "persona," I am referring to George Duke as an actor, and by "actor" I mean "live musician on stage with Frank Zappa." In addition to being a musician in any of Frank Zappa's bands over the decades, one had to be able to act. One had a persona and maybe a changing persona over time.
My friend Mulgrew Miller died today (May 29, 2013)
I always felt lucky to see and interact with him. As quickly as possible, I realized that this musical hero to me, who was now a colleague, was just such a great and modest guy. His charm was disarming as can be. I was comfortable with Mulgrew immediately.As I got to know Mulgrew better, I had to ask him - no, tell him - to stop calling me "Doctor" or "Professor." I told him that you are Mulgrew Miller and I call you Mulgrew. I should call you SIR. He laughed. He told me I deserved the titles and the respect.
The Russian Monster Fill, Bath Bombs, Tervis, Twitter + the letter "B"
Last night I learned about bath bombs and Tervis shakers. The bath bombs excited my excessively girly girly friend, while the Tervis shaker we found at Bed, Bath & Beyond in mall-infested Williamson County, was a Patriots shaker. I'll now be able to make my Irish versions of caipirinhas here in Middle Tennessee using my new New England Patriots Tervis shaker.Back to these are a few of my favorite Twitter things. When the dog bites, when the bee stings. I'm still stuck on that Mary Poppins' song. This time - the letter "B."
Wish Lantern on Love Circle, Newtown & Sandy Hook, Merry Christmas, Kill City Space Ship & Invasions are Not Just For Aliens Anymore
I was honored to have music and video composed to honor my 40th blog post. Quite unexpected but really cool. It is the work of Kill City Spaceship and is entitled Mike's Fortieth Blog. This music was composed based on the great E G# C F# A opening chord of the Beatles' song, "All I've Got To Do." Kill City Spaceship informed me that the music composed to honor my blog post was based on that E 11 #5 chord and its four (4) inversions. Composing a work based on a musical motif, which involves compositional technique and development, is too often unknown to the general public, and foreign to the world of pop songwriting. But just as musical styles can overlap, so too shouldn't theories of music and composition.
Johnny Cash, Danzig, Life in Vizify, Today is not 12/12/12, Social Media Reveals I'm 65/132 Brazilian
I got my Vizify account, 2012 version, on Tuesday. They were wise to get it out before 12-12-12. If we have social media, we must have social media metrics. And bells and whistles. Vizify does all of that well, and fortunately, our lives can be reduced to a few pages.Before I broadcast my life in Vizify, I should note that Facebook has now taken to their version of metrics a la the encapsulated annum-in-review model. If all goes right with this bit.ly link, and if Facebook will allow you access, here is the Facebook version of my 2012 life in Vizify.
Three Songs (5/4) & Some Thoughts (7/4) About Dave Brubeck (9/8)
One of the important features of a lot of Dave Brubeck's music is his use of rhythm and especially uncommon time signatures. Brubeck met with resistance from Columbia Records when he insisted on having songs with unusual meter/time signatures on his brilliant million-selling album, Time Out. Fortunately for music, the public and Columbia Records, they gave in.I have selected three (3) Dave Brubeck songs, each in a different and unusual meter. 5 beats per measure, 7 beats per measure and 9 beats per measure are far less common than the most common meter in Western music - 4 beats per measure. In keeping with the idea of three - 3 different time signatures/meters - I have also compiled three (3) sets of three (3) songs each. In each of these three 3-song sets, I have chosen a Brubeck composition and followed it with two (2) other compositions that share the same number of beats. In each example, the songs I have selected are not of the same style.
Being Thankful on Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 22, 2012, from Louis Armstrong to Hank Williams
I thought to celebrate this wonderful day of Thanksgiving, I'd compile music with lyrics that express thanks in various ways.I would like to have included at least one more - Bach - Now Thank We All Our God. Even though I have great recordings of Now Thank We All Our God, I couldn't find one I liked as much on YouTube.Here is my Thanksgiving wish:
Haiku 101, Intellectual Property Haiku (IP Haiku)
My haiku obsession - haiku career - began that way. I've gone through periods of writing hundreds in a few hours. Sometimes my haiku tell a story. Other times they are related to a theme, and still other times they are disconnected and without any purpose, like my life. (I do not have a purposeful life - I have a purpose-less life. An ambient free-form, drifting life. Enough of this theme.)I used to get reprimanded by poets and scholars who knew better than I (knew better than I about everything - just ask them). Even my Japanese girlfriend told me that haiku were supposed to be about nature, not vehicles for telling deranged and absurd stories that would be parodic and unauthorized episodes of - - - -The Dating GameLeave It To BeaverThe Brady Bunch orLove Boat
Watching Me Walk Around Naked
Directv has created and is airing a sticky - to be more concise, "ICKY" - television commercial that only succeeds at showing a young couple in their loveless relationship. And the "zinger" line, aired by the male, is mean spirited and aimed at demeaning the woman. It suggests danger, discomfort and intimidation, not exactly positive qualities to connote by means of a television commercial. When I first saw this commercial, I was shocked and thought, "he didn't just say that, did he? Yikes, this is one ugly and disturbing commercial."
Big Wind - a set list for Hurricane Sandy
In honor of The Big Wind (and Rain), I thought I’d compile some of my favorite songs about wind into a set list. These songs are carefully arranged by my mood - what I want to hear and what feels right following each song. The styles often don’t flow according to those who restrict themselves to a single style or two. But I restrict myself to music and sound that I can perceive - I love as many varieties of music as I do varieties of food, people and geography.Here goes:1. Florida Hurricane - St. Louis Jimmy2. The Wayward Wind - I have & love 3 versions - Neil Young, Gogi Grant & Patsy Cline
Igor Got Game: A Musical and Legal Comparison of The Beastie Boys and Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” (1918) drew heavily upon music composed by Giovanni Pergolesi and others in the early 18th century. The Beastie Boys, an extremely popular rap/hip hop music group since the mid-1980’s, in their best-selling CD, Hello Nasty (1999) drew upon the music of Stravinsky by means of the digital sampling of Stravinsky’s “Firebird.” Both of these “borrowings” share important similarities and differences. Furthermore, these borrowings shed light on several seemingly unrelated disciplines and fields of study. These include music composition and the nature of creativity and originality, the intellectual property law of different times and societies created to protect authors from appropriations of their original works, the means by which borrowed music may be used and transmitted (sampling, digital streaming, MP3, etc.), and the business (financial, licensing, retail, broadcast, etc.) considerations involved in such borrowings.
Baseball and Music - The Right Songs for the Right Season
I thought of calling this post, "15 Songs for the Soul." But that thought lasted for two seconds. Elvis Costello's great lyric from "Alison" came to mind, and rescued me: "I'm not going to get too sentimental like those other sticky Valentines."I also liked the title, "I see St. Peter wave ," but decided against that too. If you don't know, that is a short phrase from a song by They Might Be Giants. "I see St. Peter wave" then led me to the rest of the song which burrowed its way perfectly into this post. And I love the messages the songs below convey. They are perfectly suited for this day, don't you think?
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, flamboyant red shoes, Harvard Law School
Late this afternoon I'll be speaking to students at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The subject will be copyright and music - some real nuts & bolts stuff from my perspective. Because I've been in the middle of a lot of copyright issues, questions and disputes, I've been forced to think and make decisions. It's always amazing to think that federal law is used to evaluate and appraise someone's creative expression - that the law would say EXPRESSION X is of more value and worth more "protection" than EXPRESSION Y, and that I'm asked to do the evaluating of expression.