...and now, a word from Brother Crouch...

Andre Crouch and The Disciples -- Jesus Is The Answer

Happy birthday, Louis Armstrong!

''

"(Armstrong was) the key creator of the mature working language of jazz. Three decades after his death and more than three-quarters of a century since his influence first began to spread, not a single musician who has mastered that language fails to make daily use, knowingly or unknowingly, of something that was invented by Louis Armstrong."  -- Dan Morgenstern, Oxford Companion to Jazz

"Armstrong is to music what Einstein is to physics and the Wright Brothers are to travel." - Ken Burns

"He was born poor, died rich and never hurt anyone along the way." - Duke Ellington

Louis Armstrong wasn't just a smiling magic Negro with a handkerchief and a horn and a growl in his voice.  He was a citizen of the world, a consummate performer, an ambassador of jazz and an innovator in his own right.  He was an unrepentant pot smoker.  He was elegant. He was New Orleans personified.  He was more than gifted -- and he was nothing short of brilliant.

His image and sound have so permeated the popular vernacular that it's an astonishing thing, to look into his beautiful African face and listen to him explain his life in his own words.  As a jazz vocalist, I can't veer too far away from his work.  I have two box sets that have been in heavy rotation lately and I'm looking for another one.

Strangely, it augments my forays into harmelodics with James "Blood" Ulmer quite nicely. I have no idea why.

...and now, a word from Mr. Cleveland...

James Cleveland sings I Don't Feel Noways Tired. (And nope, neither do I.)

Chorus: 
I don't feel no ways tired, 
I've come too far from where I started from. 
Nobody told me that the road would be easy, 
I don't believe He brought me this far to leave me. 

Vamp: 
I don't believe He brought me this far 
(repeat as desired) 

I've been sick (I don't believe), 
but God brought me (He brought me this far). 
I've been in trouble (I don't believe), 
but God brought me (He brought me this far). 

I've been friendless (I don't believe), 
but God brought me (He brought me this far). 
I've been lonely (I don't believe), 
but God brought me (He brought me this far). 

Please don't leave me (I don't believe), 
don't leave me Jesus (He brought me this far). 
Don't leave (I don't believe), 
don't leave me Lord (He brought me this far). 

I don't believe (I don't believe) 
that God would bring me 
(would bring me this far). 

I don't believe (I don't believe) 
that God would bring me 
(would bring me this far). 

I don't believe (I don't believe) 
that God would bring me (would bring me this far just to leave me). 

pithy thought of the day

Happy birthday, James Baldwin

"To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time." -- James A. Baldwin

 What a profoundly brilliant man. His work is so alive, so relevant and so full of feeling, its almost heartbreaking to read it because I can feel his vulnerability -- and ultimately, my own. It stultifying to think that he wrote Go Tell It On The Mountain when he was 18 years old. Yet as an essayist, I can't think of anyone that could shine brighter, with an intelligence and an insightfulness that some have described as frightening. 

There's a reason why his essays aren't commonplace in this country. Still and all, it's pretty cool that he's on a postage stamp.

Happy birthday, Jimmy. You are sorely missed.

a random snapshot

i have three songs to learn for a musical theater audition on saturday. when i got stuck and couldn't find anyone to plunk out a particular melody for me, i called a blactress and thanks to her, i reconnected with a pianist who had my back when i found myself lost somewhere inbetween an audition and a callback a few months ago. he's a nice midwestern white boy from kansas city who lives a few blocks away from me. and that's exactly where our story would end -- in kansas city where he's visiting his folks until monday -- if it weren't for his quick thinking.  a flurry of emails ensued and ka-BOOM -- i've got mp3s of the melody and the chords without the melody, so i can sing along to it and practice.  unfortunately, i won't be able to go into that room with a pianist but i will go in ready. you really can't get much better than that.

is this guy a gem or what.

i don't feel bad when i don't get the gig.  i feel bad if i did a lousy audition and i don't get the gig. usually, there's at least a million reasons for not getting the gig and hardly any of them have anything to do with talent.  but that's really difficult to explain to people who have these weird ideas about what it takes to make it in the entertainment industry because they watch way too much pop tv and they think that talent matters.

ok, enough with the beating of that dead horse. back to learning these songs, guitar practice, p & g tips, pilates and the grace that gets me through all of it.