Jazz & Blues Lounge » snow

Taking a Tumble

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:13:24 +0000

Ouch. That’s all I have to say about this morning. For those of you who are not in the Chicago area, you may not know that we have had one of the most brutal winters in almost thirty years. It has been unbelievably cold followed by one big snow storm after another. Normally, I love winter and I love fall, but this winter has gotten to me. This morning, winter bit me back.

I was trying to get to my car. Of course, walking anywhere around here means walking on what amount to glaciers. Really, to walk here in Chicago you need those metal spikes mountain climbers wear over their boots. Trying to get from the sidewalk to the street and, therefore, the driver’s side of your car requires actually repelling down a moutain of snow that has frozen into ice.

Well, I had hoped to use the hood of my car as a balancing device and attempted to climb down the mountain of ice and snow and work my way slowly around the front of the Jeep I drive. Normally I walk like a man of roughly 98 and thought I would do the same here. I took one step down with my right foot and it slipped right out from under me.

There was no stopping it. Before I knew it, I was on my back, the hat on my head flew about four feet from me and I was cold. All of the wind got knocked out of me. All along my right side there are aches and pains. A few years ago I either badly bruised or perhaps cracked a couple of ribs on that side, so I am waiting to see how this day plays out.

*sigh*

Thank you for indulging me on this. I realize this has nothing to do with jazz and blues, but at the same time, this is a place where I write daily and there wasn’t much else on my mind.

To make up for it, HERE is a link to a video of recent Grammy Award Winning jazz pianist, Herbie Hancock. In fact, here he is playing some tunes from his award winning album “The Jonie Letters.”

Enjoy! And if you live in an ice-covered part of the Midwest, be careful out there.

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge

The Jazz and Tunes in Chicago

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:17:34 +0000

It’s Monday again and there is more bad weather predicted for Chicago. Now, normally I prefer Fall and Winter over Spring and Summer. I am not much for heat and I do not enjoy thunderstorms. Spring is too full of the second one and summer is too full of the first. Generally speaking, the heat in July and August turns me from a generally good-natured fat dude into a cranky, sweat, smelly fat dude.

Still, even so, this winter has gotten to me. It has been one burying snow fall after another followed by these intense, bone-chilling deep freezes. This has prevented the snow from melting and turned any water that might hit the concrete into ice. Walking on a Chicago sidewalk these days is like trying to walk on a glacier.

And more cold is now forecast for Chicago. Thankfully, it seems a huge snow storm that was predicted for the area earlier last week missed us.

Sorry, I realize this isn’t very jazz or blues related, but it may give you some idea why I am so tired and lazy that I am posting another jazz and blues events calendar instead of something a little more in depth. A surefire cure for the winter blues is some actual blues or some great jazz.

Once again, thanks to WDCB for the information:

JAZZ

February 18, 2008
Piano Soloist Corky McClerkin
Philander’s, Oak Park

February 18, 2008
Rhythm Futur at Pete Miller’s in Evanston
Pete Miller’s Steakhouse, Evanston

February 18, 2008
Isaiah Spencer and Friends
Velvet Lounge (new location), Chicago

February 18, 2008
Yoko Noge’s Jazz Me Up Blues
Andy’s, Chicago

February 18, 2008
Kurt Schweitz Trio
Andy’s, Chicago

February 18, 2008
Patricia Barber Quartet
Green Mill, Chicago

February 18, 2008
Rhythm Futur
Pete Miller’s – Evanston, Evanston

February 19, 2008
KoKo Trio Jam with Mike Avery on drums
Velvet Lounge (new location), Chicago

February 19, 2008
Jose Valdes Latin Jazz Trio
Green Dolphin Street, Chicago

February 19, 2008
Deep Blue Organ Trio
Green Mill, Chicago

February 19, 2008
Marshall Vente Duo
Philander’s, Oak Park

February 19, 2008
Jordan Baskin Trio
Andy’s, Chicago

February 19, 2008
Collage
Andy’s, Chicago

February 19, 2008
Buddy Charles
Chambers, Niles

February 19, 2008
The Elaine Dame Duo
Swirl Wine Bar, Chicago

February 19, 2008
Eric Allen Quartet
M Lounge , Chicago

February 19, 2008
Ron Perrillo Trio
Pete Miller’s – Evanston, Evanston

February 20, 2008
Mike Finnerty & The Heat Merchants Pro Jazz Jam
Bill’s Blues Bar, Evanston

February 20, 2008
Scott Earl Holman – Solo Jazz Piano
Chicago Chop House, Chicago

February 20, 2008
Bruce Bendinger
Kabuki Sushi Restaurant & Bar, Chicago

BLUES

February 19, 2008
Blues Jam hosted by Two for the Blues
Bill’s Blues Bar, Evanston

February 22, 2008
Chicago Blues in Rogers Park
Dukes, Chicago

February 22, 2008
Lonnie Brooks
FitzGerald’s, Berwyn

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge

A Little Change of Scenery

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 19:48:51 +0000

Hello there faithful readers. I hope you have a great weekend. If you are visiting Chicago this weekend, I hope you have snow-shoes. Chicago got hit with at least a foot of snow last night and into today. Despite this, I did manage to get a flight out of Chicago and to St. Louis to hang with friends and watch the Super Bowl.

So, I will be here for a few days. I did that last year too and posted a few jazz and blues things going on here in the Gateway City. People seemed to enjoy that. One thing is for sure is that St. Louis has a huge heritage in jazz and blues.

I also got a message from a person named Scooter about his album which just came out. I am going to post the information he sent me, via e-mail, about his new album. Check it out. He is sending me a copy and I will give it a listen and tell you what I think. Check out the links below as well for more information.

www.scootermusic.com

myspace.com/sadsalamander

http://cdbaby.com/cd/sadsalamanders

http://www.amazon.com/Cigarettes-Fishnets-Sad-Salamanders/dp/B00127TTHA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1200514149&sr=8-2

We’ve shaken and stirred it, now it’s time for you to lap it up. Retro ‘50s/’60s jazz – modernized a touch so the kids will dig it but vintage enough to make the rest of you dinosaurs dream of better days. The sonic equivalent of a classic Playboy cartoon. Work up a good thirst cuz this baby is gonna satisfy. Like a drunk divorcee perched on the last barstool at Musso & Frank’s. World class solos and vamps by some of the greatest players in the solar system. Or LA.

If you love Les Baxter, Martin Denny, Mel Henke (yeah, go look him up – freakin’ awesome), Henry Mancini, Jackie Gleason, Art Van Damme, or Esquivel, this CD is like they grooved right out of the grave and cut one more track. Hell, this thing has even got a track dedicated to the permanently exotic Sandy Warner, the model for 16 Martin Denny lp covers.

What you got here is an audio homage (try saying that after 4 martinis) to the vintage Playboy cartoons of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Influenced by those cultural revolutionary artists Jack Cole, John Dempsey, Doug Sneyd, Will Elder, Erich Sokol, Harvey Kurtzman, Phil Interlandi, Dan DeCarlo, Bill Ward and Eldon Dedini, these jazzy beats scream of tiki torches, negligees, farmer’s daughters, bachelor pad parties, and a time when stewardesses were hot.

And like a free round of Zombies at Don The Beachcomber’s, we added artwork by Playboy artist Dean Yeagle. Yeah, pick your olives up off the floor, Dean drew us our very own pinup – front and back, baby. Scantily clad and buxom, she’s a huge fan of the Salamanders way of doing things. Smart, hard working and eager to please, she’s the perfect adornment to our cover. Not only that, but she took it upon herself to go ahead and get our logo tattooed on her, well, you just go ahead and look for it. We didn’t even beg her to do it. We begged for lots of other things but not that. She’s such a fan she just went out and did it. We’re urging all females to follow suit. Head on over to your friendly neighborhood ink shop and drop your drawers in solidarity. Check out Dean Yeagle’s work at www.cagedbeagle.com.

Sad Salamanders is made up of some mighty fine players. You’ve got your drums and percussion handled by Rick Latham and MB Gordy. We’re talking groovemeisters who’ve worked with The Doobie Brothers, Edgar Winter, Juice Newton, Chuck Rainey, Pat Travers, Rick Derringer, Bill Withers, & Frank Zappa. Anything brass is impeccably blown by Nick Lane and Steve Crum who’ve hung with Maynard Ferguson, The Who, Chicago, Brian Setzer, The Eels, Tom Jones, & Diana Ross. All flutes, ethnic flutes, wind fx and saxophones are ably fingered by Don Markese, who has graciously played with Neil Diamond, Ray Charles and more damn movie soundtracks than you’d think humanly possible. Accordion licks, runs and squeezing are executed flawlessly by the legendary Frank Marocco who is the most sought after player in the world. His credits are longer than Hugh Hefner’s conquests. Suffice to say Les Baxter, Dave Grusin and Henry Mancini. All guitars, electric & acoustic, ukuleles and whatever the hell else we threw on here, were plucked nimbly by Nick Brown, who has plucked some of the best in town. And finally, those awesome stabs, glisses, runs, vamps and general brilliant keyboard frills are poked and prodded by Ed Martel and Scooter Pietsch. Although anything stunning you hear is definitely Ed. He’s got really big hands and can handle a lot. A freakin’ keyboard genius.

So spark up your Benson & Hedges, make yourselves a toddy, sit back and soak in the moody jazz soundwaves known as Sad Salamanders, vibrating from the stereophonic. Cigarettes and Fishnets. Made for each other.

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge

Snow

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 01:21:34 +0000

You have to love the news and the people who do weather. You would have thought that the snow storm that blew through the Chicago area was going to somehow kill every living being here. You would have thought that so much snow would fall that every building in the city would collapse, burying millions beneath the rubble.

Of course, the East Coast news people go exactly the opposite way. It only becomes news to them when it actually hits New York. Chicago COULD have been wiped out by a freak snow fall and they wouldn’t notice or acknowledge it until the giant snow balls were rolling down 5th Avenue.

It turned out that it did indeed snow. Then it rained. Then it was freezing rain. When I went to bed last night, it looked like everything outside was encased in plastic. Then, when I woke up, a freak warm front had gone through and much of the ice had melted and it rained all day. Then the weather people came on during the Bears game to scream that the melted ice w0uld re-freeze tonight.

People, we live in Chicago. We should all be used to this by now. Unless you just moved here from a life living on the equator, none of this should be a surprise to you. You should also all learn how to drive in this stuff or else get off the road so I can get past you in my Jeep.

Sorry, I realize this has nothing to do with jazz. As such, I suggest you go back to the top, and start reading it again with the Smooth Jazz song “New Snow” by Flim and the BBs playing. Yeah, sure, it may be hard to find that song and the song itself may be the audio equivalent of a marshmallow dipped in honey…

But when the tenuous connections get tough, the tough dig up the elevator music.

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge