When Marcia saw Chick Corea and Gonzalo Rubalcaba recently, she said it was a lot of, “Look at how technically brilliant we are!” Compared to when we both saw Rubalcaba with Chucho Valdes, which was a lot of, “Look how much fun we’re having!”
Which pretty much explains in a nutshell why I don’t like Chick Corea. (And you already know how I feel about fusion, so … sorry, RTF.)
I always think of Chet Baker as part of the “live fast, die young” school. When in fact, he lived to almost 60. Somehow, “live fast, die in late middle age” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.
I poked around his bio for something funny to say about Bud Powell, and found that he suffered lifelong mental and physical breakdowns because of a police beating—ultimately dying in his 40s. So, in a very rare case of keeping my mouth shut, I will simply present the amazing music of Bud Powell.
About a year ago, Marcia and I went to see Ron Carter—a show that was disappointingly short and unexciting. Bill Frisell, who I also think is unexciting, has a song called “Ron Carter.” Coincidence? I think not.
My friends often lovingly and supportively make suggestions for playlists. I believe Marcia’s exact words were: “If you don’t give Bill Evans a list, I’ll never speak to you again.” So … Bill Evans.
On the other hand, with titles like “Sex in a Pan,” “The Sinister Minister,” and “Flight of the Cosmic Hippo,” I bet Bela Fleck really is fun on a date. (P.S.: That line makes a lot more sense if you read yesterday’s post.)
I know what you’re all thinking: “Gee, it’s been a while since Joe added to his ‘musician who was quite the looker in his younger days’ list.” The wait is over. Bebo Valdes.
He still gives me a headache, but I think I’ve given everyone else I saw at Brown a list (not to mention one I missed), so fair is fair.
During my junior year, when I lived with two Daves (not to be confused with my senior year, when I lived with two completely different Daves), black Dave (not to be confused with Korean Dave) busted on me for missing Wynton Marsalis performing on campus, saying I was missing “a legend in the making.” He was probably right, but on the other hand, Korean Dave’s girlfriend was a whiz at doctoring ramen to make it taste gourmet, so on balance I think I made out OK.
I don’t really like Weather Report, so all I’ll say about them is Wayne Shorter probably picked the name so he and the group would appear next to each other on lists like these. On the other hand: Quincy Jones did a hip-hop version of “Birdland” (featuring vocals from both Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald, because … huh?) that was Daveon’s favorite song for a while, so credit to Weather Report for coming up with the tune in the first place.
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