Tag Archives: pre-war jazz and blues

The first annual YPSI NOW Unconference will be this Saturday

Last night, while Linette and the kids were out with friends, celebrating the coming of the new year, I was home in bed, recovering from a stomach bug. It was a relatively uneventful evening. I watched Arrival (which I’d been saving for a special occasion), listened to some pre-WWII jazz (as I like to do every […]

Posted in Mark's Life, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

Jelly Roll Morton and the gritty origins of jazz

At some point in 1938, while employed by the Library of Congress Archive of American Folk Song to record and preserve regional American music being put at risk by popular music like jazz, music archivist Alan Lomax found himself at a Washington, DC club by the name of the Jungle Inn, one of the few […]

Posted in Art and Culture, History, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

R. Crumb on the death of authentic American music

While I have friends who play in bands, and, on occasion, even make music myself, I rarely, if ever, listen to anything recorded after the start of World War II. Yes, every once in a while I pull out a record by the Ramones, Television or the Velvet Underground, but, for the most part, I […]

Posted in Art and Culture, Mark's Life, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

God Bless America

A few days ago, I posted video here of Bill Murray, on the first episode of Late Night with David Letterman. I have no way of knowing how many people took my advice and watched the clip, which was absolutely brilliant, but it only garnered one comment. (Someone, making the case that he was still […]

Posted in Art and Culture, Mark's Life, OCD, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

alan lomax: better off dead

Maybe western culture does deserve to be taken out back and shot.

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