It ain’t all about heavy metal, ya know

One of my not so guilty pleasures is smooth jazz. In fact, one of my all-time favorite songs is Dave Brubeck’s Take Five, which I probably heard a few times while I was growing up, and then it ended up on the “American Pop” soundtrack, so I was hooked all over again. I could listen to Al Jarreau, Sade, and Anita Baker sing all day; I’ve been a huge fan of Stanley Clarke since I first saw him on Johnny Carson years and years ago. Django Reinhardt, Pat Matheny, and Stanley Jordan are just a few of my favorite guitarists. Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, the legendary Duke Ellington and Count Basie; dig ‘em all. And several years ago, before ClearChannel swooped in and bought up half the radio stations in the area, one of the stations ran the syndicated show, Art Good’s JazzTrax on Sunday mornings, and it was some of the best radio I had ever heard. It became a must-listen for me, and I thank him(and The Arrow 94.9) for keeping the fire stoked in me.

Which brings me to the point of my post… while channel surfing a few nights ago, I ran across a documentary on the making of Herbie Hancock’s 2005 release, Possibilities. The film shows his in-studio collaborations with a dozen formidable pop recording artists, including Sting, Carlos Santana(who could’ve played nothing but jazz and still been the mega-star he became, IMHO), Annie Lennox, Paul Simon, John Mayer and Christina Aguilera, who performs Leon Russell’s “A Song For You”(as a side note; say what you will about Ms. Aguilera, but the woman has a serious set of pipes). Also showing up are Joss Stone and Jonny Lang, who pair up with Hancock for a jazzier version of the U2/BB King song, “When Love Comes to Town.” Needless to say, it kicks ass.

Every now and then, you run into someone, or something that makes you remember the good stuff, even if it’s insignificant. I’m glad I ran across this film; it rekindled the warm fuzzies I have for jazz.

Just because I’m feeling nostalgic…

My Pops, circa 1977-78

and his idol Stan “The Man” Musial, circa 1946

If you look at the bottom left corner of the Musial photo, you’ll see that he personally signed it to my Dad. My grandparents had met The Man a few years earlier when they were “wintering” in St. Pete, and struck up a friendship with him.

And, it’s very faint, but my father signed his picture “Bustin’ Bill Ostrom”. Always the clown, my Dad was…

Because it’s Canada Day…

Here’s the best thing to ever come out of the Great White North:

He finally has a “place for all of his stuff”

George Carlin, one of the true comic geniuses of my generation, passed away Sunday night of heart failure at the age of 71. He is survived by his daughter Kelly, his wife Sally Wade, and his brother Peter.
He helped changed the comedy landscape by making simple observations about everyday life, railing against the socio-political attitudes of the day, and by uttering the seven “dirty” words not allowed on TV. He was the “Class Clown”; he was Al Sleet, the Hippy Dippy weatherman(“Tonight’s forecast: Dark. Continued dark throughout most of the evening, with some widely-scattered light towards morning.”), he was the conscience of America, and oh yeah; he was the first-ever host of Saturday Night Live in 1975.

But most of all, he was a genius in his field; a member of the Mt. Rushmore of stand-up comics. In this day of rip-off artists(yes, I know; George took his style partly from Lenny Bruce, but he always acknowledged that fact, and gave Bruce all the credit he deserved), and just plain unfunny guys(I’m looking at you Dane Cook), Carlin stood alone at the top of the mountain, and could make you laugh and think at the same time; a very rare commodity these days. I was lucky enough to have seen him live back in the late 80s, and it was one of the more enjoyable nights of my life.

Last week, when Tim Russert died, we lost one of the few people that held politicians’ feet to the fire, and someone made the comment that the country would be a little less truthful from now on. With the passing of George Carlin, it became a little less funny, too. R.I.P. George…

Moving is a bitch,

and a pain in the back, literally. My sister’s brood, my niece Emily’s BF, Chris, and his dad got me moved in on Monday night, minus a sofa(we junked it. I bought a new one on Saturday, and it was delivered on Wednesday). It was a tad warm(duh), and we got t-stormed on during our second run, but it was a success, nonetheless. Actually, I must amend that last statement a bit; it was a success as far as I go, but my cat was not a happy camper. She was downright pissed, to be exact, but by the time I collapsed into bed that night, she was doing better. I spent much of Tuesday, and part of Wednesday doing some last-minute cleaning, vacuuming, etc. at the old place, then turned in my keys, said good-bye to Skip, the maintenance guy(a real jewel of a person), and came home and collapsed on my new sofa. Of course, I can barely walk upright(seriously), because my back is shot, but I had my cable and internet installed today, and my A/C is working once again(it broke down late Tuesday night, but it’s been cool enough these last two days, so it hasn’t been bad, really), so I’m in hog heaven right now. Oh, and my cat is getting used to her new surroundings, and has already discovered that she can open the cabinet doors, just like in our old place. Ah yes, home sweet home…

I’ll be away for a bit…

I’m moving today(Monday), and as a result, will no longer be a customer of that wonderful conglomerate known as Comcast. That’s the good news(I’m sick of Comcast). The bad news is that unfortunately, my new cable and internet provider, JetBroadband, can’t get out to my new place until Thursday afternoon. So, I’ll be out of commission and confined to books(if I can see the print well enough), the radio, and dvds as entertainment for four and a half days. So, to all three or four of you that occasionally stumble by here, I’ll see ya when I see ya.

Father’s Day…

I’m not a father, but I have three nieces and one nephew. I don’t really regret not having children, because frankly, I don’t think I have the right temperament for it. But that’s neither here nor there right now. My niece Katie’s high school graduation brought my family together yesterday, so I was able to see my brother, brother-in-law, and my niece Emily’s boyfriend Chris(who has a child from a previous relationship) all interact with their kids. Chris, especially, was playing the proud, doting father(his son Westin is just a little over a year old), and it was joy watching him fawn over his son.

In light of the untimely passing of Tim Russert, who was a loving and devoted father himself, and in memory of my father, Bill , I’m going to repost(with a couple of alterations) the tribute I made to him on last year’s Father’s Day. I still miss you Dad, and btw… the Cards have been kicking some serious ass this year, but I guess you knew that already didn’t you?

My dad passed away almost 30 years ago, just before my 26th birthday, but not a day goes by that I don’t think about him. He was the local TV and radio sports guy here in Lynchburg for the better part of 10 years(and, in fact, helped launch Charlie Gibson’s career), before moving on to other venues in life, and he’s the reason I’m a sports fan, in general, and a Cardinals fan, specifically. We rarely did the “play catch” thing, but we went to a lot, and I mean a lot, of sports events. The one real regret I have is that we were never able to attend a Cards game together, although, when the new Busch was being built, I bought a brick paver with his name on it, so he at least has a permanent, or as long as permanent means in this day and age, place alongside his favorite baseball team. It was the least I could do for him after everything he did for my brother, sister, and me(Edit: it turns out the brick never got made, but I know he would’ve loved the sentiment, anyway).
To the man who was my hero, my idol, and my best friend; Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I miss you.

Remembering Tim Russert

I’ve never considered myself to be a political junkie; more like an occasional “user”, if you will. But there’s been one person, and one person alone, over the years who has always made politics interesting to me; Tim Russert. Maybe it was his “everyman” persona, or his dogged pursuit of the right answer(just ask Dick Cheney or former Virginia Senator George Allen), or maybe it was just our shared Western New York heritage(He’s from Buffalo, I’m from a small town about 100 miles south), but there was something about the way that he presented the subject matter to his audience that made it seem so much simpler than it really was.

Tim Russert passed away today of a coronary, brought about by cardiac artery disease. Russert’s physician, Michael Newman, said cholesterol plaque ruptured in an artery, causing sudden coronary thrombosis. He was just 58 years old. I’m just so saddened by this, and I know it’s cliché to say this, but I truly feel like I have lost a brother. One thing I know, for sure, and Keith Olbermann just brought it up while speaking to Collin Powell, the amount of truth garnered out of Washington and most politicians won’t be as great as it was before today. There was no one who could get to the core of a matter like Tim, and I don’t know if there’s anyone who can replace him. I’m going to miss seeing him on Sundays, and my heartfelt condolences go out to his wife, Maureen Orth, his son Luke, and his father, “Big Russ”.

R.I.P. Tim…

The Terminator turns to Garbage

If having Lena Headey and Summer Glau wasn’t enough to spice up FOX’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, now there will be a fiery redhead thrown in the mix to stir things up. The producers have signed Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson(yes, that Shirley Manson) to play Catherine Weaver, the CEO of a cutting-edge high-tech company. Wow, this is almost too much for me to handle(not really, but go with me here, ‘k? thx); one of my favorite singers is taking the dive into the acting pool, and playing a “Big Bad” to boot(a term often used by “Buffy” creator Joss Whedon when describing the villains he created). The show got off to a somewhat rocky start when it debuted in mid-season(pre-writers’ strike), but picked up enough steam to be the highest-rated new scripted series of the 2007-08 season.

Headey plays the much put upon, carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, Sarah Connor, and Glau plays terminator Cameron Phillips, supposedly sent back to the past to protect the younger version of John Connor. Manson’s role will be a regular one, but whether she can act or not, at least enough to carry off the role, is still to be determined. Doesn’t matter to me, though, because when the new season starts, it’ll be “Garbage time” for me.

Cool as the other side of the pillow..

I’ve never been a huge fan of Was(Not Was), but I found this as I was perusing the Internets today. This is what funk used to be, and what I wish it still was(no pun intended). It’s called “Crazy Water”…