Music
Music
Flutes in History
Flutes are the oldest instrument in the world. Hollowed bird bones, with holes cut for tone changes, have been found in archaeological sites as old as 40,000 years. Early man may have heard wind whistling across the tops of reeds and designed an instrument that produced the same sound. Early flutes were played vertically, with
Cover Me
Music is one of those things in life that can stir up a lot of emotional debate. First is, of course, arguments over which musical style–Hip Hop, Country, Jazz, etc.–is best. Then there are disagreements about the best songs an artist has recorded. And then there are covers of existing songs by other artists, particularly
Ornithology
People remember Charlie Parker Rode into Minton’s on a horse Dressed in overhauls Lip drooping a piece of straw. People remember Charlie Parker Hocking his alto for a fix Living just anywhere Raving out of control down a rainy street. People remember Charlie Parker Worked with the higher extensions Of the chords, worked with strange
Zimmerman’s Syndrome
I’d learned a lot of blues songs, quite a few famous and obscure standards from the 20s and 30s, some Irish tunes, a few old Burl Ives songs and others from the dread folk music revival years, a few Dylan tunes. (While I’d dug Dylan’s early lp’s, he was leaving me pretty lukewarm as
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Novels and Collected Works
If It Ain’t Got That Swing – Jazz Then and Now
The Aim Was Song Before man came to blow it right The wind once blew itself untaught, And did its loudest day and night In any rough place where it caught. Man came to tell it what was wrong: It hadn’t found the place to blow; It blew too hard – the aim was
How to Avoid Success
I’ve spent the last fifty years or so writing songs, performing them, trying to sell them, all without the slightest financial reward. Well, I overstate – back in the early 1980s, I played many paying gigs with a small group, Toy Boat. In 1982, Toy Boat had had two extended gigs at a Westside club
Symbiotic Suffocation
Symbiotic Suffocation: Many people have suffocating relationships. When they extricate themselves from these, many fall into the hands of dubious Consultants and Psychiatrists – ‘out of the frying pan, into the fire.’ *** David Russell is a resident of the UK. He writes poetry, literary criticism, speculative fiction, and romance. His poetry includes the collection Prickling
Christmas Music Evil
It oozes out of every restaurant speaker like toxic sludge coated in tinsel, spreading its fraudulent corporate message. We’re all subject, against our will, to endure this imposed holiday cheer every year. It tests our patience. It’s the abrasive visiting relative you’re stuck with for the next few weeks who follows you everywhere and won’t
I’d Call You, But I Can’t, ‘Cause You’re Dead
This song is dedicated to Dan Todd, who left us June 16, 2018. Dan will be remembered as fondly by his many students and by many more who heard him play guitar and harmonica with such bands as Toy Boat, the New Mules, the Tube Radio Orchestra, and What’s Right. © 2019 by Deb