Often when I’m doing my morning walk, I listen to my iTunes library on shuffle. The other morning a song came up that I had not heard in a long time; in fact, I had forgotten I even had it — “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen).” The words for this song came from an essay written as a hypothetical commencement speech by columnist Mary Schmich, originally published in June 1997 in the Chicago Tribune. The essay became the basis for a successful spoken word song released in 1999 by Baz Luhrmann.
“Ugh, I don’t wear sunscreen. I don’t need it. (Gulps, takes deep breath). Listen to me carefully: everyone, every skin color, every tone, every ethnicity, and almost every age — needs sunscreen. You need it for two reasons: first, because it prevents skin cancer, and second, because it prevents premature aging. If you’re wearing a mask, brushing your teeth, taking care of yourself — you gotta add in sunscreen.” (NPR)
I haven’t always listened to this advice. Over the last decade, I have begun to experience the result of too much sun without using sunscreen. In trying to make up for lost time, I see a dermatologist twice a year. I have had several skin cancers, all squamous cell carcinoma, all treatable.
Some years ago on one of our trips to New Orleans, Joy and I were walking in the French Quarter and decided to go in a resale store. That’s when I saw the John Coltrane t-shirt I’m wearing in above photo by Joy. The t-shirt has faded over the years, but I still wear it often to live music events, also just when I feel like it. Okay, so I set it up for this posting, which I had planned on in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Coltrane’s, “A Love Supreme.”
In my teen years and early twenties I often would go to sleep listening to jazz on late-night Chicago radio. I still listen to a lot of radio, especially NPR where you can still find good jazz music. About ten days ago, I listened to and NPR story, 50 Years Of John Coltrane’s ‘A Love Supreme’. (A Love Supreme was recorded December 9, 1964.)
“I call it a sacred day for music fans, not just jazz fans. For people across musical boundaries and cultures — for Carlos Santana, Bono, Joni Mitchell, Steve Reich, Bootsy Collins, Gil Scott-Heron — hearing A Love Supreme was a revelation.”— Arun Rath
Many generations have and will continue to be influenced by the music of John Coltrane. If you let your soul listen you can hear his bluesy sound in the words and music of poets, singer-song writers and musicians:
Flirt with me don’t keep hurtin’ me Don’t cause me pain Be my lover don’t play no game Just play me John Coltrane
“People had channeled emotions into music before. But no one had ever played the blues like this.
It’s the same message we get from the blues: Even in struggle and suffering, we sing, because life is a blessing. As much as Coltrane made his saxophone cry — for his suffering, and the world’s — in A Love Supreme he’s telling us that the most important voice to raise is one of gratitude to the creator for the gift of life.” — Arun Rath
The song, “Everybody Pays,” in this video is on a great new album by Big Harp and if you love “Everybody Pays,” you will love the CD, “White Hat.” Stefanie Drootin-Senseny and Chris Senseny make a great sound together.
“It was International Olympic Committee founder Pierre de Coubertin’s great dream to marry the aesthetic with the athletic—thus, every Olympics between 1912 and 1948 awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals to artists.” — ASHLEY FETTERS
Carolyn Wonderland at Houston’s McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, June, 2009 — Image by kenne
As I opened the front door after my morning run, I was met with a great blues song and in a split second I knew it was Carolyn — but I was listening to NPR when I left the house, so to my surprise and pleasure Carolyn Wonderland was on NPR. The song she was performing was and old Janis Joplin song,“What Good Can Drinkin’ Do”.
Those of you who visit this blog know that Carolyn Wonderland is one of my favorite blues singer, out of Austin by way of Houston. Since seeing her live in Houston at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, I have done several posting on one of Texas’s best. My Youtube video, “Carolyn Wonderland McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, June 27, 2009,” has had close to 5,000 views.
I hope she makes it though Tucson soon — they would love her!
The space shuttle Endeavour is seen on launch pad 39a as a storm passes by prior to the rollback of the Rotating Service Structure (RSS), Thursday, April 28, 2011, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Source: NPR
This past Sunday, former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins was in Tucson for a University of Arizona Poetry Center event.
Having Collins here is draw enough, but the event drew national attention on NPR because of a precocious
three year old’s (Samuel Chelpka) YouTube video reading the Collin’s poem, “Litany.”
Samuel’s video reciting the Collin’s poem by heart has more than 320,000 hits, a lot more than the more than 93,000 hits Collins has received reading “Litany.”
In an earlier posting, I continued an annual recognition of Walt Whitman’s May 30th birthday. NPR has also reminded me that Benny Goodman shares the same birthday. Click here to lean more. Additionally, if you are into Jazz, you may also want to check out an NPR blog, “Take Five.”
Here’s one my favorite YouTube videos of Benny Goodman Quartet.
If you have been wondering how the credit crisis came about, listen to this report that was on last Friday’s “All Things Considered.” The Ira Glass, This American Life group out of Chicago Public Radio, working with NPR, produced this segment. It’s very informative, plus it’s done in the This American Life story-telling style with music interspersed. Cool. Here’s the link.
“Desert Coltrane” — Image by Joy
Dying Bee On Flower — Image by kenne
