Window Thoughts

  Gary Levy and Connie Crothers -- July 13, 2o10 Brooklyn -- photo by Mark Weber -- Gary is a fantastic  saxophonist who plays a 1931 Conn alto

Gary Levy and Connie Crothers — July 13, 2o10 Brooklyn — photo by Mark Weber — Gary is a fantastic saxophonist who plays a 1931 Conn alto

THE THURSDAY JAZZ RADIO SHOW

May 28, 2o15 Jazz @ Noon every Thursday (starts at 12:07 after the satellite news) Host MARK WEBER KUNM Albuquerque, USA 89.9 FM (Mountain Standard Time) also streaming on the web > KUNM.org Current time zone offset: UTC*/GMT -6 hours (*Coordinated Universal Time)/Greenwich Mean Time)

WINDOW THOUGHTS

O, to have a sense of direction
To know where I’m going —-

Something got in there and crumbled my inner compass
The result being that I feel like
a blind-folded person holding a stick
who has been spun around and now
the crowd is hollering at me to whack the pinata —-

It could be anywhere! I’m swinging at space,
that’s why my pockets are full of maps
Maps are my jewel boxes, subways are
………….my space ships
The conductor over the intercom is God
Everybody else seems to know where
………….they are going

I have a map of Ethiopia, and the southern end
of the Red Sea where 50,000 years ago a small
tribe (thought to be only 150 people) crossed into Arabia
and populated the world with the genome we all now carry

I always sit at the window on flights
Humankind has sure been busy
There’s many theories as to this:
all that construction, I wonder how many of them
down there have forgotten how to pray?

You’ve discover’d enough places
maybe enough
and the directions in my brain
are telling me to cool it, quit all this running around:
It’s time to sit
and listen

Did you know Jay McShann and John Hicks made a duo piano album in 1992?  Surprised me  when I spotted it in a record store ---------  photo by Mark Weber -- September 23, 1980 at  Parisian Room, Los Angeles:  Jay McShann, piano; Claude Williams, violin; Larry Gales, bass;  Eddie Cleanhead Vinson, alto; Paul Gunther, drums

Did you know Jay McShann and John Hicks made a duo piano album in 1992? Surprised me when I spotted it in a record store ——— photo by Mark Weber — September 23, 1980 at Parisian Room, Los Angeles: Jay McShann, piano; Claude Williams, violin; Larry Gales, bass; Eddie Cleanhead Vinson, alto; Paul Gunther, drums

The Jazz Messengers at Rumsey's place -- January 17, 1980 Redondo Beach, California --  Art Blakey, drums; David Schnitter, tenor; James Williams, piano; Bobby Watson, alto; Valerie  Ponomarev, trumpet; Dennis Irwin, bass -- photo by Mark Weber ---- I think Blakey was the loudest  drummer I've ever heard

The Jazz Messengers at Rumsey’s place — January 17, 1980 Redondo Beach, California — Art Blakey, drums; David Schnitter, tenor; James Williams, piano; Bobby Watson, alto; Valerie Ponomarev, trumpet; Dennis Irwin, bass — photo by Mark Weber —- I think Blakey was the loudest drummer I’ve ever heard

  Johnny Otis with his painting of the Black Christ at his Landmark Community Church, 2077 S. Harvard Blvd, Los Angeles ---- Sunday morning October 14, 1979 -- photo by Mark Weber ----  Johnny was busy these years: Besides turning his former home into a church and preaching every  Sunday, he was producing records on his Blues Spectrum label, as well as a weekly radio show on  KPFK

Johnny Otis with his painting of the Black Christ at his Landmark Community Church, 2077 S. Harvard Blvd, Los Angeles —- Sunday morning October 14, 1979 — photo by Mark Weber —- Johnny was busy these years: Besides turning his former home into a church and preaching every Sunday, he was producing records on his Blues Spectrum label, as well as a weekly radio show on KPFK

Linda Hill, Horace Tapscott, Cecelia Tapscott -- September 23, 1984 Los Angeles -- photo by Mark Weber

Linda Hill, Horace Tapscott, Cecelia Tapscott — September 23, 1984 Los Angeles — photo by Mark Weber

Melba Joyce and John Carter at Local 47 -- March 20, 1983 -- photo by Mark Weber -- Melba  sang on John's album ECHOES FROM RUDOLPH'S and shares the singing spot on the  present Count Basie Orchestra with her daughter Carmen Bradford

Melba Joyce and John Carter at Local 47 — March 20, 1983 — photo by Mark Weber — Melba sang on John’s album ECHOES FROM RUDOLPH’S and shares the singing spot on the present Count Basie Orchestra with her daughter Carmen Bradford

The master of walking bass: Percy Heath with Jerome Richardson backstage Hollywood  Bowl for Playboy Jazz Festival -- June 18, 1983 -- photo by Mark Weber

The master of walking bass: Percy Heath with Jerome Richardson backstage Hollywood Bowl for Playboy Jazz Festival — June 18, 1983 — photo by Mark Weber

Patricia Willard & Gerald Wilson -- June 18, 1983 Hollywood Bowl -- photo by Mark Weber --  Patricia is a jazz historian based in Los Angeles

Patricia Willard & Gerald Wilson — June 18, 1983 Hollywood Bowl — photo by Mark Weber — Patricia is a jazz historian based in Los Angeles

Eddie Gladden tightening down the sock preparing to mount the stage with the Dexter Gordon Quintet --  backstage Hollywood Bowl -- June 19, 1982 -- photo by Mark Weber

Eddie Gladden tightening down the sock preparing to mount the stage with the Dexter Gordon Quintet — backstage Hollywood Bowl — June 19, 1982 — photo by Mark Weber

Sal Mosca & Roger Mancuso & Connie's books  --- September 18, 2006 ---- photo by Mark Weber

Sal Mosca & Roger Mancuso & Connie’s books — September 18, 2006 —- photo by Mark Weber

Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra:  Ufahamu Uweizi, alto; Fundi Legohn, French horn; Sabir Mateen, tenor & clarinet ---- summer 1980 Los Angeles ---- photo by Mark Weber

Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra: Ufahamu Uweizi, alto; Fundi Legohn, French horn; Sabir Mateen, tenor & clarinet —- summer 1980 Los Angeles —- photo by Mark Weber

Frank Wess with Mike LeDonne, piano; Kenny Washington, drums; Peter Washington, bass ---- at Smoke, 106th & Broadway, Manhattan -- July 10, 2o10 -- photo by Mark Weber ---- Frank that night ended his solo on "On the Street Where You Live" with a magnificent effortless down-spiraling articulated tumble through the changes that took the top of my head off -- I told Bradford later about this and he said, "Oh, those guys knock those things out any night of the week" -- Bobby remembers going back stage at a Basie concert in Dallas with James Clay ("it had to be 1952 because I was still in high school") to visit with Frank Wess and Frank Foster, "James always wanted to know about mouthpieces."

Frank Wess with Mike LeDonne, piano; Kenny Washington, drums; Peter Washington, bass —- at Smoke, 106th & Broadway, Manhattan — July 10, 2o10 — photo by Mark Weber —- Frank that night ended his solo on “On the Street Where You Live” with a magnificent effortless down-spiraling articulated tumble through the changes that took the top of my head off — I told Bradford later about this and he said, “Oh, those guys knock those things out any night of the week” — Bobby remembers going back stage at a Basie concert in Dallas with James Clay (“it had to be 1952 because I was still in high school”) to visit with Frank Wess and Frank Foster, “James always wanted to know about mouthpieces.”

All things must pass, sayeth the Buddha ---- David Letterman is second to none  with his interview technique, his concentration is like a laser beam, and he knows  how to ask a good question and then get out of the way ----- One of my favorite bits  is every year at Christmas David would have Jay Thomas on the show to tell his  Lone Ranger Story and it never gets old, check it out on YouTube -- photo by Mark  Weber -- 54th & Broadway ---- July 2, 2003 -- a hip cat on television, how did that  happen?  And proof that you actually get better with age.

All things must pass, sayeth the Buddha —- David Letterman is second to none with his interview technique, his concentration is like a laser beam, and he knows how to ask a good question and then get out of the way —– One of my favorite bits is every year at Christmas David would have Jay Thomas on the show to tell his Lone Ranger Story and it never gets old, check it out on YouTube — photo by Mark Weber — 54th & Broadway —- July 2, 2003 — a hip cat on television, how did that happen? And proof that you actually get better with age.

7 Comments

  1. Lisa Towles

    So many things I like about this poem, directionless but with pockets filled with maps, whacking a piñata, you are so talented Mark I miss you very much!

  2. baatzu

    The photo collection amazes me, mark, and as always your poetry is very easy to embrace.

  3. UFAHAMU

    PEACE & BLESSINGS Mark! I have 2 recordings: 2009 and 2014; BLue-RaY, DVD, and/or CD are available. Both recordings are Live Concerts of a 6 piece ensemble, that includes Harold Land jr. on keyboard. Thank you for the exposure!!

  4. Ken Keppeler

    Mark, I know what you mean about stopping and listening as we wander around the uk, Ireland and Europe playing gigs. I just don’t think we know how to stop and love seeing our friends over here. Your poems always help us to stay grounded and the photos remind us of those folks who never stopped gigging. Cheers from southern England.

  5. Supriti Kotler

    Love the poem. Can I get a hard copy and read it in Yoga class on Tuesday?

  6. Mark Weber

    ——————playlist———————
    May 28, 2o15
    KUNM Albuquerque
    Host MARK WEBER

    1. Horace Tapscott “Fire Waltz”(Mal Waldron) late 1980s– cd Volume 8 solo piano (Nimbus West)
    2. Dexter Gordon Quartet w/ Eddie Gladden “LTD” –3may78 cd MANHATTAN SYMPHONIE
    3. John Hicks & Jay McShann “The Missouri Conniection”
    cd THE MISSOURI CONNECTION — Sept 1992
    4. Heath Brothers “Nostalgia” –Feb.1997 cd AS WE WERE SAYING w/Tootie
    5. Sun Ra Arkestra “Reflections in Blue” 1957 album SOUND OF JOY (Delmark)
    6. Sal Mosca solo piano “Topsy” –Nov.1992 cd TALK OF THE TOWN
    7. Gerald Wilson Orchestra “Milestones” — Sept.1962
    8. Art Blakey Jazz Messengers “Tell it like it is” (W. Shorter) –27may61 cd THE FREEDMO RIDER
    9. Carmen Bradford w/John Mills “We Could Have Been There By Now” c.2014
    10. Frank Wess “If it’s the Last Thing I Do” –Sept.2o11 cd MAGIC 201

  7. Mark Weber

    We miss you , too, LISA, when are you moving back to New Mexico? ha ha ha. How’s the Berkeley scene? I sure wish you’d bring your flute back here before long, maybe just a visit, and we could record?

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