Riffs

THE BLUESThe blues are an expression of fortitude in the face of a broken existence. They are more about the flesh-and-blood experiences of the heart, soul, and genitals of love, as in the lyric of Joe Turner's "Honey Hush" which shows Joe to be as much an existential philosopher as Kierkegaard or Sartre, and as blatantly carpe diem as it gets.You're so beautiful, but you got to die some day,You're so beautiful, but you got to die some day. All I want's a little loving before you pass away.The music is a camaraderie, an attempt to communicate that we are not alone and afraid in a world we never made.JAZZThe individuality of jazz and the pride and personal elegance of the musicians has always struck me as being what America's really all about. As Ralph Ellison wrote about having institutions to preserve our human gains - "We have the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. And we have jazz." The solo break, the spontaneous improvisation, the moment's riffs, are unique. Jazz music lives and dies in the moment of performance. Or as Shelly Manne, distinguished jazz drummer, sagely put it, "We never play anything the same way once." ROCKRock and Roll has perhaps had the longest run of any music since Gregorian chants. As Bob Dylan said of Elvis, "Hearing him for the first time was like bursting out of jail."