Author: Jeff Albert

2 cent cell phone fee riles governor; House ignores Jindal’s plea to kill bill | The Lens

I really have no intention of turning this into a political blog, but maybe that is what is happening.

2 cent cell phone fee riles governor; House ignores Jindal’s plea to kill bill | The Lens:

“‘There’s no question that it was an important statement that the speaker made with that vote about doing the right thing rather than how it’s going to be scored by some outside group,’ Robideaux said in an interview Wednesday.

Jindal’s administration warned lawmakers that Americans for Tax Reform, a Washington, D.C.-based group headed by Grover Norquist, would flag it as a tax increase, lawmakers said.”

I agree with Rep. Robideaux. Who cares what Grover Norquist thinks. Do what is right for the people of Louisiana. Good job fellas.

Warning: Political Post – How time has changed the 2nd Amendment

I don’t usually do non-arts-related political posts here, but here comes one, so click away if that doesn’t interest you.

The thing that I haven’t heard any one say in the gun control debate is that the advances in military technology have negated the reason for the existence of the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment guaranteed that we (The People of the United States) could bear arms so that we would be able to defend ourselves against oppressive government. Like we did when we fought for our independence from Britain. This made perfect sense when the government-supported-military used the same weapons that citizens used.

This is no longer the case. Hand guns, or even assault rifles and machine guns, will do us no good against drones, B1 bombers, and F16s. We as individual citizens are technologically incapable of defending ourselves against our own military, therefore the argument that we must have the right to buy a gun over the internet or at a gun show without a background check because we need to be able to defend ourselves from the possibility of our government going bad is a fallacious argument.

What we need to do to defend ourselves from our government going bad is to quit electing self-serving, egotistical idiots who value a rating from a lobbying group more than the wishes of their constituents. We need to quit electing people who value staying in office more than doing the right thing.

Dusted Reviews: Jeff Albert’s Instigation Quartet – The Tree on the Mound

A nice review from Derek Taylor in Dusted.

Dusted Reviews: Jeff Albert’s Instigation Quartet – The Tree on the Mound:

“By the time the four align on the first of Albert’s four ‘Instigation’ pieces (inexplicably out of numerical sequence and missing two in the order), everybody sounds as if they’re more comfortably on the same page. The last three tracks in particular find the group really hitting a galvanizing stride and crafting a series of bracing contrapuntal passages. ‘Instigation Quartet #6’ unfolds as a succession of duets, the first an explosive dialogue between Jordan and Abrams, the next a slow burn from Albert and Drake before moving on to an invigorating ensemble section and roof-raising solo by Jordan. Tenor and trombone converse and cavort in ornate arcs with a level of close confluence complemented by bass and drums. It’s a consensus that carries over into the closer, a collective leap through the indelible finger-snapping groove of Anderson’s ‘The Strut.’”

Since this is my blog, I will explain the inexplicable. The numbers on the IQ pieces are just a way to identify each one. I could have just as well called them Sue, John, Paul, George, and Ringo. They aren’t a suite meant to be played in order, just a collection of similar pieces. They are out of numerical order because that order made a better CD, and they aren’t all there because some of the recordings didn’t make the CD. Just like if they were five improvisations that had non-similar abstract names.

Interestingly, in an attempt to give the pieces names that created no baggage, expectations were still created. There may eventually be a longer post based on that dilemma.

The Tree on The Mound

The Tree on the Mound is the new CD by Jeff Albert’s Instigation Quartet featuring Kidd Jordan, Hamid Drake, and Joshua Abrams, released by the Paris based RogueArt Label.

Totm cover

Get more information on the label website. Ordering direct from the label will give the most support to the people who work hard and take risks to release good music. Order here, especially if you are in Europe.

The CD is also available in finer stores and online outlets like JazzLoft, Dusty Groove, Downtown Music Gallery, and Squidco among others.

Thanks for listening.

A Simple Reason Why Audiences Are So Small For New Music Concerts « Elissa Milne

This is really good. There is deep insight here into how and why audiences exist, and my experience with the Open Ears Music Series affirms these ideas. Click the link to read the whole thing.

A Simple Reason Why Audiences Are So Small For New Music Concerts « Elissa Milne:

“Live concerts (or any live events) are built on a fan-base, so if you have no fans you have a limited chance of attracting an audience. This holds true for a pub band as much as it does for a purveyor of experimental sound art. Any performer needs to build an audience if they want to have an audience.

Now I do appreciate that there has been an aesthetic of writing with no thought for connection with listeners, but seriously people, if you write with no consideration of how you are building your audience you can hardly be surprised when you don’t have one.

And yeah, it’s your audience. It’s not the audience for ‘new music’ or ‘experimental music’ or ‘art music’. It’s the group of people in your neighbourhood, community, workplace, internet forums, facebook groups and twitterfeed who are interested in what you do. That’s what an audience is: it’s a bunch of people who care about your work so much that they want to participate. By being there. By being close to the action. By giving you money so you’ll keep doing what you do.”

(Via @pbailey.)

Jeb Bishop @ Green Mill

Last night I had the honor to be a guest at Jeb Bishop’s 50th Birthday Blowout at The Green Mill in Chicago. I sat in with the quartet of Jeb, Jeff Parker, Joshua Abrams, and Hamid Drake. We did some material from Hamid’s Bindu-Reggaeology project.

Bishop parker abrams

There were other sets by Jeb’s trio and The Engines.

More fun tonight, when I get to guest with the trio.