Spirits of the Living

Cold weather lives again in New York Town, a sudden pressure drop from 64 (same age of Don Van Vliet as of today) to freezing in the near blink of an eye by the pale fire of a wintry afternoon, a chill is in the air yet the bloom is on the rye (ergot mold maybe?), hard times living herein as sung by Dylan on album one and writ large in the first chapter of his essential "Chronicles" can be usually dispelled effortlessly by blowing yer top musically, which I did full stop Thursday night at CBGB's 313 Gallery in the excellent company of my friend Dee Pop, the original drummer for the Bush Tetras and now a titan of free drumming. We were joined in this joyous blowing session by my Gods and Monsters mates Ernie Brooks on bass and Jason Candler on alto, keyboard colossus Mark Plakias on synths, and special guest goddess Felice Rosser on bass and vox, scatting and wailing blues and the abstract truth with obeisance paid put to Mama Africa...it was such a liberating gig, we did a version of Abdullah Ibrahim's "Bra Joe from Kilimanjaro" that grooved so deep, a room full of happy faces glowing before us out of the darkness as I summoned ghosts from my guitars and sent them dancing about the room in company with the spirits conjured up by my likeminded sojourners...jazz, blues, rock, folk, electronic, it's all music, folks, and as the good Captain sayeth: Lick My Decals Off, Baby.

Pop quiz: what recurring beloved cartoon series from the 60's has a theme song resembling a speeded up version of "Nefertiti", from the Miles Davis album of the same name? The first emailer to correctly identify this series (hint: there was a store selling merchandise related to the show right by the Chateau Marmont in LA for many years) wins a rare copy of an air check of Dylan's legendary 1966 appearance on Bob Fass's WBAI midnight radio show "Radio Unnameable", where Dylan takes on all comers and then some fielding live on the air phone-ins from gushing fans, befuddled academics, jaded hipsters, and wiseass pranksters--recorded when Dylan was back briefly in NYC from Nashville on a break from cutting "Blonde on Blonde". Second correct emailer wins a copy of the new Fast 'n Bulbous album, which just got a rave from David Fricke in Rolling Stone. (Happy Birthday Don!)

love
xx

Gary