R.I.P. John Prine

I never got to see him in person. But his music is among the greatest. Thanks to a remarkable songwriter. He told us what he would do today in a song. Enjoy. Laugh and cry as you watch.

Keeping Faith Tonight

2016: More losses

Yesterday I posted a list of the musical losses of 2016. There were a number of others from the entertainment, political, and news field that we also will miss. Here is that list.

Rest in Peace!

·      Abe Vigoda ·      Alan Thicke ·      Antonin Scalia ·      Arnold Palmer ·      Carrie Fisher ·      Craig Sager ·      Debbie Reynolds ·      Doris Roberts ·      Edward Albee ·      Elie Wiesel ·      Fidel Castro ·      Florence Henderson ·      Garry Marshall ·      Garry Shandling ·      Gene Wilder ·      George Kennedy ·      Gordie Howe ·      Gwen Ifill ·      Harper Lee ·      Janet Reno ·      Joe Garagiola ·      John Glenn ·      Morley Safer ·      Muhammad Ali ·      Nancy Reagan ·      Patty Duke ·      Richard Adams ·      Robert Vaughan ·      Shimon Peres ·      Tom Hayden ·      Vera Rubin- astronomer ·      William Christopher ·      Zsa Zsa Gabor

Having listed all these names over these two posts, it is only appropriate to ask, "So what?" Too many times we take these deaths of famous people as if they are members of our family, a close friend, or someone we just can't live without. I reflected on this a bit back in April after Prince died. The issue is that our lives are defined and impacted by all kinds of different events. Our stories include the events that were going on in our greater world- for better or worse.

That list above contains names of people who over the past 60 years defined certain times and places. It could be the way we responded to a TV show like The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Robert Vaughan) or the fall of Cuba (Fidel Castro.) It might be remembering where I was when our first American astronaut went into orbit (John Glenn) or the power of fiction was made clear (Harper Lee and Richard Adams.) When these people die, we remember our lives and how we are connected, impacted, changed, and grow thanks to many influences.

No, we are not acting as if we knew these people, but rather, how, by what they did, they helped us get to know ourselves better.

2016: Music Losses

Yes, 2016 was a cruel year for those of us who love all the varieties of music. Here is my In Memoriam list for the year past. Music is not quite as full today as it was a year ago.

Rest in Peace!

·      Bobby Vee ·      Buckwheat Zydeco, accordion king ·      Dan Hicks, the Hot Licks, multi-genre singer/songwriter ·      David Bowie ·      Gato Barbieri, jazz legend ·      George Michael ·      Glenn Frey, Eagles ·      Glenn Yarbrough, Folk-era star ·      Greg Lake, Emerson, Lake and Palmer ·      Guy Clark, country/folk singer/songwriter ·      Kay Starr, pop and jazz singer ·      Keith Emerson, Emerson, Lake and Palmer ·      Leon Russell ·      Leonard Cohen ·      Maurice White, Earth, Wind and Fire ·      Merle Haggard ·      Mose Allison, jazz legend ·      Paul Kantner, Jefferson Airplane ·      Pete Fountain, jazz legend ·      Phil Chess, Chess Records co-founder ·      Prince ·      Ralph Stanley, bluegrass legend ·      Red Army Choir ·      Rudy Van Gelder, Miles Davis’ engineer ·      Scotty Moore, Elvis Presley guitarist/legend ·      Sharon Jones, soul singer ·      Sir George Martin, famed Beatles producer ·      Sonny James, country star ·      Toots Thielemans, jazz legend

In Memoriam: Leonard Cohen

1934-2016

The secret chord,
the 4th, the 5th,
a minor fall, a major lift

I'll stand before the Lord of song

with nothing on my tongue

but Hallelujah.

Now, Suzanne takes your hand and she leads you to the river
She's wearing rags and feathers from Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey on our lady of the harbor
And she shows you where to look among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed, there are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love and they wil lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds her mirror
And you want to travel with her, and you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she's touched your perfect body with her mind

In Memoriam: Toots Thielmans

Toots Thielemans

1922-2016

In Memoriam: Pete Fountain

Pete Fountain

1930 - 2016

And now they are jammin' again. What a sound in heaven today!

A Long Couple Weeks

When the news keeps pounding like it has the past few weeks, we all seem to go into some sense of self-preservation. I know I have. I have been personally preoccupied with finishing the editing of The Tuning Slide book so it will be available for trumpet camp.I am getting near the final okay to print. (It better be soon- time is getting short.) I have also been working on a few other writing projects all of which has led me to more distraction than usual.

Then along came the deaths in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis. Before we even began to assimilate those there was the sniper killing 5 police officers in Dallas. I spent two days wanting to shout to anyone who would listen.

For. God's. Sake. Stop! Now!

I read the incredible pain in postings on Facebook. Everyone was hurt, angry, reeling, sad, stunned. It just seems to keep on going. These are hardly past the mourning period from Orlando, which was hardly past the mourning from San Bernardino. We are getting battered over and over with death, seen in ever more graphic detail thanks to our smartphone cameras.

I experienced the pain, starting with the fact that one of the deaths was in our Minnesota "backyard" and people I know knew someone who knew Philando. I heard the cries of law enforcement friends. Then I saw the reactions from Dallas, which, thankfully, began to turn the narrative in a different direction. While there were some highly one-sided posts, most were not. Most began to see the deadly insanity that is infecting so much of our thinking. Some pointed to the killer in Dallas as an example of the Black Lives Matter movement. Most saw him for what he was- another deranged individual, acting on his own as any of the number of serial killers have in the past years.

It didn't slow the anger of some in Minneapolis, but it did help the nation begin to deal with it. Former President Bush nailed it with his few but pointed words:

“Too often we judge other groups by their worst examples, while judging ourselves by our best intentions.”

People have tried to deepen divisions by trying to say things about Bush or Obama at the memorial service.

Stop it!

Why do we have to keep going there? Why does one have to be the good guy and the other the bad guy when they are standing there together? The partisanship goes on and on and on.

Stop it!

I don't want police officers to be in the kind of dangers they face.

I don't want African-Americans to be afraid if a police officer walks up the street toward them, let alone at a traffic stop.

I don't want police officers to be afraid of the African-American they are talking to.

I want both sides to talk and meet each other on equal grounds. I want both sides to be able to express their fears and frustrations without being told they are wrong. I want both sides- and all of us who support both sides- to celebrate that we are all Americans! Period! None better, none lesser. That's what we celebrated last week. Let's not leave it stuck there.

What If?

I am an ordained clergy. What if all clergy would automatically stand-up for all other clergy, even when they commit a crime? What if every ordained clergy of whatever denomination always was willing to let the abusing pastor off the hook simply because he was a pastor? Pretty soon no one would listen to us.

When, O God, Will We Ever Learn?

Philando Castile

Alton Sterling

R. I. P.

In Memoriam: Elie Wiesel

One of the important voices of the 20th Century.

May he never be silenced so that we may never forget.

1928-2016

In Memoriam: Ralph Stanley

Glad I got to see him at the Opry.

Ralph Stanley at Grand Ole Opry, February 2014

Why, O Lord? Have Mercy!

If Then Were Now (or Vice Versa?)

Muhammad Ali's death on Friday started me thinking and reminiscing. I remember the highlights and controversies of his career and life in the 60s. Starting out as Cassius Clay he became more radicalized as those 60s became more contentious. He became part of the Nation of Islam, changed his name, refused to be drafted, and had his championship revoked.

He was not as widely loved as it would seem from the eulogies these past couple of days. In fact, he was downright reviled in many quarters. His patriotism and commitment to the country were questioned. The sports biography/documentary, The Trials of Muhammad Ali, covered the legal battle to overturn his conviction for refusing to serve in the Vietnam War.

Watching the new reports and honors placed on him since he died made me think about how time changes things.

"A powerful, dangerous political force" the (LA Times) said in an editorial.

Yes. He challenged a racially-based political system. He turned away from the fame to stand for a point of justice. "Boxing is nothing," he said, "just satisfying to some bloodthirsty people. I’m no longer a Cassius Clay, a Negro from Kentucky. I belong to the world, the black world. This is more than money.”

A dangerous challenge, but done with a sense of peace about himself and about what he was working for. A boxer, known for fighting with his hands, calling for peace between people. A remarkable stand.

I haven't (yet) seen any posting or note denigrating Ali since he died. Oh, I am sure it's out there somewhere. Someone has or will write about his un-American stands, his turning to Islam, or whatever that will want to knock him out of the heights he rose to. If the events of his life from the 60s were happening today he would probably be more hated than he was then. Just being a Muslim would be enough to set outside the centers of American culture.

I hope there is a lesson in this for those who would point fingers, racially or religiously profile individuals, or strike out with prejudice toward those who may stand differently. Muhammad Ali was a political pioneer. He stood up and did what he felt he had to do. Don't let the fine eulogies hide his positively dangerous and revolutionary witness and life.

Thanks for your willingness and stand.

Rest in peace!

R. I. P. Muhammad Ali

1942 - 1916

In Memoriam

Father Daniel Berrigan
May 9, 1921 - April 20, 2016

A poet, 

a prophet, 

a pastoral presence 

for peace.

He challenged the status quo of the "war machine" and stood in humble strength before the powers that be.

Three quotes:

One is called to live nonviolently, even if the change one works for seems impossible.

And even more radically:

Faith is rarely where your head is at. Nor is it where your heart is at. Faith is where your ass is at!

And finally, at the heart of the matter for Bro. Dan:

If you are going to follow Jesus, you better look good on wood.

Well done, good and faithful servant.

Another Musical Loss

R. I. P. - Prince (1958 - 2016)

In Memoriam: Glenn Frey

A 75-Year Birthday: John Lennon

Happy Birthday, John Lennon.

A 45-Year Memory: In Memory of Janis

January 19, 1943 - October 4, 1970

On October 1 Janis Joplin did a quick a capella recording of a little ditty she had written a couple months earlier.

It would be the last song she recorded. She died three days later.

This Kris Kristofferson song from the last album that was just being completed when she died. It would be a posthumous #1:

The full measure of her powerful voice and style is probably best captured in this cover as she performed it on the Dick Cavett show: