Allen Toussaint Talks About Bo Diddley

June 2, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

Add new comment | Filed under: allen toussaint, bo diddley, new orleans, Notes

Bo Diddley died this morning. I learned about his death en route to an interview with Allen Toussaint, the legendary New Orleans R&B producer. Toussaint, himself a fellow member of the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, shared some beautiful thoughts about the legendary Bo Diddley.
Hear what he had to say.
-Josh

© 2008 WBGO

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Great Live Moments - Hilton Ruiz

April 30, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

Add new comment | Filed under: benefit, benny golson, bourbon street, clifford, dizzy gillespie, hilton ruiz, hometown, hurricane katrina victims, Jazz Alive, jazz ballads, Listening Post, Live Music, lyrics, new orleans, performance studio, wbgo

So how can we say something so real has really gone away?
I hear him now, I always will
Believe me I remember Hilton still.

Those are actually the lyrics to "I Remember Clifford," one of the enduring jazz ballads by Benny Golson. With one modification. The name.
It should not go unnoticed that nearly two years ago, Hilton Ruiz lay unconscious on Bourbon Street in my hometown. What particularly stings me is that he was in New Orleans working on a benefit CD for and video about Hurricane Katrina victims.

It reminds me of a quote attributed to Dizzy Gillespie:
“Men have died for this music. You can’t get more serious than that.”

In 1986, Hilton Ruiz played the Steinway B in our performance studio.
Listen to "I Remember Clifford" from the WBGO Archives.

-Josh

© 2008 WBGO

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Jazz on the Brain

March 5, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

Add new comment | Filed under: awe, brain, cecil taylor, forehead, funky butt, invisible button, jazz, Jazz Osmosis, kitchen sink, musical improvisation, musicians, neurological functions, new orleans, orleans writer, poem, prefrontal cortex, rampart street, Real Life Stories, scientists, summation, wwoz, ya

People who know me will tell you I always have jazz on the brain. Guilty as charged. Recently, scientists studied improvising musicians, hoping to unlock the underlying neurological functions of high and low level musical improvisation. A summation of the study is here.
Turns out all you have to do is turn off your prefrontal cortex (can an Idiot's Guide to Turning Off Your Prefrontal Cortex be far behind?).
This study reminds me of a conversation I had with the New Orleans writer, performer, and creator Kalamu Ya Salaam. One night on Rampart Street, at a club called The Funky Butt, I watched in awe as Kalamu performed an original poem in a style similar to the way that pianist Cecil Taylor played his music. Kalamu and I worked together at WWOZ in New Orleans. One night, during his Thursday evening Kitchen Sink show, I asked him how he could do such things.
He said, "There's an invisible button located on your forehead. It controls the part of your brain that says you cannot do something. Turn it off."
-Josh

© 2008 WBGO

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