duaneiac

Today marks the start of Marble League 2021! This year's series of 16 events will be hosted by my favorite team, Crazy Cat's Eyes, amidst the majestic pyramids of their homeland. Today's video presents the opening ceremonies with the parade of participating teams and the traditional lighting of the flame. Following that, the teams immediately take to the field to compete in the first event -- The Wave. Go ahead, select a team to cheer for and enjoy Marble League 2021!

Kay Kyser Kaiser Wilhelm Wilhelm Reich

Courtney Pine Cyrus Chestnut Cedar Walton

No Moe Louis Jordan Louis Jordan

This evening, while watering the plants out back, i had one of those "remembrance of things past" moments, inspired by, of all things, the garden hose. Long, long ago, in a century far, far away, before air conditioning and swimming pools became as common as they are today, on a hot July afternoon like this, there was one sure way for a kid to cool down. You and your siblings/friends would go out in the back yard and "play under the hose". Just spraying one another with the hose, without even the benefit of a nozzle ( I think there was a "you'll put some one's eye out" factor involved in that), so that you had to put your thumb part way covering the spout of the hose to get any kind of pressure. But in addition to being a cooling recreational device, the hose also provided a very satisfying summer time treat. As a kid, on a hot summer afternoon, one of the most refreshing drinks you could ask for was water straight out of the hose. Make sure you let it run a bit first -- there's nothing worse than hot water from the hose. But back in those days -- before there was any notion of summer school or summer camp or summer jobs, there was only summer -- that water, with its strong hints of rubber and metal, was and remains for me, the unmistakable and unforgettable flavor of the glorious, languid and indulgent carefreedom of those summer days. This memory did not inspire me to actually revisit that flavor tonight, however. I believe it was Thomas Wolfe who said, "you can't go hose again".

Peter Cook Stephen Fry David Byrne

I noticed last week that Cafe Stritch here in San Jose is still closed. The message on their website is not encouraging. If they are not open by now, it would seem very unlikely that they will be able to hold their annual celebration of all things RRK, the Rahsaanathon, in August.. I hope they do survive and come back soon. It is/was a nice venue and gave me the thrill of a lifetime just seeing RRK's stritch hanging on the wall there (as well as his top hat). Here's the story of how they came to possess those items.

Dud Bascomb Dudley Manlove Lovey Kravezit

This CD has its share of enjoyable musical moments, but perhaps that's not surprising given the top notch musicians involved -- The only drawback for me, is that as you can see, they chose to mix up the various groups/sessions -- so that the CD begins with a track by group (c) before moving onto two tracks by group (a) and then onto a track by group (d), etc. I dislike that.

Ken Howard Moe Howard Four-Eyed Moe

Linc Hayes (R.I.P.) Pete Cochran Julie Barnes

Act now! Quantities are limited! Offer expires July 1st!

There is a very good "unofficial" documentary about Jonny Quest on YouTube. Here it is, cued up to the part which discusses Hoyt Curtin, his music and the impossible to play trombone part in the show's theme song. Does the CD set give a listing of the band personnel? Any names we might recognize?

Apparently Chick Corea and Denny Zeitlin got left out when the original double LP set appeared on CD.

"With" is kind of misleading as the two groups did not perform together at this, the third Monterey Jazz Festival. But you know who did perform with the Ellington band that night? Jimmy Rushing! He sings with the band on 4 numbers here.

Goose Gossage Duck Dunn Rooster Cogburn

Zig Ziglar Pat Patterson Tom Tomorrow

Recordings made in the 1970's for Dutch radio. Good stuff.