The Jazz Blogs
07/10/11 16:23 Filed in: O'Rourke Rants
I was talking with George Mesterhazy recently and told him of a quote I had seen on a musician’s page on Facebook - here I go paraphrasing “The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously” - attributed to Hubert H. Humphrey. We both laughed as we thought about what that meant. Here, says he hypocritically ;) I talk about the downside of blogging, sounding off on Facebook or Twitter. On the positive side, celebrities are able to tackle in the first person any rumors that are put out by tabloids while that freedom also includes the ability to post complete fiction and present it as truth!
Recently I have seen a lot of blogs appear where musicians are having a go at one another in a way that saddens me. It might take many forms, someone blogs or tweets a statement that IMO is designed to get a reaction and then appears appalled by the intense reaction it generates. Someone else might start a ‘fight’ on a thread about music or musicians start slagging off one another in writing. No matter what way they choose, they all seem to hide behind silent text, text that will often obscure the tone of its intent and sometimes not. I also feel that much of what I see written might not necessarily be spoken as comfortably as it seems to have been written, but that’s another topic with exploring. Early on in my career I got to take a lesson with Pat Martino. I was 23 and he was (and still is BTW) my hero. It was very obvious to all that I held Pat in such esteem - even he couldn’t escape my starry eyed gaze as I realized I was sitting opposite the man whose music I loved so much. In the opening minutes of the lesson he ended by debilitating awe by somehow making me feel we were just two people sharing a moment - an amazing ‘moment’ that lasted 5 hours. The manner in which he disarmed my borderless awe gave birth to a friendship that has endured to the present. I have been out of contact with him personally for long stretches but his remarkable spirit has permeated much of what I do musically. All this happened because he showed me a degree of respect as a fellow artist that, frankly, I wasn’t expecting - hadn’t even imagined it. As she showed me his octave dispersal technique on the chromatic scale he smiled at my reaction as I recognized from first hearing it on his solo on the bridge of “It’s Alright With Me”. This was LONG before he published these lines but not before he cautioned me “I’m showing you something that other guitarists don’t have - please don’t use this as a weapon against other musicians - (pause) - Never look down because if you do, at that moment you lose complete sight of ALL that is above you!”
Having experienced the above early on I am saddened when I say musicians hurling insults at one another and hope they can find the restraint necessary on their path to mutual respect - Hey! Peace and Love was not a bad thing! Can we try it again?
Recently I have seen a lot of blogs appear where musicians are having a go at one another in a way that saddens me. It might take many forms, someone blogs or tweets a statement that IMO is designed to get a reaction and then appears appalled by the intense reaction it generates. Someone else might start a ‘fight’ on a thread about music or musicians start slagging off one another in writing. No matter what way they choose, they all seem to hide behind silent text, text that will often obscure the tone of its intent and sometimes not. I also feel that much of what I see written might not necessarily be spoken as comfortably as it seems to have been written, but that’s another topic with exploring. Early on in my career I got to take a lesson with Pat Martino. I was 23 and he was (and still is BTW) my hero. It was very obvious to all that I held Pat in such esteem - even he couldn’t escape my starry eyed gaze as I realized I was sitting opposite the man whose music I loved so much. In the opening minutes of the lesson he ended by debilitating awe by somehow making me feel we were just two people sharing a moment - an amazing ‘moment’ that lasted 5 hours. The manner in which he disarmed my borderless awe gave birth to a friendship that has endured to the present. I have been out of contact with him personally for long stretches but his remarkable spirit has permeated much of what I do musically. All this happened because he showed me a degree of respect as a fellow artist that, frankly, I wasn’t expecting - hadn’t even imagined it. As she showed me his octave dispersal technique on the chromatic scale he smiled at my reaction as I recognized from first hearing it on his solo on the bridge of “It’s Alright With Me”. This was LONG before he published these lines but not before he cautioned me “I’m showing you something that other guitarists don’t have - please don’t use this as a weapon against other musicians - (pause) - Never look down because if you do, at that moment you lose complete sight of ALL that is above you!”
Having experienced the above early on I am saddened when I say musicians hurling insults at one another and hope they can find the restraint necessary on their path to mutual respect - Hey! Peace and Love was not a bad thing! Can we try it again?
Dublin and the Queen
08/04/11 08:08 Filed in: O'Rourke Rants
Okay, first a glimpse back to the dark days. I know I’m not alone when I tell you that there were times in my life when I never saw Ireland and England reaching a point where we would see an official visit from a reigning Queen of England to Ireland. If ever there could be one, I can certainly admit that I would have regarded you as crazy if you told me that she would visit Croke Park - the scene of the original Bloody Sunday, and the Garden Of Remembrance - where those executed after the 1916 rising are honored along with all who fought for our freedom. When the second Bloody Sunday took place violence up north escalated to a point where the idea of peace was fantasy land. Why? We had bombings up north and in England, eventually down south (attributed to MI-5 - an allegation that has never been disproven), a shoot-to-kill policy among police/army of ‘eligible’ youth - ie those who could be an IRA member. Glimmers of hope came when a Manchester police chief called John Stalker was appointed by Thatcher to do a report, that she fully expected him to whitewash and deny all allegations as baseless. One problem; John Stalker was an honest cop who joined the police force to do his civic duties and was honest to the bone. He proved, with recorded evidence that such a policy existed and found himself dismissed from his job while he himself was ridiculed. He was accused of associating with a known criminal - there was a photograph from high school of him with someone who would become a known criminal. So, forgive me for being despondent.
Next on to the Bermingham Six and The Guildford Four:
I remember well the night when my Dad told me had seen a news flash that the first of these cases had collapsed and we both watched in disbelief as the celebration of their release was now taking place in real time. This involved an admission of a miscarriage of justice to a people who believed their system was flawless and has since been depicted in the movie In The Name Of The Father. Some time later there was apology by Tony Blair for the famine and then before we knew it Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton confirmed that agreement had been reached on a ceasefire as lasting peace was sought with a feeling of optimism never really felt before. John Hume’s courage in openly having discussions with Gerry Adams, is to me the real catalyst in getting us to the point of peace. He was ridiculed early in the process for meeting with ‘terrorists’ when it was an open secret that both governments were having ‘behind closed doors’ meeting in both the 70s and 80s.
In my own family, my Uncle Tom (my mother’s oldest brother) fought in the GPO in the 1916 Rising) - I believe he 17 years old (or was it 16?) He was a wanted man for much of his late teens.
Alright, enough looking back, I believe this visit from the Queen and the choice of locations for the four days shows tremendous courage and has been intended to celebrate the closeness that now exists between the two countries. Having lived in the USA for a number of years I soon discovered how much we had in common with our seemingly distant neighbors. Tea, football, real-time unscripted interviews with sitting politicians on TV and Radio and one of the loves of my life: Fish’n’chips with malt vinegar ;) There are those who oppose this visit, some questioning the sensitivity of it (anniversary of Dublin and Monaghan bombings) and it is at times like this I think of Maya Angelou’s wonderful “On The Pulse Of Morning” poem from the first Clinton inauguration:
History, Despite it’s wrenching pain, cannot me unlived, and if faced with courage, need not be lived again. She closed out her wonderful poem with a moving tone of optimism:
Here on the pulse of this new day You may have the grace to look up and out And into your sister's eyes, into Your brother's face, your country And say simply Very simply With hope Good morning.
I hope that the spirit of this visit will help the spirit of the Irish public who have been battered with the economic woes of the last few years as they face the sadness of mass emigration, unemployment etc. I thank those who have had the courage to push forward with this visit.
Next on to the Bermingham Six and The Guildford Four:
I remember well the night when my Dad told me had seen a news flash that the first of these cases had collapsed and we both watched in disbelief as the celebration of their release was now taking place in real time. This involved an admission of a miscarriage of justice to a people who believed their system was flawless and has since been depicted in the movie In The Name Of The Father. Some time later there was apology by Tony Blair for the famine and then before we knew it Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton confirmed that agreement had been reached on a ceasefire as lasting peace was sought with a feeling of optimism never really felt before. John Hume’s courage in openly having discussions with Gerry Adams, is to me the real catalyst in getting us to the point of peace. He was ridiculed early in the process for meeting with ‘terrorists’ when it was an open secret that both governments were having ‘behind closed doors’ meeting in both the 70s and 80s.
In my own family, my Uncle Tom (my mother’s oldest brother) fought in the GPO in the 1916 Rising) - I believe he 17 years old (or was it 16?) He was a wanted man for much of his late teens.
Alright, enough looking back, I believe this visit from the Queen and the choice of locations for the four days shows tremendous courage and has been intended to celebrate the closeness that now exists between the two countries. Having lived in the USA for a number of years I soon discovered how much we had in common with our seemingly distant neighbors. Tea, football, real-time unscripted interviews with sitting politicians on TV and Radio and one of the loves of my life: Fish’n’chips with malt vinegar ;) There are those who oppose this visit, some questioning the sensitivity of it (anniversary of Dublin and Monaghan bombings) and it is at times like this I think of Maya Angelou’s wonderful “On The Pulse Of Morning” poem from the first Clinton inauguration:
History, Despite it’s wrenching pain, cannot me unlived, and if faced with courage, need not be lived again. She closed out her wonderful poem with a moving tone of optimism:
Here on the pulse of this new day You may have the grace to look up and out And into your sister's eyes, into Your brother's face, your country And say simply Very simply With hope Good morning.
I hope that the spirit of this visit will help the spirit of the Irish public who have been battered with the economic woes of the last few years as they face the sadness of mass emigration, unemployment etc. I thank those who have had the courage to push forward with this visit.
What's on the turntable lately?
14/03/11 11:41 Filed in: Audio & HiFi
Well... Speaking of turntables - I recently got my father’s Garrard 301 with SME pickup arm brought back from Ireland thanks to Fintan O’Neill. I have no idea how much this cost my Dad back in the day but know that he bought through a combination of paying hard earned money and the good old fashioned barter system. The Garrard 301 BTW is now regarded as a collector’s item by audiophiles and I am about go down the path of bringing it back to life. Step one involves a new plinth while the SME arm will go to Canada for repair and rewiring. As time goes by I will post on the progress but in the meantime I’m going to touch on the much discussed subject of vinyl versus CD etc...
I have been playing Vinyl, CDs, Digital Audio files (aiffs, mp3s etc) on the stereo at home when I have a minute - usually later at night. So far, I have been playing the vinyl on a turntable I received courtesy of Jon Mele, who also happens to play the drums in the O’Rourkestra. Even with the turntable being as Jon described, the weakest link in my system - vinyl still sounds the best on it. Or wait, does it? The answer is yes until I started playing flac (lossless audio) & aiffs on a Logitech Squeezebox server. The Squeezebox sounded good by itself, playing flacs from a usb flash drive or using and HP MediaSmart server BUT it wasn’t until I got an Emotiva DAC recently that I started to hear audio that rivaled vinyl for sound imaging and sound stage. I rate vinyl and DAC treated audio files top of the charts followed closely by SACDs so maybe vinyl will seize the lead again when the Garrard is brought back to action!
More soon...
David
I have been playing Vinyl, CDs, Digital Audio files (aiffs, mp3s etc) on the stereo at home when I have a minute - usually later at night. So far, I have been playing the vinyl on a turntable I received courtesy of Jon Mele, who also happens to play the drums in the O’Rourkestra. Even with the turntable being as Jon described, the weakest link in my system - vinyl still sounds the best on it. Or wait, does it? The answer is yes until I started playing flac (lossless audio) & aiffs on a Logitech Squeezebox server. The Squeezebox sounded good by itself, playing flacs from a usb flash drive or using and HP MediaSmart server BUT it wasn’t until I got an Emotiva DAC recently that I started to hear audio that rivaled vinyl for sound imaging and sound stage. I rate vinyl and DAC treated audio files top of the charts followed closely by SACDs so maybe vinyl will seize the lead again when the Garrard is brought back to action!
More soon...
David
Watch out for the new charts coming soon :)
12/03/11 16:29 Filed in: ORourkestra
Among the new music I hope to include soon at the Zinc is a commission (in progress now) for guitarist Hugh Buckley and the Dublin City Jazz Orchestra. The tune is Hugh’s composition “When Wes Was” and will be featured in the upcoming March 28th performance in Dublin’s National Concert Hall by The DCJO led by Ciarán Wilde and Ray Martin. I plan on including other charts I did for the DCJO collaboration with Mary Coughlan soon too.
The format for the Zinc is beginning to take shape now. A typical night will go like this:
6:30-7:30pm The Jazz Standard Youth Orchestra members play a set (after pizza has been consumed :))
8-9pm The O’Rourkestra plus vocalists Jennifer O’Rourke, Nina D’Alessandro and a monthly guest vocalist.
9:30-??? O’Rourkestra plus Joseph Walsh and various guest artists.
11:30pm The tradition of the late set is kept alive when yours truly along with Jon Mele, Alex Hernandez, Eddie Allen and George Mesterhazy/Fintan O’Neill begin a small group set.
Come down and check us out on the first Wednesday of every month.
David
The format for the Zinc is beginning to take shape now. A typical night will go like this:
6:30-7:30pm The Jazz Standard Youth Orchestra members play a set (after pizza has been consumed :))
8-9pm The O’Rourkestra plus vocalists Jennifer O’Rourke, Nina D’Alessandro and a monthly guest vocalist.
9:30-??? O’Rourkestra plus Joseph Walsh and various guest artists.
11:30pm The tradition of the late set is kept alive when yours truly along with Jon Mele, Alex Hernandez, Eddie Allen and George Mesterhazy/Fintan O’Neill begin a small group set.
Come down and check us out on the first Wednesday of every month.
David