Two YouTube videos about the great Camellia Grill in New Orleans which has reopened.



Good to see Harry. God bless you.

One of the most beautiful scenes in music videos I've seen, the aparks going up into the blue sky. Thank you, Severa Nazarkhan.

Today's bug

Today's bug, originally uploaded by Lipwak.

Found by the cat, her staring at it clued me in to there being something there. I have seen these all summer long inside. Might be a lightning bug. Haven't seen any flying around inside at night glowing away yet though.

What is it? The brown line may be his antenna but might also be something in the cup, I don't remember. Probably antenna.

Wild strawberries! (fraise du bois)

P5280008, originally uploaded by Lipwak.

Wild strawberries are appearing in the lawn! How cool is that!

Bloosoms on the wild rose

P5280006, originally uploaded by Lipwak.

I hate wild rose but at least the flowers are nice.

Two bugs I had to remove from the house today, before breakfast!

P5280003, originally uploaded by Lipwak.

P5280002, originally uploaded by Lipwak.

I am stopping refilling the suet feeder today. I have already had a
few birds come by to check it out to find no suet in the feeder. They
may be disappointed, I don't know. Woodpeckers get all excited when
I've had suet. I hope they aren't too disappointed now but it's
getting hot enough that the suet gets all over the place when they
peck at it. It's getting to be a mess. There are plenty of bugs for
them to eat. I don't think too many birds will be disappointed.

Spring afternoon sun

P5240005, originally uploaded by Lipwak.

P5240004, originally uploaded by Lipwak.

AT&T New Orleans Jazz Fest 2007 video

WHEN will AT&T have the archives from this year's Jazz Fest
available? It's been two weeks since the fest was over. When will we
get to see anything? Why does it take so long to do this? They could
have been ready the next day...

See here:
http://blueroom.att.com/events/jazzfest.php

Fox talking heads dismissed Ron Paul's performance minutes after the
Republican debate tonight in South Carolina but Fox's own text
message poll has Ron Paul in FIRST PLACE!

Bravo! Ron Paul's comment that we have to answer for why we were
attacked on 9/11 are words we need to hear more of. I like Ron Paul.
I don't like Republicans but so far, hearing Ron Paul tonight, I like
him. The others are trying to prove they are tougher SOBs than the
rest, a path we shouldn't have gone down in the first place.

birds and ants

Interesting bird behavior seen today and yesterday at breakfast.
Yesterday I noticed, as I sat down to breakfast, that there was some
activity at the birdhouse. I've seen sparrows lately using it.
Yesterday, One was going to the honeysuckle bush, getting something,
a seed? a flower part? and then flying back to the top of the
birdhouse, SITTING on top on the other bird who would stick it's neck
up and have it's mouth open and then fly back to the bush again. It
looked like it was hitting the bird, flying back to the bush and then
flying back again, hitting the lower bird again. Or maybe it was
mating. I don't know. Whatever it was it was funny to watch. I went
and got my camera but by the time I'd done that they'd stopped doing
it.

Today. I noticed two sparrows on the birdhouse. A third larger black
bird swooped in and was repelled. Then, what appeared to be the
previous tenant was rebuffed by the sparrows on the birdhouse. The
rebuffed bird, could have been a sparrow but might have been a wren
with its longer beak and stubbier tail, chirred from the fence post
as one of the new sparrows sat right next to it and preened itself,
confident that they had one. The old resident moved further away,
chirring, and the new residents passed a piece of tissue paper they'd
found for nesting material (litter is never too far away in this
property despite my efforts), into the nest inside the birdhouse.

I went to get my camera and looking glass for this too but when I
came back, they had finished.

This birdhouse is supposed to be for Eastern Bluebirds ONLY. I have
only seen sparrows using it, and only a few, at various spring and
fall times of year.

Also on the topic of birds, we have had geese in the neighborhood
lately, honking away. I don't know what is attractive to them here.
There might be someone's pool. Maybe someone's lawn? Both morning and
night (not so much during the day) one or two will be honking alot,
fly around and eventually come back. Something to do with the mating
season? (See also the goose on the roof story a few days ago here.)

As for the ants, I have stopped seeing the little sugar ants. I now
have, a few a day in the kitchen, larger black ants. Is the Combat
working? Is it attracting the new ones? I am happy the little ones
have stopped but wonder when the large ones will too. Ever?

The large ones are easy to capture and throw outside. They often sit
there, probably asleep and you can get very close to them without
their moving. They do run faster, and respond quicker, than the
little ants but since you can creep up on them more easily, are more
easily rounded up in cups I keep strategically near me in both the
kitchen and the living room. I open the kitchen window and band the
cup on the side and they are dropped out into the lawn below, or I go
out my front door, tap the cup on the railing and they get dropped
out onto the lawn or landing below.

For some reason, many will be attracted to my legs. Once a day it
seems I will feel one crawling up. I then walk out the front door and
shake it off. What IS the attraction to my leg? Sweat? Soap from my
shower? I don't know.

Oh I love it. Sen Domenici of New Mexico is but a shell of what he
was when he was in charge of whatever Senate committees he was on.
Seeing him in the "Reducing U.S. Oil Dependence" hearing today, is so
refreshing. When the Republicans were in charge, he was one of the
worst examples of hubris out of control, rolling over what many would
consider reasonable people who think we should do something else to
solve our energy problems besides drilling for more oil. Now he looks
badly broken. Maybe he has gotten religion... There is justice in
this world!

5 thermometers all tell a different temperature here

I have 5 thermometers in various places in my little second-story
square house which has windows in all four directions. They tend to
give different readings from each other.

Today's temperatures at about quarter of 3 pm.

#1 (outside, North) - 77
#2 (inside, East) - ~76 (hard to read)
#3 (outside, West)- 97 (in hot sun today), inside - 75
#4 (inside, South) - 87
#5 (outside, South) - 104! (in hot sun today)
#6 (inside wall by bathroom) - 75

Somehow I think it isn't 104 degrees outside today. Nor 97. More like
in the 70s (mid 70s in the shade?, hotter in the sun.)

Will try to add some more disparities as it gets warmer.

About the thermometers

#1
Where - On stereo cabinet. near Eastern window/northern side of the house.
Make/model # - Taylor 5381
Type - digital, battery operated
Indoor/outdoor? - Indoor/outdoor
Wireless/wire/one piece - wire for outside temp goes to outside of front door
Accurate? - I trust the readings on this one.
Handicap - It is on the shady side (North) of the house so will give
cooler readings in both the summer and winter.

#2
Where - inside room by comfortable chair near Eastern window/Northern
side of house.
Make/model # - "accurate" (different brand than #5)
Type - mercury
Indoor/outdoor? - Indoor
Wireless/wire/one piece - one piece
Accurate? - Well, the mercury container came loose in the holder. I
readjusted it but it may not be quite right. I consider readings from
it to be approximate.
Handicap - See above

#3
Where - On bedside table. Outdoor sensor is in mailbox that is on the
West side of the house.
Make/model # - Sharper Image OQ234
Type - digital, battery operated
Indoor/outdoor? - indoor/outdoor
Wireless/wire/one piece - wireless
Accurate? - The outdoor sensor is in a mailbox that faces the West.
It gets hot in the summer so I bet it won't be accurate. I haven't
had it long enough to really know. The indoor reading is trustworthy.
Handicap - Sensor in the mailbox gets direct sun.

Also, the outdoor reading sometimes appears blank. It is receiving a
signal but it doesn't display the temperature sometimes.

It has memory so I can tell how hot and cold it has been since the
last time I changed the battery. (~ 2 or three months)

#4
Where - On the kitchen table near windows that open to the South.
Gets direct sunlight
Make/model # - Atomic Time RCL-19 (radio controlled AM/FM clock radio)
Type - digital, runs on house power
Indoor/outdoor? - indoor
Accurate? - It gets direct sunlight. In the summer it gets hot.
Winter is probably more accurate.
Handicap - Sitting in the hot sun in the summer I doubt it is
accurate of the room temperature but it may be close.

#5
Where - On the kitchen table near windows that open to the South.
Get's direct sunlight.
Make/model # - "Accurate" (different brand then #2)
Type - digital, battery operated
Indoor/outdoor? - indoor/outdoor but I only care about the outdoor reading.
Wireless/wire/one piece - wire to outdoor sensor
Accurate? - Since it is in the sun it tends to show higher than air
temperature. The outdoor sensor even though I covered it with a
makeshift cover, tends to show higher than real temperatures.
Handicap - Indoor temperature is read from clock radio that sits on
kitchen table. Outdoor sensor even though shaded, gets hot.

#6
Thermostat
where - on wall by bathroom. Shaded all day.

#7
Where - in car
type - mercury

Jazz Fest notes (Fri 5/4 - Sun 5/6), listening to WWOZ on the internet and watching the AT&T video stream

Friday, May 4

I see that OZ has not updated its web page. The schedule for Fri 4/27 is still up and there is no more information. I'm not surprised.

We'll wing it today. See if they tell us who's on when.

They go to the fairgrounds at 12 ny time. level is low for cd.
Charley B & the Problem Child DJ

(NO times) Sharon Martin 12:20, Ellis Marsalis 1:25 - 2:25, blah blah blah, Who else is on?..., Dirty Dozen 3:50 - 4:55!, World Sax Group? Quartet 2:50, John Boutte (not broadcasting that???)

John Boutte from last year's fest, LA 1927. I'm glad they're playing this often. Very good.

Problem Child: wuffman... (for Walter Wolfman Washington.) Level goes up. "There was so many people came"... "arch-chivist". No, it's archivist...

Charley: "just ahead" (An hour from now. Is that just ahead?)

We hear the DJs come on and the director telling them what to talk about! Talk about food...

I don't think I want to know about that banana.

Dis Pas De Marriage - Little Band Of Gold. Un hunh. I prefer the un-rock and roll versions.

Skeleton crew! Glad to hear they are still around.

Before they go to the cd I hear the director say ID...

t1 >1550 zydeco (not worth saving)

Nice to see some pics of OZ'ers on the blog.

Wee wee hours again.

Give the director a mic if he is going to talk to the DJs on air. No, Ellis Marsalis is after Sharon... not WSQ/G.

(I recycle the tape. Nothing in this first hour and a half worth saving.)

We go to Sharon. She's singing but we can't hear her very well. (What a little moonshine can do.) Can barely hear the piano and band. Good mix. Nothing being done about it. Is anybody home?

Next song, Blue Skies, still bad mix. Either they are unable to fix this or they don't know the mix is real low.

Next song, still low. Antonio Carlos Jobim - Ge Ge? Level comes up a little. Yawn. Not my cup of tea. Nice drum solo. Some nice vocalizations.

Dj IDs.

Level is still very low. Rt 66. Signal breaks up, bad cable or VERY dirty fader. Now level goes up then goes back down.

Suddenly level goes up. Better. Thank you.

Background hiss is horrendous as DJ comes on and very noticeable otherwise.

I Will Survive, not exactly on key and oh so tired a song. At least the mix is up to a proper level. I like her singing but not this song. Nice ending.

Horrendous hiss/white noise as the DJs come on. Great. Horrendous! Is anybody aware of this? The DJs are oblivious. Hear the druming? No, all we can hear is hiss. Hiss gets worse. Your listeners on the WWW are hearing nothing but hiss, folks. Gambe Brass Band from Gambia. So, the CD works fine, no hiss. The mics are total hiss.
If OZ had an e-mail alert line I would let them know this. 'Course, they wouldn't necessarily read incoming e-mails....

CD stops or ends and then we have silence. Why?

I go outside to have lunch and when I come back we have audio. Probably Ellis Marsalis's set. A familiar tune.

Nope. A CD.

(3:15 NY time) brass band CD. Bonerama? Nightcrawlers? A familiar tune. I say Nightcrawlers. Could be Dirty Dozen but they aren't as good as that. Levels are good on CDs...

DJ Freddy Bloom is familiar from last week. Ah, the rain has caused the problem. WHY doesn't the DJ have any info about the fest? WHY WHY WHY? Idiots. Big bad thunderstorm moving through on the weather maps. (OK, so I know it's raining. What I want to know is why the feed is out. Why doesn't the DJ know that?)

Stupid song.

3:32 NY time they go back to the fest, Ellis Marsalis. Ellis over at 3:45 NY time.

Problem Child: WSQ on at 4:15 NO time, Walter Woofman...
So it looks like things are pushed back about an hour and 15 minutes.

Have some slight activity at 16k (for that CDs at least). Don't know about the fest feeds.

Bonerama - familiar tune/song (doesn't have any 16k).

Dirty Dozen - Meet The Flintstones. Lots of brass band CDs being played today. Thank you.

Tom Morgan & Cousin Dmitri. 4pm NY time. 2-3" of water at spots in the Fairgrounds. Hey, it sounds better... no hiss.

I'd be out there in the rain for Etta James!

007 reggae cover of Summer Breeze. Ugh.

Endless cover tunes. Will New Orleans ever get sick of them?

They go to the WSG at 5:30 NY time, beginning of t1 b side. This at least should be interesting. We hear a tune then silence. Then another. Good, no DJ inbetween.

Little Wing! (a cover, I admit). Some bass from some other stage is bleeding through.

MC is out of the mix.

Getting some, not much, 16k out of the festival feed.

Dmitri does ID at 6 pm NY time, inbetween tunes. Nice and tight.

Done by 6:20 NY time.

The difference between a band like the WSQ/G and most of the brass bands of New Orleans is that these guys know what they are doing; when they go off into free-form, it makes sense and is in known keys. Most brass bands, and many other New Orleans bands, are just plain oblivious to playing in key even when they are trying to be avant-garde.

Fuck. No Dirty Dozen. Goodbye.

***

Saturday, 5/5/07

I forget to record via Radio Recorder until I get home from a day out so I miss all day up to about 5pm NY time. Roy Hargrove is on. I'm not interested. I set up Radio Recorder to record the rest of it since I am going out tonight. I'll have to listen to it later.

Same with Sunday. I'll be out all day so I'll have to record it all and listen to it later.

(Now listening to the recording I made with Radio Recorder.)

A woman singing straight jazz (Sept In The Rain). Some fun scat with the band backing her up.

Mostly drumming then big band...

Poetry. Chuck Perkins. Open to all kinds of influences.

Deacon John - Some Day I don't know this song but I do remember him sounding great back in 1991 or so with some of the best sound I ever heard at a concert. Might have been on the riverboat before Etta James.

Is this Henry Butler's piano piece? Yeah, Orleans Inspiration, live at the fest.

Tom Morgan and The Problem Child.

They had a shout band? Who? Ah, The Madison Bumble Bees. Sorry I missed them. (Twice!)

Donald Harrison on now... It's great to play these back using the Quicktime player at 3X the normal speed. It'll get me to where I want and breeze through the stuff I don't want to listen to in real time.

They do an African Blessing with Bill Summers. Starts off with one of the vocalists out of the mix. It gets better when the percussion starts.

A Mardi Gras Indian tune, sort of.

That closes out Saturday night.


***

Sunday, 5/6/07

I start to listen for the Breakfast Jam. Some interesting stuff. Holmes Brothers sound good and I usually don't like them. Will recored stuff once I leave. I'll be out all day today but will record all of it, once I leave.

Holmes Brothers talk is OFF MIC! What idiots OZ are. You couldn't set up the mic so that when they talk we can hear them? Good mix otherwise.

I start recording at noon, NY time, as they go to the fest. (Theme song: Oh Poop Oop A Doo). Mark Hawkins & Sondra Bibb as DJs, nice. "Saddening" news: Alvin Batiste died. tribute comes with "added brevity"??! So I guess 4:10 Marva Wright, 5:45 Taj Mahal are what OZ will webcast. (They just say they have them on X stage....)

Marsalic Music?

Damn. AT&T is streaming video and audio of:

May 5th Lineup
01:00 PM Theresa Andersson!
01:21 PM Rockin' Dopsie, Jr!
01:34 PM Jon Cleary!
02:05 PM Buckwheat Zydeco!
02:53 PM Henry Butler!
03:12 PM Subdudes!
03:31 PM Galactic
04:17 PM Zachary Richard!!
04:40 PM Marcia Ball!
04:57 PM New Orleans Social Club!
05:37 PM John Mayer
06:22 PM Norah Jones
06:37 PM Rod Stewart

May 6th Lineup
01:00 PM Irma Thomas!
01:46 PM Allen Toussaint!
02:57 PM Mahalia Jackson Tribute!
03:39 PM Johnny Rivers
03:42 PM Luther Kent!
03:57 PM Brad Paisley
04:53 PM Bonnie Raitt!
05:31 PM Joss Stone
07:00 PM Harry Connick Jr!

and I am missing it all! Damn.

Maurice Brown at 11:30, Jermaine Bazzile follows. "Commemorative" bumbled.

I leave at 12:45 NY time, some straight jazz (from CD?) is playing.

(Listening to the recording on Monday now.)

Woman singing.

Mark and Sondra on now. Marva Wright and Taj Mahal coming up.

Jesse McBride.

Tom Morgan & Lisa Barrios on now.

Radiators coming up? Don Vappe & The Creole Serenaders? Bob French?

WSG.

Music Came - Henry Butler/Alvin Batiste


I come back at about 6pm. Bob French is doing (repeating endlessly) Do What You Wanna. Sounds good. End one recording, start another 6 hr.

Ella Smith sings Do You Know What It Means (To Miss New Orleans).

Just A Closer Walk With Thee - Original Tuxedo Jazz Band with Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr (5/6/07 5:59 - 14:36)

Didn't He Ramble 26:49 (Not worth saving)

By Bob. Good riddance.

Somebody at OZ trips over the mic. Tom's mic is set wrong, he sounds off mic.

Good Prof Longhair tune. Waiting for Taj Mahal.

1:14 we go to him.

Nice. After, he talks and is low in the mix!

Next song (12 bar blues) , he is low in the mix. They find him but the mix is still bad. Organ is low, drums - all we hear are the cymbals and the snare.

Next, we hear him just fine. Electric dobro? My Creole Belle. His great low voice! Nice!

I'm A Goin Fishin. Yeah! Nice gtr.

Corrina! 'A beautiful blues song, not just dit da dit da...'! Yes indeed.

Play a little of that cool 60s pop organ tune...

Blues with a Feelin. (His voice sounds thin in all of these due to the mix. And I'm listening through the stereo. Too bad it's mono too.)

His between-song voice sounds good.

His Wolfman Jack voice is pretty cool. His voice is much better in this song's mix. Full. (Sweeter Than The Honeybee)

'I know you're feelin good cuz I can smell it'!

Cool electric blues. Disco style. The Blues is Alright, everybody singing along!

Nice set, Taj!

'Thought they were gonna get some old blues man. No, it ain't like that!'

Idiot MC, 'you want some more, lets hear it'. What the fuck do you think they are screaming for? You think you need to rile up the crowd? Idiot.

'I got a banjo and I know how to use it.' Too bad the banjo is low in the mix.

(Lookin at the interactive Cubes on the OZ site, I'm wondering why the Jazz Fest site doesn't have an interactive page like that too? That's ONE thing OZ did better than anyone.)

Nice encore.

Tom comes on to close it out.

Best set today - Taj. best set all fest. Taj probably. A pretty lackluster Jazz Fest from what we could hear over OZ. Let's hope the AT&T video stream will have some good stuff.



Notes on watching the AT&T video stream Sunday.
I'm watching Bonnie Raitt on the AT&T page too! Woman Be Wise. Switched cameras!

Plenty of problems with the AT&T player on a Mac. I see Joss Stone now, when it works. Doesn't work well enough so I give up.

OZ is talking to Henry Butler about Alvin Batiste.

Got VLC player to work. It's jerky but ok. Joss Stone.

They fade to some fest B-roll. Then to a Harry Connick promo. Then they go to him on stage in the middle of a song. OK. Bill Bailley.

Very little at 16k but it sounds good.

Jambalaya.

others. fun to see the trombone player channel louis armstrong on top of the piano.

Hello Dolly?

Earlier, a corner from the backdrop was flapping around. Someone tied it down soon after I saw it. That kind of attention to detail is what OZ/NO needs... Do a good job.

Goin to the Mardi Gras! Butt shakin!

Junco Partner. Piano pounding! Yeah, you right!

birds and apple blossoms

Taken with a still picture camera so that's why it looks so bad.

Geese on the roof, again

This morning at about 7 AM I heard a goose that sounded like it wasn't doing well. I'd heard this before in the past few days. A little while later I heard what sounded like the goose landing on the roof! I thought about getting out of bed to try to look at it but didn't think I would get to see it, the roof is angled so that I can't see much of it. I did hear a little rustling, the goose walking around but it was mostly pretty quiet.

A little later on, I heard a honk and some rustling so I got up and looked out of my front window. TWO geese had just flown off my roof and were flying past my landlady's house. I was worried they may not find a route to fly away with all these trees around here but they seemed to make it without a problem.

See also the goose on the roof story in an earlier blog posting (posted 7/10/06 but took place in April, 2006).

Piano Night on WWOZ (4/30/07)

Summary: I think the David Torkanowsky set was the best. Other stuff not worth saving onto tape. This Dan Dyer had no place being there. A bad precedent. Selling out. Piano Night should feature piano players, not the next 5 min trend.

From OZ's web page:
Artists scheduled to appear this year include -
Marcia Ball!
Eddie Bo!
√Topsy Chapman!
√Jon Cleary!
Dan Dyer,
√Casandra Faulconer (on bass)
Henry Gray. Do they mean Henry Butler???
√John Gros!
√Joe Krown!
Matt Lemmler,
Nelson Lunding,
Jesse McBride,
Fred McCray,
Tom McDermott,
Conun Pappas,
Joshua Paxton,
√Renard Poche, (gtr in backup band)
√Shannon Powell ~ (drums in backup band)
Herlin Riley,
√Big Sam (trumpet or trombone player)
Wil Sargisson,
√Larry Sieberth, (in backup band)
Marc Stone,
David Torkanowsky!
Mike Wadsworth,
√Donald Ramsey (bass in backup band)
and many more.

Let's see who's on when.

Starts 8:30 NY time.

They're playing a killer "If i would ever leave you" by a woman. They stop it dead in the middle of it with no explanation or ID. They then go cold to a live performance of Jonathan Batiste. Then a marble-mouthed DJ mumbles something about the show starting soon.

This DJ is a jerk.

Good. We hear John Boutte singing LA 1927 from last year's fest. A great version.

OK, then they cut that off with no explanation and go to some woman singing some jazz standard live. WWOZ sucks.

Her talk after the first song is off mic or better yet, out of the mix. Round Midnight next. Other singer is off mic/out of the mix. There we go, now she's in. Now a third singer is out of the mix. Is she in now? Possibly.

This is Larry Sieberth, Shannon Powell, Topsy Chapman! and a few others.

Saturday Night Fish Fry. Good band behind her. t1>1404

Tom Morgan's mic gets found then he intros Jon Cleary then SILENCE! God I hate poor live mixes.

1697

Cha Cha All Night Long. (He takes requests.) Nice with the band kicking in. (w/ Donald Ramsey and others)

Jelly Roll Morton tune.

Tom Morgan still out of the mix. There we go, sort of. Henry Butler coming up. (They don't have Henry Butler on the list! lol)

Almost silence follows. Hear a little crowd noise. No DJ/on air presence. Why not? They like to break in when there is music. Why don't they talk now when there isn't any?

I wonder how long this will last... Does OZ think it does have someone yakking away right now? Maybe they do for the on-air signal but they sure as hell don't for the internet feed.

I guess I can consider this some good audio verite of the House of Blues... Trouble is, I don't want any.

Then, about 5 minutes of just background noise, they go to some brass band, with no explanation. That stops with no explanation then we hear the crowd clapping and cheering as Henry Butler comes on stage. Tom does intro him, good.

Henry Butler. t1<1314> 1748 He sings off key. Level comes up in second chorus, then something shifts in the mix.

DJ. Are they gonna interrupt every song now?

Fred Tackett ID'd. Level is low again. Now it goes up.

Ophelia! And Joe Krown on organ, yeah!

Yes we can can.

City's lookin better? Yeah. Yeah you right.

John puts all this bs behind us and I start to enjoy the show. He ain't a good singer but that's ok. Sing Sing Sing.

DJ comes in. They fade the hall out altogether, They don't have to do that. Now DJ is back. No hall.

level goes down... during this solo piano piece.

John Gros is done. No DJ, good. Tom Morgan... oh well too good to be true, a DJ barges in. Long silence before CD plays if it plays at all... Dead air... I stop tape. Another DJ says they are having technical problems then they play a CD. "If I ever leave you" again. I'm sure they'll interrupt it when they want to... Yep. they did.

Someone intro-ing the band. Low level. No clue from the DJ who this might be. Good. Just tell us what's going on, ok?
Level comes up slowly. Now way up. Technique, guys, technique. Bring the faders up slower...

It's an old black man who's played with Howlin Wolf for 14 years.

Sweet Home Chicago

DJ comes on. Who the fuck is playing!!! He doesn't say.

Is this Henry Gray? Someone yelled out, Go Henry. Level goes up briefly. One weird piano lick at the end there, bro. Wrong key...

DJ steps in a-fuckin-gain. IDs the station but not the performer.

Getting monitor feedback/ring now.

Tom Morgan's announcements are out of the mix. Good.

More out of the mix Tom.

DJ comes on. Who was that? Henry Gray. Thank you. The guy doesn't know the names. Joe Krown up next at the 19 annual... Should be the 19th...

They come back to Joe Krown. Low level. Oh, -30 db, that's all.

Still low level. OZ is really clueless.

DJ. Asshole. Fix the goddamn level.

Tipitina. They figure out the level, no just the vocals, half way in. Piano and band are low still.

Big Chief. Piano finally comes up. Alfred Doucet.

DJ, doesn't ID. Good.

Organ sounds good.

He's done. DJ comes on. Go to CD of Tuts Washington. On next CD, level goes low again. -30db,

DJ comes back on and his level is fine. Dan Dyer next. James Booker - Let Them Talk for two seconds then back to the stage. No, back to the James Booker CD.

Dan Dyer sounds good. Level goes back down soon into it. Not a very piano-based sound. Level comes up.

Next... Does this guy even have a piano in the band?

I go to bed, 20 after one NY time. He finally plays a piano. Walk on Gilded Splinters, not like the Dr John version at all.

***

I left the computer on, recorded the rest of it and it worked! No computer freezes.

So, catching up it looks like it went on for about another hour and a half. (1:38)

James Booker - Am I Getting Through To You, nice

David Torkanowsky comes on (~14). Like last year, he comes on with some sassy talk.

Quite the alternate version of Goin To New Orleans (Prof Longhair).

level goes up for next tune.

dedicates this tune to ALL the people of New Orleans. Sounds sweet. Great intro. (27:43) Sleepytime Down South

Big Chief w/ Alfred "Uganda" Roberts. Alfred sings. George Porter Jr on bass. Herlin Riley on the drums!

Y'all not piano'd out yet?

Eddie Bo comes out. Background vocals out of the mix for Eddies song.

Goin To New Orleans again. Marcia Ball comes out.

Eddie: 'We goin to go find 'fess.' Big Chief. Falls apart at times. Mostly a mess. Not sure if it's due to a bad mix (onstage) or the playing.

Dj comes on. Encore.

Whoa. Marcia's playing Crawfish and some other tune starts playing. Good, OZ. Better playing towards the end of it.

Jazz Fest notes so far (Fri 4/27 - Sun 4/29), listening to WWOZ on the internet

Friday 4/27

Overall - Other than the non-Kermit vocals in his set, the mixes have been good. The music hasn't interested me but this is the best WWOZ has done since I started listening on the net maybe 10 years ago. Best sound. Djs have been restrained which is good cuz they usually talk TOO MUCH. No high end (16k) but good sound.

Details (not worth reading unless you're a wwoz geek.)

I join in at 12:15 pm (NY time) as they go live to the fest. (Listening via iTunes) They do the "live wire/club listings)

Wow, there is an advance online schedule! Let's see how close to reality it comes...

On today's schedule (times are NO time, Central time):

11:15-12:00 — Rob Wagner Trio — AT&T/WWOZ Jazz Tent (Probably straight jazz which doesn't interest me much but you might like it.)

1:35-2:35 – Swamp-Blues Guitar Summit featuring Lil’ Buck Sinegal and Rudy Richard — Southern Comfort Blues Tent (I've heard of Lil Buck SInegal but couldn't tell you what his music is like. Might be worth listening to.)

2:55-3:55 — Astral Project — AT&T/WWOZ Jazz Tent (Astral Project has been around for awhile. They're popular. I think of them as a sort of Spyro Gyra but they might be more interesting.)

4:20-5:35 — The James Carter Organ Trio — AT&T/WWOZ Jazz Tent (I love jazz organ so this might be good.)

5:55-7:00 — Kermit Ruffins & the Barbecue Swingers — AT&T/WWOZ Jazz Tent
Updated: April 17th, 2007 (Trumpet player Ruffins is very popular. Might do some Louis Armstrong-styled stuff (singing)...)

***

12:38 (NY time) - Are we listening to Rob Wagner Trio live? No, that was Kermit Ruffins at Snug Harbor.

Now they go live 12:37 pm.

Sax gets pushed back in the mix...

(Live video on 5/5 & 5/6 here http://blueroom.att.com/events/jazzfest.php)

12:46 NY time, I realize I had the tape deck on pause so none of this has been recorded yet. No big deal.

Nice clean feed on iTunes. The best I've heard from OZ. (DJs still do station IDS too much, inbetween songs/tunes.)

Whoever is doing the MCing is way down in the mix. (James Singleton seen in Princeton!)

done at noon.

Jerry Lee Lewis' cover of Led Zepplin's Rock n Roll! Then Bonerama's Led Zepplin cover (Moby Dick)... Another brass band cover of a Led Zepplin tune (Ocean).

(Nothing live til 2:35 NY time...)

From WWOZ's web page:
WWOZ Breakfast Jazz Jams - Apr 27, 28, 29 / May 4, 5, 6

Hosted by Freddie Blue, Bid D, and Nicholas Conners

April 27: 7-11m, April 28 & 29: 8-11am
Featuring:
David Torkanowsky!
Big Daddy O
Next Generation Brass Band!
NOCCA Jazz Student Combo #1, and
McDonogh 15 Jazz Ensemble (playing program #1 of repertoire).

May 4, 5, 6: 8-11am
Featuring:
Michael Pellera Trio with special guest Leah Chase!
Rick Trolsen & the New Orleans PoBoys!
the Brian Stoltz Band!
the Holmes Brothers (could be good)
NOCCA Jazz Student Combo #2, and
McDonogh 15 Jazz Ensemble (playing program #2 of repertoire).

I don't know how anyone can play that early in the morning... but it looks like there could be some good stuff. I'll try to be online for it.

Hot 8 Brass Band.

getting some phase into the stream... 1:39 pm NY time

"it does go to the wee wee hours..." (They're still saying this...)

(2:40 nyt Yahoo IM out/back on)

tape 2 > 1734 walter wolfman washington - funk in the house!

tom morgan and missy bowen next

astral project t3 > 1209 (>1669 i raise level)

johnny v yelling 2070, is everybody relaxed?

(practically no high end, 16k, but it sounds fine.)

t3 >1801 piano, set over, it's recorded

(phasing hasn't been heard in a long time)

Van Morrison - Domino (Very low level)

t4 >1405 jazz organ

2067 vocalizing effect on synth low in the mix then fixed. bad cable, nice ending to this!

6:26 pm NY time, t4 changes to B side.

Tom is babbling on as usual.

t1> bonerama - hey now (sure would be nice to have the high end...), then silence, then a klezmer band.

>899 Kermit - world on a string,
1926 - awful child singing. retch vomit
- next song singer is totally out of the mix and the engineer isn't able to find them. oh well. must be on a coffee break.
- (If you want me to stay) other guy's vocals are out of the mix too. kermit may be a good player but his material sucks.

They cut from the stage cold to silence. Finally Tom and Missy come on.

***

Saturday, April 28

Summary. I was looking forward to Mose Alison and of course, was disappointed. His playing was fine but the mix, for the first time this Jazz Fest, was not so great and there was hum throughout his set. Burnside Exploration was cool. Mem Shannon good.

Bob French rubs me the wrong way very easily and did so throughout his shift. One or two of the DJs talked too much as they did station IDs inbetween songs so they cut off the beginnings of the next songs. Bad. Make it brief then shut up.

OZ had a schedule for yesterday. It is still up. No schedule for today or tomorrow as of 5:30 NY time. Too bad. It's really handy to have an idea who's playing when. The DJs might mention things in passing but you have to pay attention. They run by it pretty quickly and not too coherently and if you miss it then you are just as in the dark as usual.

Details
I tune in about 11:30 am (NY time) for Topsy Chapman (who isn't on the schedule).

live wire before noon/11 am NO time.

noon, NY time. Go to the fest. Oh no, it's Bob French for this shift. (And Lisa.)

Today's schedule: NOCCA Brass Ensemble (later changed to NOCCA Jazz Ensemble), Burnside Exploration/Mem Shannon, (3pm) Mose Allison!, Terence Blachnard.

Bob. You just went on air and you're complaining that someone brought only one "samich" (the black pronunciation for sandwich)? You don't eat before you come on? Of course, me making a mountain out of a molehill, this is so typical of you. A pain in the ass. Always complaining. Why aren't people glorifying me...

(12:25 NY time) We go to the NOCCA level 2 Jazz Ensemble. Straight jazz. One tune then silence. Back to the DJs. You listened to ONE SONG! Back to the stage. Now we have level 3.

nice drum intro. another boring jazz tune. going up and down scales. yawn. Into a familiar tune... (Maiden Voyage)

one more number by Alvin Batiste-Aliyah? I like this one a little.

(1:12 NY time) DJ talk

Lisa: You know I'v lost my mind. Bob: What mind? Lisa: I resemble that... Idiocy reinforcing itself. NO has to get out of that. I don't think there is any hope for Bob though despite his giving thanks to the nice kids who rebuilt his house. He'll always be an asshole.

Basin St Blues. Nice.

Lots of NO as Disneyland songs and talk. Hope we hear some good new music.

t2 at some point. Bob French singing You Are My Sunshine? A sing-along. Whoopee. Sounds like a mariachi horn section. Pathetic yodel at end.

Bob: "I hate people who make fun of me." Asshole.

Joe Crown - Tipitina

1:29 pm NY time t2 > 1730 Go to Mem Shannon

nice organ intro.

Lisa stumbles and then does it live.

Somebody gonna hit you with an ignorance stick.... (levels go up). cont on t2 b side

Level goes down then up on next song. Very minor. Good mixes though. So much better than in past years.

This will be a good lead-in to Mose. The piano player has got some chops.

Bob French comes on to announce the time, 1 pm NO time. The we get silence then Mem does a quieter song that made me wonder if they had just gone to a CD.

Wow, a post-Katrina song. Almost brings tears to the eyes. t2<1782>1880 Nice new to me song.

Shelter in the Rain - she's off key at one point.

Topsy Chapman coming up at 6 NO time, an hour from now.

CJ Chenier. Ah, the good ole days. I went to Jazz fests from 72-76. Saw him however many times.

Funk Is In The House again!

A woodpecker and other sounds recorded around my house

A woodpecker banging away on my house. Recorded 11/4/06.

More sounds from around my house in my Yahoo briefcase. Birds, insects, singing Christians and Jews, fireworks and my favorite, a bear!

Ch 13 video problems

Ch 13 (WNET, NYC) has looked terrible lately. (I watch via DirecTV.)
Oversaturated colors. I reset the tv to the factory settings but can't stand
looking at Ch 13 in particular. Tonight, Charlie Rose is interviewing Pres Bush.
Even with my adjusting the settings to the colors are horrendous, I
am seeing a red edge on the right hand side of the their faces. I
hope this isn't due to the tv going bad. I think this is what
happened to my last tv as the first sign of it going bad.

Or Ch 13 is still screwing up. I don't understand why their channel
stands out with horrendous color saturation.

After the interview, the video looks normal, so it was the interview
that was poorly shot. Way to go 13.