Soft and Music

For a large portion of Generation X and Y video game devotees, after a long day of working in the concrete jungle, the ultimate way to unwind is via a rousing game of Guitar Hero or Rock Band — wailing along with their favorite artists. And for others who are mostly female — as a natural progression from the innocence of singing into one’s hairbrush– some still find themselves belting out pop songs at stoplights with their windows rolled all the way up while imagining that for five minutes they’ve become Madonna or Gwen Stefani. Yet for a certain type of music lover — usually those who revere the classics — there is no greater fantasy than daydreaming that you’re under the hot spotlight of a darkened club crooning standards, cabaret tunes and/or torch songs with enough lung power to rival Dino, Old Blue Eyes, Billie, or Judy Garland amidst the sounds of ice cubes clinking in a glass. Often filled with melancholic lyrics of love gone wrong or pleas for one’s current love to last, these are the type of songs of which even a passionate fan of diverse genres of the medium, such as this reviewer, can’t get enough. Sure, I still mostly listen to alternative and independent rock and always rush out to buy the latest disc from Radiohead or Wilco. But whether it’s in the shower, in the car, or in my head, often the first songs that pop into my mind are the ones of the past that told a story — adult contemporary jazz standards — of emotion and heart. And for a moment, just listening to the various arrangements by artists such as Louis Prima, Bobby Darin or Carmen Miranda makes one mentally travel back in time fifty plus years to an era of classic standards as Danny Aiello told J&R interviewers where they were “sung the way [we]… like to hear them (understanding every word).” Therefore it’s no wonder that Aiello titled his 2004 debut album, I Just Wanted to Hear the Words, and although, unfortunately there seems to be little call for these ballads in an increasingly modern MP3 based market of iPods and electronic redubbing, in Aiello’s follow-up album Live From Atlantic City, he again loses listeners in a dreamy reverie of musical storytelling with enough drama to rival the great Russian authors, yet with a beat you can dance to and with the brevity of a poet and the wit of a comedian. Offering listeners a performance from February 18, 2006 just two years before Atlantic City’s legendary Sands Hotel and Casino was demolished, Aiello’s concert was initially recorded just for the sake of Aiello and his band (called Joe Geary & The Guys). page 1 | 2 | 3

So, when does jazz stop being jazz? There have been all sorts of jazz fusion groups over the years that have incorporated elements of other genres into their compositions from funk to straight ahead rock and roll and I wonder if there's a point where the music stops being jazz and becomes the other genre? Why would a song that's primarily a rock and roll song be still called a jazz piece just because the people performing it are nominally jazz musicians? Perhaps jazz is less a genre and more a state of mind, and what defines the music, and by extension the musicians, is the intent and not the music itself. People who call themselves jazz musicians don't normally constrain themselves by thinking they have to write for a specific market or create any particular sound. They come up with an idea for a piece and then utilize whatever resources they have at their disposal to bring that to life. In some ways jazz is an organic process in that a composition will often develop out of the process of rehearsal as each player in a combo adds new layers and textures to a basic structure. While there is always a certain element of improvisation in all music, it's far more likely that a jazz composition will not only have been created through improvisation, but a good deal of the song would continue to be improvised each time it's performed. Sometimes it appears that in order to write the ideal jazz song you only need to create a theme around which all the participating musicians can build their own contributions, and each time its played, the song is almost being rewritten. In that sort of atmosphere does it really matter what styles of music are utilized? A great example of a band taking the genre be dammed attitude and running with it can be found on Garaj Mahal's forthcoming release on the Owl Studios label, wOOt, which will be in stores on September 9th/08. While some jazz fusion groups might be content with adding either bits of blues, or funk, or rock into the mix, the guys in Garaj Mahal have no hesitation about utilizing any or all of the above in any one song. While that might give the impression that their music is kind of chaotic stew, the reality is … well the chaos is controlled anyway. In fact come to think of it, sometimes while listening to their compositions one is distinctly reminded of the butterfly in Japan flapping its wings and causing an earthquake in San Francisco. What appears to be a series of disconnected events are in reality very much interconnected.page 1 | 2 | 3

I have yet to see the theatrical release of Sex and the City. However, I loved the cable television show, which, along with relationship and friendship drama, also featured great clothes and music. So it’s no surprise that the film’s soundtrack offers a diverse mix of music, including songs written expressly for the film, as well as some great remakes of oldies but goodies. Fergie’s "Labels or Love" kicks off the album, and anyone who has watched SATC over the years knows that a major running theme of the show is shopping and fashion. This song encapsulates the main character’s love affair with fashion and is an anthem for shopahlics everywhere. With the lyrics “Shopping for labels, shopping for love / Manolo and Louis, it's all I'm thinking of… / I shop for purses while love walks out the door / Don't cry, buy a bag and get over it”, it’s no wonder Carrie Bradshaw has had her share of relationship problems. Former American Idol contestant and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson contributes another original, "All Dressed in Love", and while the song lacks the snap and sizzle of Fergie’s contribution, Hudson’s smoky voice is nice to hear. Four of the reworked/remade songs include Nina Simone’s Madison Park vs Lenny B Remix of “The Look of Love” (which is infused with electronics giving off a dance vibe), The Bird & The Bee’s “How Deep Is Your Love” (originally by the Bee Gees), India.Arie’s hauntingly beautiful “The Heart of the Matter” (originally by Don Henley), and the Al Green/Joss Stone collaboration “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart”. It’s hard to choose which revamp is best, but to me it's a tiebetween “The Heart of the Matter” and “How Deep is Your Love”. Three songs that seem the most random on the soundtrack but likely make sense in the film itself include “Auld Lang Syne” by Mairi Campbell & Dave Francis, the always-fun “Walk This Way” by Run-D.M.C. featuring Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, and, of course, the “Sex and the City Movie Theme” by The Pfeifer Broz. Orchestra (although I much prefer the sharper sound of the theme used on the television show to this big-band version). On the hip side, Jem's "It's Amazing" and Bliss' "Kissing" are two great tunes that are chill yet upbeat. The electronic dance track "I Like the Way" by Kaskade, the punk-y "New York Girls" by Morningwood and the indie-pop “All This Beauty” by The Weepies round out this eclectic soundtrack. Despite a couple of misses, Sex And The City: Music From the Original Motion Picture is a good collection of songs that can be enjoyed, whether you're a SATC fan or not.

Christmas 1963 my sister wanted a Woody the Woodpecker talking puppet. Santa brought her that and I ended up with some dorky Hippy Girl talking what-ever that is probably worth a fortune today. That night, Woody received a place of honor in family lore and legend when our grandfather Froehlich, Grandy, came in to tell my sister and I good-night. Woody told him to “Knock it off, knot-head,” which pleased Grandy to no end. The following summer we were on a family visit to Louisville, Kentucky. My mother, grandmother, and cousin spent several long, arduous days antiquing. Annoyed, bored, and perhaps tired of my sister and I complaining that we had nothing to do, my father, Grandy, and our cousin’s husband took us shopping. I mention this because this only the second time, and would be the last time, my father and Grandy took either my sister and I shopping for anything other than something related to a motorized vehicle. They took us to a “dime store” there in Louisville and allowed my sister and I to each pick out a new Skipper doll. We were allowed a wardrobe, and every item of Skipper clothing available to date. (We still have the stuff somewhere – I think). Those were magical days, full of new toy excitement, days never to be repeated. As a child they were never repeated, but as an adult, I’ve been able to repeat the new toy fun with my new Amazon Kindle! I’ve had it about a month, long enough for me to master my new toy. Let’s face it, it is a toy. It’s something no one really needs, unless you are traveling and don’t want to carry a bunch of books. It is a piece of fluff. It is a tech accessory, adorable, chic, fashionable, and is the ultimate “must have”. It is instant gratification. I think the Kindle and I were into the 2nd day of our obsessive relationship when my mother called and asked me to order J. A. Jance’s new murder mystery, Damage Control. It was the book-olic’s first taste of instant gratification. I downloaded my copy in a few minutes, and had finished reading the novel a day before the hard copy arrived from Amazon. I was hooked. So far I’ve downloaded about 150 books, many of them duplicates of what I own but have yet to get around to reading. There are a number of excellent classics available for 99 cents. I’m a fan of the Indiana Jones style He-Man action adventure dinosaur genera. Those range from $4.99 to $9.99. It has caused me to “hate myself” (not really) downloading Jonathan’s Kellerman’s Compulsion as I write this review!page 1 | 2 | 3

Last week, the news of a cyber attack by Russia against Georgia made this type of warfare become a chilling reality. According to an article in the LA Times, it also revealed how ill-prepared most of the world is to deal with this new threat. Most of the experts now agree that cyber attacks started well before lead started flying and were not very sophisticated by current standards. Most of the attacks were run of the mill DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) type events designed to deface and shut down government sites. One of the problems is that no one can actually pin the attacks to the Russians. As usual, botnets of zombie computers were used to facilitate the assault on the sites in question. Since these zombie computers are taken over by malicious software — normally after an unsuspecting user clicks on a link in a spam e-mail — the computers used in the attack probably resided in locations all over the world. Botnets are also used to send out the spam e-mails with the malicious links that turn systems into what are known as zombie computers, which add to the power of the botnet. Researchers at Shadowserver, a volunteer group monitoring cyber attacks, have traced the attacks against Georgia as starting in July and being based out of the United States, according to an article in the New York Times. The Times article suggested that there might be ties in this attack to Russian organized cyber criminals. It should be noted that the words Russia and cyber crime bring up pages of results on most search engines. Russian organized crime is also known to have a global reach so it is no surprise that some of the current DDOS attacks were traced to a server in the United States. Simply stated, these attacks can be made to appear as if they are coming from just about anywhere. While this is one the first times cyber warfare has actually occurred, it's starting to become a topic of concern in government circles. As a matter of fact, in April it was a hot topic at the NATO summit and an EU conference. China is also known to be actively seeking a cyber warfare capability and gets accused of hacking into other government's Web sites all the time. Last year, Estonia suffered cyber attacks, which were allegedly facilitated by Russian Hackers, also. In an interesting development, Network World reported that they are sending cyber defense advisors to assist the Georgians. Wikipedia has an interesting article (Wiki) on cyber warfare. It cites that McAfee stated in their 2007 annual report that approximately 120 countries have been developing cyber warfare capabilities designed to disrupt financial markets, government computer systems and utilities. The article also lists several examples of attacks, which many suspect were facilitated by the Russians or the Chinese, that have recently occurred. The McAfee report surmised that cyber attack capabilities are becoming a global issue as well as a threat to national security. Current events seem to be making that prediction turn into reality.