Wednesday, March 07, 2007

I get the sense that people around me are growing a bit tired of me bitching about my hand, and quite frankly, I am tired of it too. But it is so damn inconvenient at times that I feel compelled to speak on it. For example, this morning it was 20 degrees, and gloves were needed. I attempted to put a glove over my handi-hand, but the splint is protruding in a such a way, that does not allow the glove to provide full hand coverage; so, as a result, it looks like I'm carrying a gun or something under there which looks creepy. Plus my hand was cold. I'm sick of this, and whatever lesson I am supposed to learn, it is working.

I saw Ron Artest got arrested on a domestic violence charge, and I realized that there is a very thin line between what he got arrested for, and what only cost me a broken hand. That is very scary man...to me at least. It also lets me know what can happen if I don't get help via counseling/therapy.

23 years ago, my mom and dad took my brother and I to see an up and coming trumpet player in New York City. After this guy's concert, we all went backstage to meet this trumpet player, and he allowed me to play his trumpet, and he took pictures with me and my entire family. 7 years later, we went to see this guy at Blues Alley in Washingtin DC, and he mentioned that he still carried this picture with him in his trumpet case. Fast forward to last year, when this individual appeared at George Mason University, and he spoke to my mother. He asked about my brother and I, and he said he still remembered us, because we were the first kids to come and see him. This guy's name? Mr. Wynton Marsalis.

I will always be a fan of Wynton, but he has been in the middle of two rather public beefs that have pissed me off. The first one was over 20 years ago, when he criticized Miles Davis for playing smooth jazz, rather than traditional jazz. NowI hate smooth jazz as much as the next man. But considering Miles paved the way for traditional jazz to be popular, and considering every trumpet player alive steals from Miles, Wynton should have given the man a pass. More recently, Wynton has chosen to criticize rap music by calling it "ghetto minstrelsy". He paints a broad brush by saying that all rap music is bad and offensive. Now he does have a bit of a point, because as a 32 year old man, it is hard for me to listen to some rap. But there is plenty of non-offensive rap out there for both me and Wynton to enjoy. You just can't rely on tv and the radio to play it, but its out there. I would like to re-connect with Wynton and have a tête-à-tête about this...I've already sent an email to his "people".

By the way, that homeless guy I was stalking earlier this winter is NOT interview friendly. He clearly has a severe mental illness, and a bit of a violent streak..how's that for irony. I feel bad for not taking that next step to help him out...

So What - Miles Davis and John Coltrane

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

yeah Rashad, you're like Wade without tears....

**plays trumpet** Rap is dead!!!

I've wondered what happened with Mr. Homeless. You cant expect after youve dropped "NO MONEY" in his cup for to him to open right up to you. Start by giving!! He may be crazy but I bet he remembers who gave and who didnt....

I'm a bit off myself so I should no **smile**

Miss. Lady said...

I live Miles! I love So What as well but...may I make a request?? Do you have Bitches Brew? You know the email address. Consider this the first installment. :)

Unknown said...

Smooth jazz makes me want to jump off a bridge. I will admit I went through a smooth jazz phase for lack of other radio listening options in the late ninites. It solidfied my distain for the (saprano) saxaphone because it's involved in so much smooth jazz. You never hear trumpets or coronets in smooth jazz.