100 Years of J.J. Johnson

Yesterday was the 100 year anniversary of J. J. Johnson’s birth, January 22, 1924. Of course, that’s not the kind of day we can just let pass into history without saying something. J.J. was — and is — one of the most influential jazz trombonists ever. A big reason for that influence was a slide-trombone-technical-facility that could meet the demands of “be-bop,” the primarily small band jazz music that emerged after the big band based Swing Era. Given that accomplishment, it seems surprising that J.J. might say the following to jazz critic Leonard Feather about his early experiences with the trombone:

“There’s an innate clumsiness about it; it’s a beastly, horrid instrument to play, and particularly to play jazz on. Many times I wondered, how and why did I ever pick up this horrid instrument?”

How could J.J. feel that way? In The Encyclopedia of Jazz, Leonard Feather wrote of J.J.:

“In the early stages of bop evolution his technique seemed so incredible that many listeners to his records refused to believe that he was not playing a valve trombone to achieve the fast-moving multi-note passages which this type of improvisation sometimes required.”

Even as his innovations were changing people’s minds about what jazz trombone could sound like, J.J. appreciated — and was no doubt influenced by — all the formidable trombonists who could get around all that “innate clumsiness,” thank you very much: Trummy Young, Fred Beckett, Vic Dickenson, Jack Teagarden among others. Importantly, as revolutionary as J.J.’s trombone be-bop forays seemed to be in the 1940s, there was always more to it than mere technical facility. The impetus was musical, and his musical influences began well before the advent of “be-bop.” Johnson became a composer, too. He played and wrote music the way he did because that’s the way he heard it: with clarity. It’s that musical approach, just as much as the technical facility, that remains a model for jazz trombonists today.

Hilarious Conversations with AI!

Hal the computer!

Jivin’?

Q: What about the Little Guy™?

HaM (Hilarious Ai Machine):

The “Little Guy™” is a term often used to refer to individuals or small businesses who may be at a disadvantage compared to larger, more powerful entities, such as big corporations or governments. When discussing the impact of AI and automation on society, the Little Guy™ is a crucial consideration.

Advantages for the Little Guy™:

  1. Access to Tools: AI and automation can level the playing field by providing affordable and accessible tools that were once only available to large enterprises …

Q: Should I be offended by your use of the term Little Guy™?

HaM: As an AI language model, I don’t have intentions or emotions, so my use of the term “Little Guy™” is not meant to offend anyone.

Q: Are you jivin’ my ass again?

HaM: As an AI language model, I don’t have the capability to deceive or engage in any form of intentional falsehood. My purpose is to provide helpful and accurate information to the best of my abilities based on the data I have been trained on. If there is any concern or confusion about the information provided, please let me know, and I will do my best to address it or clarify any points.

Q: So yes?

HaM: No, I am not “jivin’ your ass” or engaging in any form of deception. As an AI language model, I do not have the capacity for deceit, and my responses are based solely on the data …

Q: What about guile? Can you do that?

HaM: As an AI language model, I don’t have emotions, intentions, or personal capabilities. I don’t have the ability to deceive or act with guile. My purpose is to process and generate text based on patterns in the data I was trained on. I operate purely on algorithms and follow the rules defined in my programming.

Q: How do I turn this thing off?

But What Slide Lubricant, Champ?

A long time ago, in that great and expansive past history of the slide trombone, at least two things were foretold:

  1. The trombone (sackbut, serpenty-slide, etc.,) will be made into something called a “video game” featuring a trombonist with a giant head. This game will be played even by people who do not play the trombone, and lo, even by people who have no real interest in playing a real trombone. Even further lo, this game shall sound much weirder than a real trombone, with slide accuracy that shall have real trombonists everywhere shaking their heads, not in a good way, even though hitting slide positions is apparently part of the whole point of the game.
  2. Trombonists will, well into the future, get together and talk about which slide oil, lubricant, etc., really works the best (on real trombones).

You’re holding it wrong, dude.

The first prophecy was always going to be a little tricky, and frankly it seemed like a long shot, but here we are. Welcome to the future! It’s just starting now. The second? Easy. Fulfilled for years. The problem, of course, is that no one will ever be able to really decide which slide lube works the best. Oh sure — people will get close. Here in the technical vastness of the future, many say the best is Yamaha Slide Lubricant, which in the more immediate past was known as Yamaha Slide Oil. Some “swear by” Slide-O-Mix, or “Rapid Comfort.” But when it comes to slide action, will there ever be any real comfort?

Related:

The Passing? Nor’easter

Here it is: a post after more than a year. What possible explanation could there be? There was a pandemic, then Donald Trump, a fake leader who completely mishandled a pandemic. This unfortunate situation might have been bad enough, but there was something more, something that made things even worse: deluded Trump supporters.

Sure, it may seem harsh to call some Trump supporters deluded, but these people are out there. Some portion of the American populace got completely fooled when they elected Trump, believing even his sloppily crafted mythos. Next, a smaller portion of those same people got fooled (again) by some random person who self-applied the handle “QAnon.”

The internet has always been good at spreading nonsense. The World Wide Web (See fake, but oddly prescient, history here), which added pictures and graphics, accelerated the whole thing, even when people were using dial-up connections at home. On the other hand, America Online might have slowed things down a bit. You had to pay for it . . .

But then eventually everybody got broadband, or super-fast dial-up without dialing up. Amazon! You can buy things online! Later, Facebook appeared, or America Online without having to pay. The business model became “engagement,” which in turn could get you to buy things. What price engagement? Thanks to some technological vision, computers, or what used to be called “cell phones,” got small enough you could fit them in your hand.

That was it; all the necessary parts assembled. The super-charged nonsence train left the station on a collision course with, well, whatever democracy we had left.