St. Patrick's Day . . .

My favorite St. Patty's Day story:

Once on St. Patty's Day one of my college friends fell in the mud at the ATM in the middle of campus and got so mad at us about our laughing that she stormed home in disgust. 

(The retelling is not nearly as funny as living it first hand) 

Click here for the history of the holiday . . .

Click here for the history of Saint Patrick (the Rockstar) . . .

What other holidays think of St. Patrick's Day becoming official . . .

(I apologize in advance for the non-beer commercial segment of the crowd)

No one is in anyone's shadow here . . .

Over the weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to see Ravi Coltrane at
Jazz at the Bistro. This clip features his current combo: Ravi Coltrane on soprano and alto saxophone, E.J. Strickland on drums, Drew Gress on bass and Luis Perdomo and piano. Ravi looks so much like his dad (the late amazing influential jazz musician John Coltrane). It was surreal. Though he is definitely his father's son he has his own voice. No one is in anyone's shadow here.

Here's what he says about his artistic vision:
"I want to be involved with music that is truly honest – that’s not trying to hard to follow trends or fit into someone’s idea about what jazz “is”. For Bird, Miles Monk, Coltrane and Wayne Shorter, I hold the highest level of appreciation because their love and knowledge of tradition was never greater than their need to follow their own path. The need to be themselves. This is my goal – my inspiration – to acknowledge with love my influences while attempting to move forward – to be open and receptive to shifts in the musical terrain – to make music that is relevant to my present day experience.”

Yeah, man, yeah.