https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/01/24/trump-wall-street-donors/
Yes, this is depressing. Especially this quote from Komal
Sri-Kumar, president of Sri-Kumar Global Strategies, an economic consulting
firm:
On questions of upholding democracy, Kumar added: “If you’re responsible to your shareholders and your shareholders judge you on your profitability, that can come from a more or less democratic administration.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/01/02/les-mccann-jazz-pianist-dead-compared-to-what/
I’m admittedly very late on this one, as jazz pianist and
vocalist Les McCann died back on December 29th. Although I’m largely
unfamiliar with his body of work, I finally decided that there were three
reasons why I should note his passing:
·
He discovered Roberta Flack and got her signed
to Atlantic Records. (The rest is history.)
·
He and his trio backed the great Lou Rawls on
his splendid 1962 debut album, Stormy Monday.
· Last, but certainly not least, his fiery 1969 Montreux Jazz Festival performance of “Compared To What” (with the rest of his trio, along with Eddie Harris on tenor saxophone and Benny Bailey on trumpet) brought this classic protest anthem to the attention of the wider world.
The Shangri-Las, best known for the #1 smash “Leader Of The
Pack”, were perhaps the most distinctive of the 1960s “girl groups”. While
there are several collections of their material available, 20th Century
Masters: The Millennium Collection - The Best of The Shangri-Las is almost
worth picking up just for Dave Thompson’s splendid liner notes, which start as
follows:
Is she really going out
with him?
Yes, but probably not for
long.
The course of true love has never run smoothly, but few girls
ever suffered so much tragedy as the Shangri-Las. Mary, Betty, Marge and
Mary-Ann endured enough heartache, heartbreak, sadness, sorrow, disaster and death
to turn them off romance forever. They watched one boyfriend die in a head-on
motorcycle accident, saw another one drafted to Vietnam, dumped a third because
his kisses were not sweet enough, lost their mother and their innocence – yet they
still came bouncing back for more. When I say I’m in love, you’d best
believe I’m in love—LUV.
Favorite songs:
Out In The Streets
Give Him A Great Big Kiss
Remember (Walkin’ In The Sand)
I Can Never Go Home Anymore
