Eric Dolphy – PopWars

I love this expressive snowman. It is either singing an aria or asking “Is That All There Is?” which just happens to be my favorite song of all time. In fact if anyone ids taking notes I would like it to be played at my funeral, along with George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today” and Eric Dolphy’s “Serene.” Everyone’s talking about the “Hurricane Blizzard” with “Heart Attack (heavy) Snow” so if I die out there in the driveway my affairs will be in order. I used Nolo’s “Willmaker” to to do the office business and I’m still trying to decide where my ashes should go.

Peggi’s mom is still going strong and with the help of an aid she was able to come out to see Margaret Explosion last night. We have been invited to dinner at our neighbor’s house tonight. We should be able to make it back up the hill even if we do get some old fashioned winter weather.

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We started the day in front of the fireplace in our pjs reading the New York Times. Our nintey year old neighbor brings the paper up to the door while we’re still sleeping. Peggi read Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich out loud while I cut up some fruit. I read “The Year In Ideas” in the Magazine section and wish I hadn’t. The “Cat Lady Syndrome” piece about the parasite you can get from your cat gave me the creeps.

I popped a Charlie Mingus DVD that we bought on Amazon in around noon and watched the 1964 rehearsals of “So Long Eric” and “Meditations on Integration” which were recorded in Sweden. Mingus’s “Town Hall Concert” with those two songs (only those two songs) on it was one of the first jazz albums I bought and every bit of it is so memorable. It came out right after Eric Dolphy died and Mingus changed the name of “Meditations” to “Praying With Eric” for that release.

Charlie Mingus is quoted as saying “Eric Dolphy is a saint”. He should know. The “Cornell 1964” cd that was just released by Mingus’s widow has the same tunes on it as well. And now comes this amazing DVD with recordings from three European stops that same year. The music remains so memorable because it is an absolutely beautiful composition performed by incredible players. Watching them (Mingus, Dolphy, Dannie Richmond, Clifford Jordan, Jaki Byard & Johnny Coles) rehearse and perform this music is an incredible treat. Thank god for the Europeans. I might a couple copies of this for Xmas gifts.

We went out to walk but got sidetracked in the backyard. We started a fire out there in our Home Depot chiminea and stood around like a couple of bums eatting peanuts.