IAN CARR DIES -- THE REST IS SILENCE

Last year it occurred to me that I had not heard anything for some time from iconic Trumpeter, Ian Carr, founder of the Nucleus group and representative of the Golden Age of British Jazz. Ironically I must have been one of the last to hear of his passing courtesy of Last Words on BBC Radio 4.

I discovered Ian Carr's music at the end of the 60s when I was already becoming disillusioned by most of British Rock and folk music. I loved the Blues and had done since I was 12 and bought records by John Lee Hooker and Howlin Wolf but Jazz was somthing of an unknown territory to me and my peer group. I suppose you would loosely categorise Ian Carrs' at that time as Jazz Rock fusion along with people like John McLaughlin's Mahvishnu Orchestra who worked with Carr, but to my mind, McLaughlin always seemed to get carried away in his haste to outdo the virtuoisity of Rock musicians and Jazz sometimes came in a poor second. So generally I had left Jazz alone.

Ian Carr however, won me over. He didn't make this mistake and the Jazz always seemed to win through. I loved his long and usually unhurried phrases and melodies and also the excellent and sometimes explosive rhythm section in his band nucleus. He could also turn his hand to exquisite ambient textures with incursions into psychedelia of the most transcendental kind. I also grew to love the haunting vocals supplied by Norma Winstone which finished off some of his arrangements as devinely as a cherry completes a Bakewell Tart.

In the early seventies when I was roadie and sound engineer with a touring band, I often used to get home at 3 or 4 am after a long drive and eating my supper - breakfast whilst listening to Labyrinth or Solar Plexus was the perfect way to unwind. I saw Ian Carr with Nucleus in Manchester and was amazed at what I heard. So much so that I engaged him in conversation about his music and asked him where his next gig was happening. it turned out to be Leeds University the following night so I told him that we would be there.

Sure enough our little posse hit the recently opened M62 the following evening en route for Leeds. The traffic was heavy and we were a bit late arriving, and made the mistake of parking a good walk from the venue. The rain had stopped, and the sun came out just in time to set, so we walked in the gathering darkness towards the campus. Halfway there, the sounds of Nucleus started to drift towards us coming and going in the breeze and echoing around the towers of the University as the lights of the buildings came on.

It was a free gig and nucleus were set up outside with a few hundred people watching. He had just finished a number as we arrived and spotting us he gave us a wave as he went into the next song. It was one of those special gigs that happen every so often, though usually not often enough. The venue, the occasion, the music the time all combined to make it a truly magical experience. If anyone who reads this was there, I feel sure you will agree.

His radio programs were always a delight whether he played or merely talked about music. He had a soft voice, easy on the ear and he really knew his stuff and I always learned something whenever I listened. Besides, writing a regular column for the BBC Music Magazine, Carr wrote biographies of the jazz musicians Keith Jarrett and Miles Davis. He was also the co-author of the reference work The Rough Guide to Jazz which has passed through four editions from 1994 (originally Jazz, The Essential Companion, 1988). In addition he contributed sleeve notes for the albums of other musicians (eg "Indo-Jazz Fusions" by Joe Harriott/John Mayer).

In 1987, he was appointed associate professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he taught composition and performance, especially improvisation and was founder of the jazz workshop at the Interchange arts scheme, where pianist Julian Joseph, amongst others, was one of his students.

Thank you for your music and your inspiration Ian. Now I must search for those albums I have intended to buy for far too long.

The CIA and NSA Want You to Be Their Friend on Facebook

According to the "US News and World Report" website
The CIA and NSA Want You to Be Their Friend on Facebook
The spy agencies are using the popular social-networking site as part of their recruiting efforts

"The online social-networking service Facebook works for finding old classmates or arranging happy hours, so why not use it to help recruit the next generation of spies? That's what's happening now in cyberspace, as the country's intelligence community turns to such sites to attract a wider range of résumés. "

The CIA now has its own Facebook page, as does the hush-hush National Security Agency, which vacuums up the world's communications for analysis. Both invite Facebook members to register and read information about employment opportunities. It's part of a larger, multiyear hiring push to boost the size of the U.S. intelligence community.

This story is not new to those like myself who study these things but certainly worth a rerun in view of the continued growth of Face Book which has outstripped other Social Networking sites such as Bebo. How successful the CIA might be at recruiting the hordes of todays unmotivated and disillusioned youth its difficult to say but the sheer size of Facebook and its data mining potential should not be ignored. What they are doing however is a serious amount of data mining about all those punters who think that anything short of 10,000 "friends" on facebook is tantamount to social exclusion.

In an era when we are constantly warned of the dangers of identity theft through poor online security, its perhaps ironic that more than ever, people are prepared to reveal and publish astonishingly private and personal details on these sites, making it easy for criminals to compile far more than enough facts and figures to get a strong picture or profile of who we are, where we live, what we do or do not like, where we go, who we socialise with etc etc. With such info, invading our bank and credit card accounts becomes easy peasy and otherwise impersonate us for profit or other criminal activity. Would you really like some unknown person to install a bot on your PC which logs your keystrokes, steals your passwords or worst still uses your IP address to download bomb making instructions or illegal porn, none of which you know anything about untill the Vice Squad come to call.

Like many early adopters and users of technology i only give the net what is essential for it to function or better still, what I want it to have. Personal details I keep to a minimum. I never bank online as even the governments own security advisors have admitted that the net is still not secure enough to entrust our life. Most of the websites I have registered with have different passwords, ages, Zip Codes etc and the seasoned techies I refer to on the net for advice, tend to recommend the same.

Of course this does not guarantee security or anonymity especiall since the 911 attacks in the USA and the bomb outrages in London. The CIA, Homeland Security, MI5, MI6, and others of which we know little or nothing, have spent large fortunes on sledge hammers to break a few nuts. Britain actually seems to be leading the attack on civil liberties and even free speech, often out of all proportion to the real scale of terrorist problems and the whole trend has been to ratchet up surveillance and intrusions into our privacy. Be that as it may however, and bearing in mind that i dont really have any dark secrets other than the occasional embargoed Press Release, I still see no reason why i should make life easier for them and nor should you. Sites such as Facebook therefore are little short of an abdication from our private lives.

If you want to get active and fight the increasing intrusion into our lives via, ID Cards, biometric passports, finger printing and retinal scans, none of which will actually slow down let alone prevent terrorism or fraud then you can visit the Say No To ID campaign website here..... http://www.no2id.net/ For more info on Facebook and links to the CIA, you can watch the informative video here. ......... Even the much vaunted "chip and pin" technology is now being cracked by the crooks and in the long run no information can ever be said to be completely secure. The only answer therefore is to keep your personal and financial details to a minimum. So be careful Number 6, online or off they want your information. Make sure they dont get it!

THE AGE OF STUPID on Channel 4 News

RIAA NAZIS DETERMINED TO DESTROY NEW AND FRINGE MUSIC

NEW BROADCAST RULES WILL BAN SPECIAL FEATURED ARTIST PROGRAMS

I just got this new directive from the CPB (Corporation for Public Broadcasting) in the USA that applies to all public radio stations. Here's an excerpt:

"In any three (3) hour period you can transmit up to three (3) different selections of sound recordings from any one CD, but you can transmit no more than two (2) consecutively. Additionally, in any three (3) hour period you can transmit up to four (4) different selections by the same featured artist, or up to four (4) different selections of sound recordings from any set or compilation of CD's, but you can transmit no more than three (3) consecutively.”

So no more dedicating of programs to artists when they die or honouring birthdays. No more Bob Marley or Billie Holliday specials. Want to talk to some real wankers? Look up the RIAA in the phone book and give them a call.

WHY I ALWAYS AVOID APPLE.

Personal Computers certainly have problems, most of them usually as a result of naff, software from Microsoft. I know i am not alone in being irritated by the constant need to download security updates from them, some of which seem to cause me even more problems. It would appear as many believe that when Microsoft brings out a new operating platform, its really only a Beta version which we then have the dubious pleasure of working in for three or four years till it actually works properly. Then of course our Bill, brings out another version which we have the pleasure of paying for.

I say this just so you won't think i am some kind of geek with nothing better to do with my time. Far from it however. I spend the majority of my time answering emails and scouring the net for the latest research on this or that chemical pollution or danger and i could do without all the tweaking and freakin. Despite this however i would still much rather spend my money on a budget PC than shell out through the nose to improve the lifestyle of Steve Jobs.

Obviously Apple computers have some advantages but despite this, I have long thought of Apple as over-priced and over rated. In recent years Jobs has combined increased desire for commercial success with increased restriction of operability unless you pay the price of course. but, his sucking up to the RIAA and the Music Biz Greed Monsters with his own brand of Net freedom or restriction continues to benefit him. The following piece from the Electronic Frontier Foundation is a good example of what i hate most. If you are an Apple addict and prepared to see only fluffy bunnies and choc ices when you think of Apple, then read no further......

Apple Adds Still More DRM to iPod Shuffle
Commentary by Fred von Lohmann
Even as it attacks DRM on music, Apple is continuing to add more DRM to its own hardware (we recently documented all of Apple's various hardware DRM restrictions). The latest example is the new iPod Shuffle. According to the careful reviewers at iLounge, third-party headphone makers will have to use yet-another Apple "authentication chip" if they want to interoperate with the new Shuffle.

Normally, of course, independent headphone makers could simply reverse engineer the interface. The "authentication chip" is there so that Apple's lawyers can invoke the DMCA to block those efforts. So this shows us, yet again, what DRM is for -- not stopping piracy, but rather impeding competition and innovation.

iLounge sums up what this means for consumers:
This is, in short, a nightmare scenario for long-time iPod fans: are we entering a world in which Apple controls and taxes literally every piece of the iPod purchase from headphones to chargers, jacking up their prices, forcing customers to re-purchase things they already own, while making only marginal improvements in their functionality? It’s a shame, and one that consumers should feel empowered to fight.
Couldn't have said it better myself.

One final thought: why have so many of the reviews of iPods failed to notice the proliferation of these Apple "authentication chips"? If it were Microsoft demanding that computer peripherals all include Microsoft "authentication chips" in order to work with Windows (or Toyota or Ford doing the same for replacement parts), I'd think reviewers would be screaming about it.

BE SEEING YOU, NUMBER 6

At the tender age of 14 I aquired the habit of watching Danger Man on TV starring Patrick McGoohan mainly because my mum watched it. But, i became hooked on the stories and on the actor himself, who seemed to posses all the attitudes that a punk kid could relate to and who was best of all, "cool"

Danger Man or "Secret Agent" as it was known in the USA became a minor cult and i even learned that he lived close to a place i regularly walked my dog and rode my bike. One day being typically inquisitive, I clambered through a hole in a hedge and found myself in a large garden replete with a built extension containing an indoor swimming pool. As i was a regular swimmer and member of the local club i peered in through the window. Of course there was no one there and nothing to see, but as i turned to make my escape I found myself confronted by an imposing figure in casual clothing who i instantly recognised when he spoke. "What do you want?" he asked sharply, Had it been a few years later i would have probably said, "Information" but I just said i was exploring which was the truth. "Well you better fuck off then!" he replied.

I was not offended or concerned by this and in fact, regarded it as quite a compliment coming from the Secret Agent himself. A few years later of course i was like many of my age group totally hooked on the prisoner, but because i had actually been confronted by Mr McGoohan his plight and attempts at escape were somehow more personal. I am only sorry that i have not honoured Patrick McGoohan till now.

The Prisoner was not just a cult TV program, it was strangely prophetic. Living now as we do on a prison island full of CCTV cams, constrained by an ever growing number of repressive laws and half witted paranoid Government Ministers who treat us all like we are the enemy, its hard not to identify with the Prisoner. All the more credit should go to McGoohan for not just the vision to see this but also the ability to write, direct and act the story. I only regret not having had the temerity to engage him in a longer dialogue but se la vie. You will be missed Number 6, but also long remembered. And the information they were always trying to get from you? They never did get it, did they? "Be Seeing You"

FRANK ZAPPA -- WHY THE MUSIC BIZ IS PANTS

Just in case you didn't know already, Uncle Frank explains in simple everyday terms why the Music Biz and the people who run it are full of shit. The bleeped out words are apparently "shit" "masturbation" and "hand relief" or words to that effect.
Censorship laws in America still demonstrate that being killed off by AIDS is preferable to saying "masturbation" whatever that means.

See Below....