This is the guy that started the Palisades fire. He sure looks like all the other arson suspects. Is this a culture problem?
535 - 75
The jazz standard “Cherokee” was written by Ray Noble in 1938.
Ray Noble was a British bandleader, composer, and arranger who originally wrote “Cherokee” as part of a larger five-part suite called Indian Suite. Though Noble wasn’t Native American, the piece’s title and exoticized rhythm references were part of the era’s fascination with “Native” themes.
But here’s where it gets powerful — Black American musicians transformed “Cherokee” into something entirely different. When Charlie Parker (Who was Cherokee Indian himself) used its chord changes to create “Ko-Ko” in 1945, he turned a white composer’s “tribal novelty” into the blueprint for modern bebop. From Max Roach to Bud Powell and later Kamasi Washington,
“Cherokee” became a canvas for Black innovation — a musical reclamation and redefinition of identity through sound.
From Charlie Parker, Max Roach, Bud Powell, Clifford Brown, Donald Byrd, all the way to Kamasi Washington, this song has been reimagined by generations. That’s not coincidence—it’s heritage. The sound of Cherokee is our coded lineage, proof that the bloodline of the Black American Native runs through the heart of jazz.
289 - 10
70 years ago, Ella Fitzgerald was thrown in jail for singing to a mixed audience. The mother of scat turned pain into genius — her one-take version of “How High the Moon” is pure improvisational mastery. Mid-solo, she weaves in her own songs and jazz standards like:
“A-Tisket, A-Tasket,” “I Lost My Yellow Basket,” “Ornithology,” “Stormy Weather,” “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” “Tropical Heat Wave.”
One woman, one mic, no second take — just brilliance on the fly. They act like they love jazz now, but jazz artists were treated then the same way hip hop artists are treated today: criminalized, underestimated, and later celebrated.
Ella didn’t just sing — she invented a language. Scat was her freedom, her rebellion, and her message that Black genius can’t be caged.
1K - 54
Packed show at the Hidden History Museum last night. We had the audience in STITCHES!
731 - 24
Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun 25th anniversary at the Hollywood Bowl. My wife and I were at the original tour in 2000 with Common (Like Water for Chocolate) and Bilal (1st Born Second). That was the soundtrack of my college years.
442 - 20
The NBA has blackballed Russell Westbrook the same way they did Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard. Over the last decade, the league has quietly pushed out veteran players before they were really finished—because they don’t want vets putting real game in the ears of younger players.
But Westbrook’s situation is different. He’s not just another vet—he’s a former MVP and he’s less than 500 points away from becoming the NBA’s all-time leading scorer at the point/combo guard position.
You mean to tell me he can’t come off the bench, play 15–20 minutes a night, and be a change-of-pace spark? That’s ridiculous. Adam Silver is playing too many games with the league, and moves like this will leave the NBA a shell of itself within the next 10 years.
449 - 89
The creator of the term Low Rider (1955) tells her story online for the first time. watch video on watch page
136 - 1
Head over to my other channel to check out my interview with Berta Bell. Creator of the term “Lowrider” watch video on watch page
82 - 0
I don’t think you can truly grasp how expansive the language of the piano is without hearing Art Tatum. He expanded its entire vocabulary—giving the instrument a sound and texture completely apart from European classical. In many ways, he defined a new classical, born right here in America.
422 - 11
It bothers me how little Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie are appreciated in our culture today. Ella recorded entire careers’ worth of music—often single takes, no overdubs. Basie mastered the art of space, showing us the power of playing less. Two giants studied worldwide, but too often ignored at home.
511 - 14
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12 November 2013