For many people, the mention of their name conjurs up all types of pictures. When you say Ali, you know that your dealing with the greatest, but when you say Ed Bradley, immediately you think of the cool gaze, the effortless interview, getting to the bottom of a story without really trying.
All of these things described and summed up CBS Sixty Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley. In this way he was the greatest, he was the coolest, and he was very much the consumate professional at his chosen craft, the interview. But he was much bigger than that as well.
To me he represented the style of a true friend and brother, one who will in one phase, build you up, and in another make you feel lower than low, by making you face yourself...warts and all.
It's not easy in any sense to get people to expose themselves, but somehow he made it look easy, he also made it feel easy to his viewers.
During this time since his death, they have shown countless interviews that he conducted, and I watched with tears in my eyes looking back at how he gave Black people a sense of pride, honor, and dignity. He did it with the kind of cool that is reserved for James Bond, and spies like that.
Ed Bradley just simply exuded cool. He to television was what Miles Davis was to jazz...brilliant.
My heart is very sad at his demise, but I know that somewhere in Heaven is a bearded man with an earring, and a gap between his teeth who can now sit back and enjoy all of the jazz greats that he loved, in person, and I thank him for his life and his gift to us all.
Ed Bradley 1941-2006
Good night brother.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Friday, November 10, 2006
Byrd is the Word
What an exciting week this has been for me. I don't often get to share in history making, but on Monday and Tuesday the Carpenter Ants played for the Democratic Rally in Marmet WV, and in Charleston. Both events featured now re-elected Senator Robert C.Byrd.
I'm not dictating anyone's politics, but Senator Byrd really has made a great case for this state, and truly for the nation with his politics.
It's rare to see music and politics fit so nicely together, but for some reason, the political folks seem to have the Ants on their radar. We've been very fortunate to be asked to rally the voters on several occasions over the last few years, and for me it has been a great honor. I've gotten to voice my opinion in my own way...musically, and I've been able to help put our band on the map.
So many people spoke favorably of us during these campaigns, and marveled at our musicianship that even those who weren't necessarily in one camp or another found themselves enjoying our message... and the message is LEARNING TO WORK TOGETHER.
When I was in New York, I came to realize that there is politics in pretty much eveything, and in order to rise above it sometimes one has to resort to politicing, meaning that you have to play this game where you cater to the powers that be (whoever the heck they are...).
Making that choice is difficult, because no one wants to be seen as someone who kissed someone else's rear end to get to the top, but it does happen, and you either have to live with it and move on, or have thick skin about it. Which is why the whole notion of music and politics seem so foreign to me.
People like Senator Byrd have lived life on their own terms, they rise to the top by being real, mistakes and all. I have come to have admiration for him, because he lived through his life, and overcame, in the same way that the song " We Shall Overcome," states. By putting God on his side and walking forward hand in hand with his beautiful wife Erma who is now in Heaven.
So for me Byrd is the word, for working hard, being fair, and certainly being a rebel with a cause, to help the people of the great state of West Virginia, and the people of this country.
In my hopes, and dreams, I want to be an agent of change for people. A beacon of light in darkness, and real friend...and I want to make mine with music.
This post is dedicated to Senator Robert C.Byrd (D-WV),
This post is also dedicated to Mark Ferrell, thank you for linking us with the campaign.
Support Live music today tomorrow and always...and be certain to vote when you are able, it really can make a difference.
I'm not dictating anyone's politics, but Senator Byrd really has made a great case for this state, and truly for the nation with his politics.
It's rare to see music and politics fit so nicely together, but for some reason, the political folks seem to have the Ants on their radar. We've been very fortunate to be asked to rally the voters on several occasions over the last few years, and for me it has been a great honor. I've gotten to voice my opinion in my own way...musically, and I've been able to help put our band on the map.
So many people spoke favorably of us during these campaigns, and marveled at our musicianship that even those who weren't necessarily in one camp or another found themselves enjoying our message... and the message is LEARNING TO WORK TOGETHER.
When I was in New York, I came to realize that there is politics in pretty much eveything, and in order to rise above it sometimes one has to resort to politicing, meaning that you have to play this game where you cater to the powers that be (whoever the heck they are...).
Making that choice is difficult, because no one wants to be seen as someone who kissed someone else's rear end to get to the top, but it does happen, and you either have to live with it and move on, or have thick skin about it. Which is why the whole notion of music and politics seem so foreign to me.
People like Senator Byrd have lived life on their own terms, they rise to the top by being real, mistakes and all. I have come to have admiration for him, because he lived through his life, and overcame, in the same way that the song " We Shall Overcome," states. By putting God on his side and walking forward hand in hand with his beautiful wife Erma who is now in Heaven.
So for me Byrd is the word, for working hard, being fair, and certainly being a rebel with a cause, to help the people of the great state of West Virginia, and the people of this country.
In my hopes, and dreams, I want to be an agent of change for people. A beacon of light in darkness, and real friend...and I want to make mine with music.
This post is dedicated to Senator Robert C.Byrd (D-WV),
This post is also dedicated to Mark Ferrell, thank you for linking us with the campaign.
Support Live music today tomorrow and always...and be certain to vote when you are able, it really can make a difference.
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