http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Thu, 20 May 2004 09:11:14 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. 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Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/20/091114.php Dean EsmayA generation is disappearing before our eyes, but Harry Stein has given us a portrait of them that may be better, and more inspiring, than any published to date.Much has been made in recent years of the so-called "Greatest Generation," the people who lived through the Great Depression and World War II. They are now by and large in their 70s and 80s, and passing on at an accelerating rate. While some of them will still be with us for another 20 years or more, there will be fewer of them all the time. Their influence on our country, however, will be felt for a long, long time to come.After all, these are not just the people who lived through the nation's worst economic downturn and who won the largest hot war in human history. They're the ones who came home and radically changed politics, for good or ill, for most of the last half of the 20th century. They produced John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan. They gave us Social Security, Medicare, the nuclear arms race, and helped win the Cold War. They also gave birth to the Baby Boomers, rock and roll, and suburbia.Yet for all their great accomplishments, what is so often missing in portraits of people of this era is their basic human qualities. Indeed, when their human qualities are discussed at all, they are sometimes sneered at and derided. Men of the era were supposedly unemotional, distant, bumbling when it came to matters of the heart, spent too little time with their wives and children, were sometimes abusive and neglectful, and were chauvinists. Women from the era were often derided as submissive housewives and often sneered at by the feminist movement (although a few of the early feminists were of this generation, the contempt they showed to the housewives of the era was still remarkably hostile at times).What Harry Stein has done with his wonderful new book, The Girl Watchers Club, is given us a very human look at inner souls of the people (alas, mostly just the men--but what men they are and were!) of that era.The Girl Watchers are a group of more than a dozen World War II era men who have been meeting together to joke, chat, and rib each other (the way men so often do) for decades. They started out gathering around a swimming pool to watch women, but soon evolved into a group that just got together socially for its own sake. For decades they've been doing this, involving themselves in each others' lives in a way that few people do today. They don't do much but talk together, but what they talk about speaks volumes.While the Girl Watchers group actually comprises well over a dozen men, and has comprised dozens if you count its former and deceased members, Stein here opts to intimately profile only six of them, men he feels well represent the entire group. The men he chooses are all distinct in their own way: atheists and deeply religious, combat veterans and men who never saw combat, men who've had happy family lives and men who've had tragic ones, men who grew up in big families and men who grew up as only children.The only thing these men really have in common is that they're all of a certain age--and there's the center of the tale, for the things they have in common, the shared attitudes and experiences and values, tells you more about the World War II generation than you'll ever get in a hundred books on the Great Depression or World War II. For what Stein shows us is the honor, the integrity, the decency, and the core humanity of these people who did so much to shape what the 20th century became. The stories in this book, which profile the entire lives of all these men from their childhoods all the way into retirement and grandfatherhood, makes you realize just how much that "greatest generation" had to offer, and how much their children and grandchildren could learn from them if only they'd try.Mind you, it is not a worshipful hagiography. These men are often salty, highly politically incorrect, mildly sexist, mildly racist at times, and sometimes didn't lead saintly lives. But that, too, is something we can learn from, and nothing for them to be ashamed of. For they are ultimately human beings, and that's the real beauty of Stein's portrayal.I sense that this book is destined to become what's known as a "sleeper." Offhand, the title and plot synopsis don't seem to grab you. Hmm, "The Girl Watchers," a bunch of old guys sitting together reminiscing. How boring! Or so it sounds. but pick it up and start reading, and I suspect you won't find yourself forgetting it very soon. The lives these men lived, the often funny and always moving way Stein portrays them, are hard to forget, and a constantly enjoyable read. I expect this to be the sort of book people read and say, "Wow, I liked that more than I thought I would," and tell their friends about it.Indeed, let me just say: I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would, and now I'm telling you about it. I heartily recommend The Girl Watchers Club. It's a moving, poignant tale with an apt subtitle: "Lessons from the battlefields of life." Pick this one up. You won't regret it.(By the way, a web site devoted to the book can be found right here.) Books15813@blogcritics.org Thu, 20 May 2004 09:11:14 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/12/050000.php Dean EsmayOne of the most egregious cases of ideological belief ruining a life has to have been the case of David Reimer. After a botched circumcision (which some of us have long considered an utterly unnecessary surgical procedure that should never be inflicted on boys without their permission--but that's a different subject), doctors talked his parents into having their infant son surgically altered and treated with hormones so he would develop as a little girl.They were assured by the doctors as well as a psychologist that "gender is a social construct" and that, as such, it should be quite possible to raise the boy as a healthy girl. And, well, if "she" could never have children, so what? "She" could be just as happy adopting anyway. So not only was the kid surgically castrated and treated chemically, but he was told he was a girl his entire life, raised exactly like a little girl, while his twin brother was raised as a boy. They named "her" Brenda.Since this was all done to him very shortly after birth, he had no idea what was done to him--but the kid was miserable his entire life. He insisted on developing classically boyish behavior patterns even more strongly than what's typically found in tomboy girls. They couldn't even get him to stop peeing standing up. Extensive counseling and other medical interventions never helped much, but they never told him the truth until he was a teenager.As soon as he did find out the truth, he immediately and inhesitantly did everything in his power to restore what was possible to restore of his masculinity, renaming himself David and doing everything medically and socially possible to regain what was taken from him.He never was able to fully cope, however. Recently, tragically, David Reimer killed himself.With all we know now about the differences in brain structure and chemistry between men and women that start as early as the womb, let's hope no child is ever subjected to a horribly abusive experiment like this again.(Via Dean's World.) Culture15614@blogcritics.org Wed, 12 May 2004 05:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/02/065245.php Dean EsmayI gotta tell ya, I'm in the middle of Harry Stein's The Girl Watcher's Club, and it really is a remarkably good read. Funny, poignant, and inspiring. Probably the best salute to the World War II generation I've seen yet, really it is.Harry Stein has a web site devoted to the book that you can check out here. Books15301@blogcritics.org Sun, 2 May 2004 06:52:45 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/12/02/072517.php Dean EsmayI first noticed Cox & Forkum when I spotted a cartoon called "The Blogger's Cycle." I thought, "Wow. These guys nailed me! I could have written this myself, if only I were that clever and talented."I immediately read the rest of the Cox & Forkum weblog, where I was astounded by the sharp, professional level of their work. Given the popularity of my interview with Chris Muir earlier this year, I thought it would be fun to interview these guys too.As their web site explains, Allen Forkum generally writes the cartoons, while John Cox illustrates them. They've been collaborating together on various projects for many years, but have only recently branched out into political cartooning. Their work is currently unsyndicated, but they are self-publishing a book called Black & White World, which I'd put on my Amazon wish list if it were available through Amazon!I must say, they were a fun interview, and probably the easiest one I've ever done. --Dean ---Q: Where do you guys hail from? Where do you live now?FORKUM: I'm from the Nashville area, and that's where I live now.COX: I grew up all over. I was born in Pensacola, but by the time I graduated high school, we had lived in Cincinnati, Birmingham, Orangeburg, S.C., Houston, Denver, and finally Huntington, W.V. Today I live in Atlanta.FORKUM: Since we have to collaborate from different cities, one might think we have a direct connection via the Internet. But we're still using fax machines. I fax sketches to John. We discuss them by phone. He faxes back the roughs and finals. Technologically speaking, we're stuck in the '80s. COX: That's 1880s. I recently sold my mule for a pack of quill pens and a whole bunch of fancy white paper.Q: I take it that you still use pen and ink, and then just scan the cartoons. What are your favorite art tools (pen, brush, inks, etc.)?COX: I've always had a love affair with old materials: oil on canvas, woodcuts, charcoal on parchment. Pen and ink has a rich tradition, and I've been enjoying the chance to put my stamp on it along with my cartooning heroes: Michael Ramirez, Ben Sargent, Mike Peters, and Jim Borgman. I love the high-contrast nature of ink and the emphasis it puts on design. Our cartoons often require a certain "trickery" to pull off, so the challenge to raise the bar is fascinating to me. These days I use Faber Castell brush pens, Pigma Micron pens, Speedball steel-nib pens and smooth bristol board. I do all the pencil work with a 4H and a 2B...and a big, fat eraser. Q: Your work is easily as good as most of what's seen on newspaper editorial pages. Have you approached any of the newspaper syndicates, to see if they'd be interested in your work?FORKUM: So far we've only approached one syndicate. We were fortunate enough to have a contact at a syndicate that I thought was a perfect match for our work, because they had many columnists that our cartoons would compliment. But they turned us down. This was very early on, before we had a lot of work to show. We need to re-submit to them as well as other syndicates, but we've been too busy maintaining our blog and trying sell our self-published book, Black & White World.COX: Before we tried our hand at editorial cartooning, Allen and I created Captain Speewak!, a daily comic strip that spoofed science fiction/adventure serials. It had ray guns, evil alien empires, idealistic heroes, disembodied tyrants and, of course, a large space ship shaped like a hand. Sample Captain Speewak! cartoon. Previously unpublished. None of the syndicates were interested in it. We still have a soft spot for the calamitous endeavor, so every once in a while it pops up in an editorial cartoon (e.g. "Leftists in Space"). Maybe Speewak will see the light of day when there's an audience for goofy space characters who do battle against intergalactic socialism.Q: Ever think about doing much with color in your cartoons?COX: When it comes to bold, exaggerated cartooning, color can be a distraction. Black-and-white work seems to have the most emotional possibilities. It's probably why I prefer black-and-white photography--and zebras.Q: You don't cartoon full-time, so what do you do when you're not cartooning?COX: I raise gerbils and set them free.No, actually, I show my paintings at a local gallery and do caricature gigs at many corporate functions.FORKUM: My background is in graphic design. I'm co-owner and art director of a small newspaper publishing company, which is where John and I first collaborated on cartoons. The newspaper needed a monthly gag cartoon to accompany a humor column in Automotive Reports by a guy named Buster McNutt. That was in 1990 and we've been doing it ever since. By comparison, the Buster cartoons were and are light-hearted: Gorillas in tutus. Amish vs. Technology. Drive-thru plastic surgery. That sort of thing. Sample cartoon for Automotive Reports and Buster McNuttQ: Your description of yourselves on your weblog says the two of you met in art school. Where did you go to art school? When did you graduate--or did you?FORKUM: We met at the Art Institute of Atlanta in 1983 in the Commercial Arts program. After a disappointing first year we decided, along with a few other students, to enroll at Dekalb Tech, which at the time had a highly-regarded commercial arts course. It was only a one-year program with no degree, but we learned a lot and ultimately graduated. I think we got certificates.COX: Prior to that, I went to Marshall University just long enough to realize I wanted to go to an art school. After graduating from Dekalb, I hit the streets and landed a job at Cargill Wilson & Acree as a remarkably talented comp dude--which means I drew mock-ups of ads. Yeah, I know: the glamour is blinding.Q: Noam Chomsky once said that curious green ideas sleep furiously. Do you think they do?COX: Of course, but only when mysterious pink lizards harmonize silently.Q: Your political cartooning seems to have begun primarily at The Intellectual Activist, and you say your cartoons are "inspired by" Objectivism, which is what Ayn Rand called her philosophy. To what extent would you consider yourselves to be Objectivists?FORKUM: I'm an Objectivist.COX: I'd be an Objectivist, too, if it weren't for the funny hats.But really, when I was 23, I read The Fountainhead and was utterly transfixed. (I remember insisting that Allen read it... GEEZ, he read the hell out of it!) I immediately quit my "second-hander" job at Cargill and began my freelance and fine art career. I've enjoyed Rand's works ever since and find her emphasis on excellence and individualism a great source of creativity.FORKUM: One reason I say "inspired by" is to indicate that we're not trying to speak for Objectivism. Read Ayn Rand's brilliant books for that. She advocated, among other things, reason, individualism, secularism, individual rights and free markets. The cartoons are usually created from that perspective. I'm also literally inspired by Objectivism, inspired to speak out against today's irrationalism, whether it's from leftists, conservatives or libertarians. Books10597@blogcritics.org Tue, 2 Dec 2003 07:25:17 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/10/30/214135.php Dean EsmayChris Muir's Day By Day cartoon started publishing almost exactly one year ago, on November 1, 2002. Since then, while it is still available only on the World Wide Web, it has stayed on a consistent daily schedule, and only grown more popular. It has recently received favorable notice on Tech Central Station, and I expect him to receive even more attention in the coming year. One can only hope so: this guy deserves a syndication deal!I interviewed Chris Muir back in March of this year. That interview appeared on my weblog, Dean's World. Since the publication of that interview, his cartoons have stayed consistently good, or even improved. Given that Chris is now getting more attention than ever, it seemed like a good time to revisit this interview, and republish it here on Blogcritics. His strip is a witty and insightful look at what he calls "the other half of America," and alternates between the relationships between four office coworkers: ...and current events:I got Chris to sit down and answer some questions about himself and his strip. He's quite an interesting fellow, and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he one day becomes a rich and famous cartoonist. We can only hope so.Here's our conversation:----Dean Esmay: Tell us about yourself. When were you born, where did you grow up, where do you live, what do you do for a living at the moment?Chris Muir: I was born on October 30, 1958 in Syracuse, New York. I live in a small beach town in Florida, between the ocean and the lagoon. I'm a consulting Industrial Designer at my own firm.DE: How long have you been cartooning?CM: About 5 years, though I sketched out some stuff when I was a kid.DE: Would your work have appeared anywhere else where we might have seen it? If so, where?CM: Not the Day By Day strip, but I've done a single panel called Altered States for about 5 years for Florida Today, a Gannett paper. It's good for mental exercise.DE: Do you have any specific goals with Day by Day? You obviously have a point of view. Is grinding an ideological axe your main goal? CM: I want to present the point of view that I never see represented in what I call Old Media: the papers, magazines, TV (until Fox News), etc. Where's the voice of the other half, the moderate-conservative half of America, on ethics, economy, politics and the age-old dynamic betwixt men and women? Well, it's in the blogging world, of course! Thousands of viewpoints! Labels like Left, Right, Conservative, Libertarian, Liberal--these just don't cover that wonderful spectrum out there. I have my own point-of-view, but all are grist for my mill.I'm the last of the "boomers" in age, and it seems to me that the monolithic view presented of that generation (PC correctness, dried up old hippie platitudes that actually contradict themselves) are, thankfully, finally going away. So, yes, I definitely have an ideological axe to grind. But it's not Republican. Or Democrat. Or Libertarian. I believe the people I'm writing to are looking for better representation than these entities provide. I want to be the voice of the average citizen out there, people you bump into every day. DE: Who would you say are your main inspirations, as a cartoonist? Or even as a person?CM: As a cartoonist: Gary Larson's Far Side, Pooch Cafe by Paul Gilligan, Cafe 8Ball by Dominic Capello, The Hots by Stephen Hersh and Nina Paley, Story Minute by Carol Lay, Arlo & Janis by Jimmy Johnson, The Imp by Jose Arroyo & Robin Reed, Stephanie Piro, Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau, and Overboard by Chip Dunham.As a person: The Founding Fathers!DE: Your work has frequently been compared to that of Garry Trudeau. Are you flattered by that comparison, annoyed by it, or...? CM: Yes.Actually, I think a lot of the comparison comes about inasmuch as Doonesbury has not only been the pre-eminent strip on politics, but perhaps the only one (other than Mallard Fillmore) for such a long time. So, if you have a strip and you want to establish a storyline over time, on real political events, with real names, well, everyone refers to the only one they have ever seen (until now): Doonesbury.As I see it, Trudeau is more "hip" to his generation. But today, he's the Establishment. Rather than laugh-out-loud funny, people tell me they see Day By Day as cerebral, measured, amusing, and insightful. (Now, you guys who say that are looking at www.daybydaycartoon.com, and not some other strip, right?)DE: Day By Day currently has a permanent cast of four characters, in addition to the occasional politician or other random character. I suppose the question is inevitable, but, are they based on you or anyone you know? Are you Zed, for example? Do you know any Damons?CM: All characters are blends of people I have known through life. I would have to say I am in all of them to some degree. I'm probably most like Damon.DE: Have you taken any criticism for your portrayal of Damon? CM: Actually, the reverse. He just kind of "popped out" one day while I was sketching around for a better foil for Jan. Zed was the first one, then Sam, then Jan, and then that little devil Damon. DE: You obviously like poking fun at the "peace" protestors and the Hollywood folks. A lot of the people making fun of them now used to count themselves among their number. Are you one of those folks who's had second thoughts, or were you always on the other side of the culture war?CM: I was born a 45 year old conservative. But you know what? Conservative isn't even "conservative" anymore. It's a label for normal.Yes, I said normal!DE: Is Day By Day currently available anywhere besides your web site?CM: Nope. I intend to run it on the web for a year and get some feedback. I also hope to link up to whatever bloggers will have me. The blogosphere is where true discourse is going on these days, not syndicates or papers or TV.DE: How do you do your art work? Do you do it all on the computer, or do you perhaps use a pencil, scan it, and clean it up on the computer? Or...? CM: All art is drawn on a Wacom 11x16 tablet, using Adobe Illustrator, then exported over as a gif in Photoshop. All coloring is also done natively in Illustrator. I have templates of bodies, heads, expressions, etc. If you look at the cartoons closely, you may notice that, at this time, each character has about 5-6 head positions only. I will be adding, over the course of time, more head shots. I tend to draw the bodies and the backgrounds individually, though (but not always).DE: You seem to be issuing about a cartoon a day. How are you managing that kind of pace, especially with a full-time job in industrial design? CM: The templates help a lot! As soon as I get caught up, I intend to do a cartoon relevant to the day I put it up, which is the advantage of online publishing. Unlike printed toons that are 2 weeks back because of distribution timeframes, I can hit the daily topic the same day, a rather important ability in the political arena.DE: Every creative person gets this question, and finds it impossible to answer, but I'm going to ask it anyway: Where do you get your ideas?CM: The hypothalamus, mostly.Other times I read, read, read, read! DE: You mention that you're fond of weblogs. I take it you don't mind if webloggers reprint your cartoons, so long as they give you credit and link to your site?CM: I definitely want bloggers to spread the word, if they feel it's worthy. And a link is just great for traffic! In short, post 'em up, send 'em out, print them off as gifts. Just don't sell them. Otherwise, the bigger the audience, the more likely I can spend more time on this and speak out for that other half of America that's not represented in daily cartoon strips.(Man, that sounds arrogant. But what the hey, why not me?)DE: Anything you wish I'd asked that I didn't?CM: I believe this country has reached a turning point in the culture where you have half the country denied a true mass medium (TV, newspapers, films, print) to speak its side--and I don't necessarily mean Republicans. Think of the energy of political thought and discussion in talk radio and blogs (and selected small publishers like Regnery) versus the PC dreck on Old Media. It's no surprise that people are changing the channel or closing the comics page. I think that's all changing now, and it's a very interesting place and time to be. ----You can check out the latest Day By Day cartoon, and the entire run of the strip from its beginning on November 1, 2002, at Chris Muir's daybydaycartoon.com. He's been in my blogroll for a while. Now you know why.By the way, Dodd Harris over at Ipse Dixit has published a further interview with Chris Muir that takes up where this one has left off, and includes some special art work that's not been seen elsewhere online. Chris also did a special editorial cartoon on conspiracy theorists that was published exclusively on Dean's World. --Dean Esmay Interviews9647@blogcritics.org Thu, 30 Oct 2003 21:41:35 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/09/12/074436.php Dean EsmayThe news accounts say he died of complications from diabetes.No. No, he didn't. Not really.I keep a close watch on this heart of mine I keep my eyes wide open all the time. I keep the ends out for the tie that binds Because you're mine, I walk the lineI find it very, very easy to be true I find myself alone when each day is through Yes, I'll admit I'm a fool for you Because you're mine, I walk the lineAs sure as night is dark and day is light I keep you on my mind both day and night And happiness I've known proves that it's right Because you're mine, I walk the lineYou've got a way to keep me on your side You give me cause for love that I can't hide For you I know I'd even try to turn the tide Because you're mine, I walk the lineBy the way, you need to own this CD.I think I'll wear black today. Music8323@blogcritics.org Fri, 12 Sep 2003 07:44:36 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/09/01/175450.php Dean EsmayThis is, quite seriously, and without a bit of condescension, one of my favorite songs of all time:Three is a magic number, Yes it is, it's a magic number. Somewhere in the ancient, mystic trinity You get three as a magic number. The past and the present and the future. Faith and Hope and Charity, The heart and the brain and the body Give you three as a magic number. It takes three legs to make a tri-pod Or to make a table stand. It takes three wheels to make a ve-hicle Called a tricycle. Every triangle has three corners, Every triangle has three sides, No more, no less. You don't have to guess. When it's three you can see It's a magic number. A man and a woman had a little baby, Yes, they did. They had three in the family, And that's a magic number. 3-6-9, 12-15-18, 21-24-27, 30. 3-6-9, 12-15-18, 21-24-27, 30. Multiply backwards from three times ten: Three time ten is (30), three times nine is (27), Three times eight is (24), three times seven is (21), Three times six is (18), three times five is (15), Three times four is twelve, And three times three is nine, and three times two is six, And three times one is three of course. Now dig pattern once more: Three! . . .3-6-9 Twelve! . . .12-15-18 Twenty-one!. . .21-24-27. . .30 Now multiply from 10 backwards: Three time ten is (30 - Keep going), three times nine is (27), Three times eight is (24), three times seven is (21) (goin' home...), Three times six is (18), three times five is (15), Three times four is twelve, And three times three is nine, and three times two is six, And three times one... What is it?! Three! Yeah, That's a magic number. A man and a woman had a little baby. Yes, they did. They had three in the family. That's a magic number....If you get what I love about this song, you should buy this DVD, and go out of your way to check out this way cool web site.So there.By the way: I'm 37 years old, and still when I want to recall how stuff works in Washington, I think of this song.Go buy the DVD. It's way cool. Music8008@blogcritics.org Mon, 1 Sep 2003 17:54:50 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/08/30/140419.php Dean EsmayIf you're interested in checking out the "jam band" phenomenon, may I say that you could hardly do better than to check out Jupiter Coyote: Live?It's a fabulous mix of rock'n'roll, bluegrass, and jazz, in the style of groups like the Marshall Tucker Band. I got ahold of this little treasure a couple of days ago and I like the first disc (it's a two-disc set) I haven't even gotten around to listening to the second one yet. The first alone is worth the price of admission, and I think the laser in my CD player may already be burning a hole in the disc.Oh yeah, and check out the Jupiter Coyote web site. There are some free MP3s that you can download from there. Although the live stuff is cooler. Music7965@blogcritics.org Sat, 30 Aug 2003 14:04:19 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/08/10/023114.php Dean EsmayThere's a certain genre of music that goes by the name "Jam Bands." Most people haven't heard of it, but it's my favorite type of music. For years I've tried to explain about this kind of music, but most people didn't understand. Well at least now we have a label.So what is a jam band? Well, if you ask me, it's a modern jazz band, but when you say "Jazz," people now associate that with two or three styles of music that are not much like the jam band concept. Most "jazz" these days is either that smooth "lite jazz" stuff or it's fairly esoteric, complicated, and not-very-melodic music.Jam bands aren't like that. To me, they ultimately go back to the early days of jazz, which were all about mixing different styles together and improvising around a common melodic theme. But the roots of most current jam band music go back most recognizably to the late 1960s. The Grand Old Men of the jam band movement are considered to be such groups as the Allman Brothers, Santana, and The Dead (who, by the way, are sounding fantastic these days, even without Jerry Garcia). But who were these artists influenced by? Early blues, jazz, and folk/country music.Since current jam bands like Blues Traveler and Phish get very little airplay, and countless others get no airplay at all, you'd think they aren't very popular. But you'd be mistaken. These bands often sell out shows at major auditoriums around the country, and you can find their fans everywhere. Many of them have had albums go gold and even platinum based solely on word-of-mouth sales and their existing fan bases. Others don't do quite that well, but tour regularly and sell enough albums to be considered successful musical enterprises.To me, the best of them are exemplary of what the early days of jazz were like. A good jazz band will tend to mix multiple styles of music together. They will usually start to play a song in a fairly traditional rock, pop, or blues arrangement, setting down a basic groove and chorus. But then, somewhere in the middle of the song (or what most musicians call "the break,") the band will simply begin to wander and explore. Different musicians are encouraged to trade solos and improvise around the theme established early in the song. Then eventually--sometimes after a few minutes, sometimes after quite a few minutes--the band finds its way back to the chorus, and finishes off the song in the same basic groove they started in. Then sometimes they'll stop, or sometimes they'll move straight into a different song without pause.It's not unusual for such bands to play 30 minutes or more without stopping, although typical song length is probably somewhere between 7 and 15 minutes.Styles tend to vary dramatically, too. A good jam band usually mixes elements of rock and roll, bluegrass, country, cajun, blues, classic jazz, flamenco, even more styles into their mix. This is probably my favorite aspect of the jam band concept, because it gives a complex, multilayered approach to the sound. This, combined with the improvised soloing, tends to keep things constantly fresh.Of course, some bands trend more to one style than another. Widespread Panic, for example, tends to have a more country feel to most of their work, whereas The Allman Brothers Band has a more blues- and jazz-based sound to most of their current material. Leftover Salmon refers to their sound as "Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass," which is a perfect description: hard-rocking electric bluegrass mixed with a little cajun and other world music elements make them a truly fun listen.Obviously, this sort of music is not for everybody. I wish it were, though, because I think a lot of people are missing out on some killer music by not checking it out. My favorite jam band radio station on the internet is Leftover Cheese, which frequently includes material from Leftover Salmon, String Cheese Incident, the Derek Trucks Band, Widespread Panic, Blues Traveler, Bruce Hampton and the Code Talkers, and other well-known and respected jam bands.You can also check out www.jambands.com for more information.I know this kind of music isn't for everybody, but I do hope that by my posting it, some of you will make a nice discovery: cool music you've been missing out on. Music7481@blogcritics.org Sun, 10 Aug 2003 02:31:14 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/06/10/141303.php Dean EsmayHave you ever had the experience where an album seeps into your bones?Here's how it usually works: You pick it up and right away you think, "this is good." Then you listen to it some more and you think, "Hey, this is even better than I thought." Then maybe you listen to it some more and you think, "Okay, yeah, it's good, but I'm a little tired of it now." You set it aside. But within a day or two, you want to hear something from it again. You put it back on, and you say, "Holy crap. This is even better still."If you don't like blisteringly hot and complex percussion work, swirling keyboards, intricate guitar work that moves between carefully restrained and rivetingly intense, all punctuated with astonishingly soulful singing, this isn't for you. Ditto if you aren't interested in subtle, multilayered arrangements of top-notch songs. A rich, textured, steaming jazz/blues/folk/soul/jam gumbo isn't for everybody I suppose. But let me tell ya: you don't know what you're missing.If, on the other hand, that sounds even a little appealing to you, Hittin' The Note is probably going to be your album of the year. It's already mine. Such a rich, textured, multilayered blues-based, hard-rocking jazz album doesn't come along every day. It really doesn't.Oh, and by the way: although some will be tempted to call this album "southern rock," anyone who does so should be shot. This is a fabulous jazz and blues rock album. One of the best in years. Go buy it. It's really good. Music6071@blogcritics.org Tue, 10 Jun 2003 14:13:03 EDT