Brian Sacawa: Sounds Like Now

Bird lives!

Don't miss Fred Kaplan's excellent piece in today's Times about the discovery of some rare recordings that document the birth of bebop.

Pop quiz

A conversation with music critic and fellow blogger Alex Ross.

Yes, that would be great

If you're planning a move, do yourself a favor and do not hire Freedom Moving and Storage to handle your household goods. They lost an entire box (a big one I might add), and damaged three pieces of furniture. I've used movers before and had a very positive experience. Not so this time. These people are completely incompetent. Sure, they were really nice to me when they were courting my business but then once they had my things in their clutches, it was like pulling teeth to get a hold of them. You'll call me back in an hour? A week later . . . still waiting for the phone to ring. Anyway, at least it won't take long for my claim to be processed: just a mere 30-90 days! I suspect that my stuff was not "lost" but rather redistributed by the dynamic dishonest, slow, and lazy (a 10 minute break became a 45 minute break) duo that packed and moved my things as payback for the less than generous tip I gave them. One of them even tried to intimidate me into giving them more by saying, "I though you wanted us to take good care of your stuff?" Hey, I gave you what you were worth, Mark, Haim, and the rest of your no-good crew.

Higher, faster, louder

That's an apt description for Joel Puckett's Gunslingers for alto saxophone and percussion, which was written for Non-Zero's concert debut back in December. Two words: musical spurs. It's a fun and intense little piece, especially the final section called The Endgame. Giddy-up!

Smart food

I refuse to compromise. I will only eat intelligent yogurt.

Moon on DVD

In addition to the release of her new CD Earthshine, composer, pianist, educator, and all-around great girl Beata Moon has a new DVD available from ArtsPass. The DVD contains interviews and performances by Beata in which she shares her music, insights into the music business, and a behind-the-scenes look at the recording session for her latest CD, featuring a cameo appearance by yours truly during the 1, 2, 3 recording session.

What'd I say

The legacy speak begins in earnest. Andy Mead refers me to Tom Goldman's story from today's Morning Edition. Merckx over Armstrong = highbrow?

* I swear that there is a gremlin in Typepad somewhere that changes one letter in one word each time I post.

On Lance

When Lance Armstrong crosses the line tomorrow on the Champs-Elysée, he will win an unprecedented seventh consecutive Tour de France, breaking his own record. And when Armstrong crosses the line in Paris tomorrow he will retire as a professional bike racer, which will open the door for people to begin speaking about his legacy.

What Armsrtong is: (1) one of the greatest althletes in the entire world, (2) a model of survivorship and perseverance, (3) an extremely dedicated and driven individual, (4) the reason why so many Americans are now aware of professional cycling, and (5) Sheryl Crow's boyfriend.

What Lance isn't: the greatest cyclist of all time.

Why not? One other thing Lance is is someone who changed the face of professional cycling. Lance is a specialist. He devotes his entire season, every ounce of his training, and his entire being to one event--a three-week long bike race in France that takes place every July. Most other riders race just about all season long, which is roughly from March to September. And some of the greatest five-time tour winners--Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault, Induráin--also excelled in other races throughout their careers.

The title of greatest cyclist of all time belongs to Eddy Merckx (aka The Cannibal), who in addition to winning 5 Tours de France, also won 5 Giros di Italia, 4 World Championships, 7 Milan-San Remo Classics, 5 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, 3 Paris-Roubaix, 3 Wallonia Races, 1 Vuelta a España, 2 Tours of Belgium, 2 Tours of Lombardy, 1 Tour of Switzerland, 32 International Classics, 17 6-day trials, holds the world hour record, and won the UCI trophy for best cyclist of the 20th century.

This is nothing against Lance. He is the greatest Tour rider of all time.

Monsoon haiku

It's monsoon season.
I like the rain very much.
No yard watering.

Veni, Vidi, Wiki

Heard of the wiki? If you're net savvy, chances are that you have. The term originates from the Wikipedia, a Web-based, multi-language, free-content encyclopedia written collaboratively by volunteers and sponsored by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. (Read the official definition here.) There are Wikis popping up about a variety of topics. There's even a Homestar Wiki. And now thanks to Jerry Bowles and some dedicated folks over at Sequenza21, there's the S21 New Music Wiki. It's a good resource and anyone can compose or edit an entry. After about a month of putting it off, I've finally written myself in. Here's my entry as well as Non-Zero's. Join the community and Wiki!

Around the blogosphere: a new blog to check out from Singapore, classical guitarist Jeff Low's solitude.in.music.