A Lifetime in Tunisia

When I was growing up, I heard a lot of people say they didn't like Jazz. They didn't like it's improvisation. They didn't like that it sounded like it was "all over the place." In turn, even before I'd even heard it, I was positive that I didn't like Jazz.

Obviously, the rest of the world didn't agree with the opinions of my young microcosm, and thank goodness for that.

Over twenty years later, I'm reminded of what a small world we live in when we're young and how it is our responsibility as growing and changing adults to see the world outside our own upbringing and see ourselves growing within it.

Today, NPR has provided...

http://www.jazz24.org/jazz100.html

Which houses The 100 Quintessential Jazz Songs,

1.	Take Five	Dave Brubeck
2.	So What	Miles Davis
3.	Take The A Train	Duke Ellington
4.	Round Midnight	Thelonious Monk
5.	My Favorite Things	John Coltrane
6.	A Love Supreme (Acknowledgment)	John Coltrane
7.	All Blues	Miles Davis
8.	Birdland	Weather Report
9.	The Girl From Ipanema	Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto
10.	Sing, Sing, Sing	Benny Goodman
11.	Strange Fruit	Billie Holiday
12.	A Night in Tunisia	Dizzy Gillespie
13.	Giant Steps	John Coltrane
14.	Blue Rondo a la Turk	Dave Brubeck
15.	Goodbye Pork Pie Hat	Charles Mingus
16.	Stolen Moments	Oliver Nelson
17.	West End Blues	Louis Armstrong
18.	God Bless The Child	Billie Holiday
19.	Cantaloupe Island	Herbie Hancock
20.	My Funny Valentine	Chet Baker
21.	Body And Soul	Coleman Hawkins
22.	Song For My Father	Horace Silver
23.	Spain	Chick Corea
24.	Blue In Green	Miles Davis
25.	Naima	John Coltrane
26.	Flamenco Sketches	Miles Davis
27.	Waltz For Debby	Bill Evans
28.	Autumn Leaves	Cannonball Adderley
29.	St. Thomas	Sonny Rollins
30.	Mercy, Mercy, Mercy	Cannonball Adderley
31.	What A Wonderful World	Louis Armstrong
32.	Lush Life	John Coltrane/Johnny Hartman
33.	Blue Train	John Coltrane
34.	Poinciana	Ahmad Jamal
35.	In a Sentimental Mood	Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
36.	Freddie Freeloader	Miles Davis
37.	Summertime	Ella Fitzgerald
38.	Watermelon Man	Herbie Hancock
39.	Salt Peanuts	Dizzy Gillespie
40.	Moanin'	Art Blakey
41.	Straight, No Chaser	Thelonious Monk
42.	Good Morning Heartache	Billie Holiday
43.	Mack the Knife	Ella Fitzgerald
44.	In the Mood	Glenn Miller
45.	Desafinado	Stan Getz
46.	Cast Your Fate To The Wind	Vince Guaraldi
47.	Rhapsody in Blue	George Gershwin
48.	Blue Monk	Thelonious Monk
49.	Caravan	Duke Ellington
50.	Sidewinder	Lee Morgan
51.	Django	Modern Jazz Quartet
52.	Compared To What	Les McCann
53.	Red Clay	Freddie Hubbard
54.	Ruby, My Dear	Thelonious Monk
55.	April in Paris	Count Basie
56.	Bitches Brew	Miles Davis
57.	Twisted	Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
58.	Maiden Voyage	Herbie Hancock
59.	Mood Indigo	Duke Ellington
60.	St. Louis Blues	Louis Armstrong
61.	Manteca	Dizzy Gillespie
62.	How High The Moon	Ella Fitzgerald
63.	At Last	Etta James
64.	Fever	Peggy Lee
65.	Satin Doll	Duke Ellington
66.	Someday My Prince Will Come	Miles Davis
67.	Autumn in New York	Billie Holiday
68.	Epistrophy	Thelonious Monk
69.	I Loves You Porgy	Nina Simone
70.	It Don't Mean A Thing	Duke Ellington
71.	Koko	Charlie Parker
72.	Milestones	Miles Davis
73.	Misterioso	Thelonious Monk
74.	Nuages	Django Reinhardt
75.	Struttin' with Some BBQ	Louis Armstrong
76.	The In Crowd	Ramsey Lewis
77.	Ain't Misbehavin	Fats Waller
78.	Bye Bye Blackbird	John Coltrane
79.	On Green Dolphin Street	Miles Davis
80.	Linus and Lucy	Vince Guaraldi
81.	Georgia on My Mind	Ray Charles
82.	Joy Spring	Clifford Brown & Max Roach
83.	One O'Clock Jump	Count Basie
84.	Potato Head Blues	Louis Armstrong
85.	Bumpin’ (On Sunset)	Wes Montgomery
86.	Feeling Good	Nina Simone
87.	Misty	Errol Garner
88.	Moody's Mood For Love	James Moody
89.	Stardust	Louis Armstrong
90.	Yardbird Suite	Charlie Parker
91.	Diminuendo & Crescendo in Blue	Duke Ellington
92.	Donna Lee	Charlie Parker
93.	Water Boy	Don Shirley
94.	Ornithology	Charlie Parker
95.	Begin the Beguine	Artie Shaw
96.	Ceora	Lee Morgan
97.	Sophisticated Lady	Duke Ellington
98.	Sugar	Stanley Turrentine
99.	Footprints	Wayne Shorter
100.	Four on Six	Wes Montgomery

Yeah yeah yeah, I get it. "Take Five" was the first jazz song to sell a million copies. I'm not a Jazz expert, but I knew that the real gems of the list were well beyond this mainstream classic.

#12..."A Night in Tunisia," the very first jazz song I can remember hearing and knowing the title. This song changed my attitude about not only jazz, but also about American music in general. It's all thanks to Cliff Huxtable and "The Cosby Show."


My Very First Version of "A Night in Tunisia." Miles Davis
A Night in Tunisia  (A wonderful rendition by Dizzy Gillespie)

Cliff Huxtable and his COOGI sweaters, his pudding pops, his Rudy and Theo and Lisa Bonet...he made me realize that jazz was something worth sticking up for in my world of haters. Not only did the Huxtables seem to have seventy-five grandfathers that were all incredibly accomplished and slightly famous jazz musicians (did anyone else notice this?), but they had an entire episode dedicated to "A Night in Tunisia."

From what I can remember, Cliff wanted this rare recording of this song and was putting in telephone bids for the album, when...unbeknownst to him, Claire was bidding on the very same album from across town. They spent an incredible amount of money and energy for this recording, and for an impressionable tot in the 80's, it was kind of a big deal that they held this song, or any song, in such a high regard. 

At that time, the opportunity to just pop on and off the internets was not available (oh the humanity!), but several years later, that song title had not left my mind, and I was finally able to download it using a "totally legal" file-sharing program. When I heard "A Night in Tunisia" for the first time, I was sure that I was listening to the only piece of American music that could ever move me.

It just seems like #12 is way too low on this list.

She's in Frou Frou

Su

My friend Melissa and I once had a conversation about Pulp and she said, "Well, some people liked Suede and others liked Pulp." Suede? I thought.

From there, I searched and found Suede. A forerunner in the Britpop movement, with some influential and critically successful albums to their credit, they're albums are listed amongst NME's 100 Greatest Albums of All-Time and Q's In Our Lifetime: Q's 100 Best Albums. They've found a sweet and lush niche with an unforgettable and incredibly ethereal lead vocalist: Brett Anderson. Although at first it seems little too niche-y, so to speak, I often found that I'm drawn to listen to songs like, "She's in Fashion" over and over and over...which is usually a strict no-no for a musical snob/turd like myself.

After a period of separation, their current incarnation will be playing at Coachella in June 2011.

Unless I'm able to amass the 3.2 million dollars for a ticket to Coachella to sit in the lawn, use porta-potties, and not be able to bathe for days, I won't imagine that I'll be seeing them any time soon.

For me, Suede is a lovely embodiment of Frou Frou. When you're able to successfully liken a woman to "the shape of a cigarette," without:

1. Making other women feel bad about their bodies.
2. Allowing people to envision things like lung cancer and emphysema.

Then you've successfully mastered Frou Frou.

To channel the wild musings of a senior citizen for a minute, what happened to bands like this? We're forced to listen to things like Ke$ha and Wiz (fucking) Khalifa on the radio, but we can't even see Suede unless we're trust-fund hipsters? 

Oh yeah, and get the hell off my lawn.

Peanut Buttery Love

As a young child, I was allergic to chocolate. Ingesting even a slight amount would lead to wheezing...ingesting an even greater amount could lead to a full-on asthma attack. This devastating allergy allowed for things like Easter baskets full of Skittles and Payday bars (*sigh*), and my mother's willingness to pay for my halloween candy so I could buy a toy that would help ease the pain of a chocolate-less childhood.

By puberty, I had grown out of this allergy and I was happy to see it go. In college, my Gram asked me what cookies I wanted her to send me in a care package, and I was happy to receive Peanut Butter Blossoms. This recipe is known my many names (Kiss Cookies, Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies, etc.), but our family has known these tasty treats as Peanut Butter Blossoms since I can remember wearing one of my Gram's cobbler aprons and it hanging down to the tops of my shoes. A delightful peanut butter cookie with a Hershey Kiss plopped on top. So simple, so tasty. The cookie bottom is slightly short and the Kiss is slightly soft...ooo dang. 

After my Gram passed away in 2008, one of the things I was the happiest to receive was her recipe box. Looking through the cards of the things that I had remembered tasting and loving as a child, I found the Peanut Butter Blossom card. 

Peanut Butter Blossoms

(this is a double batch, because making less than that would be ridiculous)

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup oleo 

1 cup Jif (substitution=death)

1/4 cup milk

2 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

3 1/2 cup flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Extra Sugar  

Kisses

Cream sugars and oleo. Blend in Peanut Butter, vanilla, milk and eggs. Stir in dry ingredients. Shape into 1" balls and Roll in sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Take out of the over and quickly press Kiss into the center of each cookie. Cool on wire rack.

These recipes are not for the faint of heart or for the kitchen novice. The directions are sparse and the methods are implied: a sort of family short-hand that makes me feel even closer to my grandmother after her passing.

In mid 2010, I found that my asthma (that has been controlled with medicine and supervision) wasn't fairing so well in the day to day. Not wanting to medicate myself into $90/month pharmacy bills, I thought about my diet...and I realized that chocolate could very well be the culprit. After swearing off of it for a month, my asthma got better and I had to break the news to myself that I was "back off the stuff."

I was devastated to find that I could no longer enjoy the Peanut Butter Blossom with the zest and vigor of my college years, but I knew that I could enjoy the taste sans Kiss. Much like life without my Gram, you learn to cope in ways that still make life sweet. Even so, you're aware that it's just not the same.

That Peanut Butter cookie is awesome, though.