Natural Ass

Living in a wonderful honeycomb of a city like Manhattan, The Leopard can't help but occasionally witness some strange things.

I was standing outside my office chatting with coworkers one warm summer afternoon last week when we all witnessed what is a fairly familiar sight in these parts: a young woman, possibly homeless, possibly schizophrenic, walking past us at a brisk pace down the sidewalk of our building raving aloud and screaming slurred obscenities. This alone wouldn't have necessarily interrupted our socializing, until, out of the corner of our eyes, this young girl of perhaps 25 to 35 began to strip.

Off went her blouse, which revealed a crisp white bra beneath (not what you'd expect a homeless person to own) and then moments later, while still on a determined path, off went her maroon skirt, under which there was no crisp anything.

The effect of this woman's dark brown bottom in full view,
in the unusually bright sun in the middle of the afternoon, was profoundly disconcerting, even dream-like, in contrast to the fully clothed surrounding hordes of business people, taxis, and tourists. People stopped whatever conversations they were having on their cellphones to gawk or report, and the door man in front of a ritzy hotel where she finally paused to continue her rant almost swallowed his taxi whistle. Parents covered the eyes of children, and traffic almost came to a violent halt.

And all over a natural ass.

Michael, My brother

The first record The Leopard ever bought with my own money was a 45, The Love You Save by The Jackson 5. In my world, everyone I knew loved the Jackson Five. When we saw these young, good looking, talented kids on the Ed Sullivan Show, we saw ourselves. My friends, cousins--everyone I knew had a record or two somewhere in their house, even if it was just a cut out cardboard record printed on the back of a Post Sugar Crisp cereal box.

It wasn’t even something anyone discussed. The five boys from Gary, Indiana were like family to us. I remember our school used to receive catalogs from Scholastic, and the first book I ever owned was a little paperback about the Jackson 5 where they were pictured riding on mini bikes around their house. I wanted to be Michael Jackson. What could be better than to sing cool songs with your 4 brothers, dance on Soul Train, wear groovy threads and ride around on little motorbikes?

As I (and The Jacksons) got older, I kind of lost touch with what they were doing. Michael and his brothers dropped the “5” part of their name, and started to have more adult-sounding hits like “Dancing Machine” and “Can You Feel it”. Then things got quiet for awhile, and suddenly, out of nowhere, Michael came out with the album Off The Wall and everything changed. Produced by Quincy Jones, the music on Off The Wall sounded fresher than anything else that year.
Of course, by the time of Thriller, Michael had completely reinvented himself and was in a class all his own. There have been many child entertainers over the years, (think Donny Osmond) but Michael was one of the very, very, few that lived up to his earlier potential.

He also showed a remarkable ease with technology, creating not only cutting edge sounds, but brilliant visuals, in the form of videos, to go with his groundbreaking music. Michael surpassed everyone’s expectations of him, as a dancer, songwriter, musician. In retrospect, it almost seems fitting that he would eventually simply burn out like a light. But what a bright light it was.

Some of My Favorite Artists (2) : Ornette!

The Leopard once had the extraordinary pleasure of meeting the great Pulitzer-Prize winning saxophonist/composer/trumpeter/violinist Ornette Coleman. The organization I worked with at the time was putting together a tribute to his music, and along with some colleagues, I had lunch with the legendary musician one crisp Fall day at a local restaurant near our offices.

For such a world famous, highly respected artist, Coleman treated everyone at the table like family. Not in the true sense of the word, mind you, in the familiar, but regarded each and everyone of us with a graciousness I've rarely experienced from one so accomplished.

Ornette Coleman shocked the jazz world back in 1959 when he and the brilliant young trumpeter Don Cherry and band appeared at the legendary Five Spot jazz club in New York with a new, already fully formed style of music based on a complex system devised by Coleman called harmolodics. Coleman was at first greeted by fellow musicians and critics with derision, (much like that of Thelonious Monk in the beginning) who harped on his use of a plastic saxophone and the unfamiliar avant-garde sound (which, in turn, effectively started a movement). Still, some well-established musicians, like Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, embraced this exciting new music.

Listening to his first album, The Shape of Jazz To Come now, it's hard to believe so many people thought the music was difficult. So full of melody, beautiful solos, and soul stirring blues performances, only the most closed-ear listener wouldn't appreciate its brilliance.

Coleman has went on to make many more excellent recordings, movie soundtracks, and modern classical pieces as well as garnering unprecedented critical acclaim. In 2006, he received the Pulitzer Prize for the music on his CD Sound Grammar.

At the lunch with Coleman, like any star-struck fan, The Leopard trudged along several dusty LP's, including At Town Hall, which Coleman dutifully signed, as well as for a few others at the table.
I can't remember specifically much of what was said in conversation that day, but I do remember the thrill of being the presence of a true humble genius.

Deep Brown

The Leopard occasionally gets illustration requests. Being a near-salivating jazz fan, I jumped at the chance to design and produce drawings for the new Christian McBride CD, Kind Of Brown. One of the reasons this particular project had such great allure is that in addition to being associated with the great jazz bassist McBride, I would design a vinyl limited edition as well. The opportunity to create a record jacket as well as a CD cover was simply too great to miss.

And it is great music. Check out the review on allmusic.com:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0bfyxzw0ldke

The Bird and the Bee

The Leopard is a restless music listener. I'm constantly adding new things to my personal collection. One of my current favorites is The Bird And The Bee, a singer/production/instrumental duo who make jazz informed melodic pop that recalls 90's bands like Swing Out Sister and Everything But The Girl.

Click on the title of this blog to hear a cover of the great BeeGees classic How Deep Is Your Love. They really nail it!

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

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With all the things these days that are overrated in life ("reality" TV, Twitter, Kanye West), one thing that is underrated is holding hands. Yep, the Beatles were right. The Leopard truly enjoys just walking down the street with his girlfriend, even when after a while our palms get a little sweaty. After all, you can just wipe 'em off on your jeans, and grasp hold again.

It's one of those easy pleasures that's so rewarding. Sure, there are lots of other things two people can do to connect to each other in a physical way, but sometimes the simplest way is the best.

Pieces Of A Man

About 15 years ago, when The Leopard was living in Washington DC, I was walking through a park in the Adams Morgan area when I saw what appeared to be a homeless man nodding off on a park bench.

I almost didn't take a second look when I noticed that the older man seemed somehow familiar. Under further investigation, I realized he bore a striking resemblance to a great poet/singer/composer I had always admired.

Of course, later in the day I got a call from an enthusiastic friend informing me that one of our favorite artists would be performing in town that weekend: Gil Scott-Heron.

Recently, looking for some music to download, I remembered that time. Back in the day, Scott-Heron's music came to mean a lot to me. His albums From South Africa to South Carolina and Winter In America first brought many issues of race prevalent in America at the time to my attention. His song "Johannesburg" (which he performed on Saturday Night Live with Richard Pryor hosting) was the first I'd heard of the abomination of apartheid.

Intellectually, Scott-Heron's music, with his musical partner, the brilliant keyboardist Brian Jackson was challenging in way that the best of modern rap strives to be. A spoken word poet as well as singer, Scott-Heron's political views were steeped in actual content--not merely hyperbole. In 1970, Scott-Heron published his first novel at 19, The Vulture and The Nigger Factory, written during his hiatus from Lincoln University. He earned his Masters at Johns Hopkins in Creative Writing.

Despite this traditional academic background, Scott-Heron was a radical who was often associated with The Black Panthers.

Two of his most famous tunes, "The Bottle" and "Home Is Where The Hatred Is" were diatribes against substance abuse, but Scott-Heron didn't heed his own warnings. He began to suffer from cocaine abuse at least as early as 1991, when he served his first stint in prison, convicted of possession. He was later diagnosed HIV positive.

He still performs. He recently did a concert in NYC with the rapper Mos Def.

Yes, it probably was Gil Scott-Heron I saw high out of his mind on the park bench that day. Despite his downfall, he continues to strive on.

Click on title to download song Pieces Of A Man