The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    RITA EDMOND LEAVES TO CONQUER RUSSIA

    By Wattree on Thu, 10/15/2015 - 7:28pm |
    Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree
    RITA EDMOND LEAVES TO CONQUER RUSSIA
    .
    For the first time in over 20 years I've been offline for over a week and a half.  One of the reasons for that (other than family issues that I had to come terms with) is I've been agonizing over my good friend and road dawg, Rita Edmond's, pending departure for Russia. It's not like she's never left the country before, she's been all over Europe. But in today's highly unstable political climate, and with the United States and Russia standing, literally, eyeball-to-eyeball in a proxy war in Syria, Rita being in the middle of all of that has been all I can think of.  I feel like she's being deployed - and on a more personal note, who am I going to argue with for the next three weeks?  She's assured me that she's internationalized her phone connection, but somehow, it's just not the same.
    .
    Rita's leaving for Russia today to do a series of concerts and jazz festivals across the country.  If I had more heart I would have liked to have gone with her, but the fact is, I don't like leaving the United States - and especially in the current political environment. Thanks to the machinations of George Bush and Dick Cheney, Americans are far from the most beloved people on the planet.  So I like knowing my White folks, or at the very least, being able to understand what they're talking about.  Just call me paranoid, but I think that's understandable.  After all, I'm an African American male, so I have my neighbor check my tail lights before I drive to the liquor store, even in this country - in fact, especially in this country. But at least here, I have some idea of what I'm dealing with. But in RUSSIA, where they don't even like American White folks, and I don't understand the language so I wouldn't recognize the word "lynch" when I hear it (!!!?), I don't think so. If something did go down I wouldn't even know what direction to run - and with my luck I'd probably end up in the Russian equivalent of Alabama.   
    .
    But even if I wanted to go, and I am a musician, I'm not of the world-class caliber of a Rita Edmond, so the Russians might not understand me.  Now, if I was of the highly polished, conservatory-trained school of a Dale Fielder or Ricky Woodard, that might fly, but while I know music very well,  I'm of the what-counts-is feeling-and-passion school, which granted, is a very legitimate tradition in jazz.  But the only problem with that tradition is, occasionally, the only one who feels your passion is you. So if I have a bad day, the Russians might confuse me with a CIA spy trying to pose as a musician and throw me in one of their gulags.
    .
    But there's no chance of that happening to Rita Edmond, because as I pointed out in my article Presenting Ms. Rita Edmond - The Contemporary Face of True Jazz Royalty, "Ms. Edmond moves between sultry sophistication, hard driving swing, and childlike innocence without any effort at all. There are many great singers out there, but from the very first bar of anything Rita does, she clearly distinguishes herself as one of those rare individuals who was born to do exactly what she’s doing, and nothing else. She swings with the effortless grace of a Sliver Shadow cruisin' down Pacific Coast Highway, and her ballads are lush with sultry passion, personal depth, and individuality." So the only thing I'm worried about is once the Russians hear her, they may not want to let here come back home.
    .
    So Rita, you'll be over there near Copenhagen, Denmark where they treat jazz people like rock stars (that's why Dexter Gordon, Bud Powell, and many others transplanted themselves over there), but even if they offer you a king's ransom to stay, you have people here who love you enough to make anything they can offer pale in comparison.
    .
    And one other thing, Rita.  Don't forget to tell 'em I taught you everything you know.  Naw, on second thought, don't do that.  I'll wait until your current CD comes out. Then I can tell that lie to the world at the Grammys.
    .
    Have a good and safe trip, give our regards to the Russian people, and show 'em how we do it, baby.
    .

    .
    Eric L. Wattree 

    Http://wattree.blogspot.com 
    [email protected]
    .
    Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

    Comments

    Very nice, Eric. I'm sure she'll be embraced, admired and appreciated for the talent she so clearly has.


    by barefooted on Thu, 10/15/2015 - 7:50pm

    Thank you, Barefooted.

    Russian musicians are already writing her in anticipation, but I'm sure going to miss her for the next three weeks.  She looks after me like I'm a child.


    by Wattree on Thu, 10/15/2015 - 8:26pm

    There are many sayings about what the absence of a loved one does to the hearts involved, but my favorite is that they grow fonder. She'll miss you, too ...


    by barefooted on Thu, 10/15/2015 - 9:24pm


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 10/16/2015 - 12:56am

    For some reason my comment was not transmitted on Chrome browser. Trying again on Safari from my iPad. 

    She will do well in Russia. When does her new album come out and is it available on iTunes?


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 10/16/2015 - 7:58am

    It should be out by the end of the year, RM. We're still writing music for it, and I've put lyrics to a couple of instrumentals - like Phil Woods' solo in Quincy Jones' "Quintessence". So she's still working on getting the timing to the licks right so she can sing them smoothly - and that can be very tricky when singing a sax solo - and she wants it perfect, because Phil Woods just died last week:

    I____ love the sound____ of maestro\Quincy Jones____.
    His music____ is so____ divine______.
    When I sing____his songs____ I know I can’t____go wrong,
    because I’m filled____with the soul____of Quincy Jones______.

    *
    Q’s____serenades_____ are always so refined________
     The mel-o-dies linger____ on_____.

    They sing of love for you____from a guy_______ known
    as "Q"_____,
    A name____that will always_______ sing for
    you______.
    .

    DUKE ELLINGTON

    *
    And then when Phil____ begins to play,
    Quin-tes-sence\in his\own____and special way____
    he seems to know\ . . . . exactly what the Q had to say.
    They sung about jazz and love\ and of \ling___er___ing
    Sunsets__________,
    and______ blessed the dawn________with this song__________.
    .
    *
    They sung of love\ and when your heart is full,
    trem-bl-ing lips\ beneath a mistletoe____
    they made my heart____ stand still_______.
    So as I sing____ this song____ I know I\Just\ can’t____ go wrong______,
    because it flowed____ from the pen ____ of 
    
    Maestro, Quincy Jones______.
    .
    (Phil Woods' Solo)
    .
    COUNT BASIE
    *
    I____ love the sound____ of maestro\Quincy Jones____.
    His music____ is so____ divine______.
    When I sing____his songs____ I know I can’t____go wrong,
    because I’m filled____with the soul____of Quincy Jones______. 

    *
    

    FRANK SINATRA
    *

    And then when Phil began to play\ Q just let him have____ his own way_____,
     and Phil said, \"Maestro\ . . . I just love the sound of this 
    mel-o-dy."  
    Then picked up his horn\ and started to
    soar________like an angel__________,
    
    and joined____ the immortals____ in fame_____.
    .
    *
    Genius like this\ you never see no more____, \kissed
     by the Gods\ as they walk through the door; 
    \A genius where time____stands still___________.
    So as I sing___ his song______I know I____

     

     can’t________ go wrong_________, 

     

    because I am wrapped\ in the soul_____ of Maestro____ Quincy Jones______.
    .
    
    MICHAEL JACKSON 
    *
    

    Beauty is Q's genre, 

    and our heartstrings is his ax. 

    *

    THE FABULOUS,
    QUINCY JONES!

    ©2014 Eric L. Wattree
    

     


    by Wattree on Sat, 10/17/2015 - 11:01am

    Thanks, I signed up for Apple Music, so I now have access to a vast array of musicians including jazz/blues/R&B pioneers like Guitar Slim and Professor Longhair. I will make sure to actually purchase her new album. 


    by rmrd0000 on Sat, 10/17/2015 - 11:54am

    Thank you, RM.

    She'll appreciate that.  


    by Wattree on Mon, 10/19/2015 - 12:15pm

    Welcome back, Wattree!


    by Michael Wolraich on Fri, 10/16/2015 - 4:52pm

    Thank you, Michael.


    by Wattree on Mon, 10/19/2015 - 12:17pm

     

     


    by Wattree on Thu, 10/22/2015 - 5:37am

    Yeah like Mike W says:

    Welcome back Eric.

    I have been gone for awhile also.


    by Richard Day on Mon, 10/19/2015 - 5:33pm

    Welcome back to you, Richard.


    by Wattree on Tue, 10/20/2015 - 10:00am

    Thanks for posting this, Eric. Having gone there with a singing group a while back I would be really interested in knowing how her tour goes and some of the venues where she is performing.

    I'm sure you would have been incarcerated over there, they can be quirky. I wore my blue blazer and aviator glasses and was the one pulled out of line for questioning by the Kremlin "guards". But the gypsies are the real threat---man are they fast.

    Russians love the arts and I'm sure her tour will go well.


    by Oxy Mora on Fri, 10/16/2015 - 10:08pm

    Lol,

    I'm sure they would have picked me out of the crowd, Oxy. She's already done a couple of gigs and she says she's been overwhelmed by the response.  They love her in Europe.  She spent a few months in France before we met and she said they treated her like a rock star.  She wanted to stay, but her mother went ballistic.  This time, I would.  Poor woman, she can never have her way. 

    Do you have anything on Youtube I can listen to?


    by Wattree on Mon, 10/19/2015 - 12:31pm

    Thanks, Eric, I'll see if there's anything accessible. It was a large chorus and the only solo I had was unintended.


    by Oxy Mora on Mon, 10/19/2015 - 1:08pm

    After you introduced her to us, I put her on my you tube favorite list.  I like to listen to here when I am stressed.  She is soothing. 

    Just think of all things she will have to tell you when she gets back. 


    by trkingmomoe on Fri, 10/16/2015 - 10:32pm

    Thank you, TRK,

    She'll love hearing that.  She called me 5 times yesterday at $10 a minute.  I had to tell her to stop calling me.  Lol!


    by Wattree on Mon, 10/19/2015 - 12:36pm

    RITA EDMOND FINALLY GETS THE STAR TREATMENT SHE DESERVES
    .
    I am thrilled, yet bitter.  The Russians are giving Rita the full star treatment.  They flew her to Moscow where she appeared on Russian television with a full orchestra.  It's a shame that it took the so-called "enemies" of America to fly her to the other side of the world to give her the recognition that she deserves.  As I sit here writing, my eyes are moist.  I'll never look at Russia in the same way again.
    .
    Show 'em how it's done, baby.


      

     


    by Wattree on Wed, 10/21/2015 - 11:13am

    At the entrance of the club right before I hit the stage.

     
    Rita Edmond's photo.
    Oooooo, baby! How many more days before you get home?  And don't pay no attention to Vladimir - I hear he's a player.

    by Wattree on Wed, 10/21/2015 - 11:20am

    TO RITA EDMOND IN RUSSIA
    .

    Hey baby,
    .
    You know how ticky I am about music, but you're in world-class company there with Robert. This guy's tone and technique is flawless, but I'm sure that at this point I don't have to tell you that. When I told you that Phil Woods died a couple of weeks ago you said that you wish that you could have gotten him to play on your CD. Well, you're standing next to the closest thing alive to Phil every night there in Russia. It sure would be nice if you could record one of your live sessions while you're there. I'd be like the kids in Leimert Park, selling CDs out of the trunk of my car. 
    .
    This trip is great promotion. I've been posting to Facebook and Dagblog and putting one of your videos with every post (I'm going to put one of Robert playing Bird with the Kaliningrad Simphony Orchestra on this post). People are loving it. The fact that you're in Russia peeks people's curiosity and that makes them want to view the video. I have 1284 reads on Dagblog so far - and you know the quality of the people on Dag. Several people have already asked me when your next CD is coming out, and one regular on Dag said that he placed you on his Youtube Favorites list because he loves your "soothing" voice; it helps him chill. He's right. Both you and Robert can be very soothing one minute, and then blow the house down the next, so I know you two set the house on fire on Russian television:
    .
    "Thanks, I signed up for Apple Music, so I now have access to a vast array of musicians including jazz/blues/R&B pioneers like Guitar Slim and Professor Longhair. I will make sure to actually purchase her new album." 
    reply 
    by rmrd0000 on Sat, 10/17/2015 - 11:54am
    .
    "After you introduced her to us, I put her on my you tube favorite list. I like to listen to her when I am stressed. She is soothing. 
    "Just think of all things she will have to tell you when she gets back." 
    reply 
    by trkingmomoe on Fri, 10/16/2015 - 10:32pm
    .
    Pucci Amanda Jhones: " Love It."
    .
    Robert Anchipolovsky with Kaliningrad Simphony Orchestra Bird with Strings
     

     

    Robert Anchipolovsky alto saxophone Kaliningrad Simphony Orchestra Conductor Arkady Feldman…
    YOUTUBE.COM

    by Wattree on Fri, 10/23/2015 - 12:51pm

    Dear Friends! Soon! On October 29 (Thursday) at our favorite restaurant - Siberia in 21:00! For the first time in Moscow! An Incredible Jazz Diva - Rita Edmond (Los Angeles) & Robert Anchipolovsky Band (Tel Aviv)! You should see it! Cпециально for our dear guests: Russian, author's cuisine from Mikhail Симагина! Free Parking. All questions related to the event and reservations tables on the phone + 7-925-847-55-64. BIG NIKITSKAYA ST 58.
    Automatically Translated
    Masha Tarasevich's photo.

     
    Eric L. Wattree's photo.

    by Wattree on Fri, 10/23/2015 - 1:09pm

    Hopefully there will be segments of the performance on YouTube

    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 10/23/2015 - 2:06pm

    RM,

    Don't even mention it.  I think someone is messing with my head.  I was sent a sound check entitle "Rita Feels Good" that I certainly hope never makes the internet  Now, I don't know whether things are going so well that Rita's beside herself, or Robert's slipped a drop of that potent Russian vodka into her smoothie (Rita doesn't drink, so just the smell of alcohol can get her tipsy), but during the sound check she did the Rita Edmond version of "I Feel Good," and it put James Brown to shame.  Rita is always playful during sessions because it keeps her loose, but she was gyrating, flinging her head from side to side, her hair was all in her face - and she was doing all of this in high heels!  If Tina Turner saw it she'd be jealous, and the cameraman focused right in on her gyrating butt.  I think - no, I know - they taped that secretly while Rita was playing around with the musicians during the sound check. She always tries to be "one of the fellas," and I've warned her about that repeatedly. If you want to be one of the fellas, you put in the work to be the best and most knowledgeable musician on the stage; then, you're MORE than the fellas.  But maybe she had to go all the way to Russia to get my point, because if they put that on the internet, Rita's gonna die. But she's also going to get just what she deserves, and I can't wait until 1 a.m. (it will be 11 o'clock tomorrow morning there), so I can tell her about it.

    But while I'm irritated and embarrassed for her, I could only laugh at that crazy woman-child, because that's exactly what she is. When she's off stage she's shy, and humble (she doesn't even curse. She will never say "ass"; it's always butt or booty), but when you put a mic in her hands, she becomes this worldly and sophisticated woman that I don't even know. So while I'm not a religious sort, I think she's been here before and she's being channeled by some diva from the forties.  That's her charm, and it's a fascinating thing to watch.


    by Wattree on Fri, 10/23/2015 - 10:49pm

    Very exciting, Eric.


    by Oxy Mora on Fri, 10/23/2015 - 2:22pm

    Oxy,

    It is exciting, but it's also very discomforting for me.  For five years I've had Rita all to myself, with the exception of a few club and record dates, but now, the world is beginning to see what I see, and while she has been telling me for the past five years that nothing can change our relationship, I'm not sure that I can compete with the world.  It's really testing my confidence. 


    by Wattree on Fri, 10/23/2015 - 11:01pm

    Eric, I'm sure you are feeling a little left out---actually, so am I, you have me even wishing I was over there. But not to worry, you will handle it. 

    I know in my own case I can get a little blue looking at someone else's success, thinking I wish I had stuck to this or that. But I didn't. I didn't dig that one well deeply. I tried just about everything once. And sometimes, now, I regret my ad hoc decision making.

    This is more than you wanted to hear but I relate, Eric, I really do. And I'm thinking you have no worries. You've been through a lot and confidence is one of your strengths.

     

     

     


    by Oxy Mora on Fri, 10/23/2015 - 11:24pm

    Thank you, Oxy.
    .
    It's not more than I needed to hear.  It's EXACTLY what I needed to hear. 


    by Wattree on Sat, 10/24/2015 - 7:40am