What put the pep in "Greensleeves"?Freddie Hubbard knew: "Coltrane wasn't playing so far out then," said the trumpeter, of the 1961 Africa/Brass sessions, as reported by Ashley Kahn in THE HOUSE THAT TRANE BUILT: The Story of Impulse Records. "But he had so much energy, man, because him and Eric [Dolphy] used to drink honey out of the jar. They would eat those sunflower seeds and raisins. They were on an energy kick. I said, 'Man, you're going to get diabetes or something, man! You drinking raw honey?" [Pause.] I mean, that's right. We shall, therefore, rest our theories. There shall be no more theories. Our big-bottomed poets will quiet and quiet, too, will the poets of small bottoms be. Let (X) = "Greensleeves". Let "Greensleeves" = Horn in Sky. The honeybee leaves a pollen print in the history of Jazz on impulse! Praise Song for the Trane; Praise Trane.
Some day soon, a microbrew company is going to bring out Raw Honey Ale. A thick golden lager, probably.
ReplyDeleteHow about Bedtime Mellowing Lager?
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With spoonfuls of raw honey? You bet.
ReplyDeleteI used to think that drinking honey was -- unusual -- but now I see it as the way to complete artistic fulfillment. Then, and only then, does one drink the mellowing lager before bed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BA
ReplyDeleteSome people drink honey all their lives, and some people just have bad lives.
ReplyDeleteOne could hate life, or one could hate honey. Me? I'm sensible. I hate life. No sense in hating honey. What'd honey ever do to me, raw, fresh from the jar? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BA
ReplyDeleteTalk about honey, jars, mellowing lager, okay. Talk about life, not okay.
ReplyDeleteThe bee takes from the flower and gives to the comb.
ReplyDeleteThe man takes from the comb and gives to the jar.
You see where I'm headed, don't you? Oh, I think you do.
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Shut up and give me the jar.
ReplyDeleteI figured it would be "pass the shine" beside the still ... or ... "pass the needle" in the opium den, but not for Dolphy to pass the honey in Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Jersey.
ReplyDeleteLet's emulate Trane. Yeah, let's buy honey and improvise!
--BA
Tee hee.
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