It’s Tuesday night here at BCB After Dark: the grooviest gathering of night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come in and sit with us for a while. We’re always happy to see a friend. There’s no cover charge. The hostess can seat you now. There’s a two-drink minimum, but you need to bring your own beverage.
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters
are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
Last night I asked you if MLB had a competitive balance problem. The vote was close, but 53 percent of you say that it does and that there should be more done to help small-market clubs. The other 47 percent think things are mostly fine now.
On Tuesday nights I don’t do any movie stuff. But I always have time for jazz and that time is now.
My tribute to the late, great saxophonist Sonny Rollins (gift article) was delayed by my previously-scheduled look at Miles Davis’ career for the 100th anniversary of his birth. But I think we can move on from Miles after Bitches Brew. He certainly made some great music later on, but I don’t think he revolutionized music again after that seminal jazz/rock fusion album. Only so many times in a career can one artist re-invent jazz.
Sonny Rollins, however, was the last surviving member of the legendary group of musicians who played bebop in the late-40s along with Miles, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and the other titans. Born in Harlem in 1930 to parents who came from the Virgin Islands, Rollins got his first saxophone at age 11 and largely taught himself how to play it. By the time he was 18, he was good enough to be playing with Miles and Powell at the many jazz clubs across New York. As the forties turned to the fifties, Rollins was at the forefront of the “hard bob” movement, which incorporated elements of rhythm and blues and gospel into the bebop format.
But Rollins’ approach could never really be defined by one sub-genre of music. After he took a time-out from music to deal with the medical and legal issues around his heroin addiction, he came back strong in the mid-50s and released his first albums as a band leader. Two of those albums, Tenor Madness and Saxophone Colossus were both released in 1956 and both are considered to be all-time classics. The title track of Tenor Madness contains the only recorded collaboration between Rollins and John Coltrane. Saxophone Colossus would give Rollins the nickname that he would have for the rest of his life. The “colossus” part referred both to his height and his talent.
But the best-known song that Rollins ever released was the first track on Saxophone Colossus, “St. Thomas.” This tune moved Rollins beyond hard bop and incorporated the calypso music of his parents’ native Virgin Islands. In fact, it’s based on a nursery song that his mother used to sing to him. Even if you don’t listen to jazz, this song is so famous that you’ll recognize it immediately.
Here is Rollins playing “St. Thomas” with Kenny Drew on piano, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass and Albert “Tootie” Heath on drums. The video doesn’t list when or when it was made, but the presence of NHØP likely means that it was at least 1964 and with Drew, likely for Danish television. Since Rollins took a break from performing in 1966, this is probably 1965, give or take a year.
Welcome back to everyone who skips all that jazz.
I’m not going to deny that May was a rough month, with the Cubs going 13-16 with a ten-game losing streak in there. But now that it’s June, they have the chance to put all that behind them.
What helps in June is that the Cubs have what should be a soft schedule. Here are the 27 games that the Cubs have scheduled this month:
June 2,3,4 Athletics
June 5,6,7 Giants
June 9,10,11 @ Rockies
June 12, 13, 14 @ Giants
June 15,16,17 Rockies
June 19,20,21 Blue Jays
June 22, 23, 24, 25 @ Mets
June 26,27,28 @ Brewers
June 29, 30 Padres
So let’s look at that schedule. The A’s are kind of a meh team. They’ve got some good young talent, but they’re under .500 in the lousy AL West. The Giants and Rockies are flat-out terrible. The Blue Jays aren’t nearly as good as they were last year and are below .500 at the moment. The Mets are maybe better than they were the last time the Cubs played them, but they still aren’t good. Only the final five games of the month at Milwaukee and home against San Diego represent a real tough challenge.
I’m not going to ask you to predict the month. But I am going to ask you what you would consider a successful month. That’s 27 games there. I’m going to assume that a losing month would be a failure. In fact, I’m saying if the Cubs only go 14-13 with that schedule, that’s not a success.
But how many games would the Cubs have to win for you to say they had a successful month? It they go 17-10, is that a good month with this schedule? Or 16-11? Or maybe they need to go 20-7?
Thanks for stopping by tonight. We always look forward to your visits. Please get home safely. Call a ride if you need one. Don’t forget any personal items. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow evening for more BCB After Dark.
