Plainsong: I recently took membership pledges by phone at Minnesota's only full-time jazz station, KBEM/88.5. As usual on these gigs, I met several jazz lovers, including one who was familiar with the RAG™ and knew a fair amount about the traditional jazz and classic jazz KBEM programs. KBEM broadcasts a pretty decent amount,  including Jim Cullum's syndicated show Riverwalk: Live from the Landing Saturday afternoons  and Butch Thompson's Thursday and Sunday Jazz Originals, Butch playing an hour of his all-time favorities. (Butch and station manager Michelle Jansen did a highly productive live two-hour pledge Jazz Originals program Oct. 12.) Your jazz station needs your volunteer help. I hope you will donate a few hours when its pledge drive comes up, and that you will become a member if you're not one already.  It helps keep alive our precious few jazz stations and the music we love.

There will be no Mid-Winter Jazz Festival in the Twin Cities of St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minn. Founder/promoter Steve Heckler said last year's festival lost money and will be discontinued by him,  but others may pick up the event. Heckler gave no indication that his Hot Summer Jazz Festival will not be held in 2009. It usually includes at least one traditional jazz act. KBEM was/is a major player in both events.

After 20 years at O'Gara's in St. Paul, Minn. The Cedar Avenue Big Band needs a new Minnesota home. If you have any ideas, contact big band maven and KBEM Big Band Scene host Gerry Swanberg at tcjs.org.

The Minnesota Orchestra's first artistic director for jazz, New Orleans trumpeter Irvin Mayfield, has scheduled his first season at Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis. It will include a NOLA Mardi Gras Feb. 12 with the Rebirth Brass Band and Irma Thomas; Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra March 6; pianist McCoy Tyner and his quartet April 30; Mayfield's quintet July 23 working with classical orchestra conductor Andrew Litton to present a Mayfield composition, "The Art of Passion," and Minnesota singer Bruce Henry  with veteran pianist Ramsey Lewis Aug. 13 in a program entitled "Singin' the Blues." The Orchestra's Jazz Education Initiative Nov. 5-6 had Mayfield working with the St. Paul Central High School Jazz Ensemble and continues March 6 at Orchestra in cooperation with Marsalis and the Lincoln Center musicians. FFI (612) 371-5656; MinnesotaOrchestra.org 

The RAG  Bookworm: Are you aware that veteran Chicago writer Studs Terkel, who died Oct. 31 at 96, was a fan of traditional jazz and wrote about it over the years? I'm not familiar enough with his books to tell you which ones include his music commentaries and recollections, but you can get that information from his publisher's publicist, Anne Sullivan, The New Press, (212) 564-4406 or asullivan@thenewpress.com  Of course, there's lots more to the Terkel ouvre than "just" jazz.  I recommend Studs Terkel very highly on all subjects. 

Ragtimer Bob Milne reports from his home at Lapeer, Mich., that he is writing his autobiography. In an e-mail, he said, "The Library of Congress had asked me to write an autobiography in 2004 when they did a documentary on me. My close friends remind me of stories from many years ago, and I don't have much trouble recalling them myself. So far, there's no publisher lined up. I've self-published my books and may do it again. There is no date scheduled for completion. I'm writing quite a few pages every week. When it gets done, it's done. I plan to post some of it on my website." Milne is at www.bobmilne.com; milne@tir.com; (810) 441-0021; P.O. Box 586, Lapeer, MI 48446.

RAG Canadian correspondent Brian Towers is honored in a new book of poetry, Butterflies in Winter, by Allan Glenn Rose of Toronto  in a poem entitled "Brian on the Bandstand." It reads: "Brian stands tall under the bright lights,/just the right height for the big trombone he plays./He's earned that battered tailgate lip/playing a million gigs all over Jazzland./And Jazzland is wherever Brian is./That sad-happy smile is his alone/and those wise gray eyes have seen it all./He's lived the lyrics  and mirrored the melodies/of a world of his beloved tunes---/from the Buddy Bolden days of/the Crescent City's pounding pulse primitive pulse;/from Tin Pan Alley's clamorous clatter;/ from dusky darkness on the Delta;/from the Sunday go to meetin' gospel tents---/they all beat time in Brian's heart./ Brian leads his Hot Five on their/mesmerizing musical meanderings/all over the map of Jazzland./Not for him the tired treks of the timid/coaxing weary old warhorses along tracks tried and true---/Brian is his own man, always traveling on foot,/the better to savour all the happy magnolia blossoms/along many a romantic road;/the better to pluck only the most beautiful blooms/from so many glorious gardens./Satchmo, Bix, Bunk, Bessie, Fats and bountiful bouquets more---/Brian's sunny sensibility keeps them fresh and fragrant forever./His frame is made for shoe leather---/the man is easy all elegant angles, cool and composed,/and that's his style/as he strides into the music,/ the band following eagerly along./Oh, they love this joyous journey as much as we do!/Brian never plays two notes when just the right one will do./Phrase by flawless phrase."

November 2008 issue | © 2008 The Mississippi Rag

P.O. Box 19068, Minneapolis, MN 55419.