HILLARY CLINTON - IF ANYONE ASSASSINATED HER CHARACTER, IT WAS HILLARY HERSELF

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

HILLARY CLINTON - IF ANYONE ASSASSINATED HER CHARACTER, IT WAS HILLARY HERSELF

.

I was recently accused of character assassination by staunch Hillary Clinton supporters as a result of the mere mention in my article, "This Is Why I Don't Trust Hillary Clinton - She'll Do Anything To Win, And She Thinks We're Dumb," that once Hillary Clinton became desperate over her all but certain loss to Barack Obama in the 2008 primaries, she began to continually allude to the assassination of Robert Kennedy during the 1968 primary. She kept repeating that mantra as justification for why she didn't simply get out of the race. The mere mention of this episode seemed to drive these Clinton supporters up the wall. They said it was "water under the bridge," and others tried to make light of it as though I was some sort of crazy conspiracy theorist - "Was Hillary also responsible for the sinking of the Lusitania - and by the way, where's her birth certificate?" But the fact is, this issue is not funny, and it should be seriously examined.  

.
What made Hillary's remarks seem much more malevolent than a simple gaffe was, as pointed out in a Keith Olbermann commentary, someone had obviously told her that her mention of the word "assassination" was inappropriate since Sen. Obama had been receiving death threats every since the day he threw his hat in the ring to run for president, so Hillary stopped using the word - temporarily. But as her situation became more dire and it was all but certain that she was going to lose to Sen. Obama, she began using the word "assassination" again.
.
And later, On May 11th 2008, while appearing on Meet The Press, Hillary’s campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, made the same kind of statement to Tim Russert. He said that in order for Hillary to win the nomination "something big" would have to happen. Then Russett asked, "An act of God, or something catastrophic?", and he said, "Yes, something big would have to happen–absolutely."
.
So how much farther did they have to go, say, "Calling all wingnuts! If somebody - ANYBODY - don't kill this guy America could end up with a Black man for president!!!?"  

.

As writers and journalists, we should never tailor our opinions to appease our audience.  Audience appeasement and manipulation is the philosophy of Fox News, and it's one of the major problems that we have in our political environment today - political pundits and politicians are only telling the people what they want to hear. That's why America is so uninformed. Writers should ALWAYS seek truth, reveal what they find, and then let the people make up their own minds regarding what they believe; if they don't, they serve no useful purpose. If what you're saying is ridiculous, more often than not, the people will recognize it, but if a politician and his or her staunch supporters go ballistic at the mere mention of a subject, chances are, you've hit pay dirt.
.
These Clinton supporters tried to justified their position that what I was saying was ridiculous by pointing out that President Obama appointed Hillary to Secretary of State and she served him well. In response, I pointed out that Bill Clinton was pushing for Hillary to be given the vice presidency. But while President Obama had the good sense to throw Hillary a bone to heal the rift in the Democratic Party, he also had the good sense NOT to place her within a heartbeat of the presidency. In addition, Hillary wasn't serving the President as Secretary of State, she was serving her own ambition.   
.
In the interest of full disclosure, admittedly, I support Bernie Sanders - although, if Hillary gets the Democratic nomination she'll have my full-throated support, even though I'll be holding my nose in the process. I don't subscribe to the the Ralph Nader/Cornel West philosophy of becoming so upset with the Bogey Man that I leave the backdoor open for the Devil. But if I knew of, or found out, anything negative in Bernie Sanders' background, I'd be writing about it just like I'm writing about Hillary, because that's what I do. That's why at one point or another I anger everybody - Blacks, Whites, Jews, and Gentiles. The only people I haven't offended so far are Eskimos - but someone just informed me that by simply saying "Eskimo," I'm now batting a thousand. 
.

PERSONALITY CULT

So in my judgment, when Hillary Clinton repeatedly alluded to assassination while on the verge of losing the nomination to the first Black man with a legitimate chance to become President of the United States, that was, and is, a serious issue. That was much more than just a simple gaffe, and it shouldn't be fluffed off as such, because it speaks volumes about either Hillary's character, her judgment, or both. Thus, any journalist worth his or her salt should feel obligated to pursue this matter. It's about the obligation to follow truth wherever it leads and regardless to whose ox it gores. That's what both journalists, and true progressives are suppose to be all about, not joining personality cults. Only wingnuts and idiots place blinders on to support their favorite candidate. That's how we got George W. Bush - through the blind devotion of his less than thoughtful supporters - and we paid for it dearly, and we're still paying for it.
.
This is neither a one-issue matter, nor a popularity contest. We're considering the best person to become the next President of the United States of America, and that's an awesome responsibility - and again, we can't do that responsibly by joining cults.  The future of this nation, and the future of our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren are depending on us to make a sober and intelligent decision on this matter, not to just vote blindly through knee-jerk emotionalism.  I addressed that issue in 2011 in an article entitled "Obama Supporters VS.  Cheerleaders."  I pointed out the following:
.
"There are two types of people who support President Obama. There are his supporters who want to see him be a success, and then there are the cheerleaders who simply go along with everything that he does and deeply resent his supporters who don't.
.
"The president's supporters understand the importance of remembering that in a representative democracy the president, and all politicians, are elected to serve the people, and not vice versa. They understand that all politicians are employees, and their primary job is to represent and protect the interest and principles of those who hired them. Thus, when we place the importance of any one man [or woman] above our own principles, we create a dangerous situation by corrupting the intent of our founding fathers, and turning the democratic process on its head." (http://wattree.blogspot.com/2011/01/obama-supporters-vs-cheerleaders.html)
.
So if anyone assassinated Hillary's character, it was Hillary herself.  I'm simply reporting it.

.

Eric L. Wattree 

wattree.blogspot.com

Ewattree@Gmail.com

.

Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

THIS IS WHY I DON'T TRUST HILLARY CLINTON - SHE'LL DO ANYTHING TO WIN, AND SHE THINKS WE'RE DUMB

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

THIS IS WHY I DON'T TRUST HILLARY CLINTON - SHE'LL DO ANYTHING TO WIN, AND SHE THINKS WE'RE DUMB

(BELOW IS A REPRISE OF AN ARTICLE I DID ON MAY 26, 2008)
*

IS HILLARY ENGAGED IN SUBLIMINAL MESSAGING?
.

*

Beneath the spin has never been more meaningful than it has become during this political season, because it’s beginning to look like Hillary Clinton has taken it’s meaning to a new and very insidious level. After her comment regarding Robert Kennedy’s assassination, I began to consider all the “gaffes” that both she and Bill have been involved in during this campaign, and I’ve found strong evidence that points to the possibility that Hillary has been engaged in the practice of subliminal messaging throughout this campaign. If this is indeed the case, it makes her latest misstatement much more serious than many of us would like to believe.

Subliminal messaging involves sending messages to the subconscious mind that are not picked up on a conscious level. This technique is often used in advertising–sometimes overtly, but at other times very covertly. An example of the overt use of subliminal messaging in advertising is to have a beautiful woman caressing a new car that’s being advertised for sale. Having the woman there caressing the car sends a subliminal message to the subconscious of perspective male buyers that if they buy this car, it will draw beautiful women to them. Another example of overt subliminal advertising is in the use of Michael Jordan to advertise tennis shoes. It sends the message that if you buy these tennis shoes, it will help you to play basketball like Michael Jordan. Neither is necessarily true, but the beauty of subliminal messaging is since the message goes directly to the subconscious, it circumvents the scrutiny of logical thought.

That’s what makes the use of covert subliminal messaging so ominous. I remember studying one case in college involving a group of moviegoers who were subjected to the technique. In that case, while the group was watching a movie, one frame of a juicy and delicious-looking, cheese burger was spliced into the reel. the moviegoers never even noticed it on a conscious level, but the subconscious doesn’t miss a thing. Later, when they became hungry “out of the blue” and flocked to the concession stand, they never realized that they’d been manipulated.

This technique can also be applied in a political context. But instead of one frame in a reel during a movie, it becomes one word in a sentence, a paragraph, or even an entire speech. I suspect very seriously that this technique was being employed when Bill Clinton mentioned “Jesse Jackson” while discussing an Obama win in the South Carolina primary. By doing so, it was Bill’s intent to implant a subliminal message in the mind of the voter associating all of Jesse Jackson’s baggage, or perceived baggage, on the back of Barack Obama. The beauty of such a strategy is that it doesn’t matter what the context, as long as the statement is graphic, and mentioned while discussing Obama, it serves to implant itself in the mind of the voter.

Another example of subliminal messaging at work was in Bill’s post-Iowa remark that, “This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I’ve ever seen.” He said that during a time when the Clintons thought that they still had a chance of getting the black vote, so by implanting “fairy tale” in the mind of black voters, it sent the message that they were wasting their vote, because Obama’s candidacy was a fantasy.

Hillary’s comment regarding John McCain having more experience than Obama is another example of this type of manipulation at work. Hillary said, “He’s [McCain] never been the president, but he will put forth his lifetime of experience. I will put forth my lifetime of experience. Senator Obama will put forth a speech he made in 2002.”

In this case, Hillary was trying to implant two messages. First, by saying, “He’s never been president, but . . .” She was attempting to implant the subliminal message that she had been president. Then, by aligning McCain and herself on the one hand, and Obama on the other, and saying Obama only had a speech, she was contrasting the white experience with the presidency, against that of a black man--and then dismissing Obama by saying all he could bring to the table was a speech.

That was the primary reason that no one could figure out why Hillary had aligned herself with the Republican candidate–it had to do with race, clear and simple. Notice her phrasing–McCain “will put forth his lifetime of experience. I will put forth my lifetime of experience.” She emphasized, and then re-emphasized the word “lifetime”. So she wasn’t talking about governmental experience, or even legislative experience–she was talking about white experience. So the message she was actually trying to implant was, What experience could a black man possibly have that would prepare him to be president?

Then on May 8th she went there again when she said, “Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me." The reason she stuttered after the first comma was because on her first attempt, she forgot to implant the word “white.” The message? Vote white.

In addition, the implication of her remarks left the message that white people are the only one’s who work hard. So the subliminal message is, if many black people are poor, yet, don’t work hard to remedy that condition, what does that say about them–and through extension, what does it say about Obama?

Now we come to her latest “gaffe” about the assassination of Robert Kennedy. She claims that her words are being taken out of context, but she could have made the very same point by using other examples. In fact, that would have been the prudent and compassionate thing to do considering Sen. Ted Kennedy’s condition, and what the Kennedy family was already going through. But for some reason, Hillary deemed it absolutely necessary to implant the word “assassination.”

And this was clearly not an issue that hadn’t been considered within the Clinton camp. On May 11th while appearing on Meet The Press, Hillary’s campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, made the same kind of statement to Tim Russert. He said that in order for Hillary to win the nomination "something big" would have to happen. Then Russett asked, "An act of God, or something catastrophic?", and he said, "Yes, something big would have to happen–absolutely."

So let there be no doubt about it, the Clintons know exactly what they’re saying--and it behooves us to listen very carefully to every word. Because these two are desperate, and they want to get back into the White House bad–real bad.
.

.

Eric L. Wattree 

wattree.blogspot.com

Ewattree@Gmail.com

.

Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

.

BLACK PEOPLE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF BEING PLAYED, IN A VERY DANGEROUS GAME

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

BLACK PEOPLE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF BEING PLAYED, IN A VERY DANGEROUS GAME
.

Black people are in the process of being demonized and setup in a very dangerous way.  Yes, we've always been demonized, demeaned, and disparaged, but this time it's different, and the accusations are much more dangerous and malevolent. This time we're being accused of being anti-American terrorists who are bent on bringing down America, so we shouldn't take it lightly.  I've said this before, and I thought the potential danger in this situation would be both alarming and obvious to all, but I've noticed that a handful of very naive Black people are fluffing it off as meaningless, so I thought it was worth revisiting.

.

At this point the focus is on Black Lives Matter (BLM).  Due to the thoughtless antics of a few unthinking individuals in the name of the organization, they've made BLM an easy target.  So BLM needs to restructure their organization to require authorization to speak on behalf of the organization, keep tight control over any activities that take place in their name, and remain vigilant in weeding out any individual(s) who engage in any kind of stupid activity in their name, because the conservative establishment is slowing beginning to put the subliminal message in America's mind that BLM is not a social justice organization, but a terrorist organization, and they have absolutely no hesitation in infiltrating the group with plants and Judas goats to help them make that jacket stick, and if it gains traction, Black people as a whole are in trouble.

.

Black conservative sheriff,  David Clarke, of Milwaukee says, "Black Lives Matter will join forces with Islamic State (ISIS) to bring down our republic."  Now, Huffington Post reports that Fox News has suggested that BLM was responsible for the murder of  Deputy Darren Goforth of Harris County, Texas. The article reads in part:
.

"Fox News ran an onscreen banner during Monday night's episode of "Fox & Friends" referring to the Black Lives Matter movement as a "murder movement," and one Fox host wondered why the movement wasn't labeled a hate group.

"'Fox & Friends' co-host Brian Kilmeade was speaking with Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke about the death of Deputy Darren Goforth of Harris County, Texas, who was fatally shot while pumping gas in a Houston suburb on Friday night. Goforth was white, and the man who police believe killed him, Shannon Miles, is black.

"There is no evidence that Miles has any connection to the Black Lives Matter movement, but the "Fox & Friends" segment made a point to strongly imply that Black Lives Matter was at fault for Goforth’s death."  

And conservatives are far from done. That same Black conservative sheriff, David Clarke, has already gone on to say, "Blacks Sell Drugs' Because They Are 'Lazy' And 'Morally Bankrupt." And now it turns out that we have a White sheriff in Florida, David Morgan, saying, “We have unfortunately, in America, embraced a thug culture.  One that aggrandizes, again, foul language, shooting cops, abusing women and if you think those things do not have an effect on our children you need to get a grip!”

.

They are gradually conflating the Black community with terrorism and anti-Americanism. So Black people need to wake up!  But when I initially reported this, one Black person was so naive as to try to ridicule the position I'm putting forward here as paranoid. He laughed and said, "People aren't going to pay any attention to that discredited Black sheriff."  But he's dead wrong, and history has repeatedly demonstrated that fact. 

.

The Republican Party has made repeating lies until they gain traction a way of life - Fox News has made that concept its primary business model, and the entire advertising industry is based on the premise that if you tell a lie often enough, people will begin to believe it.  But it goes farther than that. As a simple rule of thumb, one should never make the foolish mistake of assuming what an adversary WON'T do. When you're dealing with an adversary, you should ALWAYS assume the very worst - and since the 2016 election is looming, with the change in the nation's demographics, and GOP's history of dirty politics, we should DEFINITELY expect the very worst.

.

SO WHAT SHOULD WE DO ABOUT THIS?  

The Black community must stop allowing itself to become such an easy target for demonization.  In the short term we should firmly deny the allegation and demand concrete evidence of the sheriff's dangerous, malevolent. and unsubstantiated allegation. If clear evidence is not provided, we should demand the sheriff's recall, explore civil litigation against him, and declare him an enemy of the Black community. We Should also follow the exact same procedure against any media person or organization who suggests such a thing.
.
In this political environment accusing ANYONE of being a terrorist without concrete evidence to substantiate the claim should be declared a hate crime, because the consequences of such an accusation can be so dire - including the suspension of all of Constitutional rights, arrest and imprisonment without any kind of due process or trial, or worse. That may seem to be a remote possibility now, but if one of the clown bus of right-wing Republican reactionaries should win the 2016 Presidential election, they will control all three branches of government, and these people have no sense of limits. So we should make it publicly clear to all Black people that anyone who does anything stupid to lend credibility to this allegation is placing the entire Black community in serious jeopardy.  In short, the Black community needs to stop sitting on its hands, and be proactive in aggressively addressing this issue.  
.
And now that this charge has been floated, this is going to be an ongoing concern, so it's important for the Black community to start taking steps right now to address our cultural mores and the infrastructure within our community. We must insure that we can't be defined by the most dysfunctional people in our community, and we must also take steps to insure that dysfunction is not rewarded by, or in, the community.

.

IS HIP HOP BEING USED BY THE ESTABLISHMENT TO DEMONIZE THE BLACK COMMUNITY?

.

While there's nothing intrinsically wrong with the hip hop genre as an art form, it's literally drenched in people who are getting rich by producing 10 minute commercials that's being beamed all over America - and throughout the world - referring to the very womb of the Black culture as bitches and hoes. Many also take macho and adolescent pride in declaring themselves gangsters and are routinely promoting the use of drugs and violence. The Black community has got to send a message to these people - ignorance and dysfunction are neither cool, nor manly; it only lends comfort and assistance to an enemy who's out to destroy the Black community. And the way to send that message is to boycott any artist who engages in such stupidity, and also boycott any record company, radio or television station, or magazine, and their sponsors, who promote this self-destructive idiocy. In addition, as Black parents, we must educate our children and be firm in forbidding such content from being played in our homes.
.

MUSIC AWARD SHOWS 

The community must also send a message to the producers, broadcasters, and sponsors of music award shows, and let them know in no unequivocal terms that we're tired of seeing the same entertainers swaggering across the stage and being rewarded for spewing a false image of Black people as just a group of dysfunctional idiots. We don't want to see such people at the Grammys, or any other award shows, and we must put our $1.1 trillion in Black spending power to work in backing up that demand.

.

We should also use our dollars to encourage Black award shows, such as the Soul Train Awards, to convert their format from music awards, to giving out awards for Black excellence in the community. Instead of continually giving out awards to the same old swaggering entertainers, they should use entertainers to entertain, and to PRESENT the awards to young Black scholars, and people who have contributed to the community, and who have demonstrated Black excellence. Such programs would serve three purposes - first, it would send a message to Black youth that excellence is what is cool, not dysfunction; secondly, it would beam the message around the world that the Black community is focused on growth and excellence, not terrorism; and finally, it would educate the world on the kind of excellence to be found in the Black community.

.

BLACK CHURCHES   

The Black church has traditionally been a place where the Black community has organized to move itself forward.  In the past the Black church recognized that its mission was much more complex than to simply have a preacher come in and do a spoken-word concert (for 10% of our earnings) every Sunday on how to get into Heaven. Jesus wasn't just giving spoken-word concerts about the joys of Heaven, he was also concerned with the plight of the people while they're here on Earth. When Jesus spoke, he expected his disciples to LIVE his words, not just preach and pray:
.
"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues [churches] and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward . . ." Matthew 6:1-34 

.

"IF YE WERE ABRAHAM'S CHILDREN, YE WOULD DO THE WORKS OF ABRAHAM"
John 8: 39

.

REV. CREFLO DOLLAR'S HOME

So we must re-organize our churches, and re-traditionalize their mission to focus on enhancing the people's lives, as oppose to making individual preachers rich. Thus, if your preacher is doing better than the people in the community that surrounds your church, you're either attending the wrong church, or the right church with the wrong preacher. So we must re-organize our churches and put preachers on a fixed salary, and then use the billions of dollars in tithes that flow into the various Black churches every Sunday to elevate the community.

.

The Black churches in every community should come together to form a consortium. Thereafter, they should pool the tithes they're collecting every Sunday to purchase businesses to provide jobs for our young people that pay a living wage, and purchase property to provide affordable housing in the community. The entire community should also do it's part. If everyone in the community was encouraged to invest just $10 a month into the consortium, they could build a portfolio by indicating what businesses in the community they wanted their investment to go to. That could reap great dividends - the people would, literally, be investing in their own community. That would also encourage the community to patronize it's own businesses, and it would provide the consortium the revenue to invest in any venture that it chose to pursue. Eventually, Black consortiums across the country could join forces and, essentially, become, Black People, Inc.
.
The churches should also be open 7 days a week to provide affordable childcare for working mothers. Then they could also hire unemployed mothers to help in the daycare centers.  The churches should also utilize the knowledge and expertise of retired professionals in their congregations to help mentor and instruct the people in the community. And of course, there should be a citizens committee to oversee the operation of the various businesses (not the preachers), and it should require multiple signatures to withdraw any funds from the bank for any reason - and once again, to ensure that the funds are being used most efficiently, preachers should be placed on fixed salaries instead of being allowed to get rich at the expense of the community. Jesus was not a wealthy man, so why should any preacher be?
.
That's how we reform our community. We educate the community to give excellence and knowledge priority over dysfunction, and give the young people within it a sense of pride, an opportunity to put money in their pockets, and to build credit and buy new cars. We've got to teach them how the game is played, and give them hope and confidence in their future.
.
If we are proactive in doing these things, then when the world looks upon the Black community, they won't see a "thug culture" and budding terrorists, they'll see a community with the backbone and political clout to back up our demands, and a community filled with conscientious, intelligent, and knowledgeable people who are on the rise. 

.

Eric L. Wattree 

wattree.blogspot.com

Ewattree@Gmail.com

.

Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

NEVER A CHILD

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

NEVER A CHILD

*
When I sat as a child, untested by trial, 
isolated and alone in my room,
my mother was concerned that I never yearned
for what a child was expected to pursue.
No toys or noise, or shootin' marbles with the boys,
laughter or playing for me.
It was always sitting and staring out at life,
and preparing for what I knew it would be.

*

I could see life coming, don't ask me how, 

but something told me that life was no game.

When we sang songs in school 

that made kids happy as a rule,

all I could here was Miles as he Brood.

*

Miles, Trane, Jackie, and Bird,

that's all I ever heard.

Observing oppression and indignity while 
my people 'Danced In The Street,'

rendered the joys of Motown absurd.

*

Never free to enjoy the delusions of childhood,

from infancy, to the concerns of man. 

It was all a part of the Black experience -

Nevertheless,

I'd love to live it over again.

*

When Jackie McLean first appeared on the scene, he swung it like nobody else. He stood all alone, with that bittersweet tone, owing nobody, only himself. With his furious attack he could take you back to the beauty of Yardbird’s song, but that solemn moan made it all his own, as burning passion flowed lush from his horn. Hearing “Love and Hate” made Jazz my fate, joyous anguish dripped blue from his song. He both smiled and cried and dug deep-down inside, until the innocence of my childhood was gone.
.
He took me to a place that had no face, I was so young when I heard his sweet call, but he parted the fog and in no time at all, a child of bebop sprung fully enthralled. As I heard this new sound, and embraced the profound, childish eyes now saw as a man. I stood totally perplexed, but I couldn’t step back, from the hunger of my mind to expand.
.
I saw Charlie and Lester, and a smiling young Dexter, as I peered into Jackie’s sweet horn; it was a place that I knew, though I’d never been to, but a place that I now call my home.

*
So who did I turn to, when nobody needed me?
I reached within, nourished my mind,
and let destiny free me. 
*

THE MUSIC YOU LISTEN TO BOTH MOLDS AND REFLECTS YOUR MENTALITY

Many of the so-called musical "revolutionaries" never took the time to learn what jazz is really about. Jazz is more than just another form of music, and it's not just fun-n-games. Jazz is also a way of life. There’s a political component to it - a way of thinking that reflects a unique way of viewing reality. So jazz purists are not simply upset over a modified beat and the introduction of electronics, they're also upset over the caving in to mediocrity and the abandonment of the political principles and qualities that jazz represents. 
.
One of the greatest contributions that jazz has made to the black community is informing the world that we're not the frivolous and thoughtless people in which we'd previously been portrayed. The harmonic complexity of bebop served to bring the dazzling intellectual capacity of black people to the world stage. So naturally, jazz purist are both reluctant and hostile to going back to the people-pleasin' days of what is essentially a musical form of Steppin'-Fetchism.       
.
Jazz has traditionally been the cultural anthem of social revolutionaries - both Black and White - who are willing to fight the good fight. Thus, jazz purists resent the mongrelization and surrender of those principles in lieu of "Can we all just get along?" To them, that represents the selling of our principles. That's why the word "commercialism" is looked upon with such disdain by those of us who have come to be known as jazz purists. We're not merely fighting to defend our right to be snobs; we're fighting to defend excellence from sliding down the slippery slope of corporate profit and mediocrity; we're fighting for a way of life, and we're fighting a political battle against the dumbing down of America as a whole. Our fight is an essential part of our jazz tradition. It's expected of us, because that's what jazz is all about - pushing the envelop, and never caving in to convention.
.
So you can’t just put a funky beat behind noise and call it jazz, because once you go frivolous, the spirit of jazz has been abandoned. While jazz does kick up it's heels on occasion, it's a very serious form of music that’s designed to appeal to the mind, not just the ass. For that reason, a logical and organized structure is essential to its character. Without that, and it’s arrogantly distinctive swagger, it's not jazz - Period.

.

*

MILES
.
We knew him as Miles, the Black Prince of style,
his nature fit jazz to a tee. Laid back and cool,
a low threshold for fools, he set the tone
of what a jazzman should be.
*
Short on words, and unperturbed, about

what the people thought;
frozen in time, drenched in the sublime,
of the passion his sweet horn had wrought.
*
Solemn to the bone, distant and torn,
even Trane could scarcely get in;
I can still hear the tone of that genius who mourned,
that precious note that he couldn't quite bend.

.

*
Toward the end Miles started having problems with his chops so he went into retirement. But he loved music so much that he wanted to get back into the game, so being the genius that he was, he simply INVENTED a form of music that he could play. Then a generation of musicians who came along behind him, and who didn’t have a vision of their own, built an entire musical movement based on what Miles created to accommodate his old age and disability - we call it "Fusion."
.

.

AMERICA IS TURNING IT'S BACK ON SOME OF THE MOST BRILLIANT PEOPLE, 
AND THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ART FORM THAT IT HAS EVER PRODUCED -
THROUGH GREED, RACISM, AND IGNORANCE.

Eric L. Wattree 

wattree.blogspot.com

Ewattree@Gmail.com

.

Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

Rita Edmond - And How The American Music Industry Is Dumbing Us Down

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

RITA EDMOND - AND HOW THE AMERICAN MUSIC INDUSTRY IS DUMBING US DOWN

.

Robert Anchipolovsky standing in
front of Rita Edmond advertisement in Russa 

In the interest of the journalistic demand of full disclosure, I want to preface this article by admitting that Rita Edmond is one of my very closest friends. So yes, some may feel (as she does) that I'm prejudice. But while I might be a charter member of the dime-a-dozen club as a musician, I'm a lifelong musician, and an objective journalist, so I'll place my ears up against the ears of Quincy Jones - and those ears tell me that Ms. Rita Edmond is one of the greatest singers in the world today. I held that opinion before we ever met. In fact, that's how we met, after I wrote an article for the Los Angeles Sentinel saying exactly what I'm saying here.  But you don't have to just take my word for it - take a minute to listen for yourself.  I've provided three examples of her excellence at the end of this article.

.

But the music industry seems to be  blocking her out.  I'm almost sure that's because they don't want the people to hear what she has to say. Rita could easily set a standard of excellence that, if the world gets used to, could prevent them from accepting a lot of the mediocrity the music  industry is making billions of dollars off of promoting as the best the Black community has to offer.   If they allow Rita to set a new standard of excellence, where are they going to find more than a handful of singers to match it?

.

But 700 THOUSAND Russians firmly disagree with the industry's efforts - and that's at just one festival; she's doing several, along with virtuoso jazz saxophonist Robert Anchipolovsky. They're killing them over there. So why does she have to struggle just to get her product out and stay employed over here?

.

Presenting Ms. Rita Edmond - The Contemporary Face of True Jazz Royalty
.

If you’re a jazz lover and want to look upon the contemporary face of jazz royalty, take a moment to go check out Ms. Rita Edmond on Youtube. She's the jazz world's best kept secret.  She's currently working on her third CD, but even on her first CD, she made it abundantly clear to this writer that she hit the ground fully seasoned as one of the greatest jazz singers alive today. I know, that's a mighty lofty claim to heap onto the shoulders of a relatively new artist, but I'm not given to hyperbole, so I fully intend to back up my assertion with the contents and attachments to this piece.

.

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.

.

You can't "learn" to sing like Rita Edmond. You either have it, or you don't, and there's only one or two lucky few in a generation who do - but Rita, like Ella and Sarah, is one of those lucky few. But don’t just take my word for it, go check her out for yourself and I’m sure you’ll agree with me that she’s a once in a generation talent, and clearly the heir apparent to some of the greatest divas that jazz has ever known.

.

Along with this piece I'm attaching three links to make my point - ‘Here’s to Life,’ ‘Embraceable You' (Live at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art) , and ‘It Might As Well Be Spring’ - and each tune shows a different side of her tremendous, and still growing, musical personality.

.

‘Here’s to Life’ is a beautiful ballad that’s been done by some of the greatest singers who’s ever lived, yet Ms. Edmond’s version is as good or better than any version of this tune that’s ever been recorded. The soaring passion that she brings to this tune makes it almost impossible for anyone who’s ever had to struggle through life’s adversities and then managed to survive to continue to fight the good fight, to listen to with a dry eye.

.

'Embraceable You,' (featuring Harold Land, Jr. on piano) demonstrates the ease in which she can establish the mood of a song and captivate an audience. It also shows an artist who is so comfortable in serenading an audience that it seems like she was born on stage. And after the piano solo, notice the effortless spontaneity in which she throws in a lick that's so exquisite that it sounds like it should have been written into the tune. You won't be able to miss it, because the audience places an exclamation point of approval immediately afterward, as she casually, and routinely, moves on to the next phrase, as though it's all in a night's work. 

.

Finally, she does ‘It Might As Well Be Spring,’ a tried and true jazz standard. Not everyone can do this tune well, because it’s such a jazz staple that it’s hard for a singer to put their personal stamp on it, and whenever they try, they either over sing or under sing the tune.  But Rita swings through it effortlessly and makes it her own. King Pleasure himself would smile at her rendition.

.

I also wanted to add Ms. Edmond's rendition of ‘This Can’t Be Love’ as an attachment, but unfortunately, it's not available on Youtube. Nevertheless, it deserves a mention. On that tune Ms. Edmond displays yet another part of her musical vocabulary - her growing chops as a scatter and her ability to swing with the best of them. In this case, she scats in unison with yet another powerhouse, tenor sax player Ricky Woodard, and they’re pushed forward by the hard driving rhythms of Albert ‘Tootie’ Heath of the illustrious Heath Brothers on drums - and when it comes to the aristocracy of jazz, they don’t come any more blue-blooded than Tootie. Also on hand is Nancy Wilson's longtime keyboardist, Llew Matthews on piano.  So here, Rita is being tested by fire, and she literally danced through the flames with blissful abandon.

.

So in spite of Ms. Edmond’s unassuming manner, whenever she picks up a mic, her tremendous confidence, individualism and flawless delivery seems to say, “There’s a new diva in town” - and I say, it’s about time! 

.

.

Related Post
.
Rita Edmond: A Glance At Destiny
(Article)
http://wattree.blogspot.com/2011/11/ms-rita-edmond-glance-at-destiny.html
.
Embraceable You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4SZXO9-jrc
.
It Might As Well Be Spring
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVXzYTrrCVE
.

Eric L. Wattree

wattree.blogspot.com

Ewattree@Gmail.com

.
Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.