Plastic Alto with Mark Weiss

The local paper, inside the cover, has news of a suicide of a Gunn student. They gave her name. I will call her A_.

I doubt I knew her. I’ve met a lot of Gunn families in recent months.

The valedictorian of my class, John Neumann, suicided in 1984. He was in New York. He jumped from a tall building, part of the justice department. Some said there was a message there. The site of his death, and his final judgment. The Times Tribune wrote three or four stories about John. Ruthann Richter wrote most of them. I was a source, or I encouraged her to write about him. I’m sure friends of the deceased think that the story is more complex and nuanced than what makes the papers, in the case of John, in 1984, and of A_ in 2024.

The first story about John was spot news that said a 20 year old man from Palo Alto had died in New York City. We heard about it because a reporter from a daily in New York called us. I say “we” because I had just complete a 10 week stint at the Peninsula Times Tribune. I knew most of the editors and reporters. Also, I knew Ruthann personally because of her friendship with Karen Kaplan, Mort Kaplan’s daughter. I also, if you excuse the sidebar, remember playing tennis with Mort Kaplan in Hawaii, and he reported that he had a side ache or back ache, which impacted his play; it was later revealed to be cancer and he died from it.

I called Ruthann and said that John was a friend of mine, a basketball teammate and was number 1 in our class. I may have added that he was known as the “4 Point Oh Burnout” because he had perfect scores despite smoking a lot of pot. I used to get high with John and: Tim Hart

According to a news blast from NPR, more that 100,000 Michigan Demo voters marked their primary ballot “uncommitted” as a sign of support for the terrorist group Hamas who murdered 1,000 women and children in Israel on October 7, 2024 — sometimes stylized as 7/O — and they also cut off their tits, played hockey-sack with such.

This is what I call a “soft pogrom”. How much longer until there are similar attacks against Jews in America?

“Cease-fire” is dog whistle for condone the terrorists and kill more Jews (here).

I’ve experienced more antisemitism in the last 12 weeks than in the previous 12 years combined. Plus the gaslighting of little weird ambiguous things that happen. Yesterday at Books Inc the Black or mixed young female clerk was wearing the pro-Hamas scarf — like above in the picture – -so I would not make my $20 transaction for The New York Times, San Jose Mercury and SF Chronicle – plus The New Yorker which had an article on Thelma Golden of Studio Museum of Harlem – I digress but: I tried to host a Dartmouth press meeting reunion at Studio Museum of Harlem but we went to Becco’s instead; I met Thelma in Philly at Fabric Museum, she was barefootin’.

An older and white clerk perhaps noticed my misgiving and offered to help me at another register. Then at the San Ramon game a retired teacher started talking to us about his faith and made a point to single me out as a Jew but said he didn’t mean anything derogatory about it other than singling me out as a Jew. Because of my big nose and Curley hair of course. I forgot to wear my hat — although actually I was on bike before my ride came – so it was not ambiguous whether I had horns.

Stanford Theater reopens with a Fred Astaire series. I wonder if the clerk there who said she thought Hamas was “cool” will be there. Also, I wonder if there is a bureaucratic response to the fact that Stanford Theatre let the antisemitic posters around Christmas stay intact (and not covered) for three hours as 500 people filed in to see “Wizard of Oz”. Also, another digression I would hereby like to offer a big FUCK YOU to the law firm Gibson Dunn and its general partner Michael Celio who, when I inquired about whether or not the firm or its landlord had reported the vandalism and possible hate crime to police, rather than simply asking my question instead pivoted to a cover up and ad hominem by accusing me of harassing their female door-person (who apparently — or their are two of them.– wear head raps and are possibly Muslim — one of them did cooperate with me the Tuesday or Wednesday during the holidays and said she had cleaned up the wheat-paste broadside. She was fairly cooperative at first — I would say “warm” — in that she played with my dog, who is a great ambassador. I called the police when I saw this coming and so did Gibson Dunn. The police said that although I had legitimate business — and in fact, had a meeting with Chief Andrew Binder on the topic — they advised me to stay away from 310 University – which is at Bryant, and I live on Bryant. (Gibson Dunn I just realized, fact-checking my story from weeks ago, is announcing a Saudi Arabia office with severn attorneys – so their stance is clear –Arabs equal big money, fuck the Jews. In the middle east or if push comes to shove — or as Justice Holmes once wrote “You ability to swing a scimitar ends an inch from my dead bubba’s boobies”– here.

born January 28, 1997

The man next to me at Peet’s at Town And Country near Stanford or Paly is wearing a Pippin hat and claimed that a song from the show was his wedding song, Henry. That’s impressive. I bored him with my solipsistic takes on “Hadestown” and “Passing Strange” — the yard about there would be no Hadestown or Passing Strange without Earthwise, aight? Big pimpin’ you (which AI wants to change to big pippin or good piping. Unnh! As not Jay Z but Biggie might say. Were he not dead.

Not sure I can even hum the hook to Big Pimpin’. And yes I did not no “Hypnotize” until Miles Morales.

Poppa been smooth since days of Underwood. Weird pivot to: my dog is Duffy. Someone mentioned that Duffy is a character and plot point of a radio serial from the 1940s. Archies Tavern, no Duffy’s not here. I’ve collected at least 10 Duffy origin stories but I am going with “Professor Dudley” + “Stanford biology” for the win, Alex.

Henry does not remember the title of the song they played at his wedding, save for it not being “Morning Glow” or “Magic To Do” but it is about an orgy but in the nice sense of the word or worm.

This is Mai Sugimoto a sax player in Chicago. I had never heard of her until five minutes ago. I only heard about three measures before I signed up for her newsletter, sent her a brief note and then decided to post about her or about her instrument.

I am going to recreate my list or scroll or document or codex with spiral notebook called “One Thousand And One Saxophone Nights”. I threw away the original when I moved in with Terry. I gave away or sold 25 boxes of books. I threw away about 100 handwritten journals including the one with the list of sax players. I was a bachelor until age 53. I was creating spacer in my life for something new.

I am typing this at Coupa while wearing a dog leash on my right wrist. Duffy is not quite tugging at me but sits two feet below and towards the west, I think. South. South by South west.

I wrote to Mai: Concert promoter and artist manager and blogger in Palo Alto dba Earthwise but born on the south side.

I love using that line. The best response was Willie Big Eyes Smith (1936-2011) who said “Midway Chevrolet? that’s where Muddy bought his Chevy’s”.

The saxophone project probably took 100 hours and 500 attempts. It was an alphabetical list of one thousand saxophone players from the history of jazz. No one needs to know the names of 1,000 sax players. Better would be to know more about Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane and how they influence or not Chris Potter and John Ellis. I could probably make a list of 100 (not 1,000) sax players I have worked with as Earthwise Productions. I think Larry Ochs is the last sax player I booked. No, Jonathan Bautista also known as Jonathan Lagunta or Jonathan Lagunta Bautista who played Lytton Plaza a pop up with Delbert Anderson trumpet and Rabiah Kabir flute/bongos on January 29 is the most recent. Although I’m not sure Jonathan would qualify for “A Thousand and One Saxophone Night -II” because the criteria I think is a nationally distributed recording or a review in Downbeat where you are mentioned.

But it started by going thru three books and making index cards of players and their year of birth and year of death. Then I would update with year of death if they died. Then I alphabetized the three sets and wrote them into a book. I would add in the margins or at the bottom for recent players. I used Penguin, All Music Guide and Rough Trade. Plus Downbeat.

Maybe I will do it again, and include Mai Sugimoto. And adjust the criteria to include people like Mai Sugimoto and Jonathan Bautista.

I think the next sax player I will see is Ben Goldberg with Myra Melford on April 5. Maybe I will define it in such a way that that works. A Thousand and One Reed Players Who I Read About or Worked With then I can include Beth Custer, Harvey Wainapel, Sheldon Brown, Ben Goldberg, Anat Cohen.

May I work with Mai. My blog to god’s embouchure.

and 1:

I namechecked for Mai Akira Tana.

andand: Jonathan Lagunte is the steward for the official Earthwise/Plastic Alto alto.