Chris Greene: read!

...is now open. Please visit http://www.cafepress.com/chrisgreenejazz and look around.

Spread the love. Join the revolution. Buy a t-shirt. Receive the envy or scorn of your friends.

(Our spiffy new logo was designed by Ethan Sellers - fellow musician/composer in the Chicago trenches and a good friend of the band. It would behoove my fellow artists looking for someone to do incredibly creative graphic design work at resonable prices to visit Ethan’s homepage and put him to work.)

Your copy of the Chris Greene Quartet’s critically-acclaimed album - “Soul and Science – Volume One” – can be purchased at CDBaby.com, DustyGroove.com (1120 N. Ashland in Chicago), Ixia Flowers (1630 Chicago Ave in Evanston), CandyRat.com and Amazon.com. The disc can also be downloaded at your favorite digital music sites; ITunes, Rhapsody, Tunecore, Napster, etc.

But did you also know that the CGQ has a live DVD as well?

“Made Fresh Daily” is a “bootleg” DVD consisting of camcorder-filmed live tracks from various performances over the past year. The disc includes performances from Morseland, Green Dolphin St., and the Velvet Lounge. If you’re interested in purchasing a copy (for $10 + $1.50 for shipping) and having it shipped to you via US mail, simply drop me a personal message here at MySpace or email me at cg@chrisgreenejazz.com.

Thanks for the support.

(from the blog of Seth Godin, author of The Purple Cow and Free Prize Inside - 2 books about self-marketing and promotion that have completely altered the way I conduct myself artistically and business-wise.)

Not a trick question, by Seth Godin...

Should you make stuff aimed at people who usually buy your product?

or

Should you make stuff aimed at people who rarely do?

The DaVinci Code became the bestselling book of the decade because it got bought by people who don't buy books. On the other hand, plenty of successful authors (like Dave Eggers) only write books for people who buy lots of books.

The advantage of mass is that it's big. The advantage of the devoted is that they are paying attention and have a desire to spend.

Most times, it's not obvious which one to pick. But you need to pick.

---------------------------------------

(note from CG: Substitute your artistic discipline in for the word "product" and see what conclusions you come up with.)

We were just voted "Band of the Week" by TheLocalTourist.com. Please visit http://thelocaltourist.com/blog/chicago-rox/chris-greene/ for further details.

Special thanks to Teresa Carter (aka The Local Tourist) for the props.

Oh, yeah...remember to vote for somebody tomorrow.

Happy Friday, y'all.

"Soul and Science - Volume One" is one of a handful of CDs featured this month at AllAboutJazz.com, of the the most respected jazz websites on the planet.

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/showcase.php?id=669

Isn't it time you got your copy today?

Nothing really to add. -cg

Who Do We Vote For This Time Around? A Letter from Michael Moore

January 2, 2008

Friends,

A new year has begun. And before we've had a chance to break our New Year's resolutions, we find ourselves with a little more than 24 hours before the good people of Iowa tell us whom they would like to replace the man who now occupies three countries and a white house.

Twice before, we have begun the process to stop this man, and twice we have failed. Eight years of our lives as Americans will have been lost, the world left in upheaval against us... and yet now, today, we hope against hope that our moment has finally arrived, that the amazingly powerful force of the Republican Party will somehow be halted. But we know that the Democrats are experts at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, and if there's a way to blow this election, they will find it and do it with gusto.

Do you feel the same as me? That the Democratic front-runners are a less-than-stellar group of candidates, and that none of them are the "slam dunk" we wish they were? Of course, there are wonderful things about each of them. Any one of them would be infinitely better than what we have now. Personally, Congressman Kucinich, more than any other candidate, shares the same positions that I have on the issues (although the UFO that picked ME up would only take me as far as Kalamazoo). But let's not waste time talking about Dennis. Even he is resigned to losing, with statements like the one he made yesterday to his supporters in Iowa to throw their support to Senator Obama as their "second choice."

So, it's Hillary, Obama, Edwards -- now what do we do?

Two months ago, Rolling Stone magazine asked me to do a cover story where I would ask the hard questions that no one was asking in one-on-one interviews with Senators Clinton, Obama and Edwards. "The Top Democrats Face Off with Michael Moore." The deal was that all three candidates had to agree to let me interview them or there was no story. Obama and Edwards agreed. Mrs. Clinton said no, and the cover story was thus killed.

Why would the love of my life, Hillary Clinton, not sit down to talk with me? What was she afraid of?

Those of you who are longtime readers of mine may remember that 11 years ago I wrote a chapter (in my first book) entitled, "My Forbidden Love for Hillary." I was fed up with the treatment she was getting, most of it boringly sexist, and I thought somebody should stand up for her. I later met her and she thanked me for referring to her as "one hot s***kicking feminist babe." I supported and contributed to her run for the U.S. Senate. I think she is a decent and smart person who loves this country, cares deeply about kids, and has put up with more crap than anyone I know of (other than me) from the Crazy Right. Her inauguration would be a thrilling sight, ending 218 years of white male rule in a country where 51% of its citizens are female and 64% are either female or people of color.

And yet, I am sad to say, nothing has disappointed me more than the disastrous, premeditated vote by Senator Hillary Clinton to send us to war in Iraq. I'm not only talking about her first vote that gave Mr. Bush his "authorization" to invade -- I'm talking about every single OTHER vote she then cast for the next four years, backing and funding Bush's illegal war, and doing so with verve. She never met a request from the White House for war authorization that she didn't like. Unlike the Kerrys and the Bidens who initially voted for authorization but later came to realize the folly of their decision, Mrs. Clinton continued to cast numerous votes for the war until last March -- four long years of pro-war votes, even after 70% of the American public had turned against the war. She has steadfastly refused to say that she was wrong about any of this, and she will not apologize for her culpability in America's worst-ever foreign policy disaster. All she can bring herself to say is that she was "misled" by "faulty intelligence."

Let's assume that's true. Do you want a President who is so easily misled? I wasn't "misled," and millions of others who took to the streets in February of 2003 weren't "misled" either. It was simply amazing that we knew the war was wrong when none of us had been briefed by the CIA, none of us were national security experts, and none of us had gone on a weapons inspection tour of Iraq. And yet... we knew we were being lied to! Let me ask those of you reading this letter: Were YOU "misled" -- or did you figure it out sometime between October of 2002 and March of 2007 that George W. Bush was up to something rotten? Twenty-three other senators were smart enough to figure it out and vote against the war from the get-go. Why wasn't Senator Clinton?

I have a theory: Hillary knows the sexist country we still live in and that one of the reasons the public, in the past, would never consider a woman as president is because she would also be commander in chief. The majority of Americans were concerned that a woman would not be as likely to go to war as a man (horror of horrors!). So, in order to placate that mindset, perhaps she believed she had to be as "tough" as a man, she had to be willing to push The Button if necessary, and give the generals whatever they wanted. If this is, in fact, what has motivated her pro-war votes, then this would truly make her a scary first-term president. If the U.S. is faced with some unforeseen threat in her first years, she knows that in order to get re-elected she'd better be ready to go all Maggie Thatcher on whoever sneezes in our direction. Do we want to risk this, hoping the world makes it in one piece to her second term?

I have not even touched on her other numerous -- and horrendous -- votes in the Senate, especially those that have made the middle class suffer even more (she voted for Bush's first bankruptcy bill, and she is now the leading recipient of payoff money -- I mean campaign contributions -- from the health care industry). I know a lot of you want to see her elected, and there is a very good chance that will happen. There will be plenty of time to vote for her in the general election if all the pollsters are correct. But in the primaries and caucuses, isn't this the time to vote for the person who most reflects the values and politics you hold dear? Can you, in good conscience, vote for someone who so energetically voted over and over and over again for the war in Iraq? Please give this serious consideration.

Now, on to the two candidates who did agree to do the interview with me...

Barack Obama is a good and inspiring man. What a breath of fresh air! There's no doubting his sincerity or his commitment to trying to straighten things out in this country. But who is he? I mean, other than a guy who gives a great speech? How much do any of us really know about him? I know he was against the war. How do I know that? He gave a speech before the war started. But since he joined the senate, he has voted for the funds for the war, while at the same time saying we should get out. He says he's for the little guy, but then he votes for a corporate-backed bill to make it harder for the little guy to file a class action suit when his kid swallows lead paint from a Chinese-made toy. In fact, Obama doesn't think Wall Street is a bad place. He wants the insurance companies to help us develop a new health care plan -- the same companies who have created the mess in the first place. He's such a feel-good kinda guy, I get the sense that, if elected, the Republicans will eat him for breakfast. He won't even have time to make a good speech about it.

But this may be a bit harsh. Senator Obama has a big heart, and that heart is in the right place. Is he electable? Will more than 50% of America vote for him? We'd like to believe they would. We'd like to believe America has changed, wouldn't we? Obama lets us feel better about ourselves -- and as we look out the window at the guy snowplowing his driveway across the street, we want to believe he's changed, too. But are we dreaming?

And then there's John Edwards.

It's hard to get past the hair, isn't it? But once you do -- and recently I have chosen to try -- you find a man who is out to take on the wealthy and powerful who have made life so miserable for so many. A candidate who says things like this: "I absolutely believe to my soul that this corporate greed and corporate power has an ironclad hold on our democracy." Whoa. We haven't heard anyone talk like that in a while, at least not anyone who is near the top of the polls. I suspect this is why Edwards is doing so well in Iowa, even though he has nowhere near the stash of cash the other two have. He won't take the big checks from the corporate PACs, and he is alone among the top three candidates in agreeing to limit his spending and be publicly funded. He has said, point-blank, that he's going after the drug companies and the oil companies and anyone else who is messing with the American worker. The media clearly find him to be a threat, probably because he will go after their monopolistic power, too. This is Roosevelt/Truman kind of talk. That's why it's resonating with people in Iowa, even though he doesn't get the attention Obama and Hillary get -- and that lack of coverage may cost him the first place spot tomorrow night. After all, he is one of those white guys who's been running things for far too long.

And he voted for the war. But unlike Senator Clinton, he has stated quite forcefully that he was wrong. And he has remorse. Should he be forgiven? Did he learn his lesson? Like Hillary and Obama, he refused to promise in a September debate that there will be no U.S. troops in Iraq by the end of his first term in 2013. But this week in Iowa, he changed his mind. He went further than Clinton and Obama and said he'd have all the troops home in less than a year.

Edwards is the only one of the three front-runners who has a universal health care plan that will lead to the single-payer kind all other civilized countries have. His plan doesn't go as fast as I would like, but he is the only one who has correctly pointed out that the health insurance companies are the enemy and should not have a seat at the table.

I am not endorsing anyone at this point. This is simply how I feel in the first week of the process to replace George W. Bush. For months I've been wanting to ask the question, "Where are you, Al Gore?" You can only polish that Oscar for so long. And the Nobel was decided by Scandinavians! I don't blame you for not wanting to enter the viper pit again after you already won. But getting us to change out our incandescent light bulbs for some irritating fluorescent ones isn't going to save the world. All it's going to do is make us more agitated and jumpy and feeling like once we get home we haven't really left the office.

On second thought, would you even be willing to utter the words, "I absolutely believe to my soul that this corporate greed and corporate power has an ironclad hold on our democracy?" 'Cause the candidate who understands that, and who sees it as the root of all evil -- including the root of global warming -- is the President who may lead us to a place of sanity, justice and peace.

Yours,

Michael Moore (not an Iowa voter, but appreciative of any state that has a town named after a sofa)

Looking for that perfect gift for someone special this season?

Look no further than the critically-acclaimed debut CD from the Chris
Greene Quartet "Soul and Science - Volume One."

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=27599
"Greene has managed, through the process of recording and arranging,
to turn the music itself into science...[Chris] has shown that pop,
rock and R&B tunes can all exist on a jazz record because, stripped
to their very core, they are all music. What a great discovery."

http://www.jazzpolice.com/content/view/7352/79/
"This is a contemporary masterpiece that will hopefully help bring
jazz to the masses...This tight-knit band has a great future if they
can continue to mine this rich vein of musical gold that they have
discovered."

http://jazzchicago.net/reviews/chrisg.html
"Greene and his quartet dish up a tasty brew that mixes soul, jazz,
R&B and pop into the enjoyable mix."

http://knockthehustleblog.typepad.com/hustleknockin/2007/10/the-chris-green.html
"...what are the jazz world needs...Overall, [the album] lives up to
its name, show-casing a young hungry band full of fire and
thoughtfulness and diverse influences and not afraid to mix it up and
show it off."

Purchase your copy today at the following locations/sites:

Dusty Groove
http://dustygroove.com
1120 N. Ashland, Chicago, IL

Ixia Flowers
http://www.ixiaflowers.com
1630 Chicago Ave, Evanston, IL

CD Baby
http://cdbaby.com

Amazon
http://amazon.com

Also available at Itunes, Napster, Rhapsody and many more of your
favorite music download sites.

M Lounge this Wednesday, November 28th!!!
Red Kiva this Friday & Sunday (11/30, 12/2)

Thanks for all of your support.

the CGQ is:
Damian Espinosa - piano
Marc Piane - bass
Tyrone Blair - drums
CG - saxophones

If you haven't picked up the new CGQ album or don't want to sully your hands with clunky CD packaging...

"Soul and Science - Volume One" is now available on ITunes!! Download 1 track or all 5!!!

Click on the link below to purchase the album via Itunes (it'll be a lot easier to do this if you have Itunes on your computer).

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=267808254

You can now purchase your copy of Soul and Science - Volume One at Chicago's Dusty Groove (1120 N. Ashland). This is a store that specializes in deep and neo soul, Brazillian funk, obscure foreign soundtracks, indie hip hop, and rare R&B and jazz vinyl. So the fact that they even considered selling the CGQ album in the store is an honor.

Click the link below to view the review on the Dusty Groove page and to purchase your copy.

http://www.dustygroove.com/browse.php?kwfilter=Chris+Greene+Quartet&incl_oos=1&incl_cs=1&format=all

This is an actual email exchange between me and someone who claims to be a journalist for an online jazz magazine. I include his responses as they were sent to me. Couldn't make this shit up if I tried.



me: Where might I send a CD to you for a possible review on [online magazine]?

him: Chris, From your info it's difficult to determine what type of jazz that you play.I only review mainstream jazz, bebop if you will...

me: That's what we do. Check our soundclips...

him: OK that's cool...Your sound bites were inaccsessable so I couldn't hear anything....I just want to make clear that I do not do hip hop, rap, fusion, free, world, ambient, funk...My address is [address redacted]

me: We're acoustic and we swing, but we mix up the styles. Is that okay?

him: mix up styles? please explain

me: The album has: a Stevie Wonder tune done in a New Orleans, second line brass band style...a Sting tune done in a 6/8 Coltrane modal vein...and a balls to the wall Latin-ed out version of Caravan.

him: Sounds cool, altho I can't stand the Trane of recent times, but dug him in the early years..Sting is not in my bag or mind....Latin is being overdone..Stevie Wonder? Can't imagine that..I cannot abide anything OFF BEAT for effect..Melodic playing is the answer

me: The songs are re-arrranged and a point of departure. Should I send?

him: Sure send it on my man..I'm cool as long as players don't play in a fusion type manner, playing off key for effect...I like Jacquet (with whom I played) Tadd Dameron type pianists, Trumpet like Dizzy and altos like Bird...Know where I'm coming from? Bop from the top!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

---------------------------------------------------

I haven't responded. I don't know what to say at this point.

Focus #1: I wasn't aware that Coltrane had put out anything recently. He must be hanging out on that Carribean island with Elvis and Tupac.

Focus #2: I thought all musicians (especially jazz musicians) liked Stevie.

Focus #3: Should I even bother trying to convince this guy how awesome I think we are?

Boogie On Reggae Woman - S. Wonder. Black Bull Music/Jobete Music (ASCAP)
4.23 * - C. Greene. Basement Jazz (ASCAP)
Bonnie - T. Turrentine. Second Floor Music (BMI)
King of Pain – Sting. EMI Blackwood Music (BMI)
Caravan - Ellington, Tizol. EMI Mills Music/Famous Music (ASCAP)


Chris Greene – saxophones
Damian Espinosa – piano
Marc Piane – acoustic bass
Tyrone Blair – drums, percussion


Executive Producer: Carol Greene
Produced by Chris Greene & Marc Piane.
Engineered & mixed by Marc Piane except *.
*Co-produced, engineered & mixed by Nick Eipers.
All arrangements by C, D, M & T.


Recorded & mixed @ Chicago Center School of Music and CRC Recording, Chicago, IL
Mastering: Eric Butkus
Painting, design & layout: Ethan Sellers


Love/Thanks: The Creator; Sarah; Mom; Jenny; Marc, Damian, Tyrone & families; Demps; Tommy; Sam; Jeff; my family & "in-laws"; Nick; the CCSOM.; Barbara @ Ixia; Ethan; Jere; Ian & the BJS.; our fans; Hash; the "M"; the cats in the trenches; YOU.

http://www.chrisgreenejazz.com
http://www.myspace.com/chrisgreenejazz

The Chris Greene Quartet can be now be seen regularly at the following venues:

WEATHERMARK TAVERN (1503 S. Wabash, Chicago) on the 2nd Thursday of the month, 8 - 11 pm. (Next occurence: 10/11.)

SALT CREEK WINE BAR (8900 Fairview Ave, Brookfield) on the 3rd Tuesday of the month, 7:30 - 10:30 pm. (Next occurence: 10/16.)

M LOUNGE (1520 S. Wabash, Chicago) on the 3rd Wednesday of the month, 7 - 10 pm. (Next occurence: 10/17.)

RED KIVA (1108 W. Randolph Ave, Chicago) EVERY SUNDAY, 8 - 11 pm. (Next occurence: 10/7.)

The Chris Greene Quartet
@ Red Kiva (hippest spot in the West Loop)
EVERY SUNDAY from here on out!
8 to 11 PM
There is absolutely NO cover!!
Great acoustics and sightlines!
A real piano.
Hennessey drink specials!
Red Kiva is located at 1108 W. Randolph Ave.
http://redkiva.com

The official CD release party for the new CGQ album -titled "Soul
and Science - Volume One" - will be at M Lounge on Wednesday, October
17th at 7:00 PM. Copies of the new joint will be available at a
special introductory price.
M Lounge is located at 1520 S. Wabash.
http://mloungechicago.com

That is all.

http://jackandjillpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/09/jesse-jackson-must-be-ecstatic-about.html

Inspired by a recent conversation with my buddy Ethan Sellers and this blog by the great Hadji Williams.

Stevie's got an undenible inflence over every R&B/soul/funk singer since the late 70s & 80s, but a dude like him couldn't get a deal today if he tried.

He plays too many instruments well.

He doesn't make "beats."

He doesn't dance, have backup dancers, 35 costume changes or a crazy light show.

His lyrics, while often about love, are too heartfelt, thoughtful, and intelligent for today's Clearchannel radio station. Sometimes his lyrics are straight up mushy.

His chord structures and progressions are waaay to hip for pop.

He invites world renowned musicians to sit in on his recordings (Stevie Ray, Hubert Laws, Herbie Hancock, Dorothy Ashby, Jeff Beck, Branford Marsalis).

And let's not talk about his politically oriented material (Misstra Know it All, Higher Ground, Happy Birthday, Black Man,Village Ghetto Land).

And, uh, yeah...he's blind.

Plainly put, Stevie's too hip for the room.

But what about our other great musical geniuses of the past 30, 40 years? If they were just starting out in today's cookie cutter, visually-oriented marketplace, would they even have a chance?

Dylan? Sting/The Police? EWF? Donny Hathaway? Hendrix? The Stones. The Beatles? Joni f***ing Mitchell? Public Enemy? Steely Dan? Luther V? Miles? Jarrett? Coltrane? Blakey? Zeppelin?

Can anything be done? Should anything be done?

http://www.aglassandahalffullproductions.com/?CMP=KNC-gkw

Drummers - the missing link?

Being a black man in America (or black person, for that matter) is a trip sometimes. Everyone, it seems, wants to be like, act like, walk like, dress like, sing and dance like you. Like my friend Hadji Williams says, black people is cool. But everyone's also convinced that you're up to no good as well.

Case in point. I went into the Bank of America just yesterday to cash a check from a out of town gig I did with a corporate band. It was fairly decent-sized check (enough to knock out most of the rent for the month). It was a Bank of America cashier's check, so theoretically, I should have been in and out, no? The teller held me up (and the rest of the customers behind me) for an hour because the check was addressed to Chris Greene, but my license and debit card have my name listed as Christopher A. Greene. Then, he called the branch where the check was issued because it didn't seem to be in the system. Then he called the check verification department. Then he called,...and then...and then...for a whole hour. I guess he thought I was trying use the nickname that I've used for, oh, 34 fucking years of my life to pull one over on the BOA. One of his coworkers had to finally tell him to calm the fuck down. "Chris is a viable nickname for Christopher," I think he may have said.

Part of me wanted to act the fool that he (and his co-workers) expected me to be. But I'm sure security would have gotten involved real quick. And his cynicism would have been completely justified. So I waited and waited. He handed me the check back and said there was nothing he could do. I was to come back tomorrow, and MAYBE they could cash the BOA cashier's check.

I really needed the money to knock some bills out, however, so I hopped in the car and drove to a branch in Winnetka. The teller I got made one quick phone call to verify something, wrote down a few numbers and within 5 minutes had cashed the check and offered up an apology for the behavior of the people in the Evanston branch. No muss, no fuss, I had the money in my pocket and I was out of there...2 hours later.

EDIT: Obviously, this is NOTHING compared to the struggles my parents went through. And their parents before them, and so on. In the grand scheme of things, this really shouldn't matter that much. But it still kinda sucked.