Norman's Rockwell

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Been a while, but blogger has been a little shaky lately. I've been extraordinarily busy the past two weeks. It's been very eventful and fraught with trials and tribulations. And that's just the Browns. Been hanging out on Sundays with hometown peeps watching the Brownies do their thing. Mainly, I've been keeping my creativity flowing by listening to a lot, a lot of jazz. I discovered a new, old LP, that I'm really digging. It's In Orbit , by the Clark Terry Quartet with Thelonious Monk. Sublime flugelhorn blowing by Mr. Terry and one of the rare occasions that Monk was a sideman. Philly Joe Jones and Sam Jones are the rhythm gang on this 1958 set. Most of the discs I've immersed myself in are from 1957-60. That period after Rock and Roll had flamed out half a century ago there was some amazing jazz being put on wax. Miles Davis' Kind of Blue is always close at hand on the iPod . My buddy Crinz says that Davis should...

Hey Soul Mates, surprise! I decided this morning to goose the universe by posting Everything My Heart Desires to our myspace page . This full-length slow jam is available only for streaming via the site. We hope that you'll enjoy it! We've gotten our first drafts of logo ideas from Alphabet Arm and have traded notes on modifications, alterations. A fascinating process. Once we get our arty visuals done, we'll get the CD's pressed. We are also working on the date for the CD release show. Most of the venue choices here in L.A. are slim, but we'll do it for the fans! Re: my last blog. Yes, Xto, Paula Abdul immediately came to mind, but this was way worse. Vibeology was a jam. The heat has returned to Los Angeles. Ugh. Nap time . Love, Power, Peace

Hey Soul Mates, true to everything you've heard about last night's MTV awards in Las Vegas, Britney Spears' return was a train wreck for the ages. She looks great for a 25 year old mom of two. But that's about it. She can no longer dance or lip-sync. And she definitely shouldn't have been wearing a sequined bikini. Pretty embarrassing. Half-way through the number she clearly gave up. I couldn't tell if the audience was more flummoxed by Spears or the skewering she received right after from the insanely funny Sarah Silverman who cracked-wise. Silverman was so on point that the celebs at the Palms got really quite so as not to draw attention to themselves and be called out. Choice line: "There's (rapper) 50 Cent. It's sooo cute that you're still alive." Contrary to other reports, the rest of the show was equally bad. Haphazard, with poorly shot performances. And the format stunk. There's nothing worse, or excluding, than watching peop...

Hey Soul Mates, damn. It's been hot on this part of planet Earth. I've been digesting lots of musical information. Finished reading the first two 33 1/3 books I bought then went back to the Skylight yesterday for two more: Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique and Sly & The Family Stone's There's A Riot Goin ' On . It's got me thinking I should write one of these myself. In a related development, yesterday's New York Times Sunday had a great interview with Rick Rubin ( uber -producer/co-president of Columbia Records). It was entirely enlightening on many levels. There's a brief history of DefJam along with Rubin's take on the world of recorded music. Check it out, if you are even remotely interested in the hurdles facing our band and the industry at large. My favorite line in the article: " MySpace is over." There were things we certainly knew, things that are writing on the wall; but Rubin expresses a nice level of optimism,too. K...