Fav. Jazz Record Stores

The Winners Are:
From the Midwest:

The #2 store... also in Chicago:

The Undisputed Champ of The West is:

Its almost impossible to vote on the East Coast... its too specialized, and I know its a cop out, but there are far too many record stores that service the genres and there are specialties.
In DC I liked Orpheus Records... too many in NYC to count

more later

I didn't exactly finish developing my latest pictures... I'm working the backlog right now. I guess what they say is true: There are no finished masterpieces, only abandoned works in progress. I am working against the clock on three projects each which need my undivided attention.

For more Los Lonely Boy Pics you can go to the date of this show: FRI FEB 13th!

Bill Laswell - Funk Producer

Ok, let me be the first kid on the block to chime in about Bill Laswell... ok, maybe I'm not the first. He's been around, but has been able (whether he wanted to or not) to avoid the radar of the general music listeners. For those of us with our ears to the ground... he's got some street credit. His work with Fela Kuti and Mandingo hammered out a new playground for an emerging genre I'm going to dub: Afrotronique* because there is no good word for what the man has done to date and that his new works continue to press into uncharted waters.
**
I get the sense that for Bill no music is untouchable by his hands... he's a back room craftsman, a Hephaestus of engineers behind a mixing board. No sound is out of bounds and no instrument he can't work into a piece. He has drawn his fair share of negative criticism for "corruption of cultural music" and pioneering of ambient jams.
It has a good flow and should appeal to anyone who likes dub, Indian / Hindi music and maybe artherial jazz. If you like mmw, John Scofield, Kuti, or Mandingo you'll probably love his stuff. He ranges between a little bit more to chew on than mood music to dub to funk to electronic to Afrobeat and back again... I'd say eclectic, but that word is over used... Ok... here's another way... Vulcanphony (yeah, cause I write it, it makes it a word).***
The powers that be at Bonnaroo have announced him as a performer all three nights this June.
*Feel free to add a trans or ambi infront of Afrotronique... like TransAfrotronique *Hinditronique
**Not one of my pictures
***End notes are fun!

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help?

Wait... who was that?

So, I'm driving up Lake Shore Drive today and get off by Belmont. I think I almost hit Nicholas Cage with my car.
Dude, if you're reading this... sorry. If I see you over at the Old Town Pub, I'll get you a beer. Otherwise, watch where you're walkin' you talented, rich, and famous punk!

Studs Terkel

Studs Terkel... I don't know exactly what to say about him. I wrote one thing, and then I erased it... It was too glowing with praise. I've been listening to him on the radio and reading his editorials about political and social issues my entire life. Maybe he's an icon for me... I'm not exactly sure. He wrote a book a couple of years ago, which I think is a must read called "Hope Dies Last."
Politically speaking, I don't agree with him all of the time, he's a lefty almost as old as Thurgood Marshall was and definitely worth listening to. He's almost 4 times my age and seems to have lived 6 times a my life. He is a virile 94 year old living legend, and should be considered a national treasure.
He had a moment to talk after the movie before running off to a session with some Quakers after watching The Citadel, a movie that came out in 1938. Terkel saw this particular movie during its first run when he was ~26, The Citadel. After the movie, he and his doctor Quentin Young, talked about their views about the medical practice then and now.

I guess when you have Quentin Young as your physician and friend you get a lecture on the state of health care and politics along with your check-up. It was interesting... After asking Quentin a question, he told me he loved me in that joking kinda "I am so glad someone asked me that question."
And yes, I did take a picture of the interview.

Studs is more than a good man... and you should get to know him.

Light FM @ Schuba's Tavern

Not a jam band... Though they pack in a lot of musical ideas into your standard radio fit nuggets. I have to give them props and a big thumbs up. I'd been tipped off as to their existence by Piper, the keyboard player's GF, and then by WXRT's Sound Opinions It was their CD release party for an album called "This Is The Beginning of My Golden Age." It was a sold out house at Schubas.

I think we all had a good time checkin' out this band's power indie-pop songs. While I was there I wound up chattin' it up with Nash Kato (Urge Overkill) and Thax Douglas Chicago's Rock Band Poet Laureate, who I'd previously met with Jim Jarmusch.

I will post pictures here of the band when I get a chance.

T-Shirts

I have to address an issue thats been looming for some time now.
So as some of you know I own a massive collection of band, concert and tour T-shirts... a bunch of them were comped from the bands who I worked with over the years... others I had to buy (I know, right?!).
I could wear a different T every day and not do laundry for over three months. Though each T holds some sentimental value for me. I'm still wearing the mmw & Galactic shirt constantly and its almost unrecognizable now after... whats it been? 6-7 years?! Anyway, I have to figure out what to do with a bunch of them that are too beat up wear. I feel that they should be commemorated somehow, made to be immortalized for the generations. I can't throw them out... right now the B & C list exist in Rubbermaid bins (now my roommies know what was in those things)!
What should I do? Please email me your recommendations!
So, should I knit some type of rock/funk/hhop patch quilt with them?

Put Some Sugar On It!

In the past months I've been developing contacts and sales for Sahagian & Associates, Inc. Its a nice little candy company that manufactures bubblegum, licorice, taffy, caramel corn etc... etc... etc... Its a good line up. Anyway, after thinking about my options for a while, I realized. I could move out to California and still do what I'm doing here if I just automate some things. First, I created an easy to navigate website for the company. Not everyone around here is webfriendly... and in fact up until very recently most business correspondence were done via a typewriter and snail mail. Now when people want to type an email they have to check the stem name @sahagianinc.com.
Additionally, I had to update the catalogues. There were items there that are no longer produced and prices that don't reflect what they should be, plus they have no mention of the display shippers. I put that on the web too. I've taken pictures of all of the products from a multitude of angles more than what is reflected on the site. The nature of sales is that you just need to display your product, get samples out (which are shipped from the factory or the base office) and route phone calls. We have a toll free number (800) 327-YARD (you know how I like the last 4 digits spelling something... STEW).
The biggest deal though is that I'm in the midst of hooking up an EDI system. EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is going to allow us to broker deals with mega corporations and department stores across the globe. I'm opting for a Managed EC account because of the ease of the deal... its more cost effective and still opens the doors to the customer.
At the moment, there is alot of graphic arts work to be done. We have a booming private label business.
So with all of the bells and whistles, updates and reformations, I think we're at the point that we can do some huge business. I feel like I've lit the preverbial wick of some huge fireworks display and that I'll probably not be staying to see how it works. Anyway, if I do get one of these jobs that I've applied for in pharma, there is a strong chance that I might keep doing some side work for Sahagian or wait until the pay-off.

The Roots

This is a good shot of the Roots taken at the Orpheum Theatre w/ Cody Chesnutt on stage tearin' it up.

Bonnaroo 2004 Line Up - AKA - Stew's Birthday Bash

TICKETS GO ON SALE:
Saturday, Feb.21st, at 10am Eastern time
Confirmed Bands Currently Playing on my Birthday Include:
Sat 06/12/04 Gov't Mule
Sat 06/12/04 The Dead
Sat 06/12/04 Willie Nelson

Los Lonely Boys

Lonely Boys + John Eddie Played at the Abbey Pub. If Stevie Ray Vaughn & Hendrix had a Mexican son together... it would be the guitarist from Los Lonely Boys. Terrific act. Definitely worth checking out. They are one of the few bands announced to at the Bonnaroo Music Fest (AKA The Stewsday B-day party 2004) and as such I feel that its fairly certain that Willy Nelson is going to be at Bonnaroo too. I mean, Los Lonely Boys are his favorite band. I'm going to go one further than this in my predictions: I think that the guitar player from Los Lonely Boys should play at the super jam:

Bob Mould

Played at the Double Door as part of the WXRT show. I went to the show hoping to get tickets for the Urge Overkill show on Sat or Sun, but they were sold out... and they have a super special, bust your nut (ROCK) opener... damn! I'll go on Sunday.

Scanning Eye Candy

Slowly but surely here are some more photos of some of my favorite artists and musicians.
Below is a one of a series I shot of the legendary Joseph Hill of Irie Jamaican phenoma, Culture taken at the Regent Street Retreat in Madison, WI 2002.

Here is Blue Note Recording Artist Neal Evans from Soulive at Luther's Blues in Madison, WI 10/11/2002. He is one of my favorite B3/keyboard players Ok, so you want style? I think you'll pick up on the Herman Leonard flavor in these prints... classic.

Grey Boy Allstars w/ DJ GreyBoy

Ben and I drove into West Hollywood to the Avalon Theatre to see the Grey Boy Allstars. I was very psyched up to see them. I heard alot about how LA's music scene sux from various sources, maybe this is the exception that proves the rule, but I was very glad to see them again. They've broken up for the most part, coming together occassionally for an short tour, a one off or a NYE gig. And of course, they got up on stage and lit it up and played it all!

Since they splintered off into their other projects, I've only worked with Robert Walter's 20th Congress and Karl Denson's Tiny Universe. They are both exceptional projects worth checking out if you have not already go to their site and listen to their tracks, buy CDs, go see the show, you'll be glad you did. If you check out the Robert Walter's photo archives on his web page you'll see Robert and Chuch playin' at the ol' Mango Grill as part of a Stewsday Production. Man, I should really get him copies of my pics to put up on his site, cause those aren't that great.
BTW, I had a copy of a CD of their's called Health and Fitness... if anyone has a copy of it or can track one down I'd be very grateful. It was lost in the aforementioned CD burgulary and on the longterm list of CDs to get back into the collection.
For some reason my camera lenses find Karl Denson very attractive on stage... I mean all the guys sound good playing, but Karl... he's got the T.Monk goat beard thing goin' on, the shaved head, and I think his forearms get bigger every time I see him... They are roughly the thickness of his neck which also seems to swell in size, but anyway:
THE GREYBOY ALLSTARS (L->R): Robert Walter (Keyboards), Chris Stillwell (Bass), Karl Denson (Saxophones, Flute, Vocals & Percussion), Elgin Park (Guitar), & Zak Najor (Drums & Percussion)

I have lots of pictures from this show... I don't like my pictures lookin' like everyone else's... I like showing a bit of motion in photos... too many people are mad bent on getting a static shot... though I was stuck having to use 800 speed film in a room where 1600 or 3200 would have come in real helpful.

Stewsday

Stewsday Greg Stewart Stewsday Greg Stewart... How many times must I link this page so it shows up for people instead of that Nashville Cajun band who've got an album out called Fat Stewsday! I'm the real deal... the one and only skinny fat man... Stewsday! ARGH! (like a pirate)... ARGH!

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Pictured Up!

So Here I am... a year ago trying to figure out how I should shave my beard after losing a beard growing contest earlier that winter. I hoped it would be my last in the midwest... mais, c'est la vie mon amie.

If you are interested in a mere fraction of my photography with out the chit-chat feel free to click HERE!

Back in Chicago

For the moment, I'm packing up everything... giving stuff away... if I have it and you need it let me know now, cause I think its going to be gone either with me or curbside by the end of next week. I hope that I'm going to get this position in San Diego with King Pharma... if so I'm going to cruise out there ASAP and get set up! Its snowing in Chicago ~4 inches and its very cold. San Diego is about 67 degrees and sunny... beach, ocean, surf, smiles! My kinda town! I'll have a new cell phone for you at the end of the week.
I know its been a little while!