Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Friday. How are you? I want to get through this pretty quick so I can watch the season finale of "The Mandalorian." You'r lucky I'm doing this blog thing first. Haha. A man accused Lizzo, who is a Phile Alum, of being popular just because of her weight, and she completely called him out. The concern troll attributed Lizzo's popularity to the obesity epidemic in America.
This is a wild suggestion to make, in part because there are only like three overweight celebs at any given moment. People are in awe of Lizzo because of her talent. Her refusal to be shamed into silence by shamers like Watkins is a major bonus. But without the immense talent and hard work, she probably wouldn't be where she is. Watkins didn't stop there. He added a few more nasty tweets implying she's a "buffoon" and bringing up the Lakers game thong that men just can't seem to get over. Then he threw in something about R. Kelly and female role models that I just cannot understand no matter how hard I try. Lizzo apparently saw the tweets and was not amused. She responded with a call-out and an appeal for him to do better...
People are applauding her for putting the guy in his place. And back on Watkins' page, people are roundly roasting him. They're pointing out that even if Watkins really did genuinely care about Lizzo's health, shaming her is not the answer. Most of all, it's obvious to anyone that Lizzo's popularity is due to her hard work and talent. Hopefully in the next decade, men will get over Lizzo's body shape.
Celebrities and other influencers are under fire (like Yemen) for doing sponsored content for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Armie Hammer, Sofia Richie, Ryan Phillippe and other hot people Instagrammed over the weekend from the MDL Beast Festival in Riyadh, after being paid to do so by the Saudi government in their attempt to rebrand while committing massive human rights violations. Hammer recently starred in Call Me By Your Name, a gay romance in which he and Timothée Chalamet have sex (and Chalamet also has sex with a peach, but that's neither here nor there). Homosexuality is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia, as is speaking out against the government in any way, shape or form. Supermodel Emily Ratajkowski revealed that she turned down the opportunity to partake in the propaganda party, making it all the more embarrassing for the shameless party animals who did. Do these actors and models, who are already rich, need Saudi blood money to party? They should leave the pro-Saudia Arabia propaganda to Jared Kushner.
On Saturday night, Eddie Murphy returned to "Saturday Night Live" for the first time in 35 years, and in his monologue, he addressed how much the times have changed. Murphy mentioned that he now had 10 children, and "if you had told me 30 years ago that I would be this boring stay-at-home house dad and Bill Cosby would be in jail, even I would have took that bet. Who is America’s dad now?!" Back in the '80s, Cosby used to self-righteously criticize black comics like Eddie Murphy for doing dirty jokes, instead presenting himself as squeaky clean. While pretending to be "America's Dad" on stage, Cosby was committing horrific crimes behind the scenes, and over 35 women have come forward with their stories of how he drugged and raped them. Cosby's team did NOT like Murphy's joke, releasing a statement calling Murphy "a Hollywood slave," accusing him of joking about an imprisoned rapist for "click bait." You know what's worse than a joke with swears in it? Rape.
A Colorado woman was arrested this week. The daycare center she ran was found to be unfit back in November. What made Carla Faith’s Play Mountain Place facility in Colorado Springs problematic? The fact that she was keeping twenty-six children hidden behind a fake wall in her basement. Two others were also arrested in connection with the day care operation. The horrifying situation was discovered by police back on November 13th when they went to check Faith’s facility on suspicions of overcrowding. Play Mountain Place is only licensed for six children. Its license has since been suspended by Colorado’s Department of Human Services. In the basement, they found the twenty-six kids... all of them under the age of 2... along with two adults, Christina Swauger and Katelynn Nelson. According to an arrest warrant obtained by local paper The Gazette, most of the children were dehydrated and in soiled diapers. Upon their arrival, Faith told police there were no children in the facility because they were at a park, and her daycare had no basement. When police spied a large stack of backpacks in a closet, Faith claimed they belonged to a soccer team and she volunteered to clean them for the team. Officers then heard music and crying coming from the basement, leading to the discovery of the children downstairs, behind a wall which hid a secret staircase that led to the basement area in which the kids were held. Faith also operates two other daycare facilities in the Colorado Springs area, which were ordered closed and are now also under investigation. She was booked on Monday on charges of suspicion of reckless child abuse without injury and attempt to influence a public servant. The parents of the children reported having no idea their kids were being kept in the basement, nor that Faith was caring for so many kids at once. One parent, speaking to local CBS affiliate KKTV, described finding her child in the secret basement in detail that is nothing short of harrowing. “Yesterday, I picked my child up from a small, dingy room in a basement that I had never before seen where twenty-six children were crowded together amidst empty juice box containers, graham cracker crumbs and various children’s blankets and lovies.” “The room smelled of unchanged diapers and several of the kids were crying…” “To say I am shocked, overwhelmed and feeling utterly betrayed is an understatement as prior to yesterday I had nothing but rave reviews for this place and the caregivers.” The horrifying story had people on social media outraged and terrified. People were especially upset to learn that this is not Faith’s first offense, and that one of her other employees was also found in possession of crystal meth. Faith posted $3000 bail, and will appear in court on January 2nd. Here’s hoping the system does its job and prevents Faith from hurting any more children.
For many, so much of the excitement around Christmas time is welcoming faraway family members home. It could be children that got married and moved across the country for their partner’s job, a kid that got a high profile job in Europe, or a surf bum that’s been hanging out in Fiji for the last few years. But for many families, Christmas means welcoming home their college-aged children. And college-aged children are a bit deranged. Like this one for, example. Her parents gave her a beautiful, thoughtful gift... a label maker. Label-makers are so useful for making a workplace more clear and efficient. What a gift! But it all totally backfired and the proud new owner of the machine decided to absolutely abuse her new power as Household Labeller.
Hardly surprising that the Internet took the daughter’s side and heartily approved of the Christmas backfire. If you didn’t get the label maker you always wanted for Christmas, the Brother P-touch, PTD210, Easy-to-Use Label Maker is available on Amazon.
So, I was thinking of getting another tattoo but someone else had the same idea I had...
I have no ass anyway so it wouldn't work. If I had a TARDIS I would like to go and meet Lon Chaney but knowing my luck he'd be asleep...
Haha. So, do you know the store Target is changing its name? No? Well, I have proof.
Told ya. If you're thinking of cheating on your loved one you might wanna think twice after seeing this...
I don't get it. Do you know your neighbors? I hope you never have to write a note like this...
Did you see the new Star Wars movie? I like dit but I think they were kinda cheap on the special effects this go around...
Hahahahaha. Did you have a good Christmas? Did your daughter get any Barbie's? You know a new Barbie just came out, right?
You know I talked about Prince Andrew's rape allegations and his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, right? And I mentioned there's a photo of him at the party bit he doesn't remember being there... well, I have a copy of the pic...
I think only a handful of my readers is gonna get that joke. Did you see the new Dak cologne? Check it out...
Dak Signature... for those nights you don't want to score. Now from the home office in Port Jefferson, here is...
Top Phive Things Said During Betwixtmas, Crimbo Limbo, or The Merrineum
5. We have now entered the Twilight Zone, aka the 6 days between Christmas and New Year's. Anything is possible. All known laws of human existence do not apply until Wednesday. Best of luck to you all
4. Starting the day drinking coffee, reading my book, watching the pink sky growing lighter, listening to the sparrows in the hedge. It is blissful. I have so much to look forward to next year. I love this tiny sliver of utter positivity between Christmas and New Year's
3. It’s the period between Christmas and New Year. No one knows what day it is. Time doesn’t really exist. Can we start drinking at 10 a.m.? Why the fuck not? Existence is a confusion
2. Happy Monday! Or is it Wednesday? Fuck it “happy day between Christmas and new year day” Do we need milk and bread yet?
And the number one said during this week between Christmas and New Year's is...
1. The time between Christmas and New Year’s Day is like finals week for real life
If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, it's time to talk football with my good friend Jeff.
Me: Hey there, Jeff, welcome to the Phile for the last time in 2019. How was your Christmas?
Jeff: Hey, Jason, always glad to be back here on the Phile talking some phootball. I'm still recovering from Christmas. Ate too much, as usual. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.
Me: I did, yeah. So, how did the Lumbergh Steelers do, Jeff? Explain who they are in case someone forgot...
Jeff: The Lumbergh Steelers are my fantasy football team on NFL.com. It's a fun mix of a movie reference and the Steelers, of course. If you're familiar with the movie Office Space, one of the main characters is named Bill Lumbergh. I thought it would make for an excellent football name so the Lumbergh Steelers were born. After starting off slowly (2-4), the Lumbergh Steelers rallied and made the playoffs as the 3rd seed (out of 4). We made a habit of being underdogs, and we managed to beat the number 2 seed last week. And this week, thanks to Giant Saquon Barkley, we became the champions of our league!
Me: That's great! Okay, so, I have five stories picked out that I think are the top NFL stories of 2019. The first one is referees miss a pass interference call during the Saints-Rams NFC Championship. What happened there?
Jeff: Oooh, this should be fun. Yeah, definitely that would be the biggest story from last season overlapping into this year. It got to the point where a rule was changed to try to help that from happening again. Coaches were given the ability to challenge a pass interference call (or one they thought was PI that wasn't called). Unfortunately the Refs continued to blow those calls and it might be just a one year and done rule. That was a blatant PI call. The Rams player was so up in the Saints face that he came over for Christmas. That's how close they were!
Me: The second is Patriots owner Robert Kraft charged with two counts of soliciting prostitutes. Can you tell us what that was about?
Jeff: Robert Kraft was seen leaving a Florida massage parlor that's known for more than just back rubs. Ultimately he was let off the hook with just a happy ending.
Me: The third is Andrew Luck retiring from the NFL weeks before the regular season. What happened with that?
Jeff: Andrew Luck's retirement was on of the most shocking retirements in all of sports. He had been injured on an off for a few years and said that football just wasn't fun anymore. Which I can't say I blame him. He retired midway through the preseason, putting the Colts in an awkward spot. Despite that, they managed to have a pretty decent season. They struggled at times but still have a shot at a .500 record which for me would be a success considering when Luck retired.
Me: The fourth is Antonio Brown's wild few months eventually leaves him out of the NFL. I can't wait to hear what you have to say about that.
Jeff: Oh, Antonio Brown. Where do I start? Was it with the feet that were frozen in the cryogenic chamber? Or the helmet issues? Was it his demand to be traded from the Steelers? Or the Raiders? The possible sexual assault cases? Or calling the NFL racist and attacking former teammates and former owners? Really, you could pick any of those and be like "WTF is wrong with that?' Every day it was something new!
Me: And the fifth story is Myles Garrett swinging a helmet at Mason Rudolph in an ugly NFL fight. What do you say?
Jeff: I've made my thoughts known on the Myles Garrett incident. Both players were at fault. But Garrett took it too far and probably cost his team a chance at the playoffs. It was an ugly mark not only on him, but the Browns and the whole NFL. Also, suck it Cleveland.
Me: So, any big stories that should've been on the list instead of the five I mentioned?
Jeff: I mean if we're talking long lasting stories I think you covered it. Gronk's retirement as well, though that was well speculated for weeks before he did. Leveon Bell and his contract with the Steelers and ultimate move to the Jets as well, which it also seems both player and team would welcome a return at this point. The "will this be the week Jason Garrett is fired from Dallas despite Jerry Jones saying no move would be made during the season?" was another big story. Plus we also can't forget Spygate 2.0 in New England with the advance scout filming the Bengals sideline and then not understanding what the problem was.
Me: Okay, so, it’s happening. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Seattle Seahawks and Marshawn Lynch are “open to a reunion” and the running back is visiting the Seattle to meet with the team. What do you think? It's been years since he played on the Seahawks, right?
Jeff: As of Christmas Eve, actually Marshawn Lynch is back in beast mode in Seattle. He was one of their best players for years, but he retired. And then unretired. Due to issues with the Seahawks he chose to play for the Raiders for two seasons. Then he retired again. And now he's back after the injury to Seattle's Chris Carson.
Me: I think the funniest story for this week is after losing to the Eagles in an awful effort with NFC East on the line, Dallas’ chartered flight was deemed “not viable” to fly home, leaving the team temporarily stranded in Philadelphia. Hahahaha. They can't have any kinda touchdowns.
Jeff: I don't know what's a funnier story. The fact Dallas couldn't leave Philadelphia or the Chiefs equipment winding up in New York and not New England. We've seen some really big doozies this year!
Me: What NFL news do you have, Jeff?
Jeff: With just one week left in the regular season, you'd have to be a math wizard to figure out some of these playoff situations. Like with the Steelers, they need to win, have the Titans lose. Or a tie. Or an asteroid falling from the sky and landing on one particular person. And a Raiders loss. And the Boston Red Sox to sign someone. Not sure what baseball has to do with it, but I'm not an expert on the situation. The NFC is a little easier to figure out. Philadelphia wins, they are in. If they lose and Dallas wins, the Cowboys sneak into the playoffs. If both teams lose, then Philadelphia is in. I need an aspirin.
Me: America has gotten another team back from England renamed it and changed the logo again...
Jeff: I like that helmet. Hate the team. Suck it, Cleveland!
Me: Okay, how did we do last week?
Jeff: You have caught fire in the last two weeks scoring a second perfect week in a row. You're gaining on me but I still lead by 8 points. Luckily for you, we keep going into the playoffs!
Me: Yay! Let's do this week's picks, Jeff... I say Falcons by 4 and Browns by 7. Haha. What do you say?
Jeff: I'm going to go Saints by 4 and Packers by 7.
Me: Okay, have a safe New Year's. I will see you back here next Thursday, next year.
Jeff: See you next week!
Monkey
Banana fellow
That one's gotta hurt. So, there's this really masculine guy who likes to stop by the Phile once in a while to tell us what's going on in his life. So, please welcome back to the Phile...
Me: Hello, Martin, how are you?
Martin Masculinity: I am great, Jason. I love waving my shotgun around and smoking my cigarette.
Me: Okay. So, what's new?
Martin Masculinity: A friend tried to make himself look good in front of his crush by literally putting me in a random choke hold "for a laugh." Turns out it was because I was talking to her. I have a girlfriend, we were just talking. It wasn't a choke hold though, it was basically just a headlock, so I decided to correct him. I was fairly oblivious and didn't realize this was a failed "alpha move." Creeped the shit out of his crush that he would do that out of no-where and she stopped talking to him. Apparently she quite liked him up until that point, so he kinda shot himself in the foot.
Me: Okay, then. That's a pretty lame story, Martin.
Martin: I know. But it's true.
Me: Okay then. Martin Masculinity, the toughest man alive, kids.
If you or someone you know is experiencing substance abuse, call the National Drug Helpline at 1-844-289-0879. Okay, so, If you've ever worked in retail, food service, or really any customer-facing job... you know the hell that is dealing with rude customers. One coffee shop employee who was fed up with dealing with customer temper tantrums came up with a brilliant hack for shutting them down. The barista's "hack" is that anytime a customer raises their voice or complains about their order, the barista's co-worker pretends to be the "boss" and "fires" the barista on the spot while the customers cringe and try to retract their complaints, fearful that their petty grievances just cost someone their job. An anonymous barista emailed me a story because one of their friends thought their coffee shop hack was a "mean prank" to play on the unsuspecting customers, so the barista had to wonder if they were wrong in the situation. The teenaged barista explained how they were fed up with rude customers that came into the coffee shop.
"So sometimes customers will come in and just be angry about such little stuff. Like literally blow up about nothing. I dunno if they're in a bad mood already and looking for someone to take it out on or what, but it's a lot... Like how sad so your have to be to be a grown-ass man taking your anger out on high school and college kids." So the barista and their co-worker... and fellow high-schooler... James decided to play a little prank on mean-spirited customers and "fire" the barista each time they supposedly screwed up a customer order. "So one day I was at work and some guy was having a temper about how we don't make the coffee hot enough... Which I couldn't do a thing about because I gave it to him right out of the machine. So James came in and was like 'sir, is there a problem here?' and the guy started ranting at him too. So he was just like 'this is unacceptable, you're fired.' After the barista's co-worker pretended to fire her, the barista would play it up hard. "I started acting real sad, like 'no please don't fire me, my family needs the money, I need this job, pleaseeee' and he played up being a hard-ass, telling me to take off my apron and leave. The angry guy started to backtrack, like 'It isn't that big of a problem, you don't need to fire her over it. I didn't mean it' and James was like 'No, we pride ourselves on the best customer service.'" The barista says that they and their co-workers found it real "satisfying" to see the customers freak out after learning they'd gotten someone "fired." "And we've done it a couple times, whenever a customer will lose their temper... James will storm in and 'fire' us. And almost every time, the person who had come in angry will apologize and say that they didn't mean it. It's kind of satisfying, making people realize their actions might actually have consequences." However, the barista's friends thought they were rude for making people think they had caused someone to lose their job. I think their little "prank" is a "perfect way of dealing with hostile customers" and that the barista is definitely NOT wrong. The best way to diffuse a stressful situation is to politely get the customer to see how unreasonable they're being. And the best and easiest way to get a person to calm down, is to show them the extent of their logic (if you can). The barista is most definitely not wrong, and I'd go so far to say that the barista is a damn hero. On behalf of everyone that has ever worked in customer service, bless you. If you have a situation that you want me to give you my opinion about email me at thepeverettphile@gmail.com.
The 111th book to be pheatured on the Phile's Book Club is...
Yup. And Elton will be the guest on the Phile in a few weeks. It's gonna be great! Elton John will be on the Phile, people! I have to tell you... I think 2020 is gonna be a great year for the Phile.
Phact 1. Typically, three drugs are used in lethal injection. Sodium thiopental is used to induce unconsciousness, pancuronium bromide (Pavulon) to cause muscle paralysis and respiratory arrest, and potassium chloride to stop the heart.
Phact 2. An adopted man in Michigan searched for his birth mother for four years before finding out that she worked at the same Lowe’s store that he worked at. Neither of them knew.
Phact 3. The Flemish anthem of Belgium is exceptionally bloody. “He tears, destroys, crushes, covers in blood and mud; And in victory grins over his enemy’s trembling corpse.”
Phact 4. Most bats cannot take off from the ground. They spend their entire lives flying or upside down.
Phact 5. After WWI, various countries around the world experimented with flying tanks... literally tanks with wings... but the idea was eventually scrapped.
Today's pheatured guest is a British-Bahraini trumpet player and composer. Her CD's "La Saboteuse" and the latest "Polyhymnia" and her recent single "A Shoal of Souls" are available on iTunes, Spotify and Amazon. Please welcome to the Phile the beautiful... Yazz Ahmed.
Me: Hello, Yazz, welcome to the Phile. How are you?
Yazz: Hi, I'm good. Thank you.
Me: Don't take this the wrong way but you are the best looking trumpet player I have ever seen. Your album has the French sounding title "La Saboteuse." What does that title mean?
Yazz: Okay, to me it represents my inner destroyer, my anti-muse. That voice that we all experience and tells us something no good and we should just quit. So yeah, given her a name and entity has been a wonderful way in combating those thoughts, those feelings and recognizing what those thoughts are and just telling her to shut up and be quiet.
Me: Hmmm. Who is the "her" you're talking about?
Yazz: My inner destroyer.
Me: Your latest album "Polyhymnia," what does that mean?
Yazz: “Polyhymnia” is named for the Greek Muse of music, poetry and dance, a figure that is a Goddess for the arts. It is a suite of six movements that I dedicate to six women of outstanding qualities, role models with whom I admire.
Me: Ahhh... so, as a jazz player I'm sure you do a lot of jam sessions. How do you like those?
Yazz: It reflects the occasional lack of faith in myself when I walk into a jam session.
Me: What do you mean? I have a feeling you're gonna say a lot of things in this interview that goes over my head. Hahaha.
Yazz: Yeah, I mean for my experience, I don't really these days, but when I graduated from music college, I'd go to jam sessions and I'd feel very insecure because, I'm speaking in general terms, from my experience a lot of the guys who got up are very macho and play in a very macho way to out do one another. Who could play the fastest, who can play the loudest, the highest. And for me, and I noticed a lot of other females players, are not really interested in that. We're lot more interested in making music and being part of something greater than the individual. And so that did knock my confidence a lot and has taken me a very long time to sort of do my own thing and forget about that competitiveness.
Me: Do you think the jazz scene includes women or has a problem with women being in the scene?
Yazz: Yeah, we're still very behind compared to the classical world for example. Things are slowly changing. There aren't that many in the jazz world who are sort of being represented and encouraged. In the U.K. there are a lot of female musicians being given that support that they need and that confidence they need, thanks to organizations like Tomorrow's Warriors who focus on helping and nurturing young musicians who are female as well as male and people from ethnic minorities. There's all sorts of funding like organizations like PRS and PRS Women Make Music and they've been working hard for many, many years and the results are coming through. There's a saxophone player who played at Winter Jazz Fest with me called Nubya Garcia. She's become quite a star thanks to all the support.
Me: Is there an artist who mentored or influenced you in the jazz world?
Yazz: Yeah, I had a lot of support from Tomorrow's Warriors and encouragement from other people.
Me: What does that look like?
Yazz: What does it look like? What do you mean?
Me: How do they interact with you? Do they talk to you?
Yazz: Yes, I have had that people talking to me and saying," Let's go for a coffee, let's talk about how we could take you to the next level." And people giving me opportunities and that's what people from all minority backgrounds need is given that opportunity for them to flourish. A lot of the time is not allowed because it is such a noisy scene and any certain voices are eating heard, there's a majority. Yeah, but like I said, things are changing.
Me: The U.K. scene is getting a huge amount of attention now. Why do you think that is?
Yazz: I think that there's a bit of a change in peoples perception. I think people are becoming more connected there. Their roots, their historical background, their cultural background, and I think a lot of musicians are trying to relate to the music of today. Whether that's club music or electronic music. And also I think some people are trying to reflect the political situation that are happening particularly in the U.K. We're at a time where's there's all sorts of negativity going on and I think that also there's an inspiration to sort of protest all that negativity through music. And I think it's becoming quite exciting and people can relate to that rather than the standard what people think jazz is.
Me: Is that happening with your music?
Yazz: Yeah, I suppose so. I like to reflect my mixed heritage and also I like to learn from all the different musicians I've worked with like Radiohead and These New Puritans.
Me: Your grandfather in 1952 played trumpet with a jazz band called Kenny Graham's Afro-Cubists. When you hear that music what do you think and feel?
Yazz: Always a bit tearful actually.
Me: What is the influence he had on you becoming a trumpeter?
Yazz: Well, first of all he shared a lot of music with me. I loved that bond I had with him. I loved the music he played to me. I particularly like Dizzy Gillespie, he was my favourite. He also played to me some British jazz as well like Tubby Hayes and John Dankworth. I had those records as well and I was kind of like really amazed.
Me: Where did you listen to the records with him at?
Yazz: He came quite often to our house when we moved to London. And before when I used to go his house on holidays when I used to live in Bahrain. He played records and my grandmother and Terry used to tell me about the stories about their crazy jazz life that they had. It was all so exciting hearing about all this stuff.
Me: When did you realize the trumpet was going to be the instrument for you? I play kazoo by the way. Haha.
Yazz: I don't know. I just sort of instinctively felt that the trumpet was right for me. When we moved to London my mum asked us, me and my sisters, what we would like to play because they were offering musical instrument lessons. I think just because of all the beautiful music my grandfather shared with me. I thought the trumpet was the instrument and I fell in love with it.
Me: What is the first music of Arabic jazz have you ever heard? I don't think I have ever heard that music before.
Yazz: Rabih Abou-Khalil's album "Blue Camel." This was the first experience I had as a listener discovering Arabic jazz combined. I picked up the record because it had my favourite trumpet player of all time, Kenny Wheeler, and I thought this looks interesting. I played it and it just opened up all my memories living in Bahrain and the Arabic music there that was just around me that I took for granted. It made me realise I could say something with my music, I could reflect my mixed heritage. It was incredibly inspiring.
Me: What do you think you're saying with your music right now?
Yazz: Well, I'm trying to express my journey. My journey to find my identity. As well as all the experiences I've had on the way.
Me: How does music help you find your identity?
Yazz: It's all about feeling whole. I suppose when I moved to London I adapted to British culture as a young child does very quickly. When I started to reach my late teens everyone was trying to find themselves. I really felt confused to who I am because I didn't feel like I fitted in with my friends at school were in English I didn't feel whole and it was really when I rediscovered this music of Rabih Abou-Khalil that I started to reconnect. I felt I became whole again.
Me: On the "La Saboteuse" album you have a song called "Al Emadi." Who is he?
Yazz: Well, "Al Emadi" is the name of the tribe my Bahrainian family are from. It's a very big tribe and it's quite an old tribe. It's a tribe of traders and they would trade across the Arabian Gulf and also Iran. I wanted to represent that sort of feeling of being part of something. There are many voices in that piece and you could imagine a lot of people chatting away and having conversations.
Me: You mentioned you played with Radiohead. I actually went tis school with the drummer from Radiohead. What did you play on with them, Yazz?
Yazz: The track was "Bloom" from the album "The King of Limbs." I played frugal horn on that track.
Me: You also did a version of that song on "La Saboteuse," right? Was it weird to cover yourself?
Yazz: LOL. Yeah, I love Radiohead's music and I loved "Bloom." I think it's an amazing piece and I loved it so much I thought I'm going to arrange to for my band. I could imagine my band playing it. It just felt like it's a good piece of music and could definitely be merged into jazz and my own voice. I love that kind of music where it's kind of busy and below and there's more smoother lines on top.
Me: Cool. Yazz, thanks so much for being on the Phile. I hope this was fun and you'll come back again.
Yazz: Thank you.
That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to my guests Jeff Trelewicz and of course Yazz Ahmed. The Phile will be back on Monday with the last entry of the year. The guest will be the one and only Peter Frampton. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.
I don't want you, cook my bread, I don't want you, make my bed, I don't want your money too, I just want to make love to you. - Willie Dixon
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