Music: Pioneering record label founder Phil Chess dies at 95

This comes on the heels of yesterday's post on the re-emergence of Chuck Berry at 90, with a new record.

-Chicago Sun-Times

Phil Chess, co-founder of Chicago’s legendary Chess Records, a label credited with helping to invent rock ‘n’ roll, has died in Tucson, Arizona, at 95.

Mr. Chess and his brother Leonard Chess arrived in America as little boys, two Jewish immigrant kids from Poland. They started Chess in 1950, recording Muddy Waters, Etta James, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy and other top musicians who spread the gospel of the blues. Teens in England and around the world heard the so-called “race music” Chess helped popularize, and the cross-pollination helped birth rock.

As Waters once put it, “The blues had a baby, and they named it rock ‘n’ roll.”

Chess could be described as the midwife. In 1951, the label released what some consider the first rock record: “Rocket ’88,” by Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats, including a young Ike Turner.

In 1977, a Chess record went to outer space. The Voyager mission carried recordings including Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.”

Mr. Chess died Tuesday evening at his 30-acre ranch in Tucson, said his daughter, Pam. For decades, he kept in touch with many Chess artists, she said. “He talked to B.B. King all the time on the phone. He ran into Ramsey Lewis six or so years ago in San Diego,” she said. “He talked to Chuck Berry.”

The music scene would have been very different without him and his brother, Chicago bluesman and club owner Buddy Guy said Wednesday.

The Chess Records story also was dramatized in the 2008 movie “Cadillac Records,” featuring Beyonce, Adrien Brody, Mos Def and Jeffrey Wright.

Before founding the label, the Chess brothers owned the Macomba Lounge at 39th and Cottage Grove, said Phil Chess’ son, Terry. When one of the club’s performers was asked by someone else to record their music, “My father and my uncle looked at each other and said, ‘Why don’t we do it?’ ” Terry Chess said.

Neither played an instrument or knew much about music. “The Chess Brothers didn’t literally make the music in the studio, but they got it out the door and reaped the rewards,” Nadine Cohodas wrote in a book about Chess, “Spinning Blues Into Gold.”

Blues and R&B classics poured out of Chess, performed by countless artists who put their own spin on the songs. While at Chess, Willie Dixon wrote “(I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man” for Waters, as well as “You Need Love.”

Sport: JAMAICA WINS BOTH MATCHES IN SECOND ROUND OF 42ND WORLD CHESS OLYMPIAD!!

Today Jamaica's men, playing in the Open Section, rebounded from yesterday's first round loss to Argentina to defeat Oman 3 1/2 - 1/2 with victories from FMs Warren Elliott, FM Damion Davy and CM Brandon Wilson, FM Malaku Lorne drew on board 3.

In the Women's section Jamaica put aside yesterday's disappointment against Bulgaria and thumped Barbados 4-0 after victories by WIM Deborah Richards-Porter, CM Rachel Miller, WCM Ariel Barrett and WCM Melisha Smith, respectively. Full report to follow.

Education: EL Principal charges Jamaican teachers to change

From the moment his extensive bio was being read out, one got the sense that an oratory treat was in store.

And veteran school principal and edication activist" Salome Thomas El did not disappoint as he helped open the JN Foundation's School leadership Summit at the Pegasus in Kingston.

From catch phrases (the revolution will not be televised"; if they act up you got back up") to heartfelt anecdotes, El laid down the law and the challenge to educators to adapt and get children ahead in an increasingly media-heavy yet factless world

The change, he reiterated, has to begin from within, telling his own story as a single-parent raised child of the projects who succeeded from positive modelling

 in a “Every child needs someone to be crazy about them.” These are the words of Salome Thomas-EL, award-winning teacher and principal, and nationally recognized educator. They shape his life-long commitment to answering the question, “How do we ensure that every child achieves their greatest potential?” This question lies at the heart of the national dialogue on education policy, the day in and day out work of school personnel, and the hopes of every parent. Central to this challenge is how we succeed with children who are facing the most serious barriers to success: poverty, violence, neglect, and low expectations.

For over 20 years, Principal EL has taken on this challenge with the absolute belief that every child can and will learn as long as adults in their world care enough to not give up. Starting as a teacher and chess coach at Vaux Middle School and through his years as principal at several traditional public and charter schools, Thomas-EL has transformed the attitudes and strategies of school staff, parents, and members of the community to help hundreds of troubled children not only graduate from high school but go on to earn higher degrees from major colleges and universities. He brings to the process a powerful combination of passion, caring, and leadership to craft a refreshing, common-sense roadmap to help kids achieve their dreams, no matter the odds.

Salome Thomas-EL lives in Delaware County with his wife and two young daughters. He has been a teacher and principal in Philadelphia, PA and Wilmington, DE since 1987. Salome is currently the Head of School at Thomas Edison Charter School in Wilmington. Principal EL received national acclaim as a teacher and chess coach at Vaux Middle School, where his students have gone on to win world recognition as Eight-Time National Chess Champions. Principal EL was a regular contributor on the first season of “The Dr. Oz Show” and the author of the best-selling books, I Choose to Stay, about his Vaux Middle School experience, and The Immortality of Influence (Foreword by Will Smith), which stresses the importance of leadership, mentoring, parenting and service to others. The Walt Disney Company optioned the movie rights to I Choose to Stay. Thomas-EL speaks to groups around the world and frequently appears on C-SPAN, CNN, and NPR Radio. He has studied in Cambridge and London, England and is currently a doctoral candidate. He has received the Marcus A. Foster Award as the outstanding School District Administrator in Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania’s distinguished Martin Luther King Award. Educational Leadership and Reader’s Digest Magazine recognized Principal EL as an “Inspiring American Icon”. Principal EL has also appeared on “The Oprah Radio Network”.

The Sound - and the Cost - of the Blues: Cadillac Records

The predictably rapid advent of Beyonce as a featured actress (following Dreamgirls) and the casting of Adrien Brody (he of the surprise Halle Berry Oscars smooch) and the likes of Cedric the Entertainer and Mos Def led to  a lot of hype around this movie on its release nearly four years ago.

Of course, the hype was not enough and it opened to a middling reception both critically and commercially. But now, with the dust having settled, and with our own ludicrously misnamed "Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival" again on the horizon, the quasi-documentary feature on the history of the  hugely influential Chess Records label is worth a look, or a second look, as the case may be.

Polish immigrant Leonard Chess parlayed his ear for talent, freewheeling nature and general disregard for convention into the powerhouse of blues, rock n' roll, jazz and even gospel, and the home (commercially and otherwise), of such legends as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Etta James and even Chuck Berry, the latter still duck-walking his way across the stages of the world today some 60 years later.

There are a lot of the expected elements: every third word or so, especially from the men, is "muthaf---"; theres' open and subtle race discrimination and a lot of sex, inter-racial and otherwise. But director and writer  Darnell Martin ( a woman, despite the masculine-sounding first name) knows how to mix it together and move it along. And of course, there is the music which, whether simulated or actually played, is a near irresistible force; it just gets into you. One scene, where harmonica genius Little Walter takes vocal duties, on the chart-topper "My Babe" is a sequence of such sheer sonic and visual magic that it hardly needs the cliched inter-cutting showing the record rising up the charts. Similarly, when Berry singlehandedly "integrates" screaming black and whites fans at a concert, the visual narrative really soars.

But while such flights are few and far between, the rest of it is just good enough to earn our sustained attention, and the cast (especially Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters, Columbus Short as Walter and Mos Def as Berry) mostly turn in professional-grade performances. Here, we return to Beyonce who, in the role of earthy blues chanteuse Etta James, is really a non-starter. Sure, her musical numbers show an admirable level of restraint, but in her speaking parts and interactions, she comes across as hollow and devoid of genuine feeling.

But despite this, Cadillac Records (the switch may have something to do with the fact that the Chess Records catalog is owned by Universal, while the film was released by Sony Pictures), is primarily the story of how Black music became the pop music of America and the world, and in this respect, its worth taking in, even if  you don't know the difference between "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Smokestack Lighnin'"