Musical Interlude – Miles Davis

Growing up, I had Miles in my house as a youngster. My parents were not rabid jazz fans, but they had some eclectic tastes which included lots of Ray Charles, Beethoven, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra and Broadway tunes such as Porgy and Bess. These vinyl memories are the first records I could spin and play at my own remove. I was completely partial to Ray Charles, myself, and much of the Jazz had to wait for later for an impatient young rockin’ and rollin’ Rockabillyist like young Master Steve.

As I recall we owned “Birth of The Cool” on which John Coltrane played along with a record where Miles played with the immortal Charlie Parker. I sort of recall a complete Coltrane album as well.

For my generation, Miles was older – a virtual icon from my parent’s generation and – even then – rather Avant Garde for anyone but the rather hip, urban crowd. Listening now to those old tracks, one is stunned by how good the man was – how true and melodic and how utterly moody as his trumpet carved soft chucks of shared Time out of the patterns and disparate occasional dissonance of the Jazz of the 40’s and 50’s – when time and melody often got sacrificed to an atonality of urban expressionism.

Then Miles did a few remarkable things. As the culture underwent its tectonic changes, he grabbed the bull by the horns and tried yet newer innovations in his corner of the music sphere and began nearing a rock and roll type of melody and expression. First with “Bitches Brew”, then with this amazing soundtrack to the movie, “Jack Johnson”, Miles commissioned what he referred to as “the best Rock And Roll band ever made”.

In 1971, using John McLaughlin, Herbie Hancock, Steve Grossman, Billy Cobham, and long time steady bassist Michale Henderson, Miles was able to cobble together musical geniuses to play alongside him, producing what I have always considered his greatest later work. It is long, but the latter parts of this tune, when Hancock absolutely rules with the Farfisa organ, it becomes greater than ever, bringing the entirety into a memorable listening experience.

This is my own tribute to Miles Davis, from his Tribute To Jack Johnson.

Right Off!

Portland, Oregon Japanese Garden – The Water

This is one of those recycled posts I felt stands on its own. I was utterly captivated by this gorgeous garden – so much so that I produced 3 other posts relative to it in September and October of 2009.

The Portland Japanese Garden, very much like its Chinese garden, which I helped construct, provides one of the most beautiful Japanese Gardens in the world. It is very highly-rated as these things go and one can certainly see why once we tour it. So much unfolds there in front of us, it is far larger and more interesting than one had any right to believe.

This is a World Class garden.

(click pictures to enlarge……..for some…..a lot!)

This trip was a revelation to me. In spite of the fact that I have lived here on and off for 6 years, I am truly ashamed to say I had never visited this gorgeous garden. Wow! is all I can say. I am dumb. This garden is one of the most highly-ranked Japanese Gardens in the entire world and, without doubt, deservedly so. I have actually been to Japanese Gardens in Japan – Kyoto, in fact – so my failure to take this one in deserves a special sock in the chops for missing it. It was quite a revelation.

Fortunately, it was a warm and sunlit day here in late September – almost too warm in fact. We had some eastern winds (our version of Santa Ana’s) which brought the heat of the desert in and made my huge walk just a bit more challenging than I had figured it would. I put in about 5-6 miles before even landing at the Garden, I so enjoyed Washington park, inside which is this Garden, along with the Rose Garden across the street. But the peaceful serenity and the amazing eye candy upon entering was the perfect salve for the tired legs and flagging spirit I encountered briefly, before entering. My camera was very busy!

The simple fact is that there is literally so much to appreciate here, it dazzles the senses. As someone who had always appreciated the gorgeous and simple lines inherent in most Japanese Gardens. I was blown away with any number of things. For one thing, there is some sort of water just everywhere. Running creeks, some good sized lakes – there is more water in this particular garden than in any it has been my good fortune to see. Small waterfalls of a most placid sound and sight, leading to still ponds full of Koi.

Since I am dealing only with the aspect of water in the garden in this episode, I must pay my deepest respects to one of the single most beautiful waterfalls I have literally ever seen. This materializes out of the woods, as it were, in an extremely logical place, supposedly draining the mountainous hillside to its rear.

I took pictures from a few different angles, to try and capture not only its fairly impressive size, but also the utterly organic sense it provides, coming as it does off the nearby mountainside. Nor does the sound of it even matter – somehow it is not oppressive nor overwhelming in any way. I guess it is distant enough to stop all that. It seems to blend so well, it actually just seems – aurally – just another organic piece in a bigger puzzle. It does not stand out in any way but visually. But man, for this waterfall maven, it knocked my socks off. I absolutely love it in every way.

Seen here (above) we see the falls in the distance from the top of a nearby hill. Vantage points for these falls are everywhere, seen between the trees and the stupa sculpture below, complete with real, authentic tourists like me:

And that’s not all the gorgeous and settling water around this Garden. Here are a few other looks at more intimate settings, all of which grant a peaceful flow to this gorgeous park.

From the smallest and seemingly insignificant dripping effects of a bamboo water tube:

To a far more natural and extremely unique feast for the eyes:

The water features and the placements in general of flora and natural features represents the very best in the art of Japanese Gardens. I will close today with these pictures, focusing on water and those who live in it:

Blooms

Everybody loves blooms. By far my most popular posts are of blooms and blooming processes. I mean, I could talk all day about the in’s and out’s of landscape design and installation issues, speak about the people I have worked for – those who have worked for me – my family, your family, all the rest and still, the posts everyone loves most are of flowers.

I think we have secret existences as bumblebee’s myself. Face it, we’re Pollen Junkies. 😉

….and………so without further ado, culled from the archives and seeing the light of day for the first times……… Who knew Oregon Grape could look like this?

(enlarge any image by left clicking – maybe even twice for incredible detail)

Double-blooming Kwanzan Cherries are among my personal favorite Spring-blooming ornamentals. The sheer profuseness of their blooms is mesmerizing and they can actually get pretty sizable.

This bad boy is 30 feet high and even wider.

This otherwise simple, middle and working-class suburban neighborhood in Gresham, Oregon – a suburb of Portland –  simply took the best of what Portland’s nurseries offered, made people dig a bunch of hard-fought holes on their own and then watch their futures unfold in a sublime bit of uncoordinated ‘hyper coordination’. Just check the various depths of colorful blooms as this tableau stretched on…….. These pictures really do want some enlargement to fully appreciate the colors and lushness of their settings.

Other places serve similar ends – Spring is a plain delight for anyone paying attention anyway – here’s some Reno blossom “hotness”, presented most gently:

The lowly and under-appreciated Sumac tree’s fresh and sprightly new leaves offer this gorgeous bloom for a truly gorgeous, radiant Springtime eye harvest:

Suburban Louisville, Kentucky has always benefited fabulously from hosting native Dogwood and Eastern Redbud trees, but the additions of other ornamentals such as Chinese Pears and the lower-lying Spirea and Viburnums of wide range, make for breath-taking tableaus of soothing and just uncommon beauty such as this Douglas Hills boulevard picture:

The fascination with Chinese Pears – especially inasmuch as they bloom so early, yields a feast of parkland which kick starts better weather with a nice and emphatic shove:

A natural filigree of lacy blooms and a caressing Nature adorn every Kentucky forest’s lime-green early Spring leaves with the beauty of native bloomers.

So we agree that Spring is special. I doubt anyone here argues the issue. And since we’re on the subject of blooms in general, let’s take a look at others – Roses, for example:

 

Here are 2 Rose Warriors, at their tasks as we speak!

Star Magnolias are another blooming winner……….like the Chinese Pears, they also come super early in the Spring –

 

Other noteworthy stuff………. A Wysteria poised in front of some sumptuous turn-of-the-Century housing in downtown Louisville…….

You can almost smell this Lilac where you sit…..

Any blog I get involved in will have some Rhododendrons – it’s as simple as that. Unreservedly……. these are my favorite blooms, this one mixed with some killer foreground Spirea

More rhodies……

 

One more……..

Just Pretty Pictures

Why not?

I give a few words to the pictures, but I also probably shouldn’t need to, at least for some. Beauty is objective.

Here is a sunrise, taken on my way to work one very early morning. Winter’s days are short in the Pacific North West and it often results in dark journeys, early as heck, but with some breath-taking rewards.

(left click any image to enlarge)

My adopted city of Louisville, Kentucky offers some special regional delights, in particular the Springtime views of Dogwoods of all types, mixed so incredibly well with Azaleas and the other local beauties.

The gracious splendor within the confines of the very sobering Cave Hill Cemetery compliments the conservative Southern values which so value history and which combine beauty with the silent respectfulness inherent in this gorgeous ‘final resting place’ of Louisville’s finest.

But Louisville is not necessarily alone in the “Gracious Beauty Sweepstakes”. Having lived in more than one fine city, I hold Portland to be every bit the equal of anywhere on Earth for sheer urban horticultural respect. Speaking merely of Dogwoods, Portland has its very own resources:

Portland offers certain “extremes” in gardening and landscaping. As the home of an incredible number of nurseries and the nation and world’s “grass farms” where seed originates,  it has an otherwise widely-known ‘experimental’ side of social experiments, some of which include gardening.  Portland can surprise one with singular brazen beauties in a simple city block. This Variegated Dogwood – a nearly perfect “freak” that someone grabbed as a sapling at a local nursery and whose development is fascinating as it can be, from it’s earliest Spring look, as blooms and leaves develop together:

To its ultimate “Whiteness” –

 

 

I obviously followed this one closely as it unfolded a few Springs ago. I found it really fascinating, this plant stuck in someone’s front yard, a brainstorm of someone’s 15-20 years ago and no doubt a real deal at some nursery at the time. This is a very cool tree.

Here, below, is an otherwise nondescript garden in some Portland neighborhood. Its simple beauty begs for a moment of fame, in my opinion, simply by looking so pretty, delicate and otherwise fresh.

 

At times, simple spins around a neighborhood can give as big an eye full as one could ever want. Here are various gorgeous layers of various gorgeous plants:

The parks are another hot topic for me. In Portland, there were so many and – it turns out – in Louisville perhaps even more. I have adored the entrance to the Chrystal Springs Rhododendron Garden for years.

 

Nice, eh?

Near Preston Highway in Louisville is an under-utilized park – site of the Dogwood Festival – which may have the most incredible display of dogwoods it has ever been my pleasure to see:

Louisville has Bernheim Woods, an absolutely gorgeous entry into the incredibility sweeps. Let’s face it, it’s hard to argue with this view of life as we know it…………..

 

 

The color above could nearly be described as  “violently colorful”, it is so rich and lush. The term struck my mind as I took this picture.

And here’s a gratuitous rhododendron picture…….with a rose to follow!