Does anyone still listen?

Back in the day, one of my teenage rituals was buying the latest album from a favorite band or musician, putting it on the all-in-one compact stereo in my bedroom, placing the Radio Shack "Realistic" brand headphones over my ears and listening to it all the way through. I still enjoy listening to new music on headphones, but now they are connected to my iPod.

I recently read an article predicting that long form "albums" will eventually become a thing of the past, along with CDs, and music artists will release only single downloads. This got me to wondering about how people listen to music today.

Does anyone really LISTEN to music anymore? I don't mean playing a CD as background music while you are working or driving in the car. I mean sitting down and focusing on nothing but what you are hearing through the speakers or headphones. Sure, it's much harder to find the time to do this as adults, but I still find time to spend with a special old favorite or new release, usually on my iPod after getting into bed.

Should the "album" be saved? I know, it can be argued that many songs on albums are just "filler" and not worth owning, but there are many songs on many albums that I love that would probably never have been released as singles. And what about the concept album? Records like Pink Floyd's "The Wall" are an experience when listened to as a whole, telling a story along with the music.

Maybe I'm just reacting as a product of my generation. I still miss LP's, not because I think they sound better (although many argue they do), but mostly because of the larger form factor which better displayed and encouraged creative album artwork and packaging. Even so, there have been some artists who have created memorable artwork and packaging using the CD format (The last Tool release comes to mind). Listening to the music while reading lyrics and credits and looking at the album artwork is something I will sorely miss if everything goes to downloads and singles. I wonder if anyone else will miss them too?

Jazz By The Bay

A few weeks ago I was hired by the Gulf Coast Jazz Society to create a highlight DVD of their annual Jazz By The bay festival. The festival is held every October in Oaks By The Bay Park in the historic St. Andrews section of Panama City Florida. The performers are all excellent musicians who play true jazz music, not the "smooth jazz" that permeates the so called jazz radio stations today. If you missed it this year, make sure to check it out next year and if you think you don't like jazz music, watch the video below and maybe it will change your mind.


Jazz By The Bay 2008 from Louis Columbus on Vimeo.

Panama City History

On October 4th 2008 there was an open house at the recently restored Panama City Publishing Company building on Beck Avenue in the historic St. Andrews section.

Below is a short video I put together. I hope you enjoy it.


Panama City Publishing Company from Louis Columbus on Vimeo.

My Favorite Holiday Is Coming!

September 11th Remembered

Just taking a moment today to reflect and remember the people and events of 9-11.

I was still in the USAF during that time and stationed at Osan Air Base in South Korea. I was living in a dormitory on base and I remember the guy in the room next to me knocking on my door at about 11:30PM local time to tell me that a plane had hit The World Trade Center. A few moments later we were called to report for duty and everyone was confined to base.

I will always remember.

Janelle Monáe

As an avid music lover I'm always on the lookout for new and exciting artists to check out. Recently I discovered a young lady named Janelle Monáe. The first thing about her that caught my attention was the title of her new CD "Metropolis (The Chase)". Metropolis is a classic silent science fiction film and one of my favorites.

The disc is not a full length album, but an EP containing 7 tracks. This EP is subtitled Suite I of IV and following editions will be released every 3 months. This is the other thing that piqued my interest in Janelle Monáe, the fact that she was attempting to try something different.

I have always loved progressive music, bands like Yes, Pink Floyd, ELP, Camel, etc. and especially the idea of creating a concept album, where the songs all connect to a central theme. That is what Miss Monáe is doing here.

The music is kind of a hybrid of R&B, Funk, Punk and Rock and her voice stands out as an instrument on its own. There is a lot going on in the tunes on this CD, so you will hear new sounds with every consecutive listen, which is something else I love about progressive music.

You can check out track samples, see photos and read more by clicking on the picture below.

Home Again

Well, we made it back safely yesterday, despite driving through torrential rain most of the way. There were numerous cars accidents along the way and it seemed that every few miles we saw automobiles in ditches and median strips. At one point a large pine tree fell along the side of I-10, just as we were passing by. Needless to say we are thankful to be home.

Going Home

Freda and I are currently in my hometown of St. Petersburg, FL.

We will be here for the week and hope that tropical storm Fay doesn't cause too much trouble in these parts.