Random Music Notes: John Trudell and More

1. Metallica are the nice guys of metal, are they not?

2. The best band names ever are The Rolling Stones and Pavement. The worst include Death Cab for Cutie and . . . the Beatles? Yes, a horrible name but they were so frickin' great that they made the name into a good one -- by force of will and charisma.

3. One of the most cherished jazz stories involves Coltrane and Miles. Coltrane, who established the long-form, way-way-out-there solo as a jazz idiom, is said to have said: "Miles, sometimes I just don't know how to end a solo." To which Miles replied, "Take the horn out of your mouth."

4. The Lakota poet and activist John Trudell is the best spoken word guy we have. Here he is in 1992, doing "Rocking the Rez," from his masterpiece AKA Graffiti Man. We're "earth stars, with jail break in our hearts." This thing has only 675 views! No justice. Turn it up.

5. Back in the 70s there were a bunch of folk singers who were uncool but very popular, guys like Jim Croce, John Denver, Harry Chapin, Cat Stevens, and so on. They were actually quite talented, but never came across as artistes, a la Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, John Prine, etc.