Greg Burk

Billy Higgins, 1936–2001

Greg Burk
Photo by D. Darr Billy Higgins didn’t need to play drums or even be present to make his influence felt. When Yusef Lateef’s Eternal Wind and Randy Weston performed at Cal State L.A. a couple of Saturdays ago, at a time when Higgins was suffering from the pneumonia and liver/kidney......
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Ancestral Spirits

Greg Burk
The arrival of any improvisational grand master in Los Angeles is a reason for hallelujahs, but the knowledge that you can hear both Yusef Lateef (with Adam Rudolph and Eternal Wind) and Randy Weston (solo piano) on one program is cause to ditch the class reunion and postpone the wedding......
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Everybody Hurts

Greg Burk
Photo by Anne FishbeinThere’s something going on here, something different and real that sticks. That was already clear four years ago, when Jennifer Terran put out her Cruel album, and it’s still clear. But what is her difference, exactly? The grainy soprano that stabs right through your head? Many can......
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Axiology

Greg Burk
WASPUnholy Terror (Metal-Is) Once in a great while I need to suck down a few bad gulletfuls of Jack Daniel’s before writing, and this is one of those times. This is a WASP album: You can‘t catch me thinking when I ought to be drinking. Some waste their time picking......
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A Home, Grown

Greg Burk
You often hear about a musician who overcomes a hostile environment to achieve fame and fortune. You almost never hear about a musician who finds himself in a hostile environment, works to change it for himself and others, and achieves success -- on his own terms, not the world‘s. The......
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All Grown Up

Greg Burk
CUONG VU Pure (Knitting Factory) This post-jazz trio album came out a few months ago, but I haven’t had a chance to absorb it till now, and I figure it’s never too late to write about work this good. I first heard Cuong Vu (born in Vietnam, raised in Seattle,......
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Of Wasps and Wind

Greg Burk
James Newton is pissed off. He’s also happy and excited, and the latter conditions are the ones you notice, because his face expresses them more easily. To get the full range of Newton, listen to his flute playing, which alternates between the most delirious beauty and the steeliest daggers; you‘ll......
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Sea of Dirt

Greg Burk
Stoner-rock bands usually don’t want to be called that, right? Maybe they have a point, and maybe they don‘t. The only way to find out was to apply the Weekly’s rigorous scientific standards to the question. We obtained two volunteer Subjects (S1 and S2), put them in a controlled environment,......

Marilyn: A Re-Examination

Greg Burk
Photos and artwork by P.R. Brown IT'S ALL MARILYN MANSON'S FAULT. Violence. Drug abuse. Disrespect for authority. Rejection of religion. Lack of values. All the bleeding sores on the soul of youth except acne and orthodonture. And maybe those, too. He's responsible. Kill him, and the wounds will heal. A......
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The Goods

Greg Burk
Photo by Michael Mcclure Every year, especially toward the end of the year, they come to me. I listen to them, and know that they are good. They sit on my shelf and look at me. They bust into my dreams just when Mike Piazza is about to explain the......