Congratulations to Alejandro Escovedo on His Induction into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame 2021

Vote Yes to Question 2 on Restructuring the Minneapolis Police Department

 The City of Minneapolis is rapidly approaching perhaps the most important election in its history.  Voters will not only be choosing who will be the City’s next Mayor and lead us at a time when we are facing challenges like no other since the “greatest generation”, but also deciding several important referendum issues that will have lasting effect on the day to day lives of ordinary citizens.  

The stakes could not be higher.  The question is whether  we, as citizens,  are going to submit to the manufactured fear that is being peddled by the perpetrators (bad actor cops) in the hope that change, if it comes, will be negligible and leads to the same safe and overly cautious approaches and with it the same predictable, if not obvious, results?

In a Bloomberg article dated June 4, 2020 and entitled "How Cities Offload the Cost of Police Brutality:  Cities spend tens of millions of dollars on lawsuits over police violence and killings. But municipalities are effectively using residents to mortgage the cost".

Said Bloomberg CityLab article reported:  

"In Minneapolis, a metro that has been plagued by several other prominent police brutality incidents in recent years, there are actions the city could have taken but weren’t. The Minneapolis police union blocked the city from incorporating new reforms for the police department — including new rules for the deployment of neck restraints, as was used to kill Floyd.

Instead, cities like Minneapolis make taxpayers pay for police violence on the back end, after a police officer has already injured or killed a civilian, and after he’s been tried or the case has been settled. This is true for most large cities, where the legal costs for defending police are usually paid out of the city’s own general funds, or through issuing bonds, either way paid with taxpayer funds. Cities are effectively using their residents to mortgage police violence — a proposition that may grow less and less palatable as families’ finances are depleted by other circulating disasters." Id.

Minneapolis NBC affiliate KARE 11 recently reported that the citizens of Minneapolis have shelled out $70 Million Dollars in financial settlements as a result of police misconduct and abuse over the last two decades while the officers themselves enjoy qualified immunity from financial responsibility and experience little negative employment consequences for their actions. Jon Collins of Minnesota Public Radio reported in a July 9, 2020 article that "Half of fired Minnesota police officers get their jobs back through arbitration".

As the election nears (early voting is already underway), city residents’ mailboxes are being inundated with slick advertisements containing false choices and half-truths created by the best advertising agencies and public relations firms that money can buy.  The theme of the “No to Question 2” proponents and against the creation of a new Department of Public Safety boils down to fear and false choices. Nothing drives public opinion like fear and the friend of the status quo is fear of change.  

The combination of fear and the inertia of the status quo can create strange bedfellows.  It is not surprising that the Police Union and rank and file police officers, who know they have a rigged game with little accountability and are so used to acting with impunity, are vehemently opposed to restructuring.  Instead of discussing reform and practical solutions, they are stoking the fears of residents and engaging in work slow downs creating the conditions that encourage a rising crime rate.  They are hoping that by creating the problem and exacerbating it, they will get their desired result of the status quo and its hollow promise of reform.  But now they are being joined by a group of centrist Democrats who have apparently caved into fear and are falling for the union's and rank and file's promise to reform.  The citizens demonstrated in the wake of George Floyd's murder that the time of unfulfilled promises to reform are over and demand action now,

False Choice number one perpetuated by the “No to Question 2” supporters is that an armed police presence will disappear upon passage of vote yes.  The fact is under a restructuring involving the creation of the Minneapolis Department of Public Safety an armed police presence would still be its largest component.  The opponents to reform have cynically adopted the goals of the reformers e.g. changes in police recruitment, training accountability and discipline and integration of mental health and violence prevention experts, but virtually insure that said reforms will never happen by opposing a structural overhaul.

The only way to implement the changes and reforms stated above is to cut out the cancer which created the abuses and that is the corrosive police culture and its union that pits officers against citizens and promotes a subculture based upon paranoia and a warrior ideology.  We need to get out from the one-sided collective bargaining agreement negotiated by a union out of touch with the citizenry.  In order to implement the reforms both sides agree on, this change in structure is required.

Sadly, the well funded and organized campaign of the police union and politicizing what should be a non-partisan issue like public safety, is showing signs it is  getting its desired result.  But this is not a conservative or liberal issue  yet the opponents to reform have the public believing crime is out of control when in fact the police are deliberately creating this false impression and encouraging crime with their work slow down and public threats to resign should the reforms be adopted.  To those who feel that way I say “we understand and accept your resignation”. 

 Those who joined law enforcement for the right reasons, to protect and to serve, should have no problem with a system that requires the accountability the current culture has resisted up and until the George Floyd case.  If you doubt the accuracy of this sentiment just look at the lack of reform the last 16 months since the murder of George Floyd and the history of reform opposition in the MPD the last 50 years.  

Don't believe the police are deliberately engaged in a slowdown to quash attempts at reform?  Reuters recently released a special report entitled "Hands Off Patrol:  After Floyd's Killing, Minneapolis Police Retreated, Data Shows".  In the Reuters article it quotes various unidentified police personnel as follows:

“It’s self-preservation,” said one officer who retired after Floyd’s death, speaking on the condition of anonymity. He said the force’s commanders didn’t order a slowdown, but also did nothing to stop it. “The supervisor was like, ‘I don’t blame you at all if you don’t want to do anything. Hang out in the station.’ That’s what they’re saying.”

If that anecdotal evidence does not persuade you that the MPD needs restructuring how about the plain statistics:

The Reuters article goes on to quote "A police spokesman, John Elder,..." who said ..."short-staffing meant 'we were running from call to call and didn’t have time for anything else.' He did not respond to additional questions."

Nevertheless, Reuters found, "...the drop in police-initiated interactions was steeper and more sudden than the drop in the number of officers. By July 2020, the number of encounters begun by officers had dropped 70% from the year before; the number of stops fell 76%."

False choice number two being promoted by the "Just Say No to Question Two" proponents, is by voting yes to Question No. 2 you will getting rid of Chief Arredondo, a beacon for reform.  I personally agree with sentiments expressed by the chief in his testimony in the George Floyd case and would greatly encourage the city to hire him to lead the new Public Safety Department.  The problem with leaving things with the status quo with only a hope for reform is the current rank and file and police union perceive Chief Arredondo the same way they perceived and treated Chief Bouza, and that is, if not with utter disdain, then they ignore him.

That was to be predicted and is a playbook that dates back to the police administration of Tony Bouza.  For those too young to remember, Tony Bouza, who famously battled bad police culture and corruption as portrayed in the movie “Ft. Apache the Bronx”, was brought in by Mayor Don Fraser in 1980 to reform a department mired in the same abuses we have now.  Bouza served as Chief of the MPD until 1988 with a mandate to reform the abuses that culminated tragically with the death of George Floyd.  But if the great reformer Tony Bouza failed why should we go down the same path of reform now?  The answer is that the Minneapolis Police Union and some rank and file officers fought the reforms tooth and nail and knew that they could out last a reformer who served at the pleasure of elected officials.  “Well,…” one would say, “…that is democracy and how accountability works”.  

The problem is the police have no such accountability.  We have known for generations what works to get police abuses under control and they are citizen review boards, changes in the qualified immunity law, require officers carry insurance and changing the rules of engagement for the use of deadly force and police chases.  These are the only things that will actually make a difference but as long as the abuses were affecting minorities and the poor, all we got was lip service and half-hearted attempts at reform that were never supported.  This is why structural reform is so important.

Have the courage to make the reforms necessary to insure equal protection and safety of all Minneapolitans, Vote Yes to Question 2.  Early voting begins September 17, 2021 and election day is November 2, 2021

The Economics of Mass Incarceration

GET VACCINATED

Music with a message from the James Montgomery Blues Band.  If you care about live music, getting vaccinated is something we all can do to restart the real gig economy.  The unvaccinated constitute most of the new cases and create conditions that greatly increases the chances of the virus mutating and keeping us in a constant state of pandemic.  Unless you have an underlying health condition which precludes you from taking the vaccine, please protect yourself, your loved ones and your fellow citizens and get vaccinated.

Lake of the Woods Walleye Fishing Out of the Riverview Resort with its Owner, Larry Cauble

There once was a modest fishing resort located on the Rainy River about 12 miles North of Baudette called the Riverview Resort.  Nothing fancy.  A collection of white washed cabins that served their purpose (i.e. a place to sleep).  The cabins were immaculately clean but came with few amenities other than a table to play cards or mix drinks and discuss the day's catch.  

The proprietor from 1973 until 1994 was a colorful Chicago transplant named Larry Cauble (photo on left and seated at table on left in above photo).  In the early 1960's Larry had come up from Chicago on his first fishing trip to Lake of the Woods and the rest, as they say, was history.  Larry moved to Lake of the Woods in 1963, part time at first and after saving enough money for the down payment on the resort, he quit his city job and left Chicago for good.  

Larry fished every chance he could and by acting as a guide for his favorite guests he got paid for doing something he loved.  It wasn't long before Larry earned a growing reputation for being one of the most knowledgeable guides on the lake.  By the time I met Larry in the late 1980's his reputation had grown to legendary status.  The other guides on Lake of the Woods referred to him as "Pappy" as in the father of all guides.  If the fishing was slow Larry always seemed to know of a spot where they were biting.  If you were lucky enough to be fishing on one of his launches you would spend the first hour or so trying to lose a flotilla of boats full of fishermen hoping to horn in on his hot spots and techniques.  While imitation is high praise the last thing you want if trying to catch fish is fleet of morons scaring your fish away.  Larry dealt with the problem in several ways.  

First, his launches had large inboard engines and were deceptively fast.  Once the flotilla of boats that trailed us up the Rainy River reached Wheeler's Point and entered Lake of the Woods, Larry cranked up his engines and ran full out for the first 45 minutes or so making for a very long, uncomfortable ride.  However, it produced the desired result and we would lose all but the fastest and most die hard tag-a-longs.  What really got under Larry's skin were people who thought they could save the cost of guide services and launch rental by bringing their own boats and tailing Larry. 

 For the persistent cling-ons or dingleberries, Larry's other favorite trick was to lead them to a sauger hot spot and start reeling them in one after another.  From a distance saugers look like a small walleye and people get caught up in the excitement of catching fish like that. 

 By the time the other boats realize it is nothing but saugers, Larry has quietly snuck off,  out of eyesight,  before opening it back up and running flat out until you are surrounded by nothing but water.  Like being on the ocean or one of the Great Lakes, you can go a long time without ever seeing a shoreline or other point of reference.

For the uninitiated, Lake of the Woods is a huge body of water located in the "cap" that juts out on Minnesota's Northern border with Canada.  When I say huge, Lake of the Woods boasts 65,000 miles of shoreline, 14,000 islands and over one million acres of water. It is known by those who fish as one of the finest walleye fisheries in the world. Once you fished Lake of the Woods and experience the prolific action and abundant catches first hand, you are ruined for life. The only other fishing experience I can compare it to is when I fished an indoor trout farm in Maryland.  You did not even have to use bait, just a naked hook and your catch was only limited by what you were willing  to pay, calculated by the pound.  

Fishing Lake of the Woods with Larry as your guide was nearly as easy and you also paid by the pound, for tackle.  The best spots to fish Walleye were rocky reefs and Larry would troll back and forth over them.  He would suggest what color lure to use, give you an approximate depth, then it was up to you to jig off the bottom without snagging the rocks, a nearly impossible feat.  Run out of tackle?  No problem.  Larry had a veritable tackle store on board his launch and I think he made almost as much money selling tackle as he made from guide services.

Don't get me wrong, although Larry was a businessman, he was generous to a fault.  While he did not suffer fools well, if he liked you, you were treated to special perks like a shore brunch of just caught walleye filets, battered and fried with onion rings on an open camp fire.  We jazzed it up with a case of champagne.  To this day I think that was about the best meal I have ever ate.

Vic Seiler, Larry Cauble and Plain Sense

Denny Freeman: The Guitarists' Guitarist Born: August 7, 1944 Died: April 25, 2021

If the name Denny Freeman means nothing to you, you must not play guitar.  Denny Freeman was the guitarists' guitarist.  Freeman had it all, tone, taste, versatility and the killer thing, he made it all look so easy and relaxed.  I once told a guitarist that his playing reminded me of Denny Freeman and he damn near cried saying "...that is the best compliment anyone has ever given me...".  From Taj Mahal to Bob Dylan, the greats got in line to ask Freeman to play in their band.  Dylan loved his playing so much he kept him for 4 years.  In fact, that is Freeman you hear on "Modern Times" the album that sparked one of Dylan's many come backs.

Born in Florida and grew up in Dallas, Freeman was one of a handful of Dallas blues players who blazed the trail to Austin.  Just how good was Freeman?  Let me put it this way, Freeman was the lead guitarist in a band called the Cobras.  The other guitarist in the band was a young kid named Stevie Ray Vaughn.

While Freeman made a career of making other people sound great, in 1997 he penned the greatest album title in the history of music:  "A Tone For My Sins".  Don't get it?  Ask a musician.

As God is my witness , one of the first things I was going to do was take a trip to Austin to see 4 of my favorite musicians/singers:  Lavelle |White, W.C. Clark, Alejandro Escovedo and Denny Freeman.  Sadly, I have one less reason to go to Austin.  Celebrate the talent of Denny Freeman by listening to one of my favorite guitar instrumentals of all time, "It's a Love Thing" from the before mentioned album, "A Tone for My Sins".  The talent in Heaven's House Band just got raised to a whole 'nuther level!  Rest in Peace Brother Denny.

Curtis Salgado's "Damage Control" Stands As Testament to A Storied Career

 There is an old saying “out of adversity comes opportunity”.  “Timing is everything” is another one.  "Tough times don't last , but tough people do", you get the picture.   If you are lucky and have perseverance, you can string together several of life’s truisms to create success.  Curtis Salgado has weathered numerous adversities and persevered to release a magnificent new cd that is easily the best blues/soul album of the year.

Almost to the day of our one-year anniversary of going into lockdown to fight a terrible pandemic that has darkened performance stages and taken a toll in human life reminiscent of the Dark Ages, comes some aural sunshine that goes well beyond mere “Damage Control”.  Call it luck or call it wisdom, but head alchemist and producer Curtis Salgado has conjured up a powerful set of original songs that, while highly personal, speak perfectly to the time we are in.  Leveraging his 40 years of experience and contacts in the industry, Salgado assembled three different groups of musician wizards, at three of the country’s finest studios adroitly tapping into the strengths of each, as called for by the collaborative material.  

The project was recorded at Ultratone Studios in Studio City , CA; Rock House Recordings in Nashville; and the  studio that is making San Jose the Muscle Shoals of the new millennium, Kid Anderson’s Greaseland.  With this amalgam of sessions and talent one could expect somewhat of a disjointed feel. Not to worry. Much credit, therefore,  goes to Sandy Solomon whose mix maintains a seamless feel to the  collection of nearly all original material that is both timely and timeless.

The disc opens with the poignant but joyous gospel like treatment entitled “The Longer That I Live”.  Considering Salgado has battled and survived liver and 2 bouts of lung cancer make this an inspirational anthem for our current times.  Salgado’s and co-writers Dave Duncan and Mike Finnegan’s songwriting here is simply superb.  Honest, direct and highly emotional, given Salgado’s back story, yet it never descends into self-pity but rather kicks things off with the joy and hope of someone happy to be alive.  When Salgado sings the first verse asking human-kind’s most profound question, it is clear he has given it serious thought: 

                        

                                “…What is the meaning of life?

                                    Well, I can’t talk philosophy

                                   I know that every new sunrise

                                       The more it dawns on me

                                            I may be getting’ old

                                          But I sure ain’t done yet

                                        Cause the longer that I live

                                           The older I want to get…”

Which is why his answer is so real and believable.  Even Bob Dylan would be envious of the way how Salgado perfectly captures the itinerant musician’s lament or creed:

“…You see, I’ve climbed the mountains high

And I’ve played the valley low

And for all the gigs I’ve done

I ain’t got much to show

Though I’m never slowin’ down

Until I play my final set…”

Salgado’s songwriting prowess is perhaps best exemplified on the disc’s third track, “Your Gonna Miss My Sorry Ass”.  Co-written with Alan Hagar, the song is an anti-cautionary tale from the criminal’s point of view with a refreshingly honest point of view expressed with smart, believable imagery worthy of a literary award.  I am by trade a criminal defense attorney who has many former clients as friends.  When I play this track for them they all get a big kick out of it and agree that Salgado and Hagar capture the sentiment with lyrics that smack of authenticity.

“My daddy was wild

He ran with bad men

He robbed a drugstore

With a filthy syringe

He got a nickel and a dime

In the state pen

And the warden said

He'd never last

Well, that wasn't true

Oh, the story instead

Yeah, three squares, a blanket

And a bunkbed

He did 15 years

Standing on his head

And parole

Came up fast

On his release

He turned to say

'I enjoyed myself a vacation stay

I made some new friends

Hell, we had a lot of laughs'…”

The Texas singer-songwriter crowd have nothing over Mr. Salgado.

There is so much to praise on this record I honestly don’t know where to begin or end so I will just give you some of my highlights.  “Precious Time” is one of several tracks that stands out as deserving heavy rotation on commercial radio.  Another track with a timely message, “Precious Time” has a great, sustained slide guitar line reminiscent of Lowell George and Bonnie Raitt interplaying with a nuanced B3 organ.  The following track, “Count of Three” reminds me of Elvis circa mid-60's where Elvis could take ordinary material and make it interesting and Curtis has the pipes to do the same on this playful number.  

The next track, "Always Say I Love You (At the End of Your Goodbyes) is a beautiful slow burn ballad which Salgado's performance gets just right in conveying a mixture of longing and pain.  "Hail Mighty Caesar" is a horn driven workout with the feel of a mid-80's Roomful of Blues number when Curtis was the lead vocalist (see photo below of Salgado and Roomful at Summerfest in Milwaukee.)   

"I Don't Do that No More" has Salgado channeling Delbert McClinton which is as good a compliment as any singer could get.  The songwriting again shines on the title cut "Damage Control" a beautiful mood piece with great interplay between the organ and George Benson-esqe guitar riffs.  Salgado shows off his versatility with genres with the help of Wayne Toups on "Truth Be Told", an upbeat zydeco workout.  

Salgado's collaborative songwriting prowess shines again on the disc's second to the last track, "The Fix Is In", a topical tale of life in America at a time when a growing number of Americans are watching the sun set on their American Dream.  I think one of the easiest (or laziest) things a songwriter can do is go topical and sing about the times they are living in.  Like the old adage that anyone can play the blues, but very few can play the blues well, anyone can go topical but very few singers or songwriters can go topical without the end product sounding hackneyed.  Salgado and Company again prove to be the exception to the rule with "The Fix Is In".  On this track Salgado plays the hip, but world weary protagonist,  a working man of the late baby boom generation.  Time after time the singer is sold a bill of goods under the guise of the American Dream only to have it snatched away again and again by the usual suspects:  the greed heads on Wall Street, unethical businessmen and crooked politicians.  The song's witty and intelligent lyrics capture perfectly the angst and fears of a generation, so much so it pissed me off the first several listens.

The well paced album leaves you feeling good though, thanks to the disc's only cover, a fresh and absolutely rollicking version of Larry Williams classic "Slow Down".

From fronting his own blues band in the late 60's, to vocalist in the early Robert 
Cray Band to lead vocalist in Roomful of Blues, to a successful solo career the last several decades, Curtis Salgado is by no means a new commodity.  The Portland, OR based vocalist's talent has been well known in the music industry but has escaped widespread national attention.  With the release of "Damage Control" those days are gone for good.

(Photo Credits, in order:  Jessica Keaveny, Laura Carbone and Plain Sense)