other kings have also died

hank mobley died broke in a one room flat in philly. gene ammons had over seven years of his life taken away, thrown in prison for the "crime" of being addicted to drugs. wardell grey was found dead in a vegas river, lying still, with a broken neck. rudy lewis, lead singer for the drifters, was found dead in a hotel, supposedly of a heroin overdose, shortly before he was to start a solo career. sam cooke was robbed by a white woman, and then murdered by a black woman who claimed to not know who he was. this was the same cooke who refused to work for the mob, was starting his own own record label, and had recently recorded a change is gonna come. jackie wilson suffered a heart attack on stage shortly before he was to testify against his manager on corruption charges in the record industry. i can't even speak to what happened to such jazz greats as wilber harden, gene quill, wade legge, john jenkins, and many more, fine players all, who seemingly fell off the map, because they lived in a society that didn't appreciate their talents.

as far as tragic deaths go, what of eric dolphy, dead at 36, who was forced to leave the country for lack of steady work? or of booker little, gone at 23, and clifford brown, dead at 25? we lost charlie parker at 34, john coltrane at 40, lenny bruce at 39. marley, hendrix, joplin, fats navarro, all gone way too early.

many of these men left little but their art. dolphy would often give a struggling musician his last twenty, despite being hard up himself. nothing against certain pop icons, but i wouldn't trade one listen of out there for the entire canon of their work. and yet, how many of us have listened?

the point is, tragedy is nothing new. it has befallen many a brilliant artist, just as it has the entire populations of iraq and afghanistan, if you dig the point. the problem with us isn't that we care too much, but that we care too selectively. we practice selective compassion, and our tears often go where they are not most needed. we build up heroes, only to destroy them. all the while, we ignore our real artists.

there is a tragedy to it all. it's built into our society. it's in how we relate to each other. it's in our concept of culture, and our obsession with celebrity. it's in the obscene amounts of money we pay certain entertainers, and the tragic indifference we show toward our truly great performers. it's in our sick media, which today had such subtle headlines as "fade to blacko" and "dead," all the while ignoring or justifying the carnage our military brings to helpless scapegoats half a world away.

the tragedy is so deeply embedded that it is beyond fixing. there really is little left to do, but put the music on and admire beauty. and to wonder at the ongoing insanity of it all.

today is a sad day.

they all are.