Jazzin'

By Tim Roberts

Yes, I'm writing this during an episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire . . . and I don't even have the TV on. Since it's slithering through your cable system/infecting the airwaves/hammering down to the planet via satellite (pick your means of receiving TV shows) almost every night of the week, it's safe to say that you cannot go through an entire day without having some reference made to it, either directly ("Didja see that clod on Millionaire last night? Didn't know the color of the jewel inside Brittany Spears' navel ring. Sheesh!") or sublimated (Foreman: "Your honor, we have reached a verdict." Judge: "Is it your final answer?").

So just to make your total Millionaire experience complete, I'm putting the only (and I do mean ONLY) reference to it in this column in this newspaper. There. It's out of my system. I'll leave it up to the consciences of my other LMN colleagues to decide if they want to inflict a touch of viral Millionaire-itis on you as well. (Absolutely not: Ed.) And that's my final answer.

Some jazz dates to keep in mind for March:

You can catch Splatch on March, 5 at Sparks on Main Street at 11 p.m., and a week later on March 12 at Clifton's at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free. Will their long-promised and overdue follow-up CD be released on a major or local label? Check back here to find out.

The Java Men will play at Twice Told on Friday, March 17. Keyboardist Todd Hildreth's other project, Etrio, now has a regular gig. You can see them Tuesday night's from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Highland Coffee on Bardstown Road in the Tyler Park Center (the small shopping center that also contains Blockbuster Video and a Great Harvest bread store).

Lil Gascoyne, president of the Louisville Jazz Society, passed along some information on an upcoming shows James Williams, Christian McBride, and Billy Higgins will stop by the Comedy Caravan for a performance on Monday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. No information on tickets just yet. Call the Comedy Caravan at 452-6520 for more information.

"Jazzin'" columnist Tim Roberts would like to be a millionaire. He just doesn't want to be part of a dopey, overdramatic game show (but he will take donations). You can send your jazz-related dispatches to tim@troberts.win.net, or to his attention to the editorial offices of Louisville Music News.