MetalJazz

I've been putting together a story on new musical fusions -- the increasing overlap of metal and jazz -- for a few months, and it'll be in this Sunday's LA Times. Feel free to comment.

SUNDAY UPDATE: Now that it's out, I might as well include the link, here.

Also I have an interview with metal darkfather Glenn Danzig in the August Spin. It turned out quite well I think, and the pix are good. You will be able to guess which little parts I didn't write.

Funny thing about that interview: There's always something a little counter-vibrational when Danzig is involved: He's the only artist who makes me want to cross myself and sing "I Saw the Light." As much as I like him and his music, I've interviewed him a few times, and things go wrong. One time my car was stolen. Another time I got sick.

This time I wanted to make sure I was in plenty of time, so I projected my arrival at the interview restaurant for 15 minutes early. Then I got in my car, looked at the car clock, and noticed that it was 45 minutes ahead of my watch, which had stopped for that long and mysteriously started again. So I was nearly a half-hour late.

Danzig was totally cool about it. But then the restaurant was dark, and I had not brought my glasses (which I don't normally need). So I could barely read the list of questions, which, between my own and Spin's, was about a yard long. My hands were shaking, and I could barely stick a fork in my chicken vindaloo, even though I felt totally comfortable with Danzig, as always.

Believe it or not, I am not normally a fuck-up. At all. But Danzig saved it. Because of his offhand Jersey manner, I didn't even realize till I did the transcription how penetrating and entertaining his rap was -- saying nu-metal was "the Tiffany of metal," things like that. There could have been another whole interview just as good and just as long using the outtakes. So Mr. D: thanks.