Author Archives: Jerry Grillo

This was a small-world story, though it has nothing to do with small worlds, but is one of my favorites (at least among those written for Atlanta magazine). The picture of my beautiful wife surrounded by balloons on a long-ago New Year’s Eve is part of the small-world story. To sum up quickly: Jane andContinueContinue reading “Gransden Band Story”

One reason that I’m glad the Atlanta Braves will be playing the Houston Astros in the World Series is purely nostalgic. The first Major League Baseball game I ever covered was Astros at Braves on my birthday in 1986. Got to meet Yogi Berra, who was a coach for the playoff-bound Astros at the time.ContinueContinue reading “Astros, Braves, Yogi, and The Hillside Tattler”

I’ve taken my son to more minor league baseball games than I can remember, but not enough to call it a day yet. We have many more to see. But we’ve only gone to two major league games together. The first time was when the Society for American Baseball Research held its annual meeting orContinueContinue reading “A Father-Son Baseball Tale”

The first time I saw and heard Yonrico Scott share his immense rhythmic gifts he was playing with Francine Reed at the Sautee Nacoochee Center, the same place where I first saw Col. Bruce Hampton perform. It’s one of those nice little Bruce synchronicities that seem more and more inevitable the older I get. BecauseContinueContinue reading “Yonrico’s Mighty Heart”

Sixty one is a lot of years to be alive, but not too many, and hopefully there are plenty of good ones left in the cosmic stash. The more spins I take around the sun on this big, rotating blue dance floor, the more I’m reminded of how melancholy and gratitude are such close danceContinueContinue reading “Gratitude and Faith at 61”

This is from my book, The Music and Mythocracy of Col. Bruce Hampton: A Basically True Biography. It tells the story of how Bruce got back into making albums, thanks mainly to Michael Rothschild and Landslide Records (which is celebrating its 40th anniversary with the release of a new album, this one here). Michael basicallyContinueContinue reading “Creating a Landslide”

“The Natural” is one of my go-to movies when I’m “stuck inside” for a spell. So much going on in that screen story, so many great characters, so beautiful to look at, and so many wonderful lines. This Robert Redford movie (directed by Barry Levinson) captures much of the novel’s depth and mythology, though itContinueContinue reading ““The Natural” Goes Deep to Clean the Slate”

Col. Bruce Hampton used to talk a lot about taking the music “out.” He was even in a movie by Mike Gordon called “Outside Out.” In fact, “out” was the direction Bruce was moving in all of the time, like skin cells on their doomed outward migration to the skin surface. Way out. The epilogueContinueContinue reading “Let the Starving Braineaters Feed Your Ears”

You’ve been talkin’, workin’ out your deal; let’s sit down, make this thing real. I said I wanted to be your friend, and you find ways to make it end. I feel – I feel like Shoeless Joe; I feel, yeah, Lord I feel like Joe. – Bruce Hampton Those lyrics are from the songContinueContinue reading “In the Footsteps of Shoeless Joe”

“Lady of Paradise is checking you out. Educated guess: She’s with the Count.” — Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit I didn’t know that Count M’Butu’s given first name was Harold until a few months before he died (which he did early Sunday morning, June 25). I always thought it was Larry. ButContinueContinue reading “How the Band got the Count”