The Sticks And The Fedora

Sidney Bulkin, well known bebop, jazz drummer, music publisher and producer, formerly nicknamed’ Broadway Sid,’ voted one of the 10 top new star drummers in the New York Downbeat Awards. died of a heart attack in North Hollywood, CA March 1, 2008. He was 83.

Sid was born on August 3, 1924 in the Bronx, New York, the youngest of three children. His Father was an iron worker from Russia and mother, an immigrant from Poland. Sid started playing drums when he was 13 years old and was in the Army Air Force during World War II in England. After the war, he launched is musical career at Times Square Paramount Theater in NY working with all the stars: Billy Eckstine, Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Vic Damone, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Rosemary Clooney, Vikki Carr, Judy Garland, Jane Russell, Benny Goodman, Terry Gibbs, Ralph Flanagan, Manny Harmon, Johnny Mandel, Maynard Ferguson, Quincy Jones, Johnny Williams, Don Elliot, Bob Florance, Pat Longo, and countless others. He produced the first All Star Band and Jazz Album at Birdland featuring Maynard Ferguson. Recently, he produced Pat Longo’s ‘Extreme Heat’ with his long time friend Vic Damone.

During the 50’s he recorded on Columbia records with Benny Goodman’s new sextet, on Mercury Record with Terry Gibbs, on Verve Records, on Jasmine records a Big Band " A Tribute to Glenn Miller" with Ralph Flanangan, Maynard Ferguson’s first All Star Album, on Savoy records, on Verve Records Cat on a Hot Fiddle, Jazztime with Terry Gibbs and the list goes on and on and on with Johnny Carsons Tonight show, The Steve Allen Show, Dinah Shore’s TV show.

In 1957, he and his wife embraced the teachings of the Baha’i Faith and opened their Burbank home weekly for 20 years with children’s classes, youth activities and adult discussions about the influence of the Baha’i faith on present day society.

Sidney will be remembered as a great drummer and creative producer who loved music more than life, for his dynamic personality and great sense of humor, and his whole-hearted dedication to the Baha’i Faith. Sid was one of a cadre of Baha’i artists in the entertainment industry along with Dizzy Gillespie, Doc Holiday and Vic Damone, he labored insistently to promote the ideal of love and unity of all mankind.

Sidney was a devoted father to his three children and a loving grandfather to his nine grandchildren. He is also survived by his older brother and sister.

My uncle Sid died on March 1, 2008. He was 83 years old, and a pretty cool dude. I think of him in many ways as my father figure, especially since I dated a number of Jewish drummers in my time!


The funeral and party afterward at the Sportsman's Lodge, was phenomenal, especially considering the occasion. It was more like a belated birthday party to Sid than it was a funeral.


My uncle was a musician, pretty much all of his life. He was not my blood uncle, but an uncle by marriage to my mother's sister, Joan. Sid came from a Russian/Polish Jewish background, and Joan came from an Irish Catholic/Norwegian Lutheran background (although my grandmother converted to Catholic after marrying my grandfather.) Sid and Joan met in Las Vegas, where I was born. Sid used to like to tell me his first date with Joan was babysitting me, but I am not 100% sure if that really was their first date (although I am sure they babysat my sister and I from time to time.)



My grandmother was the matriarch of our family, and Sid's mother was his pride and joy. We called them Grandma Kelly and Grandma Bulkin! I got a healthy dose of Jewish history from Sid and his end of the family, including learning a ton of Yiddish!


Sid was the only parental unit I knew that showed up to the dinner table (dinner was a 6:00 p.m., SHARP) in a tuxedo. Sid would often go to work after dinner, and return from his gig at 2ish a.m. I was a teenager went I went to live with Sid and Joan (and my three cousins), and I did not hit the sheets usually until after Sid would come home from work. Back in those days, lots of us smoked cigarettes under the age of 18, and many of us smoked at home. When Sid would return, I'd generally be watching television in the TV room, and he'd sit down next to me, bum a ciggie, and we'd watch TV till I usually got tired enough to go to bed.


When Sid would wake up in the morning, he'd be in his very recognizable signature trademark, the bathrobe, usually in the kitchen with a cup of coffee (in that damn gold mug) and a ciggie in his other hand, pondering. Sometimes his pondering would end in the telling of a funny joke. Sometimes his pondering would end with a statement of something rather off beat and spiritual. Sometimes his pondering would end his putting the cup of coffee down, and tapping out a rhythm he was hearing in syncopation to the washing machine noise in the background. Which probably explains why I used to have fun finding the harmonies to the sound of the vacuum cleaner (laughs - but true).


When I bought season tickets to the Dodgers back in the 1980's (and had them through to the strike in 1994, although I eventually bought into a miniplan with a friend of mine, and had four seats we split up), Sid would call ... "Mel, you got any Giant games for me to go to?" How I wish I had the foresight to tape Sid's voice messages, for as Leslie and the rest of the family know, he left some doosies!


We went to a number of ball games in the 1990's, and I even had one of my work partners go to a game with him, since they both grew up in the Bronx and were Giant fans from the old days.


Sid was an amazing drummer, and to watch him play was something. He turned into a different person when he got behind his set. And he was constantly sought after for emergency fill in on the television shows because he was very good at "cold readings." He could play any chart without a rehearsal and bring it in on time.


I was sad the first day I found out about his death, but he was 83 and lived a great life. Although, he has an older sister, Dottie and an older brother, Harry, they were sad to see their younger sibling pass before them.
I eventually got into a zone, and felt that Sid would rather we crack jokes and have a good party, eat some great food and talk about him. So that's what we did.

My aunt (Joan), me and Zaire (my grandson)


Les, me and Kel

Gary, and Kel's husband, Jerry

RIP, Sid. I created Sid Bulkin's Jazz House to highlight and honor Sid's musical career. Here at my blog, I want to highlight more of the funeral with some video and pictures.

Made In The U.S.A. -- Not!

You know, if you tried to look at the label of everything you have in your home, from your clothes, bedsheets, towels, underwear, personal products, toilet paper, etc., etc., etc., you will find that probably 90% of the products were made in China, Indonesia, Guatemala, Canada, Mexico, Micronesia, etc., etc., etc.

Yeah, free trade agreements really worked out for American business and workers ... oh, my bad, for the SMALL American businesses and their workers. The big guys (yeah, you know what corporations you are) make out like bandits, with 1,000 % mark-ups, anyway.

Doesn't it bother you that even your "Swiffer" products are made in Canada, Viet Nam, and China, not the U.S.A.?

The Long And Winding Road!

Ten more hits on the blog, and I'll reach 10,000!

Starbucks, Live and Learn

Starbucks is revamping, finally. And getting rid of the Breakfast Jack or whatever the fuck it was they started serving!

Originally, I hated Starbucks, mostly because of their business practices. I started out with espresso bars in the late 1970's, and by 1981, almost bought one in Cardiff (which is still there, and I kick myself in the ass every time I think about it). In 1984, I worked a friend of mine's place, The Go Between, in Silverlake (shout out to Deborah whom I haven't seen since then, and ran into at my uncle's funeral a couple weeks ago -- post on the funeral coming up over the weekend). Starbucks would open a shop up right next door to a competitor, for god's sake, and drive the independent out of business!

However, all of my travels in the late 90's and early 21st century presented a dilemma .. how to get the same damn quad espresso, half caf, over ice? I cannot tell you how many times I simply threw the drink in the garbage in front of the person who made it for me! I mean, come on, how hard is it to pull four shots, two of them decaf? And how many of those places actually bought cheap ass espresso beans? Sheesh. Finally, I had to cede to Starbucks. It didn't matter if I was in Atlanta, New York, Denver, Detroit, any fucking city in Florida, or even Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (which, by the way, my friends swore no Starbucks existed, but I found one!), I got the same damn cup of coffee ... four shots, two decaf, over ice! And it tasted the same everywhere (although it didn't cost the same, cough cough).

Yeah, in recent years, Starbucks turned into the Wal Mart of coffee, but glad to see they are going back to their roots. My bad for converting, but hey, I'd kill for good coffee, damn it!

Parle Vous Francais?

In a 2-1 vote, a Commission on Human Relations panel found that two signs at Geno's Steaks telling customers, "This is America: WHEN ORDERING 'PLEASE SPEAK ENGLISH,'" do not violate the city's Fair Practices Ordinance.

Shop owner Joe Vento has said he posted the signs in October 2005 because of concerns over immigration reform and an increasing number of people in the area who could not order in English.

And the Americans complain that when in Paris, they are discriminated against because they ... gasp... don't speak French?

There are times I'm truly ashamed to be an American citizen. At least those that don't speak English can walk across the street and eat at that "other" cheesesteak place (ha ha ha).

Obama Speech Viewed 1.3 million times

I don't belong to any party, Democratic, Republican, Independent, Progressive, or otherwise. I am a die hard liberal, though, and for the most part, I have voted a democratic ticket.

I wasn't going to say much about the Obama/Hillary war, especially since I don't particularly like either one of them. Hillary I despise because she is the antithesis of the Democratic party and is just a corporate shill. She even took money from Rupert Murdoch, for god's sake. Obama I haven't been fond of because his time in the Senate just hasn't been filled with much to speak of. Yeah, he can give a good speech, as they say, but what else.

However, over that last few months, with all the primaries and caucuses, it has become patently clear that Obama has the nomination in the bag, and the Clintons, Hillary and Bill, are turning out to be more like Republican thugs than true Democratic party representatives.

Apparently that last speech of Obama's was the nail in the coffin for Hillary. It seems it has been YouTubed about 1.3 million times! And that is pretty amazing for a 45 minute speech, especially a political one.

I have to speak up and agree with the masses that have indicated Hillary should concede the nomination to Obama, and not wreck the Democratic party, which is slowly just beginning to find its spine.

Thriller, Gecko Style

I love this commercial (although the one currently running is a tad different).

Me And Mr. Jones

This is my favorite song by Amy. I miss her huge ass band backing her up, but all of those videos that were available before her five grammys, disappeared. This is still a great song, and now that she's not slurring her words, you can actually understand the song.

Dancing With Cartoon Characters

The "original" with Gene Kelly and Jerry, the mouse.



Here's Paula's version.



Both were about combining animation and live action, and both involved dancing.

I've enjoyed both versions, but many people never really understood where Paula came up with this theme.

"Thriller" In The Streets -- P.S., my 1,300th post

I think these videos are great. I realize it's a Sony promotion, but they are still fun videos.

Well, I'll Be Darned, House Passes FISA Bill W/Out Telecom Immunity!

Virtually every one I know who has expended lots of efforts and energy on these FISA and telecom issues has assumed from the start -- for reasons that are all too well-known -- that we would lose. And we still might. But it's hard to deny that the behavior we're seeing from House Democrats is substantially improved, quite commendably so, as compared to the last year and even before that. It's very rare when there are meaningful victories and I think it's important to acknowledge when they happen.

As Gomer Pyle would say, surprise, surprise! Glenn Greenwald aptly states, though, there still could be a cave-in at some point in the future, but most of us die hards were convinced the House would never defy the BushBots.

I Smell The Dem Cave

The chairman, Representative Silvestre Reyes, Democrat of Texas, said in an interview on CNN that the committee had been talking to the companies “because if we’re going to give them blanket immunity, we want to know and understand what it is we’re giving immunity for.”

God, if there ever was a reason for creating firewater, I so understand it, now.

A One Mile Run At The 2008 L.A. Marathon

Ok, so the video really sucks! Hell, I'm 55 AND running for like the first time since high school AND aiming a camera! Next year, I'm hiring a professional crew. Of course, it's not the grandkid that is going to need training this next year, damn it! Boy, I could barely make the one mile. The grandkid? You can see how far ahead of me he was!

One of the wierdest juxtapositions was being in the heart of Koreatown and the music, live no less, was a damn mariachi band (whose lead singer was so tone deaf, I wondered how they got this gig in the first place!)