No poker here:

Probably my favorite artist of all time died on Christmas morning.

James Brown was a very celebrated figure, but I don’t think people realize the incredible wealth of amazing music he made, or just how influencial a figure he was.  Endless sampling aside–without James Brown, hip hop as we know it, both the music and the culture–does not exist.

Also, James Brown was the best non-jazz bandleader in American music history.  Music fans love to talk about bands who “jam.”  In fact, an entire genre now bears that label.  But half those retarded granola bands don’t know what jamming is.  James Brown’s bands JAMMED.  The JB’s throwaway songs–the studio work that didn’t make the cut–are uniformly better “jams” than anything you’ll hear at a Galactic concert.  Not too many people have heard this music.  They know about his hit singles, but there was much, much more.  His band simply sizzled.  And James ran the show, of course.  All that amazing music, decades worth, was the product of James Brown’s mind.

He was obviously a troubled individual but that should not diminish his star.  R.I.P.