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Thursday, 22 September 2011
1. Brain Scans Let Computer Reconstruct Movie Scenes
New York Times Online (*requires registration)
September 22, 2011
New York (AP) — It sounds like science fiction: While volunteers watched movie clips, a scanner watched their brains. And from their brain activity, a computer made rough reconstructions of what they viewed.
Scientists reported that result Thursday and speculated such an approach might be able to reveal dreams and hallucinations someday.
In the future, it might help stroke victims or others who have no other way to communicate, said JACK GALLANT, A NEUROSCIENTIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, and co-author of the paper.
He believes such a technique could eventually reconstruct a dream or other made-up mental movie well enough to be recognizable. But the experiment dealt with scenes being viewed through the eyes at the time of scanning, and it's not clear how much of the approach would apply to scenes generated by the brain instead, he said.
People shouldn't be worried about others secretly eavesdropping on their thoughts in the near future, since the technique requires a person to spend long periods in an MRI machine, he noted....
The new work was published online Thursday by the journal Current Biology. It's a step beyond previous work that produced similar results with still images....
[This story appeared in dozens of sources worldwide, including the Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times, and Sacramento Bee. Others appeared in the Telegraph (UK), Discovery News, U.S. News & World Report, Daily Mail (UK), New Scientist Online, Scientific American Online, Voice of America Online, and ABC Online] Full Story
2. New Understanding of How Humans and the Environment Interact
National Science Foundation Grants Awarded for Research on Coupled Natural and Human Systems
Health Canal
September 21, 2011
Water quality and environmental health in Botswana; wetlands in a working landscape; the collapse of the ancient Maya and what that has to tell us about society and environmental change today.
These and other projects that address how humans and the environment interact are the focus of $21 million in National Science Foundation (NSF) grants to scientists, engineers and educators across the country to study coupled natural and human systems...
2011 Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH) Awards
...Wetlands in a Working Landscape: Links Among Landowner Decisions, Climate, Disease Ecology and Metapopulation Dynamics
STEVEN BEISSINGER, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY
Researchers will look at ecological and social processes in wetlands in the agricultural areas and rangelands of the Sierra Foothills of California, with a special emphasis on understanding how landowner practices, attitudes and perceptions of wetlands have affected wetlands' number, size and distribution. The scientists will also study mosquito populations, the prevalence of West Nile Virus and the black rail, which is a threatened bird species in these California wetlands....
Interactive Dynamics of Wildlife Populations, Human Health and Household Wealth in Rural Africa
JUSTIN BRASHARES, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY
Scientists will integrate ecology, economics, sociology and public health to understand and predict how human health and household wealth affect human reliance on biodiversity. The research will take place at nine rural sites in Ghana, Kenya and Madagascar... Full Story
3. Medical Unit Blog: Fukushima Fallout in California Waters: A Threat?
ABC Online
September 21, 2011
The radioactive fallout from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant accident has spread as far as California waters, according to SCIENTISTS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY.
But although the level of radioactivity in the water was higher than normal, they said, it was still very low and not harmful to humans.
“The levels of fallout we have observed in San Francisco Bay area rain water pose[d] no health risk to the public,” wrote the study authors, led by ERIC B. NORMAN OF UC BERKELEY’S DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING....
Scientists also found radioactive material in samples of weeds, vegetables and milk sold in the area, but those levels were also very low.
While people have no reason to fear these findings, [Dr. Nagy Elsayyad, assistant professor of radiation oncology at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine] understands why people worry when they hear about elevated levels of radiation. The health effects of being exposed to radiation can be very serious, and include organ damage and cancer.
“It’s deeply ingrained in our culture that radiation is harmful,” he said. ”I wouldn’t blame people for being worried, but it’s important to make it clear that these results show the water is safe.” Full Story
4. Cannabis Coffee Shops: Should America Adopt Dutch Marijuana Regulations?
Huffington Post
September 20, 2011
A new study by U.C. BERKELEY LAW AND POLICY PROFESSOR ROBERT MACCOUN explores whether the United States would benefit from regulating cannabis like the Dutch. MacCoun examined the effects of the drug on Dutch society over the course of more than 30 years and discovered that America might have a lot to learn from what he dubs "quasi-legalization."
In the Netherlands, proprietors of such coffee shops sell marijuana in limited quantities to adults over the age of 18. They don't offer alcohol or tobacco products on the premises, and advertising is strictly prohibited. While cannabis use remains technically illegal under Dutch law, the law also states that officials cannot take action against those who sell or use marijuana in designated coffee shops.
"It's essentially legalization, but it's slightly ambiguous," MacCoun told The Huffington Post. He explained that despite the ubiquity of the coffee shop model, Dutch authorities have still managed to remain successful in enforcing against high-level trafficking, which keeps pot prices relatively high. "In a full legalization model, the price would drop substantially," MacCoun said, "and you'd see bigger increases in use."
On the other hand, MacCoun's findings suggest that "quasi-legalization" doesn't yield increases in pot smoking. ...
MacCoun said he believes the United States would ultimately benefit most from a model that would relax marijuana laws without big price drops. "Marijuana prohibition is expensive, intrusive and ineffective," he said. "I lean toward policies that emphasize harm reduction. We should reduce the harm of both drug use and drug policies."
[An interview with Professor MacCoun appeared in the East Bay Express. Other stories appeared in Miller-McCune and Reason] Full Story
5. Fall Free for All: Cal Performances offers 25 acts
San Francisco Chronicle
September 22, 2011
The only trouble with an event like Cal Performances' Fall Free for All is that you just can't do it all.
CAL PERFORMANCES — the organization that brings world-class artists to UC BERKELEY'S ZELLERBACH HALL — is offering a day of music, dance and theater. More than 25 performances, all free.
Acts range from classical pianist Sarah Cahill to BATS Improv to "Glee" star Jane Lynch, reading from her new book, "Happy Accidents."
"It's Cal Performances' way of saying to everyone in the East Bay, 'Come get to know us,'" DIRECTOR MATIAS TARNOPOLSKY said.
Young children may especially like the events in the student union's Pauley Ballroom: Los Cenzontles at 11 a.m. (a modern take on Mexican roots music), the Pi Clowns at 1 p.m. and Melanie DeMore's Community Sing at 5 p.m., as well the Fratello Marionettes in Wheeler Auditorium at 4 p.m.
But that's not to say kids won't also love Wayne Wallace's Latin Jazz Quintet or Kitka's vocal music from Eastern Europe or the New Century Chamber Orchestra with violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg....
Dance fans can catch Kathryn Roszak's Danse Lumiere, performing "Pensive Spring: A Portrait of Emily Dickinson" at 11 a.m., the AXIS Dance Company at 1 p.m. and the high-energy CK Ladzekpo West African Music and Dance Ensemble at 3 p.m.
UC BERKELEY STUDENT GROUPS will perform at outdoor locations throughout the day, which are suitable for dropping in. The indoor performances are meant to be enjoyed for the full 45 minutes....
11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun. Free. UC Berkeley campus, Zellerbach Hall and other locations, Berkeley. (510) 642-9988. www.calperformances.org. Full Story
6. Hikers Shane Bauer, Joshua Fattal freed by Iran
San Francisco Chronicle
September 22, 2011
Berkeley — In what family members described as "the best day of our lives," two UC BERKELEY GRADUATES were freed Wednesday in exchange for $1 million after spending more than two years in Iran, where they were jailed as alleged U.S. spies and exploited as political pawns.
The release of freelance journalist SHANE BAUER and his friend JOSHUA FATTAL, who flew to Oman with diplomats from that country and Switzerland, came a day before Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was scheduled to speak at the U.N. General Assembly in New York....
In Muscat, the capital of Oman, on the Arabian Peninsula, a party that traveled to meet the men's flight included Bauer's parents and two sisters and Fattal's parents and brother.
Also on hand was SARAH SHOURD, 33, who was detained with the men while on a hiking expedition that took them just across the Iranian border on July 31, 2009. Just before Iran released her last September, she accepted a makeshift engagement ring from Bauer, fashioned of string....
At UC Berkeley, BAUER MAJORED IN PEACE AND CONFLICT STUDIES WITH A MINOR IN ARABIC, and traveled to Sudan's war-torn Darfur region at one point to research a thesis. After SHOURD GRADUATED WITH A MAJOR IN ENGLISH, she tutored middle-school students in Berkeley and later did some writing from the Middle East.
Bauer and FATTAL, WHO MAJORED IN ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS AND POLICY, once taught a student-run class called "Liberation and reality: moving toward a collective autonomy."
"They had no political agenda. They wanted to embrace the world, and they had a love of Arab culture," [Sandy Close, executive director of New America Media] said....
[Stories on this topic appeared in hundreds of sources worldwide, including the New York Times & International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News, and Associated Press. Broadcast stories aired on NBC, ABC, CBS, and PBS NewsHour—link to videos] Full Story
7. Hikers' readjustment may be tough
Oakland Tribune
September 21, 2011
Oakland — For American hikers and UC BERKELEY GRADUATES SHANE BAUER and JOSH FATTAL, the realization of their recently gained freedom may take a while to sink in. The process of readjustment could be tough and painful....
The challenges of coming home for Bauer and Fattal may manifest in a variety of ways. The long-term nature of the ordeal means the trauma will be deeply embedded in their memories.
As they readjust to freedom, anything that reminds them of their captivity could become what psychologists call a "trigger," or something that takes them back to their time in Iran's Evin prison and reignites the experience....
By most accounts, Evin ranks as one of the world's loneliest and scariest prisons. Maziar Bahari, a Newsweek correspondent who was detained at Evin for 118 days in 2009, was routinely beaten by professional torturers, called "specialists," and came to fear the sound of other cell doors opening because it signaled the arrival of a torturer.
SARAH SHOURD, Bauer's fiancee and former prisonmate at Evin, also recounted how her jailers took her clothes and her glasses, and questioned her relentlessly for many of her 410 days in captivity.
"It's hard for me to go back and think about life as it was before," she recounted in The Daily Beast, an online news magazine. "I'm a changed person."...
The worst possible outcome would be for Bauer and Fattal to become ensnared in the grip of a media all too eager to turn them into heroes. "The worst thing that could happen is that they become celebrities around this," Everly said. "All that does is reinforce their victim role."
Bauer and Fattal do have one strong advantage. They were traveling as journalists, which may mean they'll have a different, and perhaps more flexible, perspective on their own captivity.... Full Story
8. Editorial: Cruel hikers episode reflects poorly on Iran
San Francisco Chronicle
September 22, 2011
After on-and-off drama, Iran has released a pair of young American hikers facing eight year prison stretches on unfounded charges of espionage. Their true plight was to fall into Tehran's hands as hostages in a diplomatic tug-of-war with Washington.
For two years, SHANE BAUER and JOSH FATTAL have endured Iranian lockups, and their release is a blessing for themselves, their families and notions of justice. Their freedom was cynically timed to coincide with a U.N. speech by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the better to suffuse him with a humanitarian glow.
No one should be fooled by this charade. The two — and a third companion, SARAH SHOURD, released last year because of illness — were held after wandering across a poorly marked border on a day hike. The three, FRIENDS FROM STUDENT DAYS AT UC BERKELEY, were nothing close to stealthy spies, a depiction that led to hard sentences based on no evidence....
The injustice of their ordeal is clear. Their jailing was meant to prolong and incite poor relations with the United States. This harsh strategy backfired as time dragged on and international human rights groups joined other nations in condemning the case....
A trumped-up case is finally finished. Iranians, though, must wonder about a government that allowed this cruel and bizarre episode to happen. Full Story
9. Op-Ed: AB101 would help stabilize child care system
San Francisco Chronicle
September 22, 2011
Parents need the infrastructure of reliable, affordable child care to work productively, just as they need highways and roads and public transportation. But this critical part of California's infrastructure is at risk.
While the state subsidizes the child care expenses of 300,000 children, there are nearly 200,000 children on waiting lists. Additionally, California's child care providers are leaving the industry — last year alone, 5,700 family child care providers closed their small businesses.
A bill that could help stabilize home-based family child care, Assembly Bill 101, awaits Gov. Jerry Brown's signature. It would authorize child care providers to choose whether to be represented by a union, giving them a voice in important decisions that affect quality, training and the ability to effectively run their small businesses....
Access to early care and education enables parents, especially mothers, to go to work. ... Studies have repeatedly found that a reliable child care system increases businesses' bottom lines by improving worker productivity, reducing absenteeism and decreasing staff turnover.
Research has also shown that high-quality early care and education can help lay a foundation for a child's future academic success, thereby fostering the development of a productive workforce that can meet the future needs of California's economy....
Allowing providers a stronger voice in the early care and education system would benefit the small business owners who provide care, the families who rely on the system and the California economy as a whole....
[Laurel Lucia was also quoted in an Oakland North blog] Full Story
10. Taxing the wealthy: Diving into the rich pool
Imposing higher tax rates on the wealthy can have unintended consequences
Economist
September 24, 2011
Washington, DC — Asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton, a hold-up artist of some accomplishment during America’s Depression, answered simply: “Because that’s where the money is.” Advanced economies that have piled up debts are eyeing their rich for similar reasons. The way to begin filling holes in the budget, many suggest, is by extracting more from those who have done best. This week Barack Obama proposed paying for new stimulus measures and deficit cuts by reforming the tax system to ensure that millionaires do not pay a lower tax rate than middle-class families.
Mr Obama’s reform is based on the “Buffett rule”, so named after Warren Buffett, a folksy billionaire who publicly scorns a system that allows him to enjoy an effective tax rate that is less than his secretary’s. A growing number of the rich appear to agree....
A recent paper by Henrik Jacobsen Kleven of the London School of Economics, Camille Landais of Stanford University and EMMANUEL SAEZ OF BERKELEY examined responses to tax variation among top football players. They found that after the European football market was liberalised in 1995 countries with higher tax rates attracted fewer foreign stars and their domestic leagues’ performance was poorer. Spain adopted the so-called “Beckham law” in 2005 (named after Britain’s David Beckham who had joined Real Madrid), which gave preferential tax status to foreigners living in Spain. Thereafter, Spain’s share of top foreign players rose sharply and diverged from that in Italy, which had followed a similar trend. Footballers may be more mobile than most, but there is likely to be some effect from tax rates on where the most talented individuals locate....
A surprisingly difficult question to answer is how tax changes affect long-run economic growth. Economies are constantly buffeted by changes—booms and busts, random shocks and demographic trends among them. These complications obscure the effect of lone tax changes. ...
To overcome such complicating distractions, CHRISTINA AND DAVID ROMER, TWO ECONOMISTS AT BERKELEY, use a narrative approach. They pore over historical documents to work out why tax shifts were made. When they find reforms adopted primarily to boost long-run growth, and not to fix a flagging or overheating economy, they add them to their sample. Studying those changes alone gives a cleaner picture of the effect of tax reform.
In the short to medium term, tax changes have large effects. An isolated tax increase of 1% reduces real GDP by almost 3%, mostly because tax rises have a significant effect on investment. (The negative impact of tax increases is smaller when the explicit goal is deficit-reduction, but still present.) The impact on growth is relatively persistent; the greatest effect is felt more than two years after the change. A similar narrative study of British tax changes produces comparable results. Beyond the first few years, it is hard to draw conclusions.... Full Story
11. Carmaking in America: A sadder, wiser union
GM has reached a realistic deal with its blue-collar union. But bigger struggles lie ahead for both
Economist
September 24, 2011
Detroit — Two years ago General Motors (GM) went bankrupt. High labour costs, short-sighted management and global economic turmoil forced what was once America’s mightiest firm to seek refuge from its creditors. Only a federal bail-out saved GM from the scrapheap. Now, after a dramatic restructuring, the company is in reasonable shape, but another recession could sideswipe it.
Small wonder the United Auto Workers union (UAW) is less truculent than before. On September 20th, as the UAW and GM unveiled a remarkably modest four-year pay agreement, union bosses stressed their commitment to helping GM prosper....
The UAW is being reasonable partly because it wants to keep GM competitive, but also because it dreams of persuading workers at foreign transplants to unionise, says HARLEY SHAIKEN, A LABOUR EXPERT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY. Mr Shaiken thinks this is fairly likely, so long as Ford and Chrysler reach similarly amicable deals with the UAW.... Full Story
12. U.A.W. Shelves Chrysler Talks and Turns to Ford
New York Times & International Herald Tribune (*requires registration)
September 21, 2011
Detroit — The United Automobile Workers union said late Wednesday that its next target for reaching a new labor agreement would be the Ford Motor Company, signaling that it was having difficulty coming to terms with Chrysler....
“When one model stalls, you jump in another one that you think will be moving,” said HARLEY SHAIKEN, A PROFESSOR OF LABOR RELATIONS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY. “It doesn’t mean that Chrysler is deadlocked; it simply means that there were some unexpected obstacles and the union thought Ford would be more productive.”...
[Professor Shaiken was also quoted in an Associated Press story that appeared in more than 100 sources nationwide, including the Washington Post, Sacramento Bee, and San Jose Mercury News. A Bloomberg story appeared in the Toronto Star] Full Story
13. Bay Area Night Spots Seeing Plenty of Realistic Fake IDs From China
KPIX TV
September 20, 2011
Berkeley (CBS 5) – Chinese companies appear to be flooding the U.S. with very realistic looking fake drivers licenses, and according to both local and federal law enforcement it is a growing concern....
UC BERKELEY POLICE recently confiscated a shipment of fake IDs from China. “We were contacted by the Department of Homeland Security,” said LT. MARC DECOULODE.
Decoulode said the feds intercepted the package, containing 24 fake drivers licenses, which was headed to a campus fraternity. “They put their true name and a false date of birth so even if someone were to ask for a second piece of ID, like a university student ID, the name and the photo would match the fraudulent ID.
Police said the Berkeley IDs were purchased through a website which advertised realistic-looking drivers licenses from a dozen different states, though none from California....
[Link to video] Full Story
14. Libraries Now Loaning iPads
NBC Bay Area Online
September 22, 2011
Once upon a time, libraries just loaned books. They they started to let patrons check out records, tapes and DVDs. Now in an increasingly digital world, at least one library is attempting to stay relevant by loaning out iPads.
The L.E. Phillips Memorial Library in Eau Claire, Wis. announced it will allow patrons to check out an iPad for up to a week to partake of a preloaded tablet with more than 1,000 digital books, 10 audiobooks and various links and applications, according to the library's website. ...
While AllThingsD seemed to indicate this was all an ad for Apple, it's more about the changing face of libraries.
"There's been a profound shift in how people consume information," ROBERT BERRING, A LAW PROFESSOR WHO SPECIALIZES IN THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY AT THE BERKELEY SCHOOL OF LAW, told Press:Here. "My undergrads don't read in paper form anymore. (If I assign a book) they ask if they can get it on Kindle. . . . It's going to kill libraries."... Full Story
15. Curator Weaves Levi's Into City History
Wall Street Journal (*requires registration)
September 22, 2011
When Levi Strauss & Co. decided in 1989 to hire a historian to help nurture its Americana image, the company picked LYNN DOWNEY, A LOW-PROFILE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY-EDUCATED HISTORIAN who had recently finished putting together an archive for a century-old real estate company in the East Bay.
Today, the 57-year-old Sonoma resident curates a newly opened museum in Levi's Battery Street headquarters in San Francisco, where she keeps a collection of antique jeans, the oldest of which are locked in a safe. She also has a rare view into the evolution of San Francisco business culture over the past 150 years of Levi's presence in the city.
The Wall Street Journal recently talked with Ms. Downey about how San Francisco has changed and how that has influenced the way Levi's does business here....
[Link by subscription only] Full Story
16. Database-Software Firm Tries 'Action Apps'
Wall Street Journal (*requires registration)
September 22, 2011
Ingres Corp., a maker of database software, is changing its name and shifting directions sharply to kick sales growth into a higher gear.
The company is looking to address longstanding gripes that so-called business-intelligence software—programs used by companies that take snapshots of business information, such as regional sales data, to help users identify key trends—is too difficult to use. Ingres wants to create products that behave more like the consumer-oriented apps found on smartphones, which can take action in response to changes in business information.
To reflect its new offerings, the Silicon Valley company is changing its name to Actian Corp....
The strategy shift is the latest twist for a company that traces its roots to research in the 1970s at the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY. A database developed there, called Ingres, was first commercialized by Relational Technology Inc. and purchased in 1994 by CA Inc. It was spun out of CA in 2006 in a deal led by Garnett & Helfrich Capital, a Silicon Valley private-equity firm that still controls the closely held company.... Full Story
17. Bits Blog: Read This at No Risk to Your Eyes
New York Times Online (*requires registration)
September 21, 2011
In the subway tube the other morning, my car whooshed past a billboard with a veiled threat: something bad is happening to my eyes.
The billboard showing a video game player wearing fashionable, wraparound glasses. “Stay Focused, Play Longer, Protect Your Eyes,” it said, for Gunnar Optiks.
Compared with normal humans, journalists have a professional advantage or, rather, duty: when something raises a question, we are both permitted and obliged to find an answer. And I wanted to find out if playing video games, or sitting in front of a computer screen, was doing damage to my eyes. Do they need protection?...
...To find out what science has to say on the matter, I called GUNILLA HAEGERSTROM-PORTNOY, PROFESSOR OF OPTOMETRY AND VISION SCIENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY SCHOOL OF OPTOMETRY. Her short answer was no, computers are not putting my eyes at risk.
“I don’t know of any long-term damage that comes from looking at screens,” she said. So eyewear wouldn’t protect the eye from damage? “I’ve no idea what these people are getting at.”
Jennifer Michelsen, who started Gunnar (named after her son), said people who sat at computers all day were staring at artificial light, spokes of blue and green colors and could have reduced blink rate, which can cause dryness. ...
She said the Gunnar glasses kept in moisture, to offset a decreased blink rate, by wrapping around the eyes and face — and they are amber-colored, which, she said, is more natural for the eyes.
Ms. Haegerstrom-Portnoy does not agree, calling the claims “nonsense.” She said amber was no more natural than any other color. As to getting more moisture in the eye, she offers an alternative: “Try blinking now and then.” Full Story
18. In Oakland Blog: Oakland Tech hosts SAT prep class for students
San Francisco Chronicle Online
September 21, 2011
The sounds of nail biting, pencil tapping and head scratching filled the hot Oakland Tech high school classroom on Monday after school as students filled in the bubbles on their test answer sheets. While many of their classmates were headed home or were hanging out on the school’s front lawn, 18 Alameda County high school students were preparing for an exam that will help determine their futures—the SAT, also referred to as the college entrance exam.
This was the first in a series of SAT prep classes at Oakland Tech; the free, 10-week course is open to all Alameda County students. The preparatory courses are sponsored by People’s Test Preparation Service, an organization that teaches standardized testing skills to students in urban communities. The program, run by STUDENTS AT UC BERKELEY, offers these courses sponsored by multiple schools in the area.... Full Story
19. Junius Courtney Big Band: Spirited in the right ways
Berkeleyside
September 22, 2011
When an ensemble keeps performing after the death of its namesake leader, it’s known as a ghost band. Though descriptive rather than pejorative, the term often carries a whiff of the dismissive, as if a musical legacy should be interred with its creator (things work differently in the world of dance, where no one seems interested in tossing dirt on the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater).
The Junius Courtney Big Band might be a ghost orchestra, but it’s spirited in all the right ways. Rather than coasting on the affection and respect earned by the late New Orleans-born, Berkeley trumpeter and founder, the JCBB continues to thrive with an expanding book of sophisticated arrangements. An East Bay institution since the mid-1960s, the band presents its latest project, a celebration of seminal jazz pianist EARL “FATHA” HINES, Saturday at Freight & Salvage....
The tribute to Hines couldn’t be more appropriate. A jazz giant who made first his mark in the mid 1920s through a series of classic encounters with Louis Armstrong (their 1928 duet “Weatherbird” ranks among the five most important jazz recordings ever), Hines led an influential big band in Chicago’s mobbed up Grand Terrace Ballroom throughout the 1930s. During the war years he took his band on the road, and it served as an essential bebop incubator, boasting a cast of brilliant young innovators such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Eckstine and Wardell Gray. Though he toured with his old friend in the Louis Armstrong All-Stars from 1948-51, Hines reputation was fading as the jazz scene changed.
By the end of the 1950s, he was living in Oakland, largely underappreciated as one of jazz’s most powerful and influential improvisers. ...
Based in the East Bay until his death in 1983, Hines was dedicated to music education. A UC BERKELEY REGENTS LECTURER in 1979, he left part of his estate to support aspiring students in CAL’S YOUNG MUSICIANS PROGRAM, which provides free conservatory training to youngsters from low-income families. Hines’ musical archive has become the crown jewel of the JEAN GRAY HARGROVE MUSIC LIBRARY’S ARCHIVE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSIC. Full Story