[H/T Okayplayer] Today, The New York Times reported that Jabo Starks, the drummer behind some of James Brown’s biggest hits, has passed away at the age of 79. Starks was battling with leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes and had been in hospice care for about a week before he died in his Mobile, Alabama home on Tuesday.A member of James Brown’s backing band, The JBs, Starks was one half of The JBs infamous drumming duo during the Godfather of Soul’s peak years in the 1960s and ’70s—the other drummer being Clyde Stubblefield, who passed away last year. Starks and Stubblefield are two of the most sampled drummers of all time, and Starks lent his pioneering drumming abilities to iconic tracks such as “Super Bad”, “Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine”, “The Payback”, “Cold Sweat”, and “Say It Loud — I’m Black and I’m Proud”. Starks also collaborated with iconic blues musicians before his tenure with James Brown, including the likes of John Lee Hooker, Big Mama Thornton, and Howlin’ Wolf.In a tribute on Instagram, Questlove explained Starks’ influence,It was Clyde that was James’ prettiest rhythm master. But Starks was his most effective drummer. It was the ‘Think (About It)’ break that birthed New Jack Swing culture, B’more/Jersey house and ‘90s R&B. It was ‘Hot Pants (I’m Comin’)’ and ‘I Know You Got Soul’ that really cultivated the classic East Coast renaissance of 1987 – 1992. His eight on the floor style was so unique in his funk. A serious funk god.Rest in peace, Jabo. Thank you for everything you’ve done for funk music and beyond, and our thoughts are with Starks’ friends and family at this time. read more

May 15, 2006 Regular News Billboard Logic Cindy Lenoff Zatzman I see the billboard at least once a week as I drive through rural Florida on my way to teach a course at the law school in Gainesville. The shock factor does not diminish for me over time — it still strikes me with the same intensity as the first time I saw it. The billboard says:“Live the life you’ve waited your whole life for.”I’m sure this billboard is an ad for some kind of retirement community, although I don’t know for sure. What strikes me every time I see it is a concern that we actually do this: we wait for our lives to happen to us. And we wait through the days, the weeks, the years, for the time when we can pursue the things we want to do.There is an e-mail, a chain letter of sorts, that has passed around for several years now that addresses this. It presents a list of things we wait through before we can be happy. When I finally marry, when I get that promotion, when we buy a home, when the children are out of diapers, when the children go off to school, when the children graduate from college, when the children marry, when I retire, I can finally pursue my happiness. This begs the question, “If I’m waiting for all of these things to happen before I can be happy, how am I feeling while I wait?”There is a better way to go through life, something far superior to waiting for something else your whole life. Begin living today.First, let’s address work and career. You will spend the vast majority of your adult life doing the work you have chosen. If the work you are doing is not satisfying or does not make you happy, what can you do today to change that situation? Can you continue doing the same work with some simple modifications to the way you perform your routine? Can you do the same work in a different environment, and will doing so change your perspective? Are you working with people you are glad to call your friends? If you answered no to these questions, is there something else you would rather be doing? What steps must you take to create that opportunity for yourself?Since your day does not, hopefully, consist entirely of your working hours, let’s look at the environment you have outside of your working day. Do you take time out to enhance your relationship with an intimate partner – or do you even have an intimate partner? Have you abandoned pursuits that once brought you joy so that you can dedicate more time to work? Do you allow enough time for leisure activities? Do you engage in activities that bring you joy? Do you spend time with the people you love? If you answered no to these questions, what can you do now to allow yourself time for these activities that will nurture your spirit?As I look back over what is presented here, I can see that it is largely comprised of questions. If you were looking here for answers, I suggest that you are focusing your attention in the wrong direction. In order to find the answers you need, you must look within and determine what those answers are for you. No one else can do this for you.During my career in law I have, from time to time, observed some attorneys I know change their lives dramatically from working most of the time to working fewer, but more productive hours. The changes can be as simple as instituting new routines in the office and learning to delegate responsibilities to your very competent support staff. The changes can be as dramatic as changing your practice area, or even using your law degree in an entirely different field altogether. The sad part of this observation is that those attorneys have not, generally speaking, made significant change until some crisis has occurred in their private lives. The crises leading to this type of change have included health concerns, family concerns or emotional/psychological issues. I suggest that if you are not happy in your life and career at this exact moment in time, it might be time to answer the questions posed above. Another billboard that I saw this week for the first time (most likely for a hospital) said “Emergencies don’t wait, why should you?”And this leads to this final question:What are you waiting for? Cindy Lenoff Zatzman is a member of The Florida Bar’s Quality of Life and Career Committee. Zatzman is an adjunct lecturer at the Fredric G. Levin College of Law at the University of Florida. She is an author of quality of life and ethics articles for the legal professions. Billboard Logic read more