The Free Spirits

The Free Spirits were an American band who have been credited for being the first ever jazz-rock group. The band also incorporated elements of psychedelic rock, pop, and garage rock.

History

Formation

The band formed in New York as a jazz outfit and each member of the band (excluding rhythm guitar player Columbus "Chip" Baker) had a background in the music. According to the band's drummer, Bob Moses, it was the band's lead guitar player, Larry Coryell, who helped turn the group on to more rock-oriented music.

The band played several times in a New York club called the Scene, but made very little money from the shows, getting paid only ten dollars as a group per night. The band also got to perform shows with such acts as Mitch Ryder and The Rascals.

Disbandment

By 1967, Coryell left the band to play with Gary Burton. Moses also left the band to join Burton since he "knew that it wasn't going to be the same without Coryell". Original members Pepper, Hills and Baker, along with Lee Reinoehl on Hammand C-3, and Jim Zitro and John Waller on drums, formed a new group called Everything Is Everything and released a self-titled album which included Pepper's composition, "Witchitai-to". Moses later recorded with jazz artists such as Jack DeJohnette, Steve Swallow, Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, and Coryell.

International System of Units

The International System of Units (French: Système international d'unités, SI) is the modern form of the metric system, and is the most widely used system of measurement. It comprises a coherent system of units of measurement built on seven base units. It defines twenty-two named units, and includes many more unnamed coherent derived units. The system also establishes a set of twenty prefixes to the unit names and unit symbols that may be used when specifying multiples and fractions of the units.

The system was published in 1960 as the result of an initiative that started in 1948. It is based on the metre-kilogram-second system of units (MKS) rather than any variant of the centimetre-gram-second system (CGS). SI is intended to be an evolving system, so prefixes and units are created and unit definitions are modified through international agreement as the technology of measurement progresses and the precision of measurements improves. The 24th and 25th General Conferences on Weights and Measures (CGPM) in 2011 and 2014, for example, discussed a proposal to change the definition of the kilogram, linking it to an invariant of nature rather than to the mass of a material artefact, thereby ensuring long-term stability.

Cai (surname)

Cài (Chinese: 蔡) is a Chinese surname that derives from the name of the ancient Cai state. It is regionally more common in China's Fujian Province and in countries settled by ethnic Chinese from that province than in China as a whole. The surname is the 34th most common surname in China, but the 9th most common in Taiwan, where it is usually romanized as Tsai, and the 8th most common in Singapore, where it is usually romanized as Chua. It is also a common name in Hong Kong where it is romanized as Choy, Choi or Tsoi, in Macao and Malaysia, it's spelled as Choi, in Malaysia and the Philippines as Chua, in Thailand as Chuo (ฉั่ว). Moreover, it is also romanized in Cambodia as either Chhay, Chhuor or Chhor among Chinese Cambodians.

History

The Cais are said to be the descendants of the 5th son of King Wen of Zhou, Ji Du. Ji Du was awarded the title of marquis (hóu) of the State of Cai (centered on what is now Shangcai, Zhumadian, Henan, China), and he was known as Cai Shu Du ("Uncle Du of Cai"). Together with Guan Shu and Huo Shu, they were known as the Three Guards. When King Wu died, his son King Cheng was too young and his uncle, the Duke of Zhou, became regent. Seeing that the power of the Duke of Zhou was increasing, the Three Guards got jealous and rebelled against Zhou together with Wu Geng. The Duke of Zhou suppressed the rebellion, and Cai Shu was exiled. King Cheng reestablished Cai Shu’s son Wu or Hu as the new Duke of Cai. Some 600 years later in the Warring States period, the State of Chu conquered Cai in 447 BC and was itself conquered by the Qin state which, in turn, formed the Qin Empire, China's first empire. With the spread of family names to all social classes in the new empire, many people of the former state of Cai began to bear it as a surname.

Valea Vinului

Valea Vinului (Hungarian: Szamosborhíd, Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈsɒmoʃborhiːd]) is a commune of 2,334 inhabitants situated in Satu Mare County, Romania. It is composed of four villages: Măriuş (Mogyorós), Roşiori (Szamosveresmart), Sâi (Szinfalu) and Valea Vinului.

References

Coordinates: 47°43′04″N 23°11′16″E / 47.7178°N 23.1878°E / 47.7178; 23.1878