I snapped this image in Paris last year. The metal sign was bolted to the wall of a building, about knee-high. So much for posters and tape. Ça fait du bien means "It feels good." Indeed it does.
Urbie Green, redux. Apologies. For some reason an incorrect link wound up in my Urbie Green post last week. Here's the fabulous YouTube clip of the 1968 clinic I mentioned in my post...
Dig Rita Hayworth? Me, too. Here she is hoofing away in a montage—all set to Stayin' Alive from Saturday Night Fever, courtesy of Jimi Mentis in Athens...
Thomas Chapin. Stephanie Castillo's campaign to raise funds for a documentary of the late alto saxophonist Thomas Chapin has only days remaining at Kickstarter. Take a look at the pitch here...
Jazz adventures. Recently, Mick Carlon wrote a pair of books for young adults that combine old-fashioned
adventure and jazz history. Riding on Duke's Train is told from the perspective of a nine-year old who hops a train owned by Duke Ellington. The voice in Travels With Louis is that of a 12-year-old who talks about his friendship with Louis Armstrong. Go here and here.
Are you curious about what this summer will look and sound like? Just back from the future, reader Tom Fine sent along a sample for those still still enduring the snow, ice and wind and yearning for green and blue. Go here.
CD discoveries of the week. Bassist Michael Blanco understands the meaning of originality—tastefully rolling out your creative vision while keeping the customer satisfied. On No Time Like the Present (Nineteen-
Eight), all nine tracks are by Blanco—a high-risk move, since originals by definition are foreign to the ear and often drag on. But Blanco has a skilled writing touch—he twice has received the ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Award. He also has assembled a terrific ensemble for this CD. Saxophonist John Ellis and guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg are the front line. Joining Blanco in the rhythm section are David Cook on piano and Mark Feber on drums. Blanco's playing is strong, and his solos are solid and never overstay their welcome. And the sound of Ellis and Kreisberg together is gorgeous. A beautiful album with compositional depth and technical maturity.
Ron Oswanski uses the Hammond organ (and piano and accordion) to great effect on his new neo-fusion album December Moon (Tames). A veteran of Maynard
Ferguson's Big Bop Nouveau Band, Oswanski has powerful musician pals: Tim Ries (saxophones), John Abercrombie and Jay Azzolina (guitar), John Patitucci (bass) and Ian Froman and Clarence Penn (drums). Most of the tracks are intensive Oswanski originals, but Led Zeppelin's The Rain Song and Fred Hersch's glamorous Evanessence are here as well. An album by a keyboard player who thrives on textures and has refashioned a '70s archetype.
Oddball album cover of the week.
One of the most common cover-design images of '50s Easy Listening albums has to be a woman clad in formal atire—lit warmly and placed an arm's length from a drink. But here, we have a new twist. The chap above seems to have discovered a new way to close in on a date: mix only one cocktail.
