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I went to the theatre to see Apocalypse Now. I assumed it was the original but it was the 3 hour Final Cut! I enjoyed it. A lot of people say it hits the sweet spot between the original release and Redux. The trip up the river takes even longer, but I think that makes sense when you think about the source material (Heart of Darkness).

Thanks.

So has anyone heard Cassandra Wilson lately now that she is touring again (whenever she can step away from the keyboard)? I saw her ages and ages ago. I think it actually was in Carnegie Hall (which often isn't ideal for singers in small groups). Anyway, she is coming to Toronto in late June. Apparently this series of concerts is to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of New Moon Rising, and several of the musicians on that recording will be with her including Lonnie Plaxico. I'm leaning towards going, focusing on the music and not her non-musical past times. But it would be helpful if someone can report on how she sounds. Thanks!

Looks like some good local talent throughout April at The Rex and Hirut. I see that Rez Abbasi will be at the Rex April 29-May 2, and I'll try to make at least one of those dates. I have listened to a lot of his work when he teamed up with Vijay Iyer. I don't think I've seen him live, but maybe he was there at one of the Chicago Jazz Fest concerts featuring Iyer. I can't recall now though.

Apparently there are three more Jazz Liisa titles (#16-18) which do not appear to be on Band Camp, but are on Apple Music and perhaps Spotify. Curious... I'm listening to #18 right now.

I actually just finished this several months back. Yes, it is on the long side, and it was very difficult indeed to relate to Dombey, Sr., given how badly he treated (or at times simply ignored) his daughter.

Fassbinder's Veronika Voss - starts out more or less Sunset Blvd. but then add morphine addicts. I think it's fair to say it ends as a neo-noir. I'm struggling to think if there is a single Fassbinder film that has a happy ending. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul has a somewhat ambiguous ending that could be taken as positive. And that's as close as he gets to an uplifting film, I think...

Stumbled across this series of live recordings from Finnish Radio (the series is called Jazz-Liisa). It looks like there are 15 in the series, and the entire series is up on Bandcamp: https://jazzliisa.bandcamp.com/music All except #1 (Unisono Quartet) and #13 (Eero Koivistoinen) appear to be available on Apple Music (at least in Canada). Interestingly, I have one CD by Eero Koivistoinen (Wahoo), though I haven't pulled it out in a very long time. I'll try to track it down soon.

In addition to Allison Au at the Rex, I stayed for the main attraction, who was Andrew Rathbun and a small group backing him. I had never heard of him, but he has a ton of recordings on Steeplechase. It was entertaining though not exactly revelatory... Apparently, he's from Toronto, lived in NYC for some time and now is in Michigan, teaching at Western Michigan University. Almost my life in reverse. 😉

He's pretty solid. I generally manage to see him a few times/year. I've managed to see Neil Swainson a lot more than that.

Saw Coleman with the remains of the Bad Plus a few weeks back, playing Jarrett's music from his American Quartet days. Overall, an enjoyable concert. This may be the first time I've seen Coleman live. I'll be heading over to the Rex to catch Allison Au play on Friday and probably the set afterwards, depending on how tired I am. The following week it's Kirk MacDonald and Pat LaBarbera doing their annual Coltrane tribute at the Jazz Bistro with Neil Swainson on bass and Terry Clarke on drums. Terry actually sat in once with Coltrane, though he was hardly a regular...

I passed on the last time Herbie came through town, but I am leaning toward going this time. It's possible I've already sat too long on ordering tickets. Anyway, any feedback on his current touring group and repertoire and whether he still breaks out the "keytar" or I guess it's the vocoder would be appreciated. I just saw a thread elsewhere that he toured for 2+ years on the exact same set list, so I wonder if this tour will be the same or something different.

Managed to see this at TIFF about a month back. Wouldn't mind if this won as a dark-horse candidate. (I didn't like One Battle After Another at all, aside from Del Toro.)

Nabokov's Ada. I thought I would get a lot further into this on a train ride but actually worked much of the time. 🫤 Maybe a bit too much in the constant linguistic games. I gather he decide to let himself go full-Joyce in this novel.

Congrats! Will give it a listen soon.