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I think once upon a time I owned this. I'll look around and see if it's still here.

I've been listening to a fair bit of Robyn Hitchcock lately. Quite a lot of his solo material and the Soft Boys album Underwater Moonlight have been remastered and reissued. He also plays weekly online gigs (called Live from Tubby's House) which are generally very entertaining as he plays his material and some covers and banters with his wife. (You sign up through Bandcamp though they are only available for a few days after the performance...) I saw him live for the first time at the Drake Underground in Toronto. I see that in April he is playing the Athenaeum in my old stomping grounds in Chicago, and then the next day he plays the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto! Unless I have an impossible conflict, I will get tickets.

Tebugo by Evan Parker - Paul Rogers - Louis Moholo https://jazzinbritain1.bandcamp.com/album/tebugo

I won't comment on this (as that would be political...) From the AP: The board of trustees voted to add Trump’s name, making it the The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Trump, a Republican, is chairman of the board.

TIFF in Toronto. They claim it was a 70 mm print. And then next week Vertigo in 70 mm.

Watched North by Northwest (on 70 mm!) yesterday afternoon, then followed it up with an evening screening of Wake Up Dead Man.

That was true 10 and maybe even 5 years ago, but no longer. I had to pay extra to get a computer with a CD/DVD bay in it, as this is definitely no longer standard.

I just finished Austen's Persuasion. I'm just starting Dawn Powell's Angels on Toast. Almost the entire thing seems to be about businessmen cheating on their wives and trying to get away with it. Definitely not my favorite Powell...

I'm deciding between going back to The Rex to see the Murley Eisenman Quartet again (Mike Murley, Mark Eisenman, Neil Swainson and Terry Clarke). I saw them on Wed. though a different drummer was sitting in, and they were excellent. Or heading over to Hirut for a group called the House Blend Septet (a 2 trumpet, 2 saxophone line-up including Alex Dean). I think I am slightly leaning towards Hirut, in part because they serve quite nice Ethiopian food at Hirut! Not that the food at the Rex is bad, certainly far better than what the Jazz Bistro serves... Choices, choices...

TIFF is having a Mikio Naruse retrospective. I've managed to book tickets for 4 of the films and am trying to see 3 more (which are currently sold out, but tickets generally are released a few days ahead of each screening). So far I saw When a Woman Ascends the Stairs and then today, Floating Clouds, which was far too melodramatic for my taste.

Pedro Almodovar Akira Kurosawa Jacques Tati Terry Gilliam

Saw Twelve Monkeys in the theatre last night. Still packs a punch. I forgot that it was directed by Gilliam. Am hoping to see the latest Knives Out outing, Wake Up Dead Man before it goes exclusive to Netflix. I might make it out on Sat.

Bandcamp Friday coming up. I'll pre-order this then and a few other things off my wishlist.

Only managed to make the final minutes of the first set Friday evening, but I stuck around for the second set, which was quite nice - 2 originals and 3 standards. This was Kirk McDonald, Nancy Walker, Neil Swainson and Terry Clarke at the Jazz Bistro. Sunday will probably see a bit of a pickup band at the Rex with Robert Lee and Allison Au. Then next Sat., I'm heading over to Hirut (a relatively new to me jazz club in the East End). It's going to be pianist Harold Danko, with saxophonist Pat LaBarbera, & bassist Neil Swainson. Really looking forward to this and need to make sure I get there a bit early, as one time I was turned away!

One of the budget cinemas in Toronto was showing Jeanne Dielman. (A strange choice.) I figured the only way I would stick it out was in the theatre, as opposed to watching at home. I'm sure that is the case after sitting through it this evening. I'll just say I am not a fan and leave it at that.

No idea how long this will be available (it aired Sept. 28, 2025), and Mulatu apparently just recommended the tracks (mostly Ethiopian jazz with some classic Miles Davis and Mary Lou Williams mixed in) and doesn't really chat or provide any commentary. Still, it is an interesting 1-hour mix that I enjoyed a lot, leading me to a few albums I wasn't aware of. https://www.nts.live/shows/guests/episodes/mulatu-astatke-28th-september-2025 Apparently Mulatu is wrapping up a farewell tour and had a couple of nights in London. I really hope one of these sets was recorded and will be broadcast later on the BBC, though that seems unlikely. I can certainly recommend his latest (final?) album Mulatu Plays Mulatu, available on various streaming sites and Bandcamp: https://mulatuastatke.bandcamp.com/album/mulatu-plays-mulatu

This particularly anthology (and some of the full albums, though NOT Storm Warning) is still available on Apple Music. There is not very much overlap with this 3 CD set of UK jazz rarities, aside from, you guessed it, Storm Warning. I was able to pick this up through Dusty Groove. https://www.cherryred.co.uk/blog/a-new-awakening--adventures-in-british-jazz-3cd-coming-soon

I did make it to Bob Le Flambeur. I had seen a fair number of French noir or neo-noir films, and I had assumed I had seen this, though it was definitely the first time. A few odd plot holes (Bob had known Marc for years and only just found out he was still pimping -- really?), but generally quite interesting.

Terrific! 👍

Saw The Usual Suspects in the theatre. I was planning on seeing something from the European Union Film Fest, but decided to catch Bob Le Flambeur instead (as they were on the same day).

Agreed. I thought this was really interesting. I listened once through but will try to take more time on it.

Well, Montreal made it a little interesting there at the end...

Had a long detour into Virginia Woolf, rereading Orlando and Mrs. Dalloway, and I am now back into Russo's Empire Falls, which I expect to wrap up next week. Next books on the horizon are McCullers's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Nabokov's Ada, or Ardor, and Maxwell's So Long, See You Tomorrow. Oh, and Jane Austen's Persuasion.

That is intriguing (that the 1982 recording is floating around). I have no idea what they mean either. Even stranger, the 1982 recording is available for streaming on Naxos Jazz (though I think Naxos is generally not allowed in the US but it is in Canada). So maybe its scarcity is greatly exaggerated...

This Guardian article discussing this release makes it sound pretty intriguing. I'll see about streaming it and maybe picking it up. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/nov/12/jazz-legend-mike-westbrook-laurence-olivier Doesn't mean that I wouldn't like to compare it to the studio recording (from 1982) if that ever sees the light of day.