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I'm listening to this on iTunes (as Joe Pass Capitol Vaults Jazz Series). 🤪 I'm not entirely sure why none of the tracks from Sounds Of Synanon (PJ-48) were included. Was this discussed somewhere previously? There are close to a dozen PD versions of Sounds Of Synanon floating around out there, but it seems a shame there doesn't seem to be a legitimate release (at least on iTunes).

It's usually buried under the options, i.e. do you want CD, vinyl or downloads only, and then there will be a link to subscribe. You can also contact JiB directly, and I found them to be pretty helpful.

I wish I had been more organized about this. One thing that I did was start making a list of how many of the "great" jazz artists I had seen at least once, but my memory isn't good enough for the side artists. Like I'm almost (but not 100%) certain I saw Stanley Cowell one time with the Cookers, but there's always that nagging feeling I'm getting something wrong.

In the end, I found this very disappointing, primarily because almost none of the characters acted in plausible ways. I'm actually disappointed in myself for not dropping it sooner, but I thought the post-COVID storyline would be more interesting. It was not... I've just started Rushdie's Victory City. Aside from a starting point that is magic realism on steriods, it's pretty interesting so far. It reminds me a fair bit of The Enchantress of Florence, so your feelings about that novel will probably be a good guide for this one.

Yeah, I think so. I don't see a place to put in the code. I think Greenleaf is having another sale through the weekend. I think I may get a few things on Cuneiform, like Out of the Blue by Raoul Bjorkenheim/eCsTaSy and Ghost Surveillance by Algernon (a band from Chicago, that appears to be defunct). It would be better to wait until the next Bandcamp Friday, but it's not until Sept apparently! So I'll probably just get them now.

Am back from day 1 of the Toronto Bach Festival where they did mostly Bach (and snuck in a Vivaldi piece), including Brandenburg Concerto #3. Great performances in a fairly intimate space. Tomorrow there is a noontime all-organ performance at St. Andrew's. And yes, Toccata and Fugue in D minor is on the program. I'm not sure I've ever heard it live on a church organ before. (It is played as part of Powell and Pressburger's A Canterbury Tale, which I just saw about a week ago, but I feel confident hearing it in person will be more inspiring...)

I've actually seen her in person a few times, though not doing Lulu. She performs in Toronto generally once a year. I have tickets to see her Nov. 28 where she'll be doing pieces by Messiaen, Scriabin and Zorn. Should be interesting and challenging in equal measure.

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I'm not going to read all of it, but in memory of Alice Munro's passing, RIP, I'll read a couple of the shorter short stories from The Love of a Good Woman tonight. I've been somewhat slowly going through her collections in order and only got to the midway point last year. The collection Love of a Good Woman is the next up. I think my favorite overall collection so far is Moons of Jupiter, followed by Lives of Girls and Women.

I'm listening to different versions of "Curtain Tune" from Purcell's Timon of Athens. I was just at a Tafelmusik concert, and this piece really grabbed my attention. Curiously, while Tafelmusik has recorded an entire CD of Purcell's Ayres, this piece was not included. Perhaps it will be on some later release. So far the version I am liking the most (or at least has the same zest as Tafelmusik) is by Tim Mead & Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien.

I have a soft spot for the soundtrack to the Solaris remake: https://www.soundtrack.net/album/solaris-soderbergh/ Also, Ornette Coleman is all over the sound track to Naked Lunch, which certainly has SF elements... I haven't pulled this out in some time. I should try to track it down.

Saw District 9 again. I'd forgotten quite how violent it is. It actually has an 18A rating in Canada, which is basically an R in the States. In general it holds up pretty well.

Same here. I think I'll pass, not least because the last experience between heavy shipping costs and then getting hit with heavy custom/import fees really soured me on the whole experience.

For Greenleaf Music (home of Dave Douglas and others), I got this note: Bandcamp Friday sale will continue through the weekend ! We are keeping this simple: 20% off everything. Code is FAMILIA.

I was just at a store in Hamilton of all places that had one copy of this vinyl box set. As well as one copy of the earlier Rollins in Holland. With the exchange rate and all, it might be tempting for someone who is into vinyl, but that person is not me... 😋 They had a few other leftover things from RSD all in one place but none of them were remotely of interest as 95% of them were overpriced LPs.

I like the albums by Ahmed Abdul-Malik. Also, Al McKibbon, particularly the CD Black Lotus. I think they are both fairly obscure.

I don't know how long the sale will last (perhaps only through this evening), but at the moment, the Greenleaf Music subscription deal on Bandcamp has dropped to $60/year and you get something like 103 back catalogue releases. Crazy! https://glmstore.bandcamp.com/subscription

I got that one and Baritone Monk. I got a few dls from Screwgun: 5 by Bloodcount, Sanctified Dreams by Tim Berne and No Tamales on Wednesday by Science Friction (also featuring Berne). and a couple of things from British Progressive Jazz. I'm strongly leaning towards the deal on Greenleaf Music where you can get all their back catalogue (as dls) for $775 - $75. Will ponder a bit longer before, most likely, pulling the trigger.

Sad news... https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/may/01/paul-auster-dies-aged-77-death-american-author-new-york-trilogy I saw him at a reading in Ann Arbor. I'm pretty sure he was reading from The Music of Chance. I was able to get him to sign my copy of The New York Trilogy. I've read a fair bit of his work, though I haven't tackled 4 3 2 1, since my impression is I would probably have to reread several key novels before I did so. One of these days...

I was at that show also!

👍 I'm supposed to see them in a couple of weeks in Toronto, and I believe they will be performing this piece.

I saw the Neil Swainson Quartet at the Rex. He was here 4 nights, but I only managed to get out tonight, and only for the second set. But it was still quite nice. The Rex was packed. In general, it's been quite busy on Friday and Sat. for the 8:30 and 10 pm sets, which is quite good news for them. I do wish they managed to bring in more out-of-town artists, but that's fairly rare. My copy of that live Woody Shaw set, Vim 'N' Vigor, showed up, so I brought it in and had Swainson sign it. He said no one had contacted him and certainly not gotten him a copy or paid him anything. I said I could try to bring him a burned copy the next time he plays the Rex, which should be in June.

Went and saw Being John Malkovich for the first time in ages. I took my son along. He thought it was indeed about the weirdest movie he'd ever seen. I remembered a fair bit about it, except for the very ending. This time around I thought just how implausible it was that the John Cusack character could get from Manhattan to the NJ Turnpike in 15 minutes, which supposedly happens several times during the film!

I definitely considered it but spent more time at the Legion of Honor and the Japanese Prints in Transition exhibit instead. https://www.famsf.org/exhibitions/japanese-prints

I just finished up A Hero of Our Time. Interestingly, there is a contemporary novel by Naben Ruthnum by the same name! I'll get to it fairly soon, but it isn't the very next thing on my list. I'm currently halfway through The Decameron. This is in preparation for Shteyngart's Our Country Friends, which has a similar set up (retreat from the city during a pandemic) but not quite so many bawdy tales. 😜