johnblitweiler

I've been having a lot of problems like this with sf in recent years. 100 or 150 pp. into the book, the writer's imagination is dazzling but somehow it all runs together, whatever is or was at stake got lost in the phantasmagoria. It seemed like the only reason for the story's momentum was that the author had a contract to write a 600-page book. This has happened to me with China Mieville, CJ Cherryh, Neil Gaimon, Connie Willis, a.o. writers, plus I preferred a William Gibson short stories book to the novel I read. Although Little Brother by Cory Doctorow is now a favorite. For a few years late in the sf Golden Era I loved to read Astounding every month, until a barrage of Robert Silverberg cured me. Nearly all of my favorites date from the 1940s and '50s. Delaney, Zelazny, and the other stuff that true sf fans considered high literature bored me. Interestingly, in the late 1960s when I tried to order a book by my hero JG Ballard from an sf specialist store, the owner, a big SF FAN, angrily refused to sell such stuff. Since the 2 novels I wrote are at heart science fiction, please don't tell my opinions to any of today's true sf fans.

Rotary Connection Minnie Riperton Min Leibrook

I for one intend to renew my copyrights to my books when they expire after 50 years.

Little Rootie Tootie The Roots Toots Camarata

Was Wadada Leo Smith ever a Jazz Master?

Ratso Rizzo Phil Rizzuto Juan Pizzaro

John Deere Dear John Jody

Candy Terry Southern Jeri Southern

Glover clattered through 3 songs and drowned out Ornette and the others. After the first minute I was hoping for an ice storm.

Horace Silver Horace Gold Anthony Boucher

In my limited exerience, Crothers has been up and down. Down, to me, on the set where she subbed for Kris Davis, formidable sometimes like when playing with Grimes and Gibbs. The best I heard of her was a solo concert in Chicago when she played Tristano songs, one after the other. They brought out her lyricism, her most atractive quality. Leeway, I like your "arrivistes and pretenders" description.

And then Ornette kissed Sonny. Fair do, as Samuel Beckett might say.

Friday night was the high point of the festival for me. Moondoc and Blood Ulmer seemed to really catch the lyrical spirit of Ornette Coleman and Moondoc's tribute to Roy Campbell was touching. A sweet alto player and quite a quintet he had, too. Ulmer started by playing a song that was variations on the opening phrases of Lonely Woman. Boykin was special in the Nicole Mitchell set - every now and then he gets inspired. Did any Organissimos go out afterwards and hear Boykin etc. at that late-late event? At the Charles Gayle event Kidd Jordan and Ingrid Laubrock didn't get to play much, but I'd heard her in a revealing concert in Chicago a few weeks before. If she and Gayle and Kidd had had the chance to play at the Ornette concert in the park, I'm sure they would have severely smoked Branford Marsalis, Antoine Roney, David Murray, and Joe Lovano, who did play there. On Sunday it was great to hear Connie Crothers confronting Henry Grimes, making him play a duet with her and playing quite the best fiddle music I've heard him play. Rob Brown is always a pleasure at these festivals and it's too bad we only got one little solo from Lewis Barnes. Too bad Dennis Gonzalez wasn't there, since he'd been advertised. To me a Vision fest without regulars like Roscoe, Alvin Fielder, Barnes, Jarman, Reg. Workman is less festive. At Prospect Park it was great to see Ornette, though frail, in a happy mood and hear him play that white plastic alto sax with such a beautiful sound. He and Rollins are such great guys. It was also great to hear that almost everyone had taken time to rehearse Ornette's songs - how many "tributes" have you heard where musicians play the latest song they wrote and say "This is my tribute to ---"? I thought Threadgill played especially well and that the 2-guitar arrangement of "Sadness" w/Nels Cline and Thurston Moore was quite lovely and simple. And that pink suit that Ornette had made for the m.c. was something else - almost a shocking-pink color. I give a lot of credit to Denardo for putting on this show.

Eotvos spelled backwards is Sovtoe. You have been warned.

Bulgakov -- what a joy, and this one is a favorite. 20 or so years ago Harvey Pekar's review of "The Master and Margarita" in the Chicago Tribune book section, edited by Larry Kart, was what introduced me to Bulgakov.

This Sonny Boy Williamson didn't hang around Chicago very much, sorry to say. Judging from the records, the first Sonny Boy also must have been a joy to hear in person. Dana is right, Walter was the sideman that made a lot of records great -- surely the collected Little Walter sideman recordings are as many as the ones he led in that boxed set.

Swann in Love Alice In Chains Stella by Starlight

I heard very clever piano variations and improvisations on 'Good Bait' by Nina Simone on the radio today. Did she make an album of her piano playing?

Ah, yes. Must be Fred Below playing drums, because he's perfect.

Popeye Don Zimmer Popsie Randolph Pops

And here's wishing good health and energy for both Dana's and Allen's families.

Waldron as a composer, too, and Lacy as a composer. In the sense of a minimum of notes, certain Roscoe Mitchell pieces such as 'A Fine Day at the Point.'

John Gilmore, formerly of Chicago, now plays piano in Mendocino, CA. He was a very fine pianist here in the 1960s when he played with Anthony Braxton, Kalaparusha, Alvin Fielder, and other AACM folk, and with the Brecker brothers. From later years there are at least two recordings, one of him playing inside solos in a supper club, the other (probably a private recording) of him improvising ingenious outside duets with Rafael Garrett. He certainly deserves to be appreciated.

Congratulations! Does he play in a big band or small bands?

I detected a recurring Art Pepper influence in Morgan and I believe they were once in the same jail at the same time.