Kalo

Care to elaborate further? I'd only heard one or two things of hers before attending the concert and I was underwhelmed because I guess I expected something more given all of the hype she gets. Impressive musicianship and inventive arranging, but her melodies, if you can call them that, don't stick at all, so it felt like a lot of decoration and little substance. A lot of it sounded like film music to me. And I am not a fan of that pastoral, mid-Western, hymnal, Methenyish vibe that most of her music has. It doesn't swing but more flows and glides. It's very airy and sometimes watery sounding. Any traces of fire or earth came from the soloists. I did like some of the soloists, especially Donny McCaslin, Rich Perry, Steve Wilson, and Ryan Keberle. Drummer Ted Poor was impressive. I've enjoyed Frank Kimbrough a lot more in other settings. I did like the tune "Choro Dancado" quite a bit. The syncopated Cuban rhythm seemed to focus the piece, and it had a darker harmonic palette most of the others. But overall, just not my cup of tea.

I haven't heard them in many years, but the Residents always used to make me think of Frank Zappa crossed with a mosquito.

B ut what d id she th ink of Art Farmer?

I attended the Maria Schneider Orchestra's Boston debut last night. Underwhelming, to say the least. I think I'd dig a live gig from Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings a whole lot more.

Criss = bliss...

I guess that somebody's having fun with this...

My main problem with AMG is the relentless banality. I do, however, appreciate the information, taken with the proverbial grain of salt (to add my own banality to the mix).

I interviewed her for an article about Robert Mitchum that I was asked to write just after his death. She acted with him in The Locket, an interesting John Brahm film that was a sort of psychological film noir told in a series of flashbacks nested like a set of Chinese boxes. She was a fun interview. Among the stories she told was that Mitchum totally ignored her off-camera during filming of The Locket, though you would never know from their performances onscreen. She only found out much later that he was paying her back for snubbing him at Schwab's drugstore in their pre-fame Hollywood days, an event she did not remember and that she doubted had happened. The Locket, in which she plays the central role, is quite entertaining but hard to see--rarely revived and unavailable on DVD (or even VHS). She's very good in Foreign Correspondent, one of Hitchcock's most underrated films.

On the other hand, if they had used Sting's name for the sting, they could have rounded up some white-collar criminals...

I would love to have heard how Waller accompanied a Keaton, Chaplin, or Lloyd film. (Would settle for James P. or even the young Bill Basie.)

Absolutely love Rota. Good call. Rota's great, of course! Nobody's mentioned George Gruntz's soundtrack for Mental Cruelty yet.

Tina Brooks - "Street Singer" Dizzy Reece - "Blues in Trinity" Kenny Dorham - "Lotus Blossom" Oscar Pettiford - "Tricotism" Randy Weston "Little Niles" Cecil Taylor "Pots" Eubie Blake "Memories of You" Andrew Hill - "Refuge" Steve Lacy - "The Bath" Hasaan Ibn Ali - "Off My Back Jack" Lennie Tristano - "Pennies in Minor" Sonny Rollins - "The Freedom Suite" Oliver Nelson - "Stolen Moments" Earl Hines - "Rosetta" Ran Blake - "Short Life of Barbara Monk" Sun Ra - "Enlightenment" Dave Brubeck - "The Duke" Teddy Wilson "Blues in C# Minor" Duke Ellington "Ko Ko" Thelonious Monk "Criss Cross" Charlie Parker - "Confirmation" Fats Waller - "Honeysuckle Rose"

Yesterday, I stopped by a Boston used record store I hadn't hit in ages and came away with: Oscar Aleman - Swing Guitar Masterpieces 1938 -1937 (Acoustic Disc) Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra - When Angels Speak of Love (Saturn/Evidence) Ricky Ford - Manhattan Blues (Candid) Bob Stewart - Then & Now (Postcards)

Some "legacy."

On deck next! I've got that on Delmark vinyl (it was originally on the French Black & Blue Label). The CD cover is a lot nicer than the LP. Highly recommended!

Check out the following customer review of Ratliff's book from Amazon.com. It seems that Ratliff's found his ideal reader. There's a howler per sentence in this baby...

And now, through the magic of the internet, we can see it again!

The Radar Station says 22nd November 1980. I remember seeing that "live" back when I was in college. Forgot it was 1980!

A couple of very nice swing sessions that turned up in the $1.99 CD bin at my local thrift store: Harry Edison (w/Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis) - Just Friends (Black & Blue) Buck Clayton in Paris (Disques Vogue/RCA Victor/BMG)

You read too much books of filmic semiology. One was enough!

The old 'fheart was having a real cultural moment back then. Wasn't that around the same time he was on Saturday Night Live?

Play Time

Another type I can think of is what scholars call "diagetic," where the music emerges naturally from the reality of the scene, whether from performers, radios, etc. Of course, often all three of these types appear in the same film. Of course, I assume that Vanity Fair's article is a list of best soundtrack albums.

He's clearly not had his fill of himself, however...