Kalo

I just received the following e-mail and thought it would be of interest:

Speaking of kvetching, now reading this for my book group: Philip Roth -- Zuckerman Bound: A Trilogy & Epilogue (Contains the novels The Ghost Writer, Zuckerman Unbound, and The Anatomy Lesson, along with the story "The Prague Orgy.")

I tend to agree; that Time album is a big favorite of mine. ← Oh yes!

I wasn't meaning to put Satie down at all. I'm a big fan, in fact. He's just lighter and more playful than the others mentioned, which doesn't mean he's less deep in any way. Also, he's French, and somehow I think of picnics as being a French thing.

So it's not under "R"?

I've been meaning to get this, but since it DOESN'T reference Chuck Nessa and he still endorses it, I will definitely spring for it soon. Hey Chuck, when's the Art Ensemble book coming out?

Count me in on this one, too.

The Big Heat is worth checking out for sure... http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:5428~C ← 'Big Heat' is a must-see film. With a number of incredible scenes and great acting (love Gloria Graham in that one!). ← And don't forget Lee Marvin. The Big Heat is essential noir!

Two posters so far who recommend this for sleeping. Hmmmmmm..... I owned this on vinyl years ago, and I remember liking one side of it. But the "Concierto... " side left me cold back then, owing to Gadd's "funky" drumming. I eventually sold it. I'm not sure that I'd react so harshly to the grooviness of "Concierto..." anymore, and Sangrey referred to some bonus material that sounds intriguing. So my question is: is this worth buying?

Anyone who really wants to expand their musical horizons should listen to late Feldman. His stuff is meditative, but hardly "New Age." It's thorny, but in slow.... SLOW.... motion. I class him with the other composers who I consider to have written "etudes for listeners," akin to Charles Ives and Conlon Nancarrow (I'd include John Cage, as well, but he's more interesting to think about than to listen to). As an aside, I don't think that I understood Ives as well as I do until I heard Conlon Nancarrow's pieces, which taught me how to really hear Ives properly, in all his glory... I guess what I'm trying to say is, just jump right on in: you'll sort it out eventually. I look forward to reading YOUR take on all of this. The history of this music is still being written and you just may have some input.

I think that I'll suggest to the Boston Symphony Orchestra that they program a "Dark Classical" night for the heavy metal fans... Could be a good marketing gimmick!

A... Very.... Sparse....... extremely........... punctuated.................. Way.

Feldman - possibly, Gorecki - no. -_- ← Love Feldman. He's dark, in a way.

Much of the 20th Century fits this bill Bartok was the first composer that came to mind for me. The string quartets are astringent, bracing, and essential, in my opinion. Oh, yeah, and dark too. Think of that Balkan temperament. "Not really dark or brooding" in the friggin' extreme. ← I love Satie, but he's picnic music compared to Bartok, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, etc. Damn, Try Bach, Beethoven, etc. Stick to the more austere forms -- solo instruments, string quartets -- and they should at least approximate your cup of tea. Just skip the romantics and you'll be pretty much assured of astringent angst, rectilinear rigor, and depressing dolor.

What IS the deal with that cover photo? Was that RVG's backyard? Goofy photo. Sounds like your wife is quite obliging, Evonce. Very good but not great album. Might've been better with at least one more horn (even though Kirk's a section in and of himself). I agree with those above who say that it's kind of short. Roy Haynes really drums the f**k out of the material here, though. And if the Manzello is essentially the same instrument as the soprano sax, as the liner notes would have it (and it sounds like it is to my ears), then Kirk should very emphatically be included in the ranks of top-rank soprano players (he sounds more at home to me on the recalcitrant horn than, say, Coltrane, f'rinstance). I hate to say it, but not a classic. Glad I own it, though.

Given the names in Berigan's post above, I think that astrology should give up once and for all...

Socrates and Jolie. Peas in a pod... peas in a pod...

Sorry to say, but Bennett, for all his charms, is nothing but a schlubby also-ran compared to Sinatra.

The stuff that dreams are made of. ← We can imagine it.

Sinatra might have mastered it, though...

"Waltz for Debby" cloys pretty much whatever the setting.

Too bad Sinatra and Evans never recorded together. That would've been something.

If only Ethel Merman got the respect that Al Jolson does.

Peas in a pod.

Weren't Seals and Crofts Bahai's? I rest my case.