niels

Nice, Paul Auster is one of those contemporary writers I almost allways enjoy reading! I started with Leo Tolstoy - Resurrection yesterday. I'm only a few pages in, but i'm already completely sucked into the story. I always thought of myself to be more in the "Dostoevsky" camp, but the more I read from Tolstoy the more my appreciation for him grows, and the more I realize that it's insane to compare Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. They are both genius in their own right!

Andrew Hill - Point of Departure (Blue Note, Liberty pressing)

Herbie Hancock - Takin' Off (Blue Note, Dutch pressing)

I never really bought much Blue Note CD's (as I prefer the vinyl format for old jazz albums, especially nice old Libererty or Japanese King pressings ), but this topic has made me curious! So this morning I pulled the trigger and ordered Andrew Hill - Grass Roots. The price is very reasonable, so if these albums can compete with Liberty or Japanese King (vinyl) pressings I think I will going to be order a lot more in the future.

Starting with this stone cold classic today: Ivan Turgenev - Ottsy i Deti (Fathers and Sons)

Laurent Binet - HhhH (Himmlers hersens heten Heydrich / Himmlers brains are called Heydrich)

Miles Davis - Water Babies (CBS, UK pressing)

Just finished reading Mikhail Lermontov - Geroj Nasjego Vremeni (A Hero of Our Time), 1840 This book is considered to be the first psychological novel in Russian literature, and boy I enjoyed this one (on par with the other great hero's of Russian literature like Dostoevsky, Tolstoj, Gogol, Toergenjev, etc)! Too bad this is the only novel he wrote in his life, because he died at the age of 27 in an old fashioned duel.

Michael Formanek - Small Places (2013, ECM) Enrico Pieranunzi - Live in Paris (2008, Challenge) Trio3 + Jason Moran - Refraction, Breakin' Glass (2013, Intakt) Drew Gress - The Sky Inside (2013, Pirouet)

Herbie Nichols Trio - Herbie Nichols Trio (Blue Note, vinyl, Dutch Liberty pressing)

Andrew Hill - Shades (Soulnote, vinyl) This truly must be the most ugly record cover I have in my entire collection, but what a great album!

Wayne Shorter - Night Dreamer (Blue Note, "in a box" Liberty pressing)

Just came in, this will be a great reading for commuting:

As a vinyl buyer who recently got a little bit more involved in some more serious collecting I really like the London Jazz Collector blog: http://londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com/ There's really a wealth of knowledge on this blog, especially regarding labels and how to recognize all the different pressings etc.

The Cannonball Adderley Sextet - In New York (Riverside, deep groove blue label)

I have this exact edition. Haven't cracked it though. I have kind of a long-term agenda of getting back to the Russian classics, starting with Anna Karenina this spring and then probably Dostoevsky next year. I've read many of his books but not in the Pevear/Volokhonsky translations. Definitely worth a peek in to their translation of Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. Anyway, was 2/3 through Powning's The Sea Captain's Wife, which I was not enjoying that much, seeing it as high-toned chick lit, when she threw in a plot twist that was so incredible/unbelievable that I actually felt insulted. Decided I am not going to read another word. On to Malone's Handling Sin, which is a fun romp... Ah, that's a coincidence. I must admid I just searched it on google images. I'm reading the book in Dutch (my native language). A few months ago I actually started in Anna Karenina, but I didn't really got into it so I lay it away for the future (have to many books I really want to read).

Maybe my favorite writer ever. This should keep my happy for the next coming weeks/months

I know some people think he's heaven sent as a saxophonist but that's going a bit far unconvincing album for me, sounds better in the passages when the leader's not playing by and large - but I nearly always have a "technique over content" reaction to Potter (exceptions seem to be with Motian) I found the album dissapointing also. I never really got into Potter, but since I loved his contribution to the "Lost in a Dream" album and Eric Harland is playing on this one, I had quitte high hopes. For the most time the only thing i was thinking though while listening to this albums was "now shup up Potter, so I can hear the rest of the band! For some reason his tone just doesn't grab me at all, and on this album I found the sound of his sax mixed/mastered? way to loud in comparrison with the rest of the group. As for what I bought; two very nice "Blue Note in a box" Liberty vinyl pressings of two of my alltime favorite albums:

Almost finished with Haruki Murakami - 1Q84 For some reason I just have a soft spot for Murakami. Always a pleasure to read his books, and great reading material for commuting.

Shelly Manne & his Men - at the Blackhawk Vol.4 (Contemporary Records re-issue, no idea which one)

Andrew Hill - Dance with Death (CD album, Blue Note Connoisseur)

Orhan Pamuk - The Silent House. One of the last books I didn't read from him yet.

Lee Morgan - Search for the New Land (Blue Note, Toshiba Japan pressing)

My story is almost the same. First album I got from him was Rabo de Nube, and since then I try to get all his ECM stuff from the early nineties till now. I can understand the disappointment in Mirror, but haven given it a chance it completely grew on me, and now I play it quite a lot.