johnblitweiler

I think Ballard wrote much better novels than "Crash" later, when he got angrier: "Hello America," "Super-Cannes," "Rushing to Paradise," "Millennium People" for example. Otherwise, his cold, almost clinical style and his recurring incremental plotting could be off-putting.

Sundidos and Mojo Snake Minuet by John Litweiler are both, in their ways, mysteries and both are said to have some literary merit. (see goodbaitbooks.com)

Happy Felsch Eddie Cicotte Knuckles O'Toole

Astounding in more than one way if this is a real help-wanted ad and not a joke. Currently you are the social media manager for Nessa Records and I am the social media manager for Goodbait Books. It's cheaper than paying for ads and, in my experience, just as unproductive.

Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem

In recent months reading had seemed more like a nervous habit than something very rewarding or memorable. Rereading "The Good Soldier" (for the 3rd or 4th time) was a necessary and great reminder of why literature exists at all, of why writing and books were invented. "It is queer the fantastic things that quite good people will do in order to keep up their appearance of calm poco-curantism....I think it would have been better in the eyes of God if they had all attempted to gouge out each other's eyes with carving knives. But they were 'good people.'" Ford's sentences, his structure, his characters, especially the ostensibly naive and innocent, but actually agonizingly observant narrator - it's all a wonder. And lately I learned that some Tory friends have been living a similar story (I mean the 2015 U.S. equivalent of actual Edwardian Tories).

White Sox just hired a catcher who hit .191 last season, will pay him $2.5 million. Insert sarcastic comment.

Yes you should. I took Oscar Wilde's advice and never listened to an album before I wrote the review. Didn't want to get prejudiced.

Not shameless. Looks like a good read, thanks for letting us know.

Thanks, Moms. Make-out music indeed. Imagine the resulting babies.

Bluto Pluto The Platters

40++ years ago when I was desk clerk at a mainly residential hotel (around 300 rooms or suites) in Chicago, the post office would every day deliver a handful or 2 of pieces to us instead of the correct address. A few times, the majority of the mail we got was misaddressed - usually it was meant for an insurance company several miles away in Chicago. I'm worried - Leo Records tried to mail me a package and it got returned to them by the post office here.

I really loved that Motley exhibit, which is apparently now traveling. Less fanciful, more (to me) American in style: the African-American artist Jacob Lawrence's roomful of 1940 Black Migration paintings at MoMA last summer - wonderful. Every schoolkid in America should be taught this history.

Pinky Lee Pinko Comsymp

This song has a verse, too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN5mPyPLIgw

I just learned that my cousin in Paris and her daughter are OK, thank God.

1. Let's not underestimate the importance of Anderson, Vandermark-Corbett, and Reed on the Chicago jazz renaissance. 2. It helps that Mike Reed grew up in the Netherlands and knew some European musicians even before he moved to Chicago. 3. It helped that Fred Anderson made friends all over Chicago as well as on his travels around the US and Europe. 4. Often enough when Vandermark gets inspired, there's an energy about his music that grabs me. 5. Larry's liner notes on the new Josh Berman Trio CD are so right in emphasizing Josh's sound, it's as if each cornet note is sculptured. 6. Week in, week out there's a certain amount of AACM players mixing with north siders. 7. With all the excitement of new players arriving and emerging in Chicago earlier in the century, there's been quite a leveling off after, say, 2009 or so - I mean, fewer new folks these days. I hope I'm wrong about that.

John gave me some interesting tapes of his piano improvising but I haven't heard his composed music. Has any been recorded, have any of his music mss. been published?

Trick photography, surely.

Nicky Hill Rudy Vallee Lester Flatt

Yes, a perfect solo, as perfect as "Easy Does It" even. What is the date in 1937, January or so? If I remember rightly, that's when the Basie-Chatterbox album was done. Quite a difference in YOung's style between that and in the Smith-Jones quintet (Nov. 9) - again, between the Smith-Jones and the Jan. 25 Billie Holiday sessions. It's also fun to listen to Frank Trumbauer solos and try to imagine what Young sounded like in the years before he first recorded.

My favorite (Annie Ross on "Jackie," one of Wardell Gray's totally perfect tenor solos): I sat / one night / right / in the middle of a glass of coca-cola And thought how / I'd now / go for / some biscuits and a slice of gorgonzola When I felt / a twitch / which / seemed to come from something under my ear I wondered if / I was high / or / if it was merely a hallucination I turned round / and found / something I thought was my imagination On my blouse / a mouse / sat / and this is what he started to say: If you want to hear the story of a mouse in all its glory, let me tell you 'bout the time that I was giggin' with a band And all the cats thought that I was really the end They'd come around and listen to the sound that was Coming from a crazy little creature who was sitting on the bandstand, and that was me-ee etc.

Rocket Richard The Pocket Rocket Rockin Johnny

John Bull Uncle Sam Sam the Sham

Mrs. North Eddie South Frank Wess