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Kara Grainger, Living With Your Ghost (Station House), and Carl LeBlanc, Those Who Have Ears

Beyonce thanks you.

I voted for Jaki Byard.

Also, both Heads of State Smoke Sessions releases are good.

Kara Grainger, L.A. Blues

He's playing in Dallas and Houston for the first time on September 29 and 30; however, when you click on the ticket link from his website, you find a link to a concert of Florence and the Machine. Apparently he is the opening act, but you have to click a couple of times to find that buried information. Given that tickets with a seat are $100, I'm skipping it.

Louis Armstrong, New Orleans Nights (Decca) Jim Hall, Jazz Impressions of Japan (Paddlewheel/King)

Eddie Turner, Naked... in your face (7-14)

Lester Young, Jazz Immortal volume 2 (Savoy) The Bessie Smith Story, volume 2 (Columbia)

The liner notes say 8 of the 16 tracks have been previously released in edited form in Europe.

I'm not a subscriber; I bought this LP from Ben Allison at an engagement at Smoke. It is a nice package and pressing.

CDs are not going away. It is a simple proposition; artists need something to sell at their concerts to supplement their income, and you can't sell a download card (or who would buy it). Vinyl is bulky to haul around and expensive.

Last weekend, a short visit to West Texas, specifically, Midland, for the Tall City Blues Festival: Friday: Eddie "Devil Boy" Turner Anni Piper Heather Gillis (partial set) Kara Grainger Saturday: Ally Venable Kenny Neal Vanessa Collier There was a lot more rock that blues in the Tall City Blues Festival; also a lot of fresh talent in the form of young women. It was great to hear master guitarist Eddie Turner again after a number of years. Kara Grainer is mysteriously little known--a beautiful woman from Australia with a soulful voice and wicked guitar skills, her set was great. Vanesa Collier, a vocalist/saxophonist (ex-of the Joe Louis Walker band) presented an exciting hybrid set of blues/funk/rock/gospel/jazz to close the festival.

Personally, I never could connect to Ramsey Lewis. I've bought a few of his albums on Argo, and I even went to see him when he played at the Meyerson (early '90s?), but I was utterly bored by the concert. The only one of his recordings that I looked for was the seemingly fairly rare recording with Lem Wincester. I finally found a copy, but in poor condition.

I would guess based upon many years of looking at used record bins that Ramsey Lewis was actually more popular than Ahmad Jamal. It certainly seems as if I see more of his records than Jamal's. Over a long period of time, I have acquired pristine Jamal records, though that is not the norm.

For Spanish jazz, I like Nino Josele (guitar) and Chano Dominguez (piano). There is also the superb vocalist Buika. Her recordings are readily available in the United States, however. Also, Javier Limon is a brilliant guitarist, a spare and economical flamenco guitarist. Not jazz, but the Spanish singer Maria Del Mar Bonet is fabulous.

I heard Motian live with Kikuchi at the Village Vanguard. The growling was so loud, weird and disturbing. Unlistenable stuff for me.

Love it.

August 10-11, 2018: Arnett Cobb Birthday Celebration with Shelley Carrol and Carl Lott, Cezanne, Houston August 23-24, 2018: Charlie Hunter, Fayetteville Roots Festival, Fayetteville, Arkansas August 30, 2018: Jerekus Singleton, Sam's Burger Joint, San Antonio August 31, 2018: Tutu Jones, Riverfront Jazz Festival, Texas Horse Park, Dallas September 1, 2018: Bobby Rush, Grace Kelly, Riverfront Jazz Festival, Texas Horse Park, Dallas Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials, Bedford Blues Festival September 2, 1018: Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Riverfront Jazz Festival, Texas Horse Park, Dallas September 5, 2018: Wycliffe Gordan, Sammons Center, Dallas September 8, 2018: Abhisek Lahiri (sarod), Subrata Bhattacharya (tabla), Allen Public Library September 14, 2018: Al Di Meola, The Heights, Houston Ike Stubblefield, Delvon Lamarr, Antone's, Austin Peggy Stern, Cezanne, Houston Selwyn Birchwood, Six Springs Tavern, Richardson September 15, 2018: Big Bill Morganfield, Denton Blues Festival Al Di Meola, One World Theater, Austin Selwyn Birchwood, Franklin's Tower, Humble September 16, 2018: Al Di Meola, Kessler Theater, Dallas Selwyn Birchwood, Denton Blues Festival September 19, 2018: Fred Hersh, Trinity University, San Antonio Buddy Guy, Granada Theater, Dallas September 20, 2018: Fred Hersh Trio, Fort Worth Public Library September 22, 2018: Divine Trio, Allen Public Library September 28, 2018: Stanley Clarke, One World Theater, Austin September 29, 2018: Kamasi Washington, Toyota Music Factory, Irving September 30, 2018: Stanley Clarke, Dosey Doe, Houston Kamasi Washington, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, The Woodlands October 2, 2018: David Gerald, The Lumberyard, Roscoe October 3, 2018: Ches Smith/Mat Maneri/Craig Taborn, North Door, Austin David Gerald, Love and War, Plano October 5, 2018: John Scofield, Mohawk, Austin October 6, 2018: Sweekar Katti (sitar), Houston George Brooks Aspada, Bates Recital Hall, Austin Delfeayo Marsalis, Jazz and World Festival, Tulsa, Oklahoma October 10, 2018: Branford Marsalis, Austin State University, Nacogdoches October 10-11, 2018: Dina Elwedidi, One 2 One Bar, Austin October 11, 2018: Branford Marsalis, Moody Performance Hall, Dallas October 12, 2018: Branford Marsalis, Brauntex Performing Arts Center, New Braunfels October 26, 2018: Jacob Bro, Thomas Morgan, Joey Baron, Duet, Tulsa, Oklahoma November 3, 2018: Lonnie Smith Trio, Wortham, Houston November 7, 2018: Rachella Parks, Sammons Center, Dallas November 10, 2018: Charle Hunter, Duet, Tulsa, Oklahoma November 11, 2018: Charlie Hunter, Guitar Sanctuary, McKinney December 1, 2018: Pedrito Martinez, Wortham, Houston December 3, 2018: Wynton Marsalis, Tobin Center, San Antonio December 4, 2018: Charles Lloyd, Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan, San Antonio December 5, 2018: Wynton Marsalis with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Meyerson, Dallas February 8, 2018: Chucho Valdes, Wortham, Houston February 9, 2019, Chucho Valdes, Laurie Auditorium, San Antonio March 23, 2019: Tom Harrell Quintet, Empire Theater, San Antonio April 11, 2019: Stanley Jordan, One World Theater, Austin Terence Blanchard and Rennie Harris, Bass Concert Hall, Austin April 12, 2019: Dave Douglas, Wortham, Houston April 13, 2019: University of Texas Jazz Orchestra with Joe Lovano, Bates Recital Hall, Austin April 26-28, May 2-5, 2019: New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival

I did see Sphere live once. As I recall they played mostly original music. I recall the two sets I heard as sublime, performed before a tiny audience. There was nothing nostalgic about it.

Currently the No. 12 album on amazon, in between Nine Inch Nails and Garth Brooks.

Sidney Bechet, French Movies (Moochin' About)

The Many Faces of Art Farmer (Sceptor). I like the combination here of Art Farmer and Charles McPherson.

I saw the group at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival--Bill Frisell wasn't there; he was replaced by Stuart Mathis; ithe group didn't sound quite as good.

It (the new Charles Lloyd release) is terrific (in my opinion).