ghost of miles

Disc 1 of this beauty:

Score! I also managed to get a copy through the Forced Exposure restock. Can't wait to dig into this!

Murakami signs two-year deal with White Sox Not a bad move for Murakami, given the concerns about how he’ll measure up to MLB pitching. If he produces, he’ll be back on the market at age 27 and will have a better chance of landing a long-term deal. Me, I’m still hoping the Yankees land Tatsuya Imai, who at least reportedly *doesn’t* want to play for the Dodgers, aka Evil Empire West. (Not that they need him.) And I’m agnostic about resigning Cody Bellinger. He had an excellent season in 2025, but his inconsistent track record and his age (turning 31 in July) make me wary of giving him an expensive long-term deal.

Yes, and this very political (and illegal—only Congress is authorized to rename the Center) act contributes to the ongoing assault on a cultural institution that has championed jazz, so that has to be mentioned. Hard to keep politics out when it’s actively, quite deliberately shitting on so much of what we value in this country, every single day. In the meantime, I can’t imagine any self-respecting jazz artist performing at this venue again any time soon.

… for anybody who missed out on the marvelous Tubby Hayes Fontana box set, Jazz Messengers has it right now for $70. Listening to the last two “lost sessions” discs. Delighted to hear Teddy Grace pop up on two of the disc 4 tracks, and continuing to sop up all the Eddie Miller that’s here to hear. What a great band this was!

Tonight at Zardi's, a 5-CD collection of live performances by Shorty Rogers, Stan Kenton and Stan Getz that the Los Angeles Jazz Institute put out recently as a membership thank-you gift.

Such an excellent box-set. A primary issue for selling here, pglbook, might be most if not that all who would be interested already have it!

My Bloody Valentine's 2013 comeback album of a sort, dropping quite mysteriously and suddenly iirc--I didn't get around to hearing it for a few months after its release, despite retaining my love for their late 1980s-early 90s shoegaze glory years. I know kids here on the music scene in Bloomington and beyond who absolutely revere this band... I'm old enough now to note with interest the music from my own youth that finds any traction with teens and 20somethings, and they've got big ears. Certainly having the kind of vast, unparalleled access to past music that pre-digital kids didn't have is partly to account (for better or worse--I think it's for the better, generally speaking), but I'm always curious about why certain indie bands in particular resonate with Gen Z. They're certainly big on My Bloody Valentine. That's great news! I still have the reissue of Cypress with the Afoot EP appended that came out a few years ago, and I still love that album. It might be the peak of 1980s college jangle-rock.

Strata-East CD reissues in the house! Now playing:

I don't know about jazz CDs specifically, but the owner of my fave local record store recently told me that he's selling CDs as much if not more than ever. He says he's getting more young customers buying them, partly because they can't afford vinyl if they're looking for physical media. And Numero, which dumped its CD stock years ago, just announced that they are launching a new CD reissue series in response to ongoing customer base demand. I don't think CDs will come back necessarily to the extent that vinyl did, and will remain a niche part of the market, but there do seem to be signs that a small revival is underway.

Richard Linklater (absolute favorite--others in no particular order) Greta Gerwig Todd Haynes Guillermo del Toro Martin Scorsese Christopher Nolan Paul Thomas Anderson Billy Wilder Ryan Coogler Wes Anderson Chantal Ackerman Joel Coen .... lots of others, but I'll leave it at a baker's dozen.

I love the live shows on the bonus discs for this and the Reckoning deluxe edition. I recently picked up Joni Mitchell’s Archives 3 and 4 box sets and am digging into them again this afternoon. So much great music on these! Highly recommended if you’re already a Joni fan.

I loved this series back in the day but never came across this one till recently. As always I already have many of the tracks, but there are also often stray ones that I don’t, and I like the compilation concepts (which were even more compelling in the pre-Spotify playlist era). The title says it all with this one… not to mention the cover!

Seeing her perform this album in Chicago tomorrow night.