ghost of miles

I just spoke with Bill’s wife Angela—my girlfriend and I stayed with them in Manchester during our 2016 Ireland/UK trip. She says that Bill passed away on January 22 at the age of 84. At his request, music of Charlie Parker and Bill Evans was played at his funeral. “He had a full and lovely life, with all sorts of passionate interests,” Angela said. I told her that Kate and I still reminisce about what a wonderful time we had with their family, and we couldn’t have asked for a better host and city guide. (He gave us a tour of Manchester’s city center that was a history lesson for the ages.) I also told her that Bill was much-loved on this board and will be deeply missed.

I saw Oppenheimer twice (the second time on the full-size iMax screen at the Indiana State Museum) and loved it. So happy to see it have a big night at the Oscars. In fairness, the only other best-picture nominee I saw was Barbie, so I can’t weigh in on the merits of the others, but Oppenheimer definitely seemed Oscar-worthy to me (including Cillian Murphy’s performance for the ages in the title role). Plus I love that a three-hour dialogue-driven historical film about a scientist could be a box-office blockbuster in 2023. The only other Nolan films I’ve seen are his Batman trilogy, which I thoroughly enjoyed, especially The Dark Knight, which I’d rank among the best movies of the 2000s.

Up for #99! Snap, Crackle and Swing: Young Roy Haynes

A happy 99th birthday to Roy!… HAYNES!!

After seeing Metheny’s solo Dream Box show last night here in Bloomington:

Such a great series. Right now:

Definitely. I picked it up used a few years ago at my local record store--great to have at hand whenever the mood falls on me to listen to some Cream.

Planning to catch this new Met exhibition when I'm in New York next month: The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism

Jazz pianist and Indiana University jazz alum Jim Beard dead at 63. Got to interview him back in 2012 when he and several other IU notables came back to campus for a jazz event.... nice guy who sure had put together an impressive musical resume. He was the pianist in David Baker's 21st Century Bebop Band while he was here in the 1980s.

Seminal jazz for me:

Newly-arrived order from Tommy’s Jazz hitting the stereo this evening: 3/5 of that band is on the Mark Turner CD I’m currently listening to! 😄 Looks like a great line-up… wish I’d thrown that one into my order as well.

2:37 "What are you, a f*#%in' goose?" 😂

We re-aired To Be Somebody: Hazel Scott this past week on Night Lights, and it remains archived for online listening.

Yep, brand-new. Sounded lovely the first time through, and Brian Blade never lets it get too sleepy… has he recorded with Lloyd before?

New album from the former guitarist of the Stone Roses (one of my all-time favorite rock bands) and the former lead singer of Oasis:

Inspired by discussion elsewhere on the board:

Not exactly fresh news, apparently, but I hadn't caught wind of it until Googling Bailey on her birth anniversary today: Killers of the Flower Moon's Lily Gladstone attached to Mildred Bailey biopic

Last week's Night Lights show, focusing on Charles Mingus' recordings for his and Max Roach's Debut label, is now up for online listening: "The Latest And The Greatest In Jazz": Charles Mingus And Debut Records

Bellinger was reportedly seeking $150-200 million, so he ended up settling for roughly half of that. I wouldn't be surprised to see similar short-term, high-AAV deals with opt-outs being taken by the remaining members of the Boras Four. In any event, happy for Cubs fans that he landed back with them--seems like a good fit for both team and player.

Highly-touted Yankees prospect Spencer Jones hit a 470-foot home run in his spring training debut today, so I’m happy about that. The new uniforms are an aesthetic disaster. And I strongly suspect the Boras Four are all going to have to lower their asking prices significantly.