ghost of miles

Butler's back in the championship game--incredible!

This week's Night Lights show, a tribute to the great bassist Scott LaFaro, is now posted for online listening: The Jade Bass: Scott LaFaro It includes recordings LaFaro made with Victor Feldman, Booker Little, Pat Moran, Stan Kenton, and Bill Evans, as well excerpts from performances with Eric Dolphy and Ornette Coleman, and an interview with Jeremy Allen, bassist and faculty member at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. LaFaro would have turned 75 this coming Sunday if he were still alive.

Ramon Hernandez made it a happy Opening Day for the Reds: Three-run walkoff HR Another interesting note from that game: the Brewers hit back-to-back homers to start the game... first time that's happened on Opening Day in 42 years. And Albert Pujols grounded into three double plays for the Cards today.

Glad Curtis Granderson was healed in time to play on Opening Day! And that bullpen line looks sweet for NY... oh man, so happy that MLB is up and running once again.

Here's an audio story and a review I wrote about Butler creative-writing professor Susan Neville's excellent book covering last year's tournament run: Butler basketball and the Big Dance of Life

We re-aired The International Sweethearts of Rhythm this past week and it remains archived for online listening.

Yep--they put the Core 4 on there last year around this time.

It's too bad they have to play each other in the semi. I would have liked to have seen the possibility of both of those teams in the final. Me too--that would have been a beautiful finale! I didn't realize till just now that Shaka Smart is even younger than Brad Stevens... 33 years old! (Stevens is 34.) When was the last time you had two coaches under 35 in the Final Four?

Butler vs. VCU in the Final Four--who woulda thunk it?

Bob Parlocha on WFIU here in Bloomington.

Tom, some overlap here with what you've already heard, but this Night Lights show covers Ayers' 1960s jazz recordings: Vibin': Roy Ayers in the 1960s

It's just speculation, but isn't that part of the fun of spring training? Rodriguez was able to train at 100% this past winter (for the first time in two years) and has looked great so far. Jeter's hitting better too; I think they're both poised to improve on last year's performances. And yes, Montero's only hitting .212, and his defense has been getting very mixed notices, but I still think he'll be second-string until Cervelli comes back; hence my remark about seeing him at the MLB level. (And I may get to see him play in person, if he's back at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre by June 2, when my brother and I are taking in a minor-league game at Indianapolis.) Ivan Nova's looked good, A.J.'s looked good (until his most recent start); OTOH, I still think Phil Hughes is a question mark to repeat as an 18-game winner. Posada's at DH and I'm not all that concerned about him; plus Granderson, Swisher, Tex and Cano are all in their prime, and Brett Gardner may well be batting leadoff this year, which will be a very good thing. Just nice to feel a bit more positive after the gloom-'n-doom that was NY's offseason.

The Yankees' spring training has made me a bit more optimistic that we'll be a solid contender for the wild-card. Still can't see Boston being anything but a runaway favorite to win it all this season. But looking forward to seeing Jesus Montero getting some MLB playing time, and really looking forward to the day that Manny Banuelos comes up (though not likely this season), among other things.

Interesting research notes from the ESPN site:

Unbelievable ending. Two foolish fouls in the last two seconds. Can't remember ever seeing anything like that before. Agreed, and it's too bad that the fouls overshadowed that sweet dish to Andrew Smith to put Butler up by 1 with two seconds left... that should've been the game-winner right there. Last 7 seconds of Butler-Pittsburgh game I really thought Butler's magic had run out after Mack put Brown on the foul-line with 1.4 seconds to go--thought the best Butler could hope for was overtime.

Butler does it again!

In honor of pianist Harold Mabern's 75th birthday (coming up tomorrow, Sunday, March 20): A Few Miles From Memphis: Harold Mabern, the Early Years Covering 1960-70 with the MJT + 3, the Jazztet, Wes Montgomery, and Hank Mobley, as well as leader dates featuring Lee Morgan and George Coleman.

Best wishes, B.

Just added another one. Updated stations map.

Hard to dispute.

Hey all, the most recent Night Lights show, Mary Osborne: Queen Of The Jazz Guitar is now posted for online listening. It includes many of Osborne's 1940s recordings as a leader and with Mary Lou Williams, Beryl Booker, and the Coleman Hawkins 52nd Street All-Stars, as well as three sides from her 1959 A GIRL AND HER GUITAR date, a track from the Clark Terry CATS VS. CHICKS session, the 1977 Marian McPartland-led NOW'S THE TIME, and her final leader date in 1981. Coming up this week: "A Few Miles From Memphis: Harold Mabern in the 1960s."

You may need Facebook access to be able to watch this video, but it's a harrowing view of the tsunami coming through a town in Japan: Tsunami footage Gives a very up-close sense of its impact. EDIT: video now posted to YouTube. Wanted to repost this link as well: How you can help Japan

How you can help Japan

Latest version of the AP's story: Full article here.