ghost of miles

Indiana writer Dan Wakefield, author of the best-selling 1970 novel Going All the Way, as well as the cultural history New York In the Fifties and the spiritual memoir Returning, passed away Wednesday at 91. I was fortunate to cross paths with Dan a few times in the past 25 years or so, and he was a guest on my Night Lights show about the Five Spot. (Dan was a habitue in its late-1950s/early 60s heyday.) I’ve posted a remembrance of him on the Night Lights site: Wakefield’s Way: Dan Wakefield, 1932-2024

I sent a link to this thread to Bill’s daughter (whom Kate and I also met in 2016) and asked her to share it with her mother. They are all such lovely people.

With a young J.J. Johnson in the band! Thanks for the heads-up on this... I'm in.

😂 Fortunately it was a very casual, friendly blindfold test and breakfast was served regardless! He was a joy to hang out with and certainly enhanced my appreciation of British jazz history, among other things. I wish Kate and I had been able to pay a return visit. I also noticed that his last post was on January 19, just three days before he passed away. He died of lung cancer (apparently from exposure to asbestos at some point, according to Angela--he had never been a smoker) and must have known that he didn't have much time left. Not surprised that he didn't mention anything about his illness on the board... but I think he did know that he was much appreciated here.

Kate and I stayed with Bill and his wife Angela for three days in Manchester. Each morning he gave me a quick saxophonist blindfold test when we came downstairs for breakfast. I guessed Tubby Hayes and Sonny Rollins correctly, but bombed the other one. I *think* that’s what we were up to in this particular photo:

BillF and me at the train station in Manchester, June 2016:

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?