ghost of miles

I wasn't--I've got a ridiculous amount of stuff by the civilian band. I just know that some folks don't care at all for them.

I'm currently working on an Afterglow show about Glenn Miller's Army Air Force band, which Miller led from 1943 up to the time of his death in December 1944. Quite an orchestra (Miller was able to nab just about any talented musician he wanted who was serving), and a rhythm section that included Mel Powell on piano, Trigger Alpert on bass, and Ray McKinley on drums. Those who don't care a whit for the Miller civilian orchestra might find music more to their liking in his AAF era... if you ever see this set floating around for a decent price, it's a great 4-CD overview of the band in America, before it departed in the summer of 1944 for England (lots of material from the 1944-45 sojourn on the Continent available as well, through Avid's "Missing Chapters" series):

The Yanks are playing like cellar-dwellers right now, with Toronto and Boston both breathing down their backs. Granderson's doing rehab at the AAA team and should be back soon... however, that alone won't resolve all of the woes that have afflicted NY of late. Posters over at Pinstripe Alley are already starting to console themselves by saying, "Well, we're leading the wild-card standings..." almost as if they're already thinking that there's little chance we'll ever catch Tampa Bay this season. A lot of games with them at the end of the season, though; hopefully NY will be in a good groove come September. On another note: John Fogerty talks about the origins of his song"Centerfield"

Looks quite likely that there will indeed be another three episodes made, including a sequel to "Fifty Ships" (episode from an earlier season) that will take Foyle to America. This report from an Anthony Horowitz talk last week was posted to the Foyle's War discussion board: Also this, from an interview with Horowitz posted at PBS:

Here's another Shaw program, via Afterglow: Artie Shaw and the Singers ...with Helen Forrest, Billie Holiday, Mel Torme, Lena Horne and more.

Jeff Passan: Yankees are hurtin' for certain Fortunately, Javy's X-rays came back negative and he should be good for his next start. Odd that we came to the point where he actually acted as a stopper in the rotation last night, after poor outings from Hughes, Burnett, and Pettitte.

This week's Night Lights program pays tribute to the Artie Shaw centenary (Artie born May 23, 2010) by focusing on the last few years of his recording career--his short-lived but dynamic 1949 big band, some of the classical recordings he made that same year, and his revived Gramercy Five of 1953-54. The show is now archived for online listening: Shaw Sounds Final: Artie Shaw 1949-1954 Next week: "The Last: Final Recordings of Jazz Greats" (Artie will pop up in that one as well)

Craig Ferguson finally has it all figured out.

Tampa Bay compared to '98 Yanks New York's got their work cut out just to stay in Tampa Bay's rear-view mirror at this point.

Who they?

He's just looking for a regular guy.

Hey gang, we've got yet another new Night Lights site to roll out (though the URL is the same)--thoughts, comments, feedback welcome: New Night Lights site

Yep--Tampa Bay cleaned our clocks over these two games and is clearly the superior team right now. And even if we had Posada/Granderson/Nick Johnson, I'm not sure there'd be much of a difference...we've been losing this past week because our pitching--both starters and bullpen--has been imploding in one way or another every single game. If it wasn't for the miracle comeback Monday night against Boston, we would've dropped 5 straight at home at this point. And Javy's starting tomorrow against the Mets--who knows how that will go, but it couldn't be much worse than what we've had the last few games. (With the exception of CC, who had a great start go to waste because of the bullpen.)

Wow--did you see Charlie Haden's post in the comments thread?

That's an excellent biography--I was (and am) somewhat the same way about Elvis, Matthew. It's interesting to read Guralnick's book just for the sense of how and why he became so important to American culture in the late 1950s.

Okay, give the Mariners Hughes.... I was thinking more along the lines of Javy. OTOH we might need to save him for playing the outfield...

Hmmm...tell you what, we'll take him off your hands if you throw in Cliff Lee!

Feel free--I just pulled it from the post to the Jazz Programmer Listserv. A real bummer that the arts are getting the heave-ho in public schools around the country...and I don't just say this as somebody deeply invested in the arts, but as somebody who thinks teaching kids to play music, draw/paint, and do other creative things is a really good thing for this society as a whole...not just something that's "nice if we can afford it."

I know you Mariner-types will show us no mercy!

Nah, she's just part of the e-mail chain...Joyce Schon appears to be the lawyer. I didn't realize that Geri Allen was teaching at Michigan, though.

I'm not familiar with Ms. Fulton, but after reading Mark's Detroit Free Press review (click to page 2) I'll be checking her out.

Much respect and gratitude for all you've done and who you are--live it up in whatever way you find most satisfying.

Nice write-up on Tampa Bay and how good they are.

Including teachers at Cass Tech, the famous Detroit school through which so many great jazz musicians passed. This e-mail was posted to the Jazz Programmers Listserv today:

Oh, great! Posada out 3-4 weeks with hairline fracture So: Curtis Granderson--out another 2-4 weeks Jorge Posada--out 3-4 weeks Nick Johnson--out till mid-July Nick Swisher--?? day-to-day Nearly half of the starting lineup we left spring training with is now out of commission.