ghost of miles

How's their signal doing? I've got my fingers crossed for them, as I think their fund-drive begins today.

Haven't seen it, but read about it while working on the French Connection program. Roy Schneider plays a character pretty close to the one he played in TFConnection, correct? I've been on a real kick for early 1970s crime drama lately, so I'd like to check it out.

I have had great experience with this Bol fellow--why, the last time I purchased items from him, he delivered them in person! Five stars...

Long, long prior discussion here. My experience has been similar to Dan's. Very good for readily available titles, but dicey for anything more obscure.

Was recently working on a Night Lights show about THE FRENCH CONNECTION and learned that Philip D'Antoni, the movie's producer, produced BULLITT as well. In fact, the car-chase scene in CONNECTION (with Hackman chasing the French killer who's hijacked the elevated train above him) was a deliberate attempt to one-up the scene in BULLITT. Evidently D'Antoni and director Billy Friedkin walked around NYC for about 50 blocks, trying to think of ways to do it, before hitting on the idea of having Hackman chase a train. They did not see permission from the city to film the scene, and some of its pell-mell quality was quite real (and dangerous).

Up in about 10 minutes (11:05 p.m. EST) for broadcast. 1-800-662-3311 to pledge, or online at WFIU. You can also contribute via the Night Lights archives.

The "Peter Gunn" show discussed in this thread is re-airing tonight at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN-Evansville and airing for the first time on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio tomorrow evening at 10 p.m. EST. That's because we'll be doing a live fund-drive broadcast on WFIU this evening at 11:05 EST, featuring the following CDs that will be available as thank-you gifts for pledging: Art Blakey's HARD BOP w/Jackie McLean (Mosaic Single) Jackie McLean, LET FREEDOM RING (RVG Blue Note) Lee Morgan, THE GIGOLO (RVG Blue Note) Sonny Rollins, V. 1 (RVG Blue Note) John Coltrane, FEARLESS LEADER (single disc from the box-set) Truly grateful for all of the support this show has received from this board (definitely helps me to justify the time I spend at work on a late-night Saturday slot) and from those who've contributed to the archives (and if you'd like to make any sort of pledge there, now or at any time, that would meet with much appreciation too). In all sorts of ways, you folks have helped to make this show and its continuation possible. Coming up in the next few weeks: Nov. 18--"The Avant-Garde Plays the Great American Songbook." Nov. 25--"Mary Lou Williams' Zodiac Suite." Dec. 2--"The French Connection." Dec. 9--"The Arrival of Victor Feldman." In the meantime, "Peter Gunn" is already archived for listening under the Oct. 22, 2005 date.

Fred Pustay said "probably mid to late November" when I talked to him last week.

I'm thinking about adding something like this to the Night Lights site. I emphasize "thinking," because I realize what a great deal of work it would involve. The current "Jazz News of Note" page is something that I haven't updated as much as I should, and it only mentions the occasional Mosaic set or interesting jazz book that's coming out. This would be a weekly venture, something that we'd probably update on Mondays.

Wow, that's cool, 7/4. Does Wolfe get read much these days? I read LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL around the same time I read Styron. I've always been curious to dip into some of Wolfe's shorter pieces (hmm, what is a "short" Thomas Wolfe piece? ) that appeared in the early 1930s when he was working on OF TIME AND THE RIVER. Styron's portrait of Wolfe's last editor (a thinly disguised Edward Aswell) in SOPHIE'S CHOICE is pretty funny. No Maxwell Perkins he.

I like this stuff, but my wife loves it--I've gotten her most of the other sets listed above. I think she may be finding this one under the Christmas tree come December.

Styron was a favorite when I was a teenager--I wrote him when I was 18 and actually got a very nice postcard back, which is still stuck in my copy of SOPHIE'S CHOICE. He was one of the last of that generation that grew up worshipping Thomas Wolfe, and his language was always sensually pleasing to read. THE LONG MARCH is a novella that often gets overlooked when people talk about his books, but it's worth checking out. I reread SOPHIE'S CHOICE a few years ago, and came away thinking, "Botched masterpiece." Great story--the kind of story an author waits a lifetime for--but undermined by self-indulgence IMO when it comes to the young, would-be writer/narrator. (Too often I feel that the authorial voice is buying what it's supposed to be satirizing.) Still, it had such a powerful impact on me when I was younger that I'll probably return to it at some point. Sorry that he never finished his WWII/Vietnam novel... had long looked forward to reading that.

That's odd, KH--I'll PM you Bruce Collier's e-mail address. Yeah, that version of "Angel Eyes" is great--other faves of mine include "The Trolley Song," "Winter Warm," and "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most." A Texas trombonist friend of mine played a really scratchy iPod file of "Angel Eyes" for me about a year ago, and I got that shiver sensation... some sort of definite vocal charisma there. She came from Indiana, too... evidently she and Dick cut their teeth on the mid-1950s Chicago scene before moving to Dallas.

For anybody interested in the Harps and hearing what they sounded like, the Night Lights show "Down at the 90th Floor" is now archived.

That was my intro to you, actually--around the time I started getting into jazz I picked up the Powell-on-Verve set, and really enjoyed reading your & Barry's reactions to the music (contained within the booklet). Here's hoping we see Peter Pullman's Bud bio soon.

Score! That is a hell of a set--hey, who is this guy? I wanna be his buddy too!

Been listening a lot the past two days to the Blakey HARD BOP entry in this series. While certainly aware previously of the McLean-Hardman front line, I've developed a new appreciation for it.

Dan, did you see Jeter's "no problems, no tension to talk about with A-Rod" interview? Either he's clueless (highly unlikely) or he's displaying more of that prickly attitude. Jeter pride seems to be winning out over the Yankee variety.

Best wishes as always, Mr. C.

I usually mollify myself by reading a baseball book or two. Haven't found one yet for this winter, though I've never gotten around to Halberstam's book about the 1964 season... its time may have come, finally.

This week on Night Lights it’s “Down at the 90th Floor: Dick and Kiz Harp.” Dick and Kiz Harp were a husband-and-wife, piano-and-vocals duo who ran their own nightclub (converted from a warehouse and called “The 90th Floor,” after a lesser-known Cole Porter song they performed) in Dallas , Texas at the end of the 1950s. They’ve developed a cult following among jazz-vocal aficionados on the basis of two obscure LPs. The Harps, influenced by artists such as Sylvia Sims, Anita O’Day, and Dick Marx’s Chicago trio, came up with their own sound—a blend of cabaret, torch song, and Midwestern camp—riding strongly on Kiz Harp’s magnetic stage presence and slightly hoarse, soulful voice (a listener described her as “Jeri Southern smoking two packs a day”). Their career ended suddenly and tragically in 1960. In this edition of Night Lights we’ll hear music from both of their albums (available again at 90th Floor Records) and we’ll talk with Bruce Collier, the founder and owner of 90th Floor Records, who recorded both LPs. “Down at the 90th Floor: Dick and Kiz Harp” airs Saturday, October 28 at 11:05 p.m. on WFIU, at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN-Evansville and at 10 p.m. EST Sunday evening on Blue Lake Public Radio (tune in early for Lazaro Vega). It will be posted Monday afternoon in the Night Lights archives.

We got this set last year and have now watched about five or six of the movies--just finished watching ISLE OF THE DEAD about an hour ago (nothing like a good Val Lewton flick around Halloween time). The cinematography in these films is gripping, and they nearly always find a perfect realm somewhere between psychological and supernatural, somehow making events believable in a way that makes the stories truly anxiety-inducing... again, as others have pointed out, by what's not there as much as what is. Highly recommended.

Was just about to post that review myself! Congratulations for the great writeup, Michael, and really looking forward to seeing you at Bear's when you hit B-town this December.

Thought some frequenters of the Big O might be interested in tonight's program: Some other recent programs at the archives link listed above: Oct. 20--The Songwriter Sings: Bobby Troup Oct. 13--Gil Evans on Pacific Jazz Sept. 22--Lee Wiley's West of the Moon

That's right in the middle of our fund-drive--but I'm sure I can make the time to tune in.