ghost of miles

Our man in jazz does a very nice version as well:

I should add that I wouldn't necessarily say any of the songs I listed literally bring me to tears, but I've felt myself choke up at times, which is close enough, I suppose... songs that in certain moods really move me. I was thinking earlier today, though, before laying eyes on this thread, that there is no music more "American" to me than that of Ellington. Here's another for the list:

Moses Boyd’s Dark Matter:

One more time around the horn this past week for Nica’s Tempo: More Hipsters, Flipsters And On-The-Scenesters. It’s a sequel to a prior program.

A lovely set of late 1960s/early 70s British folk-rock—highly-recommended for anybody with an interest in the genre in general:

The Bond films will obviously be the lead talking point for most remembrances, but my favorite Connery role is in Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade:

Saw it on the counter display at my local record store this afternoon and bought after just a moment's hesitation (welllllll geeeeeee I already have a lot of live 1970s Dexter... awww, go ahead, why not?). Not even to the end of the first track (all of which are quite long) and am already very glad that I purchased this. Like HutchFan, I'm a big fan of the Keystone recordings from the same year/band, which is another factor that nudged me pretty quickly into picking it up.

Bit on this and am glad I did:

Hey Dan, I know there’s been buzz about this for some time, and now it appears it may be happening: Red Sox, Cora in managerial talks ... what would you think of a Cora return? And with Bloom at the helm, things could be looking up quicker than expected for Boston in the next couple of years. The AL East is going to be brutal, methinks... Rays have some good young talent in the pipeline to help sustain their current level, while Jays and even the O’s are on the rise. I think the window may have all but closed for the Yankees on a WS title and their outlook for next season is murky in several areas... I mostly just want them to resign DJ, and possibly Tanaka if the price is right. Still, they’ll most likely be a solid 90-wins team. Also curious to see how the free agent market plays out. CW is that it will be brutal for players, given the economic toll of 2020.

Picked up several Library of America volumes in their recent sale and am about 40 pages into Philip Roth’s American Pastoral, included as part of the LOA’s Roth American Trilogy omnibus. Riveting so far:

Revisiting with pleasure:

Listening to this as part of the massive Herbie Hancock Columbia box set, which I’m so glad to have finally picked up in the past year:

My reaction too, Dan—I wish the author had more of a jazz pedigree, but the photos may inspire me to pick it up, especially if the price drops at some point.

Forthcoming title that looks to be of interest, especially for the photos—though Messrs Morgenstern/Rollins/Jones’ viewpoints will be welcome as well. Sittin’ In: Jazz Clubs Of The 1940s And 50s

Dodgers In postgame interviews expressing their sense of relief and jubilation when Cash pulled Snell in the 6th. Did seem like too much of a rote “no third time through the lineup” mentality when Snell was pitching so dominantly and had not reached a high pitch count yet. But Rays’ lack of offense certainly put their pitchers in a tight spot tonight in general.

Never mind--I see you've already got a couple of shows in the bag! Ridin' In Rhythm

Starting today?

Yikes--thanks for that link. Ironic that her attempts to "brand" the store are undermining what's made it attractive to so many customers for such a long time.

Glad to see that Bluestockings is apparently hanging in there. I tried to plan a trip to their now-former Allen Street location this past January but ran out of time. Seems to me the biggest issue in the Strand story is the PPP loan, if a number of employees were laid off anyway. (Of course the larger PPP story is a huge mess rife with stories of abuse on a much larger scale, given the lack of oversight that I've read about.) The Strand may not be your standard "mom and pop" store, but it's been owned and run by the same family for 93 years... so it's not exactly like a corporate behemoth that moved in and leveled the landscape. Btw there's a good documentary about NYC bookstores that my girlfriend and I watched at the beginning of the spring lockdown period: The Booksellers

I just checked the Strand’s Wikipedia entry and it says that Fred Bass—son of the founder, and father of current owner Nancy Bass Wyden—did indeed buy the building for $8.2 million in 1996. Unless he bought it outright, though, the family may still be making monthly mortgage payments on it, especially if they refinanced at some point. On a vastly smaller scale, we have a somewhat similar situation with a wonderful independent bookstore here in Bloomington, the Book Corner, where the owner owns the building as well.

Last week’s Night Lights show was a centennial-year tribute to pianist Hazel Scott, a classically-trained prodigy who rose to fame from New York City’s Cafe Society nightclub at the beginning of the 1940s. Scott appeared in five movies, found popular success with her “swinging the classics” interpretations of music by composers such as Rachmaninoff and Chopin, and in 1945 married the charismatic minister and newly-elected Congressional representative Adam Clayton Powell Jr, forming an African-American power couple whose lives were covered extensively in the black press. But Scott’s outspokenness as a civil-rights advocate cost her jobs in Hollywood and a pioneering role as the first African-American woman to host a TV show. To Be Somebody: Hazel Scott includes some of Scott’s earliest recordings, two of her “swinging the classics” sides, two numbers from her movie appearances, two tracks from the 1955 trio album that she made with Charles Mingus and Max Roach, and more.

Oh man! I’ve gone there every single time that I’ve visited the city in the past several years—and oddly enough was just gazing fondly at a Strand purchase with the store sticker on the back of it a couple of hours ago, remembering what a joy it’s been to go there. It was going to be one of several definite stops for my planned May 2020 NYC trip with my girlfriend, which has been put on indefinite hold. Thanks for posting this... I’ll try to order some books through their website. P.S. Iirc the family that runs the Strand also owns the building. Hopefully that increases their chances of riding out the next few months... while they’ll still be on the hook for property taxes and utilities, at least I assume they’re not paying rent.