poetrylover3

I would be remiss in forgetting the wildly eclectic Vintage Vinyl in St Louis-highly knowledgable staff and ownership-especially with respects to blues and reggae. Definitely worthwhile for browsing and special orders.

In St Louis (Webster Groves, MO a suburb) I'm blessed with Euclid Records which sports a beautiful collection of vinyl new and used in Jazz, a well- stocked new and used CD selection and-gasp-truly knowledgeable sales people who can take a look at an import and tell you the origins of particular tracks so that you don't arrive home to find you already own these tracks or offer a caveat as may be necessary on the audio standards of the label. Joe Schwab, the owner, has been listening to Jazz deeply since before I first met him in the early 70s and while we disagree on the merits of Claus Ogerman, his critical acumen is unfailingly useful. He knows what I collect and what I might like.Much of the same applies with local radio host and columnist Steve Pick, who mans the Friday night desk, which is my usual time to visit. I've only focused on Jazz, they're also strong on rock-both classic and indie and I have yet to hear anything that would send me to the exit. They operate an extensive and efficient mail order business and auction business on Ebay. Definitely worth your while, the next time you find yourself in St Louis. Peace, Blue Trane

By the 3rd grade I' read the Landmark books series on American History, the childhoods of famous people, and Greek myths, Sherlock Holmes. By the 5th grade I'd graduated to the adult section of the library and was reading the Durants, Voltaire, Mark Twain along with classic mysteries by the likes of Agatha Christie, Erle Stanley Gardner etc. I received my first exposure to Carl JUng's Memories, Dreams, Reflections, and Man & His Symbols. I also naturally devoured Baseball Biographies, the Bronc Burnett series, Tom Swift. I read voraciously and it not only gave me a wide background of knowledge but it kept me sane. I don't have nearly the time to read today but I keep the summertime and Christmas open. My favorite novel is still THe Brothers Karamazov. Peace, Blue Trane

The Basic Con by Lew Welch Those who can’t find anything to live for, always invent something to die for. Then they want the rest of us to die for it too. Other favorite poets have to include Wallace Stevens, A R Ammons, William Carlos Williams, Pablo Neruda (especially The Captain's Verses, some of the most beautiful love poetry I know), Ruth Stone (my former teacher), Louise Gluck-October especially, William Butler Yeats, e.e. cummings, Walt Whitman, Longfellow. Anthologies are also noteworthy for making the acquaintance of lesser known and "foreign" poets- including Hayden Carruth's The Voice That Is Great Within Us, Carolyn Forche's Against Forgetting, Peter Forbes' Scanning The Century, The Library of America anthologies of American Poetry: The 17th and 18th Centuries; The Nineteenth Century (what a magnificent gift this is!!!); The Twentieth Century. I'm just now becoming acquainted with Language For A New Century. The Norton Anthology of Poetry remains an essential and basic text. I'm as nuts on poetry as I am on Jazz so this could be a great thread. I'll close this with one of Whittier's less well known poems What The Birds Said, which I find extraordinarily powerful: WHAT THE BIRDS SAID by: John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) The birds against the April wind Flew northward, singing as they flew; They sang, "The land we leave behind Has swords for corn-blades, blood for dew." "O wild-birds, flying from the South, What saw and heard ye, gazing down?" "We saw the mortar's upturned mouth, The sickened camp, the blazing town! "Beneath the bivouac's starry lamps, We saw your march-worn children die; In shrouds of moss, in cypress swamps, We saw your dead uncoffined lie. "We heard the starving prisoner's sighs And saw, from line and trench, your sons Follow our flight with home-sick eyes Beyond the battery's smoking guns." "And heard and saw ye only wrong And pain," I cried, "O wing-worn flocks?" "We heard," they sang, "the freedman's song, The crash of Slavery's broken locks! "We saw from new, uprising States The treason-nursing mischief spurned, As, crowding Freedom's ample gates, The long-estranged and lost returned. "O'er dusky faces, seamed and old, And hands horn-hard with unpaid toil, With hope in every rustling fold, We saw your star-dropt flag uncoil. "And struggling up through sounds accursed, A grateful murmur clomb the air; A whisper scarcely heard at first, It filled the listening heavens with prayer. "And sweet and far, as from a star, Replied a voice which shall not cease, Till, drowning all the noise of war, It sings the blessed song of peace!" So to me, in a doubtful day Of chill and slowly greening spring, Low stooping from the cloudy gray, The wild-birds sang or seemed to sing. They vanished in the misty air, The song went with them in their flight; But lo! they left the sunset fair, And in the evening there was light.

Bill Evans: Turn Out The Stars & The Last Waltz. Late Bill Evans is astounding, awe-inspiring and deeply moving

Hayden Carruth was a fine poet whom I will miss. He edited my favorite mid century anthology of American poetry, The Voice That Was Great Within Us, c. 1970 which I believe is still in print and which I continue to consult to this day. Toward the Distant Islands: New and Selected Poems (2006) makes a fine introduction to his work, including his marvelous snapshot/tribute to Ben Webster. RIP, Hayden.

This is one of my favorite Silver albums. It features the Brecker Brothers and a very engaging tune called Gregory Is here.

The Best American Mystery Stories 2008. So who has time to prowl through monthly mystery magazines? These pieces are short and introduce me to good writers. I find myself revisiting previous years in the series as well, so the series holds up well, IMO. Peace, Blue Trane

By mail: Nat Adderley and The Big Sax Section. Jimmy Heath contributes six charts. Nice OOP set from Newbury Comics. Kenny Wheeler: Gnu High. I've played this twice and it's growing on me. Chick Corea/Miroslav Vitous/ Roy Haynes: Trio Music Live In Europe. I really like this Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette: Standards Live McCoy Tyner: Trident My local record store-Euclid Records-a clutch of Japanese Blue Notes. I picked up McCoy Tyner-Tender Moments; Horace Parlan-Us Three; Hank Mobley Sextet. Left behind a set by Don Wilkerson with Grant Green. Did I make a mistake in leaving this behind?I've never heard him. Again, at Euclid Records-Jarrett/Peacock/DeJohnette: Setting Standards/New York Sessions Peace, Blue Trane

Toshiko Akiyoshi Lew Tabackin Big Band: Mosaic Select. Back in the 70s I heard some of this music but never ran across CD reissues at an affordable price. Her new release "Let Freedom Swing" inspired me to order this set comprised of 5 lps recorded and released on the RCA family of labels and I'm very happy that I did. To begin, she's one heck of a composer and arranger-highly inventive. I especially enjoy her writing for reeds, her highly imaginative use of color and the sheer energy with which these compositions inspire her musicians. Like Ellington she writes for specific soloists and voices, her orchestra is truly her instrument. This has to be, in my mind, one of the best reissues of the year!!! Peace, Blue Trane

I bought this on the basis of the trailer at YouTube. McCoy is my piano hero and frankly I'll enjoy the three hours of rehearsal footage. It is seemingly odd that he's recorded so infrequently with guitarists-most notably IMO on Matador with Grant Green and I'm looking forward to hearing the results of these partnerships.

Woody Herman Mosaic Select, Disc 2

Woody Herman: Mosaic Select

48... and now I have a new list of books to read. What ever happened to the point of view that said it was up to parents to supervise their children's reading? Or that reading is an integral part of the life of the mind and necessary to the exercise of freedom? My very Republican mother battled the local Public Library to allow me in the Adult Library when I was in the fifth grade, knowing that the more I read the less likely it would be that I'd be influenced by any one book or the kind of demagoguery that passes for rational discussion of the issues. People who read widely know that books that appear on these lists will usually either disappear or need to be read and discussed openly in the "marketplace of ideas". Censorship at this level is usually a sign of laziness or ignorance. Certainly there are works published whose dissemination needs to be restricted but aside from those that present a clear and present danger to the community, there's very little that an adult shouldn't be allowed to decide on the merits whether to read or not to read.

Schindler's List The Last Picture Show Good Night and Good Luck

This is a desert island disc for me-from the mysterious opening of "Autumn Leaves" the set never fails to entrance me. It's one of the great discs from 1958-a great year for jazz. Peace, Blue Trane

In St Louis, Jazz at the Bistro would be your ideal spot

Worth seeing for the characterization and the general air of creepiness without a lot of gore. Chris carter always knew what to imply rather than to simply display. Overall, it's a superior episode of the franchise's horror side.

Boom! Tom Brokaw. Nice review of 60s politics and culture with interviews with survivors. Cinnamon Kiss. Walter Mosley is in a class of his own, with a sharp and distinctive prose voice that is a pleasure to the eyes and ears. Easy Rawlins is one of my favorite fictional "detectives", side by side with Phillip Marlowe.

I've been a baseball fanatic since 1964-the Cards' miracle season-I was 10- and consider myself fairly knowledgeable about the game. This situation sounds like a great challenge. BTW I do read Baseball America so I keep up with MLB prospects, a plus down the stretch and if the team carries over from year to year.

Good sound quality, a well balanced 22 tracks each of Waller performing Waller, Waller instrumentals, Waller performing other people's compositions. At approximately $9 plus S & H from Amazon affiliates this 3CD(66 track) set is a real bargain and fills my Fats Waller hole-I only owned a 1 disc The Very Best of Fats Waller, previously.

Euclid Records in St Louis MO has considerable experience with large collections and the owner, Joe Schwab, is very knowlegeable. I've known him to be an honest, shrewd bargainer over the last 30+ years. You can find them online. Jeff Tedford aka Blue Trane

Disc 5, The Freedom Suite The master at work in one of his most fruitful periods.

Are these CDs or vinyl? Is it worth driving from St Louis for this? I'm really not interested in acquiring a lot of vinyl as I lack safe storage space. Thanks. Jeff T aka Blue Trane

Double Play by Robert Parker. Baseball and hardboiled fiction re: Jackie Robinson's bodyguard in 1947.