seeline

The scenes in the last episode - where Sonny's at the juke joint in Texas - came across as fairly sinister (in the way they portrayed him, that is). He's been nursing a grudge against her for two episodes now, and I don't think he's going to give that up. For her part, Annie comes across to me as very trusting and, in some ways, naive. That doesn't bode well for her, I'm thinking, but who knows? fwiw, IMDB has Annie listed as being in a large number of episodes, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. (I think sometimes there is misleading "info." posted there so that viewers won't be able to determine if a character leaves a show for whatever reason.) Edited to add: Sonny's pals - the ones who talked him into going to Texas for the jam session - also came across to me as young, naive and fanboy-ish. (Or wannabe-ish, maybe?)

I'd like to believe that, RJ, but Sonny is already jealous and bitter about her spending time with other musicians (all men) and the fact that she's playing good gigs. Almost sounds like the plotline for an opera...

I've been thinking (for the past two episodes) that things aren't going to end well for her... but that's just my hunch.

Sonny: I have no idea!

Does the woman who plays Annie actually play the violin? Whoever does has a gorgeous tone. YES - see my previous post. She's a Julliard grad and a professional musician, not an actress. [caps are for emphasis, not yelling. ]

"Annie" is actually kinda famous IRL. I wonder how much Davis actually does know - seems like he shouldn't have been surprised by the candles and rooster in the opening segment of Episode 2, if he really does know his NOLA culture, etc. though as is, that bit was wonderfully funny.

Absolutely. He's one of the most irritating characters I've encountered on *any* TV show, actually... I feel the same way about Sonny, though for slightly different reasons.

The Olympia: yes.

I don't know what that means. Please elucidate. it's the title of the song... http://almashriq.hiof.no/egypt/700/780/umKoulthoum/Songs/arooh.html'>http://almashriq.hiof.no/egypt/700/780/umKoulthoum/Songs/arooh.html http://almashriq.hiof.no/egypt/700/780/umKoulthoum/ Google is your friend.

There have been bootleg tapes and DVDs of her performances circulating ever since the technology was publicly available... Lots of grocery stores, etc. sell them, even now. (Same for bootlegs of Indian movies, soundtracks, DVDs of live performances, and so on.) I even bought a 2-well cassette deck back in the late 80s so that I could dub the bootleg K7s onto good tape - there was just no other way of getting Indian popular music at that time, short of having a connection with EMI India.

Believe it or not, I don't have a copy of that disc. (Though friends who do have basically said the same things you have re. Hamilton's playing on the DVD.) I have a DVD made by singer Zélia Duncan ("Eu me transformo em outras") where he was part of the ensemble - his work as an ensemble player and as a soloist is just amazing. (Equally true for everyone else in the group.) I was thinking that maybe he's been part of some other concert DVDs - ??? (i don't know for sure.) I do know that he's made a couple of live recordings (CD) that are well worth hunting down.

He's amazing, isn't he? Just curious: what's the DVD - is it the one with Mike Marshall?

I think you'll find that there is actually a lot of content out there, but it's almost all in Portuguese. (With the exception of the wonderful Choro Music blog, that is.) It's a living style; it didn't die with Pixinguinha and Jacob and Waldir A. One of the best labels for new recordings is Acari Records: http://www.acari.com.br/ Kuarup Discos (which went belly-up some time ago) has sold a lot of its choro catalog to Biscoito Fino. http://www.kuarup.com.br/br/ http://www.biscoitofino.com.br/bf/ - note: their site is very poorly designed, but... they've got some superb choro recordings in their catalog! * Durium: I didn't vote in your poll because I think it's impossible for me to choose one single person out of all the great chorões. I guess I would choose Pixinguinha as the most important composer and as influential in many other ways (in samba as well as choro), but... I just can't choose a "favorite" musician. And _ I would add Chiquinha Gonzaga and Ernesto Nazareth to that list of great composers! And definitely Garoto! Here are some of my favorites, though: Hamilton de Holanda Maurício Carrilho Paulinho da Viola Luciana Rabello Raphael Rabello Henrique Cazes Marcello Gonçalves Paulo Moura Paulo Sérgio Santos João Rabello Armandinho Pedro Amorim Rodrigo Lessa Marco Pereira Maria Teresa Madeira Nailor "Proveta" Azevedo Carolina Cardoso de Menezes (also spelled "Meneses") Abel Ferreira Guinga Mozar Terra Trio Madeira Brasil Rabo de Lagartixa .... and I could go on from there. (fwiw, these musicians all play, compose and record in a variety of styles, not just choro.) I hope some of you will investigate work by younger players. (and I'm being very free with the use of the word "younger" here. ) A lot of them can be found on Emusic.com, too!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exuma_(musician)

There's some interesting stuff from their back catalog on emusic.com now... has been there for a month or two, actually. (I just checked - 59 pages' worth of music, in all.)

Radio has been providing "background music" and "soundtrack"-type listening for how many decades now? I'm not sure that listening to music on an iPod or on a computer is that much different, shuffle feature excepted. I was in grad school when the Sony Walkman 1st became popular in the US, and can remember seeing the streets crowded at rush hour - everyone (or nearly everyone) walking to or from a subway stop close to campus - wearing headphones. And by "everyone," I mean people well past their undergrad days. It was like seeing the pod people (from Invasion of the Body Snatchers) taking to the streets en masse - and also a bit scary because there were cars barreling through the intersections that people were crossing. I doubt any of them could hear the traffic... not a good thing if you want to stay alive! (fwiw, the Walkman craze began in the early 1980s...)

I think many people play in a formulaic manner.

Not a "new" album by any means, but Emmylou Harris' Roses in the Snow fits the bill in every other way. I'm not a bluegrass fan, but this disc is (almost) enough to make me one.

Yes, it's his label.

Two of the best Arhoolie "Sacred Steel" releases (imo) - I haven't heard this one, which is on Ropeadope - it has some live cuts. I think all of the folks who recorded for Arhoolie's series of discs are represented.

I really like C.J. Chenier's zydeco playing - that said, "The Desperate Kingdom of Love" *isn't* zydeco. He recorded it not long after Hurricane Katrina hit, and it's (mostly) in a quiet, reflective mood/vein/whatever... There's also Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes - he plays in a variety of styles, including zydeco and (I guess) what a lot of people call "swamp pop." His music is very engaging, and I like his voice a lot. His albums are available on Emusic.com.

And to tie in the old with the new, for a time she had a program on the listener supported station WFMU. She's very familiar with the Mosaic box sets that feature music from the '20s and '30s. A link to her playlists and archived shows. Thanks for this, Quincy - I thought her name was familiar re. radio, but i couldn't quite place her...

nope. i just don't think sarcasm is a very productive way to talk with people - it's a way of belittling who/whatever's being spoken or written about. Like I said, nasty.

Or didgeridoo, I'll wager. thanks for the info.!

Bev - do they actually use rhythm bones on this recording?