ejp626

In addition to Allison Au at the Rex, I stayed for the main attraction, who was Andrew Rathbun and a small group backing him. I had never heard of him, but he has a ton of recordings on Steeplechase. It was entertaining though not exactly revelatory... Apparently, he's from Toronto, lived in NYC for some time and now is in Michigan, teaching at Western Michigan University. Almost my life in reverse. 😉

He's pretty solid. I generally manage to see him a few times/year. I've managed to see Neil Swainson a lot more than that.

Saw Coleman with the remains of the Bad Plus a few weeks back, playing Jarrett's music from his American Quartet days. Overall, an enjoyable concert. This may be the first time I've seen Coleman live. I'll be heading over to the Rex to catch Allison Au play on Friday and probably the set afterwards, depending on how tired I am. The following week it's Kirk MacDonald and Pat LaBarbera doing their annual Coltrane tribute at the Jazz Bistro with Neil Swainson on bass and Terry Clarke on drums. Terry actually sat in once with Coltrane, though he was hardly a regular...

I passed on the last time Herbie came through town, but I am leaning toward going this time. It's possible I've already sat too long on ordering tickets. Anyway, any feedback on his current touring group and repertoire and whether he still breaks out the "keytar" or I guess it's the vocoder would be appreciated. I just saw a thread elsewhere that he toured for 2+ years on the exact same set list, so I wonder if this tour will be the same or something different.

Managed to see this at TIFF about a month back. Wouldn't mind if this won as a dark-horse candidate. (I didn't like One Battle After Another at all, aside from Del Toro.)

Nabokov's Ada. I thought I would get a lot further into this on a train ride but actually worked much of the time. 🫤 Maybe a bit too much in the constant linguistic games. I gather he decide to let himself go full-Joyce in this novel.

Congrats! Will give it a listen soon.

Just saw How to Make a Killing with Glen Powell and Margaret Qualley. It is indeed a remake of Kind Hearts and Coronets, which is even more obvious in the opening minutes than in the trailers (though it's pretty obvious from the trailers). With a few twists to make it a bit more interesting perhaps... I thought it was fun, though wildly implausible in many places.

I guess it depends if you count Ginger Baker as a jazz-rock drummer, but he collaborated with Fela Kuti both in Africa and Europe. https://www.openculture.com/2020/06/when-afrobeat-legend-fela-kuti-collaborated-with-cream-drummer-ginger-baker.html

Managed to get out to see Gary on Wed. night, even though the weather was pretty lousy. It was a very small crowd - maybe 20 people, but they played their hearts out anyway. Will be going back on Sat. and the vibe will surely be livelier.

Me three. I believe in Michigan (and perhaps other states) you could vote in the primary (at 17) if you would be 18 by the time of the general election. I may be misremembering of course, but I do remember that Jesse did particularly well in Michigan, winning the caucus! Now what I am having trouble tracking down is whether Michigan had a primary and a caucus even back in 1988, but I think it must have, as I voted for Jackson at a poll location and it wasn't anything like the crowded rooms of a caucus. I wouldn't have any idea how to participate in a caucus back then and certainly wouldn't have had the time. (Or maybe it was enacted just like a standard primary but they called it a caucus? That might be the most likely...) Years later, I actually saw him and David Dinkins and Mario Cuomo at a big march on Washington (Save Our Cities march, probably in 1993). RIP.

Just saw Gore Verbinski's Good Luck Have Fun Don't Die. Definitely entertaining and over the top in many places.

As mentioned before, Gary Smulyan is in Toronto, playing at the Rex with Neil Swainson and Terry Clarke. I have a spot booked for Sat., and I will probably swing by Wed. as well, though I haven't made reservations. Generally, Wed. and even Thurs. don't require them...

I didn't enjoy Rohmer's La Collectionneuse as much as I had hoped. I think this was mostly due to the power dynamics between the two fairly douchey men and the just out of high school girl.

I don't do it often, but sometimes I would swap CDs and not put it immediately back in the CD case. (I know, it's a dreadful habit...) Which means endless searching later on. 😟 There are at least 3 or 4 like that, including a very good recording of Mendelssohn's Octet. As it happens, I have also misplaced a few DVDs, though these are at least still with their cases...

Off to see Rohmer's La Collectionneuse on Sunday and then in about a week De Palma's Blow Out.

Reading some recent fiction: Russell Smith's Self Care and Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar. After this, a swing through Southern literature: Faulkner's The Wild Palms and O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard to Find.

Just saw Mike Murley with Reg Schwager & Neil Swainson at Hirut. Very nice trio work (guitar instead of piano). Will likely go tomorrow evening as well.

True, and Towner was 85.

What a rough week for guitarists! First Ralph Towner and now Ebo Taylor! https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/feb/09/ebo-taylor-ghanaian-highlife-pioneer-dies-age-90 I don't believe I heard either of these titans live, but they left so many great albums to listen to this week and next...

Chester Himes has a whole series of detective novels, starting with A Rage in Harlem.

It sounds like the Henderson will be a 2 CD release. This is certainly intriguing: This is part of Resonance's debut launch of releases from Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase archives, marking the beginning of what will hopefully be a long line of incredible releases from the club's archives. Here's hoping that the material from Jazz Showcase sells well enough to keep bringing out these releases!

Saw this again on the big screen a couple of months back. Great stuff. One of my very favorite Brooks's films.

I received as a present the Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz (on cassette no less!). The first box set I bought for myself was probably Thelonious Monk Complete Riverside Recordings.

Saw Once Upon a Time in Hollywood last night. In 70 mm! I liked it quite a bit with a few reservations along the way, as is kind of par for the course with Q. I thought his portrayal of Bruce Lee was absurd and quite offensive, and it wasn't required to serve the storyline.