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I'll probably pick this up but agree it is far from ideal.

Going for the first set at The Rex tonight - It's the Tim Posgate Quartet. He plays both banjo and guitar. Not sure which we'll get more of in the first set. My money is on the banjo... 😉 Next week there are two dates by Thermo (Nathan Hiltz on guitar, and Mike Manny on piano) at The Rex. But their recent recording features Neil Swainson on bass, and I'm certainly hoping he'll be at both gigs (May 28 & 29). I'm fairly likely to go both nights if he is playing.

Terrible way to go... I read Money and London Fields quite a long time ago and had been thinking of rereading them. I might do so now, though I am a bit more inclined to read something "fresh" to me. I'm pretty sure I never got around to Time's Arrow, and I might tackle that one next.

I'll go with this performance from 2006. https://www.bimhuis.nl/en/calendar/andrew-hill-quintet-2/ I didn't have the nerve to talk to Andrew himself, but I did speak briefly with Jason Yarde, who said that the "book" for the gig was pretty challenging. However, I didn't jot down what they actually played. 🙁 So in that sense I found it a really noteworthy performance, but not one where I remember the details all that well...

I finished Farrell's The Singapore Grip, completing his Empire Trilogy. I thought the ending was a bit of a strange cop-out, but overall it's a good read. Of the three, I'd have to say Troubles, the first, is my favorite. I'm midway through Vanderhaeghe's Homesick now, which is about a widow returning with her young son to her father's house. After this, I think I start in on rereading Bellow's The Adventures of Augie March.

Agreed. I must have all these albums in one format or another (and possibly even the Rhino CDs - will have to check), so I probably wouldn't have gone for it, but the fact that the vinyl set gets 3 extra bonus tracks really gets under my skin, and now there is no way I would consider it. Not a compelling offering on any level.

In March and April, the Rex has been able to bring in a fair number of Juno nominees and even some winners. I saw Mark Kelso & the Jazz Exiles a couple of weeks ago, and tonight was the Jocelyn Gould Quintet. Gould is a guitarist heavily influenced by Wes Montgomery. She is a Juno winner. If I'm able to swing it, I'll see the Lauren Falls Quintet next Monday evening.

Just saw Bertolucci's The Conformist on the big screen. Definitely a lush, almost dreamlike movie. The visuals are incredible. The actual story, not as compelling to me, particularly as there are several moments I couldn't even tell what was going on (exactly who was shooting at whom, for instance). But still worth seeing for sure.

Read Dangling Man years ago. It is not a typical Bellow novel for better and worse. In a month or so, I expect to tackle Augie March for the second time. Currently about 1/3 into Farrell's The Singapore Grip. It's a bit of a slow-burner to this point, as the various characters are brought together in Singapore and WWII is looming. I had absolutely no idea that this was just (2020) adapted into a TV series by ITV. Reviews have been mixed, and I think I'll pass. It's less surprising that the BBC turned this into a radio play, and that I might listen to one day. We'll see... Also, making my way through Coupland's Hey Nostradamus! Between these two and Augie March, it will likely be some short story collections.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this show at all and left after an hour. This wasn't at all what I was expecting based on his last few albums. I suspect I would have much preferred his quartet (with Greg Tardy) but this was the Bill Frisell Trio.

McBride's actually coming back around with a more traditional line-up on Nov. 4, and I am looking forward to that. Am heading over to see Bill Frisell in a couple of hours. At least it isn't snowing today... ❄️

About 1/3 through Farrell's The Siege of Krishnapur. I was lucky enough to score a Folio Society edition, which has some great illustrations. I will say I probably should have waited until the summer to read it (not late winter) as almost every chapter has some comment on the brutal heat and how people are nearly fainting. I do find Troubles was a bit more amusing starting out, but this has many droll passages. I've just hit the siege part, and the action is picking up. Will most likely tackle Baker's A Fine Madness and Percy Walker's The Moviegoer next, and then back to Farrell with The Singapore Grip rounding out his Empire Trilogy.

One single, Willow Weep for Me, from this project has just turned up on various streaming services, which is a good sign that the whole thing will likely be released that way. Whether there will be a CD release isn't as clear.

Weather is not great. Roads should be in better shape tomorrow. Assuming transit (and esp. busses) is more or less back to normal tomorrow, I will plan on seeing Allison Au at The Rex.

This looks really interesting. Any idea on the release date? (More definitive than spring?) Maybe it can be a late birthday gift or something...

Who knew White Noise was actually a documentary? Yikes! https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/06/politics/ohio-train-derailment-infrastructure-what-matters/index.html This looks exactly like a still from the movie.

I finished the Guerney translation of Dead Souls and am about halfway through the Reavey translation, which has a reconstruction of Book II. I'm also about 2/3 through Reuss's Horace Afoot. I'm still waiting for Farrell's The Siege of Krishnapur to show up in the mail (starting to get a bit concerned...), which will probably be the next significant novel I tackle. I might read Kingsley Amis's Girl, 20 in the meantime.

So Plant and Krauss have reunited for a second album, Raise the Roof. It looks like they did a fairly modest 20 stop tour in 2022, and are touring again in 2023. I decided to take the plunge and will see them in early July. I definitely respect the fact that Plant is not resting on his laurels and has no intention of just playing his old material (as great as most of it is). It looks like at most they play 3 Led Zeppelin songs in radically different interpretations, but mostly they are playing material from Raising Sand and Raise the Roof.

I thought these two concerts looked interesting for anyone in the area. Normally if we get a major jazz act, they are playing at Koerner Hall or as part of the summer jazz fest. These are outside those two streams. Christian McBride is presenting his The Moment Revisited at Meridian Hall downtown on Feb. 17. Joe Sealy opens the night with Africville Stories, which sounds like it will also be pretty interesting. https://www.blogto.com/events/christian-mcbride-the-movement-revisited-toronto/ Tickets are through TicketMaster. I didn't even notice the coupon code in the blog posting until now. I have no idea if it actually works (and probably best not to tell me if it does...) 😒 Then in early March (March 11) Bill Frisell is coming to town and playing The Great Hall, which is Queen Street West. https://www.collectiveconcerts.com/event/bill-frisell-gh I've seen McBride in a few settings. I don't think I've ever seen Frisell, but it's possible I have at the Chicago Jazz Fest and just don't remember.

For sure, but I was hoping for (and got!) a signed copy. I believe the entire catalogue is on iTunes and probably Spotify as well, so I've been doing a lot of sampling of the many great recommendations in this thread. 🤩

I'm not at all sure he saw my post. I think the CD is new enough he just brings a few to gigs, but I did manage to snag a copy from Swainson at the break and he signed my copy. Sweet! (Oddly enough, no one was hawking CDs at the break and there was no "merch booth." I actually had to go up to Swainson and ask if he had any CDs.) This is yet another area where The Rex has the advantage over Jazz Bistro.

Unfortunately, Bauer came down with COVID and had to miss the gig. It was still very good, but it would have been quite a different "vibe" if Bauer had made it. I still don't like the layout or the ambiance of Jazz Bistro very much at all. I much prefer The Rex, but they so rarely get big names to come play The Rex. Toronto has a pretty good local jazz scene, but has fallen completely off the map when it comes to bringing in the bigger names.

This Wed. evening at Toronto's Jazz Bistro - Bernie Senensky with Stefan Bauer backed by Neil Swainson on bass. Not a huge fan of the Jazz Bistro, but I'll turn out and see how it goes. https://jazzbistro.ca/event/bernie-senensky-with-stefan-bauer/

Somehow slept on this one. Will take a listen tonight and see if there is anywhere to pick up a copy. As it turns out, this inspired me to check and Swainson is playing a set on Wed. at the Jazz Bistro in Toronto, and I might be able to get him to sign it. So this is extra awesome! Still looking forward to the show, but I just don't think there is anywhere to get a physical CD without ordering it through Amazon (and I would need one more day lead time). Sonic Boom only stocks new vinyl and used CDs. The last HMV closed a while ago. I'll call She Said Boom, but I can't imagine they'll have a copy. I guess there is a tiny chance they'll have some for sale at the venue, but Swainson is third or even fourth on the bill. I guess it's worth finding out.

Well, except for Jacques Rivette and Andrei Tarkovsky and Béla Tarr and a few others.