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Cleared out a lot of shorter books. Am just going over some odds and ends before packing the last of the books up. Skimming through Auden's Selected Poems and Wallace Stevens' Collected Poems. The next novel is MacLennan's Two Solitudes. Apparently, I read this 15+ years ago, but don't remember it. Maybe when the plot kicks into high gear, more will come back to me. After that is Gabrielle Roy's The Tin Flute, which I am pretty sure I have never read.

I've seen Mahanthappa three times, last with the Mark Dresser Quintet. His soloing was not strong; he seemed a bit unsure. Maybe it was the context, but he seems much stronger in a composed context. I think his compositions are generally interesting but they don't seem to leave him a lot of room to do anything particularly interesting when it comes to the soloing but, though Rez didn't seem too constrained. I do think Rudresh was a bit more compelling as a soloist in a more straight-forward setting, like when I saw him and Vijay Iyer play earlier in their careers up at the Green Mill for instance. Anyway, I thought it was a good show, but you basically are getting a live version of the CD Gamak.

So the Vancouver International Jazz Fest kicked off this weekend. I managed to get down for some of the free admission jazz shows at Robson Square. I saw nearly all of the set by the Partisans - a UK jazz quartet sort of in the Polar Bear/Get the Blessing vein. Line-up is saxophone, guitar, electric bass and drums. Definitely jazz-rock. Their new album Swamp is supposed to come out in Sept. I think they had a few advance copies for sale, but the timing just didn't work out, as we had to leave before the end of the set. They were ok, though I like both Polar Bear and Get the Blessing better. Then I returned for the main show of the evening -- Rudresh Mahanthappa and Gamak. Well, sort of Gamak. The band members have all changed up, and this was essentially his Indo-Pak Coalition (guitarist Rez Abbasi and percussionist Dan Weiss) with the addition of electric bassist Rich Brown. However, they actually did play almost entirely tracks off of the CD Gamak: Waiting is Forbidden, Abhogi, Stay I, Wrathful Wisdom and Ballad for Troubled Times. I've seen Rudresh with Rez Abbasi a long time back at the Chicago Jazz Festival, but this time the impact was much greater -- the quasi-club setting helped. Honestly, Rez pretty much stole the show and his solos were received with more enthusiasm than Rudresh's, which was kind of curious. While the line-up was the same as the Partisans, the sound is totally different, not only with the sound world largely coming from ragas and other Indian music, but the rhythm section was generally doing more complex poly-rhythms. I'm not sure how much Dan Weiss has practiced with Rich Brown, but they seems to have good rapport and even did some trading bars for a while. It was an interesting show, though maybe mixing it up with a track or two off Apti might have been good. (I guess that might have required Dan moving over to tabla, but I think he would have been up to it. Anyway, Rudresh is making a quick tour through Canada (Victoria, Saskatchewan, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal) so catch him soon if interested. Rez Abbasi and first-call percussionist Dan Weiss Rez Abbasi and first-call percussionist Dan Weiss

RIP. I really dug a lot of his early and mid-career BNs. Not as familiar with the later material, though I do have In Pursuit of the 27th Man. Almost all my CDs are boxed up, waiting for the moving van, but I did find a loose copy of the Bohemia After Dark album, so I put that on.

I came across a copy of Elizabeth Smart's By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept. It's a little hard to review. Not all that much happens in the book other than Smart recounting the ups and downs (mostly downs) of her having an affair with the English poet George Barker, ultimately leaving her abandoned with a "bun in the oven." But the language is so over the top with lots of references to Old Testament imagery (particularly Song of Solomon) and other ecstatic poets like Blake (and more than a little John Donne and George Herbert?). It's quite unusual in that Smart is operating on two levels at once -- the ecstatic and the real (though mostly in the ecstatic world). I have no idea if she was this way in real life (though some comments in the book suggest she did with people calling her a religious loony), but she certainly retrospectively portrayed these events in that light. (It may not be a good metaphor at all, but I sort of see her doing what Stanley Spencer was doing in the visual arts. It's a very short book, and it is hard to tell how well this style would hold up in a longer narrative. I may find out, as there is sort of a follow-up (much less famous though) called The Assumption of the Rogues & Rascals that was bundled in the copy I borrowed from the library. Anyway, I should be wrapping up Silas Marner and Martin Amis' Other People in a day or two, then maybe I will start in on MacLennan's Two Solitudes. It's been on my to-read list for months, while I got diverted in all other directions due to the Proustian logjam.

I feel I approached her with an open mind and seriously disliked the two books I read. I'll probably still give Middlemarch a shot.

I got it at a pre-order price, so I can't complain too much, but it was more than that... My bigger complaint is that with all these boxes (and this is big indeed) I have to make a huge mental effort to go open it up. I did rip a lot of it, and that helps to some degree.

Well, that's easy. Jazz afficiandos almost always consider themselves marginalized and interested in the counter-culture, whereas mainstream country music is, with very few exceptions, steeped in patriotism. The few tolerable exceptions, like Johnny Cash, are the figures who glorify outlaws. In its own way, this is as silly as the Mods and the Rockers or the Hot Jazz vs. Moldy Figs back in the day.

And I am going to strongly disagree. This is too much of the great men of history way of thinking. If it weren't Pops, it would have been someone else, and we still would have eventually gotten around to somebody like Elvis. Too many people were playing music for somebody not to have broken through. Just as with science/engineering. There would have been assembly lines without Henry Ford, and certainly the telephone without Bell, and somebody would even (eventually) have come across relativity without Einstein.

I don't know about Middlemarch, but I will give it a shot. I've read Moby Dick and wouldn't say I was blown away by it (I found the "Extracts" section with all the quotes about whales to be kind of deadly), but after it settles in, there are a lot of interesting parts. I might give it a another go, though I would be a lot more likely if either of my kids has to read it in high school. I would recommend Melville's The Confidence Man as a real under-rated delight. It's probably my favorite Melville. Anyway, yes I think Man in the High Castle is great and do plan on re-reading that within the next 12 months. I haven't come across The Confidence Man, but the haunting Melville short story "Bartleby", read on my course, has never left me. Reading "Bartleby" fairly recently was a strange experience. It moved and disturbed me, though I could never reason out a meaning. That's probably the point of the story. Bartleby is pretty great (although I would certainly hate working with such an odd fellow). I think there is something to be said for fiction that eschews easy, pat answers. That said, stretching this to novel length wouldn't work. One last plug for The Confidence Man. There are actually some overlaps with Mark Twain, as much of the action takes place on a riverboat going up and down the Mississippi River. It is never entirely clear what the Confidence Man is after. I just think Melville has a lot of interesting layers and can be a deeper author than most give him credit for (i.e. Moby Dick is not just a simple story of an obsessed man and a whale). The same way that Hawthorne can be a lot deeper in his story stories than in A Scarlet Letter, for example. Anyway, I think it is worth seeking out (and it is a short book, which is often a good thing).

Both of those Dicks get my vote! There's a somewhat interesting novel that sort of brings the two together -- Mobius Dick by Andrew Crummey. It is an alternate history novel where the Nazis did invade Britain. However, I read it at a stressful time in my life, and I cannot tell you anything else about it, including whether I enjoyed it or not. So I'll have to read the book again to tell you what is in it... Probably worth a look in, but this is not a strong recommendation on my end. Sorry about that.

I don't know about Middlemarch, but I will give it a shot. I've read Moby Dick and wouldn't say I was blown away by it (I found the "Extracts" section with all the quotes about whales to be kind of deadly), but after it settles in, there are a lot of interesting parts. I might give it a another go, though I would be a lot more likely if either of my kids has to read it in high school. I would recommend Melville's The Confidence Man as a real under-rated delight. It's probably my favorite Melville. Anyway, yes I think Man in the High Castle is great and do plan on re-reading that within the next 12 months.

At least Silas Marner is short, but yeah I am not liking this book on any level. I am quite baffled how she (apparently) made such a quantum leap from what I consider basically failed novels (far too contrived and/or depressing plots--even where she sympathizes with those who buck convention, she shows them ground down by society) to an apparently terrific novel (Middlemarch). Color me quizzical. I read some of Kafka's stories a bit too young, but then I came back around to them (and the novels) during high school and enjoyed them considerably. I am trying to figure out when to squeeze in a rereading of Kafka before letting another decade slip by...

I wrapped up Dickner's Apocalypse for Beginners, which was ok (a bit better than his first novel). I'm midway through Douglas Coupland's Generation X, which I've never read. I'm also reading George Eliot's Silas Marner. I really don't like the beginning (and am pretty sure I will find the ending far too saccharine). I hated the ending of The Mill on the Floss. This gives me pause. While I am still committed to reading Middlemarch one of these days and probably Felix Holt, I think I am going to scrub Adam Bede from my To Be Read pile. Life seems too short right now... (Actually I meant Daniel Deronda not Felix Holt, but I'm still way more likely to read Felix Holt than Adam Bede.)

I meant After he stole his music back from CBS, whatever that means. There can be hit men from the Mob and then some heavy sent by CBS following him around. Maybe we can have Miles stop for a minute under a bridge, start to open the trumpet case (which he carries around with him throughout the whole picture), get ready to blow, but then he is interrupted by the guys chasing him. (Just trying to see what other clichés we can work in here. Maybe some showgirl that Miles is going to rescue...) Honestly, I wasn't dying to see a biopic about Miles, but this sounds like a complete disaster, and I know I will never watch it. Sorry, Don.

Well, usually, but they did mail out just the fix of the one defective CD in the Toscanini set (as Ubu said). Also I vaguely remember being able to exchange one CD from the Jazz in Paris set. (I can't remember the details but I think I was sent a box with 2 of one CD but missing another one.) I actually mailed it off to some corporate address in France!

Maybe they can make it sorta psychedelic (the grungy tail end of the hippie era) and make it the Performance of jazz movies. Miles hiding out in a squat in North Hollywood from the hit men sent from CBS. (Note: some people really like Performance, but I thought it was a terrible movie.)

Sorry, I can't approve. They seem to be having too much fun...

I really can't see this going past 5, but maybe the Rangers get a lucky bounce or two and push the series to 6 games. The Kings really seem to have the hockey gods on their side, particularly in Game 7 against the Blackhawks.

Great book. Let me second that. First thing I thought of when I started reading about Bowe Bergdahl. There's also a kinship, I think, between this book and "Red Badge of Courage." I have to admit that, Bergdahl or no, I haven't thought of Tim O'Brien in quite some time, but I did admire his earlier books (it looks like he really has slowed down since 2002). I actually saw him give a reading at U Michigan, most likely from The Things They Carried. Incidentally, I'm making a list of books I ought to reread one day, and I think this one and The Things They Carried both belong.

Bulgakov -- what a joy, and this one is a favorite. 20 or so years ago Harvey Pekar's review of "The Master and Margarita" in the Chicago Tribune book section, edited by Larry Kart, was what introduced me to Bulgakov. Big fan of Bulgakov. At one point I read the 2 newish translations of Master and Margarita, back to back, one chapter at a time. In the end, I decided both were good but that Pevear-Volokhonsky was the better of the two. (What a great team! I am really looking forward to reading some of their translations of Dostoevsky.) I just wrapped up Murdoch's Under the Net and enjoyed that. I am midway through Zachary Mason's The Lost Books of the Odyssey, which is an awful lot like Einstein's Dreams but applied to Homer. Actually quite interesting and even thought provoking in a few sections. After that it will be Dickner's Apocalypse for Beginners.

I have had only very brief interactions with Joshua Redman, Eric Alexander, Rudresh Mahanthappa and Vijay Iyer but they were all quite pleasant. Redman was just getting started in his career, (though I haven't heard that he has gotten a huge swollen head or anything) and he answered some really dopey questions about his soprano sax playing. Actually, the very last time I talked to Viyay, it felt a lot more awkward, but I didn't present myself as well as I would have liked either.

Yes, but the kicker is that it is only if hundreds if not thousands of other people share our shopping choices will the shops survive. I find it is really hard to convince Americans that their individual will is only a relatively small part of the story -- that it is collective decisions that matter. And there, the trends are not good.

It might be better to start with shorter Murakami. I think the short story collection After the Quake is quite good. I also liked the moody atmosphere of After Dark (and there is a trombone-playing character) but the ending was a bit unsatisfying. I can't (yet) personally vouch for the stories in The Elephant Vanishes, but I imagine they are fine.

I would have to strongly disagree with the last statement. People very quickly rationalize what it is that they are doing (essentially a cash grab) as something artistic. Maybe not the first album of pop hits, but certainly by number 4, 5 or 6. (I'm looking at you, Bud Shank.) I think there is no question that jazz musicians are put in this terrible bind. If they do covers that end up being cheesy (which is no means all of them), they are accused of selling out. If they refuse to play standards, then they are stuck up and helping to kill off an art form. Most of us want something right between these two poles, but we all have different view where that middle path should be. And of course, a relatively small minority really do want the avant stuff. I would generally agree with Bev, that if you are in New York, London or Chicago (the Empty Bottle), you can find a mixed audience enthusiastic about even the most out music, but this really is not the case elsewhere where the crowds are older, white and musically quite conservative. Over time, I've joined this crowd and developed a real distaste for out music (and seeing this played live has not helped matters at all!). I certainly see contemporary jazz musicians as chasing the fringe of the fringe of the fringe, and I don't think the long term prospects are particularly good, either financially or musically.