Leeway

Boy oh boy, people are bringing out the heavy vinyl the last few days

I've had that Braxton on my short list of CDs to buy, and am not sure myself why I haven't already picked it up. I do think I was a little concerned about how well that two-drum arrangement worked. Not a concern about the drummers themselves but how they would be deployed. Glad to read your positive comment on that aspect of it; that's encouraging. BTW, welcome to the Board!

What do you think of this one? Is it a collective/group performance with certain instruments featured on each track, or Stevens in duo/trio with various performers?

Noah Sun Ra Arkestra Sam Cunard

It's been a while since I heard this one, but I recall it being good (Hmmm, I should give it a spin!): Bass Clarinet, Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Arranged By – Willem Breuker Double Bass, Arranged By – Arjen Gorter Drums – John Engels Music By – Eric Dolphy Piano, Frank van Bommel Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Alex Coke Trumpet – Eric Vloeimans

Actor James Garner has passed away: http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/james-garner-leading-man-of-film-and-television-dies-at-86/2014/07/20/878167f4-c5da-11df-94e1-c5afa35a9e59_story.html http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/20/showbiz/james-garner-death/index.html?iref=allsearch For me, Garner will always be "The Rockford Files." Loved that show back in the day!

Porgy and Bess Bess Truman Truman Capote

Kurt Elling Ella F. Sheila E

It took me a while to find "Love Call" in decent condition and at a decent price, but it was worth the wait. I love the cover too.

Glad you are enjoying it!

Tony Dungy John Donne Donny and Marie

Very cool! Certainly a must-attend if one is anywhere near Chicago.

I was a teenager when the eponymous album came out. My friends and I thought it was pretty damned exciting. That was my gateway to the blues.

Pinky Tuscadero Rosie Perez Carmine Persico

Eames La-Z-Boy Stanley Crouch

Bobby is a wonderful guy as well as musician. At the WIndup Space, I asked him what John Stevens was saying to him in the cover of the "Bobby Bradford with John Stevens and the SME." He had me laughing with his description of Stevens' absolute conversational intensity.

The Prodigal Son Son of Sam Samson

It's a nice group on "Obbligato." Rainey, Laubrock, Alessi, and Gress. I saw Rainey, Laubrock and Alessi in Baltimore (Davis got sick and couldn't play) and it's clear they've formed a solid playing relationship. If they had the CD there, I would have bought it. Anyway, I suppose Rainey wanted to do something different, and I can understand that. Maybe they're taking a leaf from Braxton with a "standards" album.

It's not rare actually. For example: http://Walter Williams, Mississippi man who awoke in body bag, dies Still, a very traumatic occurrence.

LIGHTNING OVER WATER - Ken Vandermark & Paal Nilssen-Love - Laurence Family. LP2 of 2 plus 7". If you like either of these guys, you should like this set. No great surprises, but very well-played.

That "Obbligato" album got a decidedly mixed reaction among folks I know who consider themselves fans of Rainey (I am). It's an all-standards album, and that seems to have thrown some folks. I haven't heard it myself, but I have a lot of confidence in Rainey's musicianship, so am interested in hearing it. Seems like it passed muster with you on first hearing. Any more thoughts on it, Ubu?

Sure thing. I mostly use it for artist searches and then the related discographical information on the fly, like when I'm in a record store. Also will check the reviews for a particular release, when available. I find its artist search a lot better than it's title search. I don't bother with some of its other features, like what's recommended, etc. YMMV as we like to say.

It's an actual app (All Music by Rovi). I'm pretty sure I downloaded it from the Apple Store. It functions differently than the web site. If you get it, there's one little trick you need to learn to make sure previous search entries are cleared, otherwise it works pretty well.

Topo Gigio El Topo Topper

MARTHA QUEST - Doris Lessing (1952) . A little digression from Muriel. A bildungsroman of young Martha Quest, in Pre-WWI South Africa, from the ages of about 15-19. Martha is bookish fiercely independent, adventurous, idealistic, liberal. She leaves her farm home and goes to the nearest city, itself nothing much more than a frontier town, but a place where youthful, urban adventures are possible; these are mostly drinking, dancing, and having sex. The novel ends with her ill-starred marriage and Europe on the very brink of WWII. This is the first novel in a group of novels under the heading of "Children of Violence," although I believe each stands on its own. This novel has been compared to those of D.H. Lawrence. I can see that. I found the novel to be very well-crafted. The problem I had with it is the title's heroine was difficult to really take an interest in, as she funks every moral, personal and political test put to her (or that she puts to her self). Typically, she says one thing and does another. She espouses high ideals but rarely supports them in action. She resists bad things only to give in to them later. She is angry inside but puts on the charm to those around her. The novel ends in a complete crack-up: a bad marriage and a world war. Fun! The novel does draw an interesting picture of South Africa under British rule, and the treatment of the native population (kaffirs). Lessing is adamantly critical of English and Afrikaaner social and racial mores. So is Martha Quest but when confronted with several scenes of social injustice, she fails to act with integrity. Perhaps Martha comes into her own in the later novels in the series. Lessing is a challenging writer, earnest, full of ideas, minutely crafted, but a little like literary broccoli, good for you but not always tasty. Still, this seriousness will probably draw me back to others of her works sometime later.