I first encountered this book perhaps a dozen years ago, around the time we moved into what we intended to be our “last house.”  While that home was comfortable and (mostly) worked for us, it was larger than it needed to be.  Over time, we realized the house and property required too much maintenance for us to handle on our own, and we ended up selling it to people with the means necessary to hire a caretaker.  Lesson learned, albeit in a costly way.

When an old friend decided to build his “dream home,” I dug out this book.  He had already chosen an architect and was pleased with the design, but I decided to reread the book from cover to cover.  Happily, Not So Big House felt as fresh and relevant today as it did when I first encountered it.

I’ve found that books on architecture and home design for the homeowner are heavily weighted toward lovely visuals.  Happily, while Not So Big House does have lots of nice pictures, the real substance of the book is in the text.  I wish I’d read it and understood its lessons all those years ago.

Though the overall theme of the book could be “quality before quantity,” my big takeaway was:

Look very skeptically upon spaces that are unlikely to receive daily use.

Note that, as of this writing, there is a newer version (2008) available.  As always, Your Mileage May Vary.

While Rickenbacker Corporation is generally credited with the development of the first commercially-available solid-body guitar, and craftsmen such as Paul Bigsby made custom solid-body instruments for professional guitarists, Fender and Gibson are generally recognized as producing the first commercially-successful solid-body electric instruments.  Through interviews and written records, Ian Port chronicles the rivalries, dreams, and experiments that suffused guitar R&D at the middle of 20th century.

Leo Fender was a shy, somewhat socially awkward, self-taught engineer.  Les Paul was an ambitious, driven performer who craved attention.  Though they contributed in different ways, and played radically different roles, the rivalry between these two men gave birth to two, very distinct types of solid-body electric instrument.  

I found this book to be well-written and engaging.  It contains many anecdotes about the men (and a few women) who were there at the birth of Rock & Roll.  To me, Leo Fender came across  as a more sympathetic person, while Les Paul seemed calculating, opportunistic, and hard on the people around him (including his wife, Mary Ford!).  Other readers, coming from different personal histories, may well reach different conclusions.

Whatever your perspective on Rock/Blues/Country/Folk/etc, I think you’ll find this book to be fun and engaging. I especially liked “meeting” so many of the people who were active at this inflection point in the evolution of popular music.  If you’re interested in the history of Rock, this is a pretty important source of information.

I found this novel to be simultaneously gripping and grotesque.  Uplifting and depressing.  The source of these dichotomies is clear: the so-called Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (aka “North Korea”) is a horror.  Its very existence is a blot on all of humanity… with a particular stain upon the honor of those nations who prop up the regime.  

With finesse and amazing skill, the author pulls us into North Korean society.  We see, all too vividly, the degrading existence, the incessant propaganda and the denial of the most basic human needs to which the citizens are subjected.  

Yet, in the midst of all this, we meet the title character — a man who never loses sight of who he is.  He navigates the minefield of the North Korean Surveillance State with grace and even a little bit of wry humor.  And though he seems fully aware that he exists in a society built upon depravity, utter cruelty, and lies, he never despairs.  He never grows despondent.  Somehow, no matter how awful his situation becomes, he figures out how to act, how to assert his will. 

I found it interesting, how one novel can cause such varied reactions on the part of readers.  True, this story is *not* unicorns and rainbows.  It is grim and dark.  And, as is the case with most great art, it holds up a disquieting mirror.  The contrast between our reality and North Korean society is perhaps one of the most shocking aspects of this book.  As I read the book, I continually asked myself, how can this be?  How can such a place exist?  Yes, this book is grim, but it also celebrates a character who is intelligent, clever, and incredibly brave.  He is someone who chooses to act — to strike a blow.  I was fascinated by his story even as I was appalled by the need for such stories to be told.  

The Orphan Master’s Son won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

For a number of years, Neil deGrasse Tyson’s personal email address was publicly-available, and, as one might expect, he received lots of emails!  People wrote him to ask questions about a wide range of subjects including science, education, parenting, and religion.  Interestingly, Tyson took the time to write back. 

If I read it correctly, he seems to assert that he (eventually) replied to every email he received.  This volume comprises about one hundred such exchanges, and they reveal a great deal about Tyson’s philosophy and his approach to education and society. I found his replies to be consistent, emphasizing a rational, scientific worldview. 

He also comes across as amazingly patient and friendly.  He is uniformly respectful, though when pushed, he pushes back — often using humor to defuse a potentially difficult or unpleasant back-and-forth.  This isn’t a big book; according to Goodreads, the hardcover version is less than 250 pages long (as usual, I read the ebook version).  It’s an easy, lighthearted read, one which I enjoyed from start to finish.  I think it’s well worth your time.

A side note: I once attended Tyson’s “An Astrophysicist Goes to the Movies,” presentation.  In my view, his written “voice” as experienced through this book, is indistinguishable from his in-person “voice.”  I interpret this consistency in style and manner as further evidence of his finely-tuned intellect and genuine passion for education.

This is a supernatural murder mystery set in and around Yale University.  I found the book to be delightful, with interesting characters and a serpentine plot that featured some great surprises.  Though the book feels very contemporary in writing style, pacing, and characterization, the thematic elements reminded me of some of the fine work by Tim Powers (see, for example, his 1983, award-winning book, The Anubis Gates).

In Ninth House, protagonist Alex Stern has been all but crushed by life and by the side-effects of her own unique talents.  She’s offered a second chance and she seizes it, but even as she tries to make the most of an unprecedented opportunity, she is plagued by self-doubt, self-loathing, and horrific memories. Her unusual abilities land her a full scholarship at Yale, but that award is is contingent on far more dangerous activities than lectures on British Literature or Conversational Spanish. 

She must work for the “Ninth House” a small organization that provides oversight of eight secret societies — groups of great wealth and power whose members epitomize privilege and entitlement. Once on campus, she finds herself surrounded by people who have never known insecurity or want, and she tries to hide her past from everyone around her.  And though she is bright and street-smart, Alex is ludicrously unprepared for the level of academic performance expected.   To add to her problems, she is frequently up all night, acting as an observer and safety monitor for occult rites.

As she struggles to keep herself afloat, the Yale community is shocked by a violent crime.  On top of everything else she faces, Alex is drawn into the investigation.

Some reviewers complained about the book’s structure and point of view shifts, but I had no trouble following the story.  In fact, I thought these features added to my enjoyment.  There were really only two POV characters — hardly excessive!  Oh, and I tried, unsuccessfully, to hold back — to set the book aside and do something else for a while.  That turned out to be too difficult for me, and I pretty much gobbled the book up.

This humorous, heartfelt memoir alternates between episodes and events in the author’s life and short vignettes that illuminate amazing things about our world’s plant life.

Hope Jahren is a geobiologist.  In addition to numerous other awards, he has won three Fulbrights.  As of this writing, she is a tenured professor at University of Hawaii, where she built the Stable Isotope Geobiology Laboratories.  If that seems like an esoteric field (my spell checker flagged both “geobiology” and “geobiologist”) please don’t be put off. 

Jahren’s writing style is more than accessible; it’s appealing and engaging.  And her passion for her area of research comes through loud and clear. Jahren is a risk-taker.  She has a wry, go-for-it attitude that I found very appealing (and, at times, eyebrow raising).  Her work ethic is nothing short of astounding, and her research results are widely respected in her field.  She’s also a fantastic writer with a great sense of humor.  

Through brilliance, hard work, and determination, she climbed from a small, poor factory town in rural Minnesota into the highest echelons of academia (PhD at UC Berkley, tenured professorship at Johns Hopkins prior to her position at U of Hawaii).  She won scholarships and worked her way through undergraduate studies.  And she did it while struggling with (what seemed severe to me) bipolar disorder. On top of her professional achievements, Hope Jahren comes across as a very human character — what we’d call a “good person.”  She has a loving family life.  She inspires (and displays) loyalty to her friends had her staff. 

She’s more than worth reading about; I think you’ll be glad you had the opportunity to meet her through the pages of her memoir.

Book 1 Dust (2007) — This is a story about a starship on a multi-generation voyage. The ship has suffered serious damage and is in a precarious situation. The on-board society has (or perhaps began) stratified and felt somewhat medieval, though with some very advanced tech. The story and characters seemed foreign -- almost alien -- to me, and I enjoyed figuring out various attitudes and social norms as the plot unfolded. Some of the characters appealed to me; others did not (hmmm... sort of like real life, I guess). Although this is the first book of the trilogy, the story reached a satisfying stopping point.

Book 2: Grail (2010) — This volume follows directly in the wake of the first story. I thought the continuity was very good, and that this "middle" book felt strong. Occasionally, I found the language to be slightly awkward, though I realize Ms. Bear is using that as a technique to enhance the "alien-ness" of those who live aboard the starship. The story was well-paced throughout, and my interest never flagged. 

Book 3: Chill (2011) — The story didn't end up where I thought it would, but it was a good ending with an appropriately complex vibe. As was the case with the first two volumes of the trilogy, the writing in the final book was strong and very much under Ms. Bear's control from start to finish. I never grew tired of the characters and found them delightfully futuristic. And even though this was hard science fiction, I thought Ms. Bear did a great job making advanced tech into something both plausible and accessible.

All three of these books were well-paced, entertaining, and deeply engaging. It’s great to be able to wholeheartedly recommend a science fiction trilogy!

This is a big book about an important figure in American History.  The author had extensive access to the Douglass archives, so the level of detail was nothing short of amazing.  I found the writing to be somewhat dense, but the subject matter was so fascinating that it more than made up for the author’s style.  The book won numerous awards, including the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for History.

Like most biographies, this one chronicles the major events in Douglass’s life.  It presents, sometimes in unsettling detail (an understatement) Douglass’s childhood memories of slavery.  It shows his struggles to gain literacy and his strong desire to reach for the best life he could.

Later sections covered Douglass’s work as an abolitionist, a writer, a newspaper publisher, and a sought-after public speaker.  During his life, Frederick Douglass was one of the most photographed public figures in America.  He was famous in England as well as in the US.  He met with Lincoln and Grant and campaigned for many candidates.  Both prior to and after the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Constitutional Amendments, his support for black suffrage was unrelenting.  He frequently spoke to crowds numbering in the thousands.  He was reviled and demonized in the South.  

Since much of his correspondence was preserved, we have access to records of Douglass’s personal feelings and of thoughts he shared with his contemporaries.  David Blight presents detailed accounts of not only Douglass’s public struggles but also his concerns about his family and friends.  We learn about rivalries and infighting within the abolitionist movement.  Later, as the Jim Crow South worked to undermine every agreement thought settled by the US Civil War, we see Douglass’s unflagging efforts to maintain and enhance civil rights for African Americans.

Though this is a detailed biography of Frederick Douglass, we meet many important figures from 19th century American history in its pages.  Douglass knew and worked with major members of the political class as well as people like W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Booker T. Washington, and so many others.  We also encounter members of his extended family and his correspondents, both in the US and abroad.

The more I read, the more I felt fortunate to learn a little about such an important man.  Simultaneously, however, I felt puzzled.  Frederick Douglass was a man of immense stature and social significance.  He was brilliant.  He was articulate.  He overcame the most hideous of obstacles to become successful and famous.  He (literally) worked until the day he died.  By any measure, Frederick Douglass exemplified personal triumph over adversity.  

Yet over and over again, as I read this book, I wondered, “Why was so little of this covered in school?  Why am I only now reading about these events?  Why am I only now meeting these people?”

I am glad I waited no longer.

Here is some nonfiction to consider. I found this book to be fascinating, insightful and uplifting. The author, a medical doctor who spent much of his career working in international public health, encourages us to examine the facts behind both our assumptions and the impressions we gain from media representation of world events. 

The approach, looking at important social issues from a data-based point of view, could have been dry and boring, but this book came across as fresh, fun, and easy to read. The writing style was accessible and, despite the seriousness of the topic, light-hearted. I found myself stopping to take notes -- or trying to (sometimes I couldn't help but keep reading to see what was on "the next page").

I want to read this book again.

The book begins with the two main characters as children. Both are misunderstood by their parents and bullied by their peers -- both to an absurd, essentially surreal degree. For a while I thought I might've picked a YA novel by mistake, but as the story progressed it grew darker and more complex until it encompassed more adult themes. I felt the transitions from childhood to adult problems and actions were handled in an engaging and plausible way.

Ms. Anders paced her story well, and it held my attention all the way through. I really wanted the characters to succeed, and I felt bad for them when they encountered obstacles or were hurt. The themes centered on hubris, and we've encountered many such themes that speak to the hubris of science and technology. In this book, that was contrasted with (and weighed against) the hubris of magic and power. The author's message comes clear at the end in a satisfying and lighthearted way.

Though I suspect I'm not a member of Ms. Anders' target audience (by several decades) I enjoyed the heck out of this one. This review is for the Kindle edition, which I checked out from my local library.

Presented by the San Luis Obispo County Jazz Federation (http://slojazz.org)

Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church

February 9, 2020

It was a crisp, clear winter afternoon.  Inside the Mount Carmel Lutheran Church, a near capacity crowd settled in for this year’s Saxophone Summit.  The church’s acoustics, together with the sizable audience and sound engineer Marshall Pihl’s hands on the controls, provided a  pleasing sound, with just a hint of natural reverb.

Band-leader Dave Becker put together a world-class group for the event. The rhythm section consisted of Dylan Johnson (bass), Marshall Otwell (piano), and Darrell Voss (drums).  The front line was Dave Becker, Andrew Conrad, Sam Franklin, Jake Hammer, Ron McCarley, Michael Mull, Wes Smith and Arthur White.  Each front-line man played multiple instruments.  In addition to instruments we’d expect to hear at a Saxophone Summit, we were treated to fine jazz work on clarinet, bass clarinet and flute.  

THE SONGS

1. “Green Blossom,” by Michael Mull.  The opening number, a medium swing, featured Mull on bass clarinet and Becker on soprano sax.  Mull took the first solo, Becker the second.  Mull is a graduate of the jazz program at Cal State Northridge.

2. “As Soon As Possible,” by Arthur White.  Though completely original, this tune’s vibe evoked the feeling of Charles Lloyd’s “Forest Flower.”  Becker took the first solo on alto before handing it off to White.  White’s tenor solo started off understated and deceptively simple before moving into a sequence of fast, precise lines.  Very tasteful.  Otwell’s piano solo provided excellent contrast as he recapped the themes of the piece. 

3. “Mango Flames,” by Sam Franklin.  According to Darrell Voss (whom I consulted during the break) this one was built on a Latin groove called a “Songo.”  Franklin (tenor on this tune) took the first solo.  Conrad, also on tenor, began his solo with a cool, almost mellow vibe, but he brought up the energy and phrased his work to emphasize the rhythm section’s accents.  Nice to see that use of space, especially in an uptempo piece.

4. “Well My Dear, It’s True,” by Andrew Conrad.  This jazz ballad had an almost classical feel.   It featured some very nice ensemble work, with big, quarter-note chords on the piano contrasting with sustained harmonies in the woodwinds.  Dylan Johnson offered up a beautiful bass solo followed by Conrad’s fine work on the clarinet.  McCarley was on tenor, Smith on alto, and Mull returned to bass clarinet.

5. “Something I Said,” by Wes Smith.  Smith used the soprano for the melody parts of this uptempo piece.  He switched to alto for his solo, which featured great control of both phrasing and dynamics.  Smith moved “outside” at just the right points before sliding back into the piece’s harmonic structure.  Tasty!  Hammer (on tenor) took the second solo.  He built a well-structured ride on the song’s form.

6. “Straight, No Chaser,” Thelonius Monk, arranged by Jake Hammer.  The whole crew climbed onto the platform for the last song of the set.  White (tenor) led off the solos.  Franklin (baritone) followed, and Mull (alto) wrapped up the woodwind action.  Otwell’s piano solo nailed Monk’s signature phrasing.

   INTERMISSION
   

7. “Kahoot”  (aka “Lobby Music” by Kahoot) arranged by Ron McCarley.  The front line, backed by Voss on drums, returned for the second set’s opening number.  This big ensemble arrangement included several hand-offs and lots of fun atonality.  At various points in the tune, the “sections” traded fours: Smith and McCarley on soprano, Franklin and Becker on baritone.  The crew laughed and joked their way through the song.

8. “Peckish,” by Arthur White.  This was the first live performance of the piece, which was originally commissioned by the KC Area Youth Jazz organization.  This number had strong funk overtones, and Dylan Johnson deployed his five string electric bass to hold the bottom together.  Otwell returned to the keys.  White was on tenor.  Franklin (baritone), Hammer (alto), and Smith (soprano) rounded out the front line.  This arrangement featured a lot of solo work.  All of it was tight and well-executed.  White and Smith mixed in strong outside runs while the rest of the team carried the form.  Voss’s solo, punctuated as it was with front line riffs, really grabbed the audience’s attention.

9. “Trinkle, Tinkle,” by Thelonius Monk.  This is one of Monk’s great swing tunes.  Conrad (tenor) took the first solo.  He led off with “Monk Trills” before moving to straight ahead solo lines that stayed true to Monk’s original vibe.  Some very sweet, angular runs there.  Mull (baritone) soloed second, and he ran his hands all over that big ol’ baritone sax.  Otwell’s solo demonstrated a wonderful grasp of Monk’s use of intervals and rhythms.  From where I sat, it seemed like Otwell was working from a transcription of Monk’s original solo.  Extremely cool.

10. “Mixing,” by Airto. This song was in 7/8 time, and it featured Mull on bass clarinet and McCarley on flute.  McCarley performed a wonderful, extended flute solo that was one of the afternoon’s (many) highlights.  His solo began in the low register, and it remained very sparse at first, just McCarley jamming against Voss’s great drum work.  Otwell came back in with a I - V chord pattern that filled out the sonic space.  The solo built to a crescendo and Mull took over, carrying the mood of the piece back to the head.  Well done!

11. “Passion Flower,” by Billy Strayhorn.  Becker (tenor) and Otwell (piano) dialed back the heat with a beautiful rendition of this classic tune.  Close your eyes.  It’s late, and you’re sitting in a smoky club in 1940.  The conversation is muted.  Thoughtful.  This song is your soundtrack. 

12. “Woody ’n You,” Dizzy Gillespie.  The final number brought the whole band back.  McCarley and Smith (soprano), Hammer and Mull (alto), Conrad and White (tenor), Becker and Franklin (baritone).  Becker played an active solo, consistent with the bebop feel of the piece.  When his turn came, Voss cranked up the sticks while the ensemble punctuated his solo with Gillespie’s main riff. This high energy number brought the concert to a close and the audience to its feet.  

PERSONNEL
(alphabetical order, websites listed where available):

Dave Becker — http://music.calpoly.edu/faculty/becker/ 

Andrew Conrad —https://andrewconradmusic.com

Sam Franklin — woodwinds

Jake Hammer — woodwinds

Dylan Johnson — http://dylanjohnson.net 

Ron McCarley — woodwinds, Director of Jazz Studies at Cuesta College

Michael Mull — http://michaelmull.com

Marshall Otwell — piano, jazz piano faculty at Cuesta College

Wes Smith — http://smith5music.com

Darrell Voss — drums, applied percussion instructor at Cuesta College

Arthur White — https://arthurwhitedma.com

Copyright © 2020, Michael C. Glaviano. All rights reserved.

This twenty-two minute documentary by modern composer and video producer Garry Eister captures the creative process of pop surrealist painter and satirist Mark Bryan.  In the video, which was shot over a multi-week period, Bryan starts with a blank canvas and walks us through the development of a major work titled “How The West Was Won.”

Part discourse on art, part a treatise on technique, and part interview, the video reveals Bryan’s use of an “under painting,” done in two-tone acrylic, to establish his major themes and ideas.  Once he has the overall composition in place, the artist moves into the realm of color.  We watch the work unfold as he colors, shades, highlights details, and adds and deletes compositional elements.

Serendipity plays a role in the work too.  When a tortoise wanders from a nearby sanctuary onto Bryan’s studio grounds, the artist learns from friends that the reptile is a good omen.  After the tortoise is returned to the sanctuary, Bryan decides to add him into the painting.

The film is both intimate and light-hearted, enhanced at several points by Eister’s lovely musical compositions.

Though the documentary’s overall pacing felt relaxed, I found the final scenes to be quite dramatic.   Images that had begun as fuzzy and nebulous shapes had been transformed into razor sharp icons.  Colors became vivid, and the emotion of the painting, simultaneously whimsical and incisive, was on full display.

The video is available at https://vimeo.com/channels/bookofartists.  If you have an Apple TV, you can download the Vimeo app for free and watch the film on your television.

For more information about Garry Eister, please see: http://eistermusic.com

For more information about Mark Bryan, please see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Bryan_%28artist%29

We bundled up and got in line more than an hour before the concert. It was, after all, going to be a full house. The Ernie Watts Quartet was coming off a tour, and they promised to smoke the place.

This was Ernie Watts at his best. He brought his A Team with him, and they played one long set — around an hour & forty-five minutes — without a break. The concert comprised six tunes interspersed with just the right amount of jazz history and musical philosophy from Watts. The evening emphasized Watts’ original compositions.

Early in the concert, Watts spoke about the difference between a bunch of good musicians who get together and play some tunes and a band. “The Baby,” Marc Seales (piano) has played with Watts for a decade. Bassist Bruce Lett has played in the quartet for twice that long, and Bob Leatherbarrow (drums) has played with Ernie Watts for thirty years. So, yes, this was an established musical group… a band. They know each other well, they understand each others’ personal styles, and they play off each other in a dynamic way. 

The Tunes

The concert opened with “Acceptance,” from Watts’ 2014 album, A Simple Truth. The song alternates between interludes played in a fast six and longer sections played in a straight-ahead swing. The interludes featured angular sax lines that harmonized with a bass pattern, which was, in turn, doubled by the piano.The second tune, “O.P.” was written by Sam Jones, bassist and composer for such household names as Cannonball Adderly, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Burrell, Thelonius Monk, Freddy Hubbard, and Bill Evans. Jones’ musical mentor was Oscar Pettiford, and this song is named “O.P.” in Pettiford’s honor. 

The quartet approached this number as a swing with a sweet, relaxed feel. Watts doubled the bass for the melody. As you’d expect, bassist Bruce Lett took a good ride on this one. 

Song number three, “Freaky Fliers,” was inspired by the “free music” of Ornette Coleman and the “free jazz” work of Charlie Haden. It was a very active, very up-tempo piece featuring a four-note figure that Watts sliced and diced, varying dynamics, tonality and tempo. The song slipped in and out of a swing feel. If Igor Stravinsky had played jazz, it might sound like this.

Next came “Letter from Home,” from the Quartet’s 2016 album, Wheel of Time. This song had a great Latin, almost calypso vibe and was built on strong rhythmic interplay between drums (Leatherbarrow) and bass (Lett). Like so many of the songs, this one was simultaneously driving and laid back. Watts referred to it as “a groove,” but it felt deeper than that — more like a crack in the Cosmic Egg than a mere groove.

Watts referred to the fifth tune, “Through the Veil” as “fusion.” He also called it an “East-West mix,” and given the prevalence of harmonic minor scale fragments in much of the solo work, it certainly felt that way. Watts deployed the standard, “Nature Boy,” during his intro, but most of the song consisted of swing sections contrasted with rubato breaks. 

The final song of the evening was “Home Light,” the title track of Watt’s 2018 album. This song had a beautiful gospel feel, with a strong, relaxed tempo. Leatherbarrow’s drum work was front and center in this one. The tune had audience members calling “Yeah!”  It was a lovely, musical farewell that brought a fine concert to a close.

The Musicians

About Ernie Watts (http://erniewatts.com)

Ernie Watts is a two-time Grammy winner. His trademark tenor work has been featured on a huge collection of recordings. He’s been playing saxophone for over sixty years, and his body of work, both album credits and compositions, makes him one of the most versatile and prolific artists alive today. 

In 2004, after 15 albums as a leader, Watts started Flying Dolphin Records, in partnership with his wife Patricia. Flying Dolphin (distributed by City Hall Records in the US and Laika Records in Germany) is a new chapter for the artist's creative expression. After all his years of studio work and playing in every kind of musical setting, he reached a place in his life where he needed to make music on his own terms. Starting his own label provided a new sense of freedom.

Flying Dolphin's first release ALIVE (2004) was recorded live at the Backstage in Fulda, Germany. The chance to hear Watts at immediate heat in the midst of his own music had only been available before to his concert audiences. To The Point and ALIVE both vividly capture that live experience.

For more information about Ernie Watts, please see his biography (http://erniewatts.com/biography.html)

About Marc Seales (https://music.washington.edu/people/marc-seales)

Marc Seales is an American jazz pianist associated with the post-bop genre. He is a Professor of Jazz Piano at the University of Washington in Seattle. In addition to his work with Ernie Watts, Seales has played with Benny Carter, Howard Roberts, Bobby Hutcherson and Art Pepper. His work as a band leader includes New Stories and the Marc Seales Quartet. In 1999, he won the Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Award for Best Instrumentalist. His song 'Highway Blues’ was included by default in Windows XP.

A noted pianist, composer and leading figure in the Northwest jazz scene, Seales has shared stages with many of the great players of the last two decades. He has played with such luminaries as Joe Henderson and Art Pepper to Benny Carter, Mark Murphy, and Bobby Hutcherson and has performed in London, England; Kobe, Japan; The Hague in the Netherlands; and the North Sea Jazz Festival.

The musicians he admires most are Herbie Hancock, Charlie Parker, John Lewis, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Wynton Kelly, though he is quick to acknowledge that he owes the basically be-bop/post be-bop sound of his playing to his mentors, Don Lanphere and Floyd Standifer.

About Bruce Lett (https://web.csulb.edu/depts/music/areas/jazz-studies/bruce-lett.php)

Bassist Bruce Lett attended the University of Evansville, Indiana and North Texas State University. He has toured with Gerry Mulligan, Alphonse Mouzon, Nancy Wilson, and Ernie Watts. Lett has played at the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Playboy Jazz Festival, and the Cancun Jazz Festival. He’s an active LA studio musician with credits in television soundtracks, commercials, and theme music.  He is on the music faculty in jazz studies at Long Beach State.

Lett has been involved in commercials, television soundtracks and industrial films. He is an active studio musician, recording for television series such as Moonlighting and Beverly Hills 90210. He has recorded theme and bumper music for Fox, After Breakfast, source music for the movie Dear God and for the TV mini series Titanic. Commercial credits include Ivory Soap, Quasar, Coca Cola, Sports Illustrated, Jack in the Box, Pepsi, Aloha Airlines, and more. His television soundtracks and Industrial films include American Airlines, Miller Beer, Navy Archives, US Marine Corps, California Radio Network, the PBS children’s show, Wasted, and others.

About Bob Leatherbarrow (https://bobleatherbarrow.com)

Bob Leatherbarrow studied the drums with Charlie Lorigo, orchestral percussion with John Rowland of the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the vibraphone with Dave Samuels. He attended the Berklee College of Music.

Leatherbarrow has played with Ernie Watts, Norah Jones, Joe Farrell, Peggy Lee, Victor Feldman, Horace Silver, Doc Severinsen, Howard Roberts, John Klemmer, Jack Sheldon, Rosemary Clooney, Natalie Cole, and many others.

His vibraphone work can be heard on recordings by Stanley Clarke, Nelly Furtado, Chantal Kreviazuk, Bill Perkins, Lorraine Feather, and Greta Matassa. He was Peggy Lee's vibraphone player for years. He plays vibes and composes for his group Polychrome which he formed with Sam Riney and John Chiodini.

Copyright © 2020, Michael C. Glaviano. All rights reserved.

Though the video is just under eight minutes in length, Bryan discusses a wide range of art-related topics.  He touches on several dualities: openness to the creative imagination vs. commercialism, political subjects vs. magic and whimsy, and how satirical approaches can make even serious topics amusing and accessible.  Bryan speaks of art as an adventure, an exploration of the self and one’s feelings about the world.  

Director/Editor Thomas Storesund is clearly at the top of his game.  His video offers us an intimate and accessible portrayal of a successful contemporary artist.  Storesund’s editing and sequencing of Bryan’s narrative are nothing short of miraculous, making the artist seem simultaneously light-hearted and serious.  Thoughtful and whimsical.  The piece held my attention and left me wanting to see more.

The video comprises three layers: 

1. Bryan speaking about his approach to painting, his philosophy, and his feelings about art and the creative process.  This provides an intimate look “inside artist’s head.” 

2. Beautifully-composed images of Bryan’s work, his studio and its immediate environs, and his interactions with the public.  Visuals drift in and out of the frame, capturing the eye and inviting the viewer to dig deeper into the artist’s oeuvre.

3. Finally, a tasteful soundtrack augments the vibe of the film without ever stepping on the the primary layers.

Here’s the URL for the film:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63jkhU-jdHs

More About Thomas Storesund: 
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7186340/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasstoresund/

For examples of Mark Bryan’s art, please visit: artofmarkbryan.com

Microfest Records has released Folk People, a new album by grammy-nominated composer and performer Garry Eister.  Folk People is a collection of original songs in the genre of post-modern folk music.  

On the surface, Eister’s compositions chronicle events we generally associate with folk music — the stories, tribulations, and adventures of ordinary people.  We hear songs of courtship, of laments and lullabies, and of the adventures of sailors.  The final song on the album is a powerful piece based on excerpts from the autobiography of the fiery labor leader, humanist, and self-described “hell raiser,” Mary Jones (aka “Mother Jones”).

Eister brings a post modern approach to the songs of Folk People.  His voice is polished and beautifully controlled.  His guitar work complements the lyrics, and he shows perfect restraint in his accompaniment, so that his playing supports the overall feeling of each piece — a wonderful balance of simplicity and skill.  His abilities as a lyricist are on full display.  Some of the pieces made me laugh out loud; others were heart-rending in their brutal clarity.

For this project, Eister played an unusual instrument, a metal resonator guitar that has been re-fretted to create the pure (i.e. mathematically-derived) intervals of just-intonation.* 

The difference in tuning can be jarring at first, but we quickly realize that, like every other choice Eister has made in this project, the notes we hear support the overall mood of the work.  Listen more than once; listen often.  Let Folk People transport you to a different world.

Microfest Records is part of Naxos Records distribution, and Naxos has put the entire album on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m9-D_tIbFSSFPFEYMhSYVZId1gTN0CB3I

For more information, including liner notes, please visit: https://microfestrecords.com/folk-people/

For more information about Garry Eister, please visit his website: http://eistermusic.com.

*just-intonation is subtly different from what we’re used to hearing in modern instruments, which are actually detuned slightly so that corresponding musical intervals in different keys sound the same.  We call this more familiar approach “well-tempered.”

Initially, I chose this book because of its age.  I first encountered Martha Wells through her award-winning series of novellas, “The Murderbot Diaries,” which I enjoyed a lot (and reviewed in September of 2019).  Death of the Necromancer was published nearly twenty years before “Diaries.”  A lot can change in that amount of time, and I wanted to see how a popular and successful author like Martha Wells evolved.  

First off, a caveat: the genres of these books are very different — essentially disjoint, but I don’t think this necessarily dictates changes in writing technique or use of language.  Further, I didn’t see much in the way of story-specific style.  In other words, the genre didn’t seem to dictate Wells’ writing style.  Of course that, like most everything else in this review, is only my opinion.  YMMV.  Here are some details regarding genre:

Death of the Necromancer, though part of a series, “works” as a substantial, standalone novel.  It fits naturally into the Swords and Sorcery category.  Most of the action takes place in an ancient land.  There are palaces, ghouls, catacombs, evil wizards, and lots of magic.  There are firearms and explosives, but nothing we’d consider “high tech.”  Lighting, for example, consists of gaslight, candles, and torches. 

“The Murderbot Diaries,” on the other hand, is definitely “hard” science fiction.  It’s a series of four novellas (at the time of this writing, a fifth volume — allegedly a “full-length” novel —  is in development).  In “Diaries” we encounter AIs and cyborgs of various types.  Advanced space travel and and amazing weaponry are presented as “a given.”  There is no magic (Arthur C. Clarke’s postulate notwithstanding).

But I wasn’t focused on differences in genres.  I wanted to examine differences in writing technique.  Here goes:

I was able to detect big differences in mechanics.  The prose in the newer books is tighter and (for me) gets deeper and more seamlessly into the main character’s head.  The narrative and scene-making were stronger and more crisp too.  I suppose that’s to be expected from a hard-working writer: you practice, you polish, and you improve.

On the other hand, I found the plot of the older book to be satisfyingly complex.  I especially liked how the actions of various characters wove through the story.  Also, despite Death of the Necromancer’s “age,” it didn’t feel dated.  The story seemed fresh, and the attitudes, feelings, etc, expressed by the characters felt relevant.  In addition to the action-filled story arc, the main character had a believable “personal development arc.”

So, even though my initial interest in this book was fairly academic, I was drawn into the story.  It held my interest from start to finish, and I think it’s worth your while.

My review is based on the e-book version of Death of the Necromancer, which I checked out from my local library.

This is a powerful novel about the adventures and travails of a young slave named Cora as she seeks out the Underground Railroad in an effort to escape the horrors of her life. 

Casual, gut-wrenching cruelty of slave owners figures prominently in the story, as does the overall depravity of an economy (and the society it supports) that is based upon stolen lives and appropriated labor.  Slaves are beaten down, fed poorly, and forced to live in horrible conditions for no sensible economic reason.  “Examples” are made of slaves who flee but are recaptured.  The fear and unhappiness Cora experiences is palpable, both in her life on the Georgia plantation and during her harrowing escape.  

Because she is the storyteller, the “Point of View” character, we infer that she survives to tell her story.  That takes away nothing from the suspense.  This book grabs you and won’t let go.

This book was a #1 New York Time bestseller.  It won the Pulitzer Prize.  It won the National Book Award.  It won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.  I think it should’ve won at least a hundred others.

When she was in her twenties, Samantha Power became a war correspondent in Central Europe.  She reported from the front lines of the conflict in (the former) Yugoslavia, risking her life to provide first-hand accounts of atrocities committed by Bosnian Serbs in their program of “ethnic cleansing.”  Later, she found that war crimes investigators had trouble determining accurate timelines for events.  Power responded by researching and documenting incidents so that prosecutors and (later) scholars could make better sense of events.  

As a graduate student, Power expanded her earlier work and became an expert on a hideously grim subject: genocide.  She spent five years researching and writing about the topic, and when she put together all her work, no major publisher (even the publisher that had paid her and advance to write the book!) wanted to touch it.  “Too depressing,” they said.  

Fortunately, a small, independent publisher took on the project.  The book exceeded everyone’s expectations, and in 2003, Samantha Power won a Pulitzer Prize for her book, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide.

Power earned a BA from Yale and a JD from Harvard.  She worked for Barack Obama, first on his Senate staff, later on his presidential campaign.  When Obama won the Presidency in 2008, Power joined the White House staff.  In his second term, Obama named her as the US Ambassador to the United Nations, a position she held until 2017.

Power’s memoir covers these and many other fascinating details about her life.  Her story is examined with a journalist’s eye, and she doesn’t shy away from revealing her own challenges, both personal and professional.  Neither does she sugarcoat her criticisms of world leaders — including people whom she admires and respects.  She reveals strengths and weakness, successes and failures, in real detail without ever descending into the tawdry or vulgar.

She is an excellent storyteller with a clear moral compass, and her memoir is well worth your time.

Mr. Eister wanted to share the performance online, so he developed an elaborate set of still images and cut them together with the audio. The result is what he calls a “tiny slideshow opera.”  The entire piece runs just over seven minutes in length, and I found to be it extremely engaging.

“Before Going to Work” is simultaneously funny and intense.  It tells the story of an associate professor in music who is faced with a dilemma: she loves her job and she’s only months away from tenure, but she’s been assigned to teach a course in Rock and Roll.  For various reasons, both professional and personal, she is repelled by the assignment.

The performers on “Before Going to Work” are mezzo soprano Alexandra Grabarchuk and ensmbleFRET, an LA trio. The members of ensembleFRET are Buzz Gravelle (mandolin), Walter Marsh (guitar), and Peter Yates (arpeggione**).

Garry Eister is a Grammy-nominated, modern classical composer.  His versatile oeuvre spans the gamut from meditative, single-line instrumental pieces to full-on operas.  He collaborates with other artists to produce unique, intelligent works that are both accessible and, frequently, fun.  

In addition to his work as a composer, Mr. Eister performs his original music on guitar and keyboards.  You can find many of his pieces on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/channels/garryeistermusic).  Several of his recordings, including his 2019 release, “Folk People,” are on Spotify.  His website is http://eistermusic.com. 

**arpeggione — bowed guitar.

We didn’t know what to expect.  Yes, this was billed as a duo playing “straight ahead Brazilian jazz.”  And, as we’d expect, one member of the duo was a guitarist and vocalist.  But in addition to being a vocalist, the other half of the duo, played trombone.  I wondered how that would work.  

Now I know; it was divine.

Natalie Cressman’s vocals are simultaneously understated and stunning.  She nails every note, and her phrasing is impeccable.  Her voice is sweet and clear, with no affectation.  Every movement, every gesture felt relaxed.

Ian Faquini’s voice blended beautifully with Cressman’s, and when, on occasion, he sang lead parts, his voice stood on its own.  His senses of timing and pitch revealed a deep understanding of Brazilian jazz.

Faquini’s guitar playing was both controlled and strong.  He uses a traditional Brazilian approach to guitar: multi-voice, finger style playing on a nylon stringed, classical instrument.

Cressman’s trombone work was remarkable.  She uses a round, clear tone, very sonorous and controlled, with never a hint of harshness.  Never a hint of marching band or Dixieland.  At the break, one of the audience members remarked to me that she made the trombone sound like a human voice. I had to agree.  Her solos were strong and they fit perfectly within each piece’s context.

They sang in Portuguese, English, and French.  In addition to Brazilian classics like “Desafinado,” they performed American jazz standards such as “You Go To My Head” and “Skylark.”  They even played a lovely rendition of the Lennon/McCartney tune “She’s Leaving Home.”  All the songs worked.

This duo has turned into something of a phenomenon.  They garnered rave reviews at the 2019 Monterey Jazz festival.  They just returned from a European tour.  The night after the local concert, they played in Nevada City, CA.  Then they went to San Francisco, where they performed at two, sold-out shows.  

Both Cressman and Faquini are relatively young performers.  If the world is fortunate, they’ll be around for decades to come.  Their latest album, “Setting Rays of Summer,” was released in April of this year.

Here’s Natalie Cressman’s website: http://nataliecressman.com
Here’s Ian Faquini’s website: http://ianfaquini.com

If you have an opportunity to see these fine musicians, please don’t hesitate!