I was living with my parents on a sort of farm when a lion showed up. I ran into the house and found a .22 rifle which I loaded. Not much of a defense, but something. The lion disappeared, and then reappeared, jumping into the house through a window. As he did so, he turned…
New at Bright Lights: Fred, Charlie, Tina, Thelonious, Pannonica, Norman, and Neytiri!
In the new issue of Bright Lights Film Journal I have film reviews of Fred Astaire in Belle of New York, his not-that-good reunion with Vera-Ellen, as well as Tina Fey’s NBC mini-hit 30 Rock The Jazz Baroness, the story of jazz groupie Pannonica de Koenigswarter and her main man Thelonious Monk, book reviews of…
Juan Galiardo Quartet – Blues for Dave
https://youtu.be/NlvZ_gcbJ6o Joe Magnarelli, Trumpet, Dave Santoro, Bass, Andrea Michelutti, Drums, Juan Galiardo, Piano
Death of a Recluse
Poor J.D.! Did ever a man so outlive himself? It’s true that Holden Caulfield is, well, a little too Holden Caulfield, but if you haven’t got a little Holden in you, and a little time for that little, you ain’t got much heart. I used to feel sorry for J.D. when Joyce Maynard wrote her…
Madonna’s private parts highly amusing, IMHO
Just last week I was taking a whack at Conan O’Brien, sneeringly referring to the poor guy as a “Harvard Hustler with the wit of Marty Allen.” Well, now I’ve got to defend Conan, against the likes of New Yorker writer Nancy Franklin, who asserts that “he’ll soon be Fantastic Mr. Fox, his blend of…
Two ways of looking at “Goodbye Porkpie Hat”
Sometime ago I ran the (fairly) famous jazz clip “Jammin’ the Blues,” featuring Lester Young, and went so far as to include a poem I’d written about Lester, called “Goodbye Porkpie Hat,” in reference to a tune that Charlie Mingus had written to commemorate Lester’s death. Here are two recent versions of GPH, one a…
Because Rich Little was just too damn hip for the room
That’s why, apparently, the White House Correspondents Dinner will feature Jay Leno, giving the nation’s standups yet another opportunity to unload on the (sort of) hapless Jay. I was going to let this whole late night imbroglio pass me by, but this latest Leno pile-on has been too much for me to bear. Other comics…
The Sorrows, and Sins, of Obama
Oy, Obama, n’est-ce pas? Yeah, I voted for him, I even gave him money, and I thank God every day that Georgie Boy, and Dickie Boy, are out of the White House, but overall I’m hard pressed to give my man more than a B-. Of course, my low grade is the least of Barack’s…
FLY—Mark Turner, Jeff Ballard, & Larry Grenadier
“FLY,” heard here playing “State of the Union” in Paris in 2006, doesn’t make many albums, and they’re hard to find on the Internet, because there are so many albums with “Fly” in the title. Look for Turner on sax, Ballard on drums, and Larry on bass.
Apple iPhone—now 90% more anal-retentive!
Ever wonder why you never see iPhone users laughing? It’s because Steve Jobs won’t let them. Check out this list of non-apps from Silicon Valley Insider. Hat tip to my good buddy, Mickey Kaus. This is not funny. Steve Jobs is protecting you.