The boy prodigy Charles Lloyd, now a musical elder, was born in the late 1930s and mentored by pianist Phineas Newborn, and Lloyd worked with B.B. King and Howlin’ Wolf, before graduating from the University of Southern California with a master’s degree.
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Confident, Sensual, Soulful Singer-Songwriter: Kail Baxley, Heatstroke/The Wind and the War
One discerns the different influences on the singer-songwriter; and Kail Baxley’s voice, solitary and soulful, is a strong voice that sounds traditional and reminds this listener of Chris Whitley and Amos Lee. “Say Goodbye to the Night” is both confident and melancholy, with Baxley’s deep voice inside a pleasant rhythm.
Earthy Pleasure Beyond Conflict and Poverty: Cedric Watson and Corey Ledet’s Goin’ Down to Louisiana
The divergent rhythms in “Ma Negresse” give the composition its complexity and charm, whereas “Black Snake,” with drumming by Brad Frank, has a country blues feel. Watson’s fiddle is the dominant force in the old-fashion country dance song “Calinda.” The tempo is fast and sends “Madame Faielle” reeling with a lot of energy; and although the song has some lyrics, it is mostly instrumental.
A Master of Melody and Swing: Kermit Ruffins and his Happy Talk
Anyone who has heard of the talented, improvising trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, a friendly sensualist, and one of the founders of the Rebirth Brass Band, as well as a respected barbecue grill man, knows that those who love the trumpeter’s work consider him an embodiment of the spirit of New Orleans.
Loss and Sorrow in the Words of Soldiers: David T. Little, Soldier Songs
Soldier Songs begins and ends with gong-like sounds, which could be large mortar explosions. There are quotes from soldiers about the life-or-death circumstances of war as killing; and making oneself available to die upon orders; and the (usually forbidden) permission to kill. An experimental classical sound supports the ordinary conversation of the soldiers’ testimonies: piano, drone, and pulsing rhythm accompany the voices.
Bob Rich’s Ascending Spiral
The author of Ascending Spiral talks about his latest novel,about genre bending, the books themes, its characters, sustainability, about being a Renaissance man, on optimism and pessimism, and lots more.
A review of The United States Chess Championship, 1845-2011 Third Edition by Andy Soltis
Soltis provides a crisp and lively narrative which ripples outward from the book’s strict subject matter on occasion to consider, for example, the career and fate of Paul Morphy. There is a generous selection of games, full tournament crosstables and some interesting statistics (e.g. Fine has one of the highest winning percentages in the championship with 78%, despite never having won it; for comparison: Fischer has the highest with 83.3%).
Wojo’s Weapons, Volume 3 Winning with White by Jonathan Hilton and Dean Ippolito
All these openings are covered in the book, which is another solid contribution by Dean Ippolito and Jonathan Hilton. As before, they combine detailed analysis of Wojtkiewicz’s chosen lines with instructive discussions of the underlying strategic ideas.
A review of Tune Your Chess Tactics Antenna by Emmanuel Neiman
The strengths of the book include the freshly minted examples of classical tactical themes (virtually all games date from 2011 and 2012) and the systematic approach overall, as regards both the tactics and Neiman’s account of the thinking process (combinational vision, calculation, evaluation).
A review of Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara
The theme that unknown and uncontrollable forces beyond and within oneself determine one’s fate is typical of the “naturalist” school of writers. Among the famous naturalist writers are Emile Zola, Thomas Hardy and Jack London, who show people as biological entities who respond to environmental forces and internal stresses that they do not fully understand and cannot control. O’Hara differs from these earlier naturalist novelists in that he lacks their social conscience, and focuses upon the wealthy, rather than the poor, but his “naturalism” is demonstrated by his blunt style and frank, brutal depiction of human interactions.