Sunday Music Muse Day - Harvie S./Sheryl Bailey - Mark Helias, Gerry Hemings=way, Ray Anderson

This Sunday Music Muse Day, falls on the first day of Daylight Saving Time, and the last weekend before Election day, and the combination has a lot of people's heads spinning.  The uncertainties of the election are so thick you could cut it with a knife.  So, with that in mind, I'm offering these two indie releases that offer a light music tone.  First is Harvie S/ Sheryl Bailey Plucky Strum, nice acoustic guitar and bass duo set.  The playful comic graphic almost comes as fitting a novelty music album, but there is some nice intimate interplay. 

Next up is BassDrumBone The line Up. The band's name refers to bassist Mark Helias, drummer, and Gerry Hemingway, and trombonist Ray Anderson,  An online profile on the All That Jazz website, says: "BassDrumBone is a trio that has wedded the uniquness of it's instrumentation with the singular personality of it's three members. A true collective, their music combines three distinct compositional and improvisational approaches with an exceptional musical rapport." I'll let you be the judge, but I think it's worth a listen.

Well, here's hoping for a safe and high turn out election we can all take proud in. 

Sunday Music Muse day - Laurie Anderson, Skies Cries Mary

For this Sunday Music Muse Day, I'm stepping out of my jazz comfort zone, presenting a hit, and miss. The hit being Laurie Anderson Life on a String.  I pick up this CD after seeing a segment on PBS News Hour on her latest release Amelia, inspired by Amelia Earhart, the famous aviator lost during a flight attempting to circle the globe.  The Amelia CD wasn't at my local Record store, so I picked up Life on a String.  I enjoy Laurie Anderson's music. It exists in a category by itself, more performance art, than music.  But, worth a listen.

Next, is a miss, Skies Cries Mary Exit at the Axis.  This is a second CD I've tried by this  "American psychedelic rock/trance musical group from Seattle, Washington, formed in the late 1980s " (Wikipedia)  In Truth, I bought both CDs because the title of the band and CD reminds me of Jimi Hendrix song titles.  But the band's music doesn't come close to generating the excitement of Hendrix tune.   I' ll pass on trying another of their CDs.

That's my quick Sunday Music Muse Day post. Remember to vote BLUE.  

New Thundercat Toy figures

I saw these Thundercats figures this week. I'm not crazy about the Lion-O skin color on this version, and the other smaller figures seemed a little overpriced.

 I'm still hoping for the toy to make figuures of the T'Cats characters I designed for the last season, but hope the toy company's doeas a better job, than the Lion-O figure.

Sunday Music Muse Day (Belated) Charles Mingus, Avishai Cohen

Here's my Sunday Music Muse Day, one day off a(I had a busy weekend).  First up is Charlie Mingus Anthology Thirteen Pictures.  This a nice 2 CD collection of thirteen must have Mingus tunes, including my favorite Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, his tribute to tenor saxophonist, Lester Young. This Rhino release comes in a cardboard sleeve, cloth-covered CD holder, and 50 page liner note booklet.  It's a nice addition to my collection.

Next is Avishai Cohn Into the Silence, a trumpet player who, at first I got confused with the bassist with the same name who played with Chick Corea's Origin group.  This being a ECM release, I  automatically picked it.  It has a modern European jazz feel. Well worth a listen.

Okay, hopefully, I'm back on track for my Sunday Music Muse Day posts. I'd like to thank Tom Pethic for having me as a guest DJ on his Artistry in Jazz radio show on Jazz90.1, this past Saturday afternoon, featuring music of my father, Sam Woodyard, drummer for Duke Ellington from the mid-1950s to early 70's, until Duke died.  I had a lot of fun. I know we'll do it again sometime. 

MechWarrior 5: Clans - The Mech Game We've Been Waiting For

This game reminds me of the time The ExoSquad TV series production staff would play Battletech in a VR game center.  The game graphic are generations beyond the blocky vector-graphics of the 90's. This updated game maybe way beyond my current video game playing skills, but, it might be fun to assemble a ExoSquad team, to play again in this game.

Sunday Music Muse Day - James Blood Ulmer, Jamaaladeen Tacuma

As September draws to a close, let's go out on a positive note.  These two performers are outside mainstream jazz, and definitely not smooth jazz, so hold on to your hats, and listen with open minds and ears.  First up, James Blood Ulmer In and Out. I think of him as alternate universe Delta Blues filtered through the avent garde/free jazz prism.  His music is down to earth, rough, but also sophisticated.  You may not get it in the first listening, but keep trying. I remember when Ulmer was sighed to Columbia for three releasing, some wrong mind record PR execs tried to promote him as the next "Jimi Hendrix".  That didn't fly at all. Ulmer music maybe hurt to label, but it will always be better than Smooth Jazz.

Next up, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, The Best of.... This CD is a collection of his late 70's and early 80s recordings.  Tacuma is also part of alternate Jazz fusion/avent-garde/"Black Rock" scene in New York City.  He rose to prominence when the legendary Ornette Coleman choice him to join his harmolodic Prime Time group.  Tacuma also played with on James Blood Ulmer's pre- Columbia recording Tales of Captain Black.  This is adventurous and exciting music, not for the small-minded.  Give it a try.

So, as September ends, I'm gearing up for Inktober, the daily prompt drawing event.  I'm looking forward to it, and know I'll be listening to a lot music for inspiration.  Enjoy.

RIP Mike Swanigan - Animation veteran

I'm joining my fellow friends and coworkers, in responding to the sad news of the passing of one of our own. Mike Swanigan, animation veteran. As Tom Sito, said, "Mike was a character." But, beside his long work resume, one of his lasting legacies will be as publisher of animation books, and espeically Toon Magazine, one of the best animation mags, ever. His vision and focus was more on the artists and creative staff, than the companies' execs. Toon Magazine is full of animation art that's a treasure trove for animation fans. I hope someone archives and reprints all the issues. This is a picture of my stash. I first thought of just posting this one pic, but after browsing through them again, I have to post more in his honor. I even got a mention for working on Men in Black with Frank Paur. RIP Mike and thanks, for the memories.