Sunday Music Muse Day - Bill Frsell, Rudresh Mahanthappa

Today has been a beautiful weather day, warm and sunny. I perfect day for running errants, grocery hopping,and doing some light housework.  The you would feeel guilty relaxing with some new music.  First up, Bill Frisell - In My Dreams,. This Bill latest release and it fall solidly n neo-Americana jazz he's well know for, including his own originals and tunes like Stephae Foster's "Hard Times", and Daniel E. Kelly's "Home on the Range".  The whole CD is rather laid-back but totally enjoyable.

Next is a CD I picked up purely on knowing of one of the player sin the group., guitarist Rez Abassi.  I have several of his recordings, so figured I'd give this try,  Rudresh Mahanthappa - Kinsmen, reminds me of John McLaughlin's Indian themed music with Shakti, but with saxophones. Worth giving it a listen.

As pleasant weather continues into the early evening, it might be a nice night a firepit and a friendly drink.  If so, enjoy it.

Adam Strange - Between Wars, The DC Universe of Dwayne McDuffie

I made another trip to Ollie's Discount store and spied those two gems, I had to leave them behind, because the line for the cashiers was too long. I did the low-life move of hiding two copies for my return. I've been a Adam Strange comic fan since the original run in the 1960s. The Dwayne McDuffie book is a no-brainer. I had the pleasure of meeting him when we both worked at Warner Bros Animation. He was on working on Justice League and Static Shock animated series , and I was working on Ozzy & Drix series. Our office were next to each other. 

Ex Machina - The Complete Series Omnibus

Here's a Wednesday Hump Day: Odds and Ends post. I went back to Ollie's and picked up the massive Ex Machina Omnibus. Wow, it's 3" thick, but at $40 for $150 retail priced book, it was too good to pass up. I only had the first issue, anyway, plus who could pass up a comic about a guy with a jet pack(Rocketeer, anyone?).

Sunday Music Muse Day - Rhiannon Giddens, Leni Stern

For today Sunday Music Muse Day I'm present two female performers who i assumed would at opposite poles for the musical spectrum. But my first listen of both CD, they could made a nice double bill for concert date.

First up is Rhiannon Giddens Freedom Highway, I've been aware of her for sometme through media interviews and spotlights, for her banjo based Blues/Roots music, the last being a appearance on "Finding Your Root", the PBS ancestry show. I finally, decided she deserved a proper listening. I really enjoyed the earthiness of this CD, I'll be picking up more of her music.

Next, Leni Stern - Finally the Rain Has Come.  I have early Leni Stern albums and CDs and think of her as a jazz fusion guitarist. The music on this CD shows a different side of her.  Here, she is more the singer/songwriter, with a eclectic mix of jazz sidemen, including guitarists John McLaughlin and Bill Frisell, sax player Michael Brecker, plus tabla player Zakir Hussain. This is an adventurous, and very aecessable  CD.

I hope life is treating you well, take care.

The Futurist Art of Mike Hinge Book

This week, received this limited edition 384 page The Futurist Art of Mike Hinge book, and extras package, The book is a amazing collection of Mike's work. Mick was friend of mine, met through Jim Steranko back in the early 1970's He was a truly talented artist, graphic designer and wonderful human being. The book is a great tribute. My only regret is that it should be a hardback, not paperback. I plan to have bounded sometime, so it will withstand the wear and tear I'm going to put it through by viewing it so much.

Sunday Music Muse Day - Bill Bruford, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble.

This Sunday Music Muse Day finds me presenting an similiar artist, and a totally unknown group. First up is Bill Bruford Earthworks. This is the drummer's post Yes, King Crimson, and solo outing group minus a gutiar player. This 2 CD set is taken from live recording dates from 2001.  It's nice collection of driving ensemble playing and thoughtful  group interaction.  Worth a listen.

      

My second selection is totally new to me, and honestly I picked it purely on the cover art.  It reminds me of the Transformer designs.  The Hypontic Brass Ensemble Bu;;etproof Brass.  Just by instrumentation a brass band is not a favorite of mine. First impression is, it's not bad, but the overall feel is of a hip hop-space  marching band for a college. That maybe from the spoken vocal  by Sun-Ra on one cut. I think they need more variety in the beat.

This weekend has been rainy, and stormy weather with high winds. We were spared, but many experienced fallen tree, unfortunately, including a neighbor one block away.  We hope the worst is over., for the rest of the the Memorial Day holiday. 

Coming of T-Metal Cat

HELP!!! I can't decide how to finish this. Options: Leave it B&W, and gray-tones, ot full color? It for a upcoming charity auction. I'm so out of practice ,I'm second-guessing myself at every turn. I was resistant to do Thundercat drawing at all. Especially after the heavy-weight comic artists contributing to cause. I did the T-Metal Cat figure a year or so, back , hintiing at the T-Cats without it being a Thndercats drawing. Now with the Thundercats/Silverhawks crossover, I added the Thundercat type style and added "ghost" figures of Charr, the blacksmith, and Two-Time, the robot, both villians I designed for the show, to hint at future story, where they treturn and team up to create robot to battle the T'Cats/SilverHawks team. Maybe I'm just overthinking it. Any thought?

                          

 Here's the earlier sketch.

I’m leaning toward submitting the original B&W line, than experimenting with a scanned image in digital painting app at my leisure. I’m getting too old to stress out about this stuff.