Sunday Music Day Muse day - Bil Bruford Earthworks, Gene Bertoncini & Roni Ben Hur

Today's Sunday Music Muse Day is bringing us heavy rains and storm weather. The good news it might hit  Washington DC, too, but enough politics,  A rainy day is a good time to enjoy some good music. First up, Bill Bruford's Earthlworks - Random Acts of Happiness. This is a live recording of the drummer's post guitar-less post-King Crimson group  form 2003. Besides liking the music I love the CD package design and illustration by Dave McKean.

Next up, is Gene Bertoncini & Roni Ben-Hur - Smile.  This is an example of how a music collection grows. The first Gene Bertoncini recording I bought, in 2020, was duet session with local guitarist Steve Green, who I had seen live at Jazz90.1 event at the Artisan House. Well, I enjoy the duet CD, so I started picking up any Bertoncini CD I'd come across, to where, now, this makes the 9th CD I have of his.  It definitely won't be the last. I've enjoy his classic Jazz guitar playing solo, duets, in groups. 

Again, stormy weather is never a excuse to avoid listening to some good music.  Try it, you'll like it.

Beyond Thundera Podcast -

 Here's my latest podcast appearance; Enjoy

To Stop Chasing ghosts - My old writing attempts.

For another Thundercats' Tuesday Post, in my yet to be air ed appearence on the Beyond Thundera podcast, with Buddha McKeone and Geale Peter Lawrence. The subject of my writing came up, as professionally I'm mostly known as a artist/producer/director, I only got paid to write two Thundercat episodes, "Shadowmaster", and "Well of Doubt". Peter wondered "Why" there weren't others? Well, actually, besides several unproduced Thundercat story ideas, I have a back log of original character,s concepts, outlines and half-finish stories, dating as far back as my teens. Many can be seen in my Dime-A-Dozen Youtube video playlist. I thinking in an effort to declutter my art files, (and in some ways to stop chasing the ghosts of T'Cat's, ExoSquad, Gargoyles, and other shows I worked on, but have no control over) I might start collecting them into mini-books, sketchbooks, and short videos. It felt good at RICE (Rochester Independent Comic Expo) I presented and sold original items, purely on their own merit. At this point I got nothng to lose, and nothing to prove. I'll keep you posted.

 

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.