[John Isbell]

Thank you for the Apollinaire, Sarah-Jane! I was standing on the Pont Mirabeau in January. People assume it’s an old Paris bridge: it was maybe twenty years old when he wrote the poem.

Cheers,
John

[F.F. Teague]

I'm copyediting in Global Finance at the moment, so I've been listening to Air, 'La femme d'argent' from Moon Safari. That's also good for chillin'

[John Isbell]

I’ve packed up everything but my records and found myself listening to Little Feat’s “Cold, Cold, Cold.” A song to rival “Willin’”, in my books.

Cheers,
John

[F.F. Teague]

Are you off somewhere, John?

I haven't heard of Little Feat; I'll have to look them up. I've been listening to Chopin today, mostly. One of my favourites is his 'Barcarolle', which, together with Pittville's great crested grebes, inspired my poem 'Grebe barcarolle'. The finest recording, to my mind/ears, is here (Martha Argerich)

[John Isbell]

Hi Fliss,

That sounds like a fine combination of Chopin and grebe! I like the Nocturnes and the Etudes.

We’re in Palo Alto for a week, then back briefly to finish cleaning out the house before we fly to Europe and Asia. We have a wedding in Madrid on April 1st.

Cheers,
John

[F.F. Teague]

Hi John,

Yes, a nice combo there. I used to play a lot of Chopin, including a few nocturnes and études. You'll like this: my teacher through my late teens was called Mr Sharpe and he lived in a flat. He was pretty cool

I haven't listened to much music today, as I've been busy with visitors most of the time. But I listened to The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper yesterday while attending to admin. I think 'Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite' is still my favourite; I've probably mentioned that the bros and I used to rush up and down the sitting room during the whooshy bits 😂

I hope your travels go well!

Best wishes,
Fliss

[John Riley]

I hadn't listened to him for years but over the last few days I've been going through all my Art Pepper albums. There were greater alto sax players but he has a touch in his sound that sticks with me. Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section is a great album he recorded in one day with Miles Davis rhythm section. Pepper talked out an autobiography with his last wife and it may be the best book on addiction ever written by an American. The description of him waking up dope sick and having to record this album is a gem. The miracle is it's a great album. Later in life he sort of cleaned up and recorded a series of albums that mixed his own compositions with familiar tunes. I love to listen to him while walking and am glad I went back to him after so long away.

The autobiography is titled Straight Life: The Story of Art Pepper.

[James Brancheau]

Right on Fliss! A sleeper on that album. The Beatles are the very definition of chemistry. That's the difference, I think. Impressive growth rate over a whole 5 years.

[Roger Slater]

I rather like this video.

[John Isbell]

Well, it's got 67,000 likes and zero dislikes. It's hard to argue with the choreography.

Hearing about Art Pepper reminds me how much there is to know about jazz and how little of it I am familiar with. Or as Jeremy Hillary Boob, Ph.D. puts it: "Ad hoc, ad loc., and quid pro quo; so little time, so much to know." I do know that Miles Davis arrived for Kind of Blue, gave the band five chords and said "Let's play."

Cheers,
John