text:
Thursday, May 9, 2013

Mother's Day Chicken and Asparagus

Before I left on my trip, I got this post ready, but forgot to schedule it.  I just realized it was here and ready to go for Mother's Day, so I decided I would post it now.  This is a favorite recipe that I make every year when all the fresh Asparagus is available.  It is a perfect dish for Easter or Mother's Day, because it has an elegant, gourmet presentation and taste,  and yet it is very simple and easy to make.  The creamy sauce reminds me of a curry flavored hollandaise.   If I make it on a Sunday, I put the chicken and sauce together and bake it on  a low heat while we are at Church.  I make the rice ahead, only needing to warm it when I get home, and have the asparagus in the pan with a little water, ready to turn on.  Then it is just a snap to finish it off and serve it up.

Asparagus Chicken

1 Un-cooked Chicken cut up into pieces and skin removed;  or about 6 of your favorite pieces of chicken (bone in is fine); thighs or breasts or what ever you like....I love chicken thighs better than breast because they are moist, but of course they have more fat; so whatever you like.
1 large bunch of Fresh Asparagus
1/4 cup butter
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup mayonnaise

The juice of a 1 lemon (this is about 2 Tablespoons)
3/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup Cheddar Cheese

1.      Turn oven to 375 degrees ( or  if you are going to go off for a couple of hours and want to let it cook while you are gone, you can preheat to 375 degrees, let your chicken bake while you prepare the sauce, and then turn the oven down to 300 degrees when you put it back in to cook).
2.     Salt and pepper the chicken pieces and place in a casserole pan.  Put in oven to bake a little before you put the sauce over them.
3.     In a sauce pan, over medium heat, melt butter and add mushrooms;  Saute mushrooms until tender.
4.     Slowly add flour and stir, making a roux with butter and mushrooms.
5.     Slowly add milk, stirring constantly;  Cook gently until thickened. Remove from heat.
6.    Add Mayonnaise, lemon juice, garlic powder, curry powder, salt and pepper and stir until well         mixed.
7.     Take chicken from oven. Spoon sauce over chicken. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.
8.     Return to oven and bake for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
9.     While the chicken is cooking, rinse Asparagus.  Break off the woody bottoms of the stems.
10.   Place the Asparagus in a sauce pan with water just partly covering the Asparagus. Bring to boil and steam about five to ten minutes (depending on how thick the stems are) or until the stems are tender, but not too soft.
11.     Cook rice according to instructions.
12.    When chicken is done, I like to dish each plate up, that way I can serve it plated real pretty.  Here is how:  Spoon your rice. Take up 5 or 6 spears of Asparagus and lay over the rice. Place a chicken piece on top of that. With a spoon ladle up more sauce from your baking pan, and pour around chicken and over Asparagus and rice.  Serve with a salad and rolls.

Enjoy and Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

  1. It sounds delightful Pam! And the picture just looks devine! How was your trip? Glad that you are home, missed seeing you post. I hope you get a nice after vacation nap and enjoy the warmth.
    Love ya,

  2. Gracious me! That looks wonderful, Pam ... just our kind of food. This recipe is definitely a 'keeper' methinks ;)
    A x


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/html

WARC-Type: response

text:
The Girl on Snapchat

This was recited to me by a female (we shall call her “Bella”) in my Gym class. I had just listened to the story “The Russian Sleep Experiment” (I HIGHLY recommend it), so I was asking around to see if anyone had a scary story. When it was Bella’s turn, she began to tell the story of a sleepover she had had with one other girl a few months before. They had been in Bella’s basement, and they found an Ouija Board, so they decided to try it out. They asked if there was anyone present, and who they were. The answer they got was “weska17” confused by this, the girls abandoned the board and went onto Snapchat. On Bella’s Snapchat, there was a picture of a girl in a red dress in a ballet pose, surrounded by candles. The picture was posted by someone named “Alice” seconds previously, about the time when they tossed the Ouija Board to the side. On a whim, Bella decided to log out of her account and log in as Username: Alice, Password: weska17. It worked. The only picture on the account was of the dancing girl. Bella’s friend went home, but sent a text a few hours later telling Bella that the location of the uploading of the picture was Bella’s house.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out /  Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

warcinfo:
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-47
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for November 2018
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-232-159-122.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 0.11-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/


text:
Global Gas Stove Market 2017 Kenmore, BlueStar, Vatti, Robam, Cooking Performance Group, Garland and FOTILE

Global Gas Stove Market Research 2017 presents the in-depth assessment of Gas Stove Industry including a competitive analysis of top market players, Gas Stove Business growth, consumption volume, Gas Stove market drivers and restraints, future roadmap for the new beginner in planning their Gas Stove business strategies. Furthermore, Gas Stove Report includes analysis of market ups and downs of past five years and forecasts Gas Stove sales investment information from 2017 to 2022.

Gas Stove Report maps the useful details which are based on Production region, Gas Stove top manufacturers, product type and applications will Provide the Simplified view of Gas Stove Industry. The significant presence of numerous regional and local vendors Gas Stove market is hugely competitive. The Gas Stove Report helps to acknowledge annual revenue of top leading players, Gas Stove business methods, company profile and their beneficence to the Global Gas Stove Market share. The Gas Stove Research is attached to essential information such as graphs and tables to figure out new trends in the market.

Sample PDF Copy of Global Gas Stove Market Report at

Geographically, Gas Stove Report is based on several topographical regions according to Gas Stove import and export ratio of the region, production and consumption volume, Gas Stove market share and growth rate of Gas Stove Industry. Major regions impact on Gas Stove business such as North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa.

Global Gas Stove Market Segmented into Major top players, Gas Stove Product Type and End-user Applications.

Major Key Players in Global Gas Stove Market are

Cooking Performance Group
Bakers Pride

Gas Stove market study based on Product types

LPG Stove
Coal Gas Stove
Natural Gas Stove

Gas Stove industry Applications Overview

Home use
Commercial use

The Key Players in Gas Stove industry are expected to top on to these market opportunities to penetrate the global Gas Stove market. Gas Stove market size and revenue of top leading players is appraised using Bottom-up approach. In addition, Gas Stove report Provides details about raw material analysis, Gas Stove downstream buyers, development trends, Technical advancement in Gas Stove business, demand and supply ratio will help emerging Gas Stove players taking useful business decisions.

Inquiry before buying Global Gas Stove Market report here

Reasons for Buying Global Gas Stove Market Report

* Gas Stove Report gives detailed analysis changing market dynamics.

* Gas Stove Report gives pin Point analysis on various factors driving and restraining Gas Stove business growth.

* Technological advancements in Gas Stove industry to analyze market growth rate.

* Anticipated Gas Stove market growth is based on analysis of past and the current size of Gas Stove industry from 2012 to 2017.

Report Table of Content Gives Exact Idea about Global Gas Stove Market Report

Chapter 1 describe Gas Stove report essential market surveillance, Product cost structure, and analysis, Gas Stove Market size and scope Forecast From 2017 to 2022. Although, Gas Stove market gesture, Factors influence the growth of Gas Stove business also in-depth study of emerging and existing market holders.

Chapter 2 display top manufacturers of Gas Stove market with sales and revenue and market share. Furthermore, Gas Stove report analyses the Import and Export Scenario of Gas Stove Industry, Demand and Supply ratio, labor cost, Gas Stove raw material supply, Production cost, marketing sources, and downstream consumers of Gas Stove market.

Chapter 3, 4, 5 analyses Gas Stove report competitive analysis based on product type, their region wise consumption and import/export analysis, the compound annual growth rate of Gas Stove market and Forecast study from 2017 to 2022.

Chapter 6 gives an in-depth study of Gas Stove business channels, Gas Stove market investors, Traders, Gas Stove distributors, dealers, Gas Stove market opportunities and risk.

Global Gas Stove Market Outlook

Global Gas Stove Market report 2017 provides you in-depth and all-exclusive study of current scenario of the Gas Stove market based on top leading manufacturers involved, geographical consumption, product types, market current trends and statistics and end-user applications 2017-2022.

Get More Related Reports here


text:
How Symptoms Of Allergies Manifest Themselves When You Have A Reaction

How Symptoms Of Allergies Manifest Themselves When You Have A Reaction

Having an allergic reaction to a substance, whether
it’s food, or pollen, or whatever material your body
is reacting to, it can be mild and just plain annoying
at best, and life-threatening at the very worst.

Should you be affected by any specific allergies, you
will likely find out because of several symptoms. But
sometimes you can confuse other symptoms for just some
common diseases like colds.

There are some distinctions though, between allergy
symptoms and other diseases. Subtle differences in
conditions could let you identify if what you’re
having is just a simple case of the colds or an asthma
attack or if it’s really allergies.

Between Colds And Allergies

The cold is probably the first thing you’d blame if
you don’t suspect that the sneezing, having a runny
nose and being teary-eyed is caused by an allergic
reaction to a substance. But this is easy enough to
identify, since colds occur mainly during the colder
months of the year.

You should also check if you have allergic rhinitis,
which would manifest itself in ways quite similar to
colds. Some other allergies caused by airborne
particles that your body is allergic to can cause
asthma-like reactions, like coughing, wheezing, and
having trouble breathing because the air tract is
clogged up significantly.

What you can do to distinguish between colds and

At some point you’ll be able to notice an underlying
trend when it comes to the occasions in which symptoms
occur. Then you’ll be able to test out your
suspicions, and consult an allergist to confirm if
you’re indeed allergic to a given substance.

The allergist can conduct tests on you so that you’ll
be able to confirm with your doctor what substances
you’re allergic to. Once you’ve nailed it down, you’ll
be able to get some firm advice on what to do to
prevent or treat your allergies with, whether it’s
antihistamines of some other form of treatment like
immunotherapy for allergies.

Avoidance Is Key

No matter what the treatment being prescribed is,
you’ll always be able to prevent occurrences of
allergy attacks if you avoid the allergen material as
much as possible.

For example, in food allergies, if you’re allergic to
shellfish or shrimp, it would be wise to steer clear
of any dishes that contain this as an ingredient.

No matter what you do, if you aren’t exposed to
allergy-causing media, then you won’t have an allergic
reaction. If you still are having allergy symptoms,
then check again with your doctor, you might have
other materials that you’re allergic to.

You’ll probably have to have additional tests done,
but still it’s better than having no idea what other
materials you’re allergic to.

There are some other treatment options when it comes
to allergies, such as having shots for immunotherapy.

In this scenario a doctor will give the patient a
minute quantity of the allergen in question so that
exposure is controlled and the subject’s immune system
can slowly work its way around the allergen and
develop immunity, reducing or totally eliminating
allergic reactions to the substance.

This procedure is spread out over a period of time,
but the results are worth it when you think about not
having to sneeze or cough or have any other unpleasant
effects of being exposed to allergens.


text:
WWW Wednesday

WWW Wednesday – 11/7/18

WWW is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

What I’m Currently Reading

Started Hate Notes this morning. Enjoying it so far.

Hate Notes

What I Recently Finished

I’ve been on a bit of a novella kick lately. In between ARC’s. I didn’t do blog posts because all the books are under 100 pages. But I’ve posted reviews on my goodreads.

Flirt by Penny Wylder; novella. Really enjoyed this book. Immediately downloaded the second book in the series.

FLIRT (Dirty Brothers, #1)

Unscrew Me by Hailey Faiman. This was an ARC and honestly probably the worst book I’ve read all year. Totally insulting to women. Will not be posting a positive for this one.

UnScrew Me (Savage Beast MC #1)

Married in Vegas by Terri E. Laine. Novella; didn’t much work for me.

Married in Vegas: In His Arms

Seduce Me by Kelly Elliott. This one was pretty good. Review comes out next week.

Seduce Me (Austin Singles, #1)

Going All In by Tory Baker; novella. This was an enjoyable read.

Going All In

Sofa King Hard by Madison Faye; novella. Not a terribly deep story, but this was an OTT alpha male (which I love). I’ve already requested the ARC for the second book in the series.

Sofa King Hard

What I Plan to Read Next

Lust (Dirty Brothers, #2) All That We Are The Wrong Game

What is on your list this week?

Happy reading.

2 thoughts on “WWW Wednesday – 11/7/18

  1. thanks for sharing your WWW. I’ve added some of these to my wish lists, they look great! Hope you’re finding the rest of your current read enjoyable as well! Haven’t read anything by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward yet, but I’m definitely planning to!

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s


text:
Airdate: Detroit 1-8-7

As previously tipped, Seven will premiere US crime series Detroit 1-8-7 soon.

It will air at 9pm on Wednesday April 13th, following the 90 minute finale of My Kitchen Rules. The cooking show will no doubt give it a good lead-in, as well as being in the slot where City Homicide has been screened.

Detectives Washington and Fitch investigate a double homicide at a pharmacy. Then, Longford and Mahajan try to track down the killer of an unpopular attorney. When both cases intersect, the cops race against time to put an end to the killing spree.

  1. The Criminal Minds spin-off has only 13 episodes and is currently being tested in the US at the moment. There’s no guarantee it’ll take off in a big way.

  2. If it doesn’t rate well, it’ll be sent to the late night slot then taken off air completely then in about a few months or a year, it’ll turn up on 7mate.

  3. I wouldn’t judge it by the first ep it gets much better as it goes along I really enjoyed it. Closest comparison would be homicide on the streets but not quite as good still enjoyable. So far as I know it hasn’t be stated that it’s cancelled for sure as yet. The final ep introduced a baddie played by Tommy flannigan(chibbs) from sons of anarchy would be awesome if it continues with him up against Fitch 🙂

  4. Thanks A and Nate for the info. I think I will watch the first episode. If it engages me I’ll risk it. I hope the season 1 finale is not a cliffhanger if it’s not renewed.

  5. Such a high profile slot on the back of sevens biggest hit would make more sense to give it to a new show with a future Detroit is only good for 17 episodes it won’t be back for season 2

  6. why waste a good lead in, they should premiere either Downtown Abbey or Body of Proof after the finale, then maybe move it to Mondays as Conviction Kitchen is winding up

  7. @ alfagirl

    It’s not cancelled yet but TVByTheNumbers thinks it will be with under half the numbers it needs. Same with No Ordinary Family i.e. certain to be cancelled. That said they also thought Fringe was likely, rather than certain, to be cancelled with better percentile numbers for the network (FOX instead of ABC ) and it was renewed instead. So they aren’t perfect.

  8. @MillerT1 – Are you a 7 spin doctor? Since when has a show almost certain to be axed due to poor ratings been deemed a “hit show”?

    @ alfagirl – It hasn’t officially been cancelled yet, but the final episode has already aired…which in March isn’t a good side and its chances of being renewed are bordering on non-existent.

  9. Good move, launching a hit show off the finale of another hit show and works as a Criminal Minds replacement when they run out of new eps.

    When I first saw the promo for this on Seven, I thought that it might have been for the Criminal Minds spinoff. You would think that because Criminal Minds is doing well over here, they would be keen to launch the spinoff ASAP or at least want to launch it before smaller success story Detroit 1-8-7.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.


text:
This still doesn’t sound like much of a bargain, but here’s the deal. Watching the 2016 presidential campaign play out in the media convinced Dan Rather that “we need journalistic integrity now more than ever,” and he seems to think he has something to contribute to that effort other than serving as an example of what not to do.

Media Equalizer editor-in-chief Brian Maloney reports that Udemy, “the world’s largest online learning marketplace,” is offering an online course taught by Dan Rather. The four-hour course, “Dan Rather on Journalism & Finding the Truth in the News,” is currently on offer for 93 percent off — that’s just ten bucks to learn about truth in the news straight from Dan Rather.

Yes, included among the 34 lectures is a nine-minute talk on “The Killian Documents,” in which Rather “discusses the rise of the internet as it related to journalism and his reporting on George W. Bush’s military service.”


text:
Two Gals and a Book

Two Gals. Two Opinions. And a Book.

December 12, 2017

Alphabet Challenge– "F"

Stacy’s “F” Picks: Blurb:  A veteran reporter for CBS news describes his 40 days of torture and imprisonment after being captured by the Iraquis during the Gulf War. Simon recounts his harrowing ordeal and the events leading up to his… Continue Reading →

© 2018 Two Gals and a Book — Powered by WordPress

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑

Powered by How to make money on wordpress

%d bloggers like this:
Skip to toolbar


text:
Skoda has official announced that it will showcase the new Scala premium hatchback at an event in Tel Aviv, Israel on December 6, 2018. The new hatchback will essentially be a replacement for the now aging Skoda Fabia hatchback and will take on the likes of the Volkswagen Golf in international markets. What that means is that the Skoda hatchback will move up a notch from being a Polo competitor to a Golf competitor in Europe and across the world. The new hatchback will be based on the same MQB A0 platform that underpins the likes of the Skoda Octavia. As a distinction, the Skoda Scala will also be the first ever car from the brand that will not have the logo at the rear but instead will have S-K-O-D-A lettering on the tail gate instead.

Skoda has officially revealed that despite compact dimensions of the hatchback, the Scala will have the same amount of legroom in the back seat and even more headroom as compared to the larger Octavia sedan. The new car will also get a massive 467 litre boot, which when the rear seats are folded flat gets extended to a massive 1410-litres.

The interior will also have a completely updated theme with a new design language. The instrument cluster on the top spec models will get the virtual cluster and a large tablet like touchscreen according to official sketches that has been put out by the Czech automaker.

Skoda has also put out some official spy shots that showcase the dimensions of the new car along with the new grille design and sleek headlamps that ape the Vision RS concept car that has been showcased recently at the 2018 Paris Motor Show.

The new Skoda Scala will also get features like an electronic tail gate, an ice scraper in the fuel filler cap and our favourite Skoda feature - that door mounted umbrella. Although not much has been mentioned about engines just yet, the Skoda Scala will get five power plants at the time of launch ranging from about 90 bhp to 150 bhp depending on the variant.

Source: Motor1

Source: CarAndBike

November 8, 2018


text:
Activity :

Loading activity...

Server Status:
About Mystic Messenger Online Generator :

GAMEBOOST.ORG MYSTIC MESSENGER Hack Tool for Free Hearts and Hourglass

Mystic Messenger Hearts Hourglass Hack Tool are designed to assisting you while playing Mystic Messenger very easily. It will be setting up resources for Hearts and Hourglass with a ton amounts availabe each day. We are going to sorry that we can't provide unlimited amount yet. However don't get worried, how many quantity are still much sufficient to play Mystic Messenger simply with out ordering any kind of buy-in-app-services that the developer's offer.

Why You Have to Use this Mystic Messenger Hack Tool?

This Mystic Messenger Hack Tool tend to be designed and tested by our own exclusive squad. Running properly at Android Phone, Tablets (any operating system version), iPhone, apple ipad, iPad Mini and all other. Like we have described previously mentioned, you should not improve your own personal gadget's program (i. e. root, jailbreak). Beautifully made with excellent user-friendly user interface that make you easy to use Mystic Messenger Hack Tool. Along with Anti Ban™ security, your Mystic Messenger Profile is going to be as safe as play generally. The host is actually running AVAILABLE 24/24 AND 7/7, consequently don't worry about the moment you are going to work with this Mystic Messenger Hack Tool.

GAMEBOOST.ORG Hack Tool Features

  • Add Unlimited Hearts and Hourglass.

  • GAMEBOOST.ORG Hack Script Latest Version (With New Version updated on (time)).

  • Undetectable, Safe and Effective (100% Safe) Hearts and Hourglass Generator.

  • Anti Ban™ Security Protection and User - friendly Layout.

  • No Need to made change on your gadget(ROOT. JAILBREAK, etc).

  • No Download Needed apk. Simple but Powerfull and Worked.

  1. Select Your Device and Enter Username above.
  2. Select Amount Of Hearts and Hourglass You Need.
  3. Click Generate Now.
  4. Wait the process.
  5. If you're lucky, the resources may added automatically to your account.
  6. Or else, you need to verify your humanity.
  7. Wait a second and login to your account.

Related Terms About Mystic Messenger

Stats : 217695 Hearts and 217695 Hourglass free generated today. | this awesome hack was created by our developers, which allows you to unlock or get completely free In-App purchases in your game.

© Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.


text:
Literary Traditions: Children’s Literature

While I did not have the chance to attend what was no doubt an excellent class by Professor Nina Chordas on this exact same topic, I will try to do the subject justice by addressing it through the lens of one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s most prominent essays—one which I lightly referenced in a previous article, “Literary Traditions: Eucatastrophe”—“On Fairy Stories.”

Tolkien, of course, is well known for writing The Hobbit, which is widely regarded as a children’s story, and has recently been transformed into three feature films by director Peter Jackson. Legend has it that Tolkien, who was a professor at Oxford, was grading essays one evening when he came across a student who had mistakenly left a blank page. Extremely bored at the time, he apparently nearly gave the student an A for his error, and proceeded to write, in the spur of the moment, the famous first sentence of The Hobbit: “Once, in a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit.” He then stared at it and wondered what on earth a hobbit was, which sparked a lifetime’s work of world-building, ultimately culminating in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.

In his essay “On Fairy Stories”, which he wrote just as he was beginning to write The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien unfolds why it is that he takes fairy stories like The Hobbit so seriously, and what they mean for children.

Now, the first question to ask about any kind of literature is what makes it different from any other kind of literature. Children’s literature is often thought of as very different. For most, children’s literature is made up of fairy stories and other ‘childish things.’ For Tolkien, however, fairy stories were never necessarily connected with children. He observes:

“Among those who still have enough wisdom not to think fairy stories pernicious, the common opinion seems to be that there is a natural connexion between the minds of children and fairy stories. I think this is an error…most often made by those who…tend to think of children as a special kind of creature…rather than a normal, if immature, members of a particular family, and of the human family at large…Children as a class…neither like fairy stories more, nor understand them better than adults do.”

While at first this seems to be a surprising thought, it makes sense considering what Tolkien worked on in his life, and what he fought against.

It is often thought that Tolkien first conceived of Middle-earth as a method of entertainment for his children—to which, I might add, he was an excellent father—but this is not fully the case. While many of his stories did begin that way, like Roverandom, the world of The Lord of the Rings, as I have related above, began as an equally academic pursuit. Tolkien, in fleshing out the tales of Middle-earth, wrote something that was both children’s literature and synthetic English mythology—the kind of which had been missing from England for a thousand years. The way in which The Hobbit can be understood as both children’s story and academic text is emblematic not only of Tolkien’s genius, but also of children’s stories and academic texts: “if fairy story is a kind worth reading at all it is worthy to be written for and read by adults.”

This understanding also coincides with Tolkien’s notorious dislike of industry and the effects that it has on society. “Let us not divide the human race,” he says, referencing H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, “into Eloi and Morlocks: pretty children—‘elves’ as the eighteenth century often idiotically called them—with their fairy tales (carefully pruned), and the dark Morlocks tending their machines.” This remark is pointed; the rise of industry in many ways exaggerated the gulf between child and adult, especially with the introduction of public schooling. Rather than over-adapt books for children—a sort of condescension—he says that, “their books like their clothes should allow for growth, and their books at any rate should encourage it.”

In the end, it seems to me that the difference between children’s literature and other literature is just the label; the distinction is a false dichotomy. This world deserves a better class of theorist…and we’re gonna give it to them.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out /  Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s


text:
November 30, 2017 / 3:38 PM / a year ago

Sterling tops $1.35 on Brexit deal hopes, dollar weakness

LONDON (Reuters) - Sterling topped $1.35 on Thursday, hitting a two-month peak, as hopes grew of a deal between Britain and the European Union at a summit next month.

British Pound Sterling banknotes are seen at the Money Service Austria company's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, November 16, 2017. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

The dollar’s weakness in late New York trading exacerbating the pound’s gains.

“The dollar has been whacked across the board and cable has been benefiting from that, but sterling was already strengthening on speculation that the UK is close to an agreement on the Irish border,” said Adam Cole, chief currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets.

The dollar retreated from the session highs of 93.505 against a trade-weighted basket of its rivals on Thursday and was trading at 92.875. [FRX/]

EU leaders are preparing to offer a two-year Brexit transition deal as early as January after negotiators were close to a deal over the Northern Ireland border, The Times newspaper said on Thursday, citing EU sources.

Avoiding a so-called “hard border” on the island of Ireland that many fear could disrupt the peace in Northern Ireland is the last major hurdle before talks can move to negotiations on Britain’s future trade relationship with the bloc.

Sterling extended a 3-day rally to its highest level since Sept. 25 to $1.3549 taking its gains since late Tuesday to more than 2.5 percent.

“The news triggered a lot of stops that pushed the currency higher. This would be tremendously bullish for sterling,” said ACLS Global strategist Marshall Gittler.

Brexit supporters accused Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday of being far too weak with the European Union after reports that she is ready to pay what Brussels is demanding to settle the divorce bill to leave the bloc.

But investors have welcomed the higher offer from May, with many fearing a “disorderly Brexit” - one without a deal - could spook financial markets, sow legal chaos and harm the British and EU economies by disrupting trade ties and cross-border supply chains.

“A key short-term downside risk appears to be abating,” wrote UBS macro strategist Lefteris Farmakis, in a research note on Thursday.

“Now the prospect for a fairly long and smooth transitional period has emerged. Should a transition deal be confirmed, downside risks for the currency will be firmly pushed back in time. And equally, the alleviation of imminent tail risks should support sterling, at least in the short term.”hit a three-week high of 87.76 pence.

Those gains helped pull up the Bank of England’s trade-weighted sterling index, which tracks the British pound’s effective exchange rate, to 78.8, its highest since May 19.

Reporting by Jemima Kelly and Saikat Chatterjee; Additional reporting by Abhinav Ramnarayan Editing by Jeremy Gaunt

0 : 0
  • narrow-browser-and-phone
  • medium-browser-and-portrait-tablet
  • landscape-tablet
  • medium-wide-browser
  • wide-browser-and-larger
  • medium-browser-and-landscape-tablet
  • medium-wide-browser-and-larger
  • above-phone
  • portrait-tablet-and-above
  • above-portrait-tablet
  • landscape-tablet-and-above
  • landscape-tablet-and-medium-wide-browser
  • portrait-tablet-and-below
  • landscape-tablet-and-below


text:
June 28, 2018 / 3:03 PM / 5 months ago

Factbox - Uruguay v Portugal

(Reuters) - Uruguay play Portugal in a last-16 game at the World Cup on Saturday.

When: Saturday, June 30, 2100 local time (1800 GMT / 2 PM ET)

Where: Fisht Stadium, Sochi

Capacity: 48,000

Key stats:

* Uruguay are the only one of the 32 teams who started the World Cup not to have conceded a goal yet.

* Only two members of the Uruguay squad play their club football in the country - defender Guillermo Varela and midfielder Cristian Rodriguez, both with Penarol.

* Seven members of Portugal’s squad were born abroad - Anthony Lopes, Raphael Guerreiro, Adrien Silva (all France), Pepe (Brazil), Cedric (Germany), William Carvalho (Angola), Gelson Martins (Cape Verde).

* Cristiano Ronaldo is Portugal’s most capped player and record scorer with 85 goals from 152 appearances.

* Luis Suarez is Uruguay’s leading scorer with 53 goals in 101 appearances.

* Portugal have lost only one out of 27 competitive matches since Fernando Santos took over as coach in September 2014.

* Oscar Tabarez has been in charge of Uruguay for a remarkable 12 years and is now at his third World Cup of that spell. He also led them to the 1990 tournament in a previous stint in charge.

* Uruguay finished fourth at the 2010 World Cup and were knocked out in the round of 16 last time.

* Uruguay have won the World Cup twice (1930 and 1950) and were fourth in 2010. Portugal have never won it but were third in 1966 and fourth in 2010.

Previous meetings: They have met twice before, the last time in 1972, with one win for Portugal and a draw.

Writing by Brian Homewood in Moscow; Editing by Julien Pretot

0 : 0
  • narrow-browser-and-phone
  • medium-browser-and-portrait-tablet
  • landscape-tablet
  • medium-wide-browser
  • wide-browser-and-larger
  • medium-browser-and-landscape-tablet
  • medium-wide-browser-and-larger
  • above-phone
  • portrait-tablet-and-above
  • above-portrait-tablet
  • landscape-tablet-and-above
  • landscape-tablet-and-medium-wide-browser
  • portrait-tablet-and-below
  • landscape-tablet-and-below


text:
November 8, 2017 / 4:25 PM / a year ago

Wrangling over U.S. demands holds up Asia-Pacific minister talks

A U.S. flag flies at the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, May 30, 2012. REUTERS/David McNew

DANANG, Vietnam (Reuters) - Ministers from Asia-Pacific countries extended talks on Wednesday in the face of U.S. demands for changes to the language used concerning issues such as free trade and protectionism, officials at the talks said.

Trade and foreign ministers from Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries had been discussing wording for a leaders’ statement to be made at a summit that will include U.S. President Donald Trump and his counterparts from China, Japan, Russia, Canada, Australia and other APEC members.

A news conference planned after the meeting was first delayed, then canceled. An announcement said it would be rescheduled because “the ministerial meeting will extend until tomorrow morning”.

“It is an issue of language for the statement,” said one official, noting that the discussion was similar to that which took place at G-20 meetings where the Trump administration demanded changes to the usual language.

Officials at the APEC meeting in the Vietnamese resort of Danang said the sticking points were wording on free trade, fighting protectionism and climate change.

“The U.S. opposes multilateral trade agreements and the other economies are not happy,” another official said.

A U.S. official did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Last year, the APEC leaders’ statement affirmed a commitment to open markets and fighting “all forms of protectionism”. They also agreed to enhance cooperation on policies to address “the relationship between food security and climate change.”

In May, APEC trade ministers scrapped a plan to issue a joint statement because of differences between the United States and the rest of APEC over the language on protectionism.

Reporting by A.Anathalakshmi and Mai Nguyen; Writing by Matthew Tostevin; Editing by Larry King

0 : 0
  • narrow-browser-and-phone
  • medium-browser-and-portrait-tablet
  • landscape-tablet
  • medium-wide-browser
  • wide-browser-and-larger
  • medium-browser-and-landscape-tablet
  • medium-wide-browser-and-larger
  • above-phone
  • portrait-tablet-and-above
  • above-portrait-tablet
  • landscape-tablet-and-above
  • landscape-tablet-and-medium-wide-browser
  • portrait-tablet-and-below
  • landscape-tablet-and-below


text:
Monday, 14 May 2018

I'm so pleased that we can finally announce the names of the seventeen emerging writers who will join the well-known authors in COMMON PEOPLE. They've been chosen by the regional writing agencies, who will support and mentor them in the run-up to publication, alongside support from Unbound and from me as editor of the collection.  They are: Paul Allen, Ruth Behan, Astra Bloom, Jenny Knight, Katy Massey, Julie Noble, Louise Powell,Emma Purshouse, Loretta Ramkissoon, Riley Rockford, Jodie Russian-Red, Adam Sharp, Eva Verde, Lynne Voyce, Helen Wilber, Elaine Williams and S M Wilson.

What stories!  What lives!  It’s been so great to read these seventeen memoirs of working class writers.  All life is there; hard, (inevitably) but also wry, bizarre, sad and proud, there’s some kick-ass ones too, all of them laced through with a determination to see the funny side, to do more than survive, to celebrate.   It’s always a privilege to read a record of someone’s life and I’m absolutely delighted to welcome all these new writers to Common People, and can’t wait to see them all in print.

If you'd like to read more about them, their details are below. Thank you for pledging and helping us to get these brilliant new writers heard.

Kit de Waal.

Paul Allen – Fanny Testing - When Paul Allen was three, he would watch the gas men lighting the streetlamps from his gran’s bedroom window. He grew up in relative poverty, on a large council estate, which he says ‘was actually pretty good, as everybody I knew back then was in the same boat’.  He left school at fifteen to be a bricklayer, like his dad before him, and loved it.  Paul has played in bands and ridden motorcycles all his life, freelancing between building jobs road testing bikes for a monthly motorcycling magazine. Using that experience, he applied for a degree in journalism at the University of the West of England, swapping on to the creative writing course, where his tutor has described his writing as ‘experienced and emotionally intelligent.’

Ruth Behan – Stalin on our Mantelpiece - Ruth Behan was born in 1952, the daughter of Brian Behan, who was the brother of the writer Brendan Behan, and whose mother took part in the Easter rising carrying messages to the IRA. Her mother’s family were socialists from the North of England. She has three children, has run an antiques business, worked as a cleaner and a fiddle player, trained in Counselling Skills, has a degree in Child Development and has worked in Early Years Education. She has played for many years in the band, ‘Billy in the Low Ground’ and now teaches fiddle playing, which means she can play music for hours on end and get paid for it.

Astra Bloom – Black Cat Dreaming - Astra Bloom had never shared her work until she got a bursary and enrolled on the Creative Writing Programme at New Writing South.  When the second poem she entered anywhere won the Bare Fiction poetry prize, Astra asked the editor if he was sure he hadn’t made a mistake. She has gone on to win or be shortlisted in many prizes, including the Brighton short story prize, the Bridport short story prize, Live Canon International poetry, as well as the Bristol, Brighton and Aurora poetry prizes. Astra has had two novels longlisted for the Mslexia novel award. She has poetry in Under The Radar and Magma magazine and is a contriubutor to the forthcoming anthology of writing about recovery of all sorts,  A Wild and Precious Life.

Jenny Knight – Matoose Rowsay - Born and bred in rural Suffolk, Jenny Knight, 50, is a freelance copywriter and editor now living in south Norfolk with her husband and two teenage sons. A prize-winning writer of fiction and memoir, her stories have been listed in many competitions, including the international Bridport Prize. She has also written longer fiction and a novel based on her maternal grandmother’s extraordinary early life and wartime love triangle. She is currently polishing her first work of narrative non-fiction.

Katy Massey – Don’t Mention Class! - Katy Massey grew up in Leeds and worked as a freelance journalist in London. She suffered burn-out, and returned to education, culminating in a self-funded PhD in Creative Writing. This allowed her to write her own family’s complicated story, while researching memoir, and finding out why the lives of some groups of people are much less likely to be recorded, and lauded, than others.  Shortly after the birth of her daughter, she was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, and while recovering from surgery, started working on ways to encourage non-writers to author their life stories, particularly those under-represented in literature. One result of this work is Tangled Roots – an anthology of memoir by more than thirty members of mixed race families, exploring their experiences, history and contribution to British society. She is currently developing Who Are We Now? a collection of memoir responses to the Brexit referendum and a post-European future, while also working on The Cleansing, a novel imagining post-Grenfell London after a large-scale attack.

Julie Noble – Detail - A mother of five, Julie Noble is a lone parent living on a small council estate in North East Yorkshire. Brought up in Leeds on the border of Chapeltown, Julie was the first in her family to go to university, studying Psychology at Lancaster. Two weeks before the final exams, she gave birth to her first child then graduated with honours. While marrying, having four more children, and divorcing, Julie did various jobs including childminding, banking, television work, bookkeeping and running children’s activity clubs. Her writing has won prizes and appeared in Mslexia, Writing magazine and She magazine. In 2004, she self-published Talli's Secret to raise awareness of Dyspraxia; her eldest son has the condition.

Louise Powell – This Place is Going to the Dogs - Louise Powell is a final-year PhD Researcher in English at Sheffield Hallam University, funded by the North of England Consortium for Arts and Humanities Research. After growing up in receipt of free school meals and attending local comprehensive schools, she was awarded a Sixth Form Academic Scholarship to Teesside High School. She gained a First Class degree in English from Teesside University, and an MA with Distinction in Medieval and Renaissance Literary Studies from Durham University. One of her short comedy sketches, ‘Are You Alright?’, was performed in 2016 as part of Bolton Octagon Theatre’s ‘Best of Bolton’ production, and in 2017 she participated in New Writing North’s Significant Ink Professional Development Programme for Screenwriting. She was also shortlisted four times for the Martin Wills Writing Awards for writing on a horseracing theme.

Emma Purshouse – Misspent Youth - Emma Purshouse left school in the early 1980s at the age of fifteen, initially working on various government schemes interspersed with bouts of extreme unemployment. She gave education another go as a mature student, attaining a BA from Wolverhampton University and an MA in Creative Writing from Manchester Met. For the last twelve years Emma has been making a living as a writer and performance poet.  Her passion is writing about the working-class communities that she has lived in, often making use of Black Country dialect within her work. In 2017 she won the international ‘Making Waves’ spoken word Poetry Competition judged by Luke Wright.  Emma co-runs a successful spoken word night in the Black Country.

Loretta Ramkissoon – Which Floor? - Loretta Ramkissoon was brought up by her grandparents on a council estate in London after her father left and her mother’s struggle with bipolar disorder rendered her unable to care for Loretta. Her grandparents worked in Italian restaurants all their lives and instilled in her a determination to improve her prospects through hard work. Despite their struggles, the family always had a roof over their heads; never went hungry or lacked for anything vital and are fiercely proud of their achievements. After a state education, Loretta lived at home while studying for her degree and had a part-time retail job throughout university.

Riley Rockford – Domus Operandi - Riley Rockford’s Dad is a cleaner and kitchen porter and her mum now has a job as an attendant in a museum. Brought up by her single mum in a council house, Riley had free school meals, and at university was entitled to the means-tested tuition fee waiver, despite which debt still mounted up as she has tried to do things that would give her more opportunities.  Being in the company of people who are not working class made her think about what it means to be from a working-class background. ‘I've got my degrees now, and so I wonder if I am supposed to be a different class now too. But it doesn't feel like the way you relate to the world, or feel in it, changes that easily’.

Jodie Russian-Red – The Funeral and The Wedding - Jodie Russian-Red is a part-time administrator, part-time writer in Nottingham. Over the past few years she has primarily focused her efforts on writing for spoken word and has had small writing and performing commissions for ‘Freedom Festival’ in Hull; ‘Wordlife’ in Sheffield, and was invited to be a featured guest at the spoken word event ‘Women of Words’ in Hull in 2017. She currently writes a weekly newsletter in the form of a personal memoir blog for the School of Culture, Languages & Area Studies at the University of Nottingham, where she also holds a completely unrelated day job processing invoices, ordering stationary and monitoring coffee levels.

Adam Sharp – Play - Adam grew up in a working-class area of Manchester, spending his first few years in a boarded-up slum with his heroin-addict parents, before being taken in by his grandfather so that he wouldn’t be put into care. He and his pensioner grandfather moved into a council flat, remaining there until Adam moved out at eighteen. Adam now focuses on writing books and has completed one memoir, two novels, and one work of narrative non-fiction – none of them yet published. He is currently doing an MA in Creative Writing: First Novel at St Mary’s University, Twickenham with Jonathan Gibbs, and is an organiser for Greenwich Writers Group.

Eva Verde – I Am Not Your Tituba - Eva, 38, from East London, now living in Chelmsford, Essex with her husband and three daughters. When her children started school, so did she, opting for part-time study to both fit in with (and alleviate), household management and motherhood. Studying for a degree in creative writing roused the confidence to write her first novel, Natural Born Consumers, about a mixed-race woman's rebellion against her bigoted in-laws.

Lynne Voyce – A Brief History of Industrial Action, Vauxhall Motors, Ellesmere Port - Lynne Voyce grew up on a council estate on Merseyside; a place full of larger than life characters, tall tales, and the odd dodgy deal.  Inspired by her dad buying The Literary Classics Collection with some of his redundancy money, she studied English at the University of Leeds, and went on to take a teaching qualification and then a post graduate degree in educational psychology.  Lynne now works in an inner city comprehensive school in Birmingham. She has published more than fifty individual short stories, won a number of literary competitions, and in December 2015, published her first story collection, Kirigami, with Ink Tears Press.  She is currently working on her first novel.

Helen Wilber – Underdogs - Helen is from an ex mining town at the heart of the South Yorkshire coalfields. She and her brother were the first in their family to attend university, but her role models were traditional, and she was put off pursuing a career in journalism by the cost of access and the competition.  Now working full-time in education, and her experiences with children and young people are a key theme in her writing, which takes place during the evenings and weekends. She has written an unpublished novel Family Photos, short stories and a radio play.

Elaine Williams – Night - Both Elaine Williams’ parents worked in factories, and growing up, she and her siblings knew the human and emotional cost of gas, electricity, sugar, bread, milk and paraffin – her dad leaving for work while it was still dark; her parents worrying about how they’d afford these necessities. Elaine went to state schools and was the first in her family to go to university, where she trained to be a teacher and then got a place at the National Film and Television School, where she trained to be a sound recordist. Ironically, while her parents managed to buy and pay for their house, Elaine is still a social housing tenant, employed in temporary freelance roles.

S M Wilson – Passengers - Born in Carlisle in 1980, and raised in Wigton, Cumbria, S M Wilson spent 15 years as a guitarist and lyricist in numerous Newcastle-based bands. In 2011 he left his band, sold his guitar, and began learning to write prose. He is currently working as a postman and studying towards an MA in creative writing at Northumbria University, for which he is developing a work of autobiographical fiction. In his spare time, he edits and contributes to Northumbria University’s creative magazine, The Edge.  His short story ‘The Most Peculiar Flesh’, a tribute to Mishima, was published in print in Artificium’s Journal II. He has been published in New Writing Cumbria’s ezine, The Carrot, and occasionally blogs for the music-streaming site, Leaf.

Get updates via email

Join 842 other awesome people who subscribe to new posts on this blog.

Join in the conversation

Sign in to comment
Design & editorial
Publication date: May 2019
111% funded
835 backers


text:
Please Wait....

    Business Development Executive at Workarena

    May 16, 2018 Business Development / Marketing / Sales

    category  Business Development / Marketing / Sales

    Workarena, is recruiting on behalf of its client to fill the position below:

    Business Development Executive

    Our client, a FinTech company,

    Job Description

    • We are looking for Business Development Executives who have experience in the FinTech industry.

    • He/she must have a B.Sc with a minimum of 2nd class grade. MBA will be an added advantage.
    • A minimum of 5 years cognate experience as a Business development manager in the FinTech industry.
    • Must be able to show track record of past achievement.
    • He must be familiar with payment systems, EFT Gateway systems, etc.
    • Be I.T. oriented and must be able to communicate, understand and speak the language of programmers and software developers.
    • Candidate must be able to achieve stretch targets.
    • Aggressive marketing skills and strong business acumen is required for this role.
    • Demonstrate ability to plan, prioritize, multi-task, pay attention to details and complete moderately complex job functions within assigned time frames
    • Must possess excellent business development intelligence& skills and also a good knowledge of the Nigerian market.

    Method of Application

    Applicants should send their CV's to: [email protected] with the subject as "Business Development Executive" OR Driver

    Method of Application

    Interested and qualified? Click the Apply now button to send your application

    Subscribe to FREE Job Alerts.

    View original job page to apply. Click

    Subscribe to our job alert to receive latest job vacancies by email.


text:
‘Homerun’ // TaxiWars (try-out, Turnhout, 10 Apr 2018)

Yesterday, TaxiWars took to the stage at the Keizershof in Turnhout to perform a daring set of mostly new, unrecorded material. A homerun for prodigal son Robin Verheyen, who was born and raised in Turnhout and went on to immerse himself in comtemporary jazz, headquartered in his adopted hometown New York.

When Verheyen started playing the weathered, but great-sounding tenor sax he inherited from his grandfather (on signature tune TaxiWars), the Keizershof immediately got the atmosphere of a smoke-filled jazz club in a dark cellar. And while some details were certainly discussed between band members after the show, the try-out suggested that TaxiWars’ third album could be their best yest.

Upright bass player Nicolas Thys laid down irrestible grooves, though at times he seemed not fully at ease, glancing at drummer Antoinne Pierre for directions. Pierre himself wore a mild, but continuous smile as he effortlessly played the most tricky parts, like during the great new Iberian Moon, which was written in septuple meter.

Lots of fun

Tom Barman, who’s used to far bigger crowds and more onstage moving space with dEUS, communicated with his inner Beefheart, toyed with vocal effects, put his mic in Verheyen’s horn, and clearly had lots of fun.

So did the audience, which as it happens included my dad. Years ago he firmly proclaimed “I don’t like jazz”, but yesterday he left the venue genuinely impressed by TaxiWars’ punk jazz. Even when Verheyen sometimes recalled Coltrane’s wildest moments. For me, it shows just how big the crossover potential of TaxiWars really is.

TaxiWars@Keizershof: setlist

  • Taxiwars (‘TaxiWars’, 2015)
  • Soul Repair (‘Fever’, 2016)
  • Drop Shot (new)
  • The Glare (new)
  • Tell You You’ve Changed (new)
  • Bridges (‘Fever’, 2016)
  • Iberian Moon (new)
  • Who That (‘TaxiWars, 2015)
  • Different Or Not (new)
  • Infinity Cove (new)
  • Irritated Love (new)
  • Ping Pong (new)
  • Artificial Horizon (new)
  • Sharp Practice (new)
  • Death Ride Through Wet Snow (‘TaxiWars’, 2015)
  • —————————
  • Safety in Numbers (new)
  • Colloseum (‘TaxiWars’, 2015)

More jazz on UnearthingMusic?
Read ‘Machine Gun: a Rapid-Fire History of Epic Jazz’.

Machine Gun - Rapid fire History of Epic Jazz

Machine Gun // A Rapid-fire History of Epic Jazz (1960-2015)

Think of a well-known Smiths melody and start scatting: “Some jazz is more epic than other.” It might not be one hundred procent correct grammatically. But as Miles Davis would say: “So what.” He rewrote the rulebook more than once: most notably on modal jazz milestone ‘Kind of Blue’ (1959) and on the monumental – one might say epic – double album ‘Bitches Brew’ (1969), which paved the way for a cornucopia of fusions between jazz, rock, funk and world music.

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (1970)

So what … is ‘epic’? It’s a feeling, a mood, certainly not a genre. A timeless atmosphere or cinematic quality that oozes out of jazz’s most grand and often groundbreaking gestures. Epic jazz unfolds its stories patiently, sometimes violently, and might deal with matters that transcend our understanding, such as time and space, inhuman suffering and superhuman achievements, …

Here’s a list of records that sound epic or cinematic to my ears, ordered counter-chronologically, honouring the unruly nature of many of these albums. They were released between 1960 and 2015, which raises another question: was 1959, when  ‘Kind of Blue’ (Davis) and ‘The Shape of Jazz to Come’ (Ornette Coleman), iconoclastic statements in their own right, freed musicians from their harmonic and compositional straight jacket, the year when jazz became more epic?

Kamasi Washington – ‘The Epic’ (2015)

Kamasi Washington - The Epic (2015)Look at Washington’s overlord pose and confident glare, and tell me this album isn’t epic. It spans almost three hours of highly addictive music. A sidemen to people like Flying Lotus and Kendrick Lamar, saxophonist Washington and his impressive troupe of musicians channel everything from Debussy’s Clair De Lune and Donald Byrd’s jazz and gospel choir classic ‘A New Perspective’ to modern soul and Fender Rhodes explorations by the likes of Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock. An epic of biblical proportions indeed.

Brad Mehldau – ‘Highway Rider’ (2010)

Brad Mehldau - Highway Rider (2010)

Piano player Brad Mehldau doesn’t dwell in the same place for too long. He travels between trio recordings and sharp-edged collaborations. Most recently, he teamed up with Mark Guiliana on jazz-funk-prog album ‘Taming The Dragon’.

Mehldau’s restless ambition reached its peak on ‘Highway Rider’, a 100-minute cycle of jazz and classical music with elements of pop – there’s even a salute to Elliott Smith – and electronica, beautifully arranged and executed by Mehldau’s trio, sax player Joshua Redman and a full-blown orchestra.

Exploding Star Orchestra – ‘Stars Have Shapes’ (2010)

For Exploding Star Orchestra,Exploding Star Orchestra - Stars Have Shapes (2010) a large band led by Chicago musician Rob Mazurak, everything seems to revolve around … the sun. Or should I say Sun Ra? They’re certainly at ease with the cosmic side of things.

Dropping listeners in mid-space, Ascension Ghost Impression no. 2 floats towards complete astral chaos, with gigantic wooshes of sound and near-collisions of cosmic debris. After a brief soothing middle section, the turmoil returns, and then transforms again. Three Blocks of Light represents a different type of avant-garde jazz from outer space, and while Impression no. 1 contains some familiar jazz elements, it’s equally disorienting.

Patricia Barber – ‘Mythologies’ (2006)

Patricia Barber - Mythologies (2006)Deep-voiced jazz pianist and composer Patricia Barber meanders through Ovid’s classical masterpiece ‘Metamorphoses’ and turns it into a thrilling suite on ‘Mythologies’. Despite her often offbeat sense of melody, the album progresses smoothly, propelled by subtle piano, brief sax improvs, spirited percussion and blistering guitar, courtesy of Neal Alger.

On songs like Icarus and Phaeton Barber’s voice is out of this world. Just spell-binding. A timeless album, ‘Mythologies’ clearly flies close to the sun. But never too close.

Electric Masada – ‘At the Mountains of Madness’ (2005)

Masada is the name of a series of insanely versatile Electric Masada - At the Mountains of Madness (2006)klezmer-inspired songbooks written by John Zorn. Versatile? Because these compositions have been interpreted by numerous bands and musicians, both within and outside of Zorn’s immediate entourage. In 2013, Pat Metheny had a shot at taming Zorn’s ‘Book of Angels, Vol. 20’.

Almost a decade before that, a rather extreme ensemble aimed at the Masada repertoire too. No surprise it was one of Zorn’s own groups: the allmighty Electric Masada, which took a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde approach to the music.

Compare the quiet Abidan to the complex and brutal Metal Tov. The obi that goes with double-disc live album ‘At the Mountains of Madness’ puts it right:

“Tight as a drum and hot as a blowtorch, these two incredible live performances will leave you breathless. Astonishing group conductions, searing solos and crazed insanity from one of the most amazing bands Zorn has ever had.”

Pat Metheny – ‘The Way Up’ (2005)

Pat Metheny - The Way Up (2005)Guitarist extraordinaire Pat Metheny and keyboardist-sidekick Lyle Mays took their Pat Metheny Group recordings to the next level with this 68-minute twisting and turning piece of music. Partnering gorgeous melody with bursts of bebop improvisation, and Steve Reich-like pulses with a proggy compositional structure, ‘The Way Up’ is one of a kind.

Metheny had embarked on such grand-scale adventures before. ’80/81′, ‘As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls’, ‘Zero Tolerance for Silence’ (his take on ‘Metal Machine Music’), … anyone? After ‘The Way Up’, Metheny’s next step was to replace his Group by a stagewide construction of automated instruments, the orchestrion, which he dragged aIl around the world.

Dave Holland Quintet – ‘Extended Play. Live at Birdland’ (2003)

Dave Holland - Extended PlayHonestly, the first track on ‘Extended Play’, The Balance is one of the most celestial pieces of music I know. The way the horns parts fight each other, and then fall into each other’s arms, is beyond words. As is the polyrhytmic base provided by Dave Holland (bass), Steve Nelson (marimba) and Billy Kelson (drums). ‘Extended Play’, an ECM release, was recorded live at Birdland in 2001.

Every single track on this massive set is a stretched-out version of a composition that was first recorded in the studio. In other words: Extended. And Play-ful most of the time, especially during the Chris Potter-Kevin Eubanks battle on Prime Directive. ‘Extended Play’ remains a crowning achievement for one of jazz’s finest band leaders.

Jaga Jazzist – ‘A Livingroom Hush’ (2002)

Jaga Jazzist - A Livingroom Hush (2002)The last track on ‘A Livingroom Hush’ by prodigious Norwegian ensemble Jaga Jazzist is called Cinematic. Tellingly, this minor-key noise elegy is the least cinematic of all.

Main composer Lars Horntveth has a sixth sense for grand melodies and brightly coloured arrangements. Take Animal Chin and its huge, textured sound, which couples jazz marimba with electronics and turntables. One great theme is followed by another followed by another … culminating in a strange voyage through Lithuania, which couples Tortoise-like minimalism with orchestrated house. Now that’s cinematic.

The Necks – ‘Next’ (1990)

The Necks are an unusual Australian experimental jazz combo,The Necks - Next (1990) with a very common set-up: piano, bass and drums. For years now, they have been releasing single, looooong compositions as albums, like ‘See Through’ and ‘Mosquito’. Meticously crafted acres of improvised music, time and time again. Debut album ‘Sex’ introduced the format. Follow-up ‘Next’ broke it.

It’s 28-minute centerpiece Pele, which patiently and brilliantly builts towards a gently pounding climax, sets the tone for The Necks’ further career, together with final piece The World At War. The ghostly guitar funk of Nice Policeman Nasty Policeman and the Seinfeld slapp bass of the title song only add to the fun on this overlooked album.

John Zorn – ‘Spillane’ (1987)

John Zorn - Spillane (1987)One of the most versatile composers around, John Zorn had released challenging ‘game pieces’ and a splendid tribute to Ennio Morricone (‘The Big Gundown’), before seeking inspiration from cult crime writer Mickey Spillane. The 25-minute title piece wouldn’t have sounded out of place in ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’, the cartoon/live-action film that hit the theaters a year later. Both ‘Spillane’ and ‘Roger Rabbit’ share the same setting: the 40’s-50’s LA underworld.

Zorn’s jumpcutting technique (from cartoons to harsh reality in a split second), samples and Morricone-mystique all work brilliantly. Besides Spillane there’s a thunderous blues jam featuring Albert Collins (Two-Lane Highway), and a mindblowing modern classical piece performed by the Kronos Quartet (Forbidden Fruit). Together with the Ornette Coleman readings of Spy vs. Spy’, ‘Spillane’ would lead directly to jazz/hardcore masterpiece ‘Naked City’.

John Abercrombie – ‘Timeless’ (1975)

‘Timeless’ begins with rapid-fire interaction between gJohn Abercrombie - Timeless (1975)uitarist John Abercrombie and keyboard player Jan Hammer (the Miami Vice guy). Meanwhile Jack DeJohnette holds everything together with his automatic weapon drumming.

But very soon, the trio sails into calmer water, evocating a wide range of moods: Love Song is a moving acoustic, well, love song. Just piano and guitar.

Red and Orange, by contrast, seems to predate early 1990s rave music like Nightmares on Wax. And the first four minutes of the title song provide an early example of ambient, while the next part has an elegant repetitive motif, which makes you think of Portishead, or even Radiohead. To top all that, ‘Timeless’ has that cystal clear ECM production. It’s a classic without expiration date.

Keith Jarret – ‘The Köln Concert’ (1975)

Keith Jarret - The Köln Concert (1975)When on 24 January 1975 Keith Jarret finally sat down on his piano stool in the Köln Opera House, he didn’t have the slightest idea of what to play. He improvised his solo concert from start to finish. And still it became the best-selling solo piano album in jazz history.

But even more wonderous than the sales figures, is the fact that Jarret’s on the spot invention maintains a constant quality throughout two lengthy pieces, and knows no boundaries whatsoever – you’ll even find a Laura Nyre-like pop melody at about 02:25 in Part II c. Pressed on two LP’s and released on ECM Records, ‘The Köln Concert’ is a sincere work of art.

John Coltrane – ‘Interstellar Space’ (1974)

John Coltrane - Interstellar Space (1974)‘Interstellar Space’ is Coltrane’s posthumously released, deeply spiritual cosmos voyage. Recorded just five months before his untimely death in July 1967, his odes to Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Saturn and the constellation of Leo are among the final sounds he put to tape.

On ‘Interstellar Space’, it’s just Coltrane, his wildly inventive sax improvisations, and the equally intense drum parts of Rashied Ali. As a listener you’ve got very little to hold on to. No melody to whistle along to. No beat to tap your foot to. This album is lightyears away from his beautiful ‘A Love Supreme’ (1965), which he had recorded just two years before, and therefore a witness of his increasingly restless soul.

Sun Ra – ‘Space Is the Place’ (1973)

Sun Ra - Space Is the Place (1973)It takes just one Google Images search to find out that Sun Ra was a mythical character, inspired by ancient Egypt. As you start digging into his vast body of work, another lifelong obsession emerges: outer space and the future. No wonder he confused audience and critics alike.

‘Space Is the Place’ – especially its sidelong, freeform, cosmos-worshipping centerpiece – is a gentler (i.e. more easily digestible) ode to all things celestial than Coltrane’s ‘Interstellar Space’. And its title track, a whirlwind of repetitive voices, horns and keyboards, is a testament to the genius of one of jazz’s maddest mavericks. But let’s not fall into the trap of explaining too much, as Sun Ra warns in his liner notes:

“What can I say other than the music itself? Music? Yes, to the ears that dare to hear, that dare to hear, that dare to hear. Both the silence and the sound.”

Miles Davis – ‘A Tribute to Jack Johnson’ (1971)

Miles Davis - A Tribute to Jack Johnson (1971)The genesis of Right Off, the first of two +25 minute tracks on ‘A Tribute to Jack Johnson’, is a special one. Apparently, while waiting for Miles, guitarist John McLaughlin started a riff on his guitar. Drummer Billy Cobham and bass player Michael Henderson joined in. Together they built an explosive foundation for Miles’ solo, which starts at 02:19.

In the meantime, Herbie Hancock, who happened to be in the NYC building for some other business, was ushered into the 30th Street Studio to play keyboards. Track two, Yesternow, may be a less succesful cut-and-paste affair, but ‘Jack Johnson’ emulates the power of the legendary boxer it was inspired by. Johnson himself, voiced by actor Brock Peters, had the final word:

“I’m Jack Johnson, heavy-weight champion of the world. I’m black. They never let me forget it. I’m black all right. I’ll never let them forget it.”

Soft Machine – ‘Third’ (1970)

With tensions within Soft Machine rising, and the sword of DamoclesSoft Machine - Third (1970) hanging above his head, drummer, singer and songwriter Robert Wyatt remained silent on all tracks but one, his own composition Moon In June. The other members of Soft Machine wanted to pursue purely instrumental jazz, a schism which would very soon lead to Wyatt’s dismissal from his own band. All brilliantly described by Marcus O’Dair in ‘Different Every Time’.

Luckily, the internal dissonance is not evident from ‘Third’. The album comprises four glorious side-long tracks. And though its sound and scope  seem modelled on ‘Bitches Brew’, it was recorded before Miles even released that set. It’s a defiantly idiosyncatric and British sounding record, and arguably one of the all time finest marriages of jazz and rock.

Peter Brötzmann Octet – ‘Machine Gun’ (1968)

Peter Brötzmann Octet - Machine Gun (1968)“This historic free jazz album is a heavy-impact sonic assault so aggressive it still knocks listeners back on their heels decades later”, writes Allmusic’s Joslyn Layne. And she’s not exaggerating. It takes some nerve to get ‘Machine Gun’ out of its sleeve, to put it on the turntable and to let a wild bunch of sax players, bassist, pianists and  drummers trash your ears, your walls and your furniture.

It’s an even bigger challenge to sit through the entire thing. But it will send chills down your spine. Albeit chills that feel like bullets. To quote Layne again: “Much like standing outside during a violent storm, withstanding this kind of fierce energy is a primal thrill.”

Charles Mingus – The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963)

An orchestrated tour de force divided into four parts,Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963) ‘The Black and the Sinner Lady’ was ahead of its time. It had nothing to do with free jazz. Instead, the record seemed to come entirely out of Mingus’ mind. So much, in fact, that his psychologist Dr. Edmund Pollock provided liner notes to the original album:

“To me this particular composition contains Mr. Mingus’ personal and also a social message. He feels intensively. He tries to tell people he is in great pain and anguish because he loves.”

Anyway, whatever Mingus tried to say, he did so in a heart-stoppingly beautiful way. Incorporating everything from avant-garde to flamenco guitar in neat – in turns elegant and heavy – arrangements.

Ornette Coleman – ‘Free Jazz’ (1960)

Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz (1960)Back to where we started: according to Fred Kaplan, 1959 was the year everything changed. Miles went modal and Ornette Coleman went free, with ‘The Shape of Jazz to Come’. The latter then further revolutionalized jazz with ‘Free Jazz’: one monumental improvisation – created on the spot by his double quartet – split into two sides.

“No re-takes, no splices”, say the original liner notes. It’s a quintessential stereo record, with a set of horns, bass and drums in each speaker. There’s always someone keeping a familiar rhythmic pulse somewhere. That’s why ‘Free Jazz’ is a more relaxing listen than Brötzman’s ‘Machine Gun’. Still, Coleman provided the original landmark. One which impact on the shape of jazz to come is epic in its own right.

What are your views? Which records did I miss? What about the void I left in the 1980s? And was 1959 a landmark year for increasingly ambitious jazz albums?

Special thanks to Jonas Aerts for his suggestions and feedback.
And to the devoted followers of Facebook-group ECM Records for their input and support.

Bill Laurance interview

Bill Laurance: “Snarky Puppy is a band of brothers” // Interview

“I want to break down as many barriers as possible.” An in-depth chat with Snarky Puppy co-founder and Grammy-winner Bill Laurance about struggling for succes with the Snarky family, carving out his own solo path, the state of jazz today and working with the legendary C of CSNY.

“That’s crazy,” emits Bill Laurance as he leans over the mindmap I made in preparation of our conversation. It’s a surprisingly supportive and amiable remark from someone whose sacrificing his precious pre-gig pastime to talk to a complete stranger. Less than two and a half hours later Bill would hit the stage with Snarky Puppy in Brussels, promoting Grammy-winning album ‘Culcha Vulcha’. And still, he seemed thrilled to sit and talk.

Over the sixty or so minutes that followed, Bill greeted every question with enthusiasm, thoughtfulness and genuine kindness, showing that behind the amazing musician of albums like Snarky’s ‘We Like It Here’ [released 2014] and his own ‘Aftersun’ [2016] is an equally wonderful person. Even in the midst of months of worldwide touring.

“Night after night
people in the band take
turns in having the heat”

Bill: “Whenever we play live, we try to be as much in the moment as we can. And to find something new to say every night. Night after night people in the band take turns in having the heat, you know. We’re learning all the time, we keep pushing other.”

A Snarky gig typically features tight interplay and blistering solo’s. How do you achieve that intensity every single night?

“Well, Michael is our musical director really. He’s giving the cues. But we’ve also got a great deal of freedom. Solo spots tend to change night after night. There are certain solo’s that are fixed, and then there are others that aren’t. The lengths are depending on the song. But if they’re really feeling great, they can keep going for quite a long time. As a musician in Snarky, you’re always open to that possibility.”

And yet, Snarky Puppy doesn’t have a fixed line-up.

“It’s quite a cool thing that. The rotating of musicians was born out of necessity. Members of the band would be booked for other shows early on. So Michael would have to find other people. That in itself has ended up in evolving the band to a cooperative. Right now there’s about 20 guys in regular rotation and an extra 10 who know the material and come in and out. Where now effectively on tour for about 2.5 months but our line-up changes 3 times. Generally there’s a core group that always remains the same. After Seattle, me and Marcello [Wolaski, percussion], Chris [McQueen, guitar] and Bob [Reynolds, saxophone] are leaving, being replaced by other people.”

[note: Bill was replaced by Bobby Sparks (Moog and Hammond) and Bob Lanzetti took on guitar duties. The horns department didn’t get a replacement for Reynolds. Instead, electric violinist Zack Brock was added to the line-up. I had the chance to attend two shows with different band, and wrote an account on how the sound changed.]

For an outsider, Snarky Puppy and its related record label GroundUP seem like a tight community. Is that correct?

“Definitely. I think it’s one of the things that sets us apart. We’re like a band of brothers. We’ve been in this together for about 14 years now. During that time we’ve toured the world several times and we all had to sleep on floors and share beds at some points. Snarky’s like a family. And that sense of community is always there. It even extends to our audience. After a show we always try to come out to do signings and have a chat. That’s not a very common thing among artists.”

You’re suggesting the early years in the band were no bed of roses.

“It’s been a real struggle. We toured the States tirelessly before we got our break, often playing in front of tiny audiences and hardly making any money. But I think one of the most important things is that somehow we always managed to turn any difficulty into an advantage. We never got too pulled down by troubles, even tough we had plenty. We were driven by this unwritten rule. We would always find a way to keep coming back.”

Snarky Puppy Bill Laurance interview

In the meantime, you’ve won three Grammy Awards with Snarky Puppy, arguably the biggest music prize in the world. What’s the impact of that? Did those Grammy’s open new doors for you?

“There’s no question about the difference that it has made. When we received that first Grammy for the song Something [with soul singer Layla Hathaway, 2013], everything happened. It still can be tricky. But we’re lucky now to be able to develop our own solo projects and play in front of sold-out rooms. Those Grammy’s definitely make people raise their heads. We just sold out Brixton Academy in London, a 5000-capacity. Ticket-wise it was the biggest show we ever played. This tour really marks the point were we really are becoming well-known beyond our circles. People who aren’t jazz musicians themselves are finally noticing us.”

“We all try to serve
the greater good
of the song”

You’re all very advanced musicians. How do you avoid clashing ego’s?

“We are all very aware of the others musicians around us and are sensitive to what’s required within the context of a composition or arrangement. You have to. Especially since there’s so many people on stage. More often than not, for example, I’m playing melodies with one hand, because the bass part is covered by somebody else. We’re happy to show some restraint if it serves the greater good of the song. That’s what drives Snarky Puppy as a collective.”

Sound like real democracy.

“It is. 70% of the material is written by Michael. But as far as the more detailed arrangements go, they kind of evolve through playing them live with the band. It’s reflective of the way the band has grown. For years, we all invested our time in the band, and weren’t making any money. So now that it’s finally a sustainable undertaking, there’s this very strong sense of looking after the band.”

Right time, right place

Ever since you serendipitously met Michael League at a gig in Leeds, you’ve been the only British guy in the band. What did it take for Michael to convince you to come to the States and join Snarky on its first recording session?

“Me and Mike, you know, we hit it off and I loved his playing. And I think he liked mine. So he invited me out. And it was very much a right time, right place thing. It was looking to spread my wings. And he was looking for a keys player to record ‘The Only Constant’ [released 2006]. The rest is history, I guess.”

[About Michael League]:
“It was an opportunity to
travel with someone who
had a very creative vision”

What were your plans at the time of your first meeting?

“To be honest, it was exactly what I was looking for. It was an opportunity to play with better musicians than me and to travel with someone who had a very creative vision of what he wanted to do. I had just left university and was trying to develop a career in music and to immerse myself in as many opportunities as possible.

A record like ‘We Like It Here’ almost reached mythical status among fans. I suppose a lot of people wish they were actually there in Utrecht (Netherlands) to witness to recording, which was done in front of a small studio audience. Was that a one-off?

“From ‘Tell Your Friends’ [released 2010] onwards, it’s always been in the studio with an audience. ‘Culcha Vulcha’ was a different case, we did that one in the studio with overdubs, it wasn’t actually live. We recorded the backing tracks, came back and overdubbed. So we could really go to town on effecting the sounds and everything.”

“For ‘We Like It Here’ we performed the songs to three different audiences on three different nights. We might have played two sets a night. We had a lot of takes to choose from. So we picked the best. We didn’t piece bits of different performances together into a final song. I think we only used full takes.”

One song I find particularly interesting is Jambone, largely because of Mark Lettieri’s majestic guitar solo. Did he invent that one on the spot?

“I think he definitely thought about how he was going to pitch it. And we played it a few times already so you got a sense of were the peaks and troughs are. But if I remember correctly, the ideas he’s playing on the record are of the moment.”

Crazy, allow me to raise the level of nerdiness: did you use a mellotron on Semente (from ‘Culcha Vulcha’)? There’s a lot of real flute, but in the background there seems to be some flute toned mellotron as well.

“I don’t think we had a mellotron in the studio. And I’m not playing that part, that would be a question for Justin [Stanton]. I suppose he played it on a Prophet, but it does sound like a mellotron, you’re right. That said, I did use mellotron on my records ‘Swift’ [released 2015] and ‘Aftersun’.”

on page 2 of this article, Bill talks about his solo work. On page 3, you’ll finds his thoughts on jazz today and working with David Crosby.

Snarky Puppy in Eindhoven: Grown Folks

Yesterday Snarky Puppy ended their ten-week tour of the world, showcasing Grammy-winning album ‘Culcha Vulcha’ and playing in three different line-ups along the way. I had the chance to watch two of them in action. And while the setlist and group partly remained the same, I left the Muziekgebouw in Eindhoven with a entirely different feeling.

The circumstances of both shows could’nt have been further apart. The AB in Brussels is a revered rock hall in the center of Europe’s capital. A plain rectangular room, mostly for a standing crowd, painted bright red – the room, not the audience. There’s very little space outside of the actual concert hall, which gives way to a busy, electrifying atmosphere that reflects the vibrant metropole around the venue.

The energy that floats through the Muziekgebouw in Eindhoven is more easy-going, more relaxed. The audience is waiting in line to get their tickets scanned – imagine that!

Situated in the middle of the Netherlands fifth-largest city, the Muziekgebouw is a rather luxurious venue, comprising a grand audiophile auditorium (mainly for jazz and classical) and a wealth of plush surroundings. While the audience in Brussels (9 May 2017) sang along to tunes and ooh’d and aah’d their way through every solo, the Eindhoven crowd (7 June 2017) seemed to be more focused on hearing every detail.

The difference is exemplary of the two hemispheres of Snarky’s universe: classy jazz and world music themes coupled with rock, funk and dance vibes. Melodic, harmonic and improvisational subtleties played in ecstacy-inducing manner.

Sonic hurricanes, then and now

With keys player Bill Laurance replaced by Bobby Sparks, guitarist Chris McQueen replaced by Bob Lanzetti, percussionist Marcelo Woloski (a lot of feeling) replaced by Nate Werth (a lot of power), a reduced horns section (sax player Bob Reynolds left) and Zack Brock on violin, we got introduced to a ‘new breed’.

I didn’t really have to analyze both shows – one month and two days apart from each other – in order to notice what’s changed. I listened a lot to the FLAC recording of the Brussels concert, so variations, both subtle and radical, revealed themselves right away. Let’s mention the big ones:

  • Chris McQueen played a wonderful rootsy guitar solo on Grown Folks in the AB. While in Eindhoven, Bob Lanzetti spiced things up with a big fat phaser effect. He also took the first solo of the night: a spiky, heavily harmonized improv on .
  • Solo interplay between keyboardists Justin Stanton and Bobby Sparks was limited in Eindhoven, unlike the chemistry between Stanton and Bill Laurance in Brussels. That’s just an observation. Both musicians played blistering solo’s, with Stanton ripping What About Me? to pieces and Bobby Sparks delivering the highlight of the evening with his volcanic Hammond-cum-Moog exploration on Gemini. Sparks later Mooged his way through fan favourite Thing of Gold, the oldest song on the setlist.

Snarky Puppy Bobby Sparks

  • Percussion had a predominantly supporting role in the AB, while Nate Werth and Larnell Lewis brought things to boiling point during Tio Macaco in Eindhoven. Great to hear that song, along with other songs that didn’t make the stage in Brussels: Semente, Thing of Gold and Shofukan.
  • Apparantly, the Brazilian-inspired Semente (which I mispronounced until Michael League announced it correctly als ‘Semenchi’) got a bass solo by Michael League for the first time ever.
  • The atmosphere of GØ changed dramatically when Zack Brock graced it with a near-perfect violin solo.

Who did I forget? Sax player Chris Bullock (see picture) and Mike ‘Maz’ Maher, of course. While they didn’t step into the spotlight like they did in Brussels, they played multiple imaginative solo’s. Maz is a great at playing fluid lines. Bullock specializes in more angular improvisation, taking small motifs and developing them into sonic hurricanes that make your hairline recede.

Snarky Puppy Chris Bullock

Close to tears

Being the last show of a ten-week worldwide tour, there was a sense of friendship and nostalgia in the air. Magda Giannikou (see picture), the brilliant Greek singer of GroundUP’s Banda Magda who was joined by the Snarky crew for the opening set of the evening, was both overjoyed and close to tears. During one of the solo’s Chris Bullock and Justin Stanton fist-bumped casually at stage left.

Snarky Puppy Banda Magda

Addressing the audience in between songs, Michael League seemed a bit tired (no wonder after such a mammoth run of show). After the show, he told me he was plagued by a sore throat. But that didn’t prevent him from delivering a passionate speech about the importance of supporting artists (not just streaming their music) – I previously transcribed his similar call to the Brussels crowd.

Danish dog

Over the last month, attending two very different shows and talking extensively to Bill Laurance (interview coming soon!), I enjoyed the opportunity to have an exceptional look into the DNA of this very special band: the inner dynamics, the brotherhood, the adventurous spirit and endless versatility, … What once started as Snarky Puppy is now a full-grown Danish dog. And still our favourite pet.

All of Snarky Puppy’s 2017 live shows are now available for download.
And they sound amazing!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Necks at De Singer 2017, in pictures

On 8 May 2017, experimental jazz trio The Necks took the stage in charming jazz club de Singer, well-hidden behind a row of houses in the small town of Rijkevorsel.

For a good hour and a half, piano player Chris Abrahams, bassist Lloyd Swanton and drummer/percussionist Tony Buck showcased their improvised chemistry, building two massive, entrancing soundscapes from the ground up and adding tension in microscopic portions, mechanically precise and merciless like a tropical thunderstorm.

These are the stills of that riotous evening. Click to enlarge, enjoy and go check out The Necks whenever you get the chance! All pictures: ©Philip Hermans 2017.

You might also like my list of cinematic jazz albums.
Read ‘Machine Gun: a Rapid-fire History of Epic Jazz (1960-2015)’.

Snarky Puppy - Streaming isn't paying artists

Snarky Puppy’s Michael League: “Streaming doesn’t pay artists”

As much as I love Spotify for discovering new music, I’m fully aware of the fact that streaming isn’t paying the actual bands and musicians the way it should – luckily I’m also an avid record collector. At last week’s Snarky Puppy show in Brussels, bandleader Michael League had a few interesting to say on the subject. His sincere message left an impression on me. That’s why I’d like to present to you in full.

Right after a blistering version of Lingus and before launching into the encore What About Me, Michael League addressed the sold-out Ancienne Belgique:

“We’re fortunate because we are able to play in a room like this, and sell some tickets and survive playing music. But that’s not the case for many, many, many artists who are more talented than ourselves and I just wanna make you aware, very briefly, that as wonderful of a thing as streaming is – and Spotify and Pandora and YouTube – I wanna let you know that although those companies are doing very well and labels are doing very well, the only people that don’t get paid for streaming are [scream from the audience] … artists. You got it. So while we are fortunate, there are many incredible artists who deserve for their music to be heard and they can’t survive if you don’t support them. So I just wanna put a big shout out. If there any artists, Belgian or American of English or whatever, that you love and you want them to succeed, you want them go on, please buy their records and buy tickets cause streaming is not supporting them. It’s only listening. Ask any musician, they’ll tell you.”

What’s even more laudable is that Michael isn’t just talking about Snarky, or about his own magnificent label GroudUp Music (David Crosby, Becca Stevens, House of Waters, Forq, Bill Laurance, …) – check it out! His message concerns all recording artists and deserves to be shared. Have fun buying cool stuff on vinyl, tape, cd or online!

Snarky Puppy – Jambone // Song review

Song: Jambone
Snarky Puppy
Album: ‘We Like It Here’ (2014)
Why: Jambone is graced with one the most exciting guitar solos in recent years.

It all begins with an infectious afrobeat rhythm, paired with bright horns. But what’s most amazing, brilliant in fact, is Mark Lettieri’s guitar solo. It starts at 2:22 with quick successions of slightly dampened notes. As the drums gain momentum, so does Lettieri’s Strat. He launches a series of highly melodious, edgy phrases. Every single one a direct hit.

At 3:26, after exploring some rocky territory, comes the real apotheosis: an exciting composition-within-the-composition which you wish would last forever. The band at its tightest transports Lettieri through 4 bar runs filled with jawdropping licks. Look out for that massive whammy bar divebomb!

It’s a magical few minutes, topped off by a seamless salute to Jimi Hendrix, quoting directly from his Third Stone from the Sun*.

Earlier this year, Lettieri released his third solo album ‘Spark and Echo’. Watch his spectacular take on Tears for Fears’ Everybody Wants to Rule the World:

*Thanks Mark, for clarifying that on Twitter!

Meet Donny McCaslin: star of Bowie’s ★!

Bowie’s ★ is out. I haven’t received my copy yet. Not my fault: pre-order shipping delay at Warner’s … Luckily, the man who once fell to earth already offered a glimpse of his new directions. He released the title track and Lazarus as singles and paired them with deeply unsettling videos. You wouldn’t necessarily expect a well-established NY jazz combo to play a major role in Bowie’s new sound. But it does. So let’s focus on Donny McCaslin. Who is he? How did he appear on the Thin White Duke’s radar? And why should you track down his work?

In short: Donny McCaslin is an insanely gifted, soaring saxophone player, based in New York, just like David Bowie nowadays. When the news of ★’s imminent launch broke, I immediately delved into ‘Casting for Gravity’ (2012). The album sees McCaslin his extraordinary band – including force of nature and Brad Mehldau collaborator Mark Guiliana on drums and electronics – combining all kinds of influences into a strange-yet-familiar jazz melange. Notice their brilliant reworking of Alpha and Omega by Boards of Canada, a performance even Bowie used as a reference during the ★ sessions:

Bowie did not just recruit McCaslin. He wanted the entire band. And you don’t have to be Stephen Hawking to understand why. McCaslin, Guiliana, Jason Lindner (keys), Tim Lefebvre (bass) and ace guitarist Ben Monder are excellent instrumentalists in their own right, which is just part of the story. Together they create an abundance of ideas and form a closer than close-knit unit.

When McCaslin’s gang reaches for extatic heights, as in Praia Grande, it doesn’t resort to cheap tricks. Instead, it surfs the harmonic waves skillfully and with telepathic ease. The band is equally strong in the angular metropolitan territory of Bend (not too much unlike overlooked Japanese fusionistas Machine & The Synergetic Nuts)

Eno, Fripp, Grohl

Bowie was never really a lone rider. He’s been scouting the country’s and the world’s top musicians for decades. The names of Mick Ronson and Brian Eno, Robert Fripp and blues master Stevie Ray Vaughan will resonate the most. Not to mention one-off guest spots for John Lennon (Fame), Dave Grohl (on Neil Young cover I’ve Been Waiting for You) and Pete Townshend (well, two times … on Because You’re Young and Slow Burn twenty years later).

And what about the excellence provided by lifelong companion Tony Visconti, and by the likes of Gail Ann Dorsey (her Under Pressure vocals on the Reality Tour were spell-binding), Mike Garson (hear his avant-garde soloing on Alladin Sane) and Carlos Alomar (listen to him layering funky guitar with Earl Slick on Stay).

So when Bowie is going to hire a jazz band, you know it’s not going to be some run-off-the-mill combo that never looks beyond Georgia On My Mind or Autumn Leaves. He needs lieutenants who bring their own vision to the mixing table. And that’s why Donny McCaslin’s band, which released the excellent ‘Fast Future’ in 2015, is such a great catch.

Not “Bowie with jazz combo”

Last december, both ‘Mojo’ and ‘Uncut Magazine’ reported on how McCaslin was instrumental in the making of ★, follow-up album to jack in the box comeback ‘The Next Day’ (2013). Bowie met McCaslin while recording fierce 10″ single Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) with the Maria Schneider Orchestra. McCaslin took the lead in the hefty brass parts, which sounded more forward-looking than anything on ‘The Next Day’, a fine, but fairly conservative album, measured by some of Bowie’s 70’s and 90’s standards.

As the story goes, Bowie dived into ‘Casting for Gravity’ at home, took notes and invoted the entire band into the studio, early 2015. But as McCaslin clarifies in Mojo, it’s not “Bowie with jazz combo”. A claim that’s been intensified by pre-album singles Blackstar and Lazarus.

McCaslin’s star is rising

Donny McCaslin’s involvement in Bowie’s ‘Blackstar’ is great in many ways. It transports Bowie to yet another reinvention of himself. Besides, McCaslin is a frontrow witness of Bowie’s current work ethic. A spokesman role he shares with Tony Visconti, while Bowie mysteriously stays out of the limelight. McCaslin’s studio story even reached – somewhat bizarelly – British tabloid ‘The Sun’.

At the same time, McCaslin’s Bowie liaison will no doubt boost exposure for his own work. In a perfect world, he’ll be playing ‘Casting for Gravity’ and ‘Fast Future’, truly great albums, somewhere near you soon. In a surreal world, he’s supporting Bowie minutes before joining him for his long-awaited return to the stage.★


text:
UserName or Email
Unhalfbricking Games

Show Boxes
In Stock

All Games
Latest Stuff
Low Stock
A Game Of Thrones LCG
Abstract Games
Android Netrunner LCG
Area Control
Bestselling Games
Blue Moon
Co-operative Games
Crayon Rails
Deck Building
Dice Games
Economic Games
Engine Building
Entry Level Games
Farming Games
Flash Point Fire Rescue
Gipf Project
Heavy Games
Julian Recommends
Krosmaster Arena
Logical Deduction
Lord of the Rings LCG
Party Games
Push Your Luck
Race Games
Rail Games
Science / Sci-Fi / Space
Settlers of Catan Series
Small World
Steam / Age of Steam
Ticket to Ride
Word And Storytelling
Worker Placement
You won't find it elsewhere

Contact me
About Unhalfbricking

I am moving this weekend & will be sending out orders as they become accessible, over the next month.
If someone is driving from Canberra to Melb & could do me a favour by bringing some FCM with them, it'd be appreciated.
Battlestar Galactica ($80.00)

   Co-operative Games      Science / Sci-Fi / Space

This is currently out of stock.
From Around 180 minutesFor 3 to 6 players aged from 10 years
BoardGameGeek Number: 37111InPrint (In Stock: 0)
Designer(s)Corey Konieczka
Eric M Lang

After the Cylon attack on the Colonies, the battered remnants of the human race are on the run, constantly searching for the next signpost on the road to Earth. They face the threat of Cylon attack from without, and treachery and crisis from within. Humanity must work together if they are to have any hope of survival; but how can they, when any of them may, in fact, be a Cylon agent?

Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game is an exciting game of mistrust, intrigue, and the struggle for survival. Based on the epic and widely-acclaimed new Sci Fi Channel series, Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game puts players in the role of one of ten of their favorite characters from the show. Each playable character has their own abilities and weaknesses, and must all work together in order for humanity to have any hope of survival. However, one or more players in every game secretly side with the Cylons. Players must attempt to expose the traitor while fuel shortages, food contaminations, and political unrest threatens to tear the fleet apart.

Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game is a semi-cooperative game for 3-6 players ages 10 and up that can be played in 2-3 hours.

free counters

(c)Unhalfbricking Games 2003-2018


WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: application/xhtml+xml

text:
Cities Bar & Grille Cities Bar & Grille
Restaurant @ Lone Butte Casino
"Carlos Dickson"
I was here to attend an all employee meeting for Consumer Cellular. I think they have the best service they could for hundreds of employees. They didnt have enough tables and chairs. But eventually, they corrected the issue. The bathroom were clean and they kept up well. I've been here previous and it always had good service. I would recommend it.