Monday, July 14, 2014

Music Week

Music: Current count 23501 [23488] rated (+13), 534 [538] unrated (-4).

I got the news that my aunt Freda Bureman died Tuesday morning and drove to Independence, KS on Thursday afternoon. She had moved there about six years ago, living in Eagle Estates, where she could be closely attended to by her son, my cousin, Ken Brown. The funeral was Friday, with Ken and his older sisters, Lou Jean Fleron and Jan Barnes, giving touching and eloquent testimony to how much Freda meant to them, and really to us all. She was 99, had suffered from increasing dementia over the last few years, and had been unresponsive the last few weeks, essentially wasting away -- a slow fade into oblivion in stark contrast to how engaged I recall her at, say, her 90th birthday party. So I spent most of the week with my cousins, some of their children and many of their grandkids (the great-grand was among the missing), and as a result was pretty much off the grid -- my cell phone carrier didn't even provide coverage for Independence.

Hence, very little music to report below. Also, although I got back early enough today, a long nap and some TV kept me from getting the incoming packages logged. Things should return to normal, or to whatever the new normal is, next week.

I should also note that the dedicated server that I lease from Hosting & Designs was hosed a week ago. It crashed, and when they finally got it running again all of the configuration and data was erased. I've yet to receive an explanation of what happened, and don't have backups in any form that makes it easy to reconstruct, so it will be a while before I get that all running again (if indeed I do). Needless to say, I was very distracted last week. Hopefully I will be able to focus more this week.

New records rated this week:

  • Bobby Hutcherson/David Sanborn/Joey DeFrancesco: Enjoy the View (2014, Blue Note): vibes on organ better than expected, sax somewhat less so [r]: B+(*)
  • Jua: Colors of Life (2014, Chocolate Chi Music): [cd]: B-
  • Roberto Magris Trio: One Night in With Hope and More, Vol. 2 (2008-10 [2013], JMood): sparkling piano trio resurrects vintage bebop treasures [cdr]: B+(**)
  • Roberto Magris Quintet: Cannonball Funk'n Friends (2010 [2013], JMood): [cdr]: B+(**)
  • Roberto Magris Septet: Morgan Rewind: A Tribute to Lee Morgan Vol. 2 (2010 [2014], JMood, 2CD): a pianist's tribute to Lee Morgan, two discs, gets rhythm right, but not trumpet [cdr]: B+(*)
  • Roberto Magris Space Trek: Aliens in a Bebop Planet (2011 [2012], JMood, 2CD): pianist returns to the '50s, treating each touchstone as a find, with cool sax [cdr]: B+(***)
  • Paul Marinaro: Without a Song (2014, Myrtle): [cd]: B+(*)
  • Beata Pater: Golden Lady (2013 [2014], B&B): [cd]: B
  • Sam Reed Meets Roberto Magris: Ready for Reed (2013, JMood): [cdr]: B+(***)
  • Ellynne Rey: A Little Bit of Moonlight (2013 [2014], self-released): [cd]: B
  • Nicky Schrire: To the Spring (2013 [2014], self-released, EP): [r]: B-

Old records rated this week:

  • Chris Burn: Music for Three Rivers (1995-97 [1997], Victo): [r]: B+(*)
  • Ron Carter/Herbie Hancock/Tony Williams: Third Plane (1977 [1983], Milestone/OJC): [r]: B+(***)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week (does not include end of week):

  • Dee Alexander: Songs My Mother Loves (Blujazz)
  • Drumheller: Sometimes Machine (Barnyard)
  • Bob Mamet: London House Blues (Blujazz)
  • Jochen Rueckert: We Make the Rules (Whirlwind)
  • Vinnie Sperrazza: Apocryphal (Loyal Label): September 9
  • Tilting: Holy Seven (Barnyard)

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