RT day #455

Kept up my end and made the 749 -- made it by about 1 second, but as long as I am on, the ends are all that matter.

I'm more than halfway done with Silver's autobiography and, even though I like it, it's not revelatory. I was hoping he'd delve in to his writing methods and recording sessions but he only briefly discusses it. I own a lot of the albums he put out during the early- and mid-60s and they are truly fantastic. In the past 3 years I've bought and downloaded at least 40 jazz albums almost entirely from the mid-50s to the late-60s and his work stands out the most because they are the tightest and best arranged, but he glosses over the process, which is sort of a let-down. You'd think he'd mention the more specific details of the writing process of Cape Verdean Blues and Tokyo Blues since they came from concrete and revelatory experiences (which he does detail) but there's barely a mention except that his one-time Japanese girlfriend is on the cover photo with him on the latter album. Personality-wise, he seems to be extremely open-minded and I'm glad I'm not listening to another musician's "overcoming drug addition" tale of woe. He apparently wasn't a user or a drinker so the music must've been more organic, which is nice but it would be more engaging if he'd elaborate on that. Also, there's almost no dialogue -- a far cry from Moveable Feast. The only other jazz book I could imagine reading is the bio about Blue Note Records, the label that is probably most responsible for my continued love of the genre. The RVG remastered series is truly fantastic and since the liner notes there are saturated with enthusiasm and history, and I'd like to think the book about the label would take that to higher level.

I've got my head down and I'm not moving too fast as I'm listening to the last few tracks off Black Crowes' Before the Frost. The album is good and the sound quality (esp for a live album of new material) is top-notch but the band sounds tired in the writing. There's not a lot of distortion and I think they wanted to go for a more subtle approach. It works in the context of this double album (I own the dig. copy of disc 2 b/c I actually bought disc 1), but when I throw on the first four tracks of By Your Side, as I did this morning, that blows the slow stuff out of the water.

I actually made the light at the Highway this morning and I'm happy to say I was able to take my few belongings in Borders bag so I'm bare-backed. It's a nice feeling, but I'll have the filled water bottle later and that may hinder things.

I awoke from an intense, violent dream involving beating up Mila Kunis' boyfriend, who is in reality a dude from the gym. They were at the house of a childhood friend whose parents still live in the same house down the street (his parents are always walking their two dogs). Since I uncharacteristically ate chocolate after dinner and later fell asleep watching "That 70's Show," it makes sense. When rising from such a vivid dream, I tend to have some lag and today is a prime example.

Hoping to get to a certain record store today for a book signing of all things. I'll see if I can get there in time.

Thank you for reading.

Black Crowes Playlist:
Make Glad
And the Band Played On
Go Faster
Kickin' My Heart Around
By Your Side
Horsehead