How to Survive a Natural Disaster is, in turns, a disturbing and very funny novel of frailty, change, and a kind of survival. Each of the characters makes multiple transformations, both internal and external, that move between appearance and the reality underneath. Artifices come and go and finally disappear by the book’s end.
Friends Refining Musical Language: Rruga (Path) by the Colin Vallon Trio
The Colin Vallon Trio is a gathering of friends, if not of a generation. (Colin Vallon was born in 1980, Patrice Moret in 1972, and Samuel Rohrer in 1977; and the 1970s were not much like the 1980s, with societies in different parts of the globe expanding and experimenting in the earlier decade and becoming more conservative and constrictive in the latter.) The Colin Vallon Trio has been stimulating comment and enthusiasm for the thoughtful dynamics of its work, and is considered unusual, by some, for being inspired by singers in a field in which instrumentalists can be arrogant about their primacy.
Prophet Receives Respect from Prodigy: The Dancing Monk by Eric Reed with Ben Wolfe and McClenty Hunter
Sometimes beauty is not enough. It may be one of the ironies of human experience that when a person begins life as a stranger, he is likely to end life that way too, no matter what happens—whether celebration or success—in between. There are moments of talk, of explanation and understanding, but they are only moments. If one is liked and respected apart from any explanation, one will remain so; if not, the power of the explanation will not last. The experience of a person is what counts, for most people.
The Triumph of Music: Nnenna Freelon, Homefree
Nnenna Freelon has command of her instrument, her voice, and she is confident and earthy, with great energy, in “I Feel Pretty,” making the Bernstein-Sondheim song one of self-reflection rather than vanity: love has been transforming. The flugelhorn solo is one of melodic curls, smoky curls; and the band has significant vitality. “The Very Thought of You” is a Ray Noble song of contemplative appreciation; and in it, aware, sensual, emotive, Freelon has the kind of authority that is rooted in experience and experiment, the kind that cannot be faked.
Music Serves the Lyrics in Ambitious Vision: The People’s Key by Conor Oberst’s Bright Eyes
The music by Bright Eyes in “Triple Spiral” fairly rampages. It could be liked by rock music lovers everywhere. “The currents will carry you along, until you’re just like everyone,” is a thought that is stated in “Beginner’s Mind,” a statement that counts as promise and warning, as comforting or disturbing, depending on who you are. The search for spiritual enlightenment usually begins with both awareness of who, what, and where one is and then forgetting those same things (and then remembering them again in a different way).
Friendship and Love: Jodie Levinson, In the City
The sound of Jodie Levinson is that of a sweetly sensual, warm woman, influenced by blues, jazz, and rock, and her voice is distinctive, though there are times when one hears echoes of Laura Nyro, Rickie Lee Jones, Vanessa Williams, and Mariah Carey. The song “Quand Va T’il Arriver (When Will He Come),” which presents a picture of a woman waiting for a man, actually has a relaxed groove, and “You Make Me Smile” is both girlish and sultry. It is a cliché that men and women want different things—men want easy and quick sexual contact and women want a relationship, and the charm and conversation between them are enjoyed with different purposes in mind.
Compassion, Desire, Fury, and Thought: Play On, an album by The Picardy Birds, featuring Emelie Guidry
The life and career of an artist, like that of an intellectual or critic, can be much more precarious than anyone can guess: meals and message and momentum can be much less predictable than one would like. One returns to the work in exhaustion and hope and hunger and inspiration, and against circumstance and all the odds of neglect and rejection one is sustained by the work itself—again and again and again.
Ardoin as Ancestor and Artist: Mama, I’ll Be Long Gone by Amede Ardoin
Was Amede Ardoin poisoned by a jealous musician? Was Amede Ardoin relegated to a madhouse, in which he died? Questions remain. What we know is that Amede Ardoin, a Creole singer with a high, plaintive sound and an accordionist with a bold blare and songs of family, longing, struggle, adventure and pleasure, performed with Cajun fiddler Dennis McGee (born January 26, 1893, died October 3, 1989); and Ardoin’s work influenced both Creole and Cajun music—previously, for one thing, the accordion had not been considered a prominent part of Cajun music.
Challenging, Thrilling Music as Modern Art: Manto and Madrigals by Thomas Zehetmair and Ruth Killius
One has an experience that is challenging, frightening, thrilling. On Manto and Madrigals, one can hear musical lines that evoke mathematics more than melody and the unlikely appearance of folk music and the classical swell of strings. Beneath the work of Thomas Zehetmair and Ruth Killius is the timeless revelation that there may be nothing more demanding, and more terrifying, than freedom, and nothing more necessary.
Exploring Mood: Lee Konitz, Brad Mehldau, Charlie Haden, and Paul Motian, Live at Birdland
In what is the body of the piece, the piano and double-bass offer what might be a fleeting semblance of the song’s original melody, and the saxophone’s now robust playing is less easy to mistake—its singing more recognizable. That is what I hear: is that what is there?