Sunday, February 03, 2008

Miscellany

Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A song makes you feel a thought.
E.Y. Harburg (Edgar Yipsel) (1898 - 1981), lyricist

I have been having a rather social weekend. Friday a couple came over for dinner and we played pool. Saturday afternoon it was a wonderful lunch and conversation with Teresa from Neurotranscendence, Sporks from Sporksforall, and Bitch PhD. Saturday night, I stopped by a friends house and who had a handful of company and that was nice to again put names and faces together.

While that was a rare couple of days of nice socializing, today will be spent recharging for the week ahead. It’s raining and as soon as I finished this I will quickly dash outside grab the newspapers, light the fire and spend the day relaxing. A perfect Sunday seems to be on tap.

Frank Rich at the New York Times has an interesting column today comparing with Obama and JFK, which further points to why Obama is the best candidate to be President of the United States.

Playing on the iPod and in the car’s CD player are a few new CDs. Shelby Lynne’s new one “Just a Little Lovin,’” which is a wonderful mellow, but yet powerful rendition that brings back the songs of Dusty Springfield.

The other CD is Willie Nelson’s “Moment of Forever.” My initial favorite on the CD is Randy Newman’s “Louisiana.” The CD’s title song is also carries some emotional gravitas.

A couple of CDs that I missed (they been out for three or four years) are from jazz pianist Marcus Roberts “Cole After Midnight,” which feature are Cole Porter standards (“Embraceable You,” “Unforgettable,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” and several others) and Roberts’ “Portraits in Blue,” which as one of the comments wrote: This has to be the most raucous, the most bluesy, the most improvisational Rhapsody in Blue ever recorded. Three songs fill the CD “Rhapsody in Blue,” “Yamekraw,” and “I Got Rhythm.”

6 comments:

Janet said...

I can't say I relate to these pics, but I completely relate to the feeling music makes me feel. It's quite powerful stuff.

Jack Steiner said...

Sounds like a nice weekend.

sporksforall said...

You didn't mention the Willie album at lunch. Thanks for the additional tip. A nice afternoon, for sure.

The Misanthrope said...

Janet, music is wonderful.

Jack, it was indeed a nice weekend

Sporks, I hadn't listened to the entire CD when we met. Again, it was nice meeting you.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I really like Marcus Roberts' Rhapsody. Never heard his Porter album but will endeavor to cop a listen. And the Lynne album should arrive tomorrow via Amazon carrier pigeon. : )

Reminds me of a nice lunch I had with some new friends recently…

The Misanthrope said...

Teresa, yes "Rhapsody" is wonderful. I saw Roberts play in Brentwood and it was amazing. He was the Jimi Hendrix of the piano; I had never seen fingers move so fast.

A very nice lunch indeed!