After a folkie morning listening to Left Arm Tan and Matt Harlan, I switched it up this afternoon and put on a little and turned to the symphonic progressive rock of Kotebel. last week I listened to and enjoyed their 2012 release Concerto For Piano And Electric Ensemble. Today I listened to the band’s 2009 release Ouroboros Of the two I like Ouroboros just a little better.
Ok so this morning was a folkie Texas Country music morning! I listened to the new album by a band called Left Arm Tan (which I usually have), Alticana and last years release from Texas singer-songwriter Matt Harlan and the Sentimentals Bow and Be Simple. You’ll be reading more about both of these great album in the near future, but for now let’s listen to some lunchtime music from Left Arm Tan.”The Ghost of Lila Pearl” from a previous album! Good Stuff!
So tonight I visited the Jazz Music Archives to see what was new. What I found were some old friends. The second review I saw was for the latest release from Soft Machine Legacy, Burden of Proof. Hum, way back in 1970 or so I was a fan for at least one album of The Soft Machine having bought and played many times, their album Third. Anyway I was interested in finding out who Soft Machine Legacy were what I found out was that the original line-up for the band only lasted through 1971 when Robert Wyatt left the band, after that several members revolved in and out of the band through their last studio album, Land of Cockayne released in 1981. Since then many live recordings have been released. In 2002, four former Soft Machine members – Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean, John Marshall and Allan Holdsworth – toured and recorded under the name Soft Works (initially called Soft Ware, debuting at the 2002 Progman Cometh Festival).
So last Saturday, while my wife was at an Antiques appraisal in Beverly, I dropped off the last few boxes of clothes and Christmas decorations of my mother’s at Goodwill. Now I can’t go to Goodwill without check out the used books. I took a quick look through the books and picked up The Alexandria Link by Steve Berry, an early Cotton Mather book, a couple of others look ok. Then I looked up at the sign that said Books 4 for $ 1.00 ok I have to look a little more closely now. After the second look I found three more hardback books. Monster by Frank Peretti, an interesting horror book that I think I’ve looked at in the past in the Bargain Books at Barnes and Noble, Jacksdaws by Ken Follett because I know my wife likes Ken Follett. Of course, I bring it home and the first thing my wife says is “Is there Sex in it? No one writes sex scenes better than Ken Follett” Soon she’s reading away. Me: “You found one?” K: “yes, page 242!” 
The last book that I picked up was Stones into Schools:Promoting Peace with books, not bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea. Now I have seen Three Cups of Tea but never took the time to see what it was about – mistake. The book is about Mortenson’s quest to build a school in Korphe, Pakistan. Three cups of tea refers to a Balti saying “The first cup of tea you share with us, you are a stranger. The second cup of tea, you are a friend. But with the third cup of tea, you become family – and for our family we are willing to do anything, even die” I love it! Stones into Schools picks up where the earlier book ends in 2003 and traces Mortenson and his non-profit Central Asia Institutes’ efforts to work in a whole new country, the northeast corner of Pakistan.
Archaeologist Dr. Erin Granger is working on a dig in Caesarea, Israel when an explosion rocks the Masada. The explosion splits Masada and emits a gas that kills all the visitors The explosion reveals an unknown underground chamber. Soon Sergent Jordan Stone is sent to bring Erin to the site to help and try to discover what happened!
My musical day today started with a mix of folk music from the iPod, first there was a song from Jesse Winchester’s Gentleman of Leisure album and then a Mark Erelli song, a track from Les Sampou, I haven’t heard her voice in a while! As my thoughts rambled through the list of musicians whose music could come on next, they landed on Darryl Purpose, whose music I’ve loved since around 2000. I thought about his latest album, his first album of new material since 2003. In 2005 he set down his guitar shut down his music making and according to his website he…
So I’ve written before, that one of the things I like about Prog Rock is that the bands come from all over the world. The band that was the soundtrack for my ride down to the Garden State Parkway was the French band Delusion Squared. The album is their sophomore release appropriately titled II The band, formed in 2009, is a trio composed of lead vocalist and guitarist, Lorraine Young, guitarist, keyboard and drummer – Steven Francis and bassist/keyboardist – Emmanuel de Saint Meen. Their music can be classified as Crossover Prog (or Art Rock). If you are a novice to the world of progressive rock, you can go here, for the ProgArchives definition of Crossover Prog!
