Home Articles posted by ekkarn (Page 65)

Zoe turns 10 months – Oh My!

Interplay - Kenny Barron and Mark Sherman

The Ever Quiet Zoe is getting a little  Fiesty at 10 Months!

So over the last little while I have posted more about my grandson Oliver, than my granddaughter Zoe. The main reason for that is Zoe’s mom Melissa left her job several months ago and I haven’t been babysitting Zoe twice a week like I was back in the winter. My wife and I see her at least once a week, or so, and she is a wonderfully happy little girl. She is standing by herself now, and walking several steps,all with the small great smile she has always had. Every month her mother has posted a picture on her monthly anniversary. As a sign of growing independence Zoe wasn’t much interested in having having her picture taken last month….. Read More

More Walking Adventures of Oliver and Granddad!

Oliver and Granddad Explore the Northern End of Beacon Avenue!

So yesterday was an interesting day of babysitting with our grandson, Oliver. The morning was rough because it rained most of the time. While the rain didn’t bother Oliver, granddad was not amused. The first walk which was shortened, because of the rain, was the better of the two, because the rain was lighter. On the second walk the rain was heavier, and I tried to push the stroller and hold the umbrella , which didn’t work out too well. The later walk would have been the one on which he should have fallen asleep, but as he was screaming, not in a bad way, when we were walking back up his street, I knew that was not to be!! He held out until almost noon, when he couldn’t go anymore and he rocked to sleep to “Uptown Funk”, but when I put him in his crib, he popped back up and I had to lay him on my chest until he fell more deeply asleep!!! Read More

Cal Tjader – Latin Vibes from California!

Cal Tjader – Vibraphone – (July 16, 1925 – May 5, 1982)

Cal Tjader was born on July 16th in 1925 in Saint Louis, Missouri and that fact surprises me! See I thought that Tjader was Latin! I discovered Tjader’s music, because he plays vibraphone and Gary Burton’s album For Hamp. Bags, Red and Cal, led me to it! As “I listened to his Latin influenced music I just assumed that he was Latin. But in fact he is the son of touring Swedish American vaudevillians! His father tap danced and his mother played piano, a husband-wife team going from city to city with their troupe to earn a living.His father taught him to tap dance. He performed around the Bay Area as “Tjader Junior,” a tap-dancing wunderkind. He performed a brief non-speaking role dancing alongside Bill “Bojangles” Robinson in the film The White of the Dark Cloud of Joy! Read More

Aaron Diehl – Space Time Continuum

Aaron Diehl Joins Generations on Space Time Continuum

Aaron DiehlWhen I first started to listen to jazz it was mostly the guitar of Wes Montgomery and the Hammond B3 of Jimmy Smith, but through the years I started adding other artists. Pianist like Thelonious Monk and Oscar Peterson were added to my music library, along with Miles, Gary Burton and Milt Jackson. One night a few years ago I put on The Bespoke Man’s Narrative from Aaron Diehl, while I was reading. After a few minutes I stopped reading and listened to some unbelievable piano! Along with Diehl’s piano on that album I also loved the vibraphone of Warren Wolf on the album. Anyway, a few weeks ago Diehl’s new album Space,Time, Continuum joined my music rotation and it’s another outstanding outing from a great pianist. What surprised me was the presence of some fine saxophone and trumpet, which I hadn’t heard on Diehl’s previous albums. Read More

Lazer LLoyd – The King of Israel’s Blues

Exploring the Blues of Lazer Lloyd’s Album Lazer Lloyd!

Lazer LloydWhen I think blues, my mind does not immediately soar to Israel, but that may change after listening to the “King of the Israeli Blues Lazer Lloyd’s latest release. Since Lloyd’s self-titled release debuted on the Roots Music Report’s Blues Chart a couple of weeks ago it has been in my music rotation and this damn fine album is going to stay there for a while!! Read More

The Poacher’s Son – Paul Doiron

Paul Doiron – The Poacher’s Son – (Mike Bowditch #1) – Maine Game Warden

Paul Doiran - The Poacher's SonA while back I saw an ad on a sidebar at Goodreads.com for a book called The Precipice by Paul Doiron. I read that the book was part of a series that features Mike Bowditch who is a Game Warden in Maine. Since I am a big fan of another game warden Joe Pickett who resides out in the great state of Wyoming, I figured that this book would be right up my alley. When I went to Goodreads to find our more about Mike Bowditch, I discovered that The Precipice is the sixth book that features him as the main character. Since the series is not all that new i.e there are less than ten books in the series, I figured that it would be best to go back to the first book and start the series at the beginning and start reading the series with book one, The Poacher’s Son. So that’s what I did and I am glad that I did! The Poachers Son was a great read! Read More

Hank Mobley….exploring his music

Hank Mobley – Tenor Saxophone – Composer 

 (July 7, 1930 – May 30, 1986)

I first discovered the saxophone of Hank Mobley one night in 2014 when I was exploring some jazz. That night I explored the music of Blue Mitchell, Wynton Kelly and Hank Mobley. One that night Hank Mobley’s album Soul Station was my favorite of the night!! You can read about it in- A Jazzy Night with Music from Blue, Wynton and Hank and friends!! Here’s some background information about Hank Mobley from Wikipedia: Read More

Barna Howard – Quite a Feelin’

Exploring the Music of Singer-Songwriter, Folkie – Barna Howard and his album – Quite a Feelin’

I discovered the music of Barna Howard on the June 2015 Euro-Americana Chart , where his album Quite a Feeling held down the number eight spot. One night when I was going to work at Target I listened to the album for the first time. After listening to the first song “Indiana Rose”, I knew that Mr. Howard and I were going to get along just fine! Barna’s has a sound that harkens back to the folksingers of the 60s. He has a distinctive voice and his accompanying guitar playing is pretty nice also! So the question in my mind was – Who is this Barna Howard! Read More