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Last week, I got back into STEFAN GROSSMAN, one of my favourite Blues guitarists. GROSSMAN brought Rev. GARY DAVIS to Columbia University, and transcribed much of his music. I started out with YAZOO BASIN BOOGIE and then moved on to his first album HOW TO PLAY BLUES GUITAR.  Check out some of the tracks.

That album has been re-issued on CD, and I won't get into tiresome comparisons with the vinyl version. It features some great finger-picking blues guitar performances, including by Son House and John Renbourn, who went on to found Pentangle. Renbourn later became a solo performer, and has visited Vancouver Island frequently.  Today, I'm listening to Wheel of Fortune, a 1994 live performance with Robin Williamson.  For the most part, it consists of traditional folk music, and there's some great storytelling between tracks.  

This week I'm listening to Pentangle's Early Classics, which features both Renbourn and another of my favourites, Bert Jansch.  The CD is a great compilation of the band's 1968-72 period, and has both jazz and medieval roots.

In 1971, Stefan Grossman recorded How to Play Blues with Aurora (Rory) Block.  Both were excellent slide guitarists and together, they had spent considerable time transcribing the music of Rev. Gary Davis.  Today, I'm listening to that album which is no longer available in stores.  Later this week I'll catch up with some of this blueswoman's more recent recordings, including Last Fair Deal.

Elvin Jones passed away this week, at the age of 76.  Today, I'll be listening to him in John Coltrane's 1961 Village Vanguard recordings.

This week, I've been listening to The Complete Bill Evans on Verve.  My Discman is getting a good workout on this 18 CD set, as is Gal--my mixed Great Dane/German Pointer--who's getting extra walks in the early summer weather.

Last week, I picked up The Complete Billie Holiday at A& B's "6 months to Boxing Day" sale.  I had a previous version on Columbia, but a friend told me that the on Sony Legacy series re-mastering was exquisite and that the liner notes were a real treat; I have not been disappointed with either.  Lady Day is one of my favourites and, as  I listen to the alternate takes, I find myself imagining her moods and what she was thinking at the time of each.   There are 10 CDs in this set, and I'll be working my way through them slowly, alternating between my Discman and home sound system (it's quadrophonic, for those of you old enough to remember the technology).  Check out a few of the tracks here.

Today, I'm taking a break from Billie Holiday.  Sort of.  I'm listening to Karen Dalton's "It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best."  Check out what I mean here.

A bit of a change of pace today:  I'm listening to the Sibelius Violin Concerto.  My favourite peformance is by Ida Haendel, which I have on an old vinyl, quadrophonic disk that's still in perfect condition.  I met Haendel in Jerusalem about ten years ago, when I was posted in Israel--at the Hebrew University, I believe.  Here's a sample.

For the longest time, I resisted listening to any other performer, but broke down earlier this year and now also enjoy listening to Sergey Khachatryan play Sibelius, on a CD with the Khachaturian violin concerto (which is quite a mouthful, I've just realized). You can get a taste of this young violinist here.

I've been very busy and it's been some time since I posted to this page--which does not mean I haven't been listening to old favourites and some new stuff too.  (I've been backing up my favourite sets on a new Sony Hi-MD, which can accommodate about 13 CDs on a single disk.)

Here, in no particular order, are some of the CD and MD's I've been listening to while walking the dog, working on the computer or just plain relaxing (if you follow the links, you can listen to some of the tracks):

John Coltrane--Live Trane; Dave Brubeck--For all time; Miles Davis--Complete Montreux  recordings; Harry Manx--Dog my cat; East eats meet; KD Lang--Hymns of the 49th parallel; Jane Siberry--Anthology; Souad Massi--Raoui; Geoff Muldaur--A secret handshake; Private Astronomy; The Flatlanders--More a legend than a band; Olu Dara--Neighbourhoods; Ry Cooder--Chicken skin music and with V M Bhatt--A meeting by the river; Eva Cassidy--Live at Blues Alley;Billie Holiday--Complete Verve recordings