Hot Stuff

Matt lent me a DVD entitled, The World According to John Coltrane. It contains much of the same performance footage, which is available on other compilations. The quartet playing for European TV; performances of Impressions and My Favorite Things with Eric Dolphy; but with different interviews. Rashied Ali, Jimmy Heath, Shorter. To jazz fans, there’s no denying Coltrane’s stature. Still, I think Coltrane is perhaps one of the most underappreciated influences on American music, not just jazz, all kinds of music. I’ll defer again to Mike, who can better tell us the technical aspects of what’s going on, but Coltrane changed the way music sounded. Certainly, it’s hard to find any contemporary jazz player whose music doesn’t seem influenced, in one way or another, by Coltrane. But beyond his playing alone, Coltrane changed music – the way he opened up harmonies and rhythms, and even the structure of compositions or performances. He blended eastern sounds into western jazz. Coltrane’s music was, in part, a product of his times, the turbulent years of the late 50s and early 60s, when all kinds of conformities and barriers in society were being broken, and the culture everywhere was stretching its boundaries. So I suppose one can argue that if not Coltrane, someone else would have come along and accomplished the same thing. But the fact it, no one else had nearly the influence Trane did; no one else put so much of his own stamp on the sound of our music.

So here’s a fine example : Jan Garbarek’s new CD, In Praise of Dreams. Garbarek is a Norwegian sax player, who played with Keith Jarrett in the 70s. He has a distinctive sound, clearly influenced by Charles Lloyd , but harder and more metallic, and really quite recognizable. This is a different CD, featuring a violist, and Manu Katche on drums. It has a new agey sound to it, and Garbarek has often recorded stuff that doesn’t really sound like what we think of as jazz. Still, it’s well worth hearing. And whether it’s jazz or not is beside the point. The point here is that this music can trace itself, in no small measure, to John Coltrane. The sax playing; the open ended compositions; and the eastern influences, are all right out of Coltrance circa 1961. Echoes of India, and My Favorite Things can be heard throughout this CD.

Moving on now to another topic of mutual interest, I bought a bottle of Balvenie 21 yesterday. Finished in port casks. First off, it has a surprisingly nice nose for a highland malt. In fact, the nose is a bit fruity, hinting at the sweet undertones imparted by the port finish. The are very interesting soft flavors here. And as one would expect from a 21 year old malt, very smooth, very drinkable. And best of all, a pretty good deal for such an old malt. I managed to get it on sale, so that makes it even more enjoyable. The scotch guys who speak at the tastings always talk of how frugal the scotch folk are, so even though malts are far more pricey than most booze, it’s nice to be able to save a few bucks when splurging. And staying with that theme, last night at Max, I got a nice deal on an after dinner glass of Johnny Blue. Johnny Blue is unquestionably overpriced, notwithstanding its unique flavor. The Walker guys are geniuses to be able to market a blend at $200 a bottle. But setting aside that minor complaint, Blue is nevertheless worth a few bucks extra, both for its uniquely spicy flavor, and its silky smooth texture. Max had Blue listed for $38 a pour – too much. But when the bartender told me she’d let me have it for $20, she had a sale. A perfect conclusion to a fabulous meal. Tony is doing rigatoni Bolognese with the meat in the sauce being osso buco. Unreal. We’d been cooped up in the house for the last two weeks, eating Chen’s takeout and Sushi from Wegman’s, neither of which is anything to complain about, but still, a nice meal, with a fine scotch to end the evening was the right prescription for a night out.

Lastly, I’m up through Game Two of the series, in my detailed review of the 2004 post-season. This game is best remembered for Schilling’s courageous performance: no earned runs in six innings, after the fourth stitch had been removed by Dr. Morgan, allowing Schill first to walk around, and then to push off on the mound. Fans also remember that the sox scored all six runs with two outs. But here are a couple other overlooked details. Bellhorn’s remarkable run continued as he knocked in two runs with a double to the centerfield wall, right next to the Stop and Shop. Embree replaced Schilling and struck out the side in the seventh. Mueller made three errors, but redeemed himself with a big double right before Bellhorn’s hit. However, the MVP of Game Two was Donna Summer. She sang God Bless America, in the seventh, and totally nailed it. It’s been years since she was the Queen of Disco, but the girl can still sing. By the way, the Sox singers put the Cardinals to shame. Games three and four will feature all these country singers, who can barely hold a note. But on a cold night in Fenway, Donna Summer was as hot as the Sox.