Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Old Friends, New Friends



Welcome back Dear Readers.

Glad to see you again.

The weather here has been appropriately wintry

and on a snowy day I pulled out this old gem.

Bruce Cockburn's early work

High Winds White Sky 

is almost 40 years old

and I remember hearing this sensitive,

poetic work when it was first released.

I think you will really like this.

Do take a moment to seek this out and visit it.

You won't be disappointed.


High winds
White sky
Wild birds do glide
Tattered smoke fades
Embers in the pipe
Move like
Life beginning
High winds
Pyramids
Glittering ring
Blood of the king
Daughter of the stars
You are
Life beginning
The wind's travellers' tales tease the tops of the trees
the ships have all sailed to the mouth of the sea...
High winds
Wheel turns
The spider spins
Hands draw us in
River-scented skin
Moves in
Life beginning
Falsehood lies panting like a fish in the palm...



Sunday, December 13, 2009

A Long Lost Menu



Dear Friends,

Dear Readers,

As many of you may already know,

I just endured

the pain and injustices

of moving.

If there could possibly be

any upside to all this upheaval,

it would be going through ones belongings

and stumbling upon

lost treasures.

If

you ever

have to move,

I hope you will make

some wonderful discoveries.


I found this menu

of a meal I created years ago.


Celebration Dinner

Saturday August 15, 1992


Peppered Seared Rare Tuna
with Papaya Salsa & Epazote


Pouilly Fume
Cuvee Speciale Vielle Vignes
1989
Regis Minet

Grilled Blackberry Quail
served on a Mesclun Nest



Grapefruit Thyme Granita


Chateau La Lagune
1986


Grilled Veal Rib Chop
with Chanterelles,
Haricot Vert Bundles,
& Fritters made with fresh White Corn,
Tomatoes, Roast Peppers,
Scallions & Boucheron


Mocha
Arabica Sanani


Bittersweet Chocolate Tart
served on a Raspberry Coulis
&
a Prune Plum Tart
with an Almond Cream



Sounds pretty tasty, no?

I sure wish I had someone here to prepare it for me!

Best,

David

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Music For The 2009 Holiday Season


Welcome back Dear Readers.
I hope you are enjoying
the start of Winter.
Here we're experiencing
the first snow of the year
and it is really quite lovely.
It has gotten me thinking about what music best accompanies it.

Earlier I enjoyed a cup of Lapsang Souchong with Cherry Preserves
along with Ivan Moravec performing the Chopin Nocturnes.
Very nice.

Robert Shaw and his Festival Singers
performing Rachmaninoff's Vespers seemed
appropriate as well.

Oh yes, and I just picked up
a copy of
what is probably
the hippest recording of this Holiday Season -
Carla Bley's - Carla's Christmas Carols.
Don't miss it.


Following you'll find 10 listings from my Library
that I think are great for this time of year.
I hope you'll enjoy them .

1. First up I think you'll love hearing Claude Debussy
playing Claude Debussy. Revel in this special recording and
Snowflakes Are Dancing.









2. Here's Fleet Foxes great rock recording.
You will not want to miss their amazing vocals.
Check out
White Winter Hymnal.

3. Many of you out there know that I think the world of Norma Winstone.
Her ethereal vocals have colored my world.
On the recording Distances you won't want to miss
Snowflakes.
And you will no doubt be thrilled to know that
on December 17th Norma, Glauco, & Klaus
are going back into the studio to record their second ECM release.
Something to look forward to there!








4. Here we have the ever talented Fred Hersch
performing a tune that Norma has sung beautifully on many occasions.
You may have heard Kenny Wheeler perform it as well.
Another great tune for this kind of weather -
Wintersweet.





5. For a breezy wisp of a pop gem you can turn to
Pizzicato 5 and
Snowflakes.

6. From their compatriot Ryuichi Sakamoto
there's Winter
from his
Alexei And The Spring
recording.
7. Another fine soundtrack recording brings us Rachel Portman's
Snow Story
from the Paul Auster movie Smoke.









8. And here we find a super group made up of
Ralph Towner, Jan Garbarek, Eberhard Weber
& Jon Christensen
performing
Winter Solstice.

9. Jarrett's American Quartet was brilliant
as well and here's their warming version of
Blackberry Winter
for those cold nights.









10. Lastly, no list of wintry delights would be complete
without a tune my Uncle Alan
brought to my attention years ago.
A tune you will want to seek out
when that delicate white stuff starts
a blowin' round in that sky.
Claude Thornhill's
Snowfall
is a real gem from
an earlier time.

Treat yourself.