22 February 2006

Listen

The sad news just hitting the papers today that Ray Barretto died on February 17th. A good piece from the San Francisco Chronicle highlights his career and notes how pleased he was to become an NEH Jazz Master just last month (see archived post). The title for this post refers to a piece from The Soul Drummers, covered by blogger Funky16Corners, well worth reading and having a listen to the MP3 available there.

Post-script, from my friend, a protege' of Ray's and a great percussionist in his own right, Carlito Soto: "I did write to you and answered your email about Ray, but now my long time friend has passed on... but not without telling me that he loved me... i'm not bitter, just sad that he is not around to hear him perform or hear him tell us a joke... he had many of those..." Carlito has a short tribute to Ray on his website.

On the night of the Grammy's, I had heard that Les Paul was in the same New Jersey hospital as Barretto, but have not heard anything more of his health.

16 February 2006

Violin

From the L.A. Times this week, a wonderfully written story about the life history of a Stradivarius. Raises some interesting questions about collecting...

Kate Bush, Violin

14 February 2006

You Call It Madness

Title change, Feb 15. I'm feeling less cynical today, despite the previous week's events.

From National Geographic this month, the news that love and mental illness have much in common. People in love and people with obssessive-compulsive disorder share the same chemical profile, including low levels of serotonin.

The world, explained.

Nat King Cole, You Call It Madness
(Someday I will get back to the post below...)