Sarah Vaughn - Somewhere Over The Rainbow

God I love this jazz music!

Sun Ra 1981 Chicago

Is this out there ?
No it's just Sun Ra

Ernie Kovack's Nairobi Trio

A Ton of Bricks

Almost every afternoon you will find me on our lanai with reading material in my hands. Although I sometimes struggle to stay awake I do get some reading done too. I recently read James Cook The Journals. It is a narrative of his three ocean voyages during the late 18th century. The third voyage occurred in 1776-1780 and of course ends with Cook’s death here on the Big Island of Hawaii. Returning to our Lanai ; it faces the south east and a wonderful view of the ocean 6 miles away. This is a key point of my story which I will now continue. One day as I was reading , I reached a point where he was approaching his “final” landing . This was Kealakekua Bay which is to the south and west of our house. While reading about their course just off the coast it suddenly hit me. I set the book down and stared out at the ocean thinking. Man! 228 years ago his ship sailed right across “ MY OCEAN VIEW” Every now and then something hits you like a ton of bricks!

It Don't mean a Thing - Ella Fitzgerald/Oscar Peterson

Doesn't get any better than this!

The Journey is the Destination II: Chicago to New York

Two of my favorite subjects,Jazz and Railroads!

Returning to my Beer topic,it is getting to be my favorite time of year, Holiday ale season! Every October, craft breweries begin releasing there special Christmas ales.
Generally they are available until mid January. This great tradition has probably evolved from Wassail, a hot, spiced punch often associated with winter celebrations of northern Europe, such as Christmas, New Year's and Twelfth Night.
Living in Hawaii there are fewer to choose from but usually I can find my 3 favorites
Anchor brewery special Ale http://www.anchorbrewing.com/beers/christmasale.htm
Deschutes Jubleale http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/BrewPub/OnTap/5811.aspx
and Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale www.sierranevada.com/beers/celebrationale.html

Anchor has been producing special ale for over 30 years. Each year the recipe is slightly different but is always loaded with holiday spice flavor! Taste is great but the tradition is the thing! If you are careful these beers will keep for years. Once on an British Christmas holiday with friends we had a collection of Special ales dating back 10 years. We sampled them all and the 10 year old bottle was the best!
So go out and find one of the many available today and enjoy

Happy holidays!

Benny Goodman Quartet - I've Got A Heartful of Music

Maybe I will get tired of playing with youtube soon . Until then here is more great jazz fun

John Coltrane - Fearless Leader

On My Christmas List !

Meet RED

After 35 years of a cats only house hold we now have a dog. Three weeks ago ,on our way to go swimming, we passed an abandoned car with this dog lying next to it. Returning home an hour later, it was still there so we stopped to check it out . The car had been vandalized and no one was around so we decided to take the poor hungry dog home with us. We later learned from friends that he had been there three days before we happened by. Since then we have had him neutered , received a clean bill of health for him and proceeded to fall in love! I turns out that although a little over exuberant (now that he has regained his strength)he is a real smart sweetheart . In three weeks he has gone from being abandoned to totally spoiled! Although I have learned very quickly that dogs are a lot more work than cats I think he has found a new home!

From the Verve website

Smokin' At The Half Note Catalog #8295782
compact disc
reissue release date 11/21/1989
original releasing label Verve Records

This album is the live equivalent of the INCREDIBLE GUITAR album--Wes Montgomery cooking with a seasoned and communicative piano trio on a set of jazz compositions, standards, and original material. INCREDIBLE GUITAR has Tommy Flanagan, Percy Heath, and Albert Heath; SMOKIN' has the Wynton Kelly trio, with Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums. Not only had the same trio served as one of Miles Davis' great rhythm sections, but Kelly was considered by many to be the most gifted accompanist of his time.

Miles Davis's "No Blues" is in fact an utterly relentless blues, with Montgomery nailing each single-note, octave, or block-chord phrase with passionate conviction. Bassist Sam Jones's "Unit 7" is another uptempo blues. "Four on Six," which debuted on INCREDIBLE GUITAR, gets an edited version of the head and a slightly faster treatment overall. Kelly takes the lead on the first ballad, "If You Could See Me Now," Montgomery on the second, framing the melody to "What's New" in octaves over Cobb's late-night brushes. The excellent sound quality and almost complete lack of audience noise throughout makes SMOKIN' feel like eavesdropping of the best kind.

Producer: Creed Taylor
Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder; Val Valentin

Personnel: Wes Montgomery (guitar); Wynton Kelly (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Jimmy Cobb (drums).


Recorded live at the Half Note, New York, New York and Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey in June and September 1965.

This re release was originally recorded in July of 1961 and combines the Duke Ellington and Count Basie bands. This is not a battle of bands but a wonderful 30 piece orchestra! Not a contest but friends getting together for a“visit “according to the Duke . These great musicians really appreciated each other and the finished product reflects it . All with no rehearsal! This has got that swing!!

A surprise dinner guest! (happens a lot here in Hawaii)

Still more Portmeirion !

Never can seem to get enough of Portmeirion

As demonstrated by my lovely assistant(aka wife Sharon) all of our work on the pineapples (see June post) has paid off!