Report #23 - 20 July 2009

One of my most important daily jobs here at the Grizfork is to sit on the porch with a glass of wine or a beer each evening and watch the sunset. (It's a rough and difficult job, but someone's got to do it: If people stopped watching the sun go down, it might decide not to come back up.) This week's poem, "Birds of Paradise Valley, MT," comes from one of these sunset sessions a couple of years ago. The birds that had grown quiet were mostly magpies and meadowlarks, with a few partridge and juncos thrown in for good measure.

For any of you who may have thought last week's Albert Ayler was a bit "out there" (though I did pick one of his lesser-challenging pieces), this week I smooth things down with a familiar tune that we've all first heard performed by a floppy, felt frog. Joe Raposo's [It's Not Easy] "Bein' Green" is here performed by Jackie McLean & The Great Jazz Trio from their album New Wine in Old Bottles. McLean is on alto sax and the Great Jazz Trio consists of Hank Jones, piano; Ron Carter, bass; and Tony Williams, drums.

Listen to the full episode here:
Report #23