PN Unscripted - Adrian Tomine

Comics creator Adrian Tomine talks about his prenuptial memoir 'Scenes from an Impending Wedding'



Listen to PN Unscripted on Stitcher
Listen to PN Unscripted on iTunes
Permalink for PN Unscripted - Adrian Tomine

Adrian Tomine







PN Feedburner | PN iTunes | PN Twitter | PN Facebook | PN Video | PN Goodreads | PN Stitcher

Listener's Notes - 12 Albums for 2012

Tis the season for critics and programmers to post their usual "best of the year" lists, and although I don't have time to listen to (or, in the world of books, read) as much as I'd like to, I do feel I've done my homework as far as jazz is concerned.  Jazz, that is, described broadly and in a way that might irk the jazz police.  But what are you gonna do when the jazz police come for you?  For symmetry's sake, my list of best albums for the year is 12 items long, and in no particular order other than roughly alphabetical.  Let the arguments begin!



12 for 2012
Lynn Arriale, Solo
The Bad Plus, Made Possible
Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio
Vijay Iyer Trio - Accelerando
Brad Mehldau Trio, Ode
Branford Marsalis Quartet – Four MF’s Playin' Tunes
Medeski, Martin & Wood, Free Magic 
Pat Metheny, Unity Band
Christian Scott - Christian aTunda Adjuah
Esperanza Spaulding - Radio Music Society
Ben Wendel - Frame

PN Feedburner | PN iTunes | PN Twitter | PN Facebook | PN Video | PN Goodreads | PN Stitcher

PN 223 - Jacqui Sutton - 'Notes From The Frontier'

Singer Jacqui Sutton talks about the long road to a new sound -- Frontier Jazz -- as well as her band and some of the songs on her new album.



Listen to PN 223 on Stitcher
Listen to PN 223 on iTunes







PN Feedburner | PN iTunes | PN Twitter | PN Facebook | PN Video | PN Goodreads | PN Stitcher

Five from Flavorwire's 100 New York Writers

In an impressive display of New York arrogance and New York prowess, Flavorwire rolled out a list of the 100 Most Important Living New York Writers.  As the article says, "New York has ever been the center of the American literary universe."  Okay, that's true.  Sigh.  But that can't help Flavorwire's annoying decision to format the list into a 100-page slideshow, so I hope you like clicking the NEXT button.  We here at Passing Notes would never do something like that.  We put pretty much everything in one place and keep the ads to a minimum.  You're welcome.

But I will coat-tail a bit here on Flavorwire's wardrobe.  Over the past few years, I've had a chance to talk to a few writers on the FNY100MILW list.  And they are, preceded by their ranking, slideshow free, links to the podcasts included. . .


4 - Salman Rushdie, talking about Luka and the Fire of Life

51 - Pete Hamill, talking about Deadline Artists and Tabloid City

56 - Alex Ross, talking about The Rest is Noise

81 - Karen Russell, talking about Swamplandia! and, from 2007, a text-only interview about her collection St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolves

90 - Adrian Tomine, talking about Scenes from an Impending Wedding

PN Feedburner | PN iTunes | PN Twitter | PN Facebook | PN Video | PN Goodreads | PN Stitcher

Video Jukebox - JazzGrass

I'm always interested in intersections of musical traditions and styles -- as jazz has always been open to a wide world of influences -- and country and bluegrass are no exception.  Today's V-Juke takes a quick sampling tour through some intersections of note -- Jacqui Sutton, Bela Fleck, David Grisman, Alison Brown, even Willie Nelson and Bob Wills.  On Friday, Jacqui Sutton will be on Passing Notes to talk about her new release with the Frontier Jazz Orchestra, and she'll have a little more time to explain her musical universe on Sunday's Segment3 as well.  In the meantime, enjoy the video playlist -- especially the sound of those banjos.



PN Feedburner | PN iTunes | PN Twitter | PN Facebook | PN Video | PN Goodreads | PN Stitcher

Reader's Notes - Take Your Child To A Bookstore Day

We're a family of readers.  My wife and I have a couple of young boys -- five and three years old -- and while the older one is starting to work his own way through simple books, the younger also enjoys sitting down and following the narrative in pictures from page to page.  They do that without much prompting from us, thank goodness.  And everyone loves to snuggle up together at bedtime and read a handful of favorites -- Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Gorilla, Goodnight Cujo, you name it.  All the more reason to mark Saturday, December 1 on your calendars as Take Your Child To A Bookstore Day.  Follow the link in the previous sentence for more description of the worldwide event, as well as a searchable map to find the nearest participating bookstore.  And when that quiet old lady says, "Hush," you hush!

PN Feedburner | PN iTunes | PN Twitter | PN Facebook | PN Video | PN Goodreads | PN Stitcher

PN Archives - The Pope, Frank Constanza, and Me

It's never to early to start your holiday planning, and in the interests of the usual frustrations of the season (commercialism, holiday expectations, fruitcakes), I want to remind everyone -- well in advance -- that other options are available.  Namely, the Festivus traditions.  There's even a book about it now, if you really want to get into the deep practice of Festivus.  To help explain my own relationship with Festivus, I'll repost a Flak Magazine podcast from Days of Yore (2005).  Enjoy.  Or not.  Or you could watch the relevant episode of Seinfeld.  Or not. Whatever.  Just remember that Festivus is December 23 and get your poles ready.


Listen to "The Pope, Frank Costanza, and Me" on Stitcher
Listen to "The Pope, Frank Constanza, and Me" on iTunes

Leave a review, for Frank's sake!

PN Feedburner | PN iTunes | PN Twitter | PN Facebook | PN Video | PN Goodreads | PN Stitcher

Reader's Notes - Block Button Bind

I've written from time to time about the need for the United States to develop a more civil public discourse and to work more intentionally toward building consensus on many pressing issues.  I'm not alone, to be sure, even as the last presidential election has shown that the cable-news, political advertising, and social media can bring out the absolute worst in sectarian perspectives.  All the more encouraging, then, is a blog entry like Edward Champion's today at his Reluctant Habits.  In a thorough, thoughtful, and link-laden post, "Why the Block Button Encourages Fear and Threatens Community," Edward Champion examines the perils of contemporary media's capacity not just for giving us only the perspectives we prefer, but, with the "block" button, the ability to silence any voice that we might disagree with.  One shot and you're done, folks.  It's not sexy, people, but it's required reading, if you ask me.

PN Feedburner | PN iTunes | PN Twitter | PN Facebook | PN Video | PN Goodreads | PN Stitcher

PN Unscripted - Ishmael Reed

The literary giant, social critic, and MacArthur fellow Ishmael Reed talks about his latest collection of essays, Going Too Far.


Permalink for Ishmael Reed podcast




PN Feedburner | PN iTunes | PN Twitter | PN Facebook | PN Video | PN Goodreads | PN Stitcher

Movie Monday - The Legend (Nina Simone)

Beginning an occasional feature here -- Movie Mondays -- I'll call your attention to video that's out there in watchable formats online, and today's is The Legend, a feature on singer Nina Simone.  There are several sections to the whole documentary, but it's certainly worth the trouble.











PN Feedburner | PN iTunes | PN Twitter | PN Facebook | PN Video | PN Goodreads | PN Stitcher

Sunday Time Warp - Playlist 11/25/12

Like STW on Facebook | Follow STW on Twitter

Song, Artist, Album
Luna, Jeff Babko, Crux
Yeti, Hardcortet, Do It Live
Manifestation, David Gilmore, Numerology
Chocolate Wonderfall, Karl 2000, Karl 2000
Sprung Monkey, Garage A Trois, Emphasizer
Hambone Steaksauce, Mother Funk Conspiracy, The Mother Funk Conspiracy
Blue in Green, John McLaughlin Trio, Live at the Royal Festival Hall
On The Other Side, Gretchen Parlato, In A Dream
Summertime, Jacqui Sutton, Notes From The Frontier
Dapper Dan, Lonnie Smith, The Healer
Strut, Jimmy Smith, Dot Com Blues
Basehead, Corey Harris, Greens from the Garden
Betty Ball's Blues, Taj Mahal, Conjure: Music for the Texts of Ishmael Reed
Trio Blues, John Scofield - Steve Swallow - Bill Stewart, Live performance - 2010
Nostalgia Is For Suckas, Jeff Babko, Crux
Midnight Dancer, Jesse Fischer & Soul Cycle, Retro Future
Little Birdie, Vince Guiraldi, Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Freedom Jazz Dance, Brian Auger, Oblivion Express


PN Feedburner | PN iTunes | PN Twitter | PN Facebook | PN Video | PN Goodreads | PN Stitcher

Kiva, Kickstarter, Fiverr - When a Little Goes a Long Way

With so many people throwing around money on Black Friday (hiss!) and Small Business Saturday (hurray!), allow me to suggest a few more ways to spread your hard-earned cheese around.  Kiva is a microfinance organization committed to ending poverty around the world by making loans available to entrepreneurs in the developing world. For those who might like to help out the in the area of culture -- and perhaps a bit closer to home, Kickstarter is a platform that collects small donations to help fund creative projects; I was more than happy to kick in a little last year to fund the Harvey Pekar memorial in Cleveland.  And, if you're looking to get something back for your dollars, you might consider fiverr, an online marketplace that provides all kinds of cool services starting at $5 a pop.  Basically, anything that can be produced over the web -- logo for your soccer team, translation of Farsi into English, reading a script in the voice of Fake Patrick Stewart -- you can get cheap at fiverr.  Happy shopping -- and the money you spend here will make someone else happy too.

PN Feedburner | PN iTunes | PN Twitter | PN Facebook | PN Video | PN Goodreads | PN Stitcher