Jazz treatments of pop covers turn up in some unusual places, but I never thought I’d find one on a Keith Jarrett record. But on Jasmine, his latest outing for ECM, a gorgeous duet session with bassist Charlie Haden, Jarrett covers One Day I’ll Fly Away, which was a hit for Randy Newman in 1980. As you’ll hear, Jarrett and …
Why Didn’t I Think of That?
This is such a cool idea: http://corpuslibris.blogspot.com
Family Business
Obviously I’m still excited about my news, but I don’t want to steal anyone’s thunder here. Apparently I’m not the only person in my family doing the book thing. It seems that while we thought she was in her room playing with her dolls, Catherine was hard at work on something quite different. She may only be five, but her …
Endorsed Aphorism of the Day
This is a new feature, which I will be posting about from time to time. Due accreditation will be given, where known. If you have any good suggestions for gems to include, please let me know. The snarkier the better. Here is today’s pithy pearl of wisdom to get things started: There is no I in team, but there are …
Don’t Know Why
After all the excitement of the last couple of days, we resume normal service around here. At least for a while. Continuing our intermittent series of pop tunes being given the jazz treatment, here’s a particularly juicy one – on video, to boot. Pat Metheny is (little-known fact) Missouri-born and bred – I saw him a while back here in …
Thank You.
Well that was fun. I have been overwhelmed by the wonderful and generous response from so many people to my news. I’ve been inundated with emails, phone calls, Facebook comments, and singing telegrams (OK, not that last one), all wishing me the best. I am very touched by everyone’s good wishes. Thank you all so much. I hope you’ll continue …
Announcement.
This is the post I have dreamed about writing every day for the past five years. I am pleased and proud (and staggered) to report that I have sold the worldwide rights to THE SONGS OF OUR FATHERS to Amy Einhorn, publisher of Amy Einhorn Books, an imprint of Penguin/Putnam. Amy has always been our number one choice of publisher …
Special Relationship?
No postings on the World Cup yet, although I’ve been watching as much as I can and enjoying most of it, except for 90 minutes last Saturday afternoon. Thanks to the England goalkeeper’s utterly bizarre howler, I have been on the receiving end of much gleeful teasing – cute email references to “dropping the ball”, and the like. Oh, how …
Advice for Writers from Margaret Atwood
I’m friends with Margaret Atwood. Oh yes I am. To prove it, here’s a photograph of her. Well, OK. I follow her on Twitter. (These days I think that counts.) Anyway, while I was noodling about on the web last night, I found the following very funny (but also accurate) piece she wrote for the Guardian a while back. They …
Required Reading (Unfortunately)
I wrote here about how much I dislike doing research for my books. It’s still true, but I have had to knuckle down and change my ways. Here’s a list of books I’ve read recently, all in the name of research for my next novel: Birdmen, Batmen, and Skyflyers Please Kill Me – the Uncensored Oral History of Punk Amusement …