Adam O'Farrill's Elephant

Thanks to Mark Weiss's Earthwise Productions, this amazing quartet came to boring little Palo Alto yesterday. This is a band playing in the current jazz idiom, at the highest level. Intricate polyrhythmic compositions punctuated by episodic collective improvisation. Repetitive elements reminiscent of Steve Reich or Aphex Twin; trumpet textures using the mute and the synthesizer. Instrumental mastery by all players goes without saying. Great show... definitely seek them out... although to be honest, I find them more compelling recorded than live. So, enjoy:

Reading roundup

The Conservationist
Nadine Gordimer

An excellent novel about a despicable man. The book is told in the third person largely from the perspective of our anti-hero, Mehring, whose bigotry, misogyny, greed, self-delusion, and – perhaps – ignominious downfall might be taken as an allegory for the plight of South Africa under apartheid. And yet... his rich inner life and powers of observation, depicted by Gordimer in poetic stream of consciousness, somehow redeemed him for me, if only a little. Splendid.

As I Lay Dying
William Faulkner

Have you read it? If so, read it again. Powerful, bleak, musical, funny. Yes, I laughed out loud at that final sentence. Meet Mrs. Bundren, indeed. At least this one probably didn't smell as bad as her predecessor. One of the best.

Little, Big
John Crowley

When I read the obit of Crowley, who died in August, I had never heard of him. That he was famous for writing fantasies – a genre I have never taken to, except maybe some by Phillip Pullman – was not likely to motivate me to pick up one of his books. And yet, Harold Bloom is right there on the cover blurbing, "the most enchanting twentieth-century book I know." So I committed myself to its 500+ pages. Not for me, I confess. The odd thing is that nothing much fantastical really happens for the majority of the book. Sure, faeries seem to be afoot, and gradually we learn of an epic battle of some sort between faerie factions... I think... but then, it may be that I missed something important as I was repeatedly nodding off. The writing is not bad, and the characters are somewhat charming. I can't recommend it, but your mileage may vary.