Quick Thoughts/Short Takes #7

I hope you are all well and keeping safe and healthy. In these anxious times, it is both uncomfortable and comforting to be talking about art, books, music, but since others are better positioned than I to speak about the issue most concerning us all (other than to say please, for all of our sakes, take this seriously and follow the protocols), I opt for the comforting. So in this one, an exhibit, a movie, a late show, a book and some music.

City/Game at the Museum of the City of New York. A jam-packed room, many souvenirs and some video about basketball and how New York, particularly the street games that flourish here, influenced the game we know today. As touted by the exhibit, basketball is a game invented by a Canadian while working in Massachusetts, but heavily influenced by how it is played in New York. The exhibit is fascinating but not particularly coherent nor organized in a way that allows the many visitors to fully digest what is presented. Multiple video screens are available right next to or under others, on odd walls with little room to optimize viewing. I never got a full understanding of the flow of the room or the presentation. So while fun to meander through, it does not tell the coherent and in depth story I was expecting.

Emma. A new movie version of Jane Austen’s Emma. It seems quite modern, the social and class issues well explained or communicated, the emotions and motivations of most of the characters clearly laid out. The cast is excellent. Anya Taylor-Joy in the lead role is very effective, Johnny Flynn as Mr. Knightley is a bit rough looking in comparison to prior versions of his character but gives an excellent performance, and Bill Nighy is, as usual, well, Bill Nighy. Mia Goth (Harriet Smith), Josh O’Connor (Mr. Elton) and the others are very good as well. It is still a mystery to me what Jane Fairfax sees in Frank Churchill, but I am no Austen scholar so maybe it is just me.  Very well done indeed (as one of the characters might have said). And it is now available for streaming.

Cyro Baptista at Dizzy’s. Fantastic late-ish show at Dizzy’s again, although an annoying audience—maybe I am just too picky. As noted in a prior post, Baptista is an incredibly creative, somewhat eccentric, percussionist, adding shades and colors to the music on a range of instruments, many of his own devising. Here he appeared with his regular drummer and a youngish band—guitar, accordion, bass, and sax. The music was complex, lively, full of warm and subtle shadings, a great wave of rhythm that had the audience, or at least part of it, up and dancing in the aisles. One of his hand-made instruments was constructed out of white conduit pipes such as used in construction, cut to different lengths and set up a bit like vertical vibes.  He played them by slapping the open tops of the tubes with what looked like paddles, but which were in fact the soles of bedroom slippers.  His joy in the music and the young band was infectious. Even for the several people around me at the bar who talked through most of the show. I look forward to being able to hear live music again.

Six Feet of Books, Short Takes Edition: Alan Furst’s The Occupation. His once yearly contribution to the espionage genre, set again in occupied France during the Second World War. The hero, Paul Ricard, is a novelist of detective fiction initially drawn into clandestine activity by happenstance. I have read most or all of Furst’s previous books and I have enjoyed them all immensely.  Somewhat literary, but real page turners. I must say, however, that while Furst is superb with plot, and the books appear well-researched, his writing sometimes causes you to scratch your head—it can be surprisingly awkward—and the books seem to be getting shorter and a bit rushed. In this one, there is an off-note in the ending that I would have otherwise overlooked. But I still jump to get them as soon as they come out and tend to read them in just a sitting or two.

Dave Holland’s Good Hope. I call this Dave Holland’s Good Hope because I came to it because of my love of Dave Holland’s bass playing.  But it is really an equal collaboration among him, Chris Potter on sax, and Zakir Hussain on tablas and percussion. Songwriting duties are almost equally split among them. The combination of virtuoso jazz double bass, Potter’s forward-looking soprano and tenor playing, and the extraordinary Indian percussion of Hussain is superb. The compositions are varied and the textures the trio achieves is a wonderful melding of styles. Highly recommended.

Next up: maybe some books and music or I may put this line of posts aside for a while and post some longer pieces while we are homebound. Please stay safe everyone.