Words and Music

Three good choices out of four is pretty good; my trip to the library netted some interesting material - 2 books, 2 Cd's. Unfortunately I found the first book unreadable as the author seemed more intent on showing off his impressive vocabulary than using it to convey anything entertaining or informative. It's written by South African author Tony Eprile and titled 'Persistence of Memory'. (if the title sounds familiar, it is shared by Salvador Dali's most recognizable work commonly referred to as 'Soft Watches'.)

I've now almost finished the second book, a memoir by late Cdn broadcaster and writer Peter Gzowski - 'The Private Voice'. It's a largely warm, wide ranging and honest recollection of his personal and professional life; it includes a ton of name dropping across thirty years of media and political figures. I even found a brief amusing mention of my grandmother's younger brother who was an editor with Canada's national magazine, 'Macleans'.

The music I borrowed and have been enjoying belong to Sarah Slean and Levon Helm. Sarah is a 31 year old lady who is gifted in a number of areas (singer, songwriter, painter, photographer, actor) and who happened to grow up about 20 miles from here. She has a distinctive singing voice and is an accomplished pianist. On this, her 7th album, 'The Baroness' I particularly enjoyed these tracks: Goodnight Trouble, Sound of Water, and No Place At All. Her feature laden website is here. Check it out.

Levon Helm is, of course, the former drummer from The Band. He's an Arkansas native who got mixed up with 4 Canadians and together they produced an enviable body of work. Last year he released his first studio album in 25 years and proceeded to win a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album. Here he is ably backed up and produced by his daughter Amy (background vocals) and Larry Campbell (playing anything with strings that can be plucked, strummed or bowed).... and others. Levon has been a Woodstock N.Y. resident since '68 and for the last number of years has produced his Midnight Ramble shows there at his studio. A rock & roll survivor he has recuperated from surgery and radiation treatment for throat cancer. I see he's playing the Ryman Auditorium in September......hmmm. Anyway, a couple of standout tracks for me are Little Birds, and Wide River To Cross. Website here.