morningstar

@Nicholas: Everything I know I've written in the review, taking it from the internet from the Nick Drake files, and I don't even know how reliable it is. If anyone knows more, that's great.

So much fun the Picasso guitar, Symbad. I've listened to Del Pat's "American Garage" and "Letter from Home," but I confess they didn't say much to me (he always seemed to me like someone with great technique and not many musical ideas, an indefatigable recycler of obscure samba rhythms detached from their original context and emptied of content). Maybe it's just not for me. But perhaps I chose the wrong albums? Anyway, great review as usual.

I haven't listened to "La question," Zion, yet, but I've read somewhere that many consider it a masterpiece. There are apparently even covers by Jobim and Gainsbourg; it's definitely on the shopping list. I don't know Claudine Longet either; do you think she’s worth it?

Well done Odradek, I recommend to everyone if you want to delve into the autobiography of Caetano Veloso, "Verità tropicale", it describes this social climate well and contains a lot of information about Brazilian music.

Dear Pollock, with the phrase "forgetting is at least as important as remembering," I simply meant that at a certain point, making music becomes a process of selection and filtering of everything you've previously listened to, from a single free jazz note to a bossa nova rhythm to the sound of a truck on the highway. Everyone experiences hearing a phrase, forgetting who said it, recalling it later, momentarily attributing it to themselves as their own thought, linking it to something else, etc. At a certain point, making music becomes a process of this kind, and by "forgetting," we mean, if you will, "assimilating, selecting & filtering."

I have only listened to the first volume of the newly released Masada book 2, titled after the archangel "Astaroth." With the arrangement by Jamie Saft, it's a true gem. I just bought the second volume, which is called "Azazel," featuring the legendary Masada string trio anzicheno'. I still lack this third one. It's amusing to name each piece after one of the fallen angels, and the CD covers in the series are truly stunning. Well done, mister Sfascia, as usual.

Thanks everyone for the comments. Beautiful argument Pollock, I mostly agree. One of the points that, in my opinion, differentiates a musician today from one 80 or even 50 or 30 years ago is that now practically everyone has access to an incredible amount of musical material and is exposed to a huge number of genres. At some point, what was once the art of creating is becoming a bit like the art of mixing. It makes one almost think of that Borges story where there’s a man who remembers every single moment of his life in absolute detail, and this is something tragic for him because it paralyzes him from taking action. The moral of the story is that forgetting is at least as important as remembering (what did I say?). Basically, I don’t know, and long live the sacher cake.

Indeed beautiful, I don't know enough about Fossati to make comparisons. Which others do you recommend (I only have this one, the live vol 2, and l'arcangelo)?

I didn't know anything about Ponty, but I think it's worth looking into. I agree with Hal that "My Favourite Things" is not a jazz rock album; Coltrane, when it came time to choose between fusion and free, chose free, as we all know. Anyway, great review.

Serge is indeed a true genius. I don’t have this collection, but I have almost all the songs. By the way, the version of "Je t'aime moi non plus" with Bardot came out much later, even though it's the one that was recorded first. Brigitte was a bit embarrassed... so the first one to be released was the one two years later with Jane Birkin. When Serge learned that the Vatican had banned the song, he rubbed his hands together; now that’s what I call publicity. The title track I believe incorporates a letter from Bonnie and Clyde to a newspaper and I think it’s heavily inspired by the film that came out around that time; if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. "Les Sucettes" is a brilliant piece, pay attention to the lyrics written for a very young France Gall, who declared that she sang it the first time without understanding the double meaning. Another true masterpiece is "Requiem pour un con." "Intoxicated Man" is a tribute to Boris Vian, who I believe was quite a role model for him. Good review, Lewis.