Author: ekkarn

Louis Hayes Treats with a Serenade for Horace

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Serenade for Horace – Louis Hayes

 

This morning I was looking over the Jazz Charts at the Roots Music Reports. There were several albums on the chart by artists who I am unfamiliar with that I want to check out. But the album at number two was the one that first caught my attention. It’s title is Serenade for Horace by jazz drummer Louis Hayes.  Now two things combine here to make this album interesting to me. First, I know little about Louis Hayes. Now I’ve become familiar with Horace Silver’s music over the last few years. The reason is that many times when I listened to jazz on the radio, a song would come on that caught my attention. So I’d look to see who it was and many times it was Horace Silver!! Anyway when I saw the name Horace Silver I knew I would probably like the album. Guess what, I was right!!

About Louis Hayes

Louis HayesSerenade for Horace is actually, the 80-year old Louis Hayes’ (born May 31, 1937)  debut album on Blue Note as a leader. I say as a leader because in 1956 Louis moved from his hometown of Detroit to New York City. When he arrived in New York he joined the Horace Silver Quintet and became an intricate part of a group that produced such great Blue Note recordings like “Señor Blues,” “Sister Sadie,” and “Blowin’ the Blues Away.”

From the Horace Silver Quintet, Louis moved on to join Cannonball Adderley’s Quintet where he stayed until 1965. From 1965 to 1967 he was a member of the Oscar Peterson Trio  In 1972 The Louis Hayes Sextet was formed. That band subsequently became  the Louis Hayes-Junior Cook Quintet and the Woody Shaw-Louis Hayes Quintet. Since 1989 he has led his own band, and together with Vincent Herring formed the Cannonball Legacy Band.

Throughout the years Louis Hayes has also played with……

…..John Coltrane, Kenny Burrell, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Timmons, Hank Mobley, Booker Little, Tommy Flanagan, Cecil Taylor, McCoy Tyner, Ray Brown, Joe Henderson, Gary Bartz, and Tony Williams. He also led sessions for Vee-Jay (1960), Timeless (1976), Muse (1977), Candid (1989), Steeplechase (1989–1994), and TCB (2000–2002).Louis says te following about Serenade for Horace – More at Wikipeia

About Serenade for Horace

 

Serenade for Horace is composed of ten classic Horace Silver tracks and a new original “Hastings Street”, which is dedicated to Silver’s hometown – Detroit. Hayes is joined on the album by other members of the Jazz Communicator. Members include: bassist Dezron Douglas who-produced the album with Blue Note Records President Don Was, with  Maxine Gordon acting as executive producer,Steve Nelson, pianist David Bryant, tenor saxophonist Abraham Burton, and trumpeter Josh Evans.

Louis says this about the album…

“I wanted to do this recording for Horace Silver because I wanted jazz fans to hear his music and I wanted to honor his memory,” writes Hayes in the album’s liner notes. “Horace and I always stayed in touch ever since I first worked with him. When he got to the point where he wasn’t feeling too well, I went to see him and one day he said to me ‘Louis, you’re a part of my history.’ I thought about what that meant and I began thinking about how to take Horace’s music and his legacy into the future.”

Bottom Line

Louis Hayes done his former boss proud on Serenade for Horace! This is definitely a strong 4.5 star album for me. In true hard bop fashion each of the band members get a chance to shine on the album. Right now as  type those post I’m listening to “Summer in Central Park” I just heard a nice Josh Evans trumpet solo, followed by Steve Nelson on vibes and now the piano of David Bryant. It doesn’t get much better! I heard a great Louis Hayes drum solo on “St. Vitus Dane” Just great hard bop so Check It Out!!! I’m finishing up to the Horace Silver classic “Señor Blues”.

Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of Louis Hayes

Artist’s Website
Facebook
Amazon
YouTube
Blue Note Records

So how about a short playlist with those three tracks I mentioned earlier….

Can Steve Hamilton’s Nick Mason Find His Exit Strategy?

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Exist Strategy – Steve Hamilton  (Nick Mason #2)

 

Exit Strategy is the second. book in the Nick Mason series from author Steve Hamilton. The Second Life of Nick Mason  was the first book in the series and it introduced readers to a different kind of hero. Nick Mason was a prisoner serving 25 years as the result of a robbery gone wrong. While in prison gang kingpin Darius Cole offers Nick his freedom, but not without a catch. The catch is that Nick has to carry out any mission assigned to him. And if he doesn’t hs ex-wife and nine-year old daughter will pay a heavy price. The missions – kill people who Cole needs dead!!

About the Books of Steve Hamilton

I have been a fan of Steve Hamilton and his character Alex McKnight since I read the second book in that series Winter of the Wolf. I had gone to the library to check out his first McKnight novel A Cold Day in Paradise but it was checked out. So I settled for Winter of the Wolf and I’ m glad I did because I have read every book since!!

From Steve Hamilton’s website:

About: Exit Strategy

Darius Cole has a problem, He has been granted a retrial based upon an Anonymous Juror violation. His problem is that  the two key witnesses that testified against him in his first trial twelve years ago are still around and ready to testify again! They both are in the Federal Witness Protection Program.

Like Darius Cole, Nick Mason has a problem. It is Darius Cole! Nick hates the life he has to lead. All he wants is to get back to living a normal life, particularly with his nine-year old daughter Adriana. That can’t ever happen unless Nick figures out an exit strategy from Darius.

So with that on his mind Nick is given an assignment kill the witness set to testify against Cole. Once gain it pains Nick to be directed to kill. Mason becomes more determined to break free of the clutches of Cole, but can he do it before the next assignment breaks him!

Bottom Line

Exit Strategy is a strong 4 star book for me. The book really has everything you’d want. An engaging main character in Nick Mason.There are also a ton of engaging secondary characters. They include  Mason’ daughter and ex-wife, Cole’s woman Diana who is Mason’s house mate. She is as much a prisoner of Cole’s as Mason is. There is also police detective Frank Sandoval. Sandoval has been on Mason’s trail since the crime that sent Mason to prison.

Then there is also a great storyline. Although I do think that some of Nick’s escapes during his missions were a little hard to believe. But those things are not enough to dampen my enthusiasm for the book. It certainly didn’t slow down the rapid reading pace that the book had me reading!! So Check it Out!!

Book 31 for 2017

A – Mile Morning  Run Because It’s Hot and I’m Old! Three

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July 12 th – A Three – Mile Morning  Run Because It’s Hot and I’m Old!

 

Ok so this morning when I checked the weather it was sunny and almost 80 degrees. The forecast is that temperatures will climb into the low 90s today. It would not have taken much to convince myself not to run! But I fought the impulse to do that. Rather I decided that the best idea was to shorten my run to around three miles. Additionally, I decided to plot out a course that would maximize shade! The final thing I needed to do was to tell myself to take it easy!

The Run

So with all that in mind I set out.The first half-mile was fairly easy some clouds blocked the direct sunlight so it wasn’t too hot. By the time the sun did come out I was almost to shade. I reached that shade just a little before the first mile mark. I reached that Mile mark at 11:03 into the run.. Ah, shade and I was almost to the high point of the run. I reached that high point in another few minutes

 

Photo 1 - Going Up Oak Towards that Shade!

Photo 1 – Going Up Oak Towards that Shade!

Photo 2 – The Shade Along Moreland Ave. Heading towards the Highpoint along Fairview St.

Ah, now it was downhill in the shade for most of the decent. I was in and out of the sun for the second half of that mile. Again I had planned the course to maximize the shade and it worked. I ran the second mile in 10:39. Again most of it was downhill.

Photo 3 – Along the downhill on Pancoast Ave.

Now all I had to do was make it through the last mile. Most of that mile was in the sun. Luckily I convinced myself that I could go slow and no one would care!

When I was heading into the last stretch of the run I noticed my overall pace was just a little over 11 minutes per mile so I mustered what Speed I could get and I finished at 11 minute per mile pace. The time for the last mile was 11:28 but my sprint pace at least for .1 miles was 9:37.

When I finished the run my heart rate was 165, but within four minutes of walking around the block it was down to 116.

The Post Run Walk

As I walked and cooled down, I thought why don’t I try to stay in the shade and try to walk for a mile. I walked in the shadows at the school for a bit and the around the Spring Garden park and made the mile. Because my heart rate was still over 100 it was a good fat-burning walk!!

The Results:

3.1 mile run – 34:15. Average pace: 11 min/mile
Average heart rate 147 bpm – 443 calories burned.

1.0 mile walk – Average heart rate 118 bpm
215 calories burned

Not too bad!

The Soundtrack for the run was a blues album. The latest from Julian Sas – Feelin’ Alive and sometimes during the run I actually did!

I’ll review the album in a bit at FreeWheelin Music Safari.

To try to make these posts a little less boring., I thought I’d add a few pictures to show you where I was actually running! What do you think?

Parnell Hall -A Puzzle to Be Named Later and the Series Gets Better and Better!

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Originally Posted July 2017 revised April 2026

Ok so maybe juts maybe Parnell Hall is not going to win any major literary awards for his Puzzle Lady series. But if you are looking for a fast, funny and just enjoyable read try a Puzzle Lady book! I admit I have not read even close to the majority of the book series. I usually just pick up one of them at the library when I need a laugh break from all the murder and mayhem that I read.

The latest one that I just finished A Puzzle to Be Named Later was a welcome break after the last few intense books that I’ve finished. Especially, Chris Carter’s I Am Death and of course the ongoing circus of the Trump Administration.

My History with Parnell Hall

I first started reading the books of Parnell Hall way back in 1991 when I read my first Stanley Hastings mystery. Strangler, which was the fourth book in the series. Since then I have read all but two of the books in the now 20 book series.

One of the books that I haven’t read is A Fool for a Client which is book 20 in the series. I totally missed the release of this one. But is now being held at my local branch of the Burlington County Library System. Anyway, the point is that I have always preferred Stanley over Cora but after reading more of the Puzzle Lady books, Cora is growing on me. Booklist writes this about Cora……

“If sweet-looking, gray-haired Miss Marple cursed, smoked, and carried a gun in her purse, she’d be a ringer for Cora Felton.”

AboutA Puzzle To Be Named Later

In A Puzzle to Be Named Later  Cora is once again in the middle of a Bakerhaven murder investigation. This time the murder revolves around an up and coming new star pitcher for the New York Yankees – Matt Greystone. After signing a huge contract Greystone, who came to the Yankees as a “player to be named later”, breaks his arm in an automobile crash.

Greystone moves to Bakerhaven to avoid the bright lights of  New York and rehab in peace. When a sleazy New York gossip columnist is found dead in Matt’s sauna, during a welcome to Bakershaven bash, Matt’s wife becomes the prime suspect. There is also a crossword puzzle found with the dead man. The solution to the puzzle says “you’ll find a surprise in the file of this guy”. That sends Cora onto the trail of the killer and she won’t stop to she finds out who did it!

Bottom Line:

The Cora Felton Puzzle Lady books are a fun and welcome change from gruesome murder mysteries. Parnell is a master of witty dialogue. He also is great at creating characters, who are foils for his lead characters. Cora Felton has two foils. First. Captain Harper of the Bakerhaven police. And secondly, Sargent Crowley of the NYPD. Cora’s relations with both policemen are some of the best parts of the books.

So let’s see A Puzzle to Be Named Later gets 5 stars for a fun character and snappy dialogue, 3 stars for artistic style i.e descriptiveness, creation of a sense of place, etc. Finally 4 stars for a twisty turning plot that kept my interest. Those twists never stopped until the last pages of the book.  Averaging those three ratings gives the book a solid 4 star rating.  That means that I really, really liked A Player to be Named Later.

Now I must admit that I am a lot like Cora Felton, when it comes to doing crossword puzzles. I don’t do them very well. In each book puzzles from Will Shortz provide clues to solve the mystery. I guess in one of these books, I really have to try to solve some of these puzzle. Does anyone else who read these books, do the puzzles? Just curious!

Author’s Website
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Goodreads

Parnel Hall - author of Stanley Hastings and Puzzle Lady novels

About Parnell Hall

If you like a little humor in your books….

You might enjoy these authors:

Tim Dorsey
Janet Evanovich
Christopher Moore

Whether you’re solving crosswords with Cora or running from the mob with Stephanie Plum, these authors prove that a good mystery is always better with a side of laughter.

Marked for Life by Emilie Schepp – One of the best of 2016!

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Marked for Life – Emelie Schepp

 

Sometime last month I picked up Emelie Scheep’s book Marked for Revenge. On the cover it said that she was “2016  Swedish Crime Writer of the Year”. I am a fan of Nordic crime writing. That meant there was no way this book was not gong home with me. When I got it home though I discovered that the book was the second book in a trilogy. I decided that there was no sense in reading book two first and then book one so I checked out the first book of the trilogy Marked For Life. I read it first. When I finished it I agreed that the Crime Writer of the Year award was justly deserved.

Quickly, I moved onto the already checked out Marked for Revenge.  I finished that about two weeks later in th middle of June. I just checked and it seems that I will have to wait until June of 2018 for the release of Marked for Death the final book in the trilogy!!

About Marked for Life

 

Jana Berzelius is a young and brilliant but cold, Public Prosecutor in Norrköping Sweden. She is the adopted daughter of the former Prosecutor General Karl Berzelius. Jana knows very little about her past. Most of what she does know she has learned from her dreams. She does know, however, that the name KER is carved into the back of her neck. KER “Goddess of Death”. It’s the one thing that her father told her she could never tell anyone about. Everything thing is going well in her life…

But then a high-ranking official of the Migration Board is founded murdered in his home. The only clue revealed during the police investigation are the fingerprints of a child. The puzzling thing is that the victim and his wife are childless.Jana steps in to lead the police investigation.

Several days after the murder, the police find the dead body of their young prime suspect. The police discover the name Hades carved on the back of his neck. Jana’s world is suddenly turned upside down. The name Hades who is the God of Death is very similar to KER, the name carved on the back of her neck. Images from Jana’s dark past-life soon come racing back to her. Now, in order to both uncover and protect her hidden past Jana must find the real suspect behind these two murders before police, she is leading, unravel the crime. To do that she needs to explore her past in all its gory detail!

Thoughts About Marked for Life

In addition to  the terrific story, and the great character of Jana Berzelius, there are a couple of aspects of Marked for Life that I really liked.

First, Emelie Schepp tells the story of Jana’s past life brilliantly through a series of flashbacks.  Emelie reveals Jana’s past bit by bit. That slow revealing of her past helped keep me turning the pages with increasing rapidity!! . I do appreciate that rather than just distinguish the flashbacks from current time through the title page of the chapter, the flashbacks are in  italics. By presenting  the flashbacks like this the reader is never confused about whether or not he or she is reading about the past or the present!!

Secondly,  Jana is obviously the main character of the book. However,  Emelie has also created a cast of characters, any of which could be the lead in a future novel. First there’s Gunnar Öhrn head of the CID and his on and off again partner Anneli Lindgren, Then there’s DCI Henrik Levin, and his partner Mia Bolander.  I could see a book with any of them as the lead character!!

Bottom Line: 

Marked for Life is a sure-fire five-star book for me. Obviously, those who bestowed the Crime Writer of the Year Award on her thought so , too!.The two comments on the back cover of the book sum up my thoughts perfectly……

“A fast-paced thriller with a good blend of police procedural, the draw of a ninja-strong female lead, and enough adrenaline to make a good night’s sleep a near impossibility” – Booklist

” A stellar first in a crime trilogy… Schepp couples an insightful look at the personal and professional lives of her characters with an unflinching multi-layered plot loaded with surprises – Publishers Weekly , starred review

Yes this is one book you don’t want to miss. I’m glad I didn’t!! I just discovered that you can buy the Kindle Edition of Marked for Life at Amazon now for only $1.99 what a buy!! Get it here

Book 25 of 2017

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The Girl Who Was Taken : Another Winner from Charlie Donlea

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The Girl Who Was Taken – Charlie Donlea

The Girl who was Taken - Charlie Donlea

The Girl Who Was Taken is second book written by Charlie Donlea I read his debut novel Summit Lake last year and thought it was a great read. I think that this book is even better. So I can’t wait for book his next book!

 The Story

In The Girl Who Was Taken, two girls are taken. After two weeks one girl escapes Magen McDonald. She becomes a celebrity while the second girl Nicole Cutty is forgotten.

That is until the body of a jumper turns up on the autopsy table of her Nicole’s sister Livia. Her autopsy reveals that the young man did not commit suicide but was murdered. In addition, Livia discovers that the young man was Nicole’s boyfriend during the summer she when she was taken.

Soon Livia sets out to discover what happened on the night Nicole was taken, on the night that Livia did not answer Nicole’s frantic call.

The tale of Nicole’ taking and Livia’s hunt are told side by side through the book. Nicole’s story is told in short flashback passages and while Livia’s in present time.

The third story that weaves its way through the book is Megan’s story. Though she has become a celebrity through a book that she wrote about her miraculous escape, she has never forgotten about Nicole. Throughout the book Megan tries to discover more and more about her taking. She is particularly interested where she was kept. Why? Because it wasn’t the bunker that she escaped from!

Bottom Line

The Girl Who Was Taken is a four and half star book for me. Maybe even a five-star book!

The story line was great. It had several twists and turns. Then, when it all came together in the final pages I couldn’t believe what I was reading!! The characters were all believable especially Livia Cutty and well Nicole, too. I really don’t think that we have heard the end of their story! As  I said in the beginning of this post I can;’ wait for Charlie’s next book.

The Girl Who Was Taken and Books Have to Call You Back!

Charlie wrote on his website that when he started out to write his books he knew that they face a lot of competition from other mediums, i.e TV, the Internet and movies. So he thought about what made him put down the remote or the mouse and pick up a book instead. He concluded that “the book has to call him back” So he has issued a challenge……..

So try them. Pick up one of my books and get into the story. Then, put it down and get on with your life. If the characters or the setting or the mystery calls you back to it, then turn off the television for a night, stow the tablet at bedtime, and read a good book. And if you’re able to figure out the twist in Summit Lake or The Girl Who Was Taken, let me know by dropping me a line. I’d love to hear from you.

Yes, both of his books did call me back! And know I didn’t figure out the twists in either of the books. How about you???? Believe me it’s worth trying!

Author’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon

 

A Very Strong Second Comeback Run Minus the Music

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How could I not run on Global Runnig Day!

 

Ok so last night was my second comeback run and my second run of the week. The last one was ok and there has been no major pain. just the normal little soreness you can expect after not running for a while. I decided that I would run a route that is a little over 3 miles long. It is a loop run with only one small hill near the end of the run.

I had planned to use Selwyn Burchwood’s latest release Pick Your Poison as the soundtrack for the run. However I have been using my old  iPhone On my runs because I still do not haven’t  a case for my new iPhone. Anyway the old iPhone wouldn’t download any songs. Therefore I went old school and ran without music.

The Run

Once again I told myself to take it easy. The first block of the run, which I usually find the hardest , was a little of a struggle. But it was actually completed a little faster than my previous run.. After that point I was running a little easier, but I was shocked when I looked down at the first mile mark and saw that my time was 10:37!

I thought that’s pretty fast, so I better slow down. I thought I did, but as I kept looking at the time, my pace was hovering right around 10:40 minutes per mile. That was what the pace was when I reached the two mile mark and the three mile mark! And actuallly I was still running pretty comfortably. I was even comfortable enough to get a little sprint at the end. That sprint brought my average pace down to 10:37 for the run!

Here are the splits: Mile 1 10:37 Mile 2 10:40 Mile 3 10:40 last 0.27 10:14!

Hmm I was just thinking if. I better off running without music. That’s the way I ran for years and sometimes I think it helps me be more in tune with my body and my breathing. So maybe I’ll try it in my next few runs and see how it goes.

This Morning’s Workout

This morning I didn’t want to do a full 60 minute workout, but I still wanted to get in a good workout that would burn a few calories  not just a yoga strecting workout. So I designed a modified 27 minute workout which combines a little tabata with my regular stuff
. It ended up being a 39 minute workout that burned 236 calories. But the most importantl thing is that my morning workout seems to get my body started in the morning.

Oh by the way i intent to write about Selwyn Birchwood‘a album in a bit so stay tuned. Now I want to go hear what Mr Comey has to say!

A Return to Running Music by Sean Chambers

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The Run –  30 Minutes – 2.75 Miles

So I stuck to plans for a run this yesterday afternoon and took off on a run at around 5:15. Which I guess is actually this evening. My plan was to run for at least 30 minutes. I chose a course that I usually run when I am returning to running. It’s  about 2.5 miles plus and takes around 30 some minutes.

Since it was my first run in over a month, I kept reminding myself as I was prepping for the run to take it easy! Anyway whether it’s old age or I just have learned over the years how to run slower, I was able to maintain a nice easy pace throughout the run.

Here are the mile splits: mile 1. 11:01, mile 2 11:17 the last .75 mile 11:19.I’ll take the last .75 mile being only 18 seconds per mile slower than the first mile any day.

The bottom line is that it was a successful start for a return to running. And so far my foot feels fine. The only thing that hurts tonight is my left shoulder, but that is from this morning’s tabata workout. I hate push-ups.

The Soundtrack: Trouble & Whiskey – Sean Chambers

The soundtrack for the run was Trouble & Whiskey, the latest release from Tampa based blues guitarist Sean Chambers. This album has been in my music rotation for several weeks now and is one of my favorites of 2017!

I first discovered the music of Sean Chambers in 2010 when I started blogging and exploring new music. He is the former lead guitarist for Blues great Hubert Sumlin. At that time, I explored his albums Humble Spirits and Ten Til Midnight. I enjoyed them both. More recently I listened to and enjoyed his album Live from the Long Island Blues Warehouse. And while I enjoyed all of the above albums I think that Trouble & Whiskey may be his best yet!

About Trouble & Whiskey

Both Costello’s vocals and guitar work are great on the album. Ben Elliott who has recorded classic artists such as Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Billy Gibbons and Leslie West among others produced the album

The Sean’s band consists of obviously Sean on lead vocals and lead guitar. The rest of the band includes: Michael Hensley on Hammond B3 & keyboards, Todd Cook on bass and Kris Schnebelen on drums.

Special guests include Jimmy Bennett on guitar on track #8, John Ginty on Hammond B3 on track #4, (one of my favorite tracks!) and Andrei Koribaniks on percussion on tracks #1 and #7.

Seven of the tracks on Trouble & Whiskey new original Sean Chambers compositions. The remaining three tracks are covers: “Bullfrog Blues” by Rory Gallagher,(again one of my favorites), ‘Cut Off My Right Arm” by Johnny Copeland and “Be Careful With A Fool” by B.B. King/Joe Bihari.

So check it out! As for me I think I’ll create a playlist and give a listen to some of those other albums I haven’t heard for a while !

Here are some links …..

Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of Sean Chambers

Artist’s Website
Facebook
Twitter

Amazon

Here is a video for. the title track from Trouble & Whiskey from Sean Chambers

AM Workout: Tabata with Meditation Music From Nathan Speir

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Originally posted at The Amelioration Project

A Tabata Workout Followed by the peaceful music of Nathan Speir

This morning I really did not feel like doing a full 60 minute workout. I seriously considered only doing a light yoga workout. But the. I thought maybe a short 20 minute Tabata workout. So I created one on the workout app that I use. It consisted of 8 – 20 second intervals followed by 10 second rest of the following

  • Jumping jacks
  • Squat thrusts
  • Sit ups
  • Mountain climbers
  • Push-ups/ squats 5 push outs 3 squats

Of course I counted how many of the exercises I did in each interval. If you had told me T the beginning of the exercise I would be doing

  • 200 jumping jacks
  • 64 sit-ups
  • 64 squat thrusts
  • 240 mountain climbers and
  • 40 push ups

I would have said you were nuts! But that’s what I did. And although the workout only burnt. Calories according to my Fitbit I think it was pretty damn good workout!

I followed it with a 10 minute meditation  and 5 minute savasana
( had to sneak in a little yoga!)

Today’s Meditation Soundtrack: Part of a Kindly Plan – Nathan Speir

 

The soundtrack for the meditation was a New Age album that’s been in my music rotation for a while now but I haven’t written about it yet. Big surprise I haven’t been doing a lot of writing about anything recently. So in an effort to break out of that rut,let me tell you about Nathan Speir and his album Part of a Kindly Plan.

Nathan Speir is a pianist, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was born in southern California but was raised in Florida and Connecticut. Currently he calls Winston-Salem North Carolina home. Part of a Kindly Plan is Speir’s eight studio release. His music style is eclectic and varied. He cites among his influences the music of George Winston, Keith Jarrret, Pat Metheny, Steve Roach, Harold Budd, R Carlos Nakai, Chopin and Erik Satie. His is inspired by his family, poetry, fine art, space and astronomy, the study of religion and nature.

From his Website Biography…

“I have a perpetual need to create,” explains Speir, “and making music teaches me many lessons in life. I hope that my creations enhance the ambience in the listener’s life, and in doing so, the listener holistically benefits. This kind of music lends itself to solace, relaxing, thinking and reflecting on life. Studying your inner life and identifying your personal beliefs is serious business, but I believe that serious things can bring great joy. I want the music to feel like taking a pastoral retreat, or going to space and then returning to earth, but afterwards feeling more at one with things. I feel strongly that each person needs to contribute in some way to our world. With my music I try to do my small part.” Read More

About Part of a Kindly Plan

Part of a Kindly Plan contains mostly acoustic instruments – acoustic piano, steel and nylon string acoustic guitars, wooden flute, cello, harmonica, rain-stick and singing bowls. A couple of the tunes also include a little synthesizer (primarily replicating a string section.)

In addition Speir states: “…. silence has a big part in my music and I pay a lot of attention to the space between the notes”

Some of the inspiration for Part of a Kindly Plan comes from the Thomas Hardy poem. “On a Fine Spring Morning” . The poem was written in the early 1900s and Speir has included it on the back of the album cover. Speir explains…

“At the beginning the poem asks a question: What is solace? Hardy says it is not this or exactly that, but at the end he is happy and content because he says everything is part of a benign or kindly plan that is proof that earth was made for man. I liked the sentiments expressed so I paraphrased the various lines for the name of the album and several tune titles”

You can read more about the various tunes also in his biography at his website. Here is the  link.

 Thoughts About Part of a Kindly Plan…...

I find Part of a Kindly Plan to be a nice quiet and relaxing album. It is a nice album to use for meditation, not a perfect meditation album but damn close. One of the tracks that I’ve heard the most and have really enjoyed is track two “As We Turn” The track features an acoustic-steel string guitar blended with piano, rainstick shaker some sampled tympani and synth strings. Speir says the following about the track:

“There are lots of turns in life, and as we grow older our perspective of life changes.”

As I was driving to Walmart this morning listening to the album, I thought about what Speir had written about the use of space between the notes in his compositions. I really noticed that in practice on the tune ‘Praxis”  The song mixes nylon-string guitar and Native American flute with a rhythmic drum-sound created by Speir hitting the cello fretbound with his open hand. “The idea behind this piece”, relates Speir is that everyone should choose a discipline of some sort, seriously practice it, persevere, improve and also enjoy the journey.”

Anyway the album is, like Speir says a beautiful and varied collection of acoustic music and is well worth checking out. I think that it will be in my New Age rotation for quiet a while!! And it’s not just me who likes this album. The album was number 8 on the MusicZoneReporter.com Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart for April

Links for the Further Explorations of the Music of Nathan Speir

Artist Website
Facebook
YouTube
CDBaby

Here’s is a video for “A Taste of Solace” from the album Part of a Kindly Plan by Nathan Speir

Vicious Circle – Joe Pickett vs. the Cates Family Part 2 – C.J.Box (Joe Pickett # 17)

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Vicious Circle - C J Box

 

Earlier in the week, I finished Vicious Circle the latest book In the Joe Pickett series from C.J.Box. It’s the seventeenth book chronicling the adventures of Joe and his family. Like all of the books in the series. It’s a great read.

If you are unfamiliar with the series, Joe Pickett is a game warden living in Saddlestring Wyoming. Joe has a way of being in the wrong place at the wrong time which makes for many exciting adventures and the loss of a lot of government trucks.

Typically, somewhere along the way Joe is assisted by his friend the shadowy Nate Romanowski. Nate operates on the edges of the law and serves to offset Joe’ Dudley Do-Rightish nature.

Joe is also a family man with a wonderful wife, Marybeth and three daughters. Natural daughters Sheridan and Lucy and adopted daughter April, He even has the mother in law from hell – Missy(surname whichever man she is married to now) Missy believes that her daughter unlike herself has married down.

The Beginnings of the Vicious Circle

 

Two books ago in Endangered Joe’s adopted daughter April ran away with Rodeo Champion Dallas Cates. The Cates family is bad news. If something bad happens in the county the first people the police look for are members of the Cates family

So when Joe’s daughter April ran away with Dallas Joe was rightly upset. And when Dallas she is found beaten on by the side of the road and she ends up in the hospital. Dallas becomes the focus of Joe’s wrath. Needless to say things didn’t end well, with Dallas ending up in jail!

Now Dallas has been released from prison and he is back in Saddlestring. And He’s coming for Joe and his family!

Bottom Line

lVicious Circle like most of its predecessors, is  a four star book for me. One of the best aspects of the Joe Pickett series has been the development of the characters over the  course of the series. Joe has been Joe with a few changes through the years.

But all three of his girls have grown from little girls to young women. In addition, wife Marybeth has gone from library volunteer to the library’s head administrator.

Other characters have also changed. Nate Romanowski has gone from an ex-Seal on the run from the law to a free citizen, who may still be willing to operate outside the law. While Joe’s mother in law is now on her sixth?? husband as she continues to marry up and up. So if your willing start at the beginning and enjoy the ride.

At a minimum readmEndangered first. Now you still may be able to read and enjoy Vicious Circle without reading Endangered, but I still think it’s better if you know what happened in the first half of the vicious circle!!

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C J Box author of Storm Watch

About C J Box

Charles James Box Jr. is an American author of more than thirty novels. Box is the author of the Joe Pickett series, as well as several standalone novels, and a collection of short stories.

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If you like the family and character connections in this series…

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  • William Kent Krueger — the Cork O’Connor series blends crime with family, history, and a strong sense of place
  • Michael Robotham — especially the Joe O’Loughlin books, where personal lives are always part of the story
  • Peter May — the Lewis Trilogy, where past, family, and landscape are tightly woven together