Writer's Notebook - James Rafferty Blog

A Day at Newport Jazz - 2023

Saturday, August 5, was a bright and sunny day and our group of four drove down to the Newport Jazz Festival. We hit the usual traffic, but it took quite a while before we got through security and found a spot to plunk down our chairs to the right of the Fort stage.  As we got situated, we were able to listen to the sounds of Superblue, which featured the fluid vocals of Kurt Elling. 

I stopped by a nearby food tent and picked up a tasty Mediterranean platter -- with stuffed grape leaves, lots of hummus, lightly toasted pita bread and a Greek salad.  Yum.   

Here's a view of the nearby waters on this day.  

Next up on the main stage was Charles Lloyd. He played several songs with a John Coltrane flavor on his tenor saxophone, then shifted to quieter songs where his flute reminded me of the Seventies music of Chick Corea from the Light as a Feather album.   

I then took a walk to go inside the Fort area, where Louis Cato's band was about to begin at the Quad stage.  Cato plays guitar and sings vocals.  The band began with the set with a funky talking blues.  On the second song, the rest of the band joined in to fill out a jazzy strut.  Cato's guitar solos reminded me of the long sustained lines of Robben Ford and he also liked to add a vibrato sound to his chords.  I noticed that Christian McBride's Jam Jawn group was about to begin at the Fort stage, so I headed back there.  

McBride had about eight musicians on the stage.  As I arrived, the band played the classic Afro Blue, which highlighted the strong melodic lines of Ravi Coltrane on soprano sax.  After that, McBride introduced more of the players, which included the veteran jazz pianist and composer Bob James; the band continued by playing one of his tunes, which had a funky sound that reminded me of the theme from Shaft.  Once again, Coltrane offered strong solos, this time on tenor sax.  Later, James traded off riffs with McBride and the two percussionists in the band.  A couple songs later, the up and coming vocalist Celise joined the band and sang an energetic version of "Hound Dog."  The guitarist Eric Krasno played a hard edge solo that threatened to rip a hole in the atmosphere and then McBride shifted over to the eloquent sounds of a bowed bass for his solo.  The band closed the set with soul music from James Brown.  It was amusing to see McBride ask Ravi if he was ready to got down with James Brown.  Ravi seemed to shrug his shoulders as if to say "whatever." Ravi kept it professional and did his part.  This was the first time I'd seen Ravi Coltrane play.  He truly brings life to the music and carries the Coltrane name and sound of his parents John and Alice very well.   

Here's a dimly lit glimpse of the band.  

The smaller stage areas at Newport often offer the best chances to see and hear the music up close.  A standout group was the trio led by guitarist Julian Lage. Lage played a solid body guitar and offered a very melodic style that included lots of sliding notes and even a few octave passages. The group played in tight communication with uncanny interplay.  The other band members were Joerg Roeder on upright bass and Dave King on the drum kit.  Here's a view of the band while improvising:  

I stayed by the Harbor stage and managed to get a good seat near the stage while the next group, the Orrin Evans Quintet, was setting up. I was not familiar with the group beforehand, but liked the way their music built up over the course of their set. Orrin Evans on keyboards is the band leader, but he gave the other musicians lots of space for soloing.  The front line of Ingrid Jensen on trumpet and Gary Thomas on saxophone was very strong and propelled by the powerhouse rhythm section of Luques Curtis on upright bass and drummer Mark Whitfield Jr. They wailed together on the first song and the collective sound and energy reminded me of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Orrin Evans showed influences of  Herbie Hancock in his right handed chords and lines, but with a sharper edge. By the last song, which Evans dedicated to the memory of pianist Geri Allen, the band had really hit its stride.  Jensen played lyrical muted trumpet lines and Thomas switched off between flute and his sax. This was ensemble jazz at a high level where the players listened closely to each other and the music evoked the spirits of many brilliant musicians who have played here at the Newport festival. Here is a shot of the band: 

The final act of the day was Jon Batiste. His band was dressed up in flashy clothes, led by Batiste himself in a bright red suit.  For me, the early music felt like showtime from the Doc Severinsen era of the Tonight show, as the players blasted out hot solos from their instruments.  They were good, but it didn't feel very much like jazz.  Later, Batiste led the crowd in some collective vocals and got people up and moving on the grassy areas in front of the stage.  Then, Batiste changed the mood and played some delightful acoustic piano with a ragtime feel.  At the close, the band played a rousing theme and finished by stepping off the stage and playing music out in the crowd.  It was powerful and energetic, and offered a unique ending to the festival for this day.   

 

 

Considering Climate Change: Via Writing Fiction and Statistics

I have just completing reading the book How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil. In this book, Dr. Smil, who has written over forty books to date, takes on task of explaining how different processes which include energy production, feeding the world and a variety of material processes intersect with the challenge of Climate Change. In the introduction to this book, Smil explains that he is a scientist and that his life work has been to conduct a series of interdisciplinary studies which have resulted in many books. In style, he views scientists as either highly specialized (drilling ever deeper holes within a particular narrow discipline) or scanners of wide horizons. Smil prefers the latter approach and in this book devotes initial chapters to helping the reader understand diverse topics which include energy, food production, what he calls "four pillars of civilization" (cement, steel, plastics and ammonia). Smil makes a key point that in all of these areas, the use of fossil fuels has been highly integrated into the related processes and that this deep integration will make the overall challenge of de-carbonizing the world economy much more difficult than many of the "experts" perceive.  

I don't have the deep background in areas such as energy and food production which Dr. Smil describes, but like him, I've looked at the matter of climate change in an active way for many years. I studied engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for five years and earned bachelor and master's degrees in my chosen field of Management Engineering. After that I joined the high tech business world and took on diverse roles in information technology, operations, product management, consulting and marketing in the business world. I've also paid a great deal of attention to geo-politics. I like making connections between diverse fields and enjoy taking a systems view of how the world works. These perspectives have served me well for me in both the business world and in the diplomatic world of international standards. In parallel, I have pursued another passion, writing fiction, and I finished writing my first novel, a coming of age novel called Growing Up Single in 2006. Shortly after that, I decided to take all I'd learned from writing the first novel and choose a theme that energized me for my second novel. I thought hard about my various fields of interest and wanted a deep, challenging area could draw on the skills I'd developed in my professional life and where I could tell a unique story. 

In the fall of 2006, the concept of global warming was already getting attention in the news media and among climate scientists. But despite numerous international efforts, which at the time included agreements developed in Kyoto and other exotic locales, I wasn't seeing much progress reducing the carbon emissions that were causing global warming and It was obvious that the politicians in major countries, including the United States, and the powerful fossil fuel companies, were happy with the status quo. My sense was that this situation could go on for many more years and that the consequences of inaction would likely create a cascading series of climate-related disasters in the years to come. 

I started crafting a novel about a future year of climate disasters which would force the diplomats and politicians to act and approve treaties which would make a measurable difference in reducing carbon emissions. The lens I used to view this situation was through the experience I'd gained during ten years of developing domestic and international standards in telecommunications and in my business experience in working with vendors and customers from many countries.  

In my view, global warming was a classic example of what were often called "If This Goes On" science fiction novels which I devoured as a reader in high school and during college. I outlined a book tentatively titled Riding the Sea Change and started writing. I personally love statistics, but I'd noticed that the general public tended to ignore statistics, particularly of news they didn't like and needed to be reached another way. My goal was to create an exciting narrative story to reach those readers. I finished writing a first draft six years later and got copies out to beta readers who gave me a lot of useful feedback. I did more edits and started marketing the book to literary agents. My book tells a story about climate change as it follows diplomats who travel the world, fight battles amongst themselves and ultimately get pushed to do the right thing and create a treaty which could really change the world and reduce the carbon emissions trends.

In the years since I wrote the early versions of this book, my sense about how difficult it would be to forge an international consensus has been borne out. We have also seen many examples of climate related disasters over the past few years. I still feel that novels are a great way to grab the attention of readers by bringing the challenges of climate change to life in a narrative form. My journey in writing, editing and marketing this novel has been a great learning experience both in its writing and in keeping up with developments in climate.   

Returning to Dr. Smil's book, I think he has done a fine job in showing how deeply our society has baked in the use of fossil fuels into many aspects of our world. But the key tool he has used is to break down these trends and show the reader the trends is by using statistics. This is a great way to reach the engineers and scientists of the world, but many readers with less technical background may find it difficult to read through 229 pages that are crammed with statistics.  

In summary, I recommend that people who want to get a much deeper view on climate change and what it will take to address it should take a shot at reading How the World Really Works. But if you would prefer not to delve into a highly quantitative book such as this, you can also learn a lot by reading one or more of the novels that take on climate change in a narrative form.  

My book isn't published yet, but I'm working on getting it out there one way or another. Stay tuned. In addition, there other novels on climate change that are worth reading and can offer readers insights in a story form. Some books which I've read and can recommend include Bandwidth by Eliot Peper, Forty Days of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson and Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver.

Good luck on your climate change journey, whether its via the world of statistics, through reading great stories or some other approach which you choose to pursue.  

 

Newport Jazz 2022

On a sunny Saturday morning on July 30, I set out with three friends to attend the Newport Jazz Festival.  After a long ride in through traffic, we got to take our seats at the Fort Stage around 12:30.  But soon enough, we all went in different directions to enjoy the many different groups playing on that day.  Alas, one of my favorites, Jack DeJohnette was sick and had to cancel, but the order was shuffled a bit and is shown in this picture.  Amongst the many fine musicians, my eyes were drawn to the Quad stage lineup.  

The Quad stage is within the fort (here at Fort Adams) and had several hundred chairs, typically all filled and lots of room on the outskirts for standing and placement of chairs. With a bit of patience, I was able to find a seat as audience members moved in and out.  

The first group I saw there was Antonio Sanchez and Bad Hombre. Sanchez has played with a number of other groups, including notably several with Pat Metheny, but on this day, he played with his own quartet.  The music was heavily percussion driven and easily filled the area. Excellent vocals were provided by his wife, Thana Alexa.  On a song called Suspended Animation, her vocals soared high and included long non-verbal stretches.  Toward the end, she offered birdlike sounds that swirled with help from an echoplex effect. Here is a picture of the band, which also included a fine keyboard player and a bassist (hidden behind Alexa in this shot).   

The next group, named after their lead percussionist Yuseef Dayes, hailed from the United Kingdom and mentioned how happy they were to play at Newport.  The band members didn't get introduced for a while, but featured great alto sax work on the first song from Malik Venna. He then disappeared for a while, as the band featured more percussive music, but when Venna returned, he continued to add the best saxophone sounds that I heard on this day.  Here's a look at the band, with Venna on the left and Dayes behind a big drum kit.  The keyboard player was also excellent on both piano and when adding Corea-influenced synthesizer lines. Here's a shot of the group.  

The next group was one of my favorites for the day, the Maria Schneider Orchestra. She was very animated and played a couple of pieces from a recent work called "Data Lords."  She expressed concern about trends in recent years toward Artificial Intelligence in high tech and the music was a hyperkinetic rejoinder to this trend. On the intro to this song and the next, she talked about world annihilation and then proceeded to conduct the orchestra and use her hands to extract the traumatic sounds she wanted from the players.  This music was far different than the pastoral sounds I heard from her group when she played at Newport a few years earlier. Nonetheless, the musicians were outstanding both in ensemble and in their solo work'; Schneider herself gave a shoutout to guitarist Ben Monder (on far left) for the work he did on a song about the debris that is swirling above all of us in orbits around the earth. Here's the full group we saw playing under her guidance:  

From here, Schneider's group played a deconstructed version of John Coltrane's "Giant Steps," but I made a tough tradeoff and began to walk back around to the Fort Stage.  When I arrived there, Esperanza Spalding was singing against the backdrop of some fine piano work. On the next song, Spalding did stunning work on both her upright bass and in vocals that reached into the stratosphere. Many of us in the audience were mesmerized was we watched her play and sing with her curly black hair flowing along with the music.  Alas, I have no picture to share of this moment, but I assure you that she captivated us.  She also was the only musician all day that stood up and gave thanks to the vision offered by late Newport Jazz founder, George Wein, who passed away last year.  Spalding ended her set with a Wayne Shorter song and I was glad I'd had a chance to listen to her abbreviated set.  

The last artist that caught my attention was back at the Quad Stage -- the remarkable Cecile McLorin Salvant. Salvant was backed by a strong group, which included the wonderful pianist Sullivan Fortner, who was fresh from a set played with his own group earlier in the day.  Salvant's forte is to bring alive music from the American Songbook and she ranged broadly in her renditions of such standards, but she also sang some of her own material. One song, called "Do Do," was sang in French with some backup vocals from other musicians as well, adding another dimension to her singing style.  She seem to be able to stretch her voice to hit any note she wants and the songs seemed to get stronger as she got deeper into the set.  She finished with one of her own songs -- "Ghost Song," where one of the lyrics talks of "... the ghost of our long lost love."   Here is a glimpse of Cecile (see her in the bright luminescent green outfit) and her group toward the end of their set.  

 

Book Review - On Writing - Part Two

The post continues my review of the book On Writing by Stephen King. You can find the first part of the review here. The second half of the book probes King's thoughts about writing from a tools and process perspective. He's quite open about what works for him and gives many examples. He begins by talking about his Writing Toolbox. He uses his grandfather's toolbox -- filled with useful tools -- as an example that a writer might want to emulate. He's not talking about your writing desk, your computer or writing notebooks, but takes it up a level by saying a writer needs a vocabulary. He then offers examples of several writers and the differing approaches they use with their own vocabularies. Next in the toolbox is grammar.  King once taught grammar in his classes, but opted not to dig too deep in this book. He notes that you've probably learned a lot about grammar through your reading. He references The Elements of Style by Strunk and White and goes on to show examples of how different writers use their vocabulary and grammar to build sentences.  He also includes practical advice such as avoiding use of the passive voice and minimizing the use of adverbs. Going deeper into the toolbox, he also talks about paragraphs and provides examples on how paragraphs may differ based on the type of work.   

Once he has introduced the toolbox, King moves directly to writing itself. He talks briefly about the potential to improve one's writing and states that with a lot of hard work, a competent writer can become a good writer. So, yes, talent makes a difference, but one can aspire to get better at this craft of writing. This section starts with the basics: a writer must both read a lot and write a lot. He notes that constant reading is enables the writer to distinguish between what works and what does not, to experiment with styles and to get excited about writing. When King is in the midst of a project, he is writing every day.  He says "writing is at its best when it is a kind of inspired play" for the writer.  A typical pace for him is to write about 10 pages a day or 2000 words. He suggests one set a writing goal, say 1000 words a day and try to stick with it. From my own experience, one of the advantages of the NANOWRIMO approaches is that it tends to increase one's word count and show yourself it is possible to write 50,000 words in a month. You may also find that a lot of those words are good enough to build upon. 

The "On Writing" portion of the book is loaded with good advice and practical techniques beyond what I've described. If the writer keeps at it, eventually they (we) will produce a manuscript. King suggests this first part is "closed door" work, where you write the story to please yourself and don't share that early first draft content with anybody. One you've finished the manuscript, he suggests putting it aside -- say for 6 weeks -- until you can re-visit the work as a reader.  At this point, you can make notes, think about revisions and perhaps most important, figure out what the story is all about. Once you've done the latter, he suggests you can do the next round of edits to reinforce the key elements of the story and cut back on the portions that don't contribute to the core of the story and its themes. 

King also has suggestions about what you can do once you've produced that improved second draft. This is the point where the writer can share it with people who will read it and offer feedback about the work. He also mentions the concept of writing for the ideal reader, who will really get what you are trying to do with your particular book or books. 

I'll stop the commentary on specific writing tips here. Just be certain, that if you care about writing, you're likely to find a lot of information that even an experienced writer can put to immediate and practical use. For example, he offered a writing exercise and talked a bit about how much description is useful to establish a setting. Taking some of his advice, I found that going a bit lighter on description might strike just the right balance to draw the reader in and also let the reader add their own perspective to flesh out the words you've written. He also strongly suggests that we write "the truth" as we know it and not simply play to the expectations of what's considered polite.   

The book ends with a postscript, which tells how King managed to finish writing this book after a life changing event on a highway near where he lived. This part of the book is also inspiring, as King finds that once again, getting back into a writing project helps him to progress in the recovery from what he'd experienced. Here, again, he tells the truth, and we are better for it.   

I recommend this book to anybody who'd like to improve their writing, particularly if you'd like to tell stories or write novels, though his advice is probably also useful for other types of writers as well. If you don't fancy yourself as being a writer, but would like to know more about how an unknown person from a challenging background can become the person who wrote "Carrie," "The Shining." and many other well-known books, you'll gain that perspective from this book. Or perhaps you just love reading and want to know more how the words of one novelist get produced and turned into stories. King is a fine storyteller and willing to talk openly about his process, so whether your goal is being a better writer or learning more about writers, you'll likely find the investment of your time to read this book will offer its own rewards.    

Return to Newport Jazz - 2021

This past Sunday I joined a friend and we drove down to see the Newport Jazz Festival. In the time of Covid, a few differences were in place, including a "Health Pass" protocol for all who entered.  But, as always, the important part was the music. This time it was divided between two stages -- one on the lawn in front of Fort Adams and Quad stage in its usual place within the fort.  

The first act we saw was harpist Brandee Younger on the lawn stage. The band had already started when we captured a spot on the lawn to the right of the stage. In her comments from the stage, Brandee paid tribute to earlier harpists who'd played Newport, including Alice Coltrane. Younger's style was melodic, but also very jazzy and she made ample use of amplified electronics as part of her sound. On one song, I noted how the rhythm section reminded me a lot of John Coltrane's and Younger played chunky chords on top of it. Later, she played some sounds that reminded me of the "Chinese music" from Steely Dan's Aja. In the spirit of the day, she later invited another harpist, Macaela Davis to sit in.  Macaela's style wasn't as complex, but she worked well with Younger's band.  Here's a scene of me writing in my journal about the shows.  

Next, we popped over to the Quad Stage, just in time to see the remarkable Kenny Barron - Dave Holland trio, which was rounded out by a much younger, but very talented drummer, Johnathan Blake.   

I'd seen Holland years before in Hartford, but it was a treat to hear him again in this trio. I've often enjoyed Kenny Barron on records, but I think this was the first time I'd seen him live. He played numerous styles on this day.  On one of the early tunes, he soloed with high notes from his right hand, then added McCoy Tyner style block chords with his left.  Holland showed complete command of the bass throughout as he roamed up and down the instrument with perfect intonation and verve. On another song, Barron began alone with flowing rubato lines and was eventually joined by Holland, who played a deep counterpoint. Blake soon added a subtle rhythm on the brushes, quite a contrast to the powerhouse drumming he'd displayed earlier in the set.  Barron built up this song with bright major chords which later segued into a solo from Holland. On this song, Holland eschewed complex patterns in favor of a melodic set of lines. After an upbeat Latin tune, the band closed the set with the Kenny Barron song "Speed Trap." The band blitzed through this song at lightning speeds whose tempo reminded me of Trane's "Giant Steps." 

After this, we returned to the lawn stage area and saw a diverse set of groups. The first, David Oswald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, played in the New Orleans style, but also added elements from later jazz eras which made it easier for me to enjoy their music.  The next two bands brought extended jamming to the stage.  The Bogey Band, featured an extensive horn section and drummer Joe Russo.  At times the ensemble work from the saxes, trumpets and trombones reminded me of early 80's Carla Bley, but more often, the band pounded out jazz rock that seemed to draw from the early Miles Davis electric bands. 

The next band, the Jam Jawn, were true to their name; they jammed throughout their set, but with a much jazzier sensibility than the Bogey Band. This was the first time I'd seen guitarist John Schofield play in a full band setting. Schofield played a tan and black thin hollow body guitar through what appeared to be a Vox amp. He kicked off the first song with distorted electronic licks and then the rest of the band joined in.  And what a band -- Christian McBride on bass, Macaela Davis on harp, Marco Benevento on keyboads and Joe Russo on the drums. In this context, Russo showed his jazz chops as polyrhythms rippled across the stage among the musicians. In this band, the musicians all listened to each other and themes jumped from one player to the next. Schofield closed the song with Wes Montgomery style octaves on the last few choruses. 

For the second song, McBride moved over to electric bass and laid down a funky beat to push the band ahead.  Schofield continued to amaze me as he brought Hendrix electric stylings into this song --- not exactly typical for Newport!  Per my notes, the organist eventually went ballistic with high energy surges up and down the keyboard. 

Macaela Davis started out the third song by plucking out a melody on her harp.  McBride had shifted back to the upright and laid down the bottom. This time, Schofield built a layer on top with long extended notes ala Duane Allman; Schofield's toolkit for inventive sounds seemed to be endless.  By this point, staying in my seat was no longer an option.  I masked up and moved into the standing crowd at stage front to be closer to the band and reveled in the delightful sounds being laid out by the musicians.  

Schofield started the next song, laying out a sweet blues line which later segued into a familiar rock anthem. The band jumped in and filled out the sound.  We were rocking at Newport with masters of jazz and the band brought us all along for the ride.  McBride finally introduced all the members of the band we'd been hearing.  

After this, it seemed like half of the musicians in town jumped up on the stage. I recognized members from the Armstrong tribute band, notably the trombone player. On the next song, Stewart Bogey and his bandmates joined in as well.  This was one of these Newport jazz moments where unusual configurations of players got on stage and played jazz, mixing the sounds of multiple eras with verve and lots of smiles.  Whew. 

Time to take a breather and get ready for the final set of the afternoon, Andra Day. My friend and I visited a falafel stand and picked up wraps for a light dinner, then got back to our seats. A while later, Andra Day appeared on stage and began to sing Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit."  The song isn't easy to listen to, but Day sang a powerful version. The Billie Holiday stylistic influence was quite evident, but Day also used her expansive vocal range to add high twisting notes that reinforced the song's painful message. The inclusion of this song was important and signaled that this set would be different than the pop-inflected set she sang at Newport in 2018.  

Day's group included 2 backup singers and a full band which was comfortable in playing both her jazz and pop material.  Here's a view of Andra Day and other members of the band:  

Day's set was split between jazz songs and her own original pop compositions.  The common element throughout was her powerful voice, which reached out to all of us with emotion and the ability to sing long lines which could move quickly between high and low notes to accentuate the words.  Later in the set, she sang a fine rendition of another Holiday signature song, "God Bless the Child." The main stage show was augmented by side views which showed video closeups of Day and other band members. In either case, one's eyes were often drawn to Ms. Day, who commanded the stage with both her voice and visual presence.  As she shifted to songs from her latest album, we listened and began the long walk back to our car. But in our heads, all of the music and sights of the day gave us a final burst of energy to join the graceful exodus from Newport as we took the high roads that brought us by the famed mansions of Bellevue Avenue.   

 

Book Review: On Writing

Several years ago, I participated in the National Writing Month (a.k.a.NANOWRIMO) and one of my writing friends hosted an online "writeoff."  A few of us participated and we all cranked out a fair number of words that night.  The host kindly offered a couple of prizes and I ended up choosing Stephen King's book about writing: On Writing - A Memoir of the Craft.  I'd heard good things about the book and added it to my writing shelf.  Some five years later, I was looking for my next book to read and decided the time had come to gain Mr. King's perspective on writing. 

As it turns out, I should have opened up this book much sooner, since it offers sage and practical advice on writing. I found I could start applying his suggestions immediately. The subtitle on being a memoir of the craft is accurate. The first portion of the book recounts his time growing up in a household with his mom and older brother David.  They lived in several locations, but eventually settled in the small town of Durham, Maine. Stephen admired his older brother David and they often got into hijinks together. By the time Stephen was a teenager, he was already writing stories and began collecting rejection slips, but eventually also started getting handwritten notes suggesting he submit again.  

Over time he developed his writing chops writing for a newsletter produced by his brother Dave and then later for his high school newspaper. He eventually landed a job covering local sports for a town newspaper and wrote up some stories on the results of games.  Even better, he began to get advice from the editor John Gould. Gould showed him how to tighten up his stories by 1) keeping the best parts and 2) taking out the parts that weren't essential to the story. This anecdote introduced a couple of key themes of the book, notably about making sure that the story gets told and also how re-writes can help achieve that. 

Over the next several years, King kept working at writing stories and over time started getting success in getting them published in magazines. He met Tabby, a younger woman who was also a writer and eventually they married and started a family.  King's mother had suggested he also get a teaching credential, which he garnered at the University of Maine.  He landed a job teaching English at a high school, but continued writing stories in his free time, all the while, getting encouragement from his wife to keep at the writing. He began to write the novel Carrie, but literally threw the first few pages away, before Tabby retrieved them and told King she wanted to hear the rest of the story.  He turned memories of hard times in high school and a couple of reviled girls into a horror story, with some help on salient details from Tabby.  He sent the book off to an editor at Doubleday and continued with his regular routine of teaching high school. The book was accepted and King got a $2500 advance. Not exactly life changing, but several months later, Doubleday sold the paperback rights for Carrie to Signet for the stunning amount of $400,000 dollars and would pay half of that amount to King. After years of hard work, success had arrived.  

King continued the memoir portion of the book, recounting several subsequent major book sales, but he also acknowledged that over this same period, he'd become an alcoholic. To his credit, he eventually turned away from drink and drugs and re-engaged with his love of writing with the help of the family and friends who cared for him.  His love of writing comes through very clearly in this book, both in the memoir section and the craft sections which follow.  

I'll continue my review on the craft portion of the book in a separate post.  

 

 

Remembering Chick Corea

I discovered jazz starting around the summer of 1974, during a summer internship in Wisconsin.  When I returned to college for my graduate year at RPI, I started looking for new jazz groups to listen to. In December 1974, I went to the Albany Palace and saw a relative new jazz group, Return to Forever, led by Chick Corea on piano.  The band also included the amazing Stanley Clarke on acoustic bass, a 19-year old flashy guitarist, Al DiMeola, and the solid Lenny White on drums. Later on I found out much more about the earlier versions of Return to Forever, but this particular group played a loud and intense version of jazz fusion which reminded me a bit of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. As a relative newcomer to electric jazz, I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I liked Chick's gorgeous stylings on electric piano and his fast synthesizer runs often dueled at supersonic speeds with DiMeola's distorted looping guitar runs.   

I'd already seen another very different jazz group a month before this--Gary Burton's Quintet--which played complex music, but with much more use of lyricism and clear melodies. Sometime after that, I borrowed the classic vinyl album, "Crystal Silence," from my local library and heard Corea and Burton play together in a mesmerizing mix of melody and harmonic structures.  I found this music was much easier to relate to and this was one of the groups that inspired me to take lessons over the next two years to learn more about how to play jazz and read the kind of intricate music which Corea composed.  

The late Seventies consituted my deep dive into jazz and I studied and listened to as much of it as I could. Hence, when I heard that Corea and Burton were playing live together at UConn in March 1978, I decided I had to see them.  Here's a portion of my ticket from that concert:  

The concert was wonderful. Chick wore a strange bulky white outfit and joked that we probably all wanted to know who his tailor was.  No, we didn't, but Gary and Chick dazzled us with a variety of music from the "Crystal Silence" album and much more. By this time, I'd also dug into his earlier music, including earlier versions of Return to Forever, and I'd become a huge fan of his music. One thing was obvious--he was immensely versatile. I absolutely loved the "My Spanish Heart" album which came out around this time, where he played acoustic piano with other players such as Stanley Clarke and Jean-Luc Ponty on energetic songs such as "Amando's Rhumba."   

Over the years, I continued to love jazz and enjoyed hearing many of Chick's different groups, including work with a group that included both Gary Burton and guitarist Pat Metheny, plus the great Roy Haynes on drums. But I didn't see Chick play live again until the summer of 2008, when the jazz world finally had a chance to see Return to Forever play on tour for the first time since about 1976.  For this concert, I brought along my seventeen year old son, Jason, and promised him he'd hear some amazing music.  Here's the ticket stub for that evening concert at an outdoor venue by Boston Harbor:  

The music was stunning. The evening began with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.  Fleck quickly acknowledged his debt to Chick and Return to Forever as leaders in the jazz fusion space and then offered their own inspiring set of electric music driven by Fleck's banjo.  But the main event was to see Chick, Al, Stanley and Lenny play together live. They played the music from the seventies version of the band, but the musicians themselves were much more polished and articulate based on the 40 years of experience they'd gained since I'd seen the earlier band. The music totally astounded Jason. He returned home and composed a new work of art using colored pencils as he tried to capture visually the diverse sounds that we'd both heard.  

The next summer, Jason was entering his studies of liberal arts at the University of North Carolina in Asheville and he brought along a strong interest both in music and art.  it turned out that his roommates were all musicians and they also loved the way Jason could translate music into visual art.  With their help, Jason got to hear more music of Chick Corea and some of his bandmates, including the Israeli bassist Avi Shai Cohen, who became one of Jason's favorites.  Avi Shai was one of many musicians who were on a two album set Chick recorded at the Blue Note in New York City in December, 2001 as part of Chick's 60th birthday celebration.  

As it turned out, Jason was invited to go with one of his roommates to see Chick play at the Blue Note in the summer of 2010.  Jason loved seeing the group in the intimate club setting and even managed to get his picture taken with Chick afterwards.  I still remember the energy in that picture as Jason and Chick stood smiling side by side, both of them sporting wild wavy hair.  

Chick Corea passed away earlier this week at age 79. He was truly a world master in the realm of music. I will miss him very much, but his music will live on for all of us who love lyrical and challenging jazz as composed and played by this remarkable artist and a multitude of fine musicians.    

Connecting - Crossing to Safety

I recently returned from a unique trip to one of my favorite places, Asheville, North Carolina.  Despite all of the obstacles, my wife Cindy and I took a road trip to get there and helped our oldest son Jason pack up both his art studio and the apartment he shares with his fiance as they made plans moving to a new locale to attend graduate school in the Fall. The trip doubled as a vacation, though with lots of constraints. 

Here's a picture as we crossed the border into Tennessee and checked out their wonderful Welcome Center a few miles before we crossed into North Carolina through local mountains:  

After a 3 day ride to Asheville, we settled in at our Airbnb in West Asheville and started planning the month. Both Cindy and I had decided to do some reading during our stay and I'd brought along a couple books to read, but was open to getting more. Early on, Jason took me to one of the few bookstores that was open during this pandemic period, Mr. K's, which sells used books and CDs. The title of this post mentions connecting and here we go. In early June, A.O. Scott  published a wonderful profile about the writer Wallace Stegner, introducing him as a writer who had profiled the American West and influenced other writers, notably one of my favorites, Robert Stone. So, in Mr. K's, I went looking for a book by Stegner and found Crossing to Safety.  

Later in the month, I began reading the book and brought it back with me to Massachusetts. The novel was simply superb. Stegner published the novel late in his long career, in 1987, but the writing still felt fresh and contemporary. In the book, we meet a young couple, Larry and Sally Morgan, who are beginning a new life in Wisconsin, where Larry has gained a teaching position in the English department. Larry is also a writer and is in the early stages of getting his stories published.  They meet another young couple, Sid and Charity Lang, and the two couples find that rare experience of meeting people with whom they connect very well. Stegner writes the book from Larry's point of view and we bounce between these early scenes and others that take place some 40 years later, but the shifts aren't difficult to follow and we gradually learn so much about each of these characters and how their lives are intertwined.

I can heartily recommend the book to virtually anybody who enjoys well written prose and deep character development. But my own connection was deeper than that. The novel reminded me of why I fell in love with both reading and writing, and the aspirations many of us have when we are young to make a mark in the world and do things that matter. In this novel, all of the characters wrestle with what they want and could be and we get to see these perspectives at multiple points in their lives. There's also a remarkable chapter where all four of them journey to Florence during a period when Larry has a sabbatical and hopes to take this time to write a novel, yet they also all take some time to see the country and gain unique experiences in the Tuscan countryside.  The novel also speaks to the present moment -- the year of the pandemic -- in a sense as one of the characters falls victim to a disease common to this period, polio, and we see how this changes the lives for all of the characters.  

Noting the theme of connections, the article I read in June led to my selection of this book in July at Mr. K's and then I connected deeply with this novel during the past few weeks. Crossing to Safety is a powerful story and quite inspiring as well. It serves as a reminder to remember our dreams and what we truly value, both in our worldly or creative goals and in our relationships, and then act upon them while we still can. I look forward to reading more of Wallace Stegner's works, but he also has pushed me to carefully consider my own way forward as I continue to wrestle with life's challenges during a time of transition.       

Here's a glimpse of a rainbow that we encountered one day when we were returning to Asheville during a rainstorm, one of many inspiring moments during this one month vacation.  

 

Rolling on the Cape Cod Rail Trail

The sky is a pure blue, with bare hints of cirrus and streaks of white written by jet fuel as if viewed upon a global spectroscope. I sit at a picnic table by my hotel, beneath a canopy of twisted pine limbs and an overspread of maple and oak trees above. Across the way, I see glimpses of bicycle riders as they roll silently by. It's a Cape Cod morning and it's already been a fine day. 

My wife and I are staying for a long weekend at a hotel located strategically by the Cape Cod Rail Trail. We had a relaxing start to the day, taking in the continental breakfast offered by the hotel. Once fortified by coffee, juice and light food items such as muffins and fresh bananas, we were ready for the next step.  

I took my time and had a nice chat with a neighbor from a nearby room; like me, he has a background in the telecom world, so we briefly compared notes about the transition from that work into some form of semi-retirement. Both of us were getting ready for a bike ride, but at a leisurely pace.  

I listened to the last minutes of the Saturday edition of CBS This Morning, hearing an energetic song of gospel inflected blues rock performed by Mavis Staples and her band, and pulled together my supplies for the bike ride.  Some fifteen minutes later, I was ready. By this time, the reader may wonder, is there a point to this post or will it simply meander. To which I'd say, that's one of the joys of a visit to Cape Cod; there's no schedule, no need to rush out or, for example, to roll up 50 miles on one's bike. But yes, let's begin the tale of the bike ride. 

I got onto my bike and rode a short way on a path through the woods. Moments later, my tires hit the pavement of the path. I turned right and headed south in the direction of Orleans. I haven't been riding a lot this spring, but as I rode down the path, my leg muscles felt limber. I enjoyed picking up speed and feeling mild breezes brush against my face and legs. Just last evening, we'd experienced fierce winds at sunset, but that phase of weather had passed. Since I felt very good, I decided to push ahead and see how much ground I could cover in about twenty minutes on the trail  For those who want to track mileage. stone markers appear at every mile and identify which town you're in and how many miles you are from the start of the trail in Dennis. 

Most of my ride was in the town of Eastham. Sights include the back side of the local transfer station, which now doubles as a massive solar farm, vestiges of departed businesses such as a fully overgrown golf driving range and a diverse variety of different micro eco-systems. On my way out, I was content to move along past all of that, but planned to view the trail-side flora and fauna more closely upon my return.  So I rode and rode.  The trail wasn't too crowded.  I saw one large group of teenagers in matching tee shirts, most likely a scout troop, various walkers, the occasional jogger and of course, bikers coming to and fro. My journey continued, past some of my favorite small lakes and ponds, across numerous intersections and the miles rolled up. 

As I approached my twenty minute goal, I decided to continue until I hit a major cross street. As luck and my route would have it, I naturally hit a stretch where there were no cross streets. I continued on, but noted how the terrain had changed to a mix of swamps and green lowlands;the scent of decaying vegetation filled the air. Finally, I saw an indication of incline on the trail just ahead. I continued until I reached that point, which led onto a bridge that crossed over into the town of Orleans. I'd taken that particular ride last year, but decided It was time to stop and begin my return back. My outbound ride had expanded from twenty to twenty-six minutes. I scanned the map at trail-side; the spot I'd stopped at branched off the trail to a road that led to Rock Harbor. Years ago, this had all been part of the rail trail, but a relatively new set of bridges and interconnections built since then now totally bypasses that segue.    

As I rolled down the hill, I noticed a mile marker and pulled my bike to a stop. The mark showed I'd reached the town of Orleans: 

And so the slower and more observant return began. I soon reached a group of elder women who were taking a walk and I guessed they'd be knowledgeable about the local birds. I was right. One woman quickly identified a white bird in the nearby marsh to be an egret and another called attention to a massive nest atop a power line tower:  

The nest, atop the middle stanchion, was the home of a large Osprey. The bird itself was perched on the top of the left tower. Quite a sight and one I wouldn't have noticed on my own. I passed along my thanks, bid adieu to the women and continued down the path.  

Along the way, I saw several of the lakes and ponds I'd passed on the way out.  

By now, my muscles were getting a bit sore, but I carried on toward my goal. Near where I began, a large stone marks a distance where the trail is 100 miles from Boston.  Here's a glimpse of when I reached that point.  

After this stop, I circled back to my hotel and concluded a perfect morning by writing about the journey. If you like nature and are visiting Cape Cod, be sure to check out the wonderful Cape Cod Rail Trail.  

 

The Writing Conference and Workshop Season

I tend to invest time in my writing all year 'round, but March through May offers added bonuses. Yes, it's the conference and workshop season! Boston has a premier writing conference called Muse and the Marketplace which takes place over the weekend of April 5-7 and is sponsored by the Grub Street writer's group. In recent years, I've focused on the Friday sessions. I particularly like the late Friday event known as Shoptalk, since it's a chance to pitch one's latest projects and chat informally with agents and editors. After an intense day of networking, craft and marketing sessions, sipping a glass of wine and talking about trends in the industry with like-minded folks is most welcome. 

From time to time at the Muse, I also participate in Manuscript Mart, where the writer can submit the first 20 pages of a project to a literary agent or editor of their choice, along with a query letter and synopsis. This year I am participating again and look forward to a constructive critique of my near future climate change novel, Tempest. The chance to meet and hobnob with influential people from the publishing industry grabs the headlines for an event like this, but it's at least as much fun to devote a full day to the world of writing and meet with so many others who share this passion.  

Did I mention workshops? In addition to attending Muse and the Marketplace, which includes embedded writing workshops, this is also the time of year when the Norfolk Quill writers workshop spins up for several weeks. It's a chance for writers from the town of Norfolk, Massachusetts and surrounding areas to meet, do some informal writing off of prompts, talk about the writing craft and share excerpts from our latest works. It's a fun group and it's always been interesting to see what other writers from the area are doing. I've also used these sessions as a way to get feedback on excerpts from my recent novel length projects. As the workshop draws to a close, we're invited to submit work to the Norfolk Quill, a literary magazine which has been published annually since 2010. This past year, I had written a very short love story called "Thoughts of Spring" during one of the Quill workshops and was pleased when an edited version was accepted and given the lead spot in the 2018 version of the Quill.    

So, it's the writing conference and workshop season and I'm feeling energized as I look forward to the first Quill workshop in a couple of weeks and Muse19 shortly after that. If you like to do creative work, is there a particular time of year that pulls you in and gets your creative juices flowing?