Vive Quebec

Nice to see The Awl taking note of the great Ike Quebec (and specifically, Phil Freeman's concise and usefully opinionated rundown of Quebec's Blue Note "comeback" period).  I made brief mention of Quebec's work with Sonny Clark and Grant Green in this post, but Freeman's piece has given me some ideas for what to listen to next.

Payday Someday

Listened to some Jim Dickinson last night, in the form of Mud Boy & The Neutrons' They Walk Among Us.

If you do nothing else with your life today, I strongly recommend downloading this track. In a career full of fine moments, this has to be one of Dickinson's finest. Hard to imagine a better way to spend $0.99.

Looks like most of the Mud Boy albums are hard to find these days (I don't think they were ever easy to find), but maybe there are some other tracks out there on iTunes or something. Dickinson apparently was saddled with some serious medical bills at the end of his life, so making an effort to, you know, actually pay for his music through legit channels would probably be appreciated by his family. If his death does nothing else, maybe it will motivate someone to reissue the Mud Boy catalog.

Actually, the whole It Came From Memphis compilation is excellent, as is the book it was created to accompany. I picked up the album some time after reading the book years ago, but they both shaped my musical outlook and turned me on to some good stuff.

News for Those in the Know

Paul Kotheimer has a new EP out. For those of you saying "Who?", I will explain in a later, longer post.