Dick Tracy, “88 Keyes,” 1943

Thanks to the Jazz Journalists Association for awarding DTM blog of the year.

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I watched the movie of Ready Player One directed by Steven Spielberg. It’s fine for what it is. Like Avengers, GoT, and so much else, this “blockbuster” seems created by a focus group in order to hit the maximum number of successful emotional beats in storytelling. As a result, it has almost no personality of its own.

The book Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is an idiosyncratic masterpiece, a retelling of creation myth from a lonely and wounded vantage point. I frankly cannot understand the various think pieces that claim the film is better than the novel.

(On a related topic, I really like this piece by Soraya Roberts, “When Did Pop Culture Become Homework?”)

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Wynton Marsalis offered a guide to twelve favorite records for Rolling Stone, and followed up (perhaps encouraged by a tweet by DTM’s technical director Wayne Bremser!) with a longer list on his own site. Wynton’s selections and commentary are fascinating and at times hilarious. My feed has anti-Wynton snipers, but surely anyone could learn something from Wynton here. (I always try to remember to sit and learn something from my betters before I go on the attack. I don’t always succeed, but that’s the goal.)

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Al Foster and Ron Carter at the Zinc Bar on Saturday night. It was Ron’s 82nd birthday. I told the audience for the first set that Ron was turning 62…and I think many believed me.

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MMDG Pepperland at BAM this week. Gia Kourlas preview in the NY Times:

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Ok, ready for a really unprofessional display of ego?

A trending topic on Twitter was Eric Alper’s question, “What’s a great cover song that is better than the original?”

My response was, “Iron Man” by the Bad Plus. LOL! Highlights of this track include the transition to major key, “Dies Irae” counterpoint in the tenor voice at the end, and of course the Tchad Blake production.