Month: March 2008

  • A Writer, a Photographer, a Life, a Town, a World

    "Where is Brad Zellar?" you might ask, as his hiatus from The Rake has created quite a void. Happily, he’s been busy promoting his new book, Suburban World: The Norling Photos, from Borealis Books. Zellar discovered Irwin Norling in 2002, when he unearthed Norling’s neglected negatives from the Bloomington Historical Society archives. Struck by the…

  • Getting Lucky with Gabriel James

    About three months ago, John and I decided we were in a rut. We went out to eat and then to a movie; we went to a movie and got a bite to eat. There was something missing. Music. So we pledged to go out at least twice a month and listen to some band…

  • Riding on the Tail of a Cloud

    Charles Lloyd QuartetRabo de Nube ECM I’m not a diehard Lloyd acolyte. There’s some stuff in his huge catalog that is deliriously good, like Flowering and Journey Within from the ’60s, and Voice In The Night with Dave Holland, John Abercrombie, and Billy Higgins from the late ’90s. But his last one, Sangam, left me…

  • Charles Lloyd Quartet: Rabo de Nube

    Lloyd’s last album, Sangam, was nothing more than a saxophone wankfest through a thicket of beats, laden with faux spirituality that was too pretentious (or perhaps too profound). But the 70-year-old sensei may be the most staid and least creative member of his band in Rabo de Nube, his latest live quartet album (something Lloyd…

  • Brian Blade Fellowship: Season of Changes

    Blade’s ensemble seems heavily influenced by his membership in Wayne Shorter’s magnificent but overtly cerebral quartet, which isn’t always a good thing. The frequently lethargic pace and finely crafted harmonic and melodic nuances occasionally feel like music that must be listened to for your own good, like a meal fortified with fiber but not very…

  • Keep Them Rakes Comin'!

    The people in this photo were impressed by The Rake’s depth and breadth of subject matter. Some of them are Twin Citians on vacation; two spend their time now between Tucson and Puerto Vallarta (the Rake began publishing after they left Minnesota, and they have enjoyed their copies so much they are passing them on…