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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
Guess which local chef is going to be cooking at the James Beard House in New York City in May? Scott McKee of La Belle Vie? Nope. Been there, done that. Doug Flicker of Mission American Kitchen. Nope. Give up? It’s Christian Ticarro. Christian who? Christian Ticarro, executive chef at the Canyon Grille in Coon … Read more
AP Photo by David J. Phillip American League East 1. Boston Red Sox It’s more interesting (or at least less conventional) playing Devil’s Advocate about why the Sox *won’t* repeat as pennant winners. Practically everything went right last season: Papelbon’s shoulder held firm and Beckett’s blisters didn’t grow, and every rookie was off-the-charts good, from … Read more
A wide stance is key to surviving a Monotonix show. Keep your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms ready to brace the incessant shock waves of bodies crashing into you. Never lose focus of the strange looking man with a bad perm and pervy mustache. He is not a cast-off from a Starsky and Hutch … Read more
Some years ago I was stranded at Minneapolis-St Paul airport for 24 hours on route from Portland, Oregon back to the UK. Unfortunately, and admittedly completely unfairly — as I did not see anything of the Twin Cities themselves — I acquired a distinctly jaundiced view of the area, assaulted as I was by the … Read more
Anybody see Jersey Boys? If you did, please let me know what you thought. I will pass your feedback along to one of the investors, whom I just happen to know — Mr. M. 🙂 I may be a little biased, but all of the cast in my opinion have been terrific. Here is a … Read more
FILM & AUTHORSAli Selim and Will Weaver Discuss Sweet Land St. Paul filmmaker Ali Selim’s Sweet Land, a Minnesota-made indie labor of love that garnered critical acclaim and spawned a minor cult, was adapted from Bemidji writer Will Weaver’s 1989 short story “A Gravestone Made of Wheat.” The Rake’s Cristina Córdova will moderate the latest … Read more