Paco de Lucia

A few minutes ago, I was looking at my 2009 list of jazz artists I have heard live (a list which needs updating), and one of the names I stopped at was Paco de Lucia. I paused for a moment and remembered the concert: the John McLaughlin-Paco de Lucia-Al Di Meola trio, with Steve Morse opening on solo 12-string guitar. I tell two stories about this show: first, the trio's arrangements of the compositions were all very similar. After they played the head, McLaughlin would usually start, and his solo always felt like it was asking a question. De Lucia would then explore the ramifications of that question in his solo. All this was at incredibly high speeds, but then Di Meola would play his solo, and it always seemed like it was even faster—and like he was completely ignoring McLaughlin and de Lucia's previous discussion. From the back, voices could be heard: "Go, Al!" I assumed these were the voices of all the young guitarists who liked to play fast.

The second story: for the encore, Steve Morse came out with his 12-string guitar and sat in with the trio. It was a Chick Corea tune, though I don't remember which one. And Morse took the first solo. For what seemed like the entire first chorus of his solo, he played one note over and over again, bending it to various degrees. It was like a revelation, as not one of the players in the trio had played a single bent note in their two long sets! It was like Morse was saying, "Hey, guys, what about the blues?"

All that went through my head fairly quickly when I was looking at the list, but just now I read that de Lucia died today. I'll always remember his beautiful elaborations on McLaughlin's questions, even if Di Meola seemed to be ignoring John and Paco's conversations.

Poetry Book Society Choices, 1953-2014

As I could not find a complete list of Poetry Book Society Choices anywhere online, I cobbled together this list from three lists on the PBS website (of Choices and Recommendations from 1953-1960, 1961-1970, and 1971-1980) and a Pinterest page of photos of covers of PBS Choices (apparently put together by PBS as well). There are a few gaps in it, so if anyone knows what to put in those gaps, I'd be happy to fill them in. If anyone wants a tabular version of it, feel free to contact me.

Spring 1953 Vernon Watkins The Death Bell Faber

Summer 1953 George Barker A Vision of Beasts and Gods Faber

Autumn 1953 Frances Cornford Collected Poems Cresset

Winter 1953 Sheila Wingfield A Kite's Dinner Cresset

Spring 1954 Laurie Lee My Many Coated Man Andre Deutsch

Summer 1954

Autumn 1954

Winter 1954

Spring 1954

Summer 1955 Lawrence Durrell The Tree of Idleness Faber

Autumn 1955 Robin Skelton Patmos and other Poems Routledge

Winter 1955 Herbert Read Moon's Farm Faber

Spring 1956 Edwin Muir One Foot in Eden Faber

Summer 1956 Spender, Jennings and Muir New Poems 1956 Joseph

Autumn 1956 W S Merwin Green with Beasts Hart Davies

Winter 1956 John Holloway The Minute Marvell

Spring 1957 C A Trypanis The Stones of Troy Faber

Summer 1957 Louis MacNeice Visitations Faber

Autumn 1957 Ted Hughes The Hawk in the Rain Faber

Winter 1957 Theodore Roethke Words for the Wind Secker & Warburg

Spring 1958 Thomas Kinsella Another September Dolmen

Summer 1958 John Smith Excurcus in Autumn Hutchinson

Autumn 1958 A S J Tessimond Selection Putnam

Winter 1958 Macniece, Dobree, Larkin New Poems 1958 Joseph

Spring 1959 Patricia Beer Loss of the Magyar Longmans

Summer 1959 20th Century Women's Verse Faber

Autumn 1959

Winter 1959 Donald Davie The Forests of Lithuania Marvell

Spring 1960 Peter Levi The Gravel Ponds Andre Deustch

Summer 1960 Patrick Kavanagh Come Dance with Kitty Stobling Longman

Autumn 1960 Dom Moraes Poems Eyre & Spottiswoode

Winter 1960 John Betjeman Summoned by Bells John Murray

Spring 1961 David Holbrook Imaginings Putnam

Summer 1961 Elizabeth Jennings Song for a Birth or a Death Andre Deutsch

Autumn 1961 R S Thomas Tares Hart Davis

Winter 1961 Peter Redgrove The Nature of Cold Weather Routledge

Spring 1962 Patrick Creagh A Row of Pharoahs Heinemann

Summer 1962 Dannie Abse Poems Golders Green Hutchinson

Autumn 1962 Thomas Kinsella Downstream Dolmen/OUP

Winter 1962 Michael Baldwin Death On A Live Wire Longmans

Spring 1963 Richard Murphy Sailing to an Island Faber

Summer 1963 Alexander Baird Poems Chatto

Autumn 1963 Louis MacNeice The Burning Perch Faber

Winter 1963 Patricia Beer The Survivors Longmans

Spring 1964 Philip Larkin The Whitsun Weddings Faber

Summer 1964 Donald Davie Events and Wisdoms Routledge

Autumn 1964 C A Trypanis Pompeian Dog Faber

Winter 1964 Patric Dickinson The Cold Universe Chatto

Spring 1965 Sylvia Plath Ariel Faber

Summer 1965 Roy Fuller Buff Andre Deutsch

Autumn 1965 John Holloway Wood and Windfall Routledge

Winter 1965 Kathleen Raine The Hollow Hill Hamilton

Spring 1966 Charles Tomlinson American Scenes and Other Poems OUP

Summer 1966 Anne Halley Between Wars and Other Poems OUP

Autumn 1966 Norman MacCaig Surroundings Chatto

Winter 1966 Peter Redgrove The Force and Other Poems Routledge

Spring 1967 Austin Clarke Old Fashioned Pilgrimage OUP

Summer 1967 John Fuller The Tree that Walked Chatto

Autumn 1967 Thom Gunn Touch Faber

Winter 1967 Thomas Kinsella Nightwalker and Other Poems Dolmen

Spring 1968 Charles Causley Underneath the Water Macmillan

Summer 1968 Roy Fuller New Poems Andre Deutsch

Autumn 1968 Derek Mahon Night Crossing OUP

Winter 1968 R S Thomas Not That He Brought Flowers Hart Davis

Spring 1969 Peter Wiggum The Blue Winged Bee Anvil

Summer 1969 Geoffrey Grigson Ingestion of Ice-Cream

Autumn 1969 Douglas Dunn Terry Street Faber

Winter 1969 David Holbrook Old World New World Rapp & Whiting

Spring 1970 W S Graham Malcolm Mooney’s Land Faber

Summer 1970 Ian Hamilton The Visit Faber

Autumn 1970 Peter Porter The Last of England OUP

Winter 1970 Elizabeth Jennings Lucidities Macmillan

Spring 1971 Thom Gunn Moly Faber

Summer 1971 Geoffrey Hill Mercian Hymns Andre Deutsch

Autumn 1971 Sylvia Plath Winter Trees Faber

Winter 1971 Gavin Ewart The Gavin Ewart Show Trigram

Spring 1972 William Plomer Celebrations Cape

Summer 1972 D J Enright Daughters of Earth Chatto

Autumn 1972 Norman Nicholson A Local Habitation Faber

Winter 1972 Stewart Conn An Ear to the Ground Hutchinson

Spring 1973 John Smith Entering Rooms Chatto

Summer 1973 Edwin Morgan From Glasgow to Saturn Carcanet

Autumn 1973 Michael Burn Out on a Limb Chatto

Winter 1973 Alasdair Maclean From the Wilderness Gollancz

Spring 1974 Geoffrey Holloway Rhine Jump London Mag Ed.

Summer 1974

Autumn 1974 Charles Tomlinson The Way In OUP

Winter 1974 Andrew Waterman Living Room Marvell

Spring 1975 John Cotton Kilroy Was Here Chatto

Summer 1975 Seamus Heaney North Faber

Autumn 1975 Peter Porter Living in a Calm Country OUP

Winter 1975 Vernon Scannell The Loving Game Robson

Spring 1976 George Barker Dialogues etc Faber

Summer 1976 Hugh Maxton The Noise of the Fields Dolmen

Autumn 1976 Thom Gunn Jack Straw's Castle Faber

Winter 1976 Kevin Crossley-Holland The Dream House Andre Deutsch

Spring 1977 Tom Paulin A State of Justice Faber

Summer 1977 Michael Hamburger Real Estate Carcanet

Autumn 1977 W S Graham Implements in Their Places Faber

Winter 1977 Frank Ormsby A Store of Candles OUP

Spring 1978 Peter Porter The Cost of Seriousness OUP

Summer 1978 D J Enright Paradise Illustrated Chatto

Autumn 1978 Geoffrey Hill Tenebrae Andre Deutsch

Winter 1978 Roy Fisher The Thing About Joe Sullivan Carcanet

Spring 1979 Terence Tiller The Singing Mesh Chatto

Summer 1979 Peter Redgrove The Weddings at Nether Powers Routledge

Autumn 1979 Seamus Heaney Fieldwork Faber

Winter 1979 Michael Longley The Echo Gate Secker

Spring 1980 Peter Scupham Summer Places OUP

Summer 1980 Alan Ross Death Valley London Mag Ed.

Autumn 1980 Paul Muldoon Why Brownlee Left Faber

Winter 1980 Alan Brownjohn A Night in the Gazebo Secker

Spring 1981 David Sweetman Looking into the Deep End Faber

Summer 1981 Norman Nicholson Sea to the West Faber 

Autumn 1981 Douglas Dunn St Kilda’s Parliament Faber 

Winter 1981 Peter Redgrove The Apple Broadcast and Other Poems Routledge 

Spring 1982 George Macbeth Poems From O Secker 

Summer 1982 Thom Gunn The Passages of Joy Faber 

Autumn 1982

Winter 1982 Derek Mahon The Hunt by Night OUP 

Spring 1983 John Fuller The Beautiful Inventions Secker 

Summer 1983 Carol Rumens Star Whisper Secker 

Autumn 1983 Paul Muldoon Quoof Faber 

Winter 1983 George Szirtes Short Wave Secker 

Spring 1984 Tom Disch Here I am There You Are Where Were We Hutchinson 

Summer 1984 Iain Crichton Smith The Exiles Carcanet 

Autumn 1984 John Ash The Goodbyes Carcanet 

Winter 1984 Blake Morrison Dark Glasses Chatto 

Spring 1985 Douglas Dunn Elegies Faber 

Summer 1985 Anne Stevenson The Fiction Makers OUP 

Autumn 1985

Winter 1985 Paul Durcan The Berlin Wall Cafe Harvill 

Spring 1986 Frank Orms A Northern Spring Secker

Summer 1986 Dannie Abse Ask the Bloody Horse Hutchinson 

Autumn 1986 Alan Moore Opia Anvil Press 

Winter 1986 Michael Hofmann Acrimony Faber 

Spring 1987 Eavan Boland The Journey and Other Poems Carcanet 

Summer 1987 Seamus Heaney The Haw Lantern Faber 

Autumn 1987 John Ash Disbelief Carcanet 

Winter 1987 Jean Earle Visiting Light Poetry Wales 

Spring 1988 Les Murray The Daylight Moon Carcanet 

Summer 1988 Phillip Gross Air Mines of Mistilla Bloodaxe 

Autumn 1988 Douglas Dunn Northlight Faber 

Winter 1988 Helen Dunmore The Raw Garden Bloodaxe 

Spring 1989

Summer 1989 Peter Reading Perduta Gente Secker 

Autumn 1989 Ted Hughes Wolfwatching Faber 

Winter 1989 Simon Armitage Zoom! Bloodaxe 

Spring 1990 Andrew Greig The Order of the Day Bloodaxe 

Summer 1990 Glyn Maxwell Tale of the Mayor's Son Bloodaxe 

Autumn 1990 Vikram Seth All You who Sleep Tonight Faber 

Winter 1990 Eavan Boland Outside History Carcanet 

Spring 1991 Les Murray Dog Fox Field Carcanet 

Summer 1991 Gerard Woodward Householder Chatto 

Autumn 1991 Dana Gioia The Gods of Winter Peterloo 

Winter 1991 Julie O'Callaghan What's What Bloodaxe 

Spring 1992 David Wright Poems & Versions Carcanet 

Summer 1992 Chase Twichell Perdido Faber 

Autumn 1992 Jo Shapcott Phrase Book OUP 

Winter 1992 Stephen Romer Plato's Ladder OUP 

Spring 1993 Patricia Beer Friend of Heraclitus Carcanet 

Summer 1993 Don Paterson Nil Nil Faber 

Autumn 1993 Stephen Knight Flowering Limbs Bloodaxe 

Winter 1993 James Fenton Out of Danger Penguin 

Spring 1994 Eavan Boland In A Time of Violence Carcanet 

Summer 1994 Hugo Williams Dock Leaves Faber 

Autumn 1994 Paul Muldoon The Annals of Chile Faber 

Winter 1994 Gerard Woodward After the Deafening Chatto 

Spring 1995 Maurice Riordan A Word from the Loki Faber 

Summer 1995 Michael Longley The Ghost Orchid Cape 

Autumn 1995 Bernard O'Donoghue Gunpowder Chatto 

Winter 1995 Glyn Wright Could Have Been Funny Spike 

Spring 1996 Alice Oswald The Thing in the Gap-Stone Stile OUP

Summer 1996 Adrian Mitchell Blue Coffee Bloodaxe 

Autumn 1996 Ciaran Carson Opera Et Cetera Bloodaxe/Gallery 

Winter 1996 Susan Wicks The Clever Daughter Faber 

Spring 1997 Jamie McKendrick The Marble Fly OUP 

Summer 1997 Selima Hill Violet Bloodaxe 

Autumn 1997 Peter Reading Work in Regress Bloodaxe 

Winter 1997 John Hartley Williams Canada Bloodaxe 

Spring 1998 David Harsent A Bird's Idea of Flight Faber 

Summer 1998 Ruth Padel Rembrandt Would Have Loved You Chatto 

Autumn 1998 Ken Smith Wild Root Bloodaxe 

Winter 1998 Jo Shapcott My Life Asleep OUP 

Spring 1999 Bernard O'Donoghue Here Nor There Chatto 

Summer 1999 Michael Hofmann Approximately Nowhere Faber 

Autumn 1999 Carol Ann Duffy The World's Wife Picador 

Winter 1999 Tom Paulin The Wind Dog Faber 

Spring 2000 Alan Jenkins The Drift Chatto 

Summer 2000 Roddy Lumsden The Book of Love Bloodaxe 

Autumn 2000 Michael Donaghy Conjure Picador 

Winter 2000 Douglas Dunn The Year's Afternoon Faber 

Spring 2001 Gillian Alnutt Lintel Bloodaxe 

Summer 2001 Seamus Heaney Electric Light Faber 

Autumn 2001 Selima Hill Bunny Bloodaxe 

Winter 2001 Geoffrey Hill Speech! Speech! Penguin 

Spring 2002 David Harsent Marriage Faber 

Summer 2002 Paul Farley The Ice Age Picador 

Autumn 2002 Geoffrey Hill The Orchards of Syon Penguin 

Winter 2002 Paul Muldoon Moy Sand and Gravel Faber 

Spring 2003 Billy Collins Nine Horses Picador 

Summer 2003 Ian Duhig The Lammas Hireling Picador 

Autumn 2003 Don Paterson Landing Light Faber 

Winter 2003 Jacob Polley The Brink Picador 

Spring 2004 Michael Longley Snow Water Cape 

Summer 2004 Ruth Padel The Soho Leopard Chatto 

Autumn 2004 Kathleen Jamie The Tree House Picador 

Winter 2004 George Szirtes Reel Bloodaxe 

Spring 2005 John Stammers Stolen Love Behaviour Picador 

Summer 2005 Alice Oswald Woods etc Faber 

Autumn 2005 Carol Ann Duffy Rapture Picador 

Winter 2005 Polly Clark Take Me With You Bloodaxe 

Spring 2006 Robin Robertson Swithering Picador 

Summer 2006 Seamus Heaney District and Circle Faber 

Autumn 2006 Paul Muldoon Horse Latitudes Faber 

Winter 2006 Jane Hirshfield After Bloodaxe 

Spring 2007 Ian Duhig The Speed of Dark Picador

Summer 2007 Sarah Maguire The Pomegranates of Kandahar Chatto 

Autumn 2007 Sean O'Brien The Drowned Book Picador 

Winter 2007 Sophie Hannah Pessimism for Beginners Carcanet 

Spring 2008 Ciaran Carson For All We Know Gallery Press 

Summer 2008 Moniza Alvi Europa Bloodaxe 

Autumn 2008 Peter Bennet The Glass Swarm Flambard 

Winter 2008 Mark Doty Theories and Apparitions Cape 

Spring 2009 Alice Oswald Weeds and Wild Flowers Faber 

Summer 2009 Fred D'Aguiar Continental Shelf Carcanet 

Autumn 2009 Hugo Wiliams West End Final Faber 

Winter 2009 Sinead Morrissey Through The Square Window Carcanet 

Spring 2010 Derek Walcott White Egrets Faber 

Summer 2010 Simon Armitage Seeing Stars Faber .

Autumn 2010 Seamus Heaney Human Chain Faber 

Winter 2010 Annie Freud The Mirabelles Picador 

Spring 2011   David Harsent Night Faber 

Summer 2011         Sean O'Brien November Picador 

Autumn 2011   Leontia Flynn Profit and Loss Cape 

Winter 2011  John Kinsella Armour Picador

Spring 2012 Simon Armitage The Death of King Arthur Faber 

Summer 2012 Paul Farley The Dark Film Picador 

Autumn 2012 Jorie Graham P L A C E Carcanet

Winter 2012 Sharon Olds Stag's Leap Cape 

Spring 2013 George Szirtes Bad Machine Bloodaxe 

Summer 2013 Michael Symmons Roberts Drysalter Cape

Autumn 2013 Anne Carson Red Doc > Cape

Winter 2013 Moniza Alvi At the Time of Partition Bloodaxe

Spring 2014 John Burnside All One Breath Cape

Similes

I wonder if anyone will be able to identify the source of all these similes. It's a complete list of all the similes in the source.

SIMILES

like a thief

like a plea, not a challenge

like a thirsty beast

like a stranger

like an impatient spectator

like a board

like a sailor

like a man stung by a bee

like a child

like a clerk

like torture

like a President of a Court

like a jewel

like an ignorant child

like a lawyer

like a reproach

like a litany

like an empty niche

like a mute

like a light

like a dog

Four years of productivity from Miles Davis

From November 1955 to November 1959, Miles Davis recorded 12 brilliant albums in a row:

Miles

Cookin

Relaxin

Workin

Steamin

Round About Midnight

Miles Ahead

Milestones

Porgy and Bess

Kind of Blue

Sketches of Spain

I doubt there are many periods, in any art form, that can compare with this.

(Spun off from an FB comment stream with GEL.)