UPDATE

I gave my agent the manuscript of my novel today. So, we'll see how that goes.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through the outline of the next one. All the concepts are in place, it's just a matter of figuring out how to combine characters and plot with the ideas I want to address.

Bought another underrated CD today: Sonny Rollins's East Broadway Run Down. A lot of people seem to think the 20-minute title track is a meandering wank. A lot of people don't know their ass from a hole in the ground. Come on. You got Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones. Of course it's fucking brilliant. And the two ballads that fill out the rest of the disc - "Blessing In Disguise" and "We Kiss In A Shadow" - are breathtaking, too.

Rollins may never have gone all the way out, but his free-est albums (this disc, Our Man In Jazz and the two live discs recorded with Don Cherry, Henry Grimes and Billy Higgins) are not only among the most fascinating items in his catalog, but the most rewarding, too.

Speaking of Henry Grimes, he's got a new live album out, recorded in Finland with David Murray on sax and Hamid Drake on drums.

It's nice to have Henry back playing bass, but sentimentality aside, Live At The Kerava Jazz Festival isn't exactly essential. It meanders a lot, and it's mostly up to Drake to wake the other two guys (and probably the audience) up with a quick drum-roll or tempo change, to keep them from just wandering into the woolly haze of unstructured tranceitude.

I've got to review the disc for The Wire; I hope they don't mind if I'm honest (that is, negative) about it.

With a little luck, I'll be doing a lot more freelancing in the near future, for all my usual outlets: Revolver, The Wire, Alternative Press, The Cleveland Scene, Jazziz, The East Bay Express and maybe The Village Voice, too. I'll start posting more links to articles I've written, as they go up online. Stay tuned.