BEAT TO A PULP ~ STORY#12!

BEAT TO A PULP ~ STORY#12!

HERE’S WHAT EDITOR DAVID CRANMER HAS TO SAY ABOUT BTAP’S LATEST OFFERING ~

The Unreal Jesse James by Chap O'Keefe!

I'm thrilled Chap O'Keefe, aka Keith Chapman, has contributed this exceptional story to BTAP. I must give a special thanks to Gary Dobbs who got the ball rolling by passing my email along to him. Keith immediately responded with "The Unreal Jesse James," a story that skillfully mixes the western, sci-fi and romance genres in one deliciously satirical pulpy tale. He says he wrote this piece as a response to the many authors who have claimed to have written about the "real" Jesse James; now, Chap O'Keefe has left his own indelible stamp on the "unreal" legendary outlaw.

To order Chap O'Keefe's latest novel, BLAST TO OBLIVION, click on over to Black Horse Westerns.

Next week: "A Stash of Goods" by Barbara Martin

Coming soon: "In an English Country Garden" by Ray Foster

TO READ THE CURRENT BTAP STORY CLICK HERE

003 ½ ~ THE ADVENTURES OF JAMES BOND JUNIOR!

003 ½ ~ THE ADVENTURES OF JAMES BOND JUNIOR!

COMMNADERBOND.NET’S LOOKING BACK SERIES HAS AN INDEPTH POST FOCUSING ON ONE OF THE MOST OVERLOOKED OFFICIAL NOVELS IN THE JAMES BOND CANNON, 003 ½ ~ THE ADVENTURES OF JAMES BOND JUNIOR . . .

The CommanderBond.net Looking Back series now moves on to one of the most overlooked titles in the official literary 007 canon: 1967’s 003½: The Adventures Of James Bond Junior by R.D. Mascott.

Essentially the first glimpse at what a young James Bond adventure might resemble, this little-known story focuses on James Bond Jr., nephew of the famous agent 007.

CBn looks back at 003½: The Adventures Of James Bond Junior through publication details, cover artwork, the original jacket blurbs, trivia notes, a look at just who exactly R.D. Mascott is, and more…

I REMEMBER READING THIS TITLE AS A KID AND FINDING IT VERY STODGY GOING – NOT A PATCH ON CHARLIE HIGSON’S YOUNG JAMES BOND NOVELS – BUT FOR COLLECTORS IT’S CERTAINLY A CURIOSITY.

FOR THE COMPLETE COMMANDERBOND.NET POST CLICK HERE

COCKTAIL NATION # 63!

COCKTAIL NATION # 63!

This week we catch up with author and friend of the Cocktail Nation Bill Raetz and find out about his new book “No Blood No Foul”.Another from the latest Jimmy Vargas album Black Halo. Some cool things Kooper found on the net and the ultimate Bachelor Pad Gadget.

PLAYLIST:

Sally Street-Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You
Mark Copeland-DeLovely
Spy-Fi-Then Play Down
Sonny lester-The Breeze and I
Jimmy Vargas-Black Widow on the Sunset Strip
Buddy Morrow-Night Train
Chet Baker-Moon Love
George Dunning-Lilly and Julian
Hugo Montenegro-Goldfinger
Waitiki-White Sandy Beach
Martini Kings-Nylon Jungle
Perez Prado-In the Mood
Les Baxter-Balinese Bongos
Pete Rugolo-For Hi Fi Bugs

TO DOWNLOAD CLICK HERE

AN EVENING AT BUDDIES LOUNGE ~ SHOW #49!

AN EVENING AT BUDDIES LOUNGE ~ SHOW #49!

Join the BIG W every Sunday evening as he continues to explorer, with drink in hand, the Space-Age Pop Hi-Fi musical sounds of the 1950’s and the 1960’s in LIVING STEREO!

SHOW 49 PLAYLIST:

• Thunderball - Tom Jones
• Wild Bike - Hugo Montenegro
• (Love Is) The Tender Trap - Frank Sinatra
• Say It With Music - Sid Bass and His Orchestra
• I Must Know - Jack Jones
• A Swingin' Fling - Alvino Rey
• Come On-A My House - Julie London
• I Could Have Danced All Night - Les Brown
• Mess Around - Sammy Davis Jr.
• Mayberry March - Earle Hagen
• There's A Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder - Bobby Darin
• Home On The Range - Steve Lawrence
• Come Blow Your Horn - Nelson Riddle
• Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days Of Summer - Nat King Cole
• I'm Not the Marrying Kind - Lalo Schifrin
• Kookie's Mad Pad - Edd Byrnes
• Bye Bye Peter Gunn - Henry Mancini
• Georgy Girl - Billy Strange
• Girl Talk - Neal Hefti
• When I Was a Lad - Allan Sherman
• Rosetta - Al Caiola
• Canadian Sunset - Peter Nero

TO DOWNLOAD CLICK HERE

YO HO HO!

YO HO HO!

SOME PIRATES HAVE ALL THE FUN!

BY OLIVER VATINE VIA MICHAEL MAYS’S ADVENTURE BLOG!

TWO GUN BLACK CANARY!

TWO GUN BLACK CANARY!

ANOTHER OF MY FAVORITE COMIC FEMME FATALES!

BY ANTHONY CARPENTER VIA MICHAEL MAYS’ ADVENTURE BLOG!

IT’S NO MYSTERY ~ AGATHA CHRISTIE HOUSE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

IT’S NO MYSTERY ~ AGATHA CHRISTIE HOUSE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

VIA THE HUFFINGTON POST:

LONDON — The English holiday home where Agatha Christie spent her summers and entertained guests with readings from her thrillers is opening to the public for the first time.

Craftsmen have worked for two years to restore the house, Greenway, to gleaming 1950s condition. The rooms remain much as they were when the mystery writer lived there, complete with books, papers, boxes of chocolates and flowers.

Christie's grandson Mathew Prichard said Tuesday the house had been restored to its former beauty.

Christie bought the house near Dartmouth in southwest England in 1938 and spent holidays there until 1959. Her family donated it to a conservation group nine years ago, but until now only the garden has been open to the public.

AS MY BLOG BUDDIES OVER AT CINEMA RETRO POINTED OUT: “THE HOME STILL HAS MS. CHRISTIE'S PERSONAL POSSESSIONS INTACT, EXACTLY AS SHE LEFT THEM. THEN AGAIN, IF ANYTHING HAD BEEN STOLEN, WE WOULD HAVE IMMEDIATELY KNOWN THAT THE BUTLER DID IT.”

STALKING THE VAMPIRE!

STALKING THE VAMPIRE!

BLOG BUDDY BILL CRIDER HAS A COOL REVIEW OF A NEW NOVEL BY MIKE RESNICK THAT SOUNDS RIGHT UP MY ALLEY!

About 20 years ago, I read Resnick's Stalking the Unicorn. He's just now gotten around to doing a sequel. In the first book, John Justin Mallory, a low-rent p. i., gets a case that takes him to an alternate Manhattan. It's New Year's Eve, and he has 24 hours to find a unicorn. In the new book, it's only two years later (time must pass more slowly there), and it's Halloween. This time, Mallory has one night to find a vampire who's killed the nephew of his partner, Winnifred Carruthers. He's accompanied by a vampire named Bats McGuire and a dragon named Nathan. Nathan prefers to be called Scaly Jim Chandler, the name he uses on the private-eye novels he writes.

FOR THE FULL REVIEW CLICK HERE

THE CAT'S MEOW!

DOC CON #12!

DOC CON #12!

Saturday November 14th, 2009!

To the world at large, Doc Con 12 is a scheduled gathering in Chandler, Arizona on Saturday November 14th, 2009.

To the Arizona Fans of Bronze, it is a chance to have people come from all over the country to celebrate the great pulp hero Doc Savage.

To Doc Savage fans, it is a chance to attend a unique experience not available anywhere else, and enable them to forge new and stronger ties with fellow Brothers of Bronze.

QUANTUM OF SAVAGE

Do you have enough action from THE MAN OF BRONZE? Are your books and other collectibles just not enough? If not, a great way to get your Savage fix is to attend Doc Con 12 in beautiful Fall Arizona. Come join your Bronze Brothers for the ultimate Doc Savage party of 2009!

DON’T MISS ANY OF THESE AMAZING DOC SAVAGE ACTIVITIES!

Doc Products for Sale
Friday Night Radio Play
Doc Items Raffle
Group Pictures
Panels and Discussions
Evening Pulp Adventure
Product Show-Off
Lunch and Dinner
And Much More!

TO VISIT THE DOC SAVAGE CONVENTION WEBSITE CLICK HERE

THRILLING ADVENTURES #1!

THRILLING ADVENTURES #1

The premiere issue of Thrilling Adventures hits the stands March 3rd!

This new, quarterly magazine resurrects the classic pulp title of yesteryear and with a combination of retro and new adventure stories in both Prose and graphic style we think the real winners will be our readers!

Thrill to the first pulp-tastic Prof. Stone comic book story EVER !

Flashback to a classic Dan Turner Hollywood Detective comic strip!

NEW fiction featuring the Rook by Barry Reese!

The saga of Sun Koh, the "German Doc Savage" continues from Dr. Art Sippo!

Weird Western Heroics from Teel James Glenn!

Plus More stories, More art, More everything!!

If its ADVENTURE you'll find it in every issue of THRILLING ADVENTURES!
Each BIG issue sells for $9.50 (plus shipping)

Pre-orders (Today thru Monday March 2nd) receive FREE SHIPPING if you also order GUNS OF THE BLACK BAT (also available March 3rd)!

Pre-orders can be sent securely via Paypal.

Paypal pre-orders should be sent to juliebomboppy@yahoo.com

Or send a check or money order payable to Wayne Judge at:

Age of Adventure
257 Alma Drive
Hazelwood, Mo. 63041

FOR MORE DETAILS CLICK HERE

THE CAT'S MEOW!

FORGOTTEN BOOKS: BOMBSHIP BY BILL KNOX!

FORGOTTEN BOOKS: BOMBSHIP BY BILL KNOX!

I first discovered the prolific Scottish author Bill Knox via his twenty-four Thane and Moss police procedurals. These were solid, reality based, novels displaying Knox’s reporter’s eye for detail and characterization. However, while the Thane and Moss novels became Knox’s most successful series, I was more enamored with another of his series characters – Webb Carrick of Her Majesty’s Fishery Protection Service.

I think part of my fascination with the Webb Carrick series is how Knox managed to make ‘Fishery Protection’ into a constantly inventive pursuit – I never knew Fishery Protection could be so interesting. Knox was obviously interested in more than just fish and offshore treaties, although either could be the start to a more complicated and dangerous situation. The upstanding Carrick is far more Coast Guard officer than fisherman and never shies away from action of any kind.

Knox also makes a point of allowing Carrick to progress through his career with Fishery Protection in Hornblower style from his first ship assignment through his first command – all of which adds to the rich background of these relatively short novels by today’s bloated blockbuster standards.

One of my favorite titles in the series, which started in 1964 with The Scavengers, is Knox’s 1980 entry, Bombship:

When the submerged wreck of a World War II ammunition ship begins discharging its lethal cargo of explosives near the Scottish coast, diving officer Webb Carrick of Her Majesty’s Fishery Protection Service is dispatched to prevent a disaster. If the bombship is blown up, the entire village of Port Leister may go along with it, but the deadly tide of live mines and shells threatens both the local beaches and the shipping lanes outside the bay.

To complicate matters, the wrecked hull is teeming with a mutated species of giant conger eels with unnatural strength and an unusual inclination to attack. But the greatest danger of all is posed by a ruthless organization of modern-day pirates operating from a hidden base on a nearby island.

Following a trail of murder and conspiracy, Webb Carrick discovers the prize they are after: half a ton of missing gold bars at the bottom of the bay. . .

Knox began his writing career as a young Glasgow journalist and was variously employed as crime reporter, motoring correspondent and news editor. He made many contributions to radio and television and was well known to Scottish viewers as the writer and presenter for twelve years of the Scottish Television police liaison program, 'Crime Desk.'

Aside from the twenty-four Thane and Moss books and the fifteen Webb Carrick novels, Knox wrote many other crime novels – mostly for Crime Club – including separate series under the pseudonyms Robert MacLeod, Michael Kirk, and Noah Webster. He died in March 1999.

THE WEBB CARRICK NOVELS:

The Scavengers (1964)
Devilweed (1966)
Blacklight (1967)
The Klondyker (1968) aka A Figurehead
Blueback (1969)
Seafire (1970)
Stormtide (1972)
Whitewater (1974)
Hellspout (1976)
Witchrock (1977)
Bombship (1980)
Bloodtide (1982)
Wavecrest (1985)
Dead Man's Mooring (1987)
The Drowning Nets (1991)

Most titles can be easily and cheaply acquired through online used book sources and will provide hours of reading entertainment.

KILLER ACE ~ DAVID GOODIS!

KILLER ACE ~ DAVID GOODIS!

CULLEN GALLAGER'S PULP SERENADE BLOG HAS A GREAT POST ON A DAVID GOODIS SHORT STORY FROM THE PULPS . . .

For this week's Stories for Sunday I am featuring a story by noir master David Goodis - but not one of his mysteries. Like many of his era, Goodis learned his craft by pumping out stories for pulp magazines, nor was he limited to only one genre. In addition to mysteries, Goodis was a prolific action-adventure writer, and "Killer Ace" is one of the many aviation yarns he penned in the early 1940s.Originally published in The Lone Eagle in February of 1941, those familiar only with the introspective, minimalist narratives of Black Friday or The Blonde on the Street Corner are in for an eye-opening surprise. "Killer Ace" is chock full of action on every page - whizzing planes, streams of bullets, and broken jaws.

Written ten months before Pearl Harbor, the story concerns an American student named Dane Kern studying physics at Oxford who enlisted in the British military because of his interest in aviation. As the story opens, he is the sole survivor of a disastrous mission in which the German pilot Von Krim killed everyone else in Kern's squadron. Nor is this the first time Von Krim and his crew have defeated the British pilots. Kern is convinced that someone must be giving the Germans advance information about their plans, and he thinks he has an idea who is behind it all...

TO READ THE COMPLETE POST CLICK HERE

TO READ KILLER ACE VIA PULPGEN CLICK HERE

THE HERO FACTORY!

THE HERO FACTORY!

You know you always wanted to be a hero, so go ahead and make yourself one. It’s easy at the Hero Factory site. The clever site will help you pick out your costume and abilities faster than you can say, “No capes!”

Just pick all your preferences and then save them to see what kind of hero you’d turn out to be if you were struck by lightning, bitten by a radioactive insect, or rocketed from your dying home planet to a whole new one. Now, go be a hero.

TO BUILD A HERO CLICK HERE

INCOGNITO'S SEAN PHILLIPS!

INCOGNITO'S SEAN PHILLIPS!

I'M REALLY ENJOYING THE NEW COMIC SERIES INCOGNITO WRITTEN BY ED BRUBAKER AND ILLUSTRATED BY SEAN PHILLIPS ~ WHOSE INKS FOR THE COVER OF INCOGNITO #6 APPEAR ABOVE.

FOR MORE OF PHILLIPS' WORK ON HIS BLOG CLICK HERE

BULLETS, BROADS, BLACKMAIL & BOMBS ~ TOUGH GUYS DON’T PLAY NICE!

BULLETS, BROADS, BLACKMAIL & BOMBS ~ TOUGH GUYS DON’T PLAY NICE!

BRUCE GROSSMAN HAS A COOL NEW COLUMN POSTED OVER AT BOOKGASM COVERING THREE GREAT HARDBOILD TITLES . . .

This column has a pissed-off Brit, a detective who gets really mad and one super-aggravated spy. In other words, three books I’ve been meaning to cover for a long time — especially the first one, which I finally got my hands on a copy of after years of looking. So sit back and bask in all the bad-assness that is about to go down.

GET CARTER by Ted Lewis — Originally published under the title JACK’S RETURN HOME, this 1970 book is one of the best British crime novels ever written. Hell, I’ll go out on a limb and say without a doubt that the movie version and THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY are two of the best British crime films ever made. What is truly outstanding about the book is how little of it was cut for the film.

TO READ THE FULL POST CLICK HERE

THE CAT'S MEOW!

DOMINO LADY #1!

DOMINO LADY #1!

The debut of Moonstone’s hot noir-crime thriller!

Buffy novelist and four time Bram Stoker Award winner Nancy Holder uncovers the sexy romp secrets of our stunning Blond Bombshell in this new on-going series! The Domino Lady does whatever it takes, and uses whatever is at her disposal, to outthink and outplay those who prey upon the innocent. Sleeping with the enemy makes no difference with her, as long as she can put away the bad guys. No man can resist her, for she strikes without warning and she holds all the cards.

Story: Nancy Holder
Art: Danny Sempere
Colors: Jason Jensen
Cover: Uwe Jarling
32pgs, color, $3.99

MORE TALES OF ZORRO!

MORE TALES OF ZORRO!

Moonstone is proud to present More Tales of Zorro, the second anthology featuring all-new, original tales of The Fox!

This groundbreaking compilation includes never-before-seen stories and essays from a fantastic lineup of today’s top writers including:
Carole Nelson Douglas, Alan Dean Foster, Joe R. Lansdale, Timothy Zahn, Kage Baker, Matthew Baugh, Johnny D. Boggs, Henry Darrow, Keith R. A. DeCandido, Win Scott Eckert, Jennifer Fallon, Craig Shaw Gardner, Joe Gentile, John Peel, Jean Schanberger, Richard Dean Starr, & Steve Rasnic Tem

Best of all, More Tales of Zorro includes stunning new cover art by Spectrum award-winner Douglas Klauba and even more original interior illustrations by acclaimed Disney animator and sculptor, Rubén Procopio!

With the International success of the recent Telemundo television series Zorro: The Sword and the Rose, as well as the blockbuster films starring Antonio Banderas, the New York Times bestselling Zorro: A Novel by Isabel Allende, the Young Zorro novels by Jan Adkins, and the first Zorro anthology, Tales of Zorro, The Fox continues to be one of the most popular and enduring heroes of the twentieth-century. For more than eighty-seven years Zorro has entertained and thrilled audiences around the world.

More Tales of Zorro
Edited by Richard Dean Starr

Interior Art: Rubén Procopio
Cover Art: Douglas Klauba
240pgs, b/w, $15.95

FOR MORE CLICK HERE

BATWOMAN!

BATWOMAN!

THIS POSTER WAS TOO COOL TO OVERLOOK OVER AT BILL CUNNINGHAM'S PULP 2.0 BLOG . . .

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I have a poster from this movie in my office. It's a pretty iconic image - part 1960's Batgirl (Yvonne Craig) meets Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine by way of Mexico.

TO CHECK OUT THE FULL STORY VIA GEEK ORTHODOX CLICK HERE

THE CAT'S MEOW!

FEMME NOIR VOL. 1: COMING IN MAY!

FEMME NOIR VOL. 1: COMING IN MAY!

HERE’S NEWS FROM BLOG BUDDY CHRIS MILLS ON THE TRADE PAPERBACK EDITION OF HIS 2008 FEMME NOIR MINI-SERIES . . .

FEMME NOIR VOLUME 1: THE DARK CITY DIARIES

Writer: Christopher Mills
Artist: Joe Staton
(w/Alfredo Lopez, Horacio Ottolini, Mark Stegbauer, Melissa Kaercher, Matt Webb & Michael Watkins)

On the mean streets of Port Nocturne, justice is blonde! This volume collects all 4 issues of the critically acclaimed crime fiction mini-series about a mysterious, gun-toting dame fighting for justice in a dark city drowning in violence and corruption.

This volume also includes 2 complete bonus stories, conceptual artwork by Eisner Award-winning artist Joe Staton, and an introduction by the Shamus Award-winning author of Road To Perdition, Max Allan Collins.

148 pages, Full Color, $19.95

ORDER FROM YOUR LOCAL COMIC STORE OR CLICK HERE

U.N.C.L.E. ON E-BAY!

U.N.C.L.E. ON E-BAY!

THIS IS A RARE, BUT EXPENSIVE ITEM. I’VE NEVER SEEN THIS ONE BEFORE. ONLY FOR THOSE FANS WITH DEEP POCKETS.

TO CHECK IT OUT CLICK HERE

BEAT TO A PULP STORY #11!

BEAT TO A PULP STORY #11!

NEW FROM BEAT TO A PULP EDITOR DAVID CRANMER ABOUT BTAP’S LATEST STORY, NO BLOOD, NO FOUL BY BILL RAETZ ~

This week's punch is an excerpt from Bill Raetz's new spy thriller, No Blood, No Foul. He was kind enough to answer a few questions about his writing.

Bill, if you don’t mind, maybe we can start by explaining to those who haven’t read your books, what is the World Espionage Bureau?

The World Espionage Bureau (WEB) is an agency I created as a stage for my books. I wanted to take spy fiction in a slightly different direction without repackaging 007 or Mission: Impossible. The WEB Command Center is headquartered in Las Vegas, which plays well with the mystique surrounding Area 51, and allows me to work in some of the glitz and glamour of Sin City.

NO BLOOD, NO FOUL WILL BE RELEASED ON MARCH 1ST

TO READ THE STORY EXCERPT CLICK HERE

TO READ THE COMPLETE INTERVIEW CLICK HERE

TO ORDER A COPY OF THE COMPLETE NOVEL CLICK HERE

Next week in BTAP: The Unreal Jesse James by Chap O' Keefe.

CRIKEY!

CRIKEY!

THE NEXT ISSUE OF CRIKEY! (THE GREAT BRITISH COMICS MAGAZINE) IS DUE TO APPEAR IN EARLY MARCH, FEATURING INTERVIEWS WITH ENRIQUE BADIA ROMERO, DAVID LLOYD AND PAT MILLS, PLUS ARTICLES ON TOP SECRET PICTURE LIBRARY, WALT HOWARTH AND THE BRITISH MARVEL.

FOR MORE CLICK HERE

JESSE STONE: NO REMORSE!

JESSE STONE: NO REMORSE!

Writer extraordinaire and blog buddy Lee Goldberg is as big a fan of Tom Selleck's Jesse Stone television movies (based on the character created by Robert Parker) as I am. As such, he's anxiously anticipating the fifth movie in the series Jesse Stone: Thin Ice set to premier on CBS this coming Sunday.

In a post today, however, Lee (who has his finger on the pulse of all things television) wonders why Jesse Stone: Thin Ice, which was shot in 2007, has taken so long to air. He even tells us a sixth movie, Jesse Stone: No Remorse, has already been shot ~ which is excellent news, especially if they don't wait another eighteen months to air it.

TO READ LEE'S FULL POST CLICK HERE

JUST ASKING ~ ROBERT PARKER IN THE WSJ!

JUST ASKING ~ ROBERT PARKER IN THE WSJ!

ON THE EVE OF THE PUBLICATION OF HIS NEW JESSE STONE NOVEL, NIGHT AND DAY, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL HAS AN INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT PARKER . . .

In Robert B. Parker's newly published 58th adult novel, "Night and Day," Massachusetts Police Chief Jesse Stone confronts a series of unexpected sexual improprieties in the small Massachusetts town he shepherds. That he does so with dispatch and good humor won't surprise anyone who has followed Mr. Parker's literary career over the last 36 years.

Mr. Parker made his debut in 1973 with "The Godwulf Manuscript," which introduced his best-known character, Spenser, a private investigator based in Boston. The series now counts 36 titles and was the basis of the 1980s television show "Spenser: For Hire," starring Robert Urich and Avery Brooks. "Night and Day" is the 8th book in the Jesse Stone series.

In June, Pearson PLC's Putnam imprint will publish "Brimstone," a sequel to his 2005 western novel "Appaloosa." Later this fall Putnam will issue "The Professional," a new Spenser novel. CBS-TV has also adapted the Jesse Stone series for television, with "Thin Ice," featuring Tom Selleck in the lead role, scheduled to air March 1. Mr. Parker, 76 years old, was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal's Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg.

TO READ THE FULL INTERVIEW CLICK HERE

THE CAT'S MEOW!

PATRICIA BARBER ~ NIGHTCLUB!

PATRICIA BARBER ~ NIGHTCLUB!

HERE’S ANOTHER COOL JAZZ CD VIA KELLY’S LOUNGE GIVING PLAY TO A LITTLE KNOWN SINGER WITH A GREAT VOICE . . .

PER KELLY:

If you download this one and have a listen you may be hooked. Then again you may not. I was introduced to this nightclub singer by a friend about 8 years ago. I think it was "Cool Mood" she played to me. I was impressed and went out to see what our local CD store had to offer. This was the only one available off the shelf so I bought it. Whereas "Mood" presented us with a kind of hip album of originals, on this album she draws us into her impressionistic reading of 12 standards. "Bye Bye Blackbird" is a gem. Comparisons have been made between Miss Barber and Diana Krall, but in my book they're worlds apart. I enjoy Krall especially on DVD (I have her "Live In Paris"). The presence of John Clayton (bass) and Jeff Hamilton (drums) helped and also the fact that my fellow countryman, Alan Broadbent, was music director/conductor for the session. Oh yes ... Claus Ogerman too!

But back to our current share. Barber's style has been described as dark, smokey, sultry and cool. This is not concert jazz a la Krall. It has been nurtured and refined in the nightclub (Chicago's Gold Star Sardine Bar & The Green Mill to name just two). About 2am. The crowd has thinned. Those left are mellowed by a few martinis. The singer senses that she's in the presence of kindred souls so sings and plays her heart out. That's what this album is all about.

Tracks:

01) Bye Bye Blackbird
02 Invitation
03) Yesterdays
04) Just For A Thrill
05) You Don't Know Me
06) Alfie
07) Autumn Leaves
08) Summer Samba
09) All Or Nothing At All
10) So In Love
11) A Man & A Woman
12) I Fall In Love Too Easily

TO DOWNLOAD CLICK HERE

BLOSSOM DEARIE TRIBUTE!

BLOSSOM DEARIE TRIBUTE!

WFMU BROADCASTING FROM JERSEY CITY HELD A 30 SONG TRIBUTE TO RECENTLY DEPARTED SONGSTRESS BLOSSOM DEARIE. IT’S A COOL SHOW HIGHLIGHTING MANY OF BLOSSOM’S BEST INTERPRETATIONS FROM THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK.

BLOSSOM'S BREATHY, BETTY-BOOPISH VOICE IS NOT FOR EVERYONE, BUT I ENJOY HER IN SMALL DOSES.

MANY PEOPLE WILL HAVE GROWN UP, LIKE ME, LISTENING TO BLOSSOM'S VOICE ON SATURDAY MORNING'S SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK, SINGING BILLS THROUGH CONGRESS AND SINGING THE STORY OF THE LIBERTY BELL, ETC.

TO LISTEN TO THE WHOLE SHOW OR INDIVIDUAL CUTS CLICK HERE