Wednesday, May 12, 2010

HOT MAIL

A good mail day:

Item one: Chicago-based jazz singer Solitaire Miles sent me a copy of her new album Born to be Blue.



I had the fun of writing an old-school “liner note” for Solitaire’s website, which may be read here. I gave BTBB a listen this afternoon, & as no particular jazz enthusiast, I must tell you that this collection, which includes songs by Hoagy Carmichael, Mel Torme & Duke Ellington, Jimmy Van Heusen & Johnny Mercer & others, is a delightful showcase for Solitaire’s fine, precise vocals.

Item two: A friend of mine recently visited the Peabody Museum at Yale, home of my vote for greatest American painting of the 20th Century, Rudolph F. Zallinger’s 1947 fresco secco mural The Age of Reptiles:



Knowing my enthusiasm for this masterpiece, my pal sent me this book:



I've coveted this tome for years but never actually held it in my hands. I can't wait to dig into it in earnest, but I'm especially intrigued at a long article in it on The Age of Reptiles as fine art, because what's always mesmerized me is how this piece of scientific illustration has a bristling, electric atmosphere of mysticism that seemed to me suggestive of an Old Masters religious painting, & this article suggests that Zallinger was consciously under the influence of Cennini & Giotto.

Some details:




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