Joe Lovano | Folk Art

Tags

Bebop, Jazz, Joe Lovano, Saxophonist

Joe Lovano | Folk Art – [Blue Note Records, 2009]

Joe Lovano, Folk Art

Joe Lovano pulls in an experienced pianist, James Weidman, and a young rhythm section of Esperanza Spalding on bass, and Otis Brown and Francisco Mela on drums for “Folk Art“. Unfortunately, the mix puts the bass and drums in the back, so even though they’re doing good stuff back there, you don’t tend to notice without focusing on it. The good news is that Lovano is in fine form, and Weidman is very good. The songs are all originals, and mostly good. Lovano resists the urge to be too crowd-pleasing and plays in a way to reward some concentration.

One exception is “Dibango“, which features the aulochrome, a horn with a buzzy, distinctive tone. The melody gives instant gratification, in contrast to the more cerebral stuff. This is very solid, serious, mainstream jazz worth recommending. —Anthony Cooper

Source: Amazon.com

Apple Reveals a Fancy new ‘Magic’ Mouse and hardware updates

Tags

African American, Apple, Technology

Apple's New Gear

Apple unleashed several hardware updates today in their iMac, MacBook, and Mac mini lines, but the most interesting news comes with the release of their new Magic Mouse, a wireless multi-touch mouse.

Straight from Apple:

The same Multi-Touch technology first introduced on the revolutionary iPhone comes to the mouse. It’s called Magic Mouse, and it’s the world’s first Multi-Touch mouse. Click anywhere, scroll in any direction, and swipe through images on its smooth, seamless top shell. It works wirelessly using Bluetooth, so you don’t have to worry about cables or adapters cluttering your workspace. And built-in software lets you configure Magic Mouse any way you want.

Apple’s Mighty Mouse may have been one of the most hated point-and-clickers on the planet (I’ve never used one that actually worked well), but Apple at the very least got an “A” for trying something kind of new. We’ll see if they fare better this time around. Gizmodo’s got a hands-on with the Magic Mouse, along with info on the updated $1,000 MacBook, the refreshed iMacs, and the beefier Mac minis.

The Magic Mouse will ship with the new iMacs starting today, or you can buy one separately from the Apple Store for $69. You may purchase the Magic Mouse at the Apple Store.

Source: LifeHacker.com