Locksmith Isidore if bass clarinetist Jason Stein's trio with Jason Roebke on bass and Mike Pride on drums, playing a classy thoughtful blend of free jazz and more mainstream improvisation, music that would fit in well at a jazz club or art-house performance space. Stein has a strong woody tone that permeates the recording, while Roebke and Pride create a shifting and continually moving foundation that simultaneously supports and challenges the leader. They play with a light touch that keeps the music agile throughout. The faster tracks move in a quicksilver fashion with the musicians performing as a unified organism, while the slower and spacier improvisations allow more opportunity for individual expression. "Arch and Shipp" seemingly dedicated to Archie Shepp and Matthew Shipp is a highlight, acknowledging Shepp's earthy growl and Shipp's icy spaciousness and combining them into a lengthy and fascinating exploration of modern jazz, past and present. Wrapping up with the live track "Miss Izzy" the group goes full out with a tasty collective improvisation that draws on inner strength, and projects it outward in a strong and aggressive manner. Stein plays a demanding instrument in a unique and individual way. Eric Dolphy and David Murray have made definitive statements on this instrument and Stein seems well on his way to making truly memorable music as well. Three Kinds of Happiness - amazon.com
Send comments to Tim.
in 2010. This collection is an interesting selection of early music enveloping trio, quartet and a large ensemble with vocalists. Disc one consists of the sextet and quintet albums 
, and this follow up shows that she has continued to make progress in forging her own unique musical path. Supported by her core trio mates Gary Wang on bass and Roland Schneider on drums, the group develops a dreamy, lyrical sound that is layered with ideas and concepts. The album is book-ended by two compositions dedicated to the great drummer Paul Motian whom she played with on her previous album. Motian's subtle, ever shifting dynamic has had a big impact on Fort's musical conception, and that shines through in the subtle shading in the music of these two performances and indeed the album as a whole. There is a full-bodied lyricism that recalls the emotionally resonant playing of Keith Jarrett and Fred Hersch to some of the pieces, notably the beautiful "Clouds Moving." The lengthy "Something 'bout Camels" anchors the developing slowly and dynamically from a spare, almost silent opening to a dynamic trio improvisation that draws on the strengths of the entire unit. This was a patient and thoughtfully played album by a working trio that is comfortable performing together and taking risks. They develop a wide ranging group of performances that cover many moods and reward patient listening. 
Master thief and epic bad-ass Parker and a couple of associates knock over an armored car, getting away with $75,000 dollars. During the getaway, the rookie wheelman flips the car and the only place for Parker to escape on foot is an amusement park called Fun Land that is shuttered for the winter. He soon finds himself trapped in the carnival, hunted by a small army of mobsters and crooked cops. But in Parker's case, twenty versus one is almost a fair fight. Stark (a pen name for Donald E. Westlake) sets this one up really well. It follows the usual Parker formula of a robbery gone bad, but the amusement park setting adds an extra dimension. Parker goes guerrilla, setting up traps and ploys that ingeniously begin to pick off his pursuers one by one, until its just a matter of time before Parker makes his break for freedom. The only thing that could have helped was a map of the amusement park, with Parker running around to different parts, it gets a little confusing at times. Stark's lean style is perfect for the story, with all extraneous prose and sentimentality cut from the story, as Parker cold as ice, dispatches his adversaries and plots his escape.
Not lacking in ambition is Forsyth's thriller which takes the "war on drugs" to the farthest possible conclusion. The president becomes so angry with the influx of cocaine into the US and Europe that he looks for the only man who can stop it. A retired CIA agent code named Cobra is given carte blanche in terms of the military and intelligence apparatus of the United States and is ordered to crush the cocaine cartels. So basically the deal is that cocaine production and smuggling is declared a terrorist act, and Cobra comes out all guns blazing, with unmanned aerial drones, special forces, fighter aircraft, the whole nine yards. While the story is an interesting conceit, it starts to crack under the sheer implausibility after a while. Forsyth's research is well done, but the characters are quite wooden and the action becomes repetitive after a the first few missions. This pretty much becomes a right wing fantasy after a while with the military and force seen as the only answer for any problem. It's not a bad book, in fact there are some portions that are quite interesting. But it just can't sustain the energy developed in the first half on the book and the story begins to lurch, and eventually peters out to a predictable conclusion.