Harlem Nocturne




Sam "The Man" Taylor's rendition of "Harlem Nocturne," composed by Earle Hagan in 1939 for the Ray Noble Orchestra and recorded by Mr. Taylor in 1955 for MGM.

(Just honkin' out your daily Nocturne . . .)

Just "Nocturnes"


Catchy Title #2! - see Blog from last year here. Now, discover this new text - "Nocturnes" - by German-born, Paris-based Jürgen Nefzger - available thru The Nocturnes link to Amazon

While you're waiting for your copy of the book to arrive, pay a visit to Jürgen's Web site to see this sequencing of images from the Nocturnes series, as one makes the journey from the top of nearby mountains, down to the pavement and architecture of the night in the city of Clermont-Ferrand in France.

(". . on the lookout for the first glow of dawn that will not break.")

Random Notes - again, no more than two



Music ("Strange Overtones" by Brian Eno & David Byrne) and video by Jon Yeo for tomorrow, April 18, which is national Record Store Day. If you can find an independently owned record store, support it! Find out more about this event and for a list of participating stores in your area see recordstoreday.com

Me? I plan to visit my local Rasputin's.

(These beats are 20 years old . . .)

Blonde Nocturne - but no more than two

The lyrics quoted in the footnote of the post below: "Hey there, you with the stars in your eyes . . . " are from the classic pop tune "Hey There" recorded best by Rosemary Clooney (you know, George's aunt!) and a #1 on the Billboard chart in 1954.



In keeping with the smokey Blonde Nocturne theme, see Duffy - you may know her as the Anti-Amy ["Whine"-house] here - I'm not so sure about the video production of "Warwick Avenue" - one extended, closeup, static shot - but she is surely chanelling someone from 60s Motown there - the tune is reminiscent of tracks by Smokey Robinson or the Temptations.

(Or are you not seein' things too clear?)

Star Parties

The San Francisco Amateur Astronomers are sponsoring three upcoming star parties, out at Lands End, San Francisco, part of the "100 Hours of Astronomy" event this week. See The Urban Astronomer Blog (which, BTW will now have a link on our Blog - see to right) for all the details.

As Paul Salazar (TUA) points out, people outside SF can check the "100 Hours" website for events in their area.

(Hey there, you with the stars in your eyes . . .)