More book recommendations

I have been doing a lot of reading lately and not so much jazz club haunting...that will change in the fall as the schedules heat up.

I got to meet some of the young musicians auditioning for the Jazz FM Youth Band over the weekend with their parents - so many talented and inspiring youngsters including one just turned 12 year old - Felix Fox  - he is a pianist. I think he had the distinction of being the youngest auditioner, if that is a word. He was very sweet, a student of Alan Zemaitis (former "Jazzology" guest) and Jules encouraged Felix and his mom to check out the Humber Community Outreach program...nice!

I'm getting psyched for my Chicago trip - already booked the Frank Lloyd Wright Tour...woo hoo.

And now for literary matters: first up two non fiction works. The first "The Warmth of Other Suns" is a Pulitzer prize winning exploration of the great migration of African Americans to the cities of the north, east and west of the U.S. in the last century. It actually follows mostly the trials and triumphs of three individuals - Ida Mae from Mississippi, Robert or Pershing from Louisiana and George from Florida. Riveting.

Next, "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls - an incredible portrait of Walls' and her three other siblings being brought up in various locations in the U.S. including West Virginia,Arizona and California by vagabond parents - who seem to me to be delusional, co-dependent, (the father is an alcoholic) and quite possibly mentally ill. Although they provide "adventures" for their children and are obviously intelligent they certainly put their children at risk of starvation and at times death. The craziest fact is that her mother owns not only a house in Phoenix but land in Texas which is valued at one million dollars. Compelling, sad, frustrating, funny and unbelievable.

Last the wonderful "Rules of Civility" set in the social scene of 1930's New York. A must read as you follow the lives of Katey, Eve and Tinker as they negotiate that glittering city.