Collateral Damage

            On the way home from Îl de Ré we spent a couple of days in Bergerac. Our b&b was close to the tiny village of Monbazillac and we spent some time exploring the area. After a visit to a chateau and some wine tasting, we continued on Cynthia's mission to locate and photograph every interesting building, object, scene and vista in France. As we drove west from Monbazillac, along the D14E, which isn't much wider than a 2CV, I noticed what looked like a small grave maker just off the pavement. We stopped and Cynthia got a quick picture of what was indeed a stone marker that read, "Roger HURMIC 1908-1944 TUÉ le 5.3.1944 LORS DU BOMBARDEMENT de ROUMANIERE P.P.L". ("Roger Hurmic 1908-1944 killed March 5, 1944 during the bombardement of Roumaniere P.P.L." Roumanière is the airport at Bergerac I have no idea what the initials P.P.L stand for and if anyone reading this knows, I'd appreciate you leaving me a comment.)

So, as the sun sinks slowly in the West...

         

           We just got back from a couple of weeks on the road, which, in addition to inherent sloth, is why I haven't posted for a while. After spending a week on Îl de Ré, enroute getting my first speeding ticket, we came home long enough to entertain a friend from the States then spent a week in Alsace. The speed cameras are one of the most frustrating aspects of life here and something I'll take up in the future but, for now, let's just say I'm ready to help man the barricades.

Tricky Sam

              Well, summer is over here and the local bands are starting to rehearse again. A new friend hooked me up with another big band, so now I'll have two groups to play in. What I like about the new band is the challenge of some of the charts (Mingus and Frank Zappa for a start) and some classic Ellington, Ko-Ko and Oclupaca.

We're Number Somewhere Between 0 and 51

            When I started this blog, telling our family and friends about our move to France was mainly an excuse to get me into the habit of writing on a regular basis. I never really had a plan or goal and figured, like the rest of my life I'd just make it up as I went along.  After all, who was going to read it anyway? Most of the world is too busy reading and promoting their own blogs. But if you're one of the hundreds worldwide who haven't started blogging, Google's Blogger comes with a handy "stats" function that shows you how many "page views" you've had and can suck you into believing you could be the next (If I knew of anyone, here's where I would insert the name of a somebody who found wealth and fame by airing grievances on the internet).      

Curtis Fuller

            Even at a jazz Mecca like Marciac, trombone players are seriously under represented at the CD tables. Even so, I found a Curtis Fuller album that wasn't in my collection (Blues-ette) and as I listened to it thought, "Damn, I've got to put Curtis on more often." I probably have more of his recordings than anyone except J.J., even Urbie Green, but I hadn't had them out in a while.

 

            Curtis Fuller is another one of the people I've been trying to hear in person for years. He must have played in New York during the time I worked there but I can't remember ever seeing an ad for him. Back then, Steve Turré was about the only guy you could hear with any degree of regularity, at least as far as I knew. If you wanted to hear trombones, you had to catch them playing with somebody else, as usual.