ClimbingSky

Why Baseball, Books, and the Grateful Dead matter


MUSIC

  • “A chord is not a chord until the bass player decides which note to play.”  ~Bill Evans Read more

  • Already mid-June and I find that I have only managed to get to one baseball game in person so far this year. That was this past Sunday at Target Field when the Twins beat the Cardinals 5-4. Normally by this time of year, I would already have been to a number of games—Major League, Minor… Read more

  • “Don’t play what’s there; play what’s not there.” – Miles Davis Read more

  • Throwback Thursdays” at ClimbingSky feature posts I wrote over a 15 year period for various blogs. This was first posted on October 26, 2013. … there is no more consistently perfect body of recorded work in jazz than that produced by Lester Young between 1936 and 1941 – with Count Basie’s orchestra, with Billie Holiday and with… Read more

  • Rhythm & Time

    Last week I wrote about how three of my favorite things (Baseball, Fly Fishing, and Jazz) are Arts of Failure. This week now I have been thinking about other ways they are connected. The most obvious connection is that all three have a peculiar relationship with Rhythm and Time. Baseball Ultimately, baseball has no time… Read more

  • “When you hit a wrong note, it’s the next note that makes it good or bad..” ~ Miles Davis Read more

  • Three Arts of Failure

    Summer has come to the North Country with a vengeance. Increasing humid days in the 80s with humid nights in the 60s. Growing up as I did the semi-arid West, humidity is something I have never really been able to make peace with. In my mind, you should always be able to step into a… Read more

  • Jack Teagarden (August 20, 1905 – January 15, 1964) was born in Vernon, Texas. An American jazz trombonist and singer. He led two different bands of his own and then from 1946 to 1951, he played in Louis Armstrong’s All-Stars. I heard this recording last week on my local jazz station, KBEM JAZZ 88.FM. It has… Read more

  • A Touch of Grey

    It is Sunday morning and outside it is still predawn dark. While yesterday began at a cold 17 degrees, today it is already 43 degrees. Yesterday, instead of going to another No Kings Rally, I drove over the border into Wisconsin to scout out fishing access points on the Kinnickinnic River. I used to fish… Read more

  • What better way to begin a week than with this Dave Brubeck Classic! Enjoy! Read more