RIP Geri Allen

I've just learned that the amazing jazz pianist Geri Allen has passed away. I have enjoyed her performances for decades. For those not familiar with her music, just listen to her album "Life of a Song" and you will understand how talented she was.

It's a very sad day for all jazz lovers.

Steinway dealer

I received a mail regarding the local Steinway store going out of business (actually, it's promoting the store-closing sale. Like I could afford one!) I'm really surprised 'coz people seem to be spending at will as if there's no recession in the area. I googled immediately and found a few posts about Steinway dealers closing in other cities (e.g. Chicago, Phoenix and Cincinatti) Does it have to do with the brand or the instrument in general? It's hard for me to tell as an outside. Mercury News painted a very gloomy picture by describing this as a retailer to surrender to the piano industry's collapse. Well, it turns out while the Santa Clara store will be closed, the SF and Walnut Creek stores currently owned by Sherman Clay are being sold to Steinway themselves. Personally I feel kinda sad 'coz the Santa Clara store looks really nice and have a good room for recital (my kid played there once)

Music of the day: 打雀英雄傳

今日開車聽收音機，竟然聽到爵士版「月兒彎彎照九州」（英文名為Moon Over the World）！到底是誰這樣別出心裁？那是來自鼓手Akira Tana的同名唱片，鋼琴手則是香港的Ted Lo。記得上月友人問我香港有甚麼出名爵士樂手，我即時答他的就是國際級高手包以正及Ted Lo。來自同一大碟的還有「打雀英雄傳」（英文名是Condor Man）應該買來聽聽，開枱時更好氣氛。

Book of the day: A Romance on Three Legs

Does the title remind you of "The Romance of the Three Kingdom"? Well, it's a complete different topic. See sub-title: Glenn Gould's Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano

You might wonder how interesting a book could be if it is all about a particular piano. I am with you since I quit reading a somewhat similar book ("A Devil to Play," in which the author covered his personal experiences learning French horn, interspersed with history of the instrument. It would have made a good blog post but I think he drags on too much about the former. And his writing styles, which tends to jump around a lot, did not help.)

I have skimmed through this book at the bookstore and found it really interesting. The first chapter is your typical musician (Glenn Gould's) biography: what kind of genius and how weird he was. It gets more interesting starting the 2nd chapter, which is about the blind piano tuner Charles Verne Edquist, who worked with Gould on his "Perfect Piano." This piano was actually one that has been owned by the Eaton Department store in Toronto for a long time and played by many. Eaton was about to return it to Steinway and exchange for another one! I definitely want to find out more.