FILM PREMIERE: Is the new Bond a beautiful corpse?

The 22nd Bond film to hit the streets is only the 2nd vehicle for Daniel Craig, the most recent screen incarnation of Bond. Quantum of Solace premiered in London yesterday, on October 29th, with both English crown princes, William and Harry, in attendance. Well, that's one way of assuring a good public turn-out in England. And who reaped the most screams from the little girl tree? Critics are already harping that Bond is dead, and Daniel Craig is a beautiful corpse. More action, less humour, darker, too hard-hitting, so their moans and groans.

Haven't we been through all this before, with the Timothy Dalton phase? In retrospect, the manner in which Dalton embodied Bond was actually quite good, and the films well made, they just weren't serving up the Roger Moore formula that people had gotten used to. Dalton should have been given another chance. But there you have it, with box office returns not on a par with expectations, he was dropped, and fed to the harpies. Then Pierce Brosnan finally became available, and the Bond films segued into a brilliantly written series of ironic, well-made and exuberantly sarcastic films, until Brosnan – the best Bond ever to grace this series – was torpedoed, and this high-flying phase ground to an abrupt halt, allegedly because of Brosnan's age. What a load of rot, Brosnan could have played Bond at any age.

Quite apart from that, an ageing Bond supervising and sending younger agents out into the field, perhaps even having to step into the shoes of M during an unforseen crisis – against his own will, of course – might very well have made for some fascinating psychological conflicts and scenarios.

To have Bond "grow up" need not necessarily mean forfeiting the escapism that used to be the most important ingredient of the series, and mixing both, plus a dose of dark humour, might very well work. It would of course be the end of Bond as the virile killing machine and escapist product placing lifestyle icon we have come to know him as, but it would also give screenwriters everywhere the chance to re-develop a cultural icon.

Has the wheel now come full circle again? Or will the public continue to want seeing Daniel Craig, no matter how unoriginal the action mush he must wade through, that Bond plots seem to have degenerated into? Is the Bond series surging into an unequivocal replay mode? That would be a waste of a good actor, now that the Daniel Craig syndrome seems poised to give the World of Bond a further lease of commercial life.

some LINKS of many:
007 website

video trailers, etc.

Review by Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian

Roscoe Mitchell and Exploding Star Orchestra in Frankfurt on Nov. 1st, 2008

Roscoe jumps in! Sensational! Mitchell announced as featured soloist of Exploding Star Orchestra, for concert in Frankfurt on Main!

Hold your horses, whooaaah! This year's grand finale of the German Jazz Festival in Frankfurt on Main, organised and hosted once again by the Hessian Broadcasting Service, will be a concert with the Exploding Star Orchestra from Chicago, together with Roscoe Mitchell at the centre of its musical storm, on November 1, 2008, the Festival's third and final day.

The trumpet legend Bill Dixon was supposed to be the featured star guest, but is now unavailable, due to sickness. Let's hope for the best. Hang on in there, Bill, please, your time ain't up yet, there's still much more music waiting to be made... Although his absence is a big disappointment, especially as this would probably have been the last opportunity for European devotees to experience a living legend live in Frankfurt – Dixon is 83 years old – an exiting substitute has, nonetheless, been found.

Roscoe Mitchell's jumping in to fill the gap will undoubtedly be as big a treat for fans of improvised music, sound landscapes, free jazz adventures, or Great Black Music in general, as Dixon's appearance would have been. Mitchell, of Art Ensemble of Chicago fame, is more than just an ersatz, of course, the performance in Frankfurt will probably be a sensation, all the more so for being so unexpected and at such short notice. The concert has already been advertised by Hessian Radio, on their hr2-kultur website, as due to be "an incredible sound cosmos: communicative, catastrophic, kaleidoscopic, with affinities to the intergalactic cacophany of the Sun Ra Arkestra as well as Miles Davis' masterwork Bitches Brew with its mysterious streams of sound."

All concerts of the 39th German Jazz Festival will be broadcast live and can also be heard on the internet. Keep your fingers hovering over the recording buttons on November 1st, radio listeners everywhere!

Concert & broadcast date: Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008, 19:05 to circa 24:00 hours
Venue: 39th German Jazz Festival, in the concert hall of the Hessian Broadcasting Servide, in Frankurt on Main, Germany.
Radio frequencies: FM 96.7 MHz

Web radio: HYPERLINK webradio hr2
Also in Dolby Digital 5.1

The Exploding Star Orchestra, is the third and last band on this evening's billing. Their concert will probably begin around 22:30 hrs.

The opening concert of this evening will be Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble, followed by the Bigband of the Hessian Broadcasting Service feat. Uri Caine, conducted by Örjan Fahlström, with the Exploding Star Orchestra bringing the festival to a close.

Links:
Roscoe Mitchell - Wikipedia Biography (engl.)

hr2 announcement re replacement for Dixon

Roscoe Mitchell - Wikipediea Biography (Dt.)

Art Ensemble of Chicago website

Bill Dixon website

Das 39. Deutsche Jazzfestival (30.10.2008 bis 01.11.2008)

HÖR-TIPP
39. Deutsches Jazzfestival Frankfurt 2008

Am Donnerstag, den 30.10.2008 ist es wieder soweit: Der Hessische Rundfunk veranstaltet erneut das Jazzfestival Frankfurt und überträgt alle Konzerte, aus dem Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks in der Bertramstrasse, in vollständigen Live Sendungen auf HR2 (96.7 MHz, UKW). Die Konzerte sind als Internet Radio ebenfalls zugänglich unter
HYPERLINK "http://www.hr-online.de/website/radio/hr2/index.jsp?rubrik=18730" \o "Dolby Digital 5.1" \t "_self" Auch in Dolby Digital 5.1

Überblick:
Donnerstag, 30.10.2008, 19:05 - 24:00 Uhr

(1) John Surman - Howard Moody Duo: "Rain On The Window" (Saxofon bzw. Bassklarinette und Orgel)
(2) Christof Lauer - Patrice Héral Duo (Tenor- bzw. Sopransaxophon und Schlagzeug)
(3) "Mingus, Monk & Me" – hr-Bigband feat. Bill Frisell, conducted by Michael Gibbs

In den Umbaupausen Interviews und Features
Am Mikrofon: Daniella Baumeister

--------------------------
Freitag, 31.10.2008, 19:05 - 24:00 Uhr

THE WYATT VARIATIONS – An evening curated by Robert Wyatt: Ein Musik Abend von Robert Wyatt selbst zusammengestellt

(1) Max Nagl "Market Rasen"
(2) Dondestan! – The Wyatt Project feat. Michael Mantler
(3) Annie Whitehead's "Soupsongs" feat. Gilad Atzmon

In den Umbaupausen Interviews und Features
Am Mikrofon: Claus Gnichwitz
--------------------------

Samstag, 01.11.2008, 19:05 - 24:00 Uhr

(1) Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble
(2)"Citizen Caine" – hr-Bigband feat. Uri Caine, conducted by Örjan Fahlström
(3) The Exploding Star Orchestra feat. Roscoe Mitchell (NEU: DER ERKRANKTE BILL DIXON WIRD VERTRETEN DURCH ROSCOE MITCHELL)

In den Umbaupausen Interviews und Features
Am Mikrofon: Daniella Baumeister
--------------------------
Links:
39. Deutsches Jazzfestival 2008 - Infos zu Konzerten und Musikern

39. Dt. Jazzfestival Frankfurt 2008 - Programminformationen

A Hold on the Soul

A HOLD ON THE SOUL

Cold is the master of us all
It falls apon the large and small
Its servants wind, water and dark
Possess earth once it's passed the mark
Where Autumn, plunged in Winter's white,
Loses its fire - colour fades
Crisp flakes drape landscapes, coat the night
Serene, soft hills cover grassblades

Cold's minions creep up on the living,
Their lust for life, all they are giving
Is taken from them - they clutch air
Dampness extinguishes their flair
Upon their weary way to work
They shudder, hearing winter's call,
Cold grips their souls with an icy smirk –
It is the master of us all.

© George H.E. Koehler, 1985 (taken from the Travelogues poem cycle, from Haunted Lives)

Four Limericks

Limerick

"I need a heroic love that fits,"
She said, "though I love you to bits,
You're not fashioned for this
Hard and tangible bliss!"
Thus disgusted, she zipped up her Schlitz.

© George H.E. Koehler, 1988



Scrapyard Lullabye (Limerick)

Acres of old cars piled up ten high
In rusting tiers, clouds wafting by,
With newspaper pages
And their unread ages,
Like diaphanous dreams in the sky

© George H.E. Koehler, 1988



One For Willie The Shake (Limerick)

Once William was forced to wed Annie:
He had helped herself to her sweet honey –
When her yeoman service
Served up unforseen "bliss",
'Twas the price for exploring her fanny

© George H.E. Koehler, 1988


Limerick

Spraddle-legged and now wet from the dew,
The poised love-breeding zones surge anew;
Hopeless boys, full of spunk,
Nuzzling couples, dead drunk
With music to fondle and purr to...

© George H.E. Koehler, 1988

"There was a young man from Sigh" (Limerick)

Well, here's a real oldie, rescued from oblivion in my dusty archives. Hope you like it.

Limerick

There was a young man from Sigh
Whose heart never could say good-bye:
From midmorning to noon
He was placed in a swoon
By the custom of saying goodbye...

© George H.E. Koehler, 1980

Instruction Pieces No. 1

INSTRUCTION PIECES No. 1

1.
Fear forces you to concentrate.
I have but this to say in favour of it,
for fear breeds too much haste as well.

2.
Speaking in riddles allows you to say truths
without upsetting those as yet unprepared for them,
and to simultaneously direct truth
towards those who seek direction.

3.
One is constantly doing things one has no explanation for.
The more consciously one begins to live and
perceive this, the better one can begin to notice
the borders of one’s own perception.

4.
Waiting does not move a barrier – you must push
through nervousness, and even risk meeting
what you actually didn’t want
to discover…

5.
Life is not one direction, not one way – to think
this is the case, is like putting
a dying man on a diet.

© George H.E. Koehler, 2002

Dying Embers

Here's an older poem discovered in my dusty archives, that I decided to rescue and share with you.

DYING EMBERS

The clock moves on – a metronome
Of this quiet hour in the gloam
The firewood crackles suddenly
The flames twist on their feeding spree

The fire leaps a haunting dance
My mind bristles – another chance
To dive into a paradise
Of childhood feelings, throw the dice –

Feelings flare up, course throw my veins
Dead memories relive their pains:
I had forgotten, now they burst
And mingle with my newer thirst...

© George H.E. Koehler, 1986 (taken from the collection Haunted Lives)