Esperanza Spalding's Body and Soul (2008)

Esperanza Spalding's "Body and Soul" from this live performance is still magical. Although somehow less captivating than her Spanish version, we have always enjoyed the early recordings and performances of Esperanza. For some reason, we lost interest in her later albums and stopped following her career.

The Thursday Murder Club

Although it isn't our usual cup of tea, we recently picked up Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club at a used bookstore. We tend to prefer our sleuths or detectives solo or with the classic pairing of a Holmes and Watson type. Nonetheless, Osman managed to write a humorous and interesting novel featuring four elderly residents of a retirement home in Kent as sleuths. Charming, funny, wise, and interesting, each member of the Thursday Murder Club bring something unique to the group (although Elizabeth seems to often call the shots or have the most experience with crime). 

The reader is introduced to the group with Joyce, the retired nurse and newcomer whose diary entries are the first-person narrative juxtaposed with the third-person omniscient narrator. Besides Joyce, the Egyptian Ibrahim brings to the tale his scientific mind and keen understanding of psychology. Ron, the socialist labor organizer and rabble rouser, is a powerful speaker with a myriad of experiences. Elizabeth, however, has an enigmatic past which included travel abroad and many brushes with danger. Through these old sleuths, the two police detectives, Chris and Donna, solve 3 murders (although one is presumed by Joyce). 

As a writer, Osman successfully throws red herrings at the reader and plays with our assumptions. For example, we did not realize Donna was a black woman until the fact was noted by Fr. Mackie. Similarly, we made certain assumptions about the romantic interest for Chris Hudson, too. But in terms of the actual murder mysteries, we were a little unsatisfied. One murder lacks a clear, or proper resolution while the actual police detectives were shockingly patient with the Thursday Murder Club's disregard for laws. But that's also where the book may be praised by some. It challenges the notion of right and wrong as defined by the law. It also forces the reader to rethink their assumptions about the elderly, even those with dementia. But one thing the book desperately needed was a list of characters. The cast is not vast here, but it would have helped to keep track of who's who in Cooper Chase or the surrounding area.

Fletcher Henderson's Casa Loma Stomp

Somehow we were ignorant of the recording of "Casa Loma Stomp"by Fletcher Henderson. The original, a hot swingin' affair by a catchy white band, is great. But Henderson's orchestra had the inimitable Coleman Hawkins, the brilliant Rex Stewart, and an impeccable sense of rhythm and cohesion. People must have been cutting up quite a rug in the early 1930s...

Scholars and Scholarship in the History of Borno

 

Hamsatu Zanna Laminu's Scholars and Scholarship in the History of Borno, a study of the ulama in the history of Borno, is an intriguing work of scholarship. Although unable to read Arabic texts or manuscripts herself, the author had local connections and was able to supplement her sources with field work. Presumably fluent in the relevant local languages and able to access important works of local and Nigerian scholars such as Muhammad Nur Alkali, including locals willing to translate or summarize Arabic manuscripts for her, she was able to create a coherent overview of the ulama's role in Borno. Although less impressive than Bobboyi's dissertation, which likely benefitted from greater resources and research funding, Laminu was able to explicate in just under 100 pages the development of the ulama, the different roles of court-affiliated ulama and independent ulama, and, finally, explore the life of the first Shehu as an example of the ulama's important role in the annals of Kanem and Borno. 

Undoubtedly, this work was unable to go into great depth like Bobboyi. Thus, we are lacking an attempted tabaqat of scholars of Borno from c. 1500-1800. Perhaps not engaging with the works of Lange on a more accurate chronology for the Sayfawa limited her ability to contextualize different ulama in their respective eras. To be fair, Muhammad Nur Alkali, Kyari Tijani, Shaykh Abubakar al-Miskin, and the unavoidable H.R. Palmer are all drawn upon as sources, with Palmer's translated mahrams. In the case of this 1992 monograph, the lack of Dierk Lange's work among her sources on the Diwan may have been an additional impediment to establishing a clearer chronology. Yet the usual references provide enough for a schematic overview of the Islamization of Kanem and the role of Muhammad b. Mani. Later episodes in the relation of the ulama and the Sayfawa are also explored through the mahram texts as well as chronicles such as the work of Ahmad b. Furtu. Fieldwork complements this as Laminu's travels around Borno and discussions with various descendants of the Borno ulama shed additional insights into their evolution and social, cultural, and political roles in an Islamic state and society. 

Where one would have wished for more nuance or analysis is Laminu's suggestion that Islamic education was an avenue for social mobility, even open to the lowly peasant. She did not stress the point, but the extent to which that was true is suggestive. Despite their close ties to the state through the majlis and the state or elite-affiliated networks of the ulama operating sangaya who received land, tax exemptions, gifts, slaves, and livestock from the Sayfawa and other political elites, charismatic malams could develop a popular following. Their importance as educators and participation in marriages and a number of other rituals and rites required interactions with the ruled. If some of them also came from the lower classes, that could be an additional factor in understanding why the independent ulama could, as in the case of the Manga revolt of 1824, lead movements against the central government. 

On the Great Mosque of Djenne

 

We recently saw this short video from a 2005 BBC program on Djenne, Mali. The video shows parts of the Great Mosque of Djenne that are not often shown, such as the system of ventilation on the roof of the structure. It is truly remarkable as an example of mud architecture.

Tired of Being Alone (with Chicago)

Randomly encountered this video of Al Green singing "Tired of Being Alone" with Chicago. It shows Green in his prime. 

81st Street

 

The recent passing of Abdullah Ibrahim has forced us to revisit his albums again. We were pleasantly reminded of "81st Street" from the 1960s, a recording with Gato Barbieri of Argentina. With just the introspective style of Dollar Brand and Gato Barbieri's inventive wailing on saxophone, it is impressive how "81st Street" sounds as if it was recorded by a larger band.