SOUNDTRACK: TROMBONE SHORTY-Tiny Desk Concert #162 (September 29, 2011).
Trombone Shorty is from New Orleans and his backing band is called Orleans Avenue. I can’t think of too many bands that are fronted by a trombone player.
This is a super fun set. It opens with “Dumaine St.” a short (just over 2 minutes) jazzy number that comes from his then recent album For True. There’s some great rhythm in the low end–the baritone sax and bass guitar keep a great groove, especially during the trombone solo (!). It’s short, but it’s great.
Dan “Uncle Potato Chip” Oestreicher, opens the second song with a great bass line on the baritone sax. The song is called “Lagniappe“ which is “a little gift you get for buying something. It’s an especially common practice in certain corners of the world, including Louisiana, where the term originates.” It’s an improvisational piece built around the great bass line. It features a trombone solo and great tenor sax solo by Tim McFatter. The song builds (for about 5 minutes) to an exciting conclusion (“a light workout,” Shorty calls it).
The final song has lyrics sung by Shorty. It’s probably my least favorite of the three as the lyrics aren’t that great (although his voice is good). It’s got a good funky rhythm, but it slows things down when he is singing. And I just want to hear him play. Once he picks up the trombone again, the song springs to life and is a super amount of fun–with another great melody.
I wasn’t sure I’d like this set but I enjoyed it a lot.
[READ: November 22, 2015] The Titan’s Curse
The good news was that I could get both the second and third graphic novels at the same time (both with art by Attila Futaki). The bad news is that apparently the fourth (and fifth) books were never made! I don’t know if there are plans for them to get made but as of right now, we’re stuck at a to be continued.
Of the three, I found this book to be the most confusing because so many characters looked alike. There was also the addition of several new characters (and as with the previous book, there was very little in the way of introduction).
We don’t know why, but Percy and Annabeth have gone to a specific place to rescue two orphans, Bianca and Nico. They are both half-bloods, unbeknownst to them. Bianca is initially suspicious of the heroes, but Nico is right on board.
In terms of action, there’s quite a lot. We meet Artemis, goddess of the hunt who has arrived with her hunters. She speaks formally and is suspicious of men.
After careful consideration Bianca decides to join Artemis’ hunters (which gives her immortality–death may only come in battle–as long as she forswears romantic love, which she has no problem doing). Meanwhile, Nico decides to return to the camp with the others.
Oh and Annabeth, while fighting a manticore, is thrown over the side of a cliff, presumably lost forever. Percy is freaking out but they convince him to head back to camp for reinforcements.
A new quest is decided upon, but Percy’s first goal is to rescue Annabeth. Although we soon see that she is not dead, she just has the weight of the world on her shoulders. Literally.
And then Apollo shows up in his golden chariot (which is a sports car naturally).
Back at camp, the director has them don helmets for more training, this time hunter against half-blood. The hunters win every time. This was a hugely confusing scene since everyone is in battle gear. The book is also hugely confusing because several of the scenes are done with characters in close up and Zoe (whose origin I can’t even recall) and Percy look quite a lot alike
But there’s some really wonderful scenes, like when the horse speaks to Percy and later when Percy rescues the Ophiotaurus (which he calls Bessy).
I liked that the middle section takes place in the Museum of Natural History–which allows for some cool details. The dinosaur teeth are actually dragon teeth and the lion is really the Nemean Lion. And when the bad guys get some skeletons to rise from the earth, they are sent on a single mission–to destroy Percy. And they cannot be stopped by half blood weapons.
There’ a great scene with a large flying statue and then a cool scene at the Hoover Dam.
I typically enjoy when the scenes turn mystical but I was confused a bit when Artemis returned to her sisters. I think the character of Zoe perplexes me too much, even when she reveals her true identity.
And speaking of true identity, Nico’s reveal is pretty fantastic, too.
The final scene shows a meeting of the Gods again, which I liked. Unfortunately it seems to set the stage for book four, which we won’t seem to ever get.
More reason to rad the actual novels, then, right?
