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Ben Watt recommended Alone at the Vanguard by Fred Hersch in Music (curated)

 
Alone at the Vanguard by Fred Hersch
Alone at the Vanguard by Fred Hersch
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Fred Hersch is a hugely respected jazz pianist who was diagnosed HIV-positive in the 80s. He didn't talk about it publicly until the 90s. Then in 2008, he got very ill, and fell into a coma, which he stayed in for two months. When he came round he'd lost all his muscle memory, which is obviously devastating when you're a jazz pianist. So he had to learn to play again. This record was only made three years later, unbelievably.

I find this album very emotional. It's partly the music, which is very beautiful, but it's partly about what he went through. Having had a heavy hospital experience myself, I know how that can affect you. I managed to get a contact for Fred after he made this, and I wrote to him to tell him how much it had moved me. We wrote to each other for a while after that, which was really special."

Source
  
Betrayal (The 1000 Revolution, #1)
Betrayal (The 1000 Revolution, #1)
Pippa DaCosta | 2017 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Action scenes (0 more)
Shortness (0 more)
Well I found this a quick read, I started it last night (7th Sep) and it was so quick to pull me in that I read 25% in one sitting and then picked it up again first thing this morning to carry on.

It easily had me intrigued with all the fragments of memory that #1001 kept remembering and the failure to reset or follow the commands. It became clear that she had some sort of background with Caleb, something that didn't end very well for them.

I also liked how Caleb and Fran sort of argued and didn't always get on but could work together brilliantly and outwit the fleet. There's quite a lot of action for how short it is but it's very engaging.

It's an interesting start and I'm definitely intrigued enough to carry on with the series but I'm going to work through my list of to-read before I go buying any new ones.