Missing musicians

Wednesday, overcast with a bit of a breeze. Like the other day, I was going to pull to pull the top up before driving in, but once I got out of the garage the overcast seemed thin enough to risk leaving it down. The temperature is a balmy 57° F (14° C) here in the bustling suburbopolis of Lynnwood, so it felt very slightly refreshing slicing through the wind.

For subconscious reasons I can't parse I slipped the transmission into manual mode and rowed the gears myself on the drive in. I don't usually, since there is little joy in shifting gears through a short plodding suburban commute but, like keeping the top down this morning, it seemed the thing to do.

This morning's soundtrack kicked off with a great bit of jazz guitar from Ron Affif. The Lebanese/Italian son of a boxer, Affif recorded five highly regarded albums in the 1990's, then appears to have disappeared from the music scene. There is a scant Facebook page that simply quotes the short Wikipedia article on him. The few sites I could find on a recent search to see what he was up to recently peter out with little more-current information. He was playing and touring in Russia and Turkey as recently as 2004, but that's all I can find. For such a talented and acclaimed jazz musician, it's rather odd.

Blue Merle is another group that no longer exists. They released one very good album (Burning In the Sun) in 2005 (and a couple of EPs) and then the band members all went their respective ways. Their last show as a band shared the stage with My Morning Jacket.

The only other band in this morning's playlist, Toto, reformed in 2010 and I believe is still touring. Not quite one of the rockers-with-walkers set, but certainly a nostalgia act.

The full playlist:

- Ron Affif Trio: Bohemia After Dark
- Toto: Hold the Line
- Blue Merle: Boxcar Racer
- Eugene Maslov: Living In The Past

- Posted via Hermes.