Phoney Beatlemania had bitten the dust...so they said...and yet is the Clash, opening for the Who...and at Shea Stadium no less. Doesn't seem very punk, that. Not that they'd been punk for quite awhile. Recorded on October 13, 1982, as the Who were in the middle of their first last tour, I wasn't expecting much. I was surprised. It is a good album, songs from every stage of their career, played with energy...arguably more than I remember the headliners showing on that tour.

After Ginger Baker died last year I watched the documentary Beware of Mr. Baker . It's great, with a surprise ending that should surprise no one. The film led me to look into his jazz recordings, including two albums recorded with Bill Frisell: Going Back Home and Falling Off the Roof . Excellent albums, both of them, not only for the drumming but for Frisell's guitar. He has a great tone, and an ability to play a melody line without it sounding like Muzak. Because the two Thelonious Monk covers that lead off this playlist caught my ear, I looked through Frisell's catalog, both as leader and sideman, and found about an album's worth of other covers. A wider-ranging search yielded albums by both Andy Summers and the Kronos Quartet (with Ron Carter) and tracks by Charlie Hunter, NRBQ, and a tribute album by reggae pianist Monty Alexander. So, to mark Ginger's passing, and Monk's 103rd birthday later this week...