Watched our friend Matthew Sperry playing with Tom Waits on Letterman last night. Thought he might be hidden in the background or something, but he was right up close, on the left, very visible, exciting. Hope this turns into some kind of major career break for Matthew. If you watched the video I posted a few months ago – the birthday song we wrote for Roger’s 40th – Matthew wrote the music and I wrote the words for that.
Adamation just sent me a $75 gift certificate to Tower, which was really cool of them. Spent it yesterday on:
Orchestra Baobab – Pirates Choice (double CD)
Tom Waits – Blood Money
Tom Waits – Alice
Elvis Costello – When I Was Cruel
Pirates is considered to be the best Baobab ever laid down, in ’82. So loose and rubbery and easy soulful organic funk of the earth. Amazing. Listening to Wait’s Alice now – all throaty, pensive, half-drunken s – a return to the tempos of Nighthawks or Closing Time, but with the messed up xylophone percussion styles of Swordfish Trombones.