Latest news with #TheBlueNile
CBC
29-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
This man read 3,599 books in his life. His hand-written reading list is inspiring others
Dan Pelzer's nose was always in a book. The U.S. Marine Corps veteran and retired social worker made it his personal goal to read at least 100 pages every day, and he kept a list of every book he'd ever read since 1962, spanning almost any genre you can think of, totalling 3,599. "That's how he passed the time — probably too much time," his daughter, Marci Pelzer, told As It Happens guest host Paul Hunter. "We know he was sometimes reading at work. But he also read on the bus and everywhere he went. He always had a book open, a book in his hand. And it stimulated great conversations with all kinds of people." Dan Pelzer died on July 1 in Columbus, Ohio, at the age of 92, but his reading list is still sparking conversations. To honour his legacy, his family posted his entire list online at Marci says the list's reach has extended beyond her father's friends and family, and is inspiring others to read, think and talk about books. "It means the world to us," she said. Too long to print Dan's family initially planned to hand out printed copies of the booklist at his funeral, but at more than 100 pages, it just wasn't feasible. So, instead, they built a website, where people can flip through scanned copies of the yellowed pages, organised in chronological order by year, some hand-written, others typed. Beginning with Alan Moorehead's The Blue Nile in 1962, and ending with Charles Dickens' David Copperfield in 2023, the list spans almost any genre or era of literature you can think of, from the literary cannon to pulpy page-turners. There's fiction and non-fiction, politics, biographies, and dense tomes on history and religion. And almost all of them, Marci said, were library books. To honour Dan's reading prowess, the Columbus Metropolitan Library has posted a 98-page PDF of the list in alphabetical order, as well as a searchable database of 2,091 of the titles and counting. Compiling it all was no easy feat. Members of the library's information and technology team scanned the physical pages and put it through a transcription software to digitize the text. But because of the quality of the scans, that only churned out about 500 titles. After that, they manually compiled the list, adding subtitles, book covers and other useful information. "He was definitely a Renaissance guy from the standpoint of the variety of titles," said Maria Armitage, the library's manager of enterprise systems and data analytics, who helped create the digitized collection. "He read everything from, like, theologic theory to a lot of history, but then also popular fiction and had some pretty diverse tastes, overall." The library's Whitehall Branch, a place Dan visited often, has also put up a physical display in his honour, called What Dan Read. Marci says she's grateful for the library's work digitizing her father's collection. "I think he'd love to see the library getting the attention, and he's so grateful to what public institutions like libraries have done for the community," Marci said. Preferred John Grisham over James Joyce While he read prolifically, Marci says her father definitely had his preferences. "Sometimes he would talk about books being a slog. Other times he'd talk about loving them," she said. The greatest slog, in Dan's opinion, was Ulysses, the famously hard-to-read modernist novel by Irish writer James Joyce. He was a devout Catholic, and some of his favourite books were novels by Christian authors. He also loved to gobble up mysteries ands thrillers by bestselling authors. "He loved a real page-turner," Marci said. "I'm sure if you flip through like I did, you saw John Grisham all through the years." But he always finished any book he started. And if someone recommended a book to him, he would read it. The second-last book on his list is Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, a 2022 coming-of-age novel by Gabrielle Zevin that Marci recommended. "It made me happy to see that that was one of the last books he read," she said. "The ones that are special are the ones he read because I read them." 'A great comfort' Marci says her father read to connect to people, and because he was a spiritual, deep-thinking and meditative person. It was also, she says, a source of solace in later years. "I think it was a great comfort to him to go stay with my mom, who was in a nursing home the last three years, spend some time with her, and then go home to his empty apartment and read," she said. Dan's wife of 52 years, Mary Lou Pelzer, died in 2024. Marci says her dad didn't keep the list to brag or keep score. "It was just a list of the books he read that he kept personally so he could remember and think about them," she said. "It wasn't for anybody else, and most people didn't know he had it." Still, she believes he would be pleased at all the attention it's receiving.
Scotsman
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Colin Steele Quartet, Glasgow Jazz Festival review: 'a measured tribute to The Blue Nile'
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Colin Steele Quartet, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Green Room ★★★★★ A sultry midsummer Glasgow evening: a fitting setting, perhaps, for trumpeter Colin Steele and his peerless quartet to launch their album The Blue Nile. The third of their trio of 'songbook' albums which have already re-imagined the music of Joni Mitchell and the Pearlfishers, this tribute to the fabled Glasgow band and its urban nocturnes was on its second sitting, an earlier extra concert having been organised due to demand. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Colin Steele PIC: Archie MacFarlane You'd think the Blue Nile's Heatwave might make an appropriate opener but, no, they went for Downtown Lights and almost immediately, even over Alyn Cosker's rumbustious drumming, you were conscious of Steele's measured mute trumpet phrasing evoking Blue Nile frontman Paul Buchanan's wistful vocals (some of us thought Buchanan might just make a brief appearance on stage to endorse this superb jazz tribute: in the event, he blessed the occasion by sending flowers). The musical homage continued with the slow yearning of Let's Go Out Tonight, with its cool drift of trumpet, while pianist and arranger Dave Milligan delivered a lovely, almost baroque piano solo. Then it was Heatwave, trumpet singing sparely over gently ticking piano and Cosker letting off steam in a drum break. Steele's penchant for ballads was well exercised, not least with the beautiful stillness of Easter Parade, its plaintive melody introduced by double bassist Calum Gourlay.
Scotsman
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Colin Steel Quartet, Glasgow Jazz Festival review: 'a measured tribute to The Blue Nile'
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Colin Steele Quartet, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Green Room ★★★★★ A sultry midsummer Glasgow evening: a fitting setting, perhaps, for trumpeter Colin Steele and his peerless quartet to launch their album The Blue Nile. The third of their trio of 'songbook' albums which have already re-imagined the music of Joni Mitchell and the Pearlfishers, this tribute to the fabled Glasgow band and its urban nocturnes was on its second sitting, an earlier extra concert having been organised due to demand. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Colin Steele PIC: Archie MacFarlane You'd think the Blue Nile's Heatwave might make an appropriate opener but, no, they went for Downtown Lights and almost immediately, even over Alyn Cosker's rumbustious drumming, you were conscious of Steele's measured mute trumpet phrasing evoking Blue Nile frontman Paul Buchanan's wistful vocals (some of us thought Buchanan might just make a brief appearance on stage to endorse this superb jazz tribute: in the event, he blessed the occasion by sending flowers). The musical homage continued with the slow yearning of Let's Go Out Tonight, with its cool drift of trumpet, while pianist and arranger Dave Milligan delivered a lovely, almost baroque piano solo. Then it was Heatwave, trumpet singing sparely over gently ticking piano and Cosker letting off steam in a drum break. Steele's penchant for ballads was well exercised, not least with the beautiful stillness of Easter Parade, its plaintive melody introduced by double bassist Calum Gourlay.
The Herald Scotland
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
The Blue Nile songbook gets a brilliant jazz interpretation
Now, courtesy of the brilliant Scottish trumpeter and composer Colin Steele comes an engrossing collection, Colin Steele Quartet - The Blue Nile: Jazz Interpretations of the Blue Nile Songbook, which is released this week. In the company of Calum Gourlay on double bass, Alyn Cosker on drums and pianist Dave Milligan - the latter also arranged the album - Steele delivers striking re-imaginings of many of the Blue Nile's finest moments, from Heatwave and Because of Toledo to Let's Go Out Tonight, Headlights on the Parade, and Easter Parade. Family Life, one of Paul Buchanan's most affecting songs, becomes even more so in the hands of the Quartet and Steele's sinuous trumpet lines. Mid Air, the title track from Buchanan's only (thus far) solo album, released in 2012, gets a particularly beguiling treatment here. As Marina Records, the label behind the new release, puts it: "The album perfectly captures and enhances the late-night moods and aural landscapes of The Blue Nile's music, while also adding some unexpected, and, yes, even slightly funky grooves to songs like Body and Soul and Headlights On The Parade". The Steele quartet is no stranger to the concept of covering other artists' material. Eight years ago they brought out Diving for Pearls, a songbook devoted to The Pearlfishers duo; three years after that, it was the turn of Joni Mitchell, with Joni. In an interview with The Scotsman to mark the release of the Mitchell album, Colin described himself as 'an obsessive listener,' listening to her songs over and over and focusing on the vocals of each one – 'every word and inflection she makes, really obsessing where she places notes, how she phrases everything as well as the whole feel. I keep on listening until there's a moment when I kind of hear space in there to put my own voice as well.' As for his admiration of the Blue Nile, he said recently: 'I am a massive fan of The Blue Nile. I love the melodies of their songs, but I also particularly love the overall atmosphere they create. Paul Buchanan's vocals are beautiful and intimate, his singing actually reminds me of Miles Davis's trumpet playing. Understated and cool, but every nuance filled with beauty and so much emotion". The new album, which was recorded in the space of just one day at Castlesound studios at Pencaitland, where the Blue Nile albums were recorded, has been given the blessing of Paul Buchanan himself. The album has already received enthusiastic praise, with the German online music journalist Werner Herpell has described it as "my jazz album of the year. A masterpiece". The record is available on CD in a six-panel digisleeve and as a vinyl edition limited to 500 copies. The CD version features two additional tracks - Happiness and Headlights On The Parade. Steele and his Quartet preview the new record at Edinburgh's Jazz Bar tonight - Wednesday, June 18 - followed by two sold-out launch concerts at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall two days later, on Friday, June 20. *
The National
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
The events across Scotland you need to know about this June
GARDEN OF DELIGHTS Even those who recoil at the thought of weeding and dragging out the mower on a weekly basis can be inspired by the latest major exhibition at V&A Dundee. Garden Futures: Designing with Nature won't exactly provide inspiration for your next remodel but it will open your eyes to the possibilities of what an outdoor space can be. As well as looking at how garden design has developed around the world, often in the most unexpected places, it examines how important having an outside space is to us. This is Scotland's design museum and some of the ideas will be challenging – but looking at the future of gardens goes hand in hand with looking at a greener, more environmentally friendly future. There are examples of innovative garden design from around the globe and work by international designers and landscape architects. (Image: Howard Sooley) Artists have always been inspired by nature and the outdoors and Garden Futures also showcases visual art inspired by our green spaces. The exhibition also pays tribute to community garden projects across Scotland, from the Maxwell Community Garden, part of the Grow Dundee food growing and community garden network, and Oban's Seaweed Gardens. From William Morris to Derek Jarman, there are names with their own individual take on what a garden is and what it can be. There are also ceramics, fashion, painting, textiles, sculpture, interior design, drawings and photographs. Until January 25, 2026 ALL THAT JAZZ June is great month for jazzers. Not only do the hepcats roll into Glasgow, they also head south to Kirkcudbright. From June 18 to 22, Glasgow welcomes its jazz festival, from Santana at the OVO Hydro to the Colin Steele Quartet playing The Blue Nile (extra show added due to demand) to Marianne McGregor and favourite Brian Kellock. Kirkcudbright Jazz Festival is the place to be if New Orleans, Dixieland and Swing jazz is your favourite jam. Kirkcudbright: June 12–15. Glasgow: June 18–22 (Image: Nan Shephard) NAN SHEPHERD: NAKED AND UNASHAMED Whether you recognise Nan Shepherd from a Scottish £5 banknote or not, her story is unmissable and told in a play running at Pitlochry Festival Theatre's Studio until June 14. The Scottish naturalist was also a poet and writer and had an extraordinary life. She is responsible for the classic text The Living Mountain. But it almost stayed undiscovered – lying in a drawer for more than three decades. Writers Richard Baron and Ellie Zeegen bring all of that to life. Running until June 14 PORTRAIT: INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION This fascinating six-week long exhibition focusing on portraiture, currently running at the Glasgow Gallery of Photography, ends on June 20. The High Street gallery offers some surprising takes on a familiar style and the good news is that the gallery offers all of this for free entry. Until June 20 HIDDEN DOOR FESTIVAL The Hidden Door Festival has spent the past 15 years championing new music, theatre, dance and art. It has also found increasingly interesting locations. It's a charity, fully run by volunteers, with everything funded through ticket sales. This year the site is a former industrial site. It's a huge former paper and cardboard box factory, spread over 15 acres and with warehouses, factory floors, offices and outhouses. Since Saica's relocation to Livingston, proposals are being developed for the site but Hidden Door has access right until the end of 2025. June 11–15 WESTFEST Valiantly flying the flag for real community-led events, Westfest Dundee has made a fabulous success from a one-day event, Westfest Sunday, which keeps the concept simple and local. It takes place on Magdalen Green, within site of the Tay and the rail bridge and centres around the Victorian bandstand. A music programme that always includes local schools and keeps the crowds dancing, it's a properly child-friendly event and gives local businesses and charities a high profile for the day. Westfest Dundee – Sunday, June 1 NEIGHBOURHOOD VARIETY SHOW – SAUCHIEHALL STREET The Neighbourhood Variety Show is a performance project, part of the National Theatre of Scotland's Project in North Glasgow. Essentially, the aim of the project is to take a closer look at how artists can collaborate with and enrich their neighbourhood – and it offers a range of artists willing to perform. The Neighbourhood Variety Show: Sauchiehall Street is created by Eoin McKenzie. The first show from the project was in Springburn last year, and the next show takes place on June 5 in association with The Garage. NTS and McKenzie are working in association with Sauchiehall Street: Culture and Heritage District, a 10-year plan to renew the famous street. The Garage. Thursday, June 5. (Image: Betty Boo) BETTY BOO Without doubt one of the most interesting and talented popsters of the late 80s and early 90s is heading out as her alter ego after Alison Moira Clarkson has spent so many years penning major pop hits for other artists. With the rerelease of her acclaimed and popular albums Boomania and GRRR! It's Betty Boo, the shows are sure to be eneregetic and 'pretty pop-tastic'. There will also be bigger shows later in the year but this is your chance to see her in more intimate settings. Glasgow: Wednesday, June 25, Hug & Pint Edinburgh: Thursday June 26 Voodoo Rooms
