by  Peter Cates

Nightcrawler

starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, etc. Directed by Dan Gilroy, Open Road films, released 2014, 117 minutes.

The story line of Nightcrawler involves a night drifter/loner, Lucas Bloom, who stalks the mean streets of Los An­geles and stumbles onto a major source of income as a photographer of particularly gruesome accident scenes. As portrayed quite skillfully by Jake Gyl­lenhaal, Bloom exudes an unsettling, bleak, nihilistic lack of any moral compass; in another time, he would have been a perfect recruit for Hitler’s Einsatzgruppen.

This film draws much of its suspense from the unwavering foreboding of the Los Angeles night as distilled through the masterful cinematography, a quality that riveted my attention more than Bloom’s personality or the well-honed chain of events. And the solid acting of Rene Russo and Bill Paxton enhanced the film a lot.

Joe Turner

I’ve Been to Kansas City; Decca/MCA Records MCAD-42351, CD, consists of original Decca 78s recorded between 1940-41.

Big Joe Turner (1911-1985) was a roaring grizzly bear of a singer/ blues shouter who performed for the better part of 60 years and made many records. Born in Kansas City, his early years working as a bartender/ singer led to becoming known as the Singing Barman.

His musical colleagues on these sides include a Who’s Who of American jazz – Hot Lips Page, Don Byas, Pete Johnson, Willie “The Lion” Smith, Art Tatum, Edmund Hall, Billy Taylor, etc. All 13 sides are first rate, particularly Corrinne, Corrina and Piney Brown Blues.

The most truly successful song he may have composed is Shake, Rattle and Roll.