Favorites of 2025

More for me to remember than for you to read, but maybe you'll find something interesting in here:

Films Watched:

• BLEAK MOMENTS
• HARD TRUTHS
• WALLACE & GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL
• INLAND EMPIRE
• TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME
• ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA
• ACROSS 110TH STREET
• KILLER OF SHEEP
• THE ACCOUNTANT
• SCARECROW
• THE PARALLAX VIEW
• THE DESCENT
• BRANDED TO KILL
• A TOUCH OF ZEN (rewatched restored at Film Forum)
• BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA
• TRAINING DAY
• CURE
• MR. TURNER
• WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE
• ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
• HEAT 
• MISERY ("let me ask you a jazz question")
• COLLATERAL
• NO OTHER CHOICE

Live music:

• Dabin Ryu Trio at Lunatico
• Birthday Ass at Threes Brewing
• Mark Shim Trio at Bar Bayeux
• Steve Lehman/Mark Turner at The Jazz Gallery
• LoJo Brown at the Gallery
• Miles Okazaki and Bill Frisell Duo at Columbia University Miller Theater
• Andrew Cyrille solo at Close Up
• Ben Street Quartet (with Walter Smith III, David Virelles, Eric McPherson) at Close Up
• Ralph Alessi Quartet at Smalls
• Michael Attias Quartet (with Jacob Sacks, John Hebert, Nasheet Waits) at Close Up
• Dan Weiss Trio (with Miguel Zenon and Peter Washington) at Smalls

Gigs:

• "Mure" (Mute) reunion at Lowlands
• Frank Carlberg Dream Machine at Close Up and Bar Bayeux
• WKCR live show with the quartet
• Elden Trio with Thomas and eMac
• Adam O'Farrill Octet album release show at Joe's Pub
• Dabin's gigs at the Gallery and Close Up
• Ben Solomon's two-tenor gigs at Smalls + Ornithology + Close Up
• The entire quartet tour in April (including tunes gig at Volstead's in Minneapolis)
• Conical Intersect with Sam Weinberg
• Quartet at Close Up in July with Micah Thomas, John Hebert, and Dave Frazier
• Jochen Rueckert's New Quartet gigs at Close Up and Smalls
• The Lowlands Midband debut in July and reprise in December
• Happy Trio XXXII with Hebert and Jochen at Lowlands
• Last-minute subbing for Neta with Robert Vega's quintet on New Year's Eve at Close Up

Recorded music:

• Roy Brooks "Understanding" (1970 live)
• Various relaxing video game music via YouTube
• Jeri Southern '50s records
• Venetian Snares, "Huge Chrome Cylinder Box Unfolding" (via Jochen)
• Roy Ayers "Virgo Vibes" (amazing Joe Henderson)
• Miles Davis "Live at the Nighthawk" (upon revisiting)
• Harold Land's late '60s and early '70s records ("The Peacemaker," "A New Shade of Blue," "Choma (Burn)")
• Coltrane Live at Penn State '63 bootleg
• "Smokin' in the Pit" by Steps (classic Brecker)
  
• "Pet Sounds" (had never listened to it start to finish)

Games:

• Resident Evil 4 REmake (played the original on GameCube, thoroughly enjoyed the modernized version with new content)
• Elden Ring Nightreign (100+ hours logged, every boss and Everdark beaten, probably hardest and most satisfying was Everdark Libra)

Misc:

• Listening to playlists on cassette
• OMG Shawarma (via Ben Solomon)
• Choriqueso tacos at El Chingon in Philadelphia
• Ruth Asawa retrospective at SF MoMA
• Marco Pierre White Oxford Union