It rained yesterday, hard and all day. I cancelled out of the Saturday morning Sunshine Shop group ride with some feeling of relief and actually played the guitar and blogged a little. It's my first break in riding for about 3 or more weeks. This morning was cloudy but ok for riding, so I'm back in the saddle again - this morning was power workout...desiccated beef drink before the ride, 14 big-ring uphill sprints spread over the 20 mile ride, finished off with a protein drink. Mmmmmm. Oddly enough, I still have some energy left and find that that Allan Alexander has a new book of guitar transcriptions out, 8 Scarlatti Sonatas. You can hear them at SoundClick and can buy the CD and book here. I like the Longo 168 and am thinking of getting the book just for this one. It has a nice separation between the bass lines and the upper voice that might sound interesting if the lower voice could be fingered on the octave courses.
Speaking of music that has voices separated that might be a good 12-string fit, I listened to some of the pieces on the Complete Riverside recordings of Thelonious Monk. I particularly like his sparse version of the Ellington classic It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing. The floor bass even takes the melody for a few bars, and Monk's wonderfully off-tempo phrasing makes this version swing in a very cool, laid-back way. I might start messing with this unless the weather turns good for a long stretch.
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