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Cassandra Wilson, one of the most celebrated jazz vocalists of the past 40 years. She also attained a level of popularity that perhaps none of her peers matched without resorting to a diluted (i.e. bland and dull) form of music that barely showed any of the improvisatory mastery she was capable of and never sacrificed in her work.

She makes a prominent appearance in Ken Burns’s otherwise uneven and deeply flawed Jazz, made cameos in a couple of Hollywood films (Junior and The Score where Robert De Niro's character owned a jazz club) and she was once married to Isaach de Bankolé during the early 2000s. I won’t go into the political controversies that erupted on her social media accounts - quite a shock to many of her fans - but the outpouring of tributes from the jazz community show the depth and durability of her friendships, a testament to not only her artistry but her personality as well.

These days, I listen mostly to her earlier work from her first decade of recording. (One reason her death is a shock is that I didn’t realize she was already pushing 40 by the time she had her breakthrough into mainstream stardom.) Blue Skies is probably her best album as a traditional jazz vocalist covering the standards, but she didn’t stop there and really made her name with Blue Light 'til Dawn and above all New Moon Daughter.

Jean-Paul Rappeneau, 94, French director/write probably best known for Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) which I do think it the best screen adaptation Edmond Rostand's play to date: https://deadline.com/2026/09/jean-paul- ... 237065181/

Ando & I had a little discussion/appreciation of Cassandra Wilson a few years back in this general music listening thread. Might be useful for folks not terribly familiar with her output and legacy. A truly brilliant singer.

I was supposed to see Cassandra Wilson perform in Shanghai circa 2010, but she cancelled. Word filtered back that her mom was ill. My biggest disappointment/missed chance of seeing a great performer since Fats Domino cancelled a NYC Bottom Line performance in 1989 or so (we ended up seeing Big Jay McNeely that night instead). Unfortunately 21st C Shanghai didn't offer such quality backup options.

Cassandra Wilson - quite a shock.

Listen to her cover of Robert Johnson's Come On In My Kitchen - it is for me one of the sexiest pieces of music I have ever heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMx42mY67c0

Hong Kong legend Chen Kuan-tai - https://cityonfire.com/chen-kuan-tai-ma ... way-at-80/

Aunt Peg wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2026 5:18 am Jean-Paul Rappeneau, 94, French director/write probably best known for Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) which I do think it the best screen adaptation Edmond Rostand's play to date: https://deadline.com/2026/09/jean-paul- ... 237065181/

One of the writers on Louis Malle's Zazie dans le Metro as well. On a similar note of playful adaptations of French, Cyrano de Bergerac of course notably had Anthony Burgess do the English subtitle translation of the rhyming couplets of the original dialogue, because of his previous experience with the play in the theatre.

The other Rappeneau film that got a lot of play in the late 90s on UK television (though similarly to Cyrano de Bergerac has not appeared for a couple of decades at this point) was his follow up period drama, 1995's The Horseman on the Roof

Michael Wright (The Five Heartbeats, Sugarhill, and the prison series Oz), 70

Wendell Berry, 92

Gregory wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2026 1:22 pm Michael Wright (The Five Heartbeats, Sugarhill, and the prison series Oz), 70

RIP the other Omar

colinr0380 wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2026 11:11 am

Aunt Peg wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2026 5:18 am Jean-Paul Rappeneau, 94, French director/write probably best known for Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) which I do think it the best screen adaptation Edmond Rostand's play to date: https://deadline.com/2026/09/jean-paul- ... 237065181/

One of the writers on Louis Malle's Zazie dans le Metro as well. On a similar note of playful adaptations of French, Cyrano de Bergerac of course notably had Anthony Burgess do the English subtitle translation of the rhyming couplets of the original dialogue, because of his previous experience with the play in the theatre.

The other film Rappeneau film that got a lot of play in the late 90s on UK television (though similarly to Cyrano de Bergerac has not appeared for a couple of decades at this point) was his follow up period drama, 1995's The Horseman on the Roof

Sony recently put out his entertaining Occupation action comedy Bon Voyage on Blu-ray, it’s not art but it’s a lot of fun

In another example of how out of control my to watch pile is, that made me realise that I think I may have Bon Voyage on its UK DVD from its first release in the early 2000s. I may have to schedule a life-endangering spelunking expedition into some of the more ancient tottering piles of discs to look it out however!

Gloria Steinem and Wendell Berry within days of each other and both at 92 is so stark and disheartening. Glad they made it that far of course.

domino harvey wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2026 1:31 pm

colinr0380 wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2026 11:11 am

Aunt Peg wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2026 5:18 am Jean-Paul Rappeneau, 94, French director/write probably best known for Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) which I do think it the best screen adaptation Edmond Rostand's play to date: https://deadline.com/2026/09/jean-paul- ... 237065181/

One of the writers on Louis Malle's Zazie dans le Metro as well. On a similar note of playful adaptations of French, Cyrano de Bergerac of course notably had Anthony Burgess do the English subtitle translation of the rhyming couplets of the original dialogue, because of his previous experience with the play in the theatre.

The other film Rappeneau film that got a lot of play in the late 90s on UK television (though similarly to Cyrano de Bergerac has not appeared for a couple of decades at this point) was his follow up period drama, 1995's The Horseman on the Roof

Sony recently put out his entertaining Occupation action comedy Bon Voyage on Blu-ray, it’s not art but it’s a lot of fun

Bon Voyage is lots of fun. I've had the French Blu Ray for a number of years now. It was also a favourite of my father.

Bill Moyers interviews Wendell Berry

Gloria Steinem on her early work as a CIA agent infiltrating left student organizations

Tedde Moore, Canadian actress best known as the teacher in A Christmas Story

Carla Jeffery, Disney Channel star at age 33

Actor Richard O'Sullivan, 82, best known for the early 1970s TV sit-com Man About the House: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_O'Sullivan

Chris Langham back in June. He was a notable comedian throughout the 1980s and 1990s, appearing in some of Not The Nine O'Clock News', most powerful, and satirically cutting sketches.

Lots of popping up in bit parts in films like The Pink Panther Strikes Again and Carry On Columbus (and randomly on an episode of Married... With Children!), and went on to play both George Orwell and John Wyndham in dramatised documentaries.

Most famously he turned up in the first two series of Armando Ianucci's The Thick of It series, at which point at the height of his fame he was found guilty of downloading CP, which of course brought his career to a swift halt. It is also the reason why the BBC, whilst it still constantly repeats The Thick Of It on a loop, always starts from series 3 now, after Langham's character was written out.

Since that situation he did appear in a couple of films, both from co-directors Tom Kingsley and Will Sharpe (Sharpe of course now has a bit more fame as an actor, starring in Giri/Haji, and the recent Emmanuelle and Amadeus remakes) - 2011's Black Pond and 2016's The Darkest Universe.

Film director Tony Gatlif, 77, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Gatlif

Updated: Obituary from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/s ... es-aged-77

We were lucky in the UK that two of Gatlif's most notable films were shown on television in the UK in 2000, near to the end of Channel 4's commitment to showing a wide variety of subtitled films from around the world: 1993's Roma music documentary Latcho drom (Safe Journey) and his first collaboration with who would become his muse actor Romain Duris, 1997's Gadjo dilo (The Crazy Stranger). Nothing by the director has shown since then.

It is a shame that Gatlif's films have gone out of vogue so to speak.

His films from the 90's & 00's were hugely popular in Australia with many of them having successful cinema runs on the art house circuit but since then nada.

Aunt Peg wrote: Sun Sep 06, 2026 2:25 pm It is a shame that Gatlif's films have gone out of vogue so to speak.

His films from the 90's & 00's were hugely popular in Australia with many of them having successful cinema runs on the art house circuit but since then nada.

Latcho Drom is close to the first film that comes to mind whenever I suggest titles for reissue to any boutique. (AFAIK there's not even an HD master extant so it really needs to be restored and scanned from the OCN.)

It's fallen into obscurity, but those who saw it back in the day remember. I went to a talk with David Byrne and Joe Boyd a couple of years ago, and it was clearly a film they dearly loved. (Byrne was actually the one who brought it up.) Some time later I asked Jonathan Richman if he's ever seen it because it felt like the kind of film he would absolutely love, and indeed he has seen it and loved it as well. (He gave a lovely response that expanded on his experience with movies - he doesn't see many these days, but when he does see them, he definitely prefers the theater.)

Jay Wiseman, big name in the leather community

hearthesilence wrote: Mon Sep 07, 2026 6:13 am

Aunt Peg wrote: Sun Sep 06, 2026 2:25 pm It is a shame that Gatlif's films have gone out of vogue so to speak.

His films from the 90's & 00's were hugely popular in Australia with many of them having successful cinema runs on the art house circuit but since then nada.

Latcho Drom is close to the first film that comes to mind whenever I suggest titles for reissue to any boutique. (AFAIK there's not even an HD master extant so it really needs to be restored and scanned from the OCN.)

It's fallen into obscurity, but those who saw it back in the day remember. I went to a talk with David Byrne and Joe Boyd a couple of years ago, and it was clearly a film they dearly loved. (Byrne was actually the one who brought it up.) Some time later I asked Jonathan Richman if he's ever seen it because it felt like the kind of film he would absolutely love, and indeed he has seen it and loved it as well. (He gave a lovely response that expanded on his experience with movies - he doesn't see many these days, but when he does see them, he definitely prefers the theater.)

Really a remarkable film, which Jonathan Rosenbaum championed pretty loudly (I saw it in Chicago and remember), and which as you and others notes seems to have fallen totally off the radar. I actually think audiences these days might be more ready for it than most were in the 1990s.

Jeremy Thomas, one of the greatest producers in film history - https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/s ... beast-dies

A quite frankly ridiculous collection of production credits for Roeg, Bertolucci, Cronenberg, and more.

thirtyframesasecond wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2026 2:10 pm Jeremy Thomas, one of the greatest producers in film history - https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/s ... beast-dies

A quite frankly ridiculous collection of production credits for Roeg, Bertolucci, Cronenberg, and more.

Wow. His work with Nagisa Oshima, Jerzy Skolimowski, Takashi Miike, and so many others was just astounding. His reputation was impeccable

Also the final solely credited producer to win an Oscar for Best Picture. His ability to raise money was awe-inspiring