The Bulletin #9

THE RECORD

HAWAIIAN PARADISE / Les Paul and his Trio (1949)

Before giving birth to the first multitrack tape recorder, envisioning a solid-body electric guitar 10 years before the Telecaster, and lending his name to the legendary Gibson guitar, Lester William Polsfuss was an accomplished musician who rose to fame in the early fifties as a Duo with his wife and collaborated with the likes of Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby, to name only a few.

The arrangements and quality of the recording on the album Hawaiian Paradise is impressive, not only for its time, predating the golden age of Exotica and Martin Denny's eponymous album by 8 years. Very Avant-garde.

THE BOOK

PETIT TRAITÉ SUR L'IMMENSITÉ DU MONDE / Sylvain Tesson (2005)

True to the wandering philosophy he tested across all continents, Sylvain Tesson shares with us reflections and thoughts drawn from a life of travels close to nature and away from men.

These 167 pages are an invitation to romance, to travel and escape the noise and fury of the world around. An ode to the poetry of words, nature, listening, and observation.

THE DRINK

THE FRENCH 75 / Harry McElhone (1915)

If the first known version of the 75 (1915) was a much more sophisticated blend of Absinthe, Calvados, Gin, lemon, and grenadine, the recipe we know today is the one from 1927:

• 30 ml of gin (or cognac)
• 15 ml of lemon juice
• 10 ml of simple syrup
• 60 ml of champagne

Shake the first three ingredients with ice, pour into a champagne flute or a martini glass and top up with chilled champagne, mixing very gently. Garnish with a lemon twist.

An always refreshing classic, which, behind its apparent smoothness, lives up very well to its name: a 75 mm model 1897 cannon from the French army. It does come with a 'kick'.

THE MOVIE

YOJIMBO / Akira Kurosawa (1961)

Before "A Fistful of Dollars," Sergio Leone’s remake starring Clint Eastwood, there was Akira Kurosawa and the first Chanbara movie bringing together on-screen the two legends of the genre that are Mifune Toshiro and Nakadai Tatsuya.

The recurring myth of the solitary and irreverent hero with unwavering ethics, is always as enjoyable to watch.

The direction, cinematography, acting, and music are faultless here, forever making "Yojimbo" (The Bodyguard) an essential reference that has fed our imagination as young children and certainly keeps doing so...