This is really sad. I had begun listening to jazz before I first heard Westbrook possibly at the Roundhouse, but his music thrilled me then and still thrills me. There is such a range, collaboration and expanse. If you don't know his work think of a Duke Ellington after free jazz came on the scene. Westbrook drew on on Ellington and free form and more formal classical and theatrical styles too. As a pianist he is also close to the Duke.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/apr/12/mike-westbrook-obituary

I have read a lot by Rebecca Solnit, and I am stull inspired by her book Hope in the Dark. This interview is on the occasion of the publication of a sort of sequel to that book.The Beginning Comes After the End

https://youtu.be/sOJ_uaffG5s?si=Flgep0GFtciczCu-

Thank you #RichardOsman for this:

“After writing an email, a text, anything really, you can simply run the whole thing through #ChatGPT, and it instantly deletes your personality. It flattens you out, irons your creases, washes you away, quirk by quirk, until you disappear.”

It's from We Solve Murders published last year.