iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 2h

A definitive album of the autumn season.

Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I have listened to about 100 new albums in past eight weeks or so and have found eight that I think you will love. Good listening awaits! www.listeningsessions.ca/p/eight-new-...

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Me from earlier this year on Laura Nyro's 'New York Tendaberry,' released 57 years ago today.

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Everyone has their favourite Coltrane performance or performances, this is mine. Trane’s tightly coiled fury, and McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman and Elvin Jones deeply, deeply in the pocket. youtu.be/_Fz_ZgweERo?...

youtu.be

Song Of The Underground Railroad

YouTube video by John Coltrane - Topic

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Today is the centenary of John Coltrane's birth. I've written about Trane once. It was in 2023 to mark the release of previously unheard recordings from 1961 at the Village Gate. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/eavesdropp...

listeningsessions.ca

Eavesdropping on John Coltrane in the Summer of 1961

Reviewing Evenings at the Village Gate

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Music to greet the start of glorious autumn.

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Just finishing up Mitchell Cohen's on the New York music scene in the 60s. There is a lot of territory covered here - Cohen knows his stuff and then some - in 230-or-so pages, and he does so with deep authority and opinionated passion. Highly, highly recommended!

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

New from me - a look at one of the most exhilarating, extravagant and exciting albums from late-sixties New York. open.substack.com/pub/listenin...

open.substack.com

Lotti Golden’s Extravagant New York Cabaret

Another gem from the rise of the female singer-songwriter

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Visited the local thrift shop and came home with some goodies…

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Reposted by Robert C. Gilbert

Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

A detail about The Graduate from my book research: The one scene in which they couldn't plausibly make Anne Bancroft, 36, look old and sun-damaged was the goodbye in the rain (it was 60 years ago and makeup in color was still tricky). So you get a glimpse that's close to what she really looked like.

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The soundtrack for Thursday night as I eagerly await the beginning of autumn.

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

New from me - I wrote earlier this year about starting to once again collect cassettes and here, I write about my continuing adventures in re-discovering the joy of tapes. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/continuing...

listeningsessions.ca

Continuing Adventures in Cassette Collecting

On the sustained mania for tapes

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Two amazing pick-ups from earlier this week - both esoteric, somewhat strange but deeply exhilarating. Essays on both coming later this year.

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

A very New York soundtrack to Wednesday night.

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Honed my Statement of Purpose into about 900 words that, I think, clearly and passionately, outlines what I wish to do with the book I wish I write.

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Whipped together about 4,000 words on Elvis' spring 1960 Nashville sessions - his first recordings after returning from the Army that signified a deepening of his artistry. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/elvis-is-b...

listeningsessions.ca

Elvis is Back!

On the singer's triumphant return in 1960

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Somewhat crummy day today but thus arrived in the mail and so it's Laura to the rescue this evening.

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

New from me - on the great Elvis Presley comeback of 1960. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/elvis-is-b...

listeningsessions.ca

Elvis is Back!

On the singer's triumphant return in 1960

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The soundtrack to Tuesday night - all in homage to Dolly Parton.

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

ICYMI - I recently wrote about Grant Green's intimate and beautiful ‘Idle Moments.’ www.listeningsessions.ca/p/the-myster...

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Heard this song by the Shangri-Las for the first time and it makes even more convinced that Laura Nyro was listening to records like this and taking notes. Directly or indirectly, there is a line between ‘Give Him a Great Big Kiss’ and something like ‘Lu.’ youtu.be/0KLJaoAGXTY?...

youtu.be

Give Him A Great Big Kiss

YouTube video by The Shangri-Las - Topic

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Finished up a draft of what I call a Statement of Purpose for the book I want to write (tied to my 33 1/3 book proposal still under consideration and the biggest piece of music writing I have done). It felt good to get something down on paper that articulates my vision.

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

It's good to see up-and-coming artists use Substack to promote their music and connect with music writers. Giovanna was in touch to share her new song, ‘Poppy Seeds,’ which is out today. If you dig guitar-driven, sparse indie rock, you'll want to listen. open.spotify.com/album/5pK0IW...

open.spotify.com

Poppy Fields - Single by Giovanna | Spotify

Giovanna · single · 2026 · 1 songs

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Elvis Presley Laura Nyro Duke Ellington

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

This came in the mail today - a treat for the ears to start the weekend!

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Tower of Power once asked “what is hip?” My answer is below.

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

New from me - wrote about one of the truly exquisite moments of Blue Note in the 1960s (Grant Green’s ‘Idle Moments’) plus some thoughts on perfection in jazz. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/the-myster...

listeningsessions.ca

The Mystery of Grant Green's Idle Moments

On perfection in jazz

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

The subject of my next music essay - a luminous masterpiece.

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Newly stunned by the depths of 'Timer.' No accident that Alice Cooper selected it as one of his desert island discs when he was the castaway on the BBC program. I could never select a favourite recording of Laura's but few of her compositions dazzle me like it does. youtu.be/wJPTkgQztHE?...

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

‘Revolver’ turns 60 today although you would hardly know it by listening to it. Wrote about the album a few years ago along with some other thoughts about the Fab Four. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/the-beatle...

listeningsessions.ca

The Beatles Remain Here, There and Everywhere

Impressions of the super-deluxe Revolver box set and two recent interpretations of the music of the Fab Four

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

New from me - eight albums I'm recommending to my readers - everything from the obscure to two that most of you probably already know about and have heard. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/eight-new-...

listeningsessions.ca

Eight New and Upcoming Albums I'm Recommending

Featuring the familiar and unfamiliar in Listening Sessions' latest new-music round-up

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

It's Tony Bennett's centennial today! To toast him, here is my attempt to put into words why he and his music mattered and why he had such a long-standing impact on our culture. I wrote this in the days after his passing in 2023. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/in-tony-be...

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

I've been writing about music for just over five years now and this is the piece I am most proud of. I so want to expand it into a book. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/the-laura-...

listeningsessions.ca

The Laura Nyro Experience (Part One)

The beginning of a three-part essay on the joy and wonder of Laura Nyro

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Robert C. Gilbert @listeningsessions1.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

ICYMI - wrote a bit about producer and arranger Charles Stepney and three of his most mind-bending productions. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/the-charle...

listeningsessions.ca

The Charles Stepney Outrageous

The great producer-arranger ventures into the outer limits with Rotary Connection, Ramsey Lewis and Minnie Riperton

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