Photo/Album: Post 9

Yes boys and girls, it's once again time for an entry of my Photo/Album series, where I post a photo from Leech Lake and share with you one of my favorite albums. I do this series as a way of reminding me of the beauty and splendor of Leech Lake, and to reflect on some of the great music I listen to, on vinyl, when I'm in the Northwoods. Now on with the show...

PHOTO

This photo is of our Chevy Blazer (now my son Joe's car) in front of the "Birches" on Sucker Bay, Leech Lake. Joe and I were visiting the Northwoods in February 2007 and spent a good deal of time on the lake ice fishing. On this particular day, we fished in about 10 feet of water over a weed bed that held a huge school of yellow perch. From 3:00 p.m. to about 6:00 p.m., Joe and I caught perch nonstop. We must have brought more than 200 perch through the ice. We kept only 8 fish and enjoyed a tasty fish fry for dinner.

ALBUM

By the mid-1970s, one of the most popular genres in music was "fusion," the combination of rock and jazz. The style was first explored by the likes of Miles Davis and Tony Williams in the late 1960s, but it really didn't hit its stride until the '70s. One of the biggest, best-selling fusion bands was Weather Report, and one of the band's most successful albums was Black Market, released in April, 1976, just a couple of months before I graduated from high school. During the summer after my graduation, this album figured prominently in my listening rotation. To this day it remains one of my all-time favorite albums. If you haven't heard this LP, you can listen to the title track here.