ALL THAT FOLLOWS

Jazz saxophonist and former activist Lennie Lessing, now approaching his 50th birthday, glances at a TV news bulletin announcing a hostage situation in a suburban English neighborhood. Lennie is sure he recognizes one of the hostage-takers as Max Lermontov, a dangerous man with a streak of violence. Even as he argues with himself about getting involved or staying out of it, Lennie drives to the crime scene. Lennie’s existential dilemma is further complicated by the arrival of Max’s daughter, Lucy. Maxwell Caulfield’s narration delivers the world-weary Lennie, a middle-aged jazzman his wife calls a “sofa socialist.” Caulfield lets us hear and believe Lennie’s self-delusions and self-justifications, and he does wonders with Jim Crace’s languid and loving descriptions of what it’s like to play jazz. Choice listening. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2010]