A Lark Ascending

I was reading an article about the area in the New Statesman a week or so back. Suggested the area will be even more redeveloped with the new railway developments. In fact it's here: http://www.newstatesman.com/lifestyle/2014/08/king-s-cross-derelict-wasteland-caffeinated-utopia

King's Cross is unrecognisable now from the days I used to call into Mole when passing through London. You can get any number of lattes and Americanos now....but no jazz records. While waiting for a train last week I saw a curious sight of people queuing to be photographed at an imaginary platform associated with Harry Potter.

Can't say I cared for this. Rootless, feckless folk-singer adrift in a New York/Chicago winter. Loses a cat and finds the wrong one. Probably means something to film buffs but for me it dragged. Quite fun trying to work out who the performers were supposed to be - I think I spotted the Clancy Brothers towards the end and, obviously, Bobbo. Was the jazz junkie in the car meant to be someone specific? The 50s/60s folk revival is very easy to caricature (can't recall the film that sent it up comically a few years back) - a lot of it sounds like middle class kids pretending to be hobos or fishermen now. But there was some marvellous and very influential music that came out of it. It deserves better.

I completely agree about The Honourable Woman, it was outstanding. Good review here: http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/aug/22/the-honourable-woman-hugo-blick-review

Like other books I've read by Gioia, a good, plain telling of the tale, aware of the pitfalls of mythologising and projection. Does what a good music book should do - sends you back to the recordings.

A month back I had to escort my tutor group round a series of personal/social/health workshops and one was a healthy eating session where we learnt how to use a juicer. I was so impressed I bought one. Have been squidging up fruit ever since to make delicious fruit juices. Can also make gazpacho, that marvellous Spanish cucumber and tomato soup. Suspect most of the goodness gets thrown away in the pulp! Took to this from the area east of Exeter on my morris spotting tour:

'The Honourable Woman' finished last night. I still don't quite understand what happened but the whole series had me gripped. Completely flew in the face of the modern fashion for breathless drama with changing scenes every few seconds - lots of slow camera lingering, enigmatic statements and threads that don't start to make sense for a couple of episodes. And lots of questions left in your head. I do hope it got some decent ratings so the BBC will take a few more risks - we've quite enough cookery and fly-on-the-school-wall programmes as it is. Also programme 3/4 of: A more traditional detective thing but again moves at a leisurely pace. I like the characters, the scenery is stunning and the weather is worse than Worksop.

The one I always come back by him is this: I saw that band in Norwich in 1977! Excellent. Very good record too. My favourite Dean moment is still the quintet on the first side of Keith Tippett's 'Septober Energy'. Only a few minutes but it was one of the first things I heard that made me realise that free music had a logic. A ragged melodic statement exploding to a fiery free section and then returning back inside tonality. Never fails to set the hairs on the back of my neck standing. Yes, that's a strong possibility. Wouldn't travel the distance just for that but to round out the day it would be great fun. By mid-November I'll be more than ready for a little adventure.

Elton Dean has a huge discography, most on small labels. You never know quite what you are getting - something very structured like the Ninesense records or completely free records. I must have 20 or 30 under his name and have never been disappointed. He was also never to proud to play jazz rock right up to the end. There's a rare performance by Louis Moholo-Moholo and the Dedication Orchestra (dedicated to the musicians of this thread) at this year's London Jazz Festival. I might well get there if I can find something in the evening to intrigue me too: http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/dedication-orchestra-84370

Was that at Cheltenham about 5-6 years ago? If so I caught that gig - had forgotten that Kenny was in the lineup. That's right. Another occasion where we've sat in the same room oblivious! KW always comes across as a modest chap. One of the things I like about him is his generosity to other musicians. He'll turn up as a sideman on any number of dates. There are a lot of discs out there by little known groups/orchestra's with 'featuring Kenny Wheeler' as a hook in.

I've lost track of the number of times I've heard KW in the flesh - everywhere from swanky concert halls to the side rooms of pubs (a magical concert in the early 90s with Gordon Beck playing Bill Evans tunes). I think I first saw him live with Dave Holland - the band that made "Jumpin' In" - in the upstairs room of a packed Nottingham pub. He was a name I knew before I started consciously listening to jazz - turned up in the sideman credits of a number of rock records. Always loved his lyricism and way with a strong tune; yet he has that willingness to jump beyond his comfort zone out into the free world. It was trusting a musician like KW that made me try harder as a listener in that direction. I've seen him a few times over the last ten years and, to be honest, he's been a bit shaky. Still the tone and ideas but that pure holding of notes had gone - not a complaint, we all are destined for that future. Last time was in a band with an equally frail Bob Brookmeyer. What remains as strong as ever is his writing. His recent CDs have been beautiful. Here's hoping for a recovery and many more new compositions.

Yes, I use the postal Lovefilm too (even if it sounds like a porn company!). I'm not a huge film watcher but Lovefilm carries most things I take a shine to.

Thanks, sidewinder. Some useful links there.

Noticed an add in Ray's for a benefit for KW last week. Said he had been unable to play all year for health reasons. He's been looking frail for some years. Hope things improve.

Just been in to see that. Excellent indeed. A lot of very famous paintings but some I've never seen in books. What struck me was how small some of the more geometric Nevinson's were - they always look as if they should be huge. Interesting to read about his pulling away from the Futurist glorification of war after experiencing the real thing. Also went into the new WWI galleries. They tell the tale well, set out with a clear narrative. Just very crowded at present. Inching through as everyone reads every description. Tremendous to see so much interest - the whole building was teaming with people.

Gargle bleach.

Good book - excellent on the war years. The post-war and presidential years were areas I knew little about. Possibly a little hagiographic. But I was certainly impressed by Grant's refusal to adopt airs and graces despite his exalted positions. Susan Hill - The Woman in Black. Really enjoyed this short Gothic ghost story, clearly modelled on Collins and the like...until the end. The climax was so corny as to spoil the book as a whole which had a marvellous eerie atmosphere. Empires of the Dead - David Crane. The story of how the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the enormous memorial deluge grew out of WWI. Wasn't aware how new this was, though thinking about it you don't see many memorials to the dead of previous British wars. Most tend to be regimental or dedicated to individual or small groups of the officer class.

Bartok's parody of Shostakovich 7 in the Concerto for Orchestra.

I've been looking for STEVE LACY "School Days" (1960/3) for many a year. Have ordered that. Have an internet-is-your-friend version of Oliv but will also get that one. Lovely record. Now a wonder if they could get access to "Spontaneous Music Ensemble ‎– Birds Of A Feather" - one I'm curious to hear. Think it came out on BYG. Vinyl copies are out there but I'm a CD/download chap.

That is sad. A player I've enjoyed very much indeed on record.

My two favourites from the last couple of weeks:

Trish Clowes Quintet in Brecon Cathedral. Up and coming young sax player. Still finding her way but very promising. Vinicius Cantuaria in the lovely theatre in Brecon (about the only thing in Brecon that can be termed lovely). Excellent low key set of famous bossa novas and some originals - just guitar and minimalist, gossamer piano. Just 50 odd people in the audience - and six of them were photographers for whom size clearly matters. Mid-Wales is clearly a long way from Rio.

Ark building in mid-Wales.

I still buy magazines. Subscriptions to Gramophone, Jazzwise and Froots; BBC Music Magazine, Mojo and The New Statesman from the paper shop. There are loads of online sources now but I like to lol on the sofa leafing through them. Gives a general guide to new releases. Most online sources are quite tightly targeted, based on the preferences of the source. These magazines tend to be broader - I'm alerted to things I don't know about just as much as online. Froots is the one I like best - very broad in its remit (Folk/World), open eared, focused on discovering the new rather than worshipping the canon. Remarkable in that it has kept going for 30 odd years - every other magazine in that area in Britain imploded very quickly.

Can't imagine any great fuss being made about huge mp3 collections.