A Lark Ascending

I can get an Ivan Denisovich for £6. I know women who will happily pay £80! A haircut for the price of a Mosaic!!!! And here's the ultimate soundtrack to this thread:

Imagine what my early/mid-70s lectures were like, still hungover from the 60s. No-one wore pyjamas any more!

Nice old Guardian article from 2007 about Kevin and Robert Wyatt meeting again after many years: http://reynoldsretro.blogspot.co.uk/2007/12/kevin-ayers-and-robert-wyatt-grauniad.html

This Week's Composer, perhaps?

Would have loved to have seen the Whole World, Roger (though not sure I'd have been able to make head nor tail of them at the time - the album didn't kick in for many years when I bought it in '73). The Rainbow gig was something special at the time - a sort of celebrity jamboree for people who were only a bit famous. I remember Mike Oldfield playing the solo off 'Whateverwebringsgehesings', John Cale (I think) doing 'Heartbreak Hotel and Nico scaring the bejazus out of everyone with 'Deutschland, Deutschland Uber Alles'! And the whole of 'the Dr Dream' suite somewhere at the end. There's even a prominent mention of Kevin's passing on the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-arts-21517041 You'd not have heard Ayres mentioned on the BBC outside the Top Gear/Sounds of the Seventies area back in his hey-day. Intriguing that he's now considered of wider interest.

Sad to read that. His first 4 records + the first Soft Machine album were formative influences. Strong song writing, a very personal approach to vocals and a willingness to go in odd directions. I was at the famous June 1st concert in 1975 that became a record; also a Hyde Park free gig that year (my abiding memory being walking away as he did his encores - he finished with the ultimate unromantic love song with a refrain of 'But I've got a hard-on for you, babe'. Don't think he ever recorded it!) R.I.P. Or perhaps... 'Thank You...Very...MUCH!'

Cut the yolks, Bill

Third of Bruce's Cambridge (the proper one) based crime novels. Not brilliantly written - basically a fan's account relying mainly on interviews with musicians, journalists and fans. But it tells the tale without attempting to relate Colosseum to the dialectics of post-capitalist disfunctionalism. Saw this referred to above and it was on sale for sixpence next to the eggs in Sainsbury's.

I met him at a Watersons concert in Hull in 1971. He said he was thinking about changing direction and quizzed me about Cecil Sharp and morris dancing ribbons. Didn't seem to go anywhere, though (though he may have worn some of those ribbons over the later years).

Yes, it can be hard going, especially if you don't know the piece. But at home there's no need to listen to the full hour+ in one go. You can play a couple of movements, go and make the tea, and then come back for the rest. Mahler, I think in the 2nd, stipulated that there should be a rest between the 1st movement and the rest. I don't think many conductors pay any attention. I find whole operas hard to take in one go. Prefer to play them an act at a time, often on different days. Actually makes you more attentive to the later acts. I grew up in the early 70s of double LP concept albums (Tales of Topographic Oceans, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Septober Energy, Frames) so it was actually long pieces of classical music I craved. Mahler and Bruckner were my way in! It took me a long time to get around to Mozart, Haydn etc. Personal preference, as you say.

Britten's Violin Concerto is an early piece, though it has his fingerprints. It's never one I've listened to much though I've played it more in recent years. Much prefer Walton's from the same time period. Brigg Fair is a nice idea but the variations always seem to me to pound the tune to bits in the end. Listen to a folk singer sing it. Delius was never really part of the folk song movement - always seems to me to have more in common with Debussy (though you don't hear that in Brigg Fair). I keep meaning to go to Brigg as it's not far from where I live - don't think there's anything there (certainly not a fair!) but I like the idea. The Enigma Variations are extraordinary and well worth repeated listening - lots in there to get your head round and emotionally involving. I'm not sure what Bruckner, Mahler or Shostakovich would have to say about your 45 minutes rule!

What it says on the tin - newly recorded things on their way that catch your eye. Here's one that I suspect will interest a few here: Nice cover too. Early March.

Spiral: Series 4 In the the Saturday evening subtitled sleuths spot (though I'm catching up on the thing that used to be called a VCR but now does something digital).

Merci

What is Blu-Spec? (I've only just got around to Blu-Ray)

What is this all about? http://www.amazon.co...61103442&sr=8-8 £214.99!!! Includes a phial of Miles' sweat, perhaps? A piece of the True Cross?

12 CDs of Douglas' residency in 2006. At the time quite an innovation as it was made available online within days. In retrospect, a bit of overkill - I tend to play the 2CD abstract more: The web has made making things like this available much more easily. Leaves the listener with a bigger filtering job though.

That varies between countries. Still per track in the UK. Which is daft. Proper boxes you can get for £10 in CD form at £40 etc! We were promised lots more labels over here too when they changed their pricing method. That never happened. We don't get the major labels available in the States. That doesn't bother me much - I always liked the idea of e-music as an outlet for smaller labels. There's an endless treasury of classical music there.

I have a legacy plan which essentially gets me £80 worth of music a month for £39. Although the prices are not what they were initially (that had to be unsustainable), choosing carefully can still bring in some real bargains (e.g. I down loaded a 4 CD Stennhammar set from BIS this afternoon for £13 in their pricing, about £6.50 to me). You just have to be careful - in the UK version price is by track so albums with loads of tracks (like a lot of pre-LP era jazz) can be excessively priced. But ones up to around 20 tracks can still be cheaper than elsewhere. Agree about the swamping with budget label stuff. Scrolling through the newly available used to be a pleasure but now it's a real pain. Easy to lose interesting new releases in the repetitious cheapo releases (which are no cheaper on e-music - same by track pricing). I never have any difficulty using up my monthly quota.

The music is glorious too.

It was a good few years into jazz listening before I started enjoying Ornette Coleman. The groundwork was done for me listening to the Jarrett American Quartet and then Old and New Dreams. Eventually I jumped. Of course it is. I've had many a revelation whilst out walking in the countryside with the earphones on. Hi quality stereo may enhance your enjoyment and reveal detail; but what is there is there. It can grab you on the most expensive equipment or coming over Radio Luxembourg while the signal drifts in and out. Quite! ******************* The fact that a great deal of music takes a long time to reveal its delights is one of the pleasures for me. I've had so many experiences of music that just lies dormant for months or years and then, through repeated playing, starts to unfold. Free jazz and atonal classical are probably the toughest nuts I've found to crack, but every now and then the mists lift on certain records or performers (not so much in 'understanding' but in gaining pleasure from). Thankfully, there's lots that continues to be out of reach, keeping the paths of exploration open.

In three years time I might join you there! Retirement beckons. To make the trip worth my while I need to have a good set of concerts over Friday night and Saturday at least. Still unsure. I just wish there was more on the 'outside' to give a balance. A few years back they did some gigs in a fairly ropey theatre with Evan Parker, Peter Evans etc. Just gave the breadth I like.

Looks a bit thin again: http://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/jazz/ Unlike last year I could probably make up a programme interesting enough to make a nice weekend; but nothing screams out 'that I have to hear'.

If you can ,get ahold of the 'On the Corner' box, it's real revelation! Agree. 'On the Corner' made no sense to me at all (not helped by pretty muddy sound); but I downloaded the box a few years back and find it really exciting.