A Lark Ascending

Saw that in Waterstones in Exeter (the only shopping mall in Britain with its own medieval cathedral!) yesterday - looked intriguing. Think it was one of our routes to civilisation when I was a kid. Currently reading a bio of Francis Drake by John Sugden. Very detailed and interesting but I'm sceptical about has attempts to distance Drake from the savagery and racism of the era. About to commence the second Patrick O'Brian Jack Aubrey novel - utterly captivated by the first, especially the description at the end of the Battle of Algeciras as viewed (up to a point) from Gibraltar. I'm usually a bit wary of historical fiction set much more than 100 years ago. Often comes across as contemporary people with contemporary mindsets in fancy dress. But O'Brian is completely convincing - and the book had so many dimensions apart from the nautical adventure story.

The Voice Squad - veteran Irish close harmony group (in its own way as radical as sticking in a beat box) in fine form. Dervish - another group with a long track record; jigs, reels and songs played suberbly. Very exciting and enormous fun.

Various amateurs (many of considerable skill) playing Irish and American folk in pubs in Sidmouth. Very enjoyable main concert by Show of Hands - cult folk duo who do the clubs but have filled the Royal Albert Hall at least twice. I've always been a bit wary of them - probably the cult following grated - but they were extremely entertaining last night with their songs of the West Country struggling in an uncertain modern world.

I spent 40 years of my life enjoying LP/CD safaris. But I'm a total download convert now. I actually get no pleasure in CD shops anymore - can't be bothered to wade through acres of stuff I'm not interested in when the online search is so much easier to target. Still plenty of scope for the hunt there. I still love a good safari through a book shop and have yet to adjust my mind to the idea of the Kindle. But I've no doubt in time I'll take the plunge there.

Would be surprising in that time period if there was not some influence of Dvorak (along with the Russians and Grieg) on composers trying to strike out from German dominance, adopting (if only for a time or as one element) the approach of nationalism. ****** You can hear Ravel in RVW (not surprising as he studied with him briefly). There's a glorious passage in Bruckner 8 in the slow movement that sounds like RVW at his mos luminescent. Not sure if he would have been familiar with Bruckner.

Don't think you can have that right, MG. The Bloch is from 1938 whereas the only thing RVW wrote like a violin concerto was the Concerto Academico from 15 years earlier. RVW only wrote a few concertos and they don't figure in his most celebrated works. I don't know the Bloch but believe it is late-Romantic in style; iirc the RVW is a bit of a neo-classical experiment. If you want to hear a rip-off...er...influence, listen to the last movement of Brahms 4th. I seem to recall reading that when some drew attention to the main theme's similarity to the big tune at the endof Beethoven 9 he replied with words to the effect that any fool could hear that.

Well, seen last night at 'the last jazz club before New York' in St Ives, Cornwall - 4 Sided Triangle. Excellent fusiony band with superb Mike Outram on guitar and Kevin Figes on baritone and alto; some very nice e-p from Dan Moore too ( who looked like a refugee from a 70s Canterbury band). Like Partisans, jazz-rock with the emphasis on jazz. Recommended to Brits - likely to be at a jazz club near you before long.

Patrick O'Brian - Master and Commander Tried this about ten years back and got overwhelmed by the rigging. Enjoying it much more this time (though I could still do with a very detailed labelled diagram of the ship - hope to find a good guide in Plymouth later in the week. The book shops there are strong on nautical stuff)

Didn't see any of it but heard the radio reports - glad they went quirky rather than pomp and circumstance. Though I did catch Parry and Elgar in there. Hilarious to hear the looney right getting all uptight. Hopefully they'll be a samba band and chicken tikka all round in the closing knees-up.

Enjoyed JRR whilst negotiating the perilous sunken lanes south of Truro on the Roseland Peninsula. I was not made for reversing back up dark, tree enveloped lanes. Really enjoyed the Getz/Burton track at the start.

Martin O'Brien - Blood Counts Another excellent yarn based round a Marseilles based detective. Alan Hurst - Spies of the Balkans Latest in Hurst's seemingly endless succession of books set in and around WWII. Eric Siblin - The Cello Suites And best of all: Sam Willis - The Fighting Temeraire - superb history of both the ship captured by Turner as it was towed to its death bed and it's predecessor, captured from the French in the 7 Years War. Really gets to grips with just how hard it was to sail one of these boats; and amazes with how sophisticated the logistical organisation was in the 18thC.

Which quotes did Bird use in "Ruislip/Northolt Blues"? Rocket Man? Crocodile Rock? Although I hear the 60s through the conventional pop rock soundtrack I suspect the reality was more Two Way Family Favourites - the latter has something of a retreat from Empire ring to it.

My uncle was very much the successful self-made businessman who bought a large property in Northwood to use his wealth. We were the poor relations who took advantage of it! I also knew Ruislip for a while in the early 70s when my dad was based at RAF Northolt, air base of choice of the royals. Ruislip did not swing either - Elton John country, I recall!

Having grown up in Australia on a diet of sober Black and White English late 50's/60's films, usually programmed on winter weekends or school holiday Midday Movie timeslots - I can understand that. Once you got out of the West End of London that's what the Sixties were really like in Britain! But West London - out of the West End - Ealing, Kew, Southall, Hayes, Uxbridge, Wembley, Harrow, Alperton, Kingston, Richmond, were swinging sixties places. Now, North London was enemy territory. I only went there once, with a friend whose aunts lived there. I NEVER went to the East End or South London, except when passing through - Balham, Gateway to the South. MG Don't recall much going on in West Drayton when I lived there or Northwood where I often stayed with relatives (then again I was only between 5 & 15. I suspect Newquay swung when the visitors arrived in the summer. But I recall it as more Billy Cotton than Small Faces. Now, the wireless - that was quite different (well, some of the time).

Whipped that one off e-music last week.

Having grown up in Australia on a diet of sober Black and White English late 50's/60's films, usually programmed on winter weekends or school holiday Midday Movie timeslots - I can understand that. Once you got out of the West End of London that's what the Sixties were really like in Britain!

Yes, originally collected by Cecil Sharp. I recall an MOR version being a hit back in the 60s. Not everyone was swinging then.

Kerry Dancers is Irish. English Country Gardens is Australian.

Gary Bayley - unknown to me as were most of the band. Alan Wakeman was next to him and also soloed well. Yes, they're doing a few concerts over the summer in the south-west. There's a rave review of a recent pair of concerts in this month's jazz wise. As the reviewer says, London gets Wynton and the Lincoln centre band, Devon gets Westbrook. No contest.

Not yet. That one is on my Amazon wish list but saved for another day. I have my hands (or should that be ears) full at present.

Excellent Westbrook big band concert in the beer garden of the Drewe Arms this afternoon - 2 hours of Ellington, a few standards and originals. High point was an extended arrangement of 'Johnny Come Lately' with the tenor convinced he was Gonsalvez at Newport. The weather was idyllic, the beer tasty and the smoked fish salad delicious. I forgive the rest of the summer to this point.

That Harvey record is wonderful - in fact Harvey in general has been engaging me more and more. Seem to recall my sister saying she was taught by him at Brighton back in the 80s - a culture of music type course, not anything technical.

Ding dong, the Jet Stream has gone. First decent day since mid May yesterday and this morning the sky is cloudless blue.

After relentless cloud and rain since the end of May, we're promised the Jet Stream is moving north and summer is finally due this weekend. Just in time for the holidays!

Been enjoying myself exploring a range of this music, swirling round and getting a glimpse here and a charge there. Currently the focus seems to be: Lutoslawski Ligeti Boulez Carter Saariaho Maxwell Davies Birtwistle Harvey (Jonathan) I imagine I'll be slowly making some sort of sense of them over the next few decades. Exciting journey.