A Lark Ascending

Whether Toscanini is better than Furtwangler is better than Walter is better than... Marmite.

Not what I said - I did make the point that we lapped up oodles of US rock, meaning to make clear it was very good quality. Good lord, America invented the genre. I might have a distorted take on those times as I really stopped listening to rock c.1976. My memory of the Foreigner/Rush era (late 70s) is of them having little traction in musical scene dominated by punk/new wave. Slade were primarily a pop band - they may have started out on the general rock circuit but somewhow adapted to the the whole Glam-Rock thing around '72 and rolled out a sequence of very catchy singles. They were also very tongue-in-cheek; I might be wrong, but I'd always assumed GFR were more 'serious' about themselves. Sorry about the US/Canadian mix up.

'The Promise' - Episode 3. Excellent, thoughtful drama. The devices to get the main characters into places of tension are a bit of a stretch; but as a way of making some sense of the British/Israeli/Palestinian troubles in the '40s and today, works superbly.

Grand Funk Railroad never made much impression in the UK. We tended to lap up much of what came out of America but for some reason they were neither cool nor popular. I recall the very first Melody Maker I bought had a front page item about them. A bit like groups like Foreigner and Rush later on. Never really translated over here. Maybe we had more than enough of our own plodding blues-rock and larger than life bands.

Whether vinyl is better than 472-bit FLAC direct-to-disc SACD Betamax (with or without fancy packaging). Also whether Stork is better than butter. Oh, and who gets an invite to the royal wedding.

"Who is the greatest...?"

Matrix numbers.

Goes out at various times on Friday 25th Feb; then, I expect, on the iPlayer for a while. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2009/03/090000_coming_soon.shtml

Yes, another excellent JRR: Sidney Bechet Shake It and Break It John Graas Mozartesque Benny Goodman Bach Goes to Town Kenny Graham Boom Sister Rosetta Tharpe Precious Memories George Shearing It Could Happen to You Wes Montgomery Impressions Ken McIntyre & Eric Dolphy They All Laughed Stan Getz Heres That Rainy Day Craig Milverton Carrot Cruncher Dizzy Gillespie After Hours Really fascinated by the 'classical' twiddling on the Graas (who I only know as a name) and Goodman. I've never much cared for Shearing but really enjoyed his 'It Could Happen To You' which kept threatening to turn into Chopin! The other one that lept out was the Sister Rosetta Tharpe - have to get that Proper Box out again.

Excellent programme - loved Dave Gelly's enthusiastic but enlightening commentary. I actually felt I was learning something about the music rather than having some critic's abstract theory read onto it.

'Discovering Music' is an excellent 90 minute classical music programme that takes a piece of music and puts it under the scalpel in a way to help non-specialists see how it all works. Tomorrow (Sunday, 20th Feb) the subect is, unusually, Jelly Roll Morton: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00yrhf7 Might be of interest

Will be listening.

My grandmother was terrified of electricity. She was convinced it marked the end of civilisation as we know it. Used an old fashioned range all her life and would not go near the electric hotplate her kids bought to make heating things up easier. Seems like every generation has its fear of change.

Haven't seen that yet but I really enjoyed episode 1.

More 'boutique' packaging. These things increasingly remind me of those gift sets of perfume or after shave.

A brave bit of UK drama on Channel 4 - The Promise. A 4 parter set in post WWII Palestine and contemporary Israel. And on Saturdays, still utterly gripped by the Danish 'The Killing'.

Really enjoyed this very disturbing book about a young, isolated narcissist. Psychological issues lead him to forget points of stress in his life - the book unfolds what happens in the gaps. Set in Cambridge at the time I was at University elsewhere - very good sense of time and place and, like Jonathan Coe's 'The Rotter's Club', bang on in its musical references.

I don't know Alan Barnes on record, but have heard him live more times than I can remember. Your commment on his style is interesting, Bev. I grew up expecting all altoists of a certain age to sound like Bird, and that certainly isn't Alan. Yes, there could be something of Phil Woods there, but equally something from Tab Smith, Louis Jordan or even Hodges. And, of course, there's his baritone and clarinet playing - and I've heard him on tenor, too. It all adds up to a musician of very high technical accomplishment and I guess his chameleon character is typical of our times, as well as his knowledge of, and influences from, jazz history. Did someone say postmodernism? You're right to stress his range, Bill. I was greatly oversimplifying. He goes from Ellington to Silver to Adderley to Goodman in his projects. But that disc I recommended seems to go a step further (stylistically, I'm not talking about quality) than I expected from him. Remember seeing him do the title track - a Rollins piece - at Appleby. Definitely outside the 'changes' approach I normally hear him working in.

I really like this one: Steps into Rollins/Coltrane territory rather than his usual Swing world,

If it had been the Stones bassist it would have been 'Why do I hate the Grannies'.

Jazz Record Requests (BBC Radio 3) - cheesy Valentine theme but very nice: Humphrey Lyttelton Maryland, my Maryland Mildred Bailey I Thought About You Chet Baker Love Nest Duke Ellington Take the A Train Dizzy Gillespie Groovin High Ben Webster & The Oscar Peterson Trio Bye Bye Blackbird Ahmad Jamal Ill take Romance / My Funny Valentine Buddy Rich Love for Sale Ian Shaw Somewhere Towards Love Gil EvansGil Evans La Nevada The Webster/Peterson has me now playing the disc.

Well, we all hear with different ears and they clearly do something right as they are very popular. When I saw them a few years back I had to leave after about 45 minutes as it was all so plodding. Maybe that was the point; but not one that works for me.

Sounds as inviting as Motorhead playing Debussy!

And another off-the-boundary KC cover. The Unthanks - the UKs most intriguing contemporary folk band - do 'Starless' on their forthcoming album, 'Last'. Rooted in hardcore Northumbrian folk music, they've frequently jumped sideways - a great version of Robert Wyatt's 'Sea Song' a couple of albums back. Utterly fascinated by the prospect of this strange mix.

Jazz Record Requests still manages that. Stays away from the more atonal modern jazz (though you get even some of that in very brief snippets), but otherwise covers a huge range from the beginnings to recent releases.