A Lark Ascending

Had me thinking that I have a Burrell version somewhere - turns up here:

Every now a tune sticks in my brain and won't move. I've had versions of this for years without really noticing it - but recently the main riff has been going round and round in my head. There's obviously the Basie version (probably several) and I have a version on an old disc by James Carter. The Bennie Moten version, which I have on a Classics disc, is interesting because the famous riff doesn't appear in full until towards the end. Today I was listening to the Bob Brookmeyer version on 'Kansas City Revisited' - I was struck by how that insistent rhythm is actually very hard to hum along to, some of the notes falling in unexpected places. A great example of how a theme can be made memorable yet quite unsettling, keeping a constant sense of unpredictability. Good versions of 'Moten Swing'? Or observations from those who know it far better than me?

Ireland?? Ireland is GMT just like England! Isn't it? I know when I telephone Ireland they're an hour behind Paris, same as when I telephone London. Well, technically you are right. And the clocks will tell you the same thing that English clocks tell you. But try going to a session that says 'Starts 9.30 p.m.'! Last time I was there the authorities were tearing their hair out about a Gaelic football final where the habit is for the game to start....and then the pubs start to empty, causing a rush on the gates. Read Flann O'Brien. It will all make sense.

I might have spoke too soon. Pressed 'View New Posts' and got: Do I have to put sandbags against the computer screen?

It was wet today but some nice sunny spells too. No-where close to the madness of last July.

I always forget the different time zones in the USA - just assume a 6 hour difference from the UK. I notice San Francisco is 9 hours different. The only place in the British Isles with a different time zone is Ireland. You might as well throw your watches away on arrival!

So much for the jazzers as night owls cliche! Interested to see so many early risers. I've only recently discovered the joy of getting up early on days off. Agree with what's been said above. They day seems so much longer

I'm curious - I'm always amazed that people are posting at what seems like it must be 4.00 am in the States! Maybe you stay up late! Me: Weekdays: 5.15 a.m. Weekends: Between 6.30 and 7.30 a.m (used to be much later but I've adapted).

It's been gorgeous here all day - not a sign of Gotterdammerung. Disappointing: a) Because I had to stay in and work all day - some nasty end of term deadlines. b) I was hoping we'd get a call saying the school was closed tomorrow due to the end of the world, reopening Tuesday. Looks like I'll have to head in whilst a maelstrom sweeps around me.

In which case, you are spared that circle of hell, Mr S. **************** I've never really cared for 'Basin Street' or the other two tracks from the same session on 7 Steps. They seem so disconnected with everything he was doing at that time (where the other three tracks fit in perfectly). My loss entirely. By contrast, I find the above mentioned 'Sanctuary' much more affecting - along with the even later 'He Loved Him Madly'. I like Ella's version of 'Basin Street' from the late 30s/early 40s.

You don't have to be a student of architecture to get the message of a cathedral. Of course, if you are a student of architecture you can enjoy it in a way the average visitor or worshipper will never understand. And if you are within the cultural context of the cathedral, then it's likely to speak to you more quickly. But the architecture is the means, not the end. I'm suspicious of music that requires the architectural understanding in order to get the message. In some cases, I wonder if it is there at all.

I've never even heard of De Severac! One to explore. Two Honegger pieces that might fit: Pastoral d'ete Symphonie no.4 'Deliciae basiliensis' Sorry - anothe 'pastoral' - I think I was meant to be a shepherd!

I've a lot of time for those musicians/musicologists who use their insider understanding to try to inform those of us who don't understand the technicalities, without losing us in jargon. I owe a great deal to Anthony Hopkins in opening my ears to many areas of classical music - he has a way of explaining what is going on harmonically and structurally that doesn't lose the non-musician. Those who rabbit on in articles aimed at the general public with pure musicological jargon have a circle reserved in hell for them, shared with those who quote passages in a foreign language and don't offer a translation ('you mean you don't read French?').

I've only been back awhile, but I will say that, in my eyes, Jim A. is the model of a great moderator. Thanks for keeping this place running, even when you had more than enough on your plate, Jim.

Two pieces that seem to inhabit the afternoon world of that faun... The Bliss 'Pastoral' Lyra Angelica which is almost a harp concerto. I heard it first whilst driving, having no idea what it was - I assumed it was French and from the 20s. Turned out to be English. On Delius, I swear by this record: Delius played by Sir John Barbirolli (though Sir Thomas Beecham's recordings get the approval of experts in this area). 'Appalachia' on the first disc is a longer piece and a bit more dense than classic Delius - but wonderful nonetheless. The rest is pure, gossamer Delius. Perfect for that day in May when it seems like high summer, yet the plants are still saturated with colour. Manuel de Falla is another worth exploring - you can get all his major orchestral music on one double disc. 'Nights in the Gardens of Spain' has a strong Debussy-like feel. I think I'm right in recalling that Debussy spoke highly of him. The later works enter a more Stravinsky-like world - also superb.

Earlier in the thread there was a nostalgia for a time of a 'shared common culture' - when young (and old!) people shared a common mussic/TV/film experience, contrasted with today's fragmentation. But isn't that 'common culture' something quite unique to the mid to late 20thC? Look to the early days of jazz, blues etc and what you have is a vast regionalism. It was the technology of the radio, gramophone, cinema, cheap printing that allowed the emergence of a shared culture, probably starting in the 30s. And it could be argued that the earlier regionalism had a positive effect, allowing for the local variations in style and approach that mass culture tends to smooth out. So maybe fragmentation is a good thing - things developing in isolated pockets, then, at a later date, colliding with other isolated pockets to spark something different. I don't think the shared, corporate, common culture is going away - the technology is to powerful as is the motivation to make vast amounts of money from it. But I do think the technology has also allowed the things flourishing in the shadows to get an audience too, and not necessarily one living in the immediate geographical region. I actually feel we're moving into some interesting times.

Car boot sales? Is there a festival on there? Wasn't aware of that one. http://www.coventryjazzfestival.com/2008/index.html Have a look at the past programmes - some of the people who play Bath also seem to do Coventry the same weekend. Mingus BB and Henri Texier last year. That one is close enough for me to just go for the day. I'm not sure hanging round Coventry has the appeal of ambling around Bath!

Delius - although English, he lived much of his life in France. Although his music is very different, he has that translucent quality; he also evades that Germanic trait of having the structure showing through the music. As with Debussy, musical ideas arrive, evaporate and are not heard again - or only after being heavily transformed. I was drawn to both composers around the same time in the early 70s - they both have that dream-like, wool and water feel to them; themes that arrest you, yet seem to dissolve before you've grasped them. Or that's how I hear them! [Early Delius tends to be more Germanic].

Oh dear ! Looks like I'll be there on the Monday but not for much else. End of an era? (I always thought the Bath Fest was at its best in the mid 1980s when many of the events were in the evenings at the Assembly Rooms and Guildhall. Helped by the fact that I lived in the city at that time for some years. They served wine by the glass and not by the plastic cup too !) I only started going about 5 or 6 years back so don't recall the hey-day. With Appleby also ceasing trading it's all a bit sad. I'll have to see what Coventry offers for Bank Holiday weekend.

Bath programme arrived tonight - they seem to have scaled the jazz right back. Nothing on Friday night or Sunday afternoon in the Pavillion; Sylvie Courvosier, Jason Moran, and Richard Galliano/Gilad Atzmon are the only three concerts there. Ernst Reijseger and Eveyn Petrova in the Guildhall events. And Toni Kofi late afternoon on Monday with McCoy Tyner/Joe Lovano later on. I'd be interested to hear Moran; Atzmon and Kofi can be heard regularly closer to home. The rest doesn't grab me. I think I'll be gardening that weekend! The Bath Ales will have to come in a bottle!

I bet you could have your seat and some dancing, too - sounds like this one is all about dancing. Undoubtedly. The Town Hall is a Victorian/Edwardian thing, with an upstairs balcony. They have seats upstairs during dancy things but completely clear the main hall area. It's actually pretty soulless for concerts but works for the bopping gigs. Ornette Coleman played there a couple of years back and seemed to vanish the coldness of the place. But I've seen both Van Morrison and the WSQ there and found it hard to get engaged. I'll be in one of the other seated venues with my pipe and slippers!

I have to be careful there - or I sleep through late afternoon concerts!

Bev, if you clock that this is going to happen this year as well, do let me know. I might drag myself there. It's May or something, isn't it? MG How about: Heritage Orchestra with Bonobo Event J27 at Cheltenham Town Hall (unreserved seating) Town Hall Main Stage, Saturday 3rd May, 10pm (180 mins) Tickets: £17 Join us on a journey of orchestral beats and cinematic textures with the almighty 35-piece Heritage Orchestra, providing totally unique orchestral reinterpretations of world renowned electronic artist, Amon Tobin (Ninja Tune), as well as music by Plaid (Warp). Expect an explosive mix of beats, soaring strings, brass, wind, and percussion that bounces between jazz, electronica, classical, and other cross-genre forms. Not forgetting DJ host and Ninja Tune wonderboy - Bonobo, who's DJ'ing is rocking audiences all over the world with his mix of hip-hop, broken beats, latin, funk and soul. A clubbers delight! or Mr Scruff Event J39 at Cheltenham Town Hall (unreserved seating) Town Hall Main Stage, Sunday 4th May, 9:30pm (270 mins – finish time 2am) Tickets: £17 After his sell-out performance in 2005, the fantastic Mr Scruff returns to Cheltenham to perform one of his legendary sets of jazz, breakbeat, hip-hop and more. Keep it unreal! I'm not sure if these would be up your street - but they are clearly youth-aimed. The last one is 4 1/2 hours in an unseated venue...I like my seat!

I'm smiley-blind. But I got the irony.

Younger people are as capable of doing EVERYTHING as us Baby Boomers! Don't go there, Seeline!