A Lark Ascending

Of course, the one big advantage of living IN London is that there is a very good jazz scene. Obviously Ronnies and places like the Jazz Cafe. There seems to be a whole world of jazz musicians who work largely inside London with occasional trips out into the provinces - the new Vortex looks promising and there's a very exciting up and coming scene based round the F-IRE Collective who play in London venues. And then there's Rays! Alongside the megastores probably the best source of jazz recordings in the UK. You have to look long an hard once you leave London!

I enjoyed EST very much seing them live at a couple of Cheltenham festivals. But after 'Goodbye Susie Soho' I've found their records to be very similar. Give me Bobo Stenson any day. For recent Scandanavian jazz I much prefer: For recent piano trio: EST are going to have to rethink their approach if they want to hold their popularity.

I have the 2004 edition and to my ears it sounds a distinct improvement on the previous version I had from the early 90s. That sounded flat and muddy - this one is clear as a bell. There's also a remastered 'In the Wake of Poseidon' from 2004 which includes the single version of 'Cat Food' and 'Groon'. All the other discs currently being reissued by Discipline are the same as the late 90s 30th Anniversary editions.

London and the areas around it are very expensive and renting there is very costly. I live 160 miles away and so can't give any information about prices. Inside London you have a good transport system - tube (underground), rail, bus. The tube is probably the quickest though you need to be in walking distance of a station and that affects house prices/rents. Places like Hemel Hempstead (I was in a hotel there last weekend!) have rail links but the railways in the UK are expensive. They long had a reputation for unreliability; that may have changed. You can drive into London if your place of work has parking facilities but it gets very congested on a weekday and you also have to pay a £5 Congestion Charge to enter the centre. In fact, if you're well paid you could base yourself far from London. Some people commute from as far away as Newark which is near where I live; or from Bristol or Swindon in the west. Not an option if you want the London life but you'll be living close to the countryside. There are lots of dormitory towns all around London. I'd say (and this is personal feeling) that the ones to the north like Luton, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage are pretty soulless with very dull surroundings; there's Essex which is also 'new town land' which gives you a quick escape into some very nice Suffolk countryside; the dormitory towns to the south (which stretch all the way to the coast - many commute from Brighton) are in a lovely area; and just to the west you've got fairly dull places like Reading and Basingstoke which again have a wonderful landscape on the doorstep. I don't know if it is still the case but north and west London used to be more expensive, east and south cheaper. There have been alot of developments in the old Docklands area in the east - lots of business building and executive housing/flats. You might even get the chance to rent out your flat in the Olympics in 2012 if we get it! Tax - in general expect to lose 1/3 of your income. That includes things like National Insurance - I'm not sure if you would pay that as a US citizen. On top of that you have a local Community Charge to pay. This is a property tax that funds local government and varies according to the value of your house. I pay about £600 p.a. but I'm in a small property in a cheap area. London will be considerably more. You'll find the cost of living much higher. In the main stores, for example, a full price CD sells for £16.99 or thereabouts. There are discounts to be had but compare that with what you'd pay full price in the States! It's not hard to get to places in the UK based in London. Compared to the States we are a very small island. If you have access to a car you can be in Wales in three hours Scotland in six or seven...assuming the motorways are not clogged! We do have big congestion problems there! From London also you can get very quickly to the continent. Flight prices have nosedived (sorry for that rather inappropriate term!) in recent years. You can also get the Eurostar to Paris or Brussels in a few hours. Sorry I can't be specific but I hope that helps. If I dwell on the expense and problems don't let that put you off. I'd never live anywhere else...well, maybe Ireland (but that's become just as expensive in the last 15 years!)!

Neither am I! I get locked out of 'songs' and 'credits' but have no problem seeing 'discography' or 'biography'.

If you look at the AMG bio it mentions him playing with: Chris McGregor and the Blue Notes Steve Lacy's quartet, Don Cherry McCoy Tyner Abdullah Ibrahim and Alan Shorter Xaba with Mongezi Feza and Temiz. Irene Schweizer, Han Bennink, David Murray, Leo Smith, Joseph Jarman, and Don Moye. Witchdoctor's Son with Dudu Pukwana and John Tchicai Clifford Jarvis, Charles Davis John Stevens, Frode Gjerstad, and Bobby Bradford Harry Beckett These two discs are excellent:

Possibly playing along with Kylie Minogue!

With computer technology/sampling advancing as it is, it can only be a matter of time before that sextet will exist.

I believe Hum Dono is due to be re-issued as part of the Universal reissue programme that has followed from the success of the Impressed series.

Wait until you hear 'Modal' off 'Abstract'!

Look on the bright side. Mr. Eicher will get his come-uppance in 15 years time when these all come out as part of Proper boxes!

Compared with most labels ECM has done an admirable job in getting most of its catalogue back out. Yes, there are MIA things we'd all like to see. Dave Liebman's 'Lookout Farm' is one I'd like to hear. As for Europe-only...well, think of all those USA-only releases on many labels! Economic reality, I suspect.

Dust.

There's another beautiful new Pieranunzi on the marvellous Egea label: Highly recommended! And, of course, Egea also has a nice Wheeler recording.

This should do the trick, David: http://www.barbican.org.uk/jazzbritannia/

The Right Honourable Axeman Cometh: Anyone got a picture of GW playing a banjo?

Spinach curry (Pt II: the Re-mix...with extra CORRIANDER!!!).

Many thanks, Eloe. I didn't know about that release. Kenny seems to be working in overdrive at present. You can listen online to a broadcast from his recent 75th Birthday Big Band Orchestra UK tour here (until Friday): http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazz/ ******** Great label, CamJazz, by the way!

There are a fair few from AAJ going on that Saturday too (I'm curious about Sunday, even though I've never paid Courtney's music much attention so am doing both days). The Saturday afternoon concert looks especially tasty.

Strong recommendation for the 'Live at the Zoom Club' KCCC release from Oct, 1972. The (audience) recording quality is poor (especially the vocals) but your ears adjust very quickly. David Cross' violin can strain the ears a bit too. I think this release is particularly interesting as it is the 72-74 band in the throes of creating their music - much looser than it later became when you tended to have set pieces interspersed with improvs. The whole of this 2CD has a making-it-up-as-you-go-along feel. Interesting to hear Easy Money sound almost cheery! Fripp plays some very choppy, funky guitar across the disc. I must have seen them a few weeks later and don't recall them being quite so free-wheeling. Perhaps they'd settled some of the arrangements by then. A marvellous band.

4th Feb: Brotherhood of Breath Reunion Concert from last Autumn.

This one seems to be connected: ElektriK Live in Japan 2003 Track Listing: 1 Introductory Soundscape 2 The Power To Believe I: (A Cappella) 3 Level Five 4 ProzaKc Blues 5 EleKtriK 6 Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With 7 One Time 8 Facts Of Life 9 The Power To Believe II (Power Circle) 10 Dangerous Curves 11 Larks' Tongues In Aspic: Part IV 12 The World's My Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum Recorded at Tokyo, Kouseinenkin Kaikan, April 16, 2003 The first DVD of this set seems to be the same concert: KING CRIMSON - EYES WIDE OPEN (DVD) DVD1: Live in Japan - Tokyo, Kouseinenkin Kaikan, April 16, 2003 Introductory Soundscape - The Power To Believe I: (A Cappella) - Level Five - ProzaKc Blues - The ConstruKction Of Light - Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With - Elektrik - One Time - Facts Of Life - The Power To Believe II (Power Circle) - Dangerous Curves - Larks' Tongues In Aspic: Part IV - The Deception Of The Thrush - The World's My Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum + Tokyo Sound & Camera Check DVD2: Live at the Shepherds Bush Empire - London, July 3, 2000 Into The Frying Pan - The ConstruKction Of Light - VROOOM - One Time London Improv 1: Blasticus SS Blastica - Dinosaur - The World's My Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum - London Improv 2: C Blasticum Cage - ProzaKc Blues - Larks' Tongues In Aspic: Part IV - Three Of A Perfect Pair - The Deception Of The Thrush - Sex, Sleep, Eat, Drink, Dream - Heroes

Ogun

I realised I got the dates wrong, Greg. It was late '72 (Muir band) and then spring and autumn '73. So this Heidelberg date must be from around the same time as much of The Great Deceiver box. The Warsaw discs seem to come from the same tour from which 'Heavy Construction' was culled.

When in 1974? I saw them in late '73 with Muir; early '74 and again in Late '74. All three shows were excellent but by the third they were starting to edit their material (LTIA Pt1 especially). It would be nice to hear something from earlier in the year when Bruford was adapting to handling the percussion on his own.