A Lark Ascending

We're still the wrong side of midnight here in the UK! Probably a result of some secret deal between TB and GW! Merry Xmas all too!

It's a very enjoyable disc...though I still think Nguyen Le's best is his 'Tales from Vietnam', an exquisite mix of jazz with Vietnamese folk music.

Teddy Wilson reaches me too. I'm only a dabbler in pre-1945 jazz but I've loved Wilson since hearing him on those Billie Holiday recordings of the 30s. I have many of the Classics Wilson discs, initially purchased to get the Holiday sides; in the event the Non-H tracks bring just as much joy.

Oh, I accept totally that the loss is all mine. I have a general block when it comes to synths. Something jars. A perfectly legitimate option and one I can see must bring pleasure to lots of other listeners.

In 1955 everyone could whistle 'Surrey with the Fringe on Top' and lots of other show tunes. They was popular music in the true sense, heard across the age and class range. Maybe that gave listeners something to latch onto. Can the same be said of Radiohead or Bjork? I'd say their reach is much narrower (a comment on the splintered nature of broadcasting today rather than the relative quality or attractiveness of the music). Perhaps our Douglas', Bad Plus' and Mehldau's need to be recording Kylie, Brittany to have a similar effect, rather than the hipper rock acts? Or maybe the latest West End/Broadway musicals? Isn't the Phantom of the Opera about to become a box office breaking film? Brad plays Lloyd-Webber! Dave plays Moulin Rouge! Bad Plus play Chicago! I can hardly wait.

I came to enjoy Metheny on 'Watercolours' in the late 70s. One of his breezy, dreamy discs but that's how I like him best. There's something bright and uncluttered about that disc that constantly brings me back. My overall favourite - a tremendous disc in every respect - is '80/81' mentioned above. I must admit to being disappointment from the early 80s onwards. Every new disc was talked up as some great breakthrough but I've generally been unaffected by them. The trio discs of a few years back I did enjoy. I prefer him playing with other people - there's a nice Dave Liebman disc called 'Water' with some marvellous Metheny. Not to forget the two Gary Burton ECMs he's on. Very enjoyable discs. I just wish he'd leave the effects at home - always makes his guitar mutate into a buzzy mouth organ to my ears. I like that bright, clean sound on his earlier discs.

I'd strongly recommend these two: Currently very hot UK band who took their name and all their songs on the first CD from Hendrix. Apparently they are now branching out to other material...and using electricity too! Excellent CD, superb live band. Sax, piano, bass, drums so no danger of sounding like the original! (Don't be put off by the dull cover!) French-Vietnamese guitarist explores one of his major influences. Closer to the original but still excellent.

And one very practical recommendation. This book: The best book I've come across for the classroom teacher. Packed with practical ideas for 'active' lessons that get the kids doing instead of just listening. It's British but the activites apply to all subjcts an any country. Quite brilliant. It will become a bible! Worth the cost of overseas postage a thousand times over. Details here: http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/thinkings...565144?view=get

Prepare thoroughly. Listen to the experienced teachers - you may choose/be wise to discard some of their advice but the chances are it's born of experience. Be emotionally prepared for the lessons that go badly; it's going to happen and it's unlikely to be just you at fault. You're learning to ride a bike; you'll fall off many times until you gain your balance. Unlike riding a bike you'll fall off regularly 26 years later! Be cautious in investing too much of your own interests/enthusiasms into a class; it can backfire if the class are not interested, or detect a way of winding you up by making fun of those enthusiasms. There's a fine line between inspiring with enthusiasm and boring with an obsession that seems irrelevant to the kids. And no book can tell you where that line is. Remember that what kids appreciate most is a professional adult who is approachable, understanding, prepared to give them time; but who will also say 'thus far and no further'. They want you as their teacher, not their friend. A friendly teacher, but they expect a certain distance (the biggest student teacher disasters I've encountered...very few as it happens...have been those who've watched too many movies where a school of martinets is transformed by a single, saviour teacher who is the kids' best mate! Don't do it!). Above all, remember that they're still kids. At times some of them will try your patience to the limits. It's rarely malice, mainly high spirits. Oh, and that line attributed to Miles Davis 'Don't play what you know, play what you don't know' applies to creating lessons too. It gets very easy to rely on a stock of lessons built up over time but you get bored, they get bored. Try to find other open-minded teachers - at the same stage as you, older than you - and brainstorm ideas, plan lessons together, try teaching one another's lessons. This keeps you fresh and excited. I'm lucky enough to lead a very large department and I can't overemphasise the joy of working with other teachers. The greatest pleasure, of course, is rather like jazz. That lesson when the lesson takes off in a wholly different direction and the plan goes out the window. And just like jazz it can lead to total self-indulgence; or, if well steered by yourself, can be the best sort of learning experience out there. Good luck.

Free Bad Company The Firm Queen A back to front career path!

Just add to... ...and stir...

If they look close by they might find the skeleton of an Ice Age man standing on one leg! (there's a challenge for the computer graphics masters at Organissimo).

Tell that to the Irish! I think you might have just put the final nail in the coffin of the peace process! There's also a Swede there somewhere! Hey, I'm an American. What do I care about peace? One of those smiley things!

My favourites: Coope Boyes and Simson - 'A Garland of Carols' Coope Boyes and Simson - 'Fire & Sleet & Candlelight' ('Can We Have Christmas Now?' Sari & Mari Kaasinen) ************* Individually two tracks haunt me: 'Shepherds Arise' off the album 'The Mysteries' performed by various people in the Home Service/Albion Band. 'In the Bleak Midwinter' - an absolutely exquisite version of Holst's tune from Henry Lowther's Stillwaters disc, 'I.D.' One of my favourite discs with this lovely little carol tucked away at the end.

After reading the 'Jazz-aholic' thread I feel quite modest in my purchases!

Tell that to the Irish! I think you might have just put the final nail in the coffin of the peace process! There's also a Swede there somewhere!

Boden Ulrika - Ratt Nu Ar Det Pa Tiden (Drone) Border Collies - Unleashed (Border Collies) BrassMonkey - Flame of Fire (Topic) Bridge Frank - Oration etc - Hickox BBC NO of Wales (Chandos) Bridge Frank - Suite for Strings etc Hickox BBC NO of Wales (Chandos) Carthy Martin - Waiting for Angels (Topic) Danu - Up in the Air (Shanachie) Greaves John - Chansons (Le Chant de Monde) McKeown Susan - Sweet Liberty (World Village) Moore Christy - The Box Set 1964-2004 (Columbia) Mozaik - Live at the Powerhouse (Hummingbird) Waterson/Carthy - Fishes and Fine Yellow Sand (Topic) Winwood Steve - About Time (Sanctuary) Plus the Planxty reunion DVD!!!! FairportConvention - Angel Delight (Island) Soft Machine - Somewhere in Soho (Voiceprint) Soft Machine - Live in Paris, 1972 (Cuneiform) Thompson Richard - I Want to see the Bright Lights Tonight (Island) Thompson Richard - Pour Down Like Silver (Island) Thompson Richard - Hokey Pokey (Island) Thompson Richard - Henry the Human Fly (Island) Various - Seoltai Seidte (Gael Linn) Watersons - Mighty River of Song (Topic) A very good year, indeed.

Very hard to get to five as I've enjoyed so much this year. Acoustic Ladyland - Camouflage (Babel) An album that is something of a showcase for the younger generation of UK jazz players who are taking the country by storm at present. Hendrix tunes remade and remodelled. Live they are absolutely electrifying. Carrothers Bill - Armistice 1918 (Sketch) The concept album is alive and well! A 2CD project based around World War I using tunes of that era and originals as a jumping off point. A very moving experience. Laubrock Ingrid - Forensic (F-IRE) German sax player who lives and works in the UK in a variety of contexts (including a band playing Brazillian music). Her first two albums were excellent but still inside a hard bop/post-bop framework. This one pushes outside the boundaries whilst remaining melodic. Free and elastic, think Wayne Shorter in the late-60s before electricity, Steve Lacy. Schneider Maria - Concert in the Garden (Artist Share) Exquisite! I'm not much a fan of traditional big-band music. Schneider writes for jazz orchestra and does so beautifully. Jazz drawn from Gil Evans, de Falla, Debussy, Ravel rather than the BBC Big Band! Somogyi Arnie - Improvokation: Star Mountain Sessions (Forged) Probably my favourite recording of all this year. UK bass player of Hungarian extraction explores his roots and teams up with an Anglo-Hungarian band. Themes based on Hungarian folk music, improvisation based on jazz. Life-enhancing music.

Yes, I'm speeding off to that one too...in Manchester in my case. The BBC Radio 3 Jazz Legends programme did Tony Coe yesterday. I only heard the first half driving home from work. Am about to listen to part two. A part of Windmill Tilter was played early on in the programme. There was also a track from Coe's 'Zeitgeist', a major 70s work that hasn't been around since then. One I'd like to see return. Can be heard online until Friday, 17/12/04: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazzlegends/index.shtml

The last thing I heard the following were being considered for Feb/March: Joe Harriott/Amancio D'Silva - Hum Dono Neil Ardley- A Symphony of Amaranths Michael Garrick - Heart is a Lotus New Jazz Orchestra - Le Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe Mike Taylor - Pendulum I can vouch for the Ardley and the New Jazz Orchestra discs as being excellent. The other three I don't know.

Expect UK jazz to get a big boost in the new year. Around February a TV three part series is due to be screened tracing the roots of UK jazz - 'Jazz Britannia'. There's also a two night celebration at the Barbican in Feb to tie in. I have my tickets! Another batch of 'Impressed Repressed' discs are due early in the new year too.

I bought 'Kind of Blue' on the strength of hearing 'Blue in Green' on Jazz Record Requests one afternoon in Jan or Feb of 1978. I suspect I normally buy recordings based on hearing only one track - there's so little opportunity to hear anything more, given the limited broadcasting of jazz. Why, I buy many recordings without hearing any tracks. A review, an interesting line-up, a recommendation on a bulletin board... If I only bought what I was certain of liking then I'd be far richer and have more wall-space. But I can't imagine I'd get anything like the pleasure from music that I get from roaming free and wide, being able to constantly stumble on something quite unexpected.

There's been a very lovely duet album between Charlie Haden and John Taylor this year. In his relaxed, romantic mode with a tremendous pianist.

Gosh. He was never a favourite of mine, but I do recall seeing him in a concert once. He was renowned for working himself up into a fit of anger on stage, a fair few years before punk. I recall him hurling a chair across the stage which then flew into the audience. I hope his later years were more peaceful.

God I feel old. I don't know the music of any of these popular beat combos!