A Lark Ascending

Picked up mine from the delivery depot today (this time hidden in the depths of Sheffield's industrial regeneration area! They do pick their spots!). Have just listened to disc one and loved it. The sonic issue causes me no problems. I've heard far worse than this. The music I love. This is what jazz sounded like when I first got interested in it in the mid-70s. Personally I love the sound of the fender rhodes and can't get enough of it. I agree, Gary, with your Miles comparison. This is very much out of that period...but without the pronounced 'funk' that characterised a great deal of Miles' stuff from Jack Johnson onwards. Looking forward to disc 2 and 3.

'New Morning' Bob Dylan

I think Bill Bruford might have had Banks in mind when he commented about prog rock having little or no jazz and being basically Anglican church music! As you say, no improviser...but a great player. It would have been interesting to hear Genesis a couple of tours earlier - Nursery Cryme time. I first heard them on the radio when they did a session for John Peel (a very well known UK alternative DJ). I happened to tape it and after a few plays was hooked...especially on Giant Hogweeds!!! Peel went on to make Genesis one of his great dislikes! Now Jethro Tull I never much cared for. I had 'Thick as a Brick' for a time when it came out but sold it after a year or so. They were always a bit lumpen for me. I did like some of the early singles. I can still recall Ian Anderson on 'Witches Promise' on Top of the Pops and wondering 'What on earth is this about?' I also hold a grudge against Andersron and Barre. At some point in the mid-80s they turned up at Fairport Convention's annual Cropredy weekend in Oxfordshire. They also brought with them hundreds of Jethro Tull fans and proceeded to overrun badly, cutting the Fairport set. Cropredy was never quite the same again. The small, cosy folk-rock festival became something much bigger. I'm sure it helped Fairport pay their mortgages, however!

Sounds good to me. But I'm no organ expert!

Yes, I realy enjoyed Gilmore on that Douglas tour. Hoping he gets to record on the next Douglas.

I'm a Bey fan too. There's not many male jazz vocalists who I care for but Bey is wonderful. His new one - 'American Song' - is gorgeous too. Very familiar tunes but all done in his totally distinctive way.

Havn't had a chance to listen yet. I'm buried in marking coursework at present and want to sit and listen to it with full attention rather than in the background. Will report back. I'm fully expecting to be impressed.

Bev, you rule! Man, I would LOVE to have seen that. Unfortunately, I was -4 years old (negative four) at the time, so... It was a very good concert. Yet even at that early age (17 or so) I can recall comparing it with the earlier Crimson concert and finding it less compelling. Genesis basically played the albums. I especially recall starting to get critical of Tony Banks at that time - all very well played but essentially the same. Whereas with Crimson I'd heard none of the music before (Larks Tongues in Aspic was still six months away); and it was pretty clear that beyond the islands of the arranged parts there were long stretches of improvisation. I don't know if the Crimson experience got me interested in improvisation; or whether there was already a latent interest in the latter than came to the surface. Which is not to put down the Genesis concert. It was great. I still like those early Genesis albums - bought 'The Lamb' on CD a few weeks back and it sounded wonderful.

Absolutely, Ubu. I can think of plenty of players within the American tradition(s) who I've been excited by. I'd also say that such players frequently bring a vibrancy that I rarely hear in European players. I think back to concerts I've attended by Roy Hargrove, David Murray and Bobby Watson which had an energy that was quite different from anything I've heard from European musicians. I'm almost tempted to believe the old chestnut about the effects of a faster pace of life. But despite that, my own preferences come back to qualities that are more common in European musicians. And that's all it is, a personal preference. I'm not one for reducing music to absolutes.

No intention to suggest that Stanko or anyone else in Europe is 'ahead'. Certainly not to doubt the understanding of anyone in America. I'm merely suggesting that listeners in Europe might just be coming out of similar cultures from Stanko and therefore might 'get' (in the sense of emotionally respond to) things that don't connect immediately with those coming out of a very different culture. I havn't a clue about Stanko or anyone elses technical accomplishments on the trumpet. In that case you are way ahead of me. I only react to the overall sound. To give a comparison I don't 'get' all the fuss over Moran/Osby/Harris. What I've heard of their music sounds cold and intellectual to my ears; I've often wondered if they get talked about so much in jazz circles simply because they're fine musicians on Blue Note and satisfy a wish-fulfilment for a revival of the Hill/Hutcherson/Moncur era. But I'm convinced that's not the case - the problem (if 'problem' is the correct word) lies with me - my listening experience/preferences just don't (yet) provide me with the connections to access the 'heart' in their music. If Stanko doesn't do it for you I'd suggest one of two things: a) Keep trying B) Give it up as a bad job and listen to something else. But don't assume you're missing anything or that anyone (with any sense) will think the less of you. There's more jazz out there thany any of us will ever have time to hear. No point wasting that time worryinbg over why we don't like something that others do.

I know lots of people who, if asked what sort of music makes them feel annoyed, unsettled or irritated, would immediately choose jazz (and not just because I asked them!!!). Its irregularity, frequent avoidance of obvious melody or expected resolutions makes it sound like noise to many ears. I don't think you can generalise. Somehow we've all found something in jazz we like. So when we come home from a bad day (or a good day) we get the feel good effect from the music we like. Like we do from coffee, wine, kippers or whatever else we like. I have no doubt that exactly the same is true for people who've found what they like in Bartok, Britney, Shania or Kenny! Or grits! Feelgood comes from experiencing things we like. I suspect everyone has similar feeling of antipathy towards things they don't like. Synthesisers generally bring me out in spots.

King Crimson in Autumn, 1972 at the Oxford New Theatre - Fripp, Wetton, Muir, Bruford, Cross. Magical and highly influential on what I went on to listen to. Then the Albion Country Band in Swindon College that helped cement a lifelong love of English folk music. Then Genesis circa Foxtrot in Spring, 1973 back in Oxford. Then King Crimson again a bit later that Spring in Bristol (Colston Hall) - no Muir this time. Finally the original Mahavishnu Orchestra around Birds of Fire time at Bristol. Then I went off to University and the concert attendance soared.

Perhaps you're listening for something that isn't there ('swing' in the traditional American sense of the term). You're also assuming that this 'swing' equates to 'heart', lack of it to 'head'. That's a common criticism of European jazz (and ECM jazz in particular) by listeners centred on the American mainstream (and I mean everything from Armstrong to Ayler and beyond there). But there are other ways to express 'heart'. Mahler doesn't 'swing' but he's full of heart. I'd say Stanko is drawing off a very different tradition from normal jazz (though there's that there too) ...and he (and scores of other European musicians) are doing that too. That's how they've come to find their own voices. I can fully understand that in many listeners minds they appear to have thrown the baby out with the bathwater. The very things they love in jazz are sacrificed in the interest of originality or distinctiveness. But take it from those of us who do relate to the likes of Stanko. The 'heart' is as much there as in anything by Coltrane or Davis or Hawkins. And, personally, I hear much more 'heart' in the music of someone like Stanko than in many of the contemporary musicians who continue to run through the blues/swing tradition and seem to be 'playing the part'. But that's just my ears. It's always dangerous to assume that musicians working in a language you are not familiar with or sympathetic too lack 'heart'. If I tried to read a volume of Lorca's poetry in Spanish I might conclude it lacks 'heart'.

Quite. I've heard the complete 1928 Mississippi John Hurt recordings for the first time this year. Do you think they'll make the "best of" lists at the end? A scandal!

Probably my favourite disc of last year...even though it came out the year before!

The shop where I bought it went bust a few weeks later! I wonder why?

My couch:

Always loved 'Letter from America'. It's broadcast here at 8.45 on a Sunday morning. In the last few weeks they've been playing reruns. A bit unnerving when you wake up to it in the middle and its from 1968! A brilliant radio broadcaster. One of the best.

He's certainly out and about in the UK at present. I know he played in New York a while back. Played his last CD, 'Impish', again today. Beautiful, varied disc. Lovely version of Shorter's 'Iris'. Someone I'd much rather hear than Scofield (I know, comparisons are unfair). The Impish disc does English folk-jazz, freebop, eastern jazz (sort of Davy Graham meets John McLaughlin) and some beautiful Jim Hall-ish tracks. Strongly recommended. [Nice interview with Robson in this months Jazz Review - I like his catholic approach to jazz!]

A very enjoyable disc. 14 tracks, all about 3 to 4 minutes long. No extended jams. Sounds very live in the studio and doesn't sound as if they spent long on the arrangements. He seems to fluff the lyrics on the first track...unless its an imitation from the original. I've not checked. Mainly in Clapton's normal electric bluesy style but a couple of more vaudvillian style arrangements. I suspect people who've enjoyed Clapton doing this sort of thing will enjoy it. Not recommended to those who hate him (unless you love to hate him in which case you'll have lots of fun!). A fun record but not a world beater. It'd be interesting to hear the material after they've toured it a bit. I'm sure we'll get the 'live' disc in due course!!!! BTW, clementine, 'The Devil's Music' fell through the door today. Will listen later! Looks good!

Ah, the mountain-biking season at last. Can't wait to make for them there hills with the four-wheel drive and the twelve bore...

One could always claim one was taking one's responsibilities to the artform seriously by purchasing all the copies in the neighbourhood in order to flush them away and leave the jazz racks unsullied. [please read with copious dollops of irony]

Throw an ear across the Atlantic to the marvellous Phil Robson. Up to now he's been working on the UK scene but he's starting to play in heavy US company. Last year he did a concert at Cheltenham with Wayne Krantz. He's just recorded a CD with James Genus, Billy Hart and Marc Copland. I'm very much looking forward to seeing him next year month playing with Drew Gress, Tom Rainey and the UKs Liam Noble. He does the classic jazz guitar thing but can also zoom off into McLaughlinland. A great accompanist with his partner Christine Tobin. http://www.babellabel.co.uk/The%20Babel%20Label-2445.htm An even rarer name - Yorkshire's Mike Walker. He's been playing for years and every time I've seen him he's been astounding. Only sideman dates so far but I heard he's finally putting out a solo record soon. Hear him on Julian Arguelles' CDs. Hope this isn't too parochial!

I wonder who's going to be the first to put a picture of a Kenny G disc in the loo(thats the 'john' to you lot!).

I stand corrected! But then I really hate people who correct my factual accuracy! You'd not last five minutes in my classroom, Dr. Rat! 8 hours detention for insolence! "Mr. Stapleton is always right, Mr. Stapleton is always right, Mr. Stapleton is always right, Mr. Stapleton is always right...."