Jazzjet

I spent some time there about 20 years back and went inside the house. As you say, highly evocative. Yes, I really enjoyed that. Like you, 'Owls' really got to me. Never heard it before. The one that really undid me was 'Sospiri' - I'd heard it before but never really clocked into it. God knows why as it's 5 minutes of utter heartbreak. The programme gave some idea why! There's actually less 'pomp & pagentry' in Elgar than you'd imagine - it just get played more often. He was actually a master of the dreamy tributary! Symphony No. 1, scherzo! I really enjoyed that Elgar programme as well. The kind of thing that BBC 2 used to do back in 'the good old days'. Have you read 'Electric Eden : Britain's Visionary Music' by Rob Young? It starts in the late 19th century with William Morris, Elgar etc and works through Vaughan Williams to the history of folk music, psychedelia etc. Very wide ranging and a bit wordy in parts but a fascinating read. I have - read most of it in Cornwall this summer, as it happens! I associate it with mackerel salad and beer! Enjoyed the unusual unusual leaps he made between the classical and folk world. Nice to see people like Moeran and Warlock get such space. I just found the ending unconvincing - his examples of who he saw as carrying the spirit up to date seemed random and missed almost completely the amazing English folk revival of the last 10-15 years. And how could he leave out XTC? As I recall he wasn't too keen on Elgar. By no means a perfect book and, I agree, there are some large gaps and unfeasible leaps and links. However, it has helped re-trigger the inner folkie in me. Any more and I'll have to move to Penzance ( twinned with Narnia ). Despite his enthusiasm, I still don't really get the Incredible String Band. Nor me, although you couldn't be seen without the '5000 Layers' LP about your person in the 60s. That said, there was a nice clip of them in the recent BBC 4 profile of Jac Holzman and Elektra.

I spent some time there about 20 years back and went inside the house. As you say, highly evocative. Yes, I really enjoyed that. Like you, 'Owls' really got to me. Never heard it before. The one that really undid me was 'Sospiri' - I'd heard it before but never really clocked into it. God knows why as it's 5 minutes of utter heartbreak. The programme gave some idea why! There's actually less 'pomp & pagentry' in Elgar than you'd imagine - it just get played more often. He was actually a master of the dreamy tributary! Symphony No. 1, scherzo! I really enjoyed that Elgar programme as well. The kind of thing that BBC 2 used to do back in 'the good old days'. Have you read 'Electric Eden : Britain's Visionary Music' by Rob Young? It starts in the late 19th century with William Morris, Elgar etc and works through Vaughan Williams to the history of folk music, psychedelia etc. Very wide ranging and a bit wordy in parts but a fascinating read. I have - read most of it in Cornwall this summer, as it happens! I associate it with mackerel salad and beer! Enjoyed the unusual unusual leaps he made between the classical and folk world. Nice to see people like Moeran and Warlock get such space. I just found the ending unconvincing - his examples of who he saw as carrying the spirit up to date seemed random and missed almost completely the amazing English folk revival of the last 10-15 years. And how could he leave out XTC? As I recall he wasn't too keen on Elgar. By no means a perfect book and, I agree, there are some large gaps and unfeasible leaps and links. However, it has helped re-trigger the inner folkie in me. Any more and I'll have to move to Penzance ( twinned with Narnia ).

Most unlikely. Sent home early yesterday and it looks like all the schools are closed in Notts today. Very rare - I can only recall about ten days off for snow in 33 years! We might not be engaging directly with kids but like a lot of other professions I suspect, we'll be working from home. Remote computer access is a wonderful thing! It's amazing outside - I don't recall snow this deep before. I recall big falls in the past that hit the North, South West or the one that caused a huge jam on the M11 a few years back but we rarely get hit with more than a light dusting. These last two years have been exceptional. Feel very sorry for those who have to go out in this. Oh dear. The lights have started to flicker! I recall a frealk storm c.1990 when the power went down all over Notts and they had to call in the Irish electricity engineers for back-up. And it's still snowing. We had snow at the weekend - although less than you by the looks of it - and it is very cold indeed, at least for us soft southern jessies. The lane outside is pretty icy and we haven't had any post since Saturday, although the milkman still gets through.

Yes, I really enjoyed that. Like you, 'Owls' really got to me. Never heard it before. The one that really undid me was 'Sospiri' - I'd heard it before but never really clocked into it. God knows why as it's 5 minutes of utter heartbreak. The programme gave some idea why! There's actually less 'pomp & pagentry' in Elgar than you'd imagine - it just get played more often. He was actually a master of the dreamy tributary! Symphony No. 1, scherzo! I really enjoyed that Elgar programme as well. The kind of thing that BBC 2 used to do back in 'the good old days'. Have you read 'Electric Eden : Britain's Visionary Music' by Rob Young? It starts in the late 19th century with William Morris, Elgar etc and works through Vaughan Williams to the history of folk music, psychedelia etc. Very wide ranging and a bit wordy in parts but a fascinating read.

I've used Toast for a while and I wouldn't be without it. Just drag pretty much any audio files ( including FLAC ) onto the window and it will burn a CD quickly and effectively. The video features are also worthwhile. The utilities bundled with it include CD Spin Doctor which is a good tool for recording from vinyl.

How about any of the Chris McGregor and The Blue Notes South African material. Brotherhood of Breath or anything by Dudu Pukwana?

I don't think you're allowed to provide links here but if you visit the aforementioned Orgy in Rhythm site you will find that the full Impressed 3 set has been contributed by Tony Higgins. A fantastic contribution and one that shows that blogland can sometimes make up for the deficiencies of the labels.

It is interesting that Surman never really followed up with the Caribbean theme. My guess is that Ronnie Scott's Old Place - which encouraged young musicians like Surman - probably featured Caribbean flavoured jazz alongside the South African musicians in the Chris McGregor group, and that the selections on the album mirrored that. And, yes, those 'London Is The Place for Me' comps are great. We have to thank Damon Albarn for those as he part-owns the Honest Jon operation which released them.

Russell Henderson was on piano, also from the Caribbean I believe.

Yes, very similar. Do you know Travis at all? A good jazzer but with a love of late/60s and early 70/s rock. His band with Mike Outram on guitar is well worth catching - I seem to recall they played the St Ives club at one point. He guests sometime with Gong (still going, it seems) and Porcupine Tree. Travis is another of those names I know but whose music I haven't heard. I'm definitely going to check this Fripp gig out.

I'll remember that - I've been in the pub there. My cousin and his wife live in Porthtowan, immediately as you drive in after leaving the coast road. Another favourite of mine is the National Trust tea shop at Carnewas by Bedruthan Steps. Gets busy but makes for a lovely 10.00 coffee followed by a decent onto that marvellous beach. Don't know if you have followed Robert Fripp down the years but this might be of interest: http://www.dgmlive.com/news.htm?entry=3113 Thanks for the info on Fripp. I've got his 2006 Churchscapes album. I assume this is the same sort of thing?

Trevarno indeed - the normal publicity shot, but I couldn't resist! I thought of you as I whizzed up to Wheal Coates one night to catch the sunset, passing signs to Mount Hawke (was staying at the campsite the otherside of Tehidy Park. One of my favourite cafes in the world lies just a mile or so away at Hell's Mouth. The breakfasts are amazing!) ********************* Was staying up near Rock a few days later (before Cameron got there and started misusing village names) - unfamiliar territory for me. Stumbled on this while walking the headland: Didn't know that. Neither did I, but there's a lot I don't know about Cornwall. There's a good cafe/restaurant at Porthtowan called The Blue Bar which also does great breakfasts ( and other meals ).

You'll be very welcome down here, Bev. I think I recognise that boathouse shot as Trevarno ( ? ).

Safari 5 now has an extensions gallery with some fairly neat options, such as one that cleans up the You Tube experience, ie without the page distractions. Safari is a bit plain but does the basics well, as does Chrome which is faster. Firefox quickly gets cluttered and slow in my experience.

There's an even weirder Reece album than that called The Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh. It is definitely NOT worth seeking out. On the definitely worth seeking out side of the fence, check out an album called This Is Jazz Music of the 40's and 50's on iTunes. In addition to Dizzy Reece, this one features Tony Crombie, Don Rendell, Howard Roberts, Ronnie Ross and Eddie Thompson playing both separately and together. There was also a 50s LP titled 'Changing The Jazz at Buckingham Palace', one side of which featured Tubby Hayes and the other Dizzy Reece. Lavish colour photo of the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace on the cover. Weird concept -presumably aimed at tourists.

It was on one of those night buses that Stan Tracey mapped out 'Under Milk Wood'. Difficult to imagine any musician travelling home by night bus nowadays. Nice ! Did the vice squad call in to confiscate the whistles? Not sure which Kirk visit it was but on one occasion he led members of the audience out through the club, into the street and back again. A policeman's helmet was 'borrowed'. Allegedly.

My first time at Ronnie's I sat just behind Pete Townshend watching Roland Kirk. This was his Whistleman period - must have been 68 or 69.

Hum Dono? ( But I'm not complaining )

And one of the best singles of that blighted decade! Indeed Bev. That's a marvellous disc. Brings back some great memories of seeing Working Week live (and that first album). Hadn't thought that it was Harry Beckett that was featured...will try and dig it out over the weekend Wasn't there also a dance floor 12" (forget the title but it wasn't by Working Week) with Larry Stabbins and Keith Tippett on it? That one was mentioned in the 'Jazz Britannia' documentaries and I'm pretty sure Harry Beckett was on that one too. Another good one is 'Joy Unlimited' on Cadillac Records. That one should be reissued on CD for sure. There are some other LPs on Ogun, like 'Memories of Bacares' and 'Got It Made' that deserve a CD reissue.

He also played the Hammersmith Odeon in 1969, and then the Royal Festival Hall in 1971. I didn't realize he played London in 1967 - too bad it wasn't recorded. Guy I was there at the 1967 concert. Miles played the first half of the concert and Archie Shepp ( with Jimmy Garrison, Beaver Harris, Roswell Rudd etc ) played the second half. About half the audience walked out when faced with what was then the 'New Thing' but the rest of us who stuck it out gave Shepp and Co a standing ovation for a riproaring set.

Lovely, Bev. Ornette, Shepp or Coltrane?

More garden photos from sunny Cornwall :

That looks great! Nice and lush, just like an English garden.

Schiavone defeated Australia's Sam Stosur in the final, not Wozniacki.

The formal garden is about half an acre. We also have a small woodland which we are battling with nature to tame. We're part of the National Garden Scheme, where owners open their garden for charity. Our Open Day is June 19th which, luckily for our marriage, doesn't conflict with an England game in the World Cup!