Jazzjet

Clearly evidence of the broken society, feral jazz fans out of control etc etc.

Yes, last two days have been lovely (and impressive full moon in a clear sky at night). I've spotted the first snowdrop too. Sadly, also spotted five dead frogs floating atop the pond - clearly killed in the bad weather. Had to bury them with full honours accompanied by a Ravel adaptation - "Pavane Pour Les Grenouilles Defunte". And a bugle playing "The Last Croak". Being in the south west corner of the UK, plants tend to appear earlier. This year, however, things are a little later than usual and todays snowfall won't have helped. We've had snowdrops for a couple of weeks though and the daffodils are starting to show their heads. My wife's the head gardener and we open our garden for charity in the summer so I can envisage a lot of unskilled work ahead to get things straight.

Where would we have been without public record libraries? An undervalued resource and largely disappeared now, at least in their original form. All you needed was someone on the staff who was tuned into jazz, blues and folk and then some great records would start turning up in the racks. Particularly when you were young and broke, this was practically the only way to hear this stuff, at least in the UK. I remember my local library - in Southwark, South London - used to have a card in the sleeve to mark any scratches on the LPs. How they used to know what was on the card before you took the record out and whether you had inked in a scratch yourself, I never knew.

It was shown on the BBC about a year ago. Very good film and quite touching on Louis towards the end of his life.

Thats a coincidence! One of the very first jazz LPs I bought ( about 64 I think ) was 'Back At The Chicken Shack'. This, too, had no sleeve but was otherwise OK. I got it at the Petticoat Lane market in London as a schoolboy. Previously to that, my main route into jazz was via our local record library. I particularly recall digging Sonny Rollins Vol 2 and various MJQ and Shelly Manne albums from the library.

Outside of the UK, I'd be surprised if many people care (except perhaps businessmen who'd like to get their hands on it and use the airtime for more 'profitable' use!) British musicians care very much (we have a regular poster here whose music is getting exposure in those limited time slots). Look at the point in the Guardian piece about UK jazz musicians being below the minimum wage. More jazz on UK radio, more stable careers for musicians, a more vibrant jazz scene for we Brits. Not of consequence to most people outside of the UK (apart from those who do recognise the marvellous jazz musicians operating here); but of great importance here. Not least because we all help fund the BBC. The disproportionate funding given to classical music is probably partly the legacy of Lord Reith, whose distaste for jazz ( among many other things ) was legendary.

Here's the page on the UK Jazz Services site where you can download the report ( by Stuart Nicholson and others ) on the BBC's Jazz Policy and Structure in the digital age. BBC Jazz Report

Available for view through BBC I-Player - not sure if this can be accessed outside the UK. See link at top of this thread. Good to see that MJQ broadcast again. And to be reminded of how truly fine musicians all 4 of these guys (sadly no longer with us) were - beautifully arranged music, immaculately played. Plus the added bonus of Laurindo Almeida as guest. Love that bit on the bossa-nova number where 'Bags' lets loose on his solo, almost like he'd been let loose to stretch out at last. Have seen the Blakey with Morgan and Gilmore many times now but it never fails to knock me out also. Anyone notice how they dubbed in a second or so of 'The Egyptian' right at the end of the last number (maybe there was a sound drop-out problem on the recording?) And why does the BBC only ever show the second Monk show - the one with Straight No Chaser? I don't think they've ever shown the first show since it original transmission. Also, the Oscar Peterson - which was supposedly restored and re-edited - looked like the version re-done in the 90s, with Flora Purim doing the introduction. It was only 26 minutes long, and that included Flora's intro. Maybe we should be grateful for anything we get, although this is not a viewpoint I agree with. If the BBC treated their classical and opera archive the way they do jazz there would be an outcry, and quite rightly. Does anyone know what the BBC has in its archive? Clearly there are treasures in there - witness the Stan Getz 'Jazz Goes To College' broadcast last year.

Vanished overnight! Just a few, forlorn dollops of snowmen left. Horrible wet rain now! Still cold. Of course, if you see a field full of carrots its really just a snowman's graveyard.

8 degrees C here in Cornwall. Just about to dig out my shorts and find the sun cream.

I agree that Radio 3 in particular does a pretty good job of covering jazz. There was a suggestion a while ago that, rather than being ghetto-ised on the primarily classically oriented Radio 3, minority musics such as jazz, folk, blues and world music etc would justify their own specialist BBC station. This would also have the benefit of freeing up broadcasting time on both Radios 2 and 3.

BBC 4 - and Sky Arts - are about the only channels that broadcast jazz, albeit infrequently. I guess we should be grateful for what we get but it is frustrating that the same old Jazz 625 shows are trotted out. The BBC must have further shows in their vaults, for example the Stan Getz 'Jazz Goes To College' that they broadcast a year or so ago out of the blue, plus the Art Farmer Jazz 625. And when was the last time the BBC broadcast any new jazz? Perhaps Jonathan Ross's departure will free up some money to fund more jazz broadcasts?!!! More generally, the BBC is becoming a cultural desert in its quest for ratings. For example, there are NO dedicated book shows on the BBC. You have to go to Sky Arts for that. No end of food shows though.

You must have seen me! About the only time that middle aged overweight bearded guys could ever be described as focussed.

I would prefer Miles Davis on the road signs myself. 'Directions' or 'Go Ahead John', maybe?

God, thats nostalgic. You can almost feel the occasional vibrations from the underground trains!

Some nice ones here on the BBC News site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8442877.stm I got the magic call at 9.30 last night that we weren't expected in today. A golden opportunity to catch up on paperwork. All the usual grumbling - why has the salt run out, why isn't my road clear etc. The Beeb wheeled out the 'why do the schools have to shut' 'controversy' again (as they annually wheel out the 'scandal that the GCSE pass rate had gone up/gone down'). They should have been sat in my heads office at 10.00 a.m. yesterday as angry parents demanded he shut the school and allow them to collect their kids (I expect he spent today fielding calls from angry parents about the place being shut). I've taught in this school for over 30 years and it's only been closed by the weather 6 times maximum! We sure know how to make storms in teacups. Went into our county town, Truro, today and it was like a ghost town. Shopping was almost pleasant. Not much snow about near here so don't know where everybody was. Doing their tax returns while 'working from home'?

There's another session on DIME with Johnny Griffin : Hank Mobley / Johnny Griffin - Quintet Jazz am Rhein 1968 Köln (DE), Rheinpark, Tanzbrunnen September 1, 1968 Hank Mobley - tenor sax Johnny Griffin - tenor sax Bora Rokovic - piano Jimmy Woode - bass Kenny Clare - drums 1. Stage Announcer Intro (0:51) 2. Sophisticated Lady (Ellington) [JG] > My Funny Valentine (Rodgers-Hart) [HM] (11:29) 3. Wee (Best-Gillespie) > Applause > Stage Announcer Outro [cut] (13:53) 4. Some Other Blues (Coltrane) 10:09 [italian voiceover 2:55-3:01] TT: 36:25 Sound: A- Source: radio broadcast

Just like to add my wishes for a Happy Birthday, Marty.

Merry Christmas to all from me. I may be resorting to the computer over the break as a relief from all the bonhomie!

The Hawkins has a good concert that I think has never been seen on tv. It's not well photographed but the 2nd concert which has some great Sweets Edison is very well shot. At least some of the London Hawkins concert comes from - I believe - the BBC's Jazz 625 programme. Originally broadcast in 1964 and reshown in 1990 with an introduction by Courtney Pine.

I agree with this. Amadeus Pro is well worth the small investment. I would also suggest adding some other audio conversion tools, such as Switch ( free ), xAct ( for decoding FLAC files, free ) and Soundgrinder which does an excellent job of converting audio files ( about $40 ). If you're going to do a lot of CD, DVD burning etc, you ought to consider buying Toast Titanium.

We had the same debate when we got a flat screen digital ready TV. Personally, I would go for as big as you can for the size of room, not forgetting that a flat screen set is much less deep than a conventional set. We gained about 1.5 feet of lounge when we changed, which was of course my main selling point to my wife! As far as sound is concerned, I haven't had too many issues. I can't get away with all the extra speakers and cables that a home entertainment / surround set involves, but my Toshiba 32" set is fine for me. We went digital last July. Good luck with all the retuning and rescanning!

Very,very sad. Good that we've got that recent 'Splinters' release, with Tubbs, Kenny Wheeler, Trevor Watts etc to help remember him by.

You might find this site helpful for tips and guides, reviews etc on all things iPod : iLounge Also, although I don't use a PC I understand that Media Monkey is a pretty good alternative to iTunes.

You actually saw Chapter Three! One of my favourite early 70s bands but never got to see them. Do you know whether there are any live recordings of them?