A Lark Ascending

I'd like to see the evidence that people care less about music than they once did. I suspect when it comes to recorded music there are so many alternatives for leisure that maybe less young people become music geeks in the way we did. But live music seems to be flourishing - I was reading the recent Froots (the main UK folk/world magazine) and they are convinced there that the festival scene has never been stronger (and the magazine is run by a musician who knew the heyday of the 60s at first hand) and that CDs sell by the bucketloads there. The young adults I work with in their 20s and 30s are forever going out to gigs and festivals. There's no way to prove any of this but I'd suggest people are just as interested in music as they've always been. But they are not necessarily interested in our music. Having never had a high end audio and had several experiences of upgrading equipment over the decades only to be unsure if I can hear any difference, I'm not a good judge of sound quality. I download virtually everything nowadays, burn to disc, play it through my main system. I cannot tell the difference between mp3 and CD (or vinyl, apart from the missing rice krispie noises). When I first toyed with mp3 about 3 years ago I hit a few poor transfers that made me cautious. But as others suggest above, the technology seems to have caught up. The only grief they cause me is if they are carelessly transfered without checking and mechanical errors get left in (drop-outs, strange electronic interference etc) and problems sometimes with continuous pieces divided into tracks where even 'gapless' burning leaves gaps. Again, time will sort that out. Mozart's Requiem Mass always sounds bad to me on iPods, and not too good on CDs Don't know about Mozart, but the iPod has reawakened my love of classical music in recent years. Nothing quite like a walk in the country with a substantial piece of music in your ears...I've found it has refreshed my hearing of all manner of music.

I find the idea that we must accept whatever capitalist corporations present to us without complaint a rather strange idea (and probably against the spirit of free market capitalism). No-one doubts the right of Sony to put out whatever it sees as profitable. These sets are clearly part of the same business model that releases a pop album followed a few months later by the same album with extras, deluxe packaging, remixes etc. Milking the cash cow (and I'm sure anyone studying business could reference a text book page as to how this works). But as music fans (rather than 'collectors' of packaging) we're more than a little aware of the huge range of music that Sony has rights over but has stashed away. I think its quite legitimate to express irritation at the choices Sony makes (as it is legitimate to express discontent with the choices our governments' make...or should we just shut up and accept what they say?). I'm not a fan of endless grumbling myself when it comes to music and musicians. But in this case I'd argue there is real reason to express dissatisfaction (in the full knowledge that Sony are so rich and powerful that they will not worry about the grousing for a moment). Reality is that outside of the highly popular (and in jazz terms that is Miles) Sony are not interested - I suspect we've all long been seeking music of interest elsewhere.

Talk of losing stripes had me seeking out this clip that I can't have seen for 45 years!

This is good buy - puts together 'Happy Daze' from 1978 with all but one track from the earlier 'Oh! For The Edge'. I bought 'Happy Daze' on LP with my first working paycheck when it came out! 'Daze' is a more composed, studio date with excellent tunes and solos - a very good Charig on track two (Seven for Lee). 'Edge' is a live date, more ragged (in the ensemble area) and a bit distantly recorded but still marvellous. A less manic Brotherhood of Breath (with overlapping musicians). There's also a nice disc of BBC stuff available. Saving Pipedream to relish at the weekend.

Mine arrived today - three working days (5 if you count the weekend) is good by my experience. Some great Charig on Tippett's 'Septober Energy'. Might not be what you are looking for, but he pulls off some beautiful solos on King Crimson's 'Lizard' and 'Islands' (especially the title track of the latter). There's a very free disc from the 80s called 'Boundaries' with Elton Dean and Tippett. In fact if you check Tippett/Dean in the 70s/80s he's often there. He was also in the London Jazz Composers Orchestra at one point. I think he lives in Germany or somewhere on the continent now - I've seen reference to recordings made there but have not heard them.

I emailed on Saturday morning and got a reply on Saturday evening confirming how to order. Placed an order then. Just waiting for it to arrive. I think Hazel Miller does this as a cottage industry so don't expect Amazon-like responses.

Send that one to Eicher! That is a gorgeous picture!

"Awesome" and "Word" when used by anyone not currently in a US high school (as a student!).

All I get is a couple of red crosses!

The 'whining' here is not so much about the existence of these endless boxes as they way Sony is focused on exploiting this part of its inheritance to the exclusion of everything else. Personally I'd prefer to see less 'glossy' explorations of other areas of its vast holdings; and a resurrection of interest in contemporary, newly-minted jazz. Constantly repackaging the Miles catalogue might make good business sense and please 'collectors' but... I agree with Roger on the spine sets. They are nigh on perfect as ways to collect the music, look great on the shelves but are not easy to read or get discs in and out of.

A sidetrack. One of the common criticisms levelled at recordings is that they lack originality or repeat earlier music. But just as I find myself enjoying the third division in a favoured genre over the first edition in a genre that does not reach me, so I'm happy listening to music by a favourite performer that doesn't really 'move on'. I was really enjoying Stan Tracey's latest quartet disc last night. Now Stan does other things - every now and then a freeish experiment with Tippett or Parker or Moholo - but in his core quartet/trio/big band area the style and approach has hardly changed since I first started listening to him in 1976. You could say something similar about Monk from the late-50s. The same tunes shunted around, the same stylistic approach. Yet they continue to bring great pleasure right up to the early 70s.

Just checked iTunes to find the Complete On the Corner has slipped in there sometime over the last few weeks. £30 here - £5 a disc. I have it currently downloading.

An item from March I missed - mentioned in the new Gramophone magazine: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8567099.stm Statistics are UK related.

In the end Sony are a business and must have done the research to judge that this sort of thing sells. The boutique approach clearly works just as well for selling 'classic' jazz as it does for everything else sold in special presentation packs (and think of all those 'bricks' of classical centenary releases - they must do the business).

but if combined????? Don't mock...the Bath jazz festival had a run of avantish bands with alphorns in a few years back. Worth it to see them walking the bar.

I wish they had no music on at all. The only time I find myself in one is if I'm caught between two places with an hour's gap. If I'm with people I'm not listening. If I'm on my own I'd rather plug the iPod in. I was in a pub in Nottingham a couple of years back and they played the whole of KofB. A few years before that I was in shopping mall in Norway where Miles Ahead was being played. Strange!

"I like good music in any genre" How do you know it's good when you first listen? - beyond listening to what someone else has said is good (which is, I suspect how most people take their first steps in a fair bit of music, especially when it's not widely broadcast). I've no interest in reggae, rap or Tyrolean Alphorn music. Beyond having a rough idea if the players are instrumentally competent I'm not sure I could differentiate between the good and the bad. And I don't have the time (or inclination) to listen to that many genres to a pont where I might begin to have a way of sorting it out. I suspect that when people say "I like good music in any genre" they actually mean "I have quite broad tastes" (as opposed to being a dedicated jazz or rock or opera fan).

Terms like 'good' and 'mediocre' are a bit loaded. But it's not hard to recognise that some music within a genre is clearly more derivative, has less new to say or is just not so well put together or played as well. And yet... I have no problem in appreciating the groundbreaking nature of the likes of Schoenberg or Brahms; but I'd sooner listen to a third division English cowpat composer. The genre just speaks to me. I equate it with going on holiday. I could decide to spend the 25 or so years of potential holidaying time I have left just visiting the 'best' - the most renowned or historic sights or the best art galleries or the places with the most praised cuisine. The trouble I have with that is: a) I seem to be basing my decision on what someone else insists is the best. b) I actually like going to the nooks and crannies of Cornwall. It engages something I don't fully comprehend that I don't get when faced with 'greatness'. Same with music. Of course, following your own path through the less celebrated areas of music or landscape doesn't prevent the occasional visit to the more widely revered.

I'm always amazed at how long it takes to get served in these sorts of places. There's always a few people in front of me who insist on having marshmallows, chocolate chippings and wafer biscuits blended to be sprinkled on top of their skinny latte. Gives time to listen to the music, I suppose.

Episodes 1 + 2 had me rolling round the floor.

Not wanting to get into any 'who's best?' debates but John Surman is still going strong with a vast and varied catalogue. Saw him just the other day in fine fettle. I think he's earned his place alongside the others.

I ordered mine direct from Hazel Miller at Ogun Records today - £11.50 incl. p&p. She takes Paypal on: ogunrecords@googlemail.com Thanks, Headman. I've ordered via Hazel before. Will take that route.

Has yet to surface on any of the domestic UK CD sites. If anyone spots it, please alert.

All rather strange - my general experience of people in public is of fun being had. In the recreation spaces in the school where I teach, in the streets, cafes, pubs at the weekend I don't sense any strain or effort in the enjoyment. Is it really so tense in the USA? I think people know how and when to turn off here in Europe wherever you are. Different in the workplace. If you want relaxed try Italy or Spain in the night-time - whereas in the UK the night is given over to rather boisterous behaviour by lubricated youngsters, southern Europe really seems to know how to pull all the family in.

Don't succumb to this Starbucks-speak nonsense. Order "small" in a firm, authoritative tone while staring them straight in the eye. They always back down. Oh, I do! "A medium black coffee please", rather than "an Americano"! On the plus side, even the Starbucks type places over here are able to make tea. Not the case when I visited New York. Put tepid water in a cup. Dunk a teabag. What? Might have been appropriate in Boston in the 1770s but today.... My stereotyping there can be backed with extensive scientific evidence. Americans might be able to build an atomic bomb and put a man on the moon but they can't make tea.