A Lark Ascending

Just arrived on e-music: From 1976, it says.

Bruford says he enjoyed playing with Genesis but felt that he didn't have much to do - after the scope for creativity in King Crimson it seems he felt a bit restricted playing their very arranged music. He is very complimentary towards Phil Collins, both as a drummer and person. Very interesting...Collins is ridiculed in the UK in the same way as Sting and Bonio. At least he doesn't have a ridiculous stage name.

I believe it was Pheeroan AkLaff - very impressive. I was very taken by the two reed players in the DeJohnette concert - can't recall the names though the bass clarinet player was Hutchings. Where do all these musicians come from? Every year I go to Cheltenham and another set of unfamiliar faces appear. Where do they go to, too? I absolutely loved the sets by Oriole and Julia Biel a few years back (and the fabulous set the year after with an Oriole augmented with Brazilian musicians). I assume Jonny Phillips and Julia Biel are still playing in London but they seem to have vanished otherwise. And what about Soweto Kinch? Huge splash about five years back...seems to have gone very quiet of late.

Just read this over the last week. Will interest most who have been interested in this thread. Not a conventional bio by an means - he explores a series of key questions asked of him/things that he thinks important. A few points that are relevant to the discussion above: a) Bruford stresses how the music he plays is very much a creature of a window of opportunity he was lucky to arrive in - a point when technology, affluence and clueless record company management enabled virtually anything to get on record. He talks about a situation where record companies were prepared to enter ten horses in the race. If one came through, it paid for the rest. It was also an era where Yes could make two poor selling albums and still be kept on the books (and he hints that 'The Yes Album' got attention in the US by almost payola-like manipulation of the charts!). By the 80s the management had control, inisisted on quick returns and constantly interfered in the music with 'post-production' manipulation to create hits. b) In many ways the book is very sad - Bruford seems to be suffering a major case of insecurity and lack of self-esteem. It's almost as if, having despaired of a situation where he makes rock music for a few hours and then has it taken out of his grasp to be manipulated by sound engineers, he's moved towards acoustic jazz only to feel that he's not up to the standard of jazz players...both the legends and the new up and coming whizz kids. Fripp comes across as a very difficult, unpleasant man. Bruford remains proud of his 70s work and doesn't take the easy option of so many who made their name at that time of rubbishing what he did. Seems like an honest book but one where you feel a bit sorry that after 40 years he should feel so uncertain of his worth.

'It'll Take a Long Time' Sandy Denny And, of course... 'Who Knows Where the Time Goes?' There's a 'Time' somewhere on 'Dark Side of the Moon' if I recall correctly...lots of clocks and alarms in the effects department. And Al Stewart did something called 'Time Passages' - not one I know. Is 'Zeit' by Tangerine Dream allowed?

Fairing badly myself in strictly monthly terms - I've already missed February and April (just!). However, I did do 9 at the weekend so that partly makes up!

Another great weekend...though it almost fell apart on Saturday! Very enjoyable opener (for me) with Pat Martino and Julian Arguelles (though I think I'd have preferred them slightly longer as separate concerts. Really nice mix in the Jazz on 3 potpourri - very much enjoyed your brief set, Alex (and bought the Live in Oxford CD to explore further) and the Paul Dunmall bagpipe set. Didn't really 'get' the Blessing! Saturday started well with the Will Vinson band with Kurt Rosenwinkel but just as they were about to start the last tune we were all turfed out - a major power failure. Hadn't affected the PA but the fire alarms were down so health and safety stopped the gig. It was serious enough to see two later gigs cancelled (including a Nikki Yeoh/John Surman one I was looking forward to). A bit of a downer but the weather was nice and I found a pub with a beer garden that didn't have kiddiepop thumping out. The Dunmall/Grimes/Cyrille concert was impressive if a bit unrelenting - Dunmall looked as if he was ready to go on all night. He was just working up to another blast when Henry Grimes, who had clearly spotted a signal from the organisers, leant over and whispered words to the effect of 'try taking the horn out of your mouth.' Really enjoyed Madeleine Peyroux in the evening - only marginally jazz, I know, but some well crafted songs all done with restraint and poise. Reminded me of 'Blood on the Tracks' Dylan transposed to Paris (and not just because of the song she does off that...she seems to have borrowed the overall feel of he album, including the organ sound). Tom Arthurs Subtopia were a bit too Darmstadt jazz for me. But the Jack de Johnette concert - an octet of the drummer plus seven young British players who had worked together over the previous couple of days - was marvellous. Really interesting compositions from the younger players, bookended by two de Johnette favourites - Zoot Suite and One for Eric. Good to see Tom Cawley again playing amazing piano - he stood out a few weeks back playing with Dave O'Higgins and Eric Alexander. And it just kept getting better. Dave Douglas' Quintet was wonderful including a jaw dropping Donny McCaslin tenor solo mid way and fabulous drumming from Clarence Penn. The 10.30 Don Byron spot looked like it might be a bit of a let down - a very small audience. But Byron's band gave it their all with a gospel related set including a marvellous vocalist who may be famous but who I'd never heard of...one DK Dyson. Great way to finish the festival...an irreverent church service!

Strong recommendation for anyone wanting to investigate Tippett solo. A pretty forbidding first ten minutes or so, sounding like a relentless seastorm but it all then relaxes and moves through a series of passages lyrical (not in the Jarrett sense...you won't come out humming the tunes!) and muscular by turn. Available as a single track on e-music. Not bad for 47 mins of music.

By chance I just downloaded that from e-music 15 minutes ago! Rogers is an amazing bass player to watch. He doesn't so much play as mate with his bass!

Further explorations into the nether regions of my collection: Recall this band on a release around 1978 - this sort of music had all but vanished on record with the punk revolution. So it was nice to hear it done so well. Keith still playing with electric piano here. The wilder end of jazz-rock. On the work run: And while making the tea: Roberto Bellatalla double bass; Gary Curzon saxes; Jim Dvorak trumpet; Nick Evans trombone; Jim Lebaigue drums; Keith Tippett piano In the Isipingo-type mould. Clear themes that dissolve into freeform blowing every now and then.

I think you're dead right there. If I had a free choice of where to live I wouldn't stray much further than the edge of the south-west of England. The coastal proximity you mention is important to me too...though it has to be a west coast ('There's a feeling I get when I look to the west...'). The east coast of England doesn't resonate for me as loudly. There's no way I'd live in London; too hard to get out to the countryside. Which would put me off most cities. I could do small cities with some nice old bits like Bath, Oxford, Exeter or Truro. But out of choice I'd go for a small town or village where I could hit the farm tracks pretty quickly. No amount of night clubs, theatres, restaurants...even jazz clubs...would compensate for being close to a rural area that I have a historic context for, one that sets off a personal resonance in my bones.

JCC are up to 179 already on e-music. Looks like they are going for it big time. I'm especially pleased to see some of the Fats Wallers. I have a gap between a JSP set and the first of three successive RCA sets that I've been waiting to fill, without buying another JSP with huge overlaps.

Now that is good news...I'm partial to the odd Criss Cross release.

Only paper, I'm afraid.

True. But I don't think it aims to be an intellectual magazine with critical evaluation. More a general interest magazine. I find it useful to see what's coming up (and to annoy myself by reading Stuart Nicholson's repetitive rants!). I can cope with gushing superficiality; it's the Olympian disdain of the critical "Great Mind" that drives me nuts.

I gave up on Jazz Review about three years ago - took itself far too seriously. Some of the reviews were jazz snobbery in excelsis. I also got a bit tired of Richard Cook endlessly worrying about crossover performers at British jazz festivals. Though the main articles could be quite wonderful. Jazzwise is a different animal - glossy, reflecting current releases and always trying to be up with the latest new jazz fashion. It might not be incisive but it's the longest surviving UK jazz magazine in my jazz listening lifetime to keep selling on the regular news stands (Jazz Jorurnal was something you had to hunt for!). I'm sure other Brits will recall a string of attempts in the late 80s/early 90s that fell apart after six or seven issues - often with CDs on the front cover.

In that format? Or with slightly different sleeves under the label name 'Complete Jazz Series' like this: There are 572 at present on UK e-music. I'd still like to know if they have the blessing of Classics. Edit: Just looked and the ones you mention are also there under the label "Chronological Classics / Abeille Musique". Which poses big questions about the Complete Jazz Series!!!!

A good one - a lot of earlier tunes used to launch from. Whereas the 'Tapestry' album that came out around the same time is a new large group composition (again with lots of Italians). My Tippett desert island disc is this one: A similar concept to 'Septober Energy' but with fewer musicians (all in pairs...thus Ark!), none of the rock sections of Septober and just the advantages of greater experience and maturity. Two more on the go last night and currently: Tern must have been recorded at the same time as Larry Stabbins was involved in Working Week. Very different - full on blowing.

No, I'd have noticed Tracey. I'd seen him the previous autumn - my first 'proper' jazz concert (I bought my first beret and pencilled on a goatee especially). Could have been one Frank Roberts.

Yeah, I remember that one at 'The Pavillion'. Had a ring-side seat for it. Is that the concert where you mentioned you set fire to your book? Might have been! Though I vaguely remember the Mujician being on a Saturday and the candle/chilli con carne/book fiasco on a Sunday! ************** Working my way through the Tippett hoard (a fair bit off e-music) I've just played this little beauty: I believe Fairclough is from up this way - Sheffield to be precise.

According to Wikipedia (and I recall reading this elsewhere) Keith's original name was Tippetts. I assume he dropped the s because it was hard to say things like Keith Tippettses Centipede!!!! No idea why Julie stuck with the original...unless they married before he dropped the s.

Continuing the Tippett fest, over the last day I've had fun with: One from e-music I've never heard before. Very poweful. On the work run: A band I saw c.1977...though someone else depped for Tippett that night. On this one he is wonderful...I love those long, snake-like, strings of notes he runs through in his solos. Lots of that here. And at present, a favourite solo disc: I'm far from a diehard free jazz fan but the Mujician performance at Bath about ten years ago was one of those concerts that sticks in my brain to this day.

Here's where I downloaded it: http://www.emusic.com/album/Nostalgia-77-N...d/11431823.html Might be UK or Europe only. As Alex says, it is a project called Nostalgia 77. But the two Tippetts are right up front! The album is more in line with her Auger style than with her later free jazz approach, so should interest you.

For contrast, just thoroughly enjoyed this one from the total free improvisation end of things:

A while since I read one and think I'm two behind, but the first 5 or six are excellent. Takes you to parts of the pre-War/WWII world you don't usually think about (e.g. the Balkans). 30 years ago these would have been ripe for BBC serialisation.