A Lark Ascending

I recall chancing it with Dexter Gordon's 'Homecoming' album in late '77 around the same time as I bought 'My Favourite Things', a Rollins twofer and the Coltrane Pablo double LP from early 60s European concerts. Those records convinced me I could venture into 'proper jazz' and get rewards. I was also being hurried that way by the fact that the music I was used to listening to had been almost completely swept away by the punk revolution. I'm not suggesting punk destroyed experimental, improvisational rock - it had run out of steam by itself. But I was driven to look elsewhere. When I started earning money in a paid job in early '78 it was jazz and classical music that got my attention.

I've always enjoyed Chris' posts and recollections about music both here and elsewhere. I don't pay much attention to the political forum. A pity to see him go. There are a number of people who talk a lot of common sense about music - Chris, MG, Jim R, Kenny Weir, Seeline spring to mind - who have either vanished or make rare appearances. That's a pity.

I experienced it a bit differently - I recall a general feeling that jazz was something that 'grown ups' listened to. I had an English teacher at school who talked music with us - he would usually urge us to try jazz but I didn't know where to start. I recall hearing things like the jazzy bit at the end of Buffalo Springfield's 'Broken Arrow' and being attracted but did not know where to turn to. I was also listening to things like Keith Tippett's Centipede which also suggested some later lines of enquiry - that fitted nicely with Soft Machine and Henry Cow. I think by 1975 I was growing weary of electricity, volume and, above all, the rock beat. Straight jazz was still too distant but I found what I was looking for in Keith Jarrett, Ralph Towner, Eberhard Weber etc. In a very different, acoustic way they were also 'fusion'. They almost seemed like an acoustic version of what I liked in the instrumental part of prog or fusion. I also started to follow up the Tippett/Soft Machine musicians into the much more pure jazz Ogun records. After that it was a case of randomly buying/borrowing things by Miles/Coltrane/Mingus/MJQ and finding my way. Though this was not happening in isolation - I was also following pointers from early 70s rock into folk and classical music. Again, I think it was the less electric sound and more subtle use of rhythm that drew me in.

Nine Intakt recordings added today - it would be good if this was the start of the full catalogue. Intakt is not always easy to get hold of. http://www.emusic.com/browse/l/b/-dbm/a/0-...00255187/0.html

Ah, wearing those ex-Army greatcoats and carrying the 'right' albums under one arm so that the covers could be recognised. Those were the days! Never had an ex-Army greatcoat...I've always been fashion-clothing-challenged...but I did the album carrying thing! The equivalent today seems to be kids walking around with their mobile phones blaring out their techno-sensibility!

Apologies for dragging this back if it had already died but I've been away. Whilst I can see the big impact the "psychedelic era" had on both 'prog' and 'fusion', I think it has a much wider origin. If you think that McLaughlin came up via the English version of blues; a fair few of the UK jazz-rockers and straight jazzers cut their teeth there. A group like Colosseum - one of the very earliest UK proggers - came straight out of the John Mayall line. Many of the John Mayall players were in the thick of prog and people like Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker hopped between the two. It's also worth noting that both prog and fusion musicians also fed off jazz pure and simple. You can hear the Roland Kirk influence in everything from Colosseum to Jethro Tull. I'm convinced I can hear the Jimmy Giuffre/Jim Hall Trio in parts of In the Court of the Crimson King (and the centre part of 21st Century Schizoid Man' sounds like he music of people who were familiar with free jazz. Just like the Beatles were listening to avant garde classical (however superficially), the Soft Machine clearly knew their early minimalism as well as more abstract jazz (Robert Wyatt says he grew up on jazz and thn went on to discover pop). Dave Brubeck can be heard in various prog pieces - from direct lifts like The Nice's 'Rondo' to the fascination with odd time signatures. I suspect Bill Bruford's new autobiography will have some interesting things to say about this - he too was a jazzer who found himself in a pop band. Something very interesting happened to pop music between the mid-60s and mid-70s. However it has subsequently been interpreted it was mainly seen as something throwaway for teenagers until the mid-60s with few musicians aspiring to do much more (I bet they are pretty surprised to read some of the learned articles written about them). From the mid 60s to the mid-70s you get a period when anything was possible - the idea that pop/rock music could do much more than just put out a three minute burst of melody or energy was positively encouraged. From the late 70s onwards the aspirations shrank again as everyone was told that pop should be about the street, ordinary experience, things ordinary kids could play or relate too etc. And it seems to have remained that way ever since (despite mavericks at the side). Which is why, for those of us who did come of age at that time, it still continues to charm. I imagine to many of those whose musical tastes had already formed by 1965 in jazz, folk or whatever, it all must have sounded like a terrible din!

You might enjoy Stuart Nicholson's 'Jazz-Rock' which dates the origins of what was called fusion in the States much earlier than BB - he tends to give a lot of credit to the blues boom era. Use with caution - Nicholson (like most critics) has his own construction of the past he wants to foist on us and it is Britocentric. I was very much of that era - first started listening properly to music in 1969. A bit late to be in on the very start of the Prog era but there at its height and saw its very sudden decline and fall (which in UK terms was 1976 - I know it lasted longer elsewhere). It was an exciting time, though probably more so for middle class boys with a smattering of higher education than for the public at large. But then I imagine being in on the early to peak of any musical movement is exciting. There was an overlap between prog (which we didn't call prog) and fusion (which in the UK we didn't call fusion) - mainly through Mahavishnu and Santana who certainly got me curious about who Miles Davis and John Coltrane were. But most of the American fusion bands had only a limited popularity amongst prog listeners (though I recall Weather Report being quite popular here). Probably had more of an influence on the musicians. I veered more towards the more whimsical Canterbury scene which had fusiony elements but with daft, endearing vocals to make it all seem less self-important. That whole era has been terribly misrepresented by the orthodoxies of post-punk/New Wave popular music writing. What I remember - with both jazz-rock (or fusion) and prog - is a time when musicians thought anything was possible and went off on all manner of flights of fancy, often turning up something daft, sometimes music I can still listen to with joy today. This, in the official musical interpretation, is call pretension. I prefer the word aspiration. The best reimagining of that era I know is Jonathan Coe's marvellous novel 'The Rotter's Club'. At times it reads like the story of my late teens!

A fascinating tale of a famous set of stories told from a different side of the fence. I think we're living in a golden age for popular history. It's great to see so many books around with real narrative drive.

I think EMI's strategy is more cynical than that. They've rested on their laurels, not feeling any sense of urgency, assuming that an extension in copyright will protect their assets. Suddenly that seems far less sure. So, belatedly, they are trying to put something together that will look so attractive it will beat off the competition. I assume the video game thing is to try and win the younger audience who might then buy the CDs. What chance Frank Sinatra or Nat King Cole, the video game? It's a bit sad because EMI were very early in the compilations game with these: These came out in the summer of 1973. I never had the first but got the second for Xmas in late '73. It became the soundtrack to many a late night Mah Jong game in my university years and my introduction to the Beatles on record (though they'd been a constant presence on the radio since the early 60s).

I just wonder how much interest there is in the Beatles amongst younger listeners. The kids I teach are aware of them because they absorb their parents record music collections in a way that I know I didn't (conscious rejection was much more common). But the Beatles are part of a bigger jukebox that includes Abba and Queen as equal partners (certainly in the UK). I've been at work socials with 20-something staff that have ended again and again with drunken communal singing of 'Dancing Queen' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. I don't recall one where Beatles songs were sung. Younger folk don't have our obsession with hierarchies - the 'importance' of the Beatles. They listen for fun. I can recall a big Beatles revival in the UK in the early 80s, and again in the 90s when Oasis were big and championed them. But I have a feeling that they are part of a much wider soundtrack now, much less likely to attract obsessive devotion amongst new, young listeners. Young listeners also tend to fillet the 'best' tracks, rather than go for whole albums. I have a suspicion that EMI might have missed the boat on this - 10-15 years ago was the time to catch the market with upgrades. Having said that, some of my 14-15 year olds were very excited about having Michael Jackson tickets for his forthcoming performances in the UK. So who knows!

I tend to put 'Vinyl is back' in the same box as 'The big bands are back.' Swallows and summers.

Perhaps...but I imagine (when I'm not imagining that there's no heaven) that most over 50s have either dumped their vinyl versions or have them in the loft or garage. Far easier to deal with a CD. Very few people (in my experience) have functioning turntables. Those that do tend to be vinyl nostalgics.

Vinyl fetishism is a minority sport even amongst we over 50s. I never had the White Album on LP; I did have Sgt. Pepper - it's up in the loft and would not even be there if I could make the effort to offload it along with all the other worn vinyl. Much as I like the Beatles, their LPs/CDs only come out on very rare occasions (though I did play 'A Hard Day's Night' earlier today - very enjoyable...but the CD will do me). I won't be needing an upgrade. In fact, I think I'm upgraded out in general now. Much happier buying things I've not heard (new or old). Maybe if they put the upgrades in e-music........

I suspect it has gone for good, Alex. Neil Ferber, who was the heart and soul of it, seemed to have been disheartened by the poor turnout in 2007 (the time of the endless rain and floods) and the sudden withdrawl of funding. I think I read he'd moved to Italy (the 2007 festival had a big Italian element which must have upped the cost).

Excellent book!!! Just finished this - excellent indeed. With a walk-on role by Conan Doyle who supported the protest movement against Leopold's Congo (whilst being a defender of British colonialism). Interesting to read of Sir Roger Casement's role - I know him only for his part in the Easter Rising. Though I've come across mention of of his humanitarian work before I'd not realised how extensive it was.

There are other ways of drawing attention to yourself. Try the haiku approach - minimalist two or three word interventions in threads you are not really interested in, generally barking at people there for not sharing your views. Or if you are particularly insecure, find the minor celebrities on the board and tell them how much you've learned from them; when they bark at you, tell them how much you appreciate their plain speaking. I prefer the 'Why are you still all talking about America?' approach to attention seeking. Doesn't seem to work very well. Someone posted a wonderful site that identifies scores of internet types with cartoons and definitions. You recognise everyone you've ever met on an internet site...including, embarrassingly, yourself! Can't recall the name. Edit: Ah! This is the one: Flame Warriors

Good luck with all of these, Alex. You seem to be moving in heavy company. What a pity Appleby is still not running - I suspect I'd have got to hear you at the Freezone.

'Facing You' is one of the foundation records in my jazz collection - still my favourite Jarrett. I didn't get to hear 'Open to Love' until about 25 years later, but Idu Lupino soon became one of those tunes that can make me buy a record. Both records seem to have a similar feel, despite Jarrett's more florid approach. I'd not want to be without either.

I live acouple of hours from Boston so don't know the area at all. I did find this: http://www.bostonstandard.co.uk/news/When-...orld.3630877.jp There's even a book: "Goin' to the Dance: A Personal History of the Boston Gliderdrome"

And next year:

You are truly blessed with your view, Chris. I rather like the curve. Here's an anticipation from the early 19thC of that photographic effect: Casper David Friedrich - my favourite painter. Worth a trip to Berlin just to see his stuff. A place I drive past twice a day - finally got to get a photo of its wonderful spring display: The weather went overcast on me and then the sky went strange:

Just re-read Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' - I last read it around 1973 and didn't really get it. Still not an easy read but very powerful. Has led me to:

Why do the Saturday operas on Radio 3 start so late?

Awesome!: Anyone know a ten step programme to stop me posting like a character from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure? *********** Top Ho!: you can learn to post about jazz the Bertie Wooster Way Begob and Begorrah!: you can learn to post about jazz in stage Irish. Both part of the 'Learn to post about jazz in an affected regional patois' series.

March ticked off. Dave O'Higgins quartet with Eric Alexander. Very enjoyable hard boppy/Rollinsy/Coltraney night. Special mention for pianist Tom Cawley who I've only previously heard in the more punkified Acoustic Ladyland - some inspired and very distinctive playing. He might have been really fired up as he was playing on his home turf (Lincoln). Packed hall too! One of the strangest places I've heard jazz - the Lincoln Drill Hall which seems to be a refurbished hall once used by something like the Territorial Army. A huge war memorial on the wall in the entrance area. Nice place, nonetheless, with good sound. Outside: Inside: