A Lark Ascending

Some excellent Italian jazz too - Gianluigi Trovesi, Guido Manusardi, Tiziano Tononi, Giorgio Gaslini and others. I wondered if this might happen given that Camjazz have acquired BS/SN and that Camjazz's titles go straight to e-music.

Yes, very sad. A formative influence on my listening. Hope things get better.

Here's the first paragraph via the Google option:

January 1st, 1948. http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/history4.php (only of interest to trainspotters!) I also took two journeys in Spain by train a few years back, again very reasonable. Simple to use even though I was communicating via the short phrase book at the back of my travel guide! Though the train didn't run for the first half of the Granada to Seville leg, we had to get on a bus. Sadly, the bus driver did not know where the station where we were meant to link up with the train was. Eventually ended up on a platform in the middle of nowhere that looked like it had been used to film 'High Noon' (almost certainly one of those 70s Clint Eastwood films).

I haven't been on one since about 19:40 on Friday! Knowing you, Bev, I'm sure you're not influenced by Margaret Thatcher's views on public transport: "A man over twenty-five riding on a bus is a failure in life" I'm hoping that these really are the last days of unrestricted freet-marketism and that someone will have the sense to run the railways as a public service once more. You know - simple to understand ticket prices that you can read on a website without having to 'register' and 'search' (the latter normally resulting in 'there are no trains according to these criteria'!). It would make far more sense for me to travel to London by train. I used to get a "Day Return" on a Saturday in the early 80s and it was reasonably priced, you could buy it at the station. I'm told the pricing system has simplified recently. Maybe I'll try it!

Did you get to eat moose? With lingonberries. I was tempted when I was in the old town...but neshed out. If you go as a tourist there's some nice boat trips out to the range of lakes that surround Stockholm. I did a really good day trip out to the old Viking settlement at Birka. Drottingholm just to the north makes a good day out in summer. And Uppsala (cathedral/university town) is lovely too. Easy to get to by public transport, I expect. I took the train from Malmo to Lund a few years back - all you had to do is buy a ticket from a machine on the platform which was modest in price. Unlike the UK where you have to take a written exam (which you have to book months in advance) in order to apply for a rail ticket. I've not been on a train here since about 1990!

Try putting it through Babelfish: http://uk.babelfish.yahoo.com/ You'll be none the wiser but you'll have a good laugh!

Some good UK labels too (over here at least). Zephyr which does a fine line in mainstream jazz - Alan Barnes, Brian Lemon, Tony Coe etc. And Spotlite which has a mixture of UK stuff and a host of bebop material (I have the Parker Dials via Spotlite). Three very good Norma Winstone's too on a label called Enodoc including this one (which I'm listening to at the moment):

Nice one hour documentary just aired on the BBC called 'Don't Be Denied'. Neil talking interspersed with songs, footage etc. Also interviewed are C, S + N, James Taylor, Nils Lofgrin. Stills looks much better than he appears in photos though his speech seems slurred - has he had a stroke? Very enjoyable - worth looking out for, especially if you're an old hippy looking back on the old folky days (though Neil would damn you for it!). http://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/neilyoung/

I read an interview with author Henning Mankell, who was closely involved with the Swedish series, and he said that the daughter would be written out of the series. He was extremely upset by Johanna Sällström's suicide - as was Krister Henriksson, who played Wallander - and didn't want another actress to replace her. Written out of the TV series? What about the novels? In the last couple she moved centre stage. It'll be interesting to see what he does next. The last novel to published here was 'Depths' - a World War I naval story. I couldn't get past the first 70 or so pages. Very dour.

Apologies - Wallander it is! And I just assumed the series I'd seen advertised as in German was German. Thanks for the correction. There was a short feature about the Branagh programme/s in the BBC listings magazine (Radio Times) in September. This is usually when they flag up forthcoming series for the Autumn. So I'm expecting it soon. This site has three of the novels as 'planned': http://www.inspector-wallander.org/guide/film-tv/index.html Sidetracked Sidetracked 2008 BBC IMDB Kenneth Branagh Planned One Step Behind One Step Behind 2008 BBC Kenneth Branagh Planned Firewall Firewall 2008 BBC Kenneth Branagh Planned I hope they're not going to try and polish off each in a two hour episode. Though that seems the way over here. Each of the novels is rich enough both in plot and characterisation to warrant a multi-part series. There's also a final Wallander book due - a set of 5 short stories based on his early years. I wonder if he is continuing with the daughter or is moving onto something else. Edit: The BBC details are here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressrele...wallander.shtml Sadly, one 90 minute episode for each book!

Thanks, Peter. The Ed Bickert is on my list to download from e-music later on. A question, probably without an answer beyond 'they like the chords'... Why do so many guitarists record 'Here's that Rainy Day'?

Another vote for the Vasa - despite being a history teacher I'm not a great one for museums. This one held me fascinated. Seems to be open till 8 pm on a Wednesday. Don't know about vinyl, but I recall a couple of good CD shops in the rather Stalinist square in the centre where the main underground station lies (its on a couple of levels so you might have to look. One was inside a major department store (Ahlens?). There was also a small but packed shop near the opera house, not far from the square. And if you want something to read, now's the time to start Henning Mankell's wonderful Wallender detective series - about to be serialised over here on the TV with Kenneth Branagh in the leading role (there's been a long running German version). Swedish bookshops are full of English language titles.

Not really drawing any boundaries, Aggie87. I suppose I was really thinking of the electric guitar tradition that comes out of Charlie Christian. I'm familiar with Django (I have the two JSP sets, though not the more recent radio set). Not too keen on Grappelli but I love the guitar. I have the Farlow and Smith sets (fruits of a thread like this on another site a couple of years back). The Hall live too. The Pass Mosaic is on its way to me as we speak. Looking forward to that as I only know Pass from his Pablo years (though he is on a fair few tracks of the Gerald Wilson Mosaic). At heart I like music with a lyrical side more than the energetic or funky. So I'm always on the look out for different recordings of jazz guitar which often veres that way. Someone bought me Pat Martino's 'Stone Blue' which I've not really got on with - the keyboards lose me. But I love 'We'll be Together Again' (where I am very open to the e-p); and, especially, this marvellous disc:

As chance would have it, I'm just listening to: An excellent solo disc. I'm also fond of this one: Bruno plus two more guitars - Vic Juris and Corey Christiansen + rhythm. Very nice coice of titles: All Blues (8:10) Cantaloupe Island (5:08) Freedom Jazz Dance (5:24) Impressions (7:16) Killer Joe (8:52) Milestones (5:41) On Green Dolphin Street (6:38) Peace (6:24) Softly as in a Morning Sunrise (8:36) Solar (5:18)

First off, I saw this in Costco and thought of you: Progressions: 100 Years of Jazz Guitar Proper has something similar: Hittin' On All Six A good collection. The one small annoyance is that the artists listed are usually the guitarist in the "name" artist's band. Here are some other guitarists I've enjoyed over the years: Ron Affif - check out his album "52nd Street" for some wicked guitar Herb Ellis - can play virtually anything. One album I've enjoyed recently is "Texas Swings" Lenny Breau - has a cult following (= died from drugs and in relative obscurity), but does live up to the expectations. Try "Cabin Fever." Cal Collins - I like "Interplay" (with Herb Ellis) Charlie Byrd - I've just scratched the surface with him - so many albums! Try "At The Village Vanguard." John Fahey - only "not jazz" if you rigidly enforce the parameters. Otherwise, he'll definitely take you places. Start with "God, Time and Causality." Charlie Christian - needless to say? The Minton's material is still powerful. John Scofield - like it or not, one of the few guitarists who are still important. One I've loved for years: "I Can See Your House From Here" (with Pat Metheny) Charlie Hunter - the most underrated guitarist in jazz. If you can find it, "TJ Kirk." Or "Friends Seen and Unseen." Thanks all, once more. Especially all this help here, mjzee. I've had the Proper box for several years and it gets plenty of mileage. If anything it's a bit frustrating because the guitarists on the final disc are so hard to track down on individual recordings. I'm going to download a couple of Ellis albums when my e-music credits refresh in a couple of days. And looking up Lenny Breau, I'm intrigued. Not by the drugs but the country links. Looks like an interesting player. Switching into recommending mode, two players from over here who play mainly in those pre-Hendrix styles are well worth a listen - Louis Stewart (Irish actually) and Dave Cliff. I'm also very partial to this disc:

Good to have you here again, MG. I said that somewhere else but it's worth saying twice!

Many thanks for all those recommended recordings. I'm interested in the Billy Bauer record in particular, having heard him in other settings; and Chuck Wayne, René Thomas and Jimmy Gourley strike me as areas I might find interesting. I was listening to a couple of Mundell Lowe recordings from the late 50s today, both very enjoyable. But what struck me at the end of 'The Mundell Lowe Quartet' disc was how unsusual the final 'Far from Vanilla' was - sounded like a Fred Frith track!!! Another one I've read about elsewhere but would like to hear (I think it's MIA) is Bary Galbraith's 'Guitar and the Wind' - Galbraith is another of those players you come across on other discs but who seems to have recorded very little himself. Nice to see Ed Bickert's name mentioned - I only really know him from a Rosemary Clooney and a Paul Desmond record but he raises both above the ordinary. Keep them coming, especially recommendations for specific records. Oh, and hi there MG! Really good to read your comments again. You've been much missed.

Hunted around and found all sorts of guitar threads (many on individual guitarists) but none that seem to focus in on general CD recommendations. There was a very good one on another board (with Jim R...what happened to him?...proving particularly helpful). I'm not a musician but I'm particularly taken by the sound of the jazz guitar, so am always on the lookout for recommended discs. No strict definition intended with 'Classic Jazz Guitar' - I just mean pre-rock/McLaughlin/Hendrix styles (and no criticism intended of those styles and those that stemmed from them...that's where I began and I still find pleaure there). I'm not a novice in this area - I have the Johnny Smith and Tal Farlow Mosaics and lots of Jim Hall, Kenny Burrell, Louis Stewart, Grant Green, Charlie Christian etc. At present I'm exploring a couple of discs by Mundell Lowe and Jimmy Raney. So, what 'classic' guitar records - either from the pre-rock period or bang up to date but in those earlier styles - particularly excite you?

...and verily, it was said, that if there be jazz, there must be critics...

Still my favourite Norma disc...and I'm a major Norma fan. As opposed to a Norma Major fan? No, like John I prefer Edwina!!!!!!!!

Still my favourite Norma disc...and I'm a major Norma fan. Worth it for the exquisite version of 'Tea for Two' at the end (as far from Anita O'Day as you can imagine!); but the whole sequence of songs works perfectly.

The centre section of 'Whole Lotta Love' might work. At the end you could bring in a mighty cathedral bell for the 'DUH!...DUH!' followed by a peel of hand bells for 'Duh-duh, du-duh, duh-diddleee-um, de-dum-dum'...'DUH!...DUH!'...etc These chaps look up to it: Has to beat what they did at the Olympics!