A Lark Ascending

When I bought the ITCOTKC in 1971 'Moonchild' really annoyed me - with very little pocket money to buy LPs I felt I'd been cheated of half a side. I must say, I really like it now. Whereas the 'big' tracks sound a bit grandiose (still enjoy them but a fair bit of suspension of disbelief is needed!), there's something quiet and appealing in all the noodling. In fact, listening to some Jimmy Giuffre/Jim Hall a while back I was struck by the similarity. I suspect Fripp had been listening to Hall.

Friday night's Jazz on 3. Well worth a listen - 5 tunes from Bill Frisell's Cheltenham performance last Sunday. And an interview and solo performance by Sardinian guitarist Paolo Angeli. The Frisell line-up: Bill Frisell - guitar Chris Cheek - tenor sax, clarinet Ron Miles - trumpet Larry Grenadier - bass Rudy Royston - drums Set-list: Monroe (Frisell) Probability Cloud (Frisell) A Change Is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke) Benny's Bugle (Benny Goodman) Mood (Ron Carter) Sadly no "Subconscious-Lee" which was a highlight! There to hear on the replayer until Friday next: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazzon3/pip/a1dy9/

Sorry to read this. Condolences to you and your family, Jim.

Sidewinder, Or anyone else. Are you attending any of the Cheltenham concerts? Thought it might be nice to say hello at one of the gaps if we're in the same vicinity. I've also relented and booked the Courvosier, Moran and Galliano/Atzmon concerts at Bath.

Sad to hear this - I've been away at the weekend. Heard about Humph but not JG. I've been listening to quite a bit of his music in the last couple of months. In some ways a bit of a pioneer for the approach to jazz that is covered by labels like ECM or ACT. I saw him once in an upstairs pub room with basist Ron Mathewson - a memorable gig.

Very sad news. Humphrey Lyttelton was everything jazz should be about - open minded, wide ranging, no airs and graces, yet founded on genuine enthusiasm and real knowledge. When all the jazz experts in Britain were getting shirty about new jazz singers, Humph actually listened to them and played the ones he enjoyed. His programmes exuded good humour and a wish to share what he enjoyed, without grandstanding or posturing. 'The Best of Jazz' (the Penguin edition) was one of the books that helped me understand why the jazz of the 20s and 30s actually mattered - until then I didn't have ears for it. I only saw him once in a concert that included Jimmy Hastings. I'd gone out of curiosity, expecting something tame and nostalgic; instead, it was spirited, engaging and an absolute delight. A great loss.

In addition, it's worth checking the Chandos main site and this place for Chandos downloads, Tony: http://www.classicsonline.com/ (I use the latter for Naxos now). The main Chandos site now has very high quality files as an option. I find e-music is great, except for albums with lots of short tracks. An album with 25 tracks can eat up your monthly quota quite quickly.

Is it back in stock yet? I've yet to receive a shipping notification. I got a shipping notification today. So it's back.

I'll look out for this over the next two weekends - I'm near bookshops in Wales and Cheltenham so will get a chance to browse. I've just started 'West Coast Jazz' (Ted Gioia) so it will be a while before I can start. Keep us posted on your thoughts, please, BBS.

well then "many of you" should realize that CDs have been around for 20+ years now and adapt yourselves to the current reality. all of us grew up having to sit through commercials on TV too, but it doesn't take long with a DVR (or a VCR) to realize you can fast forward through them. do you walk out of concerts after 20 minutes also? I've heard very strong arguments for the greater concentration the 3 minute 78 inspired. Listening to the Elgar Violin Concerto in 3 minute chunks must have been a bit strange but I bet people really knew those 3 minute chunks inside out. I don't think anyone is arguing for a return to 20 minute discs. Merely that with all the advantages of the CD, there are perhaps one or two losses (I'd add the 12 inch sleeve art). On balance I think CDs are great. Though I'm rapidly converting to the virtues of the download. *********** An afterthought - I'm sure that the dedicated listener has little difficulty with the 60+ minutes. But, in my experience, most listeners don't want to sustain that degree of concentration (not intended as a criticism - they have other priorities). Maybe the length of CDs is one of the things that has seen recorded music become of less interest to the general public - the album has become less of an overall experience because fatigue sets in before it's half over.

It's not as if you need to take a 15 minute tea break. Just the act of getting up and changing the record had the effect of putting in a natural pause. I still 'hear' the breaks when I play CDs of albums I had on vinyl. Especially double LPs.

Congratulations - here's hoping you get some sleep in the coming months!

Some performers have tried to present a CD in two 'sets' or more. Several of Richard Thompson's and the last Robert Wyatt, for example. Though I'm too lazy to set the CD player to just play those sections.

To my mind, that's the only disadvantage of the CD over LP. Programming over two 20 min LP sides gave you the equivalent of two acts, both of a length where the average listener could sustain concentration. There were four points where maximum impact could be made - the start and end of each side. Programming over a 60+ span is much harder. Even the most focused listener finds it hard to maintain concentration that long. In some respect, the order of tracks becomes even more important with CD. I'm not sure it ever compensate for the natural pause of the LP side change.

Yes. A great pair of discs. I think it captures Bollani's extrovert, slightly surreal side well - you don't see much of that on the recent ECMs.

They are on e-music (at least the UK version) if you're not averse to downloads.

I got hooked a couple of years back after hearing an excellent BBC series on the Cuban influence on New York jazz. This compilation, in particular, has never ceased to thrill me. And this one will have you leaping round the house: Long jams with lots of jazzy soloing and dense percussion.

I spent 3 weeks in Sweden a while back with that as my only word of Swedish! Never had to spell it! I recall Zig Zag from around the mid-70s. Remember the Frame trees from there - one was used on the cover of a Fairport Convention complilation circa 1973:

Ian Anderson who wrote the review came up in the next decade as a blues/jazz/folk player, from the scene the 50s spawned (I recall seeing him in a group called Hot Vultures in the early 70s) - he later broadened his interests way out and has been a leading figure in promoting World Music since the 80s. So he really knows that period - if he's impressed, we can expect a good read. [He's not a man easily impressed - he can be extremely caustic about music that doesn't fit his prejudices].

I've heard nothing but praise for this but missed it. A colleague at work has the DVDs so I'm waiting until she's seen them. I really liked 'The Green Room' - somewhat slapstick but quite unpredictable.

That blurb does look uninteresting, MG. The two reviews in FR paint a much more interesting picture. Here's the opening of Ian Anderson's editorial: Rest here: http://www.frootsmag.com/content/issue/edsbox/ BBS, As my Swedish goes no further than 'Tak'I might have to give your recommendation a miss!

Gets a huge thumbs up from Ian Anderson and the Froots crew. Blurb: The Froots review plays up its coverage of music beyond the mainstream - the skiffle, jazz, folk, blues etc scenes. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Restless-Generatio...9137&sr=1-1 Looks life a goodee. (if you've never seen a Pete Frame Rock Family Tree try this one: http://www.well.com/~cjfish/chart.gif

And didn't 'Till Death Do Us Part' migrate to the US as 'All in the Family'? I always assumed that 'Juke Box Jury' was homegrown, but Anita O'Day mentions a version in the States in the 50s in her autobio.

It works both ways. US series have been used as a starting point for British programmes too. I've never seen the US version of 'The Office' - I would say the makers of 'The Office' in the UK did something else that could be emulated widely. Made a perfect sequence and then stopped instead of flogging it through 'Office II', 'Office - Return of the Nerd' etc. I suspect a fair bit of the deadpan humour of the UK office just wouldn't translate to the States. I'm currently working my way through 'Weeds' on DVD - I cannot for the life of me see that working in a British version. Though I can see only too well what it would turn out like if they tried! They'd probably have Dawn French or Penelope Keith playing the Mary Louise Parker character!!!! Has 'The Royale Family' ever screened in the States? - one I'd have thought would not travel well.

What a beautiful picture.