A Lark Ascending

I'm not trying to put 'Last Chance Disco' down in any way. It's just not what I really look for in a record - I prefer longer tracks. In the right mood, I enjoy it. I'd imagine ears differently attuned would find it a hoot from start to finish. I've just got in from a gig by 'Partisans' - Phil Robson, Julian Siegel, Gene Calderazzo, Thad Kelly. Not exactly F-IRE members but slightly older associates. Absolutely superb band in blazing form. Imagine jazz-rock without the plodding beat; instead the ever shifting time of a jazz group. Their 2005 CD 'Max' is marvellous.

If you get the chance to see 'Nois', sidewinder, don't hesitate. Vocalist Monica Vasconcelos and Ingrid plus guitar and percussion playing delicious Brazilian music. Very different from her own current band (though her first CD had more of the Brazilian about it, a much lighter affair than the abstract 'Forensic.' One of my favourite current UK players...definately my favourite current UK player from Germany!

Live at the Bimhuis is one of my favourite CDs of the year. I'd go as far as to say one of my favourite double live CDs. You get a real sense of listening through a full concert. And the stretched out versions of tunes from the era of 'The Infinite' are superb. I think I've only hear Rick Margitza with Maria Schneider before. On this set he really made me sit up and take notice. Very, very strong recommendation. I like 'Keystone' too, but it's the Bimhuis discs that really get my attention.

I have mixed feelings about 'Last Chance Disco.' The tunes are too short, too punky for me to fully enjoy; like others I prefer the earlier disc. But I can get the odd buzz from it. To be honest, I don't think the band are seeing themselves as a jazz band anymore; they're enjoying having fun in the 'indie' area of rock. The guys all play in other, much more jazz-like, bands so I imagine they've decided to use AL as an outlet for their rockier tastes. I've seen them a couple of times - early in 2004 in a superb concert when they were still doing the extended tunes; earlier this year when it was the 'Last Chance Disco' approach. The latter was fun in the context of a festival but I'm not sure I'd have been so satisfied if it was the whole meal! Polar Bear suit me better, anyway. And if you want something really interesting from the F-IRE stable try Ingrid Laubrock's 'Forensic.' There's an excellent F-IRE 2CD compilation just come out called 'Works: Volume 2." Gives a good impression of the breadth of the collective. Even if you don't like their music you've got to admire the spirit of these people - rather than whine about how little attention jazz is getting they've pooled their resources and gone out there and got it. They've taken the model of the famous collectives of the past and adapted it to the new century. I'm very much looking forward to hearing the F-IRE big band on record - the two concerts I saw in the spring were very different, both excellent. Amazing how the concept evolved over a month.

Quite agree. He played the Appleby festival back in July and turned up in no end of different bands. I never understand how rhythm section players can be so adaptable.

Trio Records is run by Andy Cleyndert, Stan's current bassist (amongst many other things).

Take a look here: http://home.freeuk.net/cleyndert/homepage.html Very enjoyable album. I prefer my Tracey in small groups rather than big band but this one is great fun.

It was only a matter of time before you all started regretting the extermination of the buffalo: http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/buffalo.html [mind you, we exterminated the coal miners!]

I'm driving down to Oxford to see them.

There's a great bit in the liners to the reissue of Mike Gibbs' 'Just Ahead' about Spedding annoying the more serious-minded jazzers in the band. Rather than towing the line he turned up to the band bus one night in a bright pink suit. So I suspect he'd have fitted in just fine to Miles' spandex period. It would also have meant that in 1976, instead of retiring, Miles would have gone punk! Agharta...Pangaea...Motorbikin' There's a logic there somewhere.

Details can now be found here: http://www.duttonlabs.demon.co.uk/oct05_vo...njazz.html#8408 Dutton now has a much improved website.

Mole used to be a regular first stop on my infrequent visits to London in the late 70s/early 80s. It was in an ideal spot as my train used to land in King's Cross/St Pancras. I recall picking up import copies of 'My Funny Valentine' and 'Miles Smiles' there at a time when huge chunks of the Davis catalogue were not available in the UK (must be an unthinkable situation to younger jazz fans, given what you find in the jazz racks today!). I never really cared for it when it shifted across the road. Never did visit the last shop though I did try to open the door once. Couldn't be bothered to ring the doorbell. In fact both visiting Mole and catching trains are now confined to nostalgia for me!

Thanks, Mark. I'm really looking forward to this. The version of 'The Dolphin' on that disc is gorgeous. I wish Louis would tour a bit more over here. I'm planning another trip to Ireland next summer. Maybe I'll strike lucky in Dublin this time!

Those Villa discs are still quite hard to come by. I ordered two in September. The new one - 'Core Business' - came through immediately. But 'String Time' was not in stock and I'm still waiting. Hopefully a nice Xmas present!

I seem to recall all classical music sounded morbid to me before it clicked! VW2 goes from foggy London (with chimes of Big Ben) through the bustle of a London morning, a quiet wander round some of the calmer bits and back to something quite triumphant before sinking into the fog again. I could see how the slow movement might seem a bit gloomy to an unsympathetic ear. Another good gloomer is Holst's evocation of Hardy's 'Egdon Heath', complete with phantom morris dancers! The last movement of Mahler 6 is another good wrist-slasher. And how about the whole of Janacek's 'From the House of the Dead'? Or Richard Strauss' 'Elektra' or 'Salome.'

Compared with VW6 already mentioned it's positively celebratory. It has a bit of the old London fog about it at start and finish but I hardly hear it as dark. Brooding, perhaps, in places. VW4, by contast, is pretty bleak. Very much music written with the threat of WWII in the backround. Walton's First Symphony falls into that same area. Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem too. Frank Bridge's 'Oration' for cello and orchestra, in memory of the fallen of WWI, is another superb bleak piece. I suppose the Britten 'War Requiem' falls there too, though it does attempt some light at the end. Malcolm Arnold's symphonies have a quite different take on bleak - he suffers from terrible depression and has tried to take his own life (there's a family history of this). His music can be incredibly bright and tuneful; but he often deliberately subverts his best melodies with discordant interjections. His last symphony is a real downer!

It's been available at CD Baby for some time (though it goes out of stock regularly): http://cdbaby.com/found?allsearch=Jan+Joha...chsubmit=Search

It did. Try Apple Venus from just a few years back. It's as good as any of the others to my ears. Makes a pleasant appetite refresher between the jazz courses!

"Mummer" is a gorgeous album, but very, very English. Has virtually no connection to the punky XTC. As a listener with a strong affection for English folk it connected with me immediately (though it's far from a folk record). I can see why it might be mystifying to listeners expecting the more jittery earlier XTC; I prefer the widescreen, multilayered, richly melodic XTC of English Settlement, Mummer, Skylarking, Oranges and Lemons and Apple Venus.

I was just jealous, Rupe, having thought the €35 I paid was a bargain!

How strange. Accessed from here in the UK, Amazon.co.uk has it listed at £25.99 which is over $50. Whatever the cost (well, within reason!), it's a stunner.

Absolutely brilliant! Jazz CD of the year, as far as I'm concerned. I was lucky enough to see Atomic earlier this year with Ken Vandermark guesting on a few tunes. This CD grabs all the excitement of that gig. They have this ability to be on the edge and sometimes over the edge, yet lyrical and accessible. If you enjoyed 'Feet Music', 'Boom Boom' or the School Days discs jump at this without hesitation. My favourite band of the present. It's a limited edition. I can recommend CDon.com in Sweden as a good source. I ordered on a Sunday and had it by Wednesday after waiting for four months from a UK dealer with no action.

I recall seeing them too. Very, very different from how he plays now. Dunmall also played in Danny Thompson's folk-inflected band, Whatever, around that time. http://www.grunthos.demon.co.uk/whatever_next.htm

I got a high on 'virtuous non-believer' (Limbo) and 'heretic' (Level 6).

A great evening's TV with more to come tonight. The BBC are using it as an excuse to show lots of other Dylan stuff including 'Don't Look Back'. I was amazed at how articulate and linear Dylan was. This is the man who built a legend out of bamboozling interviewers with sphinx-like replies and deliberate false trails. The 'No Direction Home' CD is enthralling too.