A Lark Ascending

37th ************ This is a gorgeous disc: I love the title of one of the tunes - 'Polska of Despair'. He did a short tour in the UK a few years back with Mick Hutton, Paul Motion and Martin Speake. They recorded an album but it's been stuck in the ECM vaults for ages.

Now available at Dusty Groove for Stateside Ogunites.

I'm suspicious of the argument that there is a general decline in writing standards. Now I certainly experience plenty of poor writing from 16-18 year olds - I'm currently being driven crazy trying to decipher coursework. But two other things are at work (in the UK at least): 1. Far more students are staying on at school beyond 16. 25 years ago I was lucky to have an Advanced Level group of 10. Today I have three groups totaling over 50 students. Many of the poor writers we have in our classes today would have been down the pit or in the factory in 1980. 2. I'm also suspicious of our memories of our own skills at 16. I know I was still getting my grammar pulled apart at university. The biggest weakness I see in my students is an unwillingness to read, something that inhibits their ability to write well themselves. Although I accept these are problems that need working on - even if writing skills are the same as in 1980 we should still be trying to make them better - I suspect there are other things that need thinking about. Above all communication through reading written text is no longer the only means of exchanging information. We need to be a bit careful in thinking that because it appears that kids are not as skilled in things that were considered essential in our youth, that all is lost. There's every chance they have made up for that in developing other skills that we have failed to acknowledge. I'm all in favour of pushing reading/writing skills - kids who lack those skills are disadvantaging themselves. But debates like this run the risk of descending into inaccurate nostalgia (a sort of parallel to jazz musicians ain't what they used to be...of course they're not, they're doing something else).

Well, that was certainly all I was required to do when I took my first set of public exams at 16 in 1971. The 16-year-old kids I teach today in the UK have a much wider range of skills to master and show evidence of. For example, on history papers they have to compare and contrast written and pictorial evidence, commenting on reliability and utility to the historian for a specific purpose. Sound factual knowledge is necessary to do that well; but just regurgitating facts without relevance to the sources or question will lead to a low level of performance. Far more difficult than anything I had to do. I don't know what it's like in the States, but in the UK there are far too many educational experts who've not spent more than an hour or two per year in a school for decades (and that's just some of the teachers!). Spend a week working in a classroom with kids and it all starts to look very different.

I was disappointed by 'Welcome' at the time - too many 'soul' type vocals. Always liked things like the McLaughlin/Santana blast out and the opening/closing tracks. The 'soul' vocals don't bother me so much now. I nice record if not one that has me awestruck like Caravanserai.

Outside of the Shakti recordings I like 'The Promise' best of all McLaughlin's post-70s recordings.

I'm quite amazed to find you all listen to music on a Sunday. I thought the whole of America was in church! (Please note: one of those smiley things. This is a lighthearted comment) ********** I enjoyed Arnold Bax, William Alwyn and Malcolm Arnold this morning.

I saw Liam a few weeks back at the Barbican with the reformed (occasionally) Planxty. Still doing the business - I spent most of the concert close to tears! I've never seen the live Brendan performance but have had the LP since the early 80s (recently got the CD). Glorious music. Liam O'Flynn doing a lament on the uilleann pipes is one of those things guaranteed to reduce me to a quivering wreck. Must be some genetic folk memory!!!!

And here's another that went down very well on this up jumped spring morning... * Quintet for harp and strings * Elegiac Trio for harp, viola and flute * Fantasy Sonata for harp and viola * Sonata for flute and harp

Just listened to this. A beautiful Sunday morning record with lots of flute pieces: * Quintet for Flute, Violin, Viola, Horn and Bassoon Op 7 (1944) [12'11] * Duo for Flute and Viola Op 10 (1946) [9'43] * Divertimento for Flute, Oboe and Clarinet Op 37 (1952) [7'58] * Oboe Quartet Op 61 (1957) [11'41] * Flute Sonata Op 121 (1977) [14'31] * Three Shanties for Wind Quintet Op 4 (1943) [6'55]

In case you havn't noticed it's really morning.

I really like 'Lotus' though it does have some annoying steam powered synth chipping in at way too loud a volume in places. It's very much of that 'Caravanserai'/'Welcome' era, though more heated. Doesn't have the immaculate poise of 'Caravanserai'.

The odd thing is that these things are more associated with Scotland (and, perhaps, Northern Ireland) than Eire: When talking pipes in the south we're thinking: Not exactly easy to carry along the street. St. Patrick's day is a very low key affair in England, celebrated by some people of Irish descent and a few pubs on the make. The only way I ever remember it being different from any other day was when my grandfather used to send me a postcard of Athlone (where he lived) and some shamrock. It's never been a good idea for the Irish to flaunt their Irishness here.

Saw wonderful UK pianist Nikki Iles tonight with her trio. She started the second set off with an exquisite 'Danny Boy'. This is clearly now an official part of the Great American Songbook.

I've got these visions of John Wesley spreading the good news with his alto sax in the 18whatevers...but in a distinctively European way, of course.

This book is now being advertised as available. I somehow think readers will be in for a bit of a shock if the publishers blurb is anything to go by: http://www.yalebooks.co.uk/yale/display.as...&x=44&y=12&DC=2

Excellent folk festival in Cambridge every year in late-July! Watch the main roads around the city. Speed cameras everywhere. Very nice city with great bookshops. Can't help on the technical points of coming here, unfortunately.

...at home ...one of the family ...well in ...part of the furniture ...our mate ...one of us!

Given the mmountain of wonderful Irish music in other genres it does seem a bit peverse to want Irish-themed jazz. A bit like seeking thrash metal recommendations for an Ann Summers party. On second thoughts, that might be a bad comparison...

I first heared 'No Pussyfooting' as the walk on music to the live gigs KC did in '72/'73. I think it came out on disc in '74. Fripp has always been my favourite rock guitarist. I love it when he plays that really glissando like guitar, something that became rarer from the 80s KC onwards. I could never understand why he whipped out the solo in that style in Matte Kudasai for the reissues of Discipline (now restored as a bonus). The ending of the second side of 'Lizard' and the studio version of 'The Talking Drum' have some classic examples of that style. Fred Frith used to do something similar but more jagged.

The last track on this little beauty is a wonderful version of 'Danny Boy'. Turns into a Scottish strathspey in the middle but should do the job. There's a strange version of 'Teddy Bears Picnic' on the album too. Might appeal to your boss's tastes!

Thanks, King Ubu.

"Exposure" is a wonderful, peculiar record - one minute KC power chords, next beautiful ballads, then oddball intellectual punk...with some very weird soundbites of Fripp's guru. "No Pussyfooting", the first Fripp/Eno collaboration is very beautiful; I also like the recent 'The Equatorial Stars'. Very ambient but attractive. I really like this one: The Robert Fripp String Quartet which is Robert Fripp, Trey Gunn and The California Guitar Trio. Very melodic with thak trademark snakey guitar. This one is very different but great fun: Thrang Thrang Gozinbulx Official Bootleg: Live in 1980 by The League of Gentlemen. Sounds like punks with ph.d.'s doing strange, off-kilter pogo dancing.

Iron Maiden clearly had fans amongst Unionist paramilitaries in Ulster a few years back:

I've never been able to take Parkinson seriously since the 70s when he was forever trying to put words into guests mouth about how awful rock/pop was and how jazz was so much better. I'm surprised I wasn't put off jazz for life. Don't care for the fawning either but I suspect that goes with the territory of being a chat-show host...unless you're Chris Evans!