A Lark Ascending

Bloody hell! You go to Greenland for a Sunday afternoon ride?

He's been playing in Guy Barker's Septet for a few years:

I've always thought of Mahler as being on steroids. I must be getting old... Mahler was definately on acid!

These are breathtaking pieces of music. Ravel's Introduction & Allegro for flute, clarinet, harp and string quartet operates in a similar hazy world. The flute is widely used in early 20th British pastoral-type music, heavily influenced by Debussy/Ravel. Here's three lovely pieces: Holst: Fugal Concerto for flute, oboe and strings. Bliss: Pastoral "Lie Strewn the White Flocks" - a choral/chamber piece with a major flute part. Boughton: Concerto in D for flute and strings. The opening to Delius' 'Brigg Fair' has a marvellous flute cadenza. I have a very nice flute CD from 1990 on Chandos called 'La Flute Enchantee' with various Gallic flute pieces by Jolivet, Saint-Saens, Ibert etc. The flautist is Susan Milan. I'm not sure if it's still in print.

Bliss...

"My mind is running back, To the west coast of Clare..."

The Midlands of England (only just, the North starts two miles up the road). I see myself as a sort of 21st century version of those soldiers on Hadrian's Wall. Keeping people like Tony from disturbing the civilised part of the country. Not to mention Clunky!!!!

I can hear the Billie Holiday; also some Peggy Lee. I rather like a singer drawing off those influences rather than the soul diva approach of so many female vocalists at present. I really enjoyed Dreamland and like this one too.

Now how did I forget them! Marvellous albums. They were my backwards way into Ornette Coleman.

Their new album is available for order direct from Babel in advance of it official release: http://www.babellabel.co.uk/ecomcart/

This new Naxos release might interest some:

OGCD 016 You can order direct from Hazel Miller for £12 (that's what I did!). email: hazel@cadillacjazz.co.uk or phone 020 7619 911 or fax 020 7619 0901 for details

Thanks, David. The joke got lost in translation!

I saw Dewey a few years back and he was remarkable. I keep meaning to buy this which has some of the tunes he was playing at the time: Most of the recordings I have of his come from the 70s - the wonderful Jarrett American band, some of Carla Bley's recordings, and my favourite Pat Metheny disc, '80/81'. I bought a few Joshua Redman CDs in the mid-90s but found they wern't walking back to the CD player very often. Joshua is playing the Cheltenham Festival in late April...there might be a UK tour.

Could someone explain this joke to me. I can't work it out. I presume it's some hillbilly reference.

And very wonderful it is too! Totally improvised but within a recognisable harmonic framework. When Keith Jarrett does free form improvising he brings along all manner of semi-mystical baggage. It all has to be so larger than life, so much of a 'deep' experience. On this recording Tracey and Moholo just sit down and do it. It's exciting, moving, enthralling and you don't feel as if they expect you to genuflect at the end. Don't get me wrong, I like Jarrett's music and owe him much to leading me to jazz; but I couldn't help but be struck how everything about this Tracey/Moholo CD - the performance, packaging, liner notes etc - are carried off without the fuss that surrounds every one of Keith's magnificent utterances.

Glad you found so much to enjoy in 'Let Freedom Ring'. I saw the premiere a couple of years back at the Cheltenham Festival. I suppose, for me, it would have been nice if they could have rehearsed a bit more before recording. It's that raggedness that holds it back from getting my full enjoyment. I'm not talking the deliberate raggedness that could make things like the Brotherhood of Breath sound so winning; it just sounds under-rehearsed. Pure economics, I've no doubt. I've heard nothing about new projects from Denys - the Dune site is the place to watch. While I think about it, try and get a copy of Soweto Kinch's 'Jazz Planet' single. Kinch integrates hip-hop/rap into a very Ornettish style. Now hip hop/rap is a world I'm clueless about and generally draws a blank - but somehow he carries it off in a way I can handle. This single is an absolute scream - a rap on a world where jazz players are celebrities and boy bands play in the back rooms of pubs where there's not enough space for their dance routines! Jazz Jamaica have a new CD coming based on Motown! They're playing this round the UK including Cheltenham.

On the Polar Bear/Acoustic Ladyland/Partisans front I meant to say that all three have new CDs coming out in the next two or three months which are likely to bump up their visibility somewhat. Ignore all the fuss over Jamie Cullum - this is the real jazz UK 'revival' (what...again?) of the present.

Yes, Ingrid Laubrock is another gem of the current scene - her recent 'Forensic' CD is a great leap forward in her recording career - very freewheeling with Shorter and Steve Lacy overtones. From Germany but, hey, an honorary Brit! I've booked her gig and the Ornette. Chose Enrico Rava over Herbie, however.

Apologies in advance for hyping UK jazz further - no intention to promote it as 'better than this', 'better than that' - it's just that hearing this stuff in the flesh quite regularly I'm very excited by it and believe it could excite well beyond its native land. Here are three recordings from elsewhere in the UK scene by bands making very big waves, and, what is more, getting attention beyond the established jazz audience: Acoustic Ladyland: Polar Bear: Partisans: Look here for details - a great independent label dedicated to getting lesser known music out: http://www.babellabel.co.uk/ The other place worth exploring is the F-IRE collective. A collective based in London that has been operating for a few years now - musicians work, practise, play together, share and solve problems. It has spawned an extraordinary number of bands who are now staring to pop up everywhere. A sort of self-help group to by-pass the problems of getting recorded, getting gigs etc. I'm very much looking forward to some F-IRE big band concerts due at this years Cheltenham and Bath Festivals: http://www.f-ire.com/ This is Bev Stapleton signing off with his letter from the UK for this week...

Sorry, forgot the link! Thanks Couw. An afterthought. This Dune CD has Baptiste in 1997 playing Jazz Messenger-like hard/post-bop. On board are a couple of other names who have gained big profiles over here - alto/baritone player Tony Kofi and pianist Alex Wilson (very big on the dance/Cuban scene):

Denys is wonderful live - I saw him a couple of weeks back playing alongside Soweto Kinch in one of Gary Crosby's bands, Nu Troop. He's yet to really reveal that fully on disc. His most recent recording is: A really ambitious project based on MLK's 'I Have a Dream' speech. It doesn't quite come off but marks a player really prepared to work at the composing as well as the playing. It's worth keeping an eye on this label: http://www.dune-music.com/index2.asp Run by Gary Crosby (one time member of the Jazz Warriors who rocketed Courtney Pine to stardom) it mainly (though not exclusively) puts out music by Afro-Caribbean jazz musicians in the UK. Baptiste runs the risk of getting overlooked in the excitement generated by Soweto Kinch, a fabulous alto player who I believe is already making his way in the States. That would be a pity - he's a marvellous player with a really engaging stage manner. To my mind the real star of this part of the UK scene is the older Jason Yarde. It is a complete mystery to me why we have not had a solo record yet. He turns up on other peoples' discs but has not put one out for himself. He played with Louis Moholo's band at the recent Jazz Britannia jamboree and I've got a ticket to see him at Cheltenham in late April - hopefully this is sign of a growing profile. Finally, here's a project for the next six days. Click on this link to the BBC programme 'Jazz Line Up". After Stacey Kent has read her script about what's on the programme you will hear Jazz Jamaica's arrangement of Wayne Shorter's 'Footprints' (arrangement by the aforementioned Jason Yarde). Jazz meets reggae, meets ska, meets fun. The soprano sax solo here by Andy Sheppard is outstanding. Be quick. It's only there until next Saturday.

Just a health warning - the recording has virtually none of the Larry Youngish organ of the live date and is a notch or two more subdued. Nice album though with especially interesting takes on 'White Line Fever' and 'Shady Grove'. I'm hoping there's a live album being prepared!

I'm afraid the live broadcast is no longer on the BBC website - they only run for a week. The band have two CDs - the first (which I've not heard) - was heavily promoted because Norah Jones was on a couple of tracks. I ignored it assuming it was some cash-in. But the broadcast really impressed me - the tunes would be sung in a drawl and then vere off into wonderful improvisations with David Binney going absolutely bonkers. It was the organ of Gary Versace that really had me puzzling where I'd heard this sound before and 'Lifetime' sprang to mind. Here's the track list of the 2nd CD: 01. Riding on the Midnight Train 02. Galveston 03. Shady Grove 04. I am the Light of This World 05. I’ll Fly Away 06. So Long Second Street 07. Waterbound 08. The Water is Wide 09. Time Flies 10. Oh Death 11. White Line Fever 12. Wichita Lineman Personnel Joel Harrison - electric, National Steel guitar, baritone guitar, voice David Binney – saxophone Gary Versace - accordion, organ, piano Stephan Crump - acoustic bass Dan Weiss – drums Todd Isler - frame drums, hadjini, misc. percussion Guests: Uri Caine – piano Rob Burger - organ Emilie Cardinaux - voice Total praise Gospel Choir Details: http://www.actmusic.com/act9431_e.htm#track

Try this: A strange fusion of jazz and country/bluegrass. The CD is actually quite tame by comparison with a live broadcast the BBC put out a few weeks back where the band sounded like Hank Williams fronting Lifetime!