A Lark Ascending

http://users.belgacom.net/bn750253/posing-01/index.htm

Charlotte Rampling

In the olden days you knew where your post was coming from. The GPO. Today it seems to come from all sorts of delivery companies. If you are not in this can involve journeys across the length and breadth of the UK to pick up your package! Or maybe I just didn't have packages delivered in the olden days! My post person still comes round on a bicycle which is nice.

Humph is old but he's far from a fogey. Alongside Morton, Armstrong and Ellington you'll hear the latest releases from younger musicians on his programme, discussed respectfull, intelligently, positively. One of my few life ambitions is to be as open-minded as he is when I reach his age!

In a perfect world a station would have a nice balance between programmes of 'classic' jazz and more contemporary jazz. Given how wide jazz is any jazz programme is going to displease a large chunk of the jazz audience. There's only a limited amount of jazz time on the BBC and I think they do a pretty good job of representing the range of the music. Jazz on 3 will give you an idea of contemporary jazz, often with a UK or European dimension. If you want classic jazz then there's plenty on Jazz Record Requests and Humphrey Lyttleton's Monday night Radio 2 programme. If you like a carpet and slippers approach then Jazz Line-Up does the job. If you like your jazz one step from hip contemporary rock/pop then there's a regular Courtney Pine programme on Radio 2. And the BBC regularly does one-off series around musicians.

Acker Bilk

This is another good programme on BBC Radio Scotland. Should keep those 'expecting to hear the greats' happy. Same archive system as the BBC in England. http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/radioscotlan...how.shtml?bebop Latest playlist: 15 / 19 SEPTEMBER FIRST HOUR C WHY DON’T YOU DO RIGHT CD MOJO Take Four- 49 Essential Tracks McCoy=Chappell-Morris=Na Disc 2 Band 7 MOJO/EMI=07243 4 73075 2 2 MARK MURPHY C PUT ON TRAIN CD Live At The It Club Vol. 2 Monk/Higgins=Na=Na Band 2 BLUE NOTE=7243 5 23997 2 5 GENE HARRIS & THE THREE SOUNDS C HERE’S THAT RAINY DAY CD Jazz Jubilee Burke/Van Heusen/Morris=Bourne/ASCAP=NA Band 4 MARTINE AVE PROD=MAPI1521 DUDLEY MOORE TRIO C POMPTON TURNPIKE CD Historic Carnegie Hall Concerts - Birth Of A Legend Rodgers/Osbourne=Na=Na Band 12 GIANT STEPS=GIST 011 OSCAR PETERSON C FERDINANDO CD Les Tresors Du Jazz Blakey=Na=Na Disc 28 Band 9 LE CHANT DU MONDE=574 1273 BUDDY DeFRANCO C GIRL FROM INPANEMA CD Finest Hour Jobim/de Moraes/Gimbel=Na=Na Band 11 VERVE=490 669-2 ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM C GEORGIA ON MY MIND CD Jazz Moods – ‘Round Midnight Gorrell/Carmichael=Na=Na Band 4 COLUMBIA LEGACY=516428-2 BILLIE HOLIDAY C LUSH LIFE CD The Life Of A Song Strayhorn=Tempo/ASCAP=Na Band 3 TELARC JAZZ=CD-83598 GERI ALLEN 08.11 C GOT TO GET BACK TO LOVE CD The Essential George Duke Duke=Mycenae/ASCAP Disc2 Band 11 COLUMBIA LEGACY=516191-2 GEORGE DUKE SECOND HOUR C SHIMMERING CD Libera Me Danielsson=ACT/GEMA=Danielsson Band 6 ACT=ACTSACD 9800-2 LARS DANIELSSON C TAKE YOUR TIME, CHANGE YOUR MIND CD Under The Munka Moon Russell/Holland=Full Thought=Na Band 10 TRU THOUGHTS=TRUCD 046 ALICE RUSSELL C DRAGONET CD Novo Tempo Meets Eurasian Suite Volume 2 Ozaki=Na=Na Side AA Band 2 NOVO TEMPO/EURASIAN SUITE=ESEP 004 KOICHI OZAKI C EVERYTHING HAPPENS TO ME CD Too Hot - The Best of British Jazz Miller/Godrey=Lawrence Wright=Na Disc 1 Band 6 CASTLE=CMETD 992 JOE HARRIOT QUARTET C GOT MYSELF A GOOD MAN CD MOJO Take Four- 49 Essential Tracks Whitfield/Strong=Jobete=Na Disc 3 Band 11 MOJO/EMI=07243 4 73075 2 2 PUCHO & THE LATIN SOUL BROTHERS C CHANGING WOMAN CD Black Is … Na=Na=Na Band 7 COUNTERPOINT=CRCD024 FERTILE GROUND C A LOVE SUPREME CD Stolen Moments – Red Hot + Cool Coltrane=Jowcol=Na Disc 2 Band 2 IMPULSE!=GRP97942 ALICE COLTRANE

There's so much wonderful Shorter. But this year I've been especially haunted by 'El Gaucho' off 'Adam's Apple'. The structure of that piece brings out some marvellous playing.

When it was originally remastered in 1999 something terrible happened with what had been side 2 of the record. It sounded like it had been taken from a badly warped LP. BGO have now sorted that out. All new copies should be fine. Best to avoid buying it secondhand! How can you tell? You can't from the cover. But you'll soon know from Part V onward. Just play the last variation with Harry Beckett's solo. If it sounds 'wowed' to hell you have the duff version. Don't listen too critically. I think some of the ensemble playing is a little ragged that might mislead. Believe me, the duff version sounds really, really whoozy!

Digging ponds...

Been awake since 9.00 a.m. Nearly time for the afternoon nap!

I'm posting this here as well as on AAJ as a. I expect I've grumbled about the initial reissue here too; b. I think there are a few people interested in Westbrook:

I love the sound of the voices of The Corrs. Their recordings are overproduced, full of unnecessary electronic effects. The songwriting is often weak. But those voices... I'm thinking of offering my services to guide them into a more suitable style for a discriminarting audience. They can come to my house, though it's quite small so the brother might have to stay in Drogheda.

Hope you're not still awake. It's 10.30 a.m. here now!

I'm totally with you, deus62. I regard all the jazz, classical etc music I've grown to love over the last 25 years as 'additions' rather than 'replacements' for what I listened to as a teenager. I get great pleasure playing the rock music of the early 70s I grew up with. In my case I still have my 'Moody Blues' LPs which get the occasional spin. Worse still I still buy recordings from that time that I didn't know then but hve grown curious about. I recently bought anthologies by The Turtles, The Association and The Fifth Dimension!

I'd not noticed any problem with Copy Controlled CDs until I bough a few classical releases from EMI Spain whilst in Spain this summer. I had my CD walkperson with me, one that also plays CD-RWs. The sound was poor to dire...and then at random points the stream of music was interrupted. On the display it actually said 'oops'! CDs played fine on my home CD player when I got back!

I found 'American Dreams' very marshmallow. I love Haden's playing and am glad he's prepared to express his romantic, lyrical side but just wish he'd record more of his edgier music. Hopefully the promised new Liberation Music Orchestra disc with Carla Bley will work this way. Having said that I loved 'The Art of Song'. I ignored it completely until hearing some of the music used on a documentary about the War in the Pacific. His croaky vocal on 'Wayfaring Stranger' is spine-tingling. His duo disc from earlier this year with John Taylor is gorgeous too. Again, the lyrical Haden but without the mush of 'American Dreams'. ****** Chrome, 'Liberation Music Orchestra' from the late 60s on Impulse is a wonderful, wonderful recording. Very much in the radical spirit of those days - a beautiful balance of well constructed themes, free-ish blowing and Spanish Civil War songs! I also love the early 80s 'Ballad of the Fallen' - whereas Vietnam and the discontent of the Nixon years was at the heart of the first record, this one was inspired by Haden's feelings about events in central America and the USAs role there. Very moving music.

I'm sure if they ring Roger Waters...

Yes, this annoyed me too. Everyone knows John Surman is the most important baritone saxophonist in contemporary jazz.

The Great Deceiver - King Crimson - I retain a great love of this band of my youth. Went to see them three times just before these concerts were recorded. Great memories, marvellous music. Fairport Unconventional - I hate box sets that pack over half with tracks available elsewhere and then put in a few rare things. This one (like all the Free Reed boxes) is made up of nearly all rare things - B-sides, never reissued things, TV and radio broadcasts, live recordings. Recording quality varies but once you've aclimatised it is marvellous to hear some well known stuff played very differently. Free Reed are putting together a Richard Thompson box at the present - hopefully it will follow the same approach. I'd also vote for the Hendrix. I was never much of a Hendrix fan - enjoyed bits here and there. I bought this out of curiosity and play it a great deal. Only 'Electric Ladyland' gets much play of the original discs. Well presented, good sequence, very enjoyable all round.

Sorry. Just checked. It came out in 1970. Though I'd imagine it was recorded and the cover designed in 1969. Here's the full gatefold: And here's a website... http://home-1.worldonline.nl/~mollyb/docs/quatermass/ A website for a band that made one virtually unknown LP!

You must understand how traumatised UK jazz fans are. One of the most popular comedy shows of the 90s - 'The Fast Show' - had a regular sketch called 'Jazz Club' that took the piss mercilessly out of jazz affectation. The mere mentioning in company of a liking for jazz subjected you to a barrage of ridicule with endless quotes from the sketches! The sight of anyone on the 'Cat'-walk throws us back into those dark days once more. "No! No! Jerry. You'll only encourage the re-runs!"

I always liked this looking up at buildings late 60s sleeve. As far as I can tell the pterodactyls are naked though not looking up (those of you with 8 year old children might like to check with them if they are pterodactyls or some more obscure form of flying dinosaur). Never heard the record. Just recall being fascinated by it on the inner sleeve of Harvest LPs in the early 70s.

Bugger! Wrong again!

Brian Morton was my favourite jazz presenter in the UK. He got edged out of Radio 3 a few years back and then fell out with Radio Scotland disappearing completely! He has a book coming out - 'Plenty, Plenty Rhythm' - initially promised for Autumn 2004. But I notice its now slated for August 2006. He's clearly taking a couple of years off to hunt for underused adjectives. When I first bought the Penguin (2nd Edition) I used it a great deal to find my way, especially into European jazz waters. With recent editions I tend to use it more just for the fun of reading what they have to say. Though every now and then I'll come across someone totally new and (I assume) unknown, check Penguin and find ten entries!