A Lark Ascending

Also, from Irish flute/sax player Michael Buckley: Michael Buckley on tenor and soprano saxes and flute Edward Simon on piano Jeremy Brown, bass Stephen Keogh drums (He of the lovely Louis Stewart/Bill Charlap disc mentioned earlier) Very nice, melodic yet sinewy improvisations. Two Irishmen, a Brit (I think!) and an American. And not a jig or a reel in sight!

The silver space ships coming?

I was listening to a couple of Procol Harum albums a few days back. Made me think of Van der Graf. Van der Graf are like a severely depressed version of Procol Harum who have been through electric-shock treatment and other attempted clinical cures. Given that Procol were not exactly jolly...

I went to two Morris Dancing lessons in 1973. Quickly realised it was just rugby with bells and hankies i.e. lots of blokes getting drunk together. Just as well. I'm convinced Richard Thompson wrote that song about me! Always liked the idea of that Cajun dancing. Very formal, very graceful.

I also get iced teeth when faced with hipster-talk. 'Cats', 'Man', 'He was really smokin'', 'Dude' and all the rest. But I suspect this might be a Brit thing. It probably all sounds quite natural in its home environment. Coming out of the mouth of Stanley from Barnsley talking very loudly to show how jazzy he is whilst watching the Fulford Five at the Slug and Lettuce, it really grates. As for Gonzalez, I missed the Brecon broadcast (I was watching Gardener's World!!!!!!) but have a couple of records by him which I'd recommend. 'Rhumba Para Monk' is a particular favourite. I suspect he was playing in the Brecon Market Hall. Having attended concerts in that barn I'd suggest anything lacklustre probably had alot to do with the venue. He probably had a Welsh chicken trapped in his horn...sorry...trumpet. Definitely in the top five 'worst places I've heard jazz'.

Acoustic Ladyland! Not obscure in the UK - one of the up and coming 'young turk' bands that seem to be flooding out of the UK at the moment - but probably unknown beyond. As the name implies they started off doing jazz versions of Hendrix and the album is all Hendrix tunes (with not so cunningly disguised titles - I think the Hendrix estate denied them the right to record so they did what jazz musicians have done over the decades...). They also do other covers and original material. A very exciting band - raw, muscular, subtle, funky. Think of all that the publicity surrounding the Bad Plus promised, delete the plodding rhythmic approach, add a strong saxophone and you're about there. Pete Wareham (saxes), Tom Cawley (piano) Tom Herbert (bass) Seb Rochford (drums). Rochford, Herbert and Wareham also play with Mark Lockheart in the quartet Polar Bear who also have a fine, slightly more abstract disc out: Seb Rochford is very much the drummer of the moment in the UK. He also has the best hair style. No trendy billiard table baldy cut for him: Oh, and going back to Acoustic Ladyland, here are the tunes. Spot the originals... 1. Some Other Sky 2. Marching Dice 3. Something Beautiful 4. Routinely Denied (No Return) 5. Nagel 6. Remote Impression 7. Little Miss Wingate 8. Brave Reply Have a look here for some details: http://www.jazzcds.co.uk/store/commerce.cg...d=1119544.16730

I never knew they had a shop! Thought they were mail order only! Well, there you go!

Good jazz shops outside of London are few and far between. I don't know the Sussex area but it is on a main rail route into London. See here: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/info/maps/lse.pdf Once in London there are two big HMVs with good jazz sections, Rays Jazz on Charing Cross Road, two big Virgins with large jazz sections, all within about a mile of one another. Mole jazz has also recently moved to just off Oxford Street though I've not been there. At a guess I'd imagine Brighton, Guilford etc will have the usual HMV, Virgin etc small shops with poor jazz sections. I could be wrong!

I've no objection to the wine. I enjoy wine in a clueless sort of way. Just makes it hard to order from Europe. I hate to think what state two bottles of wine would be in after being through two postal services and any number of aircraft handlers. I'm not even sure if the wine merchants ship abroad.

Very Gothic in sound! Had a slightly free-jazz sax sound in places - well, blow-torch! 'Swing' they didn't! 'Pawn Hearts' (mentioned above) is a marvellous, nightmarish album. I suspect it will sound very dated to new ears. But I play it occasionally for its nostalgic value.

You can also hang CDs in your garden to scare off the birds. It helps to conduct a poll of the birds musical taste first so you put out the things they really hate. Cat Anderson? The Hawk Flies?

You could completely depress yourself by playing a version of 'A House is not a Home'.

I have a colleague who can do circular breathing when talking!

Enough of this food for vampires! Here is my favourite food discovery of 2004: Gazpacho - Spanish cold tomato/cucumber soup. I had it nearly every day in Spain a few weeks back. And not a gibblet or piece of offal in sight!

I know that to my cost. My French is minimal but when abroad I play this game of ordering things from the menu that I just like the sound of. This normally leads to nice surprises. One day in Normandy in about 1982 rognons sounded nice....... ************** One of the things the Irish have donated to the cullinary cookbook is 'bacon and cabbage'! Hmmm!

Now this is one of the few things that could make me emigrate. Whoever thought of eating kidneys? Yuch! Steak and potato? Now you're talking! (Watchy out, Rainy Day. Phil will be trying to win you over to tripe next!)

I bring a walkman and a couple of those CD carry cases which are light. It allowed me to take about 50 CDs when I flew to Spain a few weeks back so I was never stuck for music when I felt like it. I usually take my own car on jaunts to Europe. One of the joys is the long drives with favourite music playing along, especially where it relates to the place you are visiting. Italian jazz in Italy, Swedish folk music in Sweden, Whack-fol-the-diddle-o music in Ireland. Marvellous. Its nice to come home to the range of the full collection. But generally I'm too absorbed in the travelling to pine very much.

A pasty! Is that Australian? There used to be a place here, Noble Pies, that made world class pasties and fruit pies. AUSTRALIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have you never tasted a CORNISH pasty!!!!! Please read: http://www.cornwall-online.co.uk/history/pasty.htm I will be setting questions later! Pasty shops are springing up all over the UK at present - three have appeared within thirty miles of me in the last three years! Only a matter of time before they drive out MacDonalds in the States! (Cornwall's the toe of England on the left hand side - like Wales, Scotland and Ireland it retained its Celtic character when the rest of Britain was overrun by Romans, Angles, Saxons etc. It has a very distinctive character - even had its own language until it died about 100 years back. My Dad comes from Cornwall, I lived there for 4 years and spent many a holiday there. So I'm a bit fond of it. You should have tasted my Auntie Roslyn's pasties!!!)

Here's another one of the great culinary treats of the world:

That's more or less it. Its a soft, spreadable cheese. Originally it came in little foil triangles that were as hard to get into as shrink wrapped CDs. You can buy it in tubs now. Much easier. Very popular with kids (of all ages!).

Not at all. I've always loathed dairy products - milk, cream, yoghurt, butter, the lot (touch me and my bones turn to powder!). But for some reason I've loved Dairylea since a kid. A cracker, a bit of Dairylea, a slice of tomato and a dash of pepper and salt. Mmmm! I realise Dairylea is the Kenny G of cheeses but there you go. Maybe that's why I can't get worked up about people buying Kenny G records! I 'taught myself' to like cheese whilst at university. I can take stilton every now and then. Prefer white stilton with strawberries in (the Stacey Kent of cheeses!!!).

Expect Rod Stewart to sue Kylie for plagiarism.

That sounds more like a Yorkshire Pudding! You can also buy them frozen ('Aunt Betty's'), pop them in the oven for a few minutes and pow....nice Yorkshire puds. The rest of your examples sound way too exotic to stand alongside Toad in the Hole! Toad in the Hole is eaten by gruff Yorkshire farmers after a day ditch digging or castrating bulls. Actually, given what toad in the hole looks like I don't want to follow that image any further...

Hmm! So do you all cover your bread with roast beef and gravy? Stranger by the minute. You can also buy Yorkshire Puddings the size of a plate with meat and gravy inside; or even a cumberland sausage! A meal in itself. Now a close relative of the YP is Toad-in-the-Hole. Same batter mix. Different arrangement with bangers in the middle. Is this a "dinner roll" too?