A Lark Ascending

XTC fans being the lone exception, of course! Not at all! Being a fan of XTC, Sam Rivers, Willie Clancy, Palestrina, John Cage or anybody else is great. Condemning the taste of others for Diana Krall, Jamie Cullum, Madonna or Westlife because of that taste is somethinng else!

People who are so impressed by their own fine taste and discrimination that they think it gives them the right to patronise those who don't share it.

1. Leaving on a Jet Plane - Peter, Paul and Mary? Or, maybe The Watersons' marvellous 'Heavenly Aeroplane'. 2. Clearly one of those early 80s bands where pretty boys with funny haircuts played various synths over a drum machine! Being a Romantic what I had in mind was more like... Planxty...with Andy Irvine singing 'The West Coast of Clare'

I've just got back from a week motoring around Ireland to the accompaniment of lots of Irish folky CDs (mainly CD-Rs of LPs I bought during my early 80s Irish phase!). Somehow getting the right soundtrack to a holiday can enhance the whole experience. A few weeks back I did Andalusia with flamenco and Spanish classical music. Last year it was Sweden with all sorts of Scandanavian folk. And I regularly do the English countryside with Vaughan Williams, Delius, the Watersons etc. So... What are your favourite soundtracks to your favourite places (or even what are your favourite soundtracks to help you survive your not so favourite places?!!!)?

I lost Roy Harper's 'HQ' for a year. I was dying to play 'When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease' but could I find it. It should have been on the 'dodgy rock music' shelf. Eventually I found it on the shelf below in amongst Sibelius!!! Roy Harper has now been upgraded to the 'marvellous rock music' shelf! [i also do that trick in the car of coming to the end of a CD, opening another case, getting the next CD out, putting the played one back in the new one's case and then putting the new one back on top an hour later. This can leave things lost for a long time!]

Wood is one of the worst saxophonists I've heard on record. His flute playing, while not especially interesting, has a nice atmospheric quality. Guy Not being a musician I'm in no position to comment on Wood's skills on sax or flute. But what you say rings very true with the way I hear him on these records. I have a suspicion it's Wood on the sax that prevented me from really enjoying 'On the Road' - with whole side versions of tunes there was lots of opportunity for him to play for a long time!!! Anyway, it'll be interesting to hear how it sounds over 20 years later!

I was listening to the SDG 'best of' compilation on my walkman whilst fighting with my garden (well, area of mud!) this morning. As you say, amazing music for such a young band. Even more amazing to think it came out of Birmingham, UK! If you've ever been to Birmingham you'll know what I mean. Having said that Birmingham also produced The Move, Led Zeppelin, The Moody Blues, Black Sabbath, part of Fairport Convention and Dave Holland (and I'd imagine much more - it's actually got a very strong jazz scene currently). Maybe the horror of Birmingham inspires people to make another (musical) world for themselves! Apologies to any Brummies! Birmingham is much nicer than it used to be!

Winwood did a lot of sideman appearances in the 70s. He's on a couple of John Martyn albums. How do you feel about Chris Wood? I've always thought his flute brought an essential part of the overall sound - '40 000 Headmen' remains my favourite track of all. It's interesting that when Capaldi and Winwood came together as Traffic again in the 90s the brought in some flute to get that sound. By contrast I've always found Wood's sax playing uninvolving. Coming to Traffic late the comings and goings of Mason have never really worried me. Much as I've never had any great nostalgia for the first Pink Floyd - my picture of them centres on the 1970-71 period. I appreciate how this sound different if you were in at the start - a vital flavour dropping out of the picture.

The Faces were a group I recall mainly from their singles in the early 70s. Wonderfully, infectious, good-time, lurching music. I can still see their 'Top of the Pops' appearances, kicking footballs around and having DJ John Peel miming on mandolin. I have the single disc anthology of a few years back but suspect I'll fall for this box eventually. What really attracts me is 'Maybe I'm Amazed'. I recall hearing this on the radio in the very early 70s, possibly in a live version and being overwhelmed by it. The version on 'Long Player' seems quite undercharged by comparison with my memory. Looking at the tracklist of the box I notice a version from the BBC in 1971. That might well be what I heard back then. Tracklist: http://www.spincds.com/old/facesbox.html I love those early Stewart albums too. The slightly folky, mandoliny colouring to those discs gave them a real distinctiveness which connected with my folk-rock inclinations. A pity he was swallowed by his celebrity/sex-god image and went on to make much slicker and, to my mind, extremely dull recordings.

Traffic One of those bands that were about in my rock and roll years but I never paid much attention to. I recall hearing a live BBC broadcast around 1970 and not being much impressed. I had a wonderful Island label sampler called 'Bumpers' which opened with 'Every Mother's Son' from 'John Barleycorn' which I enjoyed. I had 'On the Road' in the mid-70s but got rid of it for some reason. Traffic didn't really impact on me and Winwood's synth journey in the later 70s and 80s had no interest for me at all. And then, for some reason, in the 80s I bought 'Best of Traffic'...and enjoyed it. So I bought 'John Barleycorn' (curious about the title track, knowing it from folky sources) and loved it. In the 90s I acquired 'Mr Fantasy' and 'Traffic' and 'The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys' and really enjoyed them. And then I finally got round to 'Blind Faith' when that got its deluxe reissue. A few months back a number of people got enthusiastic about Winwood's 'About Time Album' so I acquired that one and was floored by it. Great playing on proper instruments (sorry, my prejudices at work there!). Excellent, excellent songs. Probably my favourire rock record of the year! Which led me last weekend to pick up 'Welcome to the Canteen' which is marvellous...and order 'On the Road' to see why I was so uninterested first time round (for some reason the remaster of this has not had a UK release). Now I'm interested in responses from anyone who enjoyed/enjoys Traffic. In the UK they made a splash with their early records and then, 'after the break', never really re-established themselves in the major league. That was the time I was a rock fan. I recall them playing ten miles from where I was at university but me and my mates decided it wasn't worth the effort to travel. Whereas I believe their success was much more long lasting in the States. One last observation. There are some great sounding latin tracks on the new Winwood CD. Wouldn't it be great if Winwood and his trio were to link up with Carlos Santana? Now that would be a real comeback. No overproduction, poppy guests or whatever. Just excellent musicians doing what they do best. I can dream.

Thanks for that review, David. I agree with Walters about how jazz could benefit from more composition. I know there's an endless debate about this - some feeling too much composition simply dilutes what jazz is all about (there was a fascinating Brad Mehlday piece about this in one of the US mags a few months back). I tend to like careful composition. It can give interesting contours for the soloists to move around. ******** Although I'd stand by my enthusiasm for 'Brazillian Duos' I'd suggest you be a bit wary of her later 'North and South'. I found that rather dull and - dare I say it - a bit dodgy intonation wise in places. I was disappointed by it when I first heard it a year or so back. Every now and then I put it on again to see if I've missed smething but so far no luck.

Her 'Brazillian Duos' on Sunnyside is a lovely disc. Just voice and guitar duets.

Hi y'all, Just sheltering from the 40 degree mid afternoon in Granada in sunny Spain. As promised ´Concert in the Garden´ has acompanied me here and worked an absolute treat in both the Alcazar gardens in Seville and the Alcazar gardens in Cordoba (lots of Alcazars in Andalusia!). Will be trying it for a third time up in the Alhambra tomorrow. An achingly beautiful recording that more than lives up to its initial promise. Definitely my record of the year so far.

I'd imagine a UK big city would be a small town in US terms! Most rural/small town areas of the UK are not far from a big city...unless you live in Thurso! I lived in Nottingham (c.250 000) for ten years. I liked living near the city centre, enjoying all the amenities. But then found I really wasn't using them all that much. When it came to buying a house I moved to a small town in north Nottinghamshire (Worksop, 40 000) - houses much cheaper! Now I have the joy of a small, sleepy town where no-one knows anyone so there's no nosiness! I have nice countryside around me. And I'm an hour away from three major cities. It takes an effort to get out to them in the evening for events but every now and then I summon the energy. So my vote goes for small town (not very far from big cities)!

I can't find anything special in his playing. many years ago I bought the duet he recorded with Chet Baker and beleive me, nothing to write home about. Not my cup of tea. Maybe I should rephrase that sentence. I know nothing about piano playing so cannot comment on how wonderful or unwonderful he is. I'm not much of one for jazz players as athletes either. Pieranunzi is a pianist whose playing I enjoy immensely. ******* As for pretty...well, I'm a softy. I like pretty.

Pieranunzi is a wonderful pianist. Track down his 'Plays Wayne Shorter' disc on Challenge. Superb. Morricone 1 is great too!

Neil Ardley also had a parallel career: He co-wrote alot of the Dorling Kindersley science books too. Yes, it is the same Neil Ardley.

How about some regional entertainment...

Nice to hear they're selling well. That's what is needed to keep the flow coming. Ardley's 'Symphony of Amaranths' is another beauty, due to be part of this series soon. I think you can still track down 'Kaleidoscope of Rainbows' on CD, the Ardley I first recall hearing around 1974-5.

I have half-a-dozen of the Chronological Classics series. I'm no expert on remastering but they all sound great to me.

Ah, they're the ones! "Roll Over Vaughan Williams". Another fine title.

Well Spock's board seems about as wonky as my paving slabs!

Ah, even the 'Hanging Gardens of Babylon' started like this! next up: hanging ponds... What a great idea! I could fit two more above the existing ones. Sort of like that wierd chess game they used to play on Star Trek!

Ah, even the 'Hanging Gardens of Babylon' started like this! Why two ponds? I just like ponds. Also less space to fill in with stuff that needs lots of work.

'Smiffy's Glass Eye' is on 'Hokey Pokey'. Sorry! Couldn't help myself!