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A Lark Ascending
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Posts posted by A Lark Ascending
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Its ironic that composers like Jerome Kern loathed what jazz musicians did to their songs but jazz fans insist the jazz musicians were right; but when singers then turn the tables and vocalise the jazz versions or improvisations it becomes improper!!!!
Kern just wasn't hearing what the jazzers were doing; I'd say the jazz fan unsympatheic to vocalisations of jazz is in the same bateau!
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Jonas Simonson of Swedish band 'Groupa.' Actually a 'folk' band if we're talking labels but the closest I've heard any band pigeonholed in the 'folk' box get to getting the freewheeling, improvisatory nature of jazz whilst keeping within the phrasing and harmony of the traditional music. Simonson is superb, weaving his way through the cloudy textures of this breathtaking music.
I love the sound of the flute but feel its ethereal nature often makes it sound a bit overpowered in conventional jazz groups. Groupa provide a context where the bottom is light enough for it to really shine through.
I love James Newton too.
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I love jazz vocals so really enjoy it when lyrics are put to instrumentals. The only problem is that the words are rarely much cop (in the poetic sense), especially those that go for the 'hipster' argot.
However, after a few listens my brain usually tunes the meaning out (a bit like when listening to Jon Anderson's lyrics for Yes...though thinking about it they have no meaning whatsoever!!!) and I can just enjoy the delicious sound of a great vocalist weaving through a great tune.
I especially liked Tierney Sutton's version of 'Speak No Evil' - I'm not sure who did the lyrics but it makes a great vocal number.
One of the most consistent composers of lyrics for jazz tunes is Norma Winstone. Although her words tend to verge on the twee at times she turns jazz tunes into marvellous vocal vehicles. Even better, she goes for less obvious tunes - Steve Swallow, Ralph Towner, Egberto Gismonti...and, of course, John Taylor and Kenny Wheeler.
I'd love to hear her do John Surman's 'Tess.'
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Graduated with a History degree in 1976 and then did a years teacher training.
Got a job teaching history in a mining town in the middle of England; the mining has gone but I'm still in that same school 25 years later! Love the school, love the staff, love the kids...and the promotions came up just right.
In some ways I'm in exactly the position I'd always wanted. Enough responsibility to have some influence over how things go yet not to the point of becoming an administrator. I get to teach history (what I love most) but also get the rewards that come with managing adults.
I lead a faculty of mainly young staff and am supremely lucky to have inventive, positive people who are great to be with.
The only thing I'd change is shifting the school 150 to 200 miles south-west. My heart is very much in the south west of England.
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I'm still lost.
In the UK 'ham' is a cold meat you'd eat with salad or in a sandwich. Although it can be eaten hot too.
I'd always assumed bacon came from a different part of the pig!
Incidentally, do you have ordinary and smoked bacon? To say nothing of 'maple cured' and other variants.
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RONNIE'S
A great jazz club. Smelly and smoky and very hip, it's the Village Vanguard of the UK.
BEER
UK wins, hand down. The cascading bubbles in the glass almost bring tears to my eyes.
ICE CUBES
US wins, hands down. You'd think they were made of platinum the way they dole 'em out. I'd like my Coke cold, please!
WASH CLOTHS
US wins. None to be found in Europe.
BACON
US wins. It's bacon, not HAM. And cook it all the way through, please.
JAZZ AUDIENCES
UK (and Europe) wins, I'm sorry to say. They are more attentive and appreciative IN GENERAL. Of course, a loud drunk English guy is very entertaining.
AIR CONDITIONING
US, but to be fair, it was unseasonably HOT HOT HOT over there. But to stay in a hotel (or ride a bus) w/no air is a miserable experience. Yes, we Americans are spoiled babies much of the time.
Well as a Brit I think I'd agree with your assessment - though I've not been to Ronnies and can't really comment on comparative audiences.
Explain the bacon bit though? When I had bacon for breakfast in NY it was frazzled streaks!
Oh, and if you really want to experience lack-of-air-conditioning hell get on Swedish public transport! All set up for all that winter can hurl...so in a heatwave...
(Incidentally I was in a hotel in Gramercy Park two summers ago during a NY heatwave - I've never been so hot - and the air conditioning didn't work!).
Glad you had a good time. Brecon's a nice festival, though I'm not that keen on the Market Hall as a venue. I'm assuming that's where you played. A bit boomy from an audiences point of view.
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I love 'Sweet Old World' - the songs are so strong and then delivered with that swaggering guitar rock style.
Her three since have impressed me less - great vocals, marvellous playing but the songs don't seem as memorable. I seem to recall reading somewhere how she claims to deliberately avoid the obvious in her song writing. But this, to my ears, seems to involve leaving out middle eights almost all the time now, which reduces the contrast within the song. And an irritating habit of repeating the same set of lyrics...particularly annoying when she's come up with a startling image (or expletive!) which catches your attention first time and then loses its impact by being repeated. Alot of her 'choruses' seem to be just repeated lines with no melodic variation.
I'm probably just listening with an ear tuned into more conventional songwriting. But as yet I've not been able to fathom anything particularly innovative about Williams recent style!
Pity. As I say, I love her delivery!
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Traffic always evoke a certain era. I didn't really listen to them at the time but found myself buying their recordings (like the Dead) at a much later time (80s, 90s) in trying to call back those youthful days.
The one problem I have with Traffic is Chris Wood's sax playing. I always find it very colourless, four-square. When they set off on the jamming bits the music seems to go nowhere.
His flute playing seemed to take flight but the sax seems earthbound.
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Not only the Vikings invaded Britain but the Romans were there also, before the
Vikings. Claudius' s Roman Legions landed on the island in AD 43.
They must have brought some pasta with them!
Pasta brought to Britain from Italy. There's no PhD in that, however long ago.
But pasta brought to Italy from Denmark....
The bookshops are full of histories of nutmeg, ice transport, cod and the like at present.
I'm thinking of doing an Erich von Daniken on it. "Spaghetti of the Northern Gods" perhaps.
Even better, "Spaghetti of the Northern Gods and the Blood of the Holy Grail: The Culinary Origins of the Templers, the Freemasons and the Mafia"
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Once again, spot the non-American!
John Surman and Elvis Costello as far as I can see.
Well, Bev, I don't think you realize this is Rooster's vote, not the poll results.
Many, many apologies Rooster!
It's hot, I'd just got in from work, the beer was working too well! I thought this was the actual Downbeat result!
I would never question anyones personal choice (American, Italian, British or Icelandic!). I just despair at the blindness of the critics poll (people who pronounce on jazz as their job and thus have a duty to listen a bit more widely!).
I suppose I'm guilty of rushing to condemn...though I suspect my comment will remain apposite when checked against the real poll!
Sorry again! Nothing remotely wrong with your choices.
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I'm not sure I could list musicians of the year by category. I'm not a great fan of sticking musicians in hierarchies. I've enjoyed new piano recordings by Tord Gustavsen, Mal Waldron, Enrico Pieranunzi and Fred Hersch (to name a few) this year but wouldn't even know where to begin trying to decide who deserves the 'player of the year' award. I think such things are better left to athletics.
Quite happy to mention recordings I've really enjoyed or performances that have grabbed me. I've still heard nothing to beat Simone Guiducci's Chorale this year (Chris Speed is on it!).
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Once again, spot the non-American!
John Surman and Elvis Costello as far as I can see.
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Perhaps the Scandanavians invented lasagne!
After all the Vikings invaded Britain (thus the recipe above) and Sicily and southern Italy.
Any ancient lasagne recipes in Normandy?
I feel a PhD comng on!
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'Fotheringay' is sublime!
Here's a list from AMG of artist who have recoeded versions of 'John Barleycorn' - there are different tunes. I think the Traffic version may be their own tune. The Fairport version uses the same tune as 'We Plough the Fields Scatter' (a very popular hymn in the UK; not sure if it is as well known in the States). Looking at the list Traffic probably got the song fom the Young Tradition, A.L. Lloyd, The Watersons or, possibly, Fred Jordan (a genuine 'folk' singer as opposed to professional or revival singer.) Or maybe the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs which was very influential at the time (I'm not sure if it's in it).
I'd be interested if anyone knows where Windwood got it from (he's credited with the arrangement)?
Alexander, Heather Wanderlust [94]
Armstrong Family Wheel of the Year: Thirty Years with the Armstrong Family [92]
Baker, Kenny [1] Baker 16 Down Home Country Classics [98]
Baker, Kenny [1] Baker/Sprouse Indian Springs [89]
Baker, Kenny [1] Baker/Sprouse Masters of the Folk Violin [1989] [89]
Baker, Kenny [1] Baker Masters of the Folk Violin [1995] [95]
Boggins Haxey English Customs and Traditions [00]
Bok, Gordon Bok/Brown And So Will We Yet [90]
Carthy, Martin Traditional Byker Hill [67]
Carthy, Martin Traditional Carthy Chronicles [01]
Carthy, Martin Traditional Child: Carthy [01]
Carthy, Martin Traditional Sweet Wivelsfield [71]
Crooked Horn Home Brew
Fairport Convention Traditional 25th Anniversary [94]
Fairport Convention Traditional A T 2/The Boot [00]
Fairport Convention Traditional Bonny Bunch of Roses/Tipplers Tales [92]
Fairport Convention Traditional Cropredy [99]
Golden Bough Traditional Celtic Music from Ireland, Scotland & Brittany [98]
Golden Bough Traditional Golden Bough [81]
Gordons [2] Gordon/Traditional Time Will Tell Our Story [02]
Jamison, George Shorelines: Irish Shores [00]
Jethro Tull Traditional 36 Greatest Hits
Jethro Tull Traditional Little Light Music [92]
Jordan, Fred They Ordered Their Pints of Beer & Bottles of Sherry [99]
Knights of the Occa Traditional John Barleycorn 2000 [01]
Laing, Robin Angels' Share [97]
Langstaff, John Water Is Wide: American and British Ballads Anthology [02]
Lloyd, A.L. Traditional English Drinking Songs [98]
Morton, Pete Traditional Mad World Blues [92]
Primitive Magic Benfield Miracle [97]
Renbourn, John Traditional Collected [99]
Renbourn, John Traditional Maid in Bedlam [77]
Revel Players Wild Mountain Thyme [93]
Revels Chorus Revels Celebration of Spring Summer & Fall [98]
Scum Eat Your Head: 80's Melbourne Punk [97]
Sprouse, Blaine Baker/Sprouse Indian Springs [89]
Steeleye Span Traditional Below the Salt [72]
Steeleye Span Traditional Collection [92]
Steeleye Span Journey [01]
Steeleye Span Present: Very Best Of [03]
Steeleye Span Traditional Spanning the Years [95]
Traffic Winwood 20th Century Masters -- The Millennium Collection: Best of Folk [02]
Traffic Traditional Feelin' Alright: The Very Best of Traffic [00]
Traffic Traditional/Winwood Folk Routes [94]
Traffic Traditional John Barleycorn Must Die [70]
Traffic Traditional John Barleycorn Must Die [bonus Tracks] [01]
Traffic Traditional/Winwood Live at Santa Monica [72]
Traffic More Heavy Traffic [75]
Traffic New Electric Muse: The Story of Folk Into Rock [96]
Traffic Traditional Roots of Rock: 60's Folk [95]
Traffic Traditional Smiling Phases [91]
Traffic Traditional Troubadours of British Folk, Vol. 2: Folk into Rock [95]
Watersons Frost and Fire [95]
Wild Oats Traditional Weed 'Em and Reap [01]
Winwood, Steve Traditional 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Steve Winwood [99]
Winwood, Steve Winwood Best of Steve Winwood [02]
Winwood, Steve Winwood Classic [01]
Winwood, Steve Traditional/Winwood Finer Things [95]
Wylie, Anne Traditional World of Irish Folk [96]
Young Tradition Galleries [68]
Young Tradition Galleries Revisited [79]
Young Tradition Traditional Galleries/No Relation [02]
Young Tradition Traditional Ticket to Transatlantic [97]
Young Tradition Traditional Young Tradition [1989] [89]
I've recommended it elsewhere but if you want something very strange and associated seek out 'Bright Phoebus' by Mike and Lal Waterson. All self-penned songs from musicians associated with unaccompanied traditional singing - a guest list drawn from the Fairports with Richard Thompson and Martin Carthy in major roles. Just as 'John Barleycorn' evokes a rural world where magic is part of the means of controlling nature, so these songs enter that slighly chilling world. The song 'The Scarecrow' will send shivers down your spine! Wonderfully done by June Tabor on her album 'Abyssinians.'
If you get a chance to sample some of this stuff try the lengthy Martin Carthy ballad interpretation - 'The Famous Flower of Serving Men' - I think this might be what you are looking for in your search for the world of John Barleycorn.
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Try Nick Drake's first two LPs - not purely acoustic but with a strong acoustic sound up front (his third album is wonderful but a very strange affair, better heard after the first two). Same era as 'Barleycorn'.
You might want to try something by Martin Carthy who normally plays in a very stripped down, acoustic format. Demon guitar player too. I'd strongly recommend 'Because it's there' from the late 70s. Or take a big leap and get the marvellous 'Carthy Chronicles' 4CD retrospective. Carthy had a huge influence on making traditional English music respectable to the 60s generation. Winwood and friends would have known of him and possiblly borrowed from him. Everyone else did! (it must be said that Carthy is an incredibly modest fellow and would simply point to the source singers who influenced him)
Robin and Barry Dransfield were taking the English folk world by storm at the time of the Traffic CD you mention. There's a very good 2CD compilation called 'Up to Now' that inhabits a similar sound world.
Sandy Denny's 'North Star Grassman and the Ravens' might also be of interest. And, of course, the great John Martyn LPs of the time - Bless the Weather, Solid Air and Outside In.
The run of Richard Thompson LPs from 'Henry the Human Fly' through 'I Want to see the Bright Lights Tonight', 'Hokey Pokey' and 'Pour Down Like Silver' are also quite similar.
Oh, and take Simon's advice on those Fairport titles he mentions. They are magical. Once again electric bands but with lots of acoustic high up in the mix.
I grew up with this music in the 70s and it still excites me today. Well worth investigating. There is a whole world there!
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One of the 'bridge' records that tipped me into jazz. I bought it in a sale in a military store in Germany c.1974 on the back of the Mahavishnu Orchestra who were huge on the rock scene at the time. Didn't get it at first but over a couple of years it really ate its way into my consciousness.
Little did I know that the saxophonist, who sounded very strange to my rock trained ears, would go on to become one of my favourite musicians.
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Here's the details of the forthcoming disc of the current tour from http://people.zeelandnet.nl/flipfeij/news.htm:
NEWS: "Ducknapped!" = "Live" album of current tour starring Richard Thompson Band (with Christine Collister and Judith Owen extra on vocals), due mid July at start of new US-leg
The (thru' Internet and at gigs-only) album - is RT's 4th new cd-album release in 2003, which hasn't been done before - and contains 14 songs:
1. Gethsemane 7:23; 2. Pearly Jim 4:17; 3. Outside Of The Inside 6:58; 4. Missie How You Let Me Down 4:36; 5. A Love You Can't Survive 5:20; 6. One Door Opens 4:29; 7. I'll Tag Along 3:53; 8. Bank Vault In Heaven 5:41; 9. She Said It Was Destiny 4:12; 10. I Misunderstood 4:42; 11. Valerie 3:41; 12. Can't Win 9:17; 13. Jealous Words 3:59; 14. Word Unspoken, Sight Unseen 5:25; Total time: 73:54
Mixed by Tom Dube
The above site also says:
NEW: Adds RT:"In the future there'll be more and more things available in terms of back catalogue and hopefully some obscure stuff we might have on tape that no-one else has"
Looks good.
'Rockin' in Rhythm' off 'Strict Tempo' is marvellous. I recall that disc coming out around 1981 on a tiny label, the first recording we'd had from him for about three years following the end of his deal with Chrysalis.
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Oh, he played the old stuff well.
I suspect its just that I've heard him play those songs rather too many times...and personally, I think 'Shoot Out the Lights' is well due for retirement!
I was just more engaged by the newer stuff. And I like it when he plays the less obvious old stuff. There's a great version of 'The Angels they took my Racehorse Away' on 'More Guitar.' I'd like to hear him do thing's like 'Night Comes In' off 'Pour Down Like Silver', a restrained and spacious tune that cries out for extemporisation.
Minor reservations. A great performer still playing like a demon and writing marvellous songs.
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1130 Azimuth - The Touchstone ... is available as part of a 3CD set made up of their first three recordings.
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Mock Tudor really grows on you. At first I wasn't too taken by it but I've come to really love it - especially 'Cooksferry Queen.' I strongly recommend the 'Semi-Detached Mock Tudor' CD available from the Thompson website which really gets this material moving.
Industry I'm not so keen on - there are one or two good songs there but the instrumentals seem a bit tame. I saw him tour this in the mid-90s and it was a bit cold. 'Last Shift' is a goody, however.
Saw Thompson last Friday with a great band - his current drummer is superb. Wonderful playing all round. One thing I did find was that I was most excited by the newer material. When he did 'I want to see the Bright Lights' or 'Wall of Death' it was almost a walk-through-by-numbers. I suppose someone seeing him for the first time would have been delighted by these.
Picked up the two new privately issued discs there. 'More Guitar' is a tremendous 1988 live show - some very good performances of tunes that suffered from overproduction on the Froom era albums. I've not listened to '1000 Years of Popular Music' yet (though the item he played in the concert - a 16thC Italian tune - bodes well). Everything from Medieval songs to 'Oops I did it again!'
As if that isn't enough he's putting out a live disc of the current tour in the next few weeks (again on the private label) - his fourth release this year! And we're only half way through!
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I recall hearing a track I really liked from a Liebman ECM called 'Lookout Farm' which has never reached CD. One of his ECMs was reissued a year or so back. Maybe one day...
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You've got it, Bev. It was indeed the doomed Franklin expedition which made headlines in Europe.
Congrats! You are definitely THE Friedrich expert.
A guess actually!
The Franklin expedition clearly made a big impact across the world. There's a folk song called 'Lord Franklin' that turns up all over the place - I've heard English, Irish and American versions.
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I'm sure I've read it somewhere in the past but it completely slips my mind. The Franklin voyage? Please tell us.
I'll be whizzing up the Jutland peninsula on my way to Sweden in a couple of weeks. Sadly I'll not have time for a Friedrich (and Gustavus Adolphus 1630) pilgrimage!
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And another:
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Another favourite:
My trip to the UK
in Miscellaneous - Non-Political
Posted
I've been there a few times (Roy Hargrove, Mingus BB, David Murray BB, Johnny Griffin, Charles Lloyd and more) and never found it an ideal venue. The sound problems plus the difficult sightlines. Plus the soundchecks all seem to overun leading to everything going out of programm - a real pain if you're wanting to go to something else on the timetable a bit later on).
In the end it's the biggest venue the've got so they have little choice.
There's a really good theatre in Brecon (Theatr Brycheiniog...no, I can't prnounce it either!) where the smaller groups play, down by the canal. That has a beautiful acoustic.