Rabshakeh

I've trained mine to put on records, which is fun, even if it leads to a bit of repetition. Agharta seems to be the favourite at the moment. I think I'd picked that up somewhere. I guess there's the oldest and there's the most consistent. Hope League 1 is okay. We'll be there next season. I think it is true of almost all parents. When we were starting out a lot of parents professed to having kids who slept through the night. 3/4 years later, it is clear that none of them did and they were just trying to save face. No sleep and dealing with the Pazuzu-esque temper tantrums is pretty universal. By the way, I don't think the bunk bed thing is just about the magic. Quite a few of our friends have also had very good results with bunk beds. Something about it does have an effect.

Due to some terrible crime committed in a past life, my team is downwardly mobile QPR. I can't convince my son to be sensible and just follow Arsenal, so he is a QPR supporter too, at least for now. Cardiff and Chelsea had (now very much historic) rivalries with QPR. There's a QPR song he learned which starts with "We are the pride of West London, the Blue and the White. We hate Cardiff City and Chelsea are tight" (one of those words may not be in the original). So for him Cardiff is on the list of baddie teams, along with the likes of Millwall and Chelsea.

Kids his age are pretty obsessive about football, who supports which team, who hates who, etc. None of them have ever watched a football match to my knowledge. it's all Arsenal chat over here, given where we live. Plus who supports Tottenham, Millwall, Chelsea or Cardiff, who have registered as the baddies.

Hi Pim, I feel your pain. We have kids around the same age. Mine are 5 1/2, 3 1/2 and 27 days old, so similar world. Both of my kids are reasonable but not great sleepers. They'll both wake up 2-3 times a night. Unfortunately it isn't the same times, and my elder son is a very early riser (4am!). The bigger issue is that I have personally always had problems sleeping, so whilst it may only take five minutes to get my daughter back to sleep at 12:30, that is then me awake for three hours. Finally I'll get back to sleep just in time for my son to wake up and start turning the light on and off and explaining dinosaurs to me at length until I crack and start making the coffee. Strangely we seem to be working it out now just as the newborn arrived. I am quite well slept! The secret was to get a bunk bed. The bunk bed is blue and we have told the children that it is magic, because a wizard put a spell on it to help them sleep. Weirdly, this story was convincing, or the mere fact of being in a bunk bed means that they do both sleep. There is a spare bed in their room which I sometimes sleep on if I am feeling lazy and really want a full night's sleep (I am in charge of the older two children at night whereas my wife has the newborn). That's not good parenting but it has helped! The bunk / spare bed combination basically cut out most of the midnight wake ups. Then when my son starts on about vikings and football teams at 4am I just put my head between two pillows and try to zone it out. At some point he gives up and starts looking at picture books or hassling his sister.

Rez Abbasi - Things to Come Revisiting this one. Not a bad record and lots to love. Rudresh Mahanthappa and a good rhythm section nobly battling against Abbasi's and Iyer's studiousness. I'm not a strong believer that jazz has to be anything, but this sort of record does bring out my inner Albert Murray. I just wish this bunch would work on being a bit livelier.

Akosh S. Unit – Lenne This one is a good record.in the Ayler tradition. Less of the 1990s cheese than usual for Szelevenyi.

Harper Brothers – Artistry Surely one of the more successful Young Lion records. Stronger role for the drummer and less of the dry production values. Shame about the hideous cover.

Jason Moran - Artist in Residence

I've always been a little underwhelmed by his leader dates (although they're still good) but the album covers are the sharpest in hard bop history.

Came down this morning to the wife playing this one, loud.

Joseph Bowie • Oliver Lake – Joseph Bowie • Oliver Lake

Dave Douglas - Spirit Moves

Two favourites. Now on something quite different: Boney James - Seduction

Paul Bley – 12 (+6) In A Row Guy • Gustafsson • Strid – You Forget To Answer

Agreed. He has a lot of records. Try Gentleman, No Agreement (with Lester Bowie on it) or Expensive Shit, for a taste.

The Knut Kiesewetter Train –Stop! Watch! And Listen!

George Wettling's Band Featuring Hot Lips Page – George Wettling's Jazz Band From Stuyvesant Casino Featuring Hot Lips Page

Terrible news

But the answer can't just be "big bands"? There were other big bands. Why them?

Reviving this very long-dead thread. I see Supersax records everywhere on the London second hand market. They must have been very popular (in late 70s jazz terms). Recent trips to the US Mid West, Singapore and France have indicated that this popularity must have been widespread because they are one of the few constants across second hand vinyl shopping in all four markets. I have been listening to the records over the past three or four years and I really never understand to the appeal. The group seems to me to be very tight laced, (despite the name) it has no saxophone solos, and the whole concept is just replaying Parker solos that I already enjoy. What was it that thrilled the crowds? I should add that I am genuinely interested to know. This is not just an attack on a long departed group.

Mariel Roberts – Cartography

I mean swing and traditional pop, like Ella Fitzgerald on Verve or Anita O'Day records, rather than Jeanne Lee. Apparently they're hard to shift. Speaking for myself I find that buyers often won't buy jazz from some artists like Lee Konitz or Phil Woods because they struggle to shift them. I've got three Phil Woods records sitting on top of a cupboard that I've been struggling to sell even to bargain places.

I enjoyed this one. Some nice detail to it.