sidewinder

Never did have a decent one of those in North America. The nearest 'approximation' was in Santa Monica and that was de-tuned/laced with orange for the local palate. They didn't get the spices and herbs right either (although there was enough to feed 10 ). The music on that Tubby 3CD set is great but the sound to me is sort of flat/2-dimensional. A shortcoming that I have found with many of these recent reissues. The Tempo master tapes are long gone - best sound to date has been achieved on the Sawano vinyl reissues (which must themselves be needle-drops). The sound on 'Dancing In The Dark' is fine - better than one could hope for considering it was recorded by that Nottingham club ('Foo' Kinnell arranged it I think).

Stefan Wood Roy Wood Silly Wizzard

Bang & Olufsen Julian Vereker Ivor Tiefenbrun

Ted Turner Rupie Murdoch Fat Bob Maxwell

I bought most of them on vinyl when they first came out (apart from the later ones like 'American Classic') and thought they were a breath of fresh air at the time. 'Sophisticated Giant' was my fave at the time and remains so. 'Manhattan Symphonie' is under-rated too. At some stage I will treat myself to this set and the Woody Shaw for loading onto the I-Pod.

Prince Frog Kermit

The Big 18 'The Swing Collection' (UK RCA 2LP, stereo) Very nice sound !

Timothy Mo Little Mo Kool Moe Dee Dee Dave Dozy

Barney Rubble Wilma Betty

No kidding. First up when I just tuned in was a track featuring Sam from Tony Williams 'Spring' album. Fabulous ! Sam plus Andrew Hill coming up..

Cannonball Adderley 'Cannonball & 8 Giants' (French Milestone 2LP)

Good suggestion - it'll be going on shortly.

The Naz The Naze The Nazis Uber-Mensch Louise Mensch Bullingdon Dave

Michael Garrick 'Poetry and Jazz 250' (UK Argo 2LP box)

Wishing a healthy and happy new year to all !

Cedar Walton 'Eastern Rebellion 4' (Timeless)

No. "Benny 2" is the pianist, "Benny 1" the British jazz critic/jazz saxist/occasional rock & roller. Socrates Hegel Schopenhauer

John Fordham's Sam Rivers obituary is now on the Guardian site (although not in the printed edition today, for some daft reason ) Guardian Obit

Jack Good Benny Green Benny Green

Sounds like the good ol' Montreal Winter weather is kicking in. Brrr ! Enjoy the music, sounds great ! Do they still have those postal stations with lockers where you have to collect everything from? Extremely inconvenient, from my own recollection.

She must have got an I-Pad for Xmas this year !

Franny and Zooey Fran (Dance) Prince of Darkness Lord Mandelslime Bernie Ecclestone Srichand Hinduja

My award for the most ridiculous Blue Note cover art ever !

David Cameron John Cameron Kes

Both of these guys (along with Ian Carr, Eric Burdon etc) came out of the 50s/60s Newcastle arts scene. In that era it was referred to as the 'Kansas City of the North'. Not a bad parallel - vibrant jazz scene and local government mafiosi (T Dan Smith etc.), a heady mix. 'Get Carter' sums it up well.