My old friend Tom Clohessy has become the latest addition to the blogosphere. Tom is a great guy, a wonderful musician, a talented artist, and will even buy you a drink occasionally if you really force him.
Check out the thoughts of chairman Tom at his blog
Ach…St Johnstone only managed a 1-1 draw with lowly placed Stranraer on Saturday. It looks like our dreams of promotion this season could be about over. How sad indeed.
The weather changed last night and the high today was only a freezing 58 degrees. Last week it was very pleasent and in the eighties. What the hell has happened? Bleeding global warming.
It hasn’t rained since August either…..
I picked up Moving by Bugge Wesseltoft’s New Conception Of Jazz this week. Its so nice to hear music with digital percussion alongside double bass. It is a cool mix – the old with the new. Marius Reksjo and Ingebrigt Flaten are the bassists on this, the Norwegian’s 2001 release.
If you like electronic jazz which grooves, is emotional, and has melody check out this recording. Bugge is the man!! This music moves me…..ouch..
Thanks to my friends Sean and Maryann for hosting a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. The wine , food, and the talk was flowing in fine style. Sean’s story of attending his aunts lesbian wedding was one of the highlights. Also in attendance were MC, Alan and Maryanns mother who were all delightful company. Actually Sean and Alan were the only Americans present amongst the French, Mexican and Scottish contingents. Still we all had fun helping them to celebrate their holiday!
They only downside of the day was when Sean spilt boiling oil on his left foot. Hopefully it will have recovered enough so that he can go back to work when Monday rolls around again……
I hear that Pete Doherty of Libertines and Babyshambles fame is spending some time in town (or near enough) going through rehab. He’s holed up at the same gaff Kate Moss went through her treatment for the same ailment a month or two ago. Good luck to him. (Any chance of a show while your in town?)
George Best one of the greatest footballers ever to have played is seriously ill in hospital. A life of heavy drinking has taken its toll.
My favorite quote by the ex Man Utd and Northern Ireland player is “I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars – the rest I just squandered”
Update: George Best died on November 24th
This is the second in a ‘spaced out’ series ( the 1st one came out in 68) and features the great bass player Charlie Haden with the Liberation Music Orchestra. These 2 albums were put together to protest against the existing US governments. The original CD features Spanish Civil War tunes and protested against the then Nixon administration and Vietnam. ‘Not in our Name’ is their (democratic) response to the current Bush’s government policies at both at home in the USA and in Iraq.
This is music with committment on both the musical and political level. Carla Bley (one of my favorite pianists) and Haden – the two leaders of the collaberation – feature mostly American compositions including Amazing Grace, Dvorak’s Goin’ Home and an adaptation of Barber’s Adagio for Strings. This is an interesting choice of material for a political album, and it works because they are performed with true passion and committment.
Perhaps the highlight of the CD is a stunning version of a Bill Frisell tune Throughout. The sax solo on it will knock your socks off.
In the big scheme of things will this recording make any difference? It will if you go out and buy it.
Great coverage from The Scottish Patient of the John Peel Tribute Nite in Edinburgh back in October (News travels fast out here!) Reading about the concert brought back many memories of the early days of punk in Edinburgh when I was a wee laddie. Local bands like The Scars and The Valves provided many nights of exciting music amid the drunken debauchery that was my youth. A memorable time to come of age…
Must admit I’m not too keen on solo recordings especially be bass players. They tend to focus too much on the technique of the player rather than the music. It seems like the thought process goes..ok I can play this really cool lick, now how can I write a tune around it. Give me a decent tune and group collaboration anyday.
Picture taken of yours truly by Tom Clohessy outside the back of Stinkweed Records in central Phoenix. Stinkweeds is an independent record store with a great selection of hard to find music. A nice place to spend a few hours and one hellava record store…
I suppose in my ramblings I should be giving a plug for my band Subterranean Jazz. We play what can loosly be described as world beat jazz. That is we enjoy incorporating rhythms that we hear into tunes that we write. Our last 3 CDs have been almost 100% original music. However we have just started a new one which will incorporate Latin type music and will mostly be covers of existing tunes. Our last 2 CDs can be found on Amazon by the way. (If you feel inclined to check them out….no pressure to buy of course!!)
I am totally grooving to this record at the moment. It has been on constant rotation in my car as I drive around the city. Why is it that European band such as Jaga Jazzist can produce such vibrant and alive music while their cutting edge American counterparts seem to revert to the same old tired funk cliches for their grooves?
This record also is one of the very few where I dig the addition of vibes into the mix. Normally I dont care for their sound but in this context it fits perfectly.
Last night I went out for a run. It was around 8pm and a beautiful moonlit night so I headed out into the desert. After 4 miles a woman drove up to me and informed me that a mountain lion had been seen on quite a few occasions recently and that I should head back into town. Of course I just ignored her and continued with my run. Not …. I got back into town so quickly – I probably did a couple of sub four minute miles. This was while running with my head almost completely turned backwards and sure there was a big grey beastie lurking behind me in the shadows. Oh well the adrenaline was flowing….
