The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

Menu

Navigation

BBC Proms 2021- August 18th, Royal Albert Hall: Nubya Garcia

by 3 Comments

The only properly jazz offering on this year’s Proms menu.

The Band: Sam Jones – drums Daniel Casimir – double bass Joe Armon-Jones – keyboard Nubya Garcia – tenor sax

With a guest vocal trio (soloist and Sheila Maurice-Grey – trumpet

Music Played: Nubya Garcia – Source Nubya Garcia – The Message Continues Nubya Garcia – Pace Nubya Garcia – Together is a Beautiful Place Nubya Garcia – Stand with each other Nubya Garcia – Boundless beings Nubya Garcia – La Cumbia Me Está Llamando

Audio is also available on the BBC Sounds player at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000ys41 The Radio 3 presenter was pretty clueless and annoyed me by talking over the first minute of the performance, but I don’t think Proms-newbie Nubya was clued into how R3 does these things, so all the usual scripted Proms waffle was disrupted and thrown into a ditch. Not a bad thing, really. Some of the soloing was overlong. They overran their slot and luckily were allowed to continue because the last few tunes were amazing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000yw8g/bbc-proms-2021-nubya-garcia

YouTube Movie Recommendation: The Big Sleep 1978

by 33 Comments

Despite the action being moved from California to London and the time being moved from the late1930s to the late 1970s, this is a more faithful rendition of Raymond Chandler’s novel than the heavily-sanitized 1946 Hollywood version. Sleazier and grittier. Michael Winner directed, wrote the screenplay and was co-producer, but don’t let that put you off. Winner might be a c*nt but he knows how to make thrillers. And what a cast! Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlowe James Stewart as General Sternwood Sarah Miles as Charlotte Sternwood Regan Edward Fox as Joe Brody Oliver Reed as Eddie Mars Joan Collins as Agnes Lozelle Harry Andrews as Norris, the butler Candy Clark as Camilla Sternwood Richard Boone as Lash Canino Colin Blakely as Harry Jones John Mills as Inspector Jim Carson Richard Todd as Commander Barker Dudley Sutton and a few other UK movie/TV stalwarts also present.

Some nice late-’70s cars featured and for the Sternwood residence they used Knebworth House. There’s a great continuous single take of Marlowe turning off the A1M at the A602 junction and going through the lanes to Knebworth House. At the end there’s another single take of him leaving and going back to the A602 » Continue Reading.

Tinnitus and Covid Online Webinar

by 11 Comments

26/05/2021

A 90 minute session, 17:00 to 18:30 UK time.

To quote:

“This event is open to members of the public and healthcare professionals who would like more information on the topic.

You may find this session useful if:

You have experienced tinnitus as a side effect of Covid-19, long Covid or after receiving the Covid vaccine Your tinnitus has become worse within the past 12-months You are concerned about receiving the vaccine due to your tinnitus If you are a healthcare professional/researcher who would like to know more about Covid related tinnitus”

A camera and microphone are not required, you will be able to submit your questions using the Q & A function. Participation is free (donations welcomed) but you will need to book a place. The panellists are:

Nic Wray, Communications Manager for the British Tinnitus Association Professor Kevin Munro, Professor of Audiology, NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre Dr Eldré Beukes, Research Audiologist, Anglia Ruskin University Henri Roe, Senior Audiologist and Hearing Therapist, I Am Ear

A Rediscovered Gem

by 12 Comments

Someone posted a link on FB to another track from this album, a few days ago. The memories came flooding back. The Undisputed Truth were one of Motown’s success stories from the early ’70s. Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong given full rein with their weird funky soap-opera productions, before Disco swept this kind of stuff away completely. This is from 1975. Everything including the kitchen sink is in there. Possibly an additional sink, just in case.

Album Discoveries That Changed Your Musical Direction.

by 55 Comments

In 1998 or thereabouts, I first heard Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset. From this and investigations of the other musicians around him I heard trumpeter Nils-Petter Molvær and keyboard player Bugge Wesseltoft. Scandi-jazz, as it soon become known, intrigued me. From there it was an easy hop into the ECM catalogue and all it’s treasures and the German ACT label. But “Electronique Noir” was the starting point.

What were your starting points?

While Trawling the BBC Sounds App…

by 2 Comments

…I discovered this little gem. BBC World Service – The Documentary, Moondog: Sound of New York. A half-hour programme presented by Huey Morgan about blind street musician, poet and composer Louis Thomas Hardin aka Moondog. Born in Kansas in 1916 he played musical instruments from an early age and after being blinded in an accident at age 16 he taught himself music and composition by ear and from musical theory from Braille books. In the 1940s he moved to New York and became acquainted with Leonard Bernstein and Arturo Toscanini as well as Charlie Parker and Benny Goodman. He was known as The Viking of Sixth Avenue because of his beard, long hair and clothing, including a cloak and a helmet with horns. Philip Glass was a friend of his.

The YouTube clip is nothing to do with the radio show but gives an illustration of his music, recorded not long before his death.

Anyone else discovered any interesting stuff while idly trawling the web?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cszz68

How Much??!!

by 21 Comments

The most expensive items sold on Discogs in January 2021. I once spent just over £8000 on a car. The number one item in this list (a 7″ single) went for more than that. The song is merely illustrative. It does not figure in the list and neither does the artist.

https://blog.discogs.com/en/most-expensive-items-sold-in-discogs-marketplace-january-2021/?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=discogs&utm_campaign=Top_30_2021_03_05

Coming Up: BBC Radio 4 – Archive On 4: “The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band: Anarchy Must Be Organised”

by 11 Comments

Next Friday at 9pm GMT, a 1-hour programme originally aired in March 2016 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Bonzos “going pro”.

“2016 saw the fiftieth anniversary of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band going “professional” – kick-starting the chaos with a performance on the bastion of psychedelia and avant-garde: Blue Peter.

The legendary Neil Innes looks back at the influence and influences of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and the collision of art, humour, music, language and anarchy that permeated the band’s career.

Archive interviews and performances accompany new interviews with Legs Larry Smith, Rodney Slater, Vernon Dudley Bowhay Nowell, Sam Spoons, and Bob Kerr and contributions from friends and fans including Terry Gilliam, Adrian Edmondson, Kevin Eldon, Diane Morgan, Rick Wakeman and Stephen Fry.

Neil Innes died in December 2019 at the age of 75.”

http://bbc.co.uk/programmes/b072zn42

Anyone Else Started Watching “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” On the BBC iPlayer?

by 31 Comments

A six-part documentary series by Adam Curtis. All six parts available for the next year if you have access.

“An emotional history of the modern world” seems to be the BBC’s description. “Dazzling but incoherent” say the critics.

It certainly jumps about a bit, between Britain, the USA, Russia and China. I’ve only watched the first part “Bloodshed On Wolf Mountain” so far

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p093wp6h

Is this set to be the new normal in UK employment?

by 81 Comments

A large London Plumbing company, Pimlico Plumbers, is planning on changing their workforce’s contracts to stipulate that they must all be vaccinated. New starters will only be employed if they have been vaccinated. The owner of the company is willing to pay for all of his employees to be vaccinated privately, if this becomes possible and has set aside the funds to do it. Many of his employees will probably welcome the offer but by law he cannot compel an existing employee to get vaccinated, however, and he cannot fire employees who refuse to be vaccinated without being hit by a claim for unfair dismissal.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55654229

Soul Music: Music That Lifts The Soul

by 2 Comments

This is a long clip, so don’t start watching it if right now you have things to do, places to be etc. The most amazing voice on the planet (in my opinion) with an amazing band from lots of different nations. He’s Tunisian, the pianist is Estonian and the guitarist is from Norway. I was particularly impressed by the Clarinettist (Turkish) and the drummer (Dutch, born in Indonesia). Enjoy or skip.

It’s That Listing Time Of Year. a.k.a. List-o-mania ’20: Jazzwise’s Top 20 Jazz Albums of 2020

by 10 Comments

UK magazine Jazzwise has published their 20 best albums of 2020. I haven’t read the magazine, it’s not one I follow any more on my limited budget. For reasons known only to them, the page in the link only shows the top 17 albums with a quick review of each and some clips to watch. Some interesting choices.

https://www.jazzwise.com/features/article/top-20-jazz-albums-of-2020

The 2020 EFG London Jazz Festival Online.

by 4 Comments

Still wearing my jazz hat, and a very fine titfer it is too. The (virtual) festival started on Monday 16th and finishes on Sunday 22nd November. Lots of free online YouTube and Mixcloud concerts and if you follow the site link that hopefully is somewhere in this post, you will find further links to concerts and a pair of extensive YouTube and Spotify “taster” playlists. In past years I have tried to get to at least some (finances and free time permitting) LJF concerts. Tickets for the big names always used to sell out almost immediately and tended to be outside my price range anyway. There are less US stars than usual this year but plenty of homegrown and European talent available. Dig in or ignore. Your choice.

https://efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk/?fbclid=IwAR3hUDcCNI6b1ZQJUV3hYgH1-6vxfj5xurbPemF5yIaFvyadZUXTjSRZhb4

Currently Trending: Star Feminine Band

by 3 Comments

Someone thought African women weren’t getting the same chance to play music as the men, so these young girls were provided with instruments and tuition, with pretty good results. The girls of Star Feminine Band were brought up and live in Natitingou, a remote town in the north of Benin, West Africa. Aged between 10 and 17 years, the girls had never touched a guitar or drumkit before they met in 2016. But what about their music, you say? A lively mix of Garage Rock, Highlife and Congolese Rumba was how Gilles Peterson described them when he played a track on his Saturday radio show. A few UK DJs have picked up on them. Loads of energy there and it sounds like they’re having a lot of fun.

https://thevinylfactory.com/news/benin-star-feminine-band-debut-album-vinyl/

Live Performance in Parliament Square Tomorrow, To Highlight Support Needed For Freelance Musicians

by 8 Comments

06/10/2020

At 12 noon a performance of part of Gustav Holst’s “Mars” will take place. 20% of the piece will be played, by freelance musicians conducted by David Hill. This performance will be followed by 2 minutes silence. Only 20% to be played because the government’s latest SEISS grant only offers a maximum of 20% support for freelancers. The event will be Covid-19 safe and adhere strictly to social distancing regulations. It will be reported live as it happens on the Musicians Union Twitter Feed. Later in the day union General Secretary Horace Trubridge will be speaking to the Lords Economic Affairs Committee, which you can watch live on Parliament TV from 4pm. Some AfterWorders may know Horace better for his stint in Darts, when he was known as Horatio Hornblower.

Wot? No AW CD Swaps this year?

by 39 Comments

Summer ’17 we had the first swap. No theme was set, just whatever participants wanted to put on their discs. Spring ’18 was Swap No. 2. This one was themed and the theme was “Cold”. Autumn ’18 was Swap No. 3. The theme this time was “Space”. Spring ’19 brought Swap No. 4 and the theme was “White”. December ’19 gave us Swap No. 5. The theme was “Change”.

Now it’s the Autumn of 2020, we’ve shaken our fists at a plague and, while sitting at home twiddling our thumbs we’ve debated whether the CD is dead or struggling on life support. Should we swap or not?

If We’re Celebrating Jazz Legends, How About Wayne Shorter. 87 years old this past Tuesday. Still here.

by 13 Comments

One of jazz music’s most prolific and creative composers. A tenor (and later soprano) saxophonist of distinction. He first came to prominence with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1959, where he quickly became Art’s musical director and composed many pieces. He moved on to Miles Davis’ second great quintet where he again was a major composer and, according to his bandmate Herbie Hancock, was the only one that Miles didn’t need to rearrange compositions from as they arrived fully-formed. He released loads of excellent albums for Blue Note at that time as well. After leaving Miles he formed the mighty and innovative Weather Report with Joe Zawinul. A close pal of Joni Mitchell’s, he’s played on several of her albums. He’s no longer playing live, due to health issues, but he’s still composing. A slightly-late Happy Birthday To You!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Shorter_discography

Picture Disc Art.

by 14 Comments

Musing upon the late lamented Judy Dyble’s brief stint with Giles, Giles & Fripp briefly before they morphed into King Crimson, I remembered another female vocalist of that time Sonja Kristina of Curved Air. Then I recalled their debut album, Airconditioning, which was the first picture disc I had ever seen. A particularly magnificent example IMO. High quality designs on each side of a disc which probably was sonically pretty awful. This was nearly 50 years ago and my-fi was not hi-fi in those days, so I don’t remember if it sounded like chips frying throughout or not. I do recall it looked bloody good on the turntable. A picture disc, 50 years ago! Blimey. Any personal favourites, AW fam?