A Mild Monday

Had a long lie-in, listened to some music , esp Vashti Bunyan, Alice Coltrane and Tubby Hayes.




This is the laptop setup when i listen to music on CD - and yes i was watching Charmed earlier.



Lunch was a very succulent gammon with two eggs and chips.Pure comfort food.

So now for some net surfing.

Monday Music Selection - Jazz and Blues

It is Monday - so Monday blues and jazz is in order.

Amancio D'Silva - Ganges

From the album "Integration"

Personnel: Amancio D'Silva, guitar; Ian Carr, trumpet and flugelhorn; Don Rendell, tenor and soprano sax; Dave Green, bass; Trevor Tomkins, drums


Made in '69, in London, by Indian guitarist Amancio D'Silva and four of Britain's finest jazzmen, it serves up a chili-rich dish of hard bop, Indian raga, ska, early electric Miles, a little rembetika, Link Wray and Willis Gator Jackson..
In the late '60s, the British jazz scene was still suffering from the crippling belief that the best jazz could only come out of the USA and that anything made in Britain must, by definition, be derivative and inferior. It was the Indo-jazz movement of the time, spearheaded by London-based Indian composer/arranger John Mayer and West Indian saxman Joe Harriott and their Indo-Jazz Fusions 1 and 2 albums, together with D'Silva, which as much as anything helped overturn this inferiority complex.
These notes From Chris May.


( More jazz n blues here )

Book 29 - Hanif Kureishi "Intimacy"

Hanif Kureishi "Intimacy" (Faber and Faber)






The narrator was a repulsive character, and the topic is supposedly semi-autobiographical; however, the writing is quite good.

Jay, like the author, is a London playwright who has decided to leave his partner, who he has never married, and their two young sons, who he loves dearly. However, he is bored in this loveless relationship, and sees no hope that it can be salvaged. He is most happy when he is with his current girlfriend, a young woman who excites and challenges him sexually, though she is not his social or intellectual equal.

This short novel, set in London in the early 1990s, describes the mind set of one restless but decent urban professional approaching middle age, who is not ready to settle into a monogamous, steady relationship. I found Jay to be quite superficial, self-absorbed and immature; however, his desires and attitudes remind me of those of a cousin of mine, and couple of former acquaintances, and are spot on with their views. This book may not be for everyone, but it is a well-written, accurate work,

What A Poser!

Yes Riley - you - a portrait in purple.

Basie's Afrique

In late 1970, more than 35 years into his career as a bandleader, Count Basie, working with producer Bob Thiele and arranger/conductor/saxman Oliver Nelson, went into the studio and cut this album of big band blues built on recent compositions -- and they made it sound cutting-edge and as urgent as anything the man had ever turned his talent toward. Basie and company got a Grammy nomination for their trouble on this, their most modern recording (right down to the use of electric bass on half the cuts), but never went down this road again. Ironically, along with The Atomic Mr. Basie album on Roulette,

Afrique is one of a handful of absolutely essential post-big band-era albums by him. The band moved into new and novel territory for them, both musically and thematically, Hubert Laws' flute soaring gently over the group on a conga- and bongo-ornamented rendition of "Gypsy Queen" and Nelson's own sax sounding almost like a human voice on Albert Ayler's "Love Flower." "Afrique," "Kilimanjaro," and "African Sunrise" comprise an African-flavored suite that intersects with the modern soul instrumental amid some bluesy riffs on flute, saxes, horns, and piano, with Basie's keyboard (especially on the gorgeous "African Sunrise") adding just that final bit of understated invention to this swinging excursion across foreign fields. The album ends with Pharoah Sanders' "Japan," a wild ride across the East highlighted by Laws' exquisite flute and a driving performance by percussionists Harold Jones, Richard Pablo Landrum, and Sonny Morgan and an awesome finale on the saxes and trombones.

Bruce Eder (Allmusic)

Count Basie "Afrique" (1970)

Count Basie "Kilimanjaro"

Good Night

Sleepy puss time.