![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Good Night
Dec. 9th, 2020 12:05 am
Dec. 9th, 2020
Ray Russell
Dec. 9th, 2020 11:40 amOops, mid-morning already and I forgot to do my good morning post. Oh well. Had a lie-in. That was my excuse.
Off to Canterbury later today anyway.
Last night I downloaded the Ray Russell Quartet album from Bandcamp called Spontaneous Event. The album was vinyl only which sod out quickly bit available to dowmload.
Wire magazine said "Improvisation is just one of many stylistic strings to British virtuoso Ray Russell’s guitar, alongside playing on James Bond soundtracks as part of John Barry’s ensemble and lending his chops to countless library tracks. Bassist Dave Holland made an early appearance on these sessions, which riffed with flair on tracks from his first two albums."
Number 20 in Wire's Top 50 Archives Of The Year 2020.
Spontaneous Event - Live Vol.1: ...
by The Ray Russell Quartet
Digital Album
https://jazzinbritain1.bandcamp.com/album/spontaneous-event-live-vol-1-1967-69
Oh yeah, I recommend this piece of British jazz,
Off to Canterbury later today anyway.
Last night I downloaded the Ray Russell Quartet album from Bandcamp called Spontaneous Event. The album was vinyl only which sod out quickly bit available to dowmload.
Wire magazine said "Improvisation is just one of many stylistic strings to British virtuoso Ray Russell’s guitar, alongside playing on James Bond soundtracks as part of John Barry’s ensemble and lending his chops to countless library tracks. Bassist Dave Holland made an early appearance on these sessions, which riffed with flair on tracks from his first two albums."
Number 20 in Wire's Top 50 Archives Of The Year 2020.
Spontaneous Event - Live Vol.1: ...
by The Ray Russell Quartet
Digital Album
https://jazzinbritain1.bandcamp.com/album/spontaneous-event-live-vol-1-1967-69
Oh yeah, I recommend this piece of British jazz,
Spontaneous Event - Live Vol.1: ...
by The Ray Russell Quartet
Digital Album
William Golding "Rites Of Passage" (Faber & Faber)
Rites of Passage is the first book in Golding’s To the Ends of the Earth trilogy and it won the Man Booker prize in 1980. It is written in the form of a travel journal and it documents Edmund Talbot’s sea voyage from England to Australia. Mr. Talbot is the godson of an English nobleman and he writes the journal in order to share his experiences of the voyage with his godfather. Initially, he uses the journal to describe the setting, the passengers, and his experience onboard the ship, but the journal ultimately describes the tragic downfall of one passenger: Parson Colley. The novel is a clever commentary about class, bullying, and man’s complicity in the downfall of others. The reader quickly learns that the ship is a microcosm of British society. The lower class passengers are in a separate section from the aristocracy and the treatment of the officers is determined by where passengers fall on the social class spectrum. It is part coming of age story and part social commentary.
I was skeptical about this book because I don’t care for swashbuckling, sea voyage, sailing, types of books. However, while the entire story is set during a sea voyage, the plot is not at all focused on the voyage. I thought that Golding does a wonderful job in creating a sense of discomfort in the reader by flipping the switch on our perspective from identification with Talbot (to a mild degree) to compassion and identification with Colley. Initially, we are made complicit in the atmosphere of bullying. For example, we are made to feel the absurdity of the parson — the image of him as a bumbling, weak, and awkward man permeates our viewpoint. We find humour in his struggles to gain the favour of the Captain and to gain his sea legs. Then Golding turns the tables on us and we are made to see how the initial light and humourous tone turned into cruelty, leading us to question our roles as readers in finding early events humouruous.
The commentary of class, a central theme of this book, is interesting. Social prejudice is rampant and once again Golding turns the table on readers. Characters who are seen as moral and noble (the upper-class passengers) are shown to be course and cruel and vice versa.
Finally, I enjoyed picking up on similarities between this book and Lord of the Flies. Golding seems to like themes about man’s isolation and how behaviors emerge in the context of removal from “civilized” society. The writing is solid with an interesting blend of humour and tragedy. It is a book that I was surprised I enjoyed so much and that I would be happy to recommend to others.
Overall a very engaging and thought-provoking read.
Rites of Passage is the first book in Golding’s To the Ends of the Earth trilogy and it won the Man Booker prize in 1980. It is written in the form of a travel journal and it documents Edmund Talbot’s sea voyage from England to Australia. Mr. Talbot is the godson of an English nobleman and he writes the journal in order to share his experiences of the voyage with his godfather. Initially, he uses the journal to describe the setting, the passengers, and his experience onboard the ship, but the journal ultimately describes the tragic downfall of one passenger: Parson Colley. The novel is a clever commentary about class, bullying, and man’s complicity in the downfall of others. The reader quickly learns that the ship is a microcosm of British society. The lower class passengers are in a separate section from the aristocracy and the treatment of the officers is determined by where passengers fall on the social class spectrum. It is part coming of age story and part social commentary.
I was skeptical about this book because I don’t care for swashbuckling, sea voyage, sailing, types of books. However, while the entire story is set during a sea voyage, the plot is not at all focused on the voyage. I thought that Golding does a wonderful job in creating a sense of discomfort in the reader by flipping the switch on our perspective from identification with Talbot (to a mild degree) to compassion and identification with Colley. Initially, we are made complicit in the atmosphere of bullying. For example, we are made to feel the absurdity of the parson — the image of him as a bumbling, weak, and awkward man permeates our viewpoint. We find humour in his struggles to gain the favour of the Captain and to gain his sea legs. Then Golding turns the tables on us and we are made to see how the initial light and humourous tone turned into cruelty, leading us to question our roles as readers in finding early events humouruous.
The commentary of class, a central theme of this book, is interesting. Social prejudice is rampant and once again Golding turns the table on readers. Characters who are seen as moral and noble (the upper-class passengers) are shown to be course and cruel and vice versa.
Finally, I enjoyed picking up on similarities between this book and Lord of the Flies. Golding seems to like themes about man’s isolation and how behaviors emerge in the context of removal from “civilized” society. The writing is solid with an interesting blend of humour and tragedy. It is a book that I was surprised I enjoyed so much and that I would be happy to recommend to others.
Overall a very engaging and thought-provoking read.
Xmas Wish List
Dec. 9th, 2020 12:40 pmWell, it is that time of the year.
Most things have fallen away but this is a tradition and may it continue.
1/ Amazons vouchers are always welcome.
2/ Send me Xmas cards. PM for the address.
3/ Do you want random books - let me know - just send postage - PM for details.
4/ Anything from my wish list at Amazon.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/UPTND9H4H2LK?ref_=wl_share
5/ Any donation via PayPal to
jazzbodave@outlook.com
Most things have fallen away but this is a tradition and may it continue.
1/ Amazons vouchers are always welcome.
2/ Send me Xmas cards. PM for the address.
3/ Do you want random books - let me know - just send postage - PM for details.
4/ Anything from my wish list at Amazon.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/UPTND9H4H2LK?ref_=wl_share
5/ Any donation via PayPal to
jazzbodave@outlook.com
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}