A Christmas Album

Matt Wilson’s Christmas Tree-O: NPR Tiny Desk Concert

A seasonal selection of festive favourites, all of which have appeared on our Twitter feed in recent weeks. Please be sure to retweet your favourites by following the links. Continue reading “A Christmas Album”

Frames of reference

Running Women

Two women appear on a hill. Free, they run down the hill together. Still free, they choose to run back up, and then run some more.

I only just discovered this little video by Adam Lerman a couple of days ago and already it’s my favourite movie of 2014. Trees, women, freedom, plus a great soundtrack. What more do you need?

Frames of reference

Sacred Monsters

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Akram Khan and Sylvie Guillem after their final performance of Sacred Monsters at Sadler’s Wells. They gave it their all and got a rapturous response from the audience. We were fortunate to be there. Continue reading “Sacred Monsters”

Frames of reference

Land Of Ice

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Iceland has been waiting for me in my dreams, all the cliches of a land being formed of fire and ice seem inescapable when your feet are upon lava flows and glaciers. The climate and weather patterns change in minutes. Mine and my friend Tom’s journey began after a long drive to the far south east of the island hear a town called Höfn. Continue reading “Land Of Ice”

Frames of reference

Happy House

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Happy House: Don Cherry, Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, Ed Blackwell

When we drove to Italy last summer I thought our journey should have an Italian soundtrack, so I loaded the car with all the Italian music I could find. It was a mixed bag, some of it dubiously Italian. There was Louis Prima’s Just A Gigolo; a Christmas album of Vivaldi, Corelli and Scarlatti; Monteverdi’s Vespers with Jordi Savall; Stefano Scodanibbio’s Reinventions; the soundtrack album from La Grande Bellezza; Mike Westbrook’s Rossini; Spaccanapoli, Lost Souls; Ernst Reiseger + Tenore e Cuncordu de Orosei, Colla Voche; Orchestra Jazz Siciliana Plays The Music Of Carla Bley.

But unfortunately none of it was road trip music. Don Cherry Quartet Live In Nervi 1979 was the best. Not really Italian music but recorded there. This quartet were also known as Old And New Dreams. They’d all previously played alongside Ornette Coleman and together they reinterpreted his music. Happy House is one of their best and it kept us on the right track.

Frames of reference