Bonifacio

This drawing of Bonifacio by John Minton is one of his many illustrations from Time Was Away: A Journey Through Corsica by Alan Ross, and it was pretty much the same view that greeted us when finally we inched our way into town. The queue of traffic snaked down the hill to the harbour, known variously as the Port de Commerce, Port de Pêche and Port de Plaisance. We crawled our way along the narrow street, passing parking complet signs at every turn, climbing steeply beneath the walls of the Haute Ville and up to the ancient citadel, past the multi-storey tenements and beyond the empty barracks to the last car park at the end of the peninsula, a windy harbour high on the Bosco. Continue reading “Bonifacio”

Frames of reference

Remaking Landscape

We just received a wonderful gift in the post. A message from beyond the grave. Before his death in January last year, John Hubbard had been putting together what he liked to call his self-curated retrospective; a collection of images with commentaries from his diary gathered together in a book celebrating his lifelong devotion to painting. Remaking Landscape is a thing of beauty. Continue reading “Remaking Landscape”

Frames of reference

For Geri Allen

I first knew Geri Allen when she played with Charlie Haden and Paul Motian. She was referred to then as the new Keith Jarrett, a lazy comparison just because he also played with Charlie Haden and Paul Motian. But she always played her own piano. She and Charlie and Paul made some great albums together, all three of them now sadly departed, and then I discovered this performance with Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette from 1993. And I’m so glad it exists, she is absolutely radiant, she shines with confidence and generosity and beauty. Play it again and again. For Geri Allen, 1957-2017.

If you liked this you might also like to see – Perfection.

Frames of reference

Standards

00:20 I Wish I Knew 08:50 If I Should Lose You / Late Lament 28:25 Rider 42:20 It’s Easy To Remember 50:10 So Tender 1:02:40 Prism 1:17:18 Stella By Starlight 1:27:50 God Bless The Child 1:44:50 Delaunay’s Dilemma – Koseinenkin Hall, Tokyo, 1985.

Prompted by the previous post, I was reminded of Keith Jarrett (there’s a live recording of him playing Still Life, Still Life, a lovely free-form ballad from 1973 at The Village Vanguard in New York with Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian) so I went searching for concert videos. I couldn’t find Still Life, Still Life but I found two beautiful recordings of the Standards trio. Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette first recorded together in 1977 for an album of compositions by Gary Peacock called Tales Of Another. Six years later they came together again to record a set of “standards”, which proved so successful that the trio went on to make another 21 albums, most of them recorded live in concert at venues all around the world. Continue reading “Standards”

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Still Life Still Life

A selection of chalk-pencil drawings by Aaron Kasmin displayed in the Rowley Gallery window together with the objects that inspired them – the depictions and the depicted. The objects are not for sale but the pictures are; they’re souvenirs, simulacra, tokens of affection. Continue reading “Still Life Still Life”

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Campomoro

We drove to the horizon for breakfast. Campomoro was the most distant point visible from our terrace. We followed the winding coast road south from Propriano through Portigliolo and up to Belvedère then down to Campomoro for coffee at the beach café where we shared the last croissant. We were headed for the headland, the Pointe de Campomoro and its Genoese tower dated 1568. Continue reading “Campomoro”

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The Wet Desert

One day I will finally get to Wistman’s Wood. It’s haunted me for years. But for now here’s a glimpse of it lost on Dartmoor. An arboreal oasis in a wet desert, a vestigial reminder of the temperate rainforest that once grew on this now sodden moorland. Continue reading “The Wet Desert”

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The Poetry Of Forms

To get the new year off to a good start we went down to Margate for a rare chance to see work by Hans/Jean Arp. He was born in Strasbourg, the son of a French mother and a German father. When he spoke in German he referred to himself as “Hans”, and when he spoke in French he referred to himself as “Jean”. It was a dual exhibition, but first we had to get past the crowds outside. Continue reading “The Poetry Of Forms”

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