I’ve been coming to Epping Forest for over 40 years, but I never saw this magnificent oak pollard at Rushey Plain pond before today. Complete with wasps nest. There’s always something new to discover here, and it all looks different every time. Continue reading “Walking In The Woods (2)”
Month: April 2021
Walking In The Woods (1)
I’ve been suffering woods withdrawal, I’m yearning for a dose of the green stuff. It seems like such a long time since we ventured more than a few miles from home to go for a walk in the woods. So I’ve been scouring the archives for unposted photos, stashed away overlooked down the back of the sofa or hidden in the depths of a forgotten rucksack. Epping Forest has been out of bounds because of COVID-19 restrictions, but I managed to find a few photos we took earlier, before lockdown. Continue reading “Walking In The Woods (1)”
A Head In The Clouds: A Year Of Looking Upwards
A blogpost by Robert Bruce:
It is a year since lockdown and during the whole period I have found it helpful to look upwards to the skies. It soothes and calms. It reminds us that the world goes on, mostly beyond our control. From our small roof terrace in Maida Vale and, when allowed, from elsewhere, this has been a year when clouds, mostly free from the vapour trails of aircraft, have become towering and tumbling symbols of freedom. But first: A wave of farewell to the old world we knew before lockdown. Now look upwards from the roof terrace. Continue reading “A Head In The Clouds: A Year Of Looking Upwards”
Wytham Woods Days
There have been days of light
There have been days of wind
There have been days of cold fingers
There have been days of leaf-dance
There have been days of silent watching
There have been days of flying crows
There have been days of chill wind
and warm breezes. Continue reading “Wytham Woods Days”
Shadows & Light
I’ve had the live album recording of this concert for as long as I can remember, first as a double LP then later as two CDs. It’s just about one of the best live albums ever, with Joni at the peak of her powers and she’s got a great little backing band! But I’d not realised that there’s also a film of the performance. And it’s a total delight! It doesn’t get any better than this.
Joni Mitchell – guitar, vocals; Pat Metheny – lead guitar; Jaco Pastorius – bass; Don Alias – drums; Lyle Mays – keyboards; Michael Brecker – saxophone; The Persuasions – backing vocals on “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” & “Shadows and Light”; Toller Cranston – skates.
Shadows and Light is Joni Mitchell’s 1980 double live album, recorded at the Santa Barbara County Bowl in September 1979 on the Mingus tour.
Slim Gaillard Trio
Three top tunes from Slim Gaillard, Dunkin’ Bagel, Chile & Beans O’Voutee, and Spanish Melody & Swing, with Bam Brown on bass and Scatman Crothers on drums. Come on in and get happy. Continue reading “Slim Gaillard Trio”
Kahmsïn
Bastien Weeger on saxophone and Julien Stella on clarinets, together called NoSax NoClar, recorded at the church of Notre Dame de Bon Port in Nantes.
Ever since they met on a train platform one day during a strike, Julien Stella and Bastien Weeger have never stopped intertwining their voices and imaginations in search of beautiful escapes. Their deliciously traveling music has the genius to invent its own imaginary folklore in the course of the dialogue, the two blowers mixing timbre, rhythm and harmony in the same gesture of a never ostentatious virtuosity and an astonishing maturity.