Head and Cloud Strata, Geoffrey Key Here we are at the start of another year. What, I wonder, will it bring? It's dangerous, of course, to make predictions, but I'm going to stick my neck out and say that Graham Costello's Strata will turn out to stand head and shoulders above all the other bands…Read more Graham Costello’s Strata
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Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis of Narcissus, Salvador Dalí As a teenager, when other kids my age had photos of their favourite football team on their walls, I had a poster of Metamorphosis of Narcissus above my bed. It was the first example of surrealist art I had seen, and I found it fascinating. The composition is striking and…Read more Metamorphosis
Anna Maria Jopek
From the pictures of Anna Maria Jopek on the Web, you'd have thought she is a glamour model. Her hair is the colour of sun-ripened wheat, her eyes shine cornflower blue, and her feminine curves would grace the cover of any glossy magazine. But AMJ is not known primarily for her looks. She is a…Read more Anna Maria Jopek
Try!
When I see the word "try" my first thought is always the famous saying, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again". Then there's W. C. Fields' rather more realistic and much more entertaining slant, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about…Read more Try!
Eleuthera
The fingers of fate are long and bony. They reach into the mind to turn up thoughts that you never imagined could be there. And so it was the other day when I revisited a post that appeared in my Hubzilla feed a few months ago. The post was headed "Eleuthera", Stockholm - Monty Alexander,…Read more Eleuthera
Avalanche
It doesn't take much to trigger an avalanche. Sometimes a fresh fall of snow or the warmth of the rising sun on a mountain slope is enough. In this case, though, it was just a brief entry on a social media feed - barely more than a link to this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASjn1Z83g9c Aimee Mann…Read more Avalanche
Unremembered
It seems to me that 'unremembered' is not quite the same as 'forgotten'. A forgotten memory is lost forever; unremembered events remain in the locked mental storage cupboard, waiting to be rediscovered when mistress Serendipity stumbles upon the key again. In 2011, the vocal ensemble, Roomful of Teeth, commissioned the American composer, Sarah Kirkland Snider,…Read more Unremembered
Breathing Istanbul
This track-of-the-week is just under five minutes of cool jazz, courtesy of my Hubzilla friend, Manuel. How he finds these tunes I can not imagine, but his taste is impeccable. https://youtu.be/u0eBHd_VK00 Breathing Istanbul is from Marco Vezzoso's 2021 album, Travel, whose eight tracks take us from the famous Turkish city with its spectacular mosque, through…Read more Breathing Istanbul
Abrazo
'Abrazo' is a Spanish word meaning 'hug' or 'embrace'. It's also the title of an album by the French musical duo Emile Parisien and Vincent Peirani. Emile blows a soprano saxophone in a style that floats between classical and jazz; Vincent plays an accordion, bringing a folky feel to the ensemble. It's an unusual combination,…Read more Abrazo
Soho Live at Ronnie Scotts
Peter Green It's deep midwinter here in the Northern Hemisphere. The days are short and the thermometer is hovering just above freezing - much too cold for this Old Man. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, this blogger has been a touch gloomy and lethargic for a couple of days. Am I suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder or is…Read more Soho Live at Ronnie Scotts
Crotchety Man 