William Shakespere, The Bard of Avon How many 'William's have I known? In truth, not many. In fact, I don't remember actually meeting anyone calling themselves William. History gives us William the Conqueror, literature proffers William Shakespeare, and the first in line for the throne here in the UK is our Prince William. But time…Read more I Remember William
jazz
Yellow Fields
Wheatfield with a reaper by Vincent van Gogh Seen through the eyes of Vincent van Gogh, wheat is a vibrant yellow. More often, though, when we see yellow fields, we are looking at the flowering heads of canola, the plant whose seeds are the third-largest source of vegetable oil in the world according to Wikipedia.…Read more Yellow Fields
One For All
For the first entry of 2026 in this blog, I'd like to set a warm and welcoming tone. Let's forget 2025 and the unforgivable antics of the egotistical bullyboy leaders of the East and the West. Instead, let's cross our fingers, and hope for better things to come. The key to a happy new year,…Read more One For All
Lizard
A fresh look at a beloved lizard. This is the second time I have blogged about Lizard, King Crimson's third studio album. In my earlier post, I noted that Robert Fripp had described it as 'unlistenable', and respectfully disagreed. This time, I will not be pulling my punches. The 2025 David Singleton Elemental Mix reveals…Read more Lizard
Forever Blowing Bubbles
If you are a fan of West Ham United Football Club, please don't sing/play/stream the club anthem while you are reading this post. Its music hall style wouldn't mix well with the progressive symphonic rock on Clearlight's second album, Forever Blowing Bubbles. https://open.spotify.com/album/7KkzZ9XnykpxNy1hm11H7f?si=YZxqU4v8TfW9rDk-cwAzMw Clearlight was founded by Cyrille Verdeaux in 1973. VERDEAUX, native of France,…Read more Forever Blowing Bubbles
Tangram
8 Tangram sets in pastel colours The crowdfunding project for smalltape's Tangram album has raised over 70% of its target, and there are just three more days left to raise the other 30%. Crotchety Man has already blogged enthusiastically about Philipp Nespital's last album under the smalltape moniker, The Hungry Heart, and made his contribution…Read more Tangram
Danny Thompson
R.I.P. Danny Thompson, 1939-2025 I was saddened to hear that Danny Thompson died this week. He was 86. “Legendary acoustic bass player Danny Thompson died peacefully yesterday at his home in Rickmansworth, UK. A musician who was both beloved and admired by everybody he worked with, his body of work is unparalleled in its quality…Read more Danny Thompson
The Hungry Heart
A feast for the hungry heart. The Crotchety Blog Library contains a lot of music, and I had forgotten that Bruce Springsteen recorded a song called "Hungry Heart". Google, of course, knows better. But I wasn't looking for that today. I was searching for a picture to illustrate smalltape's excellent album, The Hungry Heart. (I…Read more The Hungry Heart
Mail Order Quarks
This Quark is far too handsome to be on mail order, I think. What the skibidi is this? An American band called French TV offering Star Trek characters by mail order? No, it's just a tongue-in-cheek title for a 10-minute musical composition constructed in the Zappa mould. It's one of those slightly zany flights of…Read more Mail Order Quarks
Luminous Giants
GoGo Penguin's compositions often have an astronomical theme. I was drawn into their orbit in 2018 when they released their album, A Humdrum Star, and I've been floating around them ever since. When they chose to call one of their latest tracks Luminous Giants, they were almost certainly thinking of a type of red giant…Read more Luminous Giants
Crotchety Man 