This week Spotify offered to tell me what I have missed this year. They had already done all the work for me; there on the home page was a playlist titled Missed Hits. My search for a track-of-the-week would be easy this time - there were bound to be one or two worthy candidates lurking…Read more Answer Me
jazz
Order! Order!
Looking through my recent 'likes' I see several pieces worthy of a mention in these pages. So it's time for another playlist, methinks. But how do you choose the order of the tunes? Are there any rules? Or does it just come down to personal preference? And what happens if you get them horribly out…Read more Order! Order!
Stimela
National Railways of Zimbabwe class 15A 4-6-4+4-6-4 'Garratt' steam locomotive no. 410 'Inkolomi' (built by Beyer Peacock in 1950) at Heany Junction, Zimbabwe, with a coal train, 29th July 1992. Never use two words where one will do. That's what they tell aspiring writers. So let's use the South African word for "coal train" -…Read more Stimela
The Rite of Strings
When we talk about a string trio we usually mean violin, viola and cello: acoustic instruments playing chamber music in a broadly classical style. But substitute a guitar for the viola and a double bass for the cello and you get a stringy creature with a rather different complexion. Then, if you electrify the violin…Read more The Rite of Strings
Mediterranean Sundance
For some of us the social distancing rules that Covid-19 has brought about are torture and the self-isolation rules are a prison. The virus itself is a black cloud that dampens our spirits and darkens our moods, a devilish presence that constantly haunts our souls. But there is a silver lining. We have had to…Read more Mediterranean Sundance
Antiphon
Arguing with Antiphon History records Antiphon of Rhamnus as an orator in ancient Greece. He was, in fact, a professional ghostwriter, writing speeches for disputants in the courts, and was regarded as perhaps the finest exponent of rhetoric in Athens at the time. Curiously, though, he only addressed the public directly once, when he was…Read more Antiphon
Run For Cover
Crotchety Man has been exploring Hubzilla country for about three months now. I've come across interesting artefacts in all the arts, including literature and painting, but I haven't ventured much beyond the celestial music sphere so far. Even in this relatively confined space I've been introduced to all sorts of hitherto unknown wonders. Hubzilla seems…Read more Run For Cover
Radar Blips
My Release Radar this week included several interesting new pieces by not-so-new artists spanning a wide range of styles. I'm featuring them in another Spotify playlist this week. But before we get to that, I must pay tribute to Peter Green, who's death was announced yesterday. Rolling Stone placed the blues/rock guitarist born Peter Allen Greenbaum…Read more Radar Blips
Vimana
It seems to me that progressive rock and its close cousin, jazz-rock fusion, have undergone a welcome renaissance over the past two decades or so. Or is it just that modern technology has made it so much easier to find art that rises above the bland, the mediocre and the ugly? It's hard to be…Read more Vimana
Escape from Hippie Mountain
There's a genre of music called 'fusion'. It's what you get when molten rock dissolves in liquid jazz. But there's another way to combine rock and jazz - you can just bolt them together. Take Marbin, for example. Their stock-in-trade is a frothy layer of jazz firmly anchored to a solid base of rock. This tune…Read more Escape from Hippie Mountain
