Crotchety Man has never been religious. He found the prevailing Christian teachings unconvincing and with so many other religions peppered across the spiritual landscape, all offering the One True Way™, it seemed foolish to commit to any one of them. Then, back in 2010, he came across the website for the British Humanist Association. The…Read more Annobon
jazz
Craobhacha
It was St. Patrick's Day last week and a number of online commemorations passed across the Crotchety Computer Screen. Beyond rumours of partial Irish ancestry two or three generations back I have no connection with the Emerald Isle so, on the whole, they held only a passing interest. Indeed, those tributes to the people and…Read more Craobhacha
Afronaut
... there will be no opera, no Viennese waltzes, no country music, no hip-hop and nothing ponderously slow. - Crotchety Man Home Page Two of the blogs I follow have recently suggested that hip hop is a genre that can not be dismissed by any music fan who claims to have an open mind. One of those blogs…Read more Afronaut
Dawn Lit Metropolis
Jazz is in the air in this part of Crotchety Land, it seems. Several online music contacts have wandered off along that mysterious twisting path recently. Who knows what they will find? Crotchety Man set off in a different direction; he doesn't like crowds. But the road kept turning back on itself, back towards the dangerous…Read more Dawn Lit Metropolis
Listening Wind
The wind can be noisy at times. A strong wind will whip the sea into a seething, hissing foam; it will lash the sails of the yachts in the harbour and slap the rigging lines against the mast. Gales will send trashcans clattering down the street and make the trees moan and creak. Hurricanes will…Read more Listening Wind
Flow
By definition, fluids flow. Steam rises from a boiling kettle, spring water spontaneously cascades down the mountainside. And when you hear a particularly fluid jazz lick you can be sure the band has achieved that indefinable quality of musical 'flow'. It's what all musicians strive for, when the notes spill out without bidding, floating in…Read more Flow
As I Roved Out
I've always thought of oak trees as being quintessentially English. Robin Hood is supposed to have sheltered under the Major Oak in Sherwood forest, King Charles II hid from his enemies in the Royal Oak and the indomitable English navy was built from the wood of that noble tree until the 19th century. But, apparently,…Read more As I Roved Out
Paper Earth
Crotchety Man has nothing to say this week. No words of his could possibly do justice to this spine-tingling performance by Bent Knee and the Boston Conservatory Percussion Ensemble. Just watch this video and be transported to a happier place for the next 30 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1834&v=LGNZePMJ8XM BENT KNEE - Paper Earth (Live 2018 / Full…Read more Paper Earth
Juniper
Newsflash Elbow's Magnificent (She Says) wins the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. Crotchety Man commented, "I told you it was destined to be a classic". And in Other News Continuing the Welsh theme, for this Track of the Week I have chosen Juniper by the Cardiff jazz and trip hop band, Slowly…Read more Juniper
Green and Orange Night Park
A post on my Facebook page this week linked to this page on the DGM Live website. It reports that Keith Tippett is recovering from a heart attack and pneumonia and will be unable to work for the foreseeable future. Some of Keith's friends in the music business are doing what they can to help…Read more Green and Orange Night Park
Crotchety Man 