There's a programme called "I'm Sorry, I Haven't a Clue" on the BBC's Radio 4 channel. It's a comedy show, described as "the antidote to panel games". In each episode, the host (currently Jack Dee) gives the four panellists silly things to do for no other purpose than to entertain the largely intellectual audience of…Read more From a Fading World
jazz
White Buses
White is the colour of innocence and purity. It was the colour of the Red Cross ambulances that brought Scandinavian prisoners of war from Nazi concentration camps to safety in Sweden at the end of World War II. The "White Buses" humanitarian operation rescued 15,345 internees during March and April 1945, including at least 425…Read more White Buses
Omission
Shh ... Don't say a word! This blog's mission is to fill in the gaps ... in your listening and mine. The unintended and unforgivable omissions from our collections must be purged. To that end, I would like to bring to your attention an acoustic guitar track by the jazz musician, Julian Lage. https://open.spotify.com/track/3k5DKMMsGADkmtIVa72D7p?si=88e0f6d4328c4321 A…Read more Omission
Black Classical Music
The lounge TV was tuned in to Later ... with Jools Holland. On the bill were some names I recognised (Róisin Murphy, Nitin Sawhney, Suggs) and some I didn't (Tom Walker, Yussef Dayes, English Teacher). When Jools announced the fourth act, the camera focused on the saxophone player in a 5- or 6-piece band. Taking…Read more Black Classical Music
Directions
Asking directions When you want to phone a friend, you could type their number into the phone and press the call button, but these days you're much more likely to find your friend's name in the Contacts app and click the button there. The phone will look up the number for you and make the…Read more Directions
Harvest Time Selection
The seeds of musical composition are sown in the Winter. They germinate in the Spring and bear fruit when the Autumn comes. There was a marvellous illustration of that principle in my Spotify Release Radar this week. Not only was there a sample track from the new album by Hidden Orchestra, one of my very…Read more Harvest Time Selection
Ezra Collective
Last night, the missus and I watched a film that had been languishing on the video recorder, waiting for us to find a free 2½ hour slot in our evening schedules. It was called Hidden Figures, and it was about three African-American women working as 'computers' assigned to NASA's Mercury space program in the early…Read more Ezra Collective
Malice in Wonderland
The malicious Queen of Hearts It seems to me that almost all committees are dysfunctional. As soon as you get more than 3 or 4 people together round a table, opinions fly across the room in all directions, and the substance of the discussion dies in the crossfire. In theory, the meeting comes to a…Read more Malice in Wonderland
Solstein
Viking sunstone 'Solstein' is the Norwegian for 'sunstone', a birefringent form of calcite. It may have been used by the Vikings for navigation in mediaeval times, although that idea is still little more than speculation, as this article on the Wikipedia wiki explains. "It permits the observer to follow the azimuth of the sun, far…Read more Solstein
The Fusion Syndicate
Inside the tokamak There are no prizes for guessing why I have chosen this 2012 album to grace the pages of the Crotchety Man blog. Just look at this partial list of artists: Billy Cobham Mel Collins Larry Coryell Colin Edwin John Etheridge Jerry Goodman Gavin Harrison Percy Jones Theo Travis Rick Wakeman And that's…Read more The Fusion Syndicate
Crotchety Man 