25 Day Christmas Challenge Day 15

Welcome back to my 25 Day Christmas Challenge, a bit of fun brighten up the doom and gloom that is the tale end of 2020. Prompt 15: Your Favourite Holiday Song Here's a few: Clare Teal: A Little Whisky. A Teal original featured on her Christmas Album Jing-Ling-a-Ling https://youtu.be/g31romGUHjg Louis Armstrong: Zat You Santa Claus??? …

The Man in the Wooly Mask

Another week in lockdown 2.0 has gone and it has been a fairly easy week, I have been catching up with Jazz Record Requests, Clare Teal's Swing Show and The Jazz Show with Jamie Cullum thanks to the BBC Sounds App. I have been downloading the various shows and listening to them while either taking …

Young Jazz Musician Nominee

This is Alex Clarke, a young Alto player from Cheshire and she has been finalised for the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the year award. The award will be given in a special programme broadcast at 7pm on Sunday 22nd November on BBC Four as part of the coverage of the ELG London Jazz Festival. …

A Foggy Day

n true Bonfire Night temperature has dropped and fog is once more occupying the air reducing visibility and freezing skin, not that this has stopped the continual bombardment of fireworks the minute dusk descends upon these Salopian skies. The past few evenings have been full of screaming rockets, bangs and a lot of very distressed …

Bang Bang a Boom

It is Bonfire Night here in Blighty so for the past week people have been having Firework parties and the dogs are absolutely loving it. As we settled into lockdown mark 2 redecorating is on the agenda, turning the office into a Library come-guest room complete with chair bed. As before I intend to keep …

30 Day Album Challenge #Day 30

Welcome to the final day of my 30 Day Album challenge Day 30: An Album with a Killer Final Track Oh I am going to enjoy a bit of wordplay here as my choice is the 1985 Miles Davis album "You're Under Arrest". The album cover depicts Miles dressed as a Police Officer with his …

30 Day Album Challenge #Day 29

Welcome back to my 30 Album Challenge Day 29: The Next Album Your are Going to Listen To Well it is going to be one of these two albums, which by happy coincidence are both on the Blue Note Label. The Horace Silver Quintet: You Gotta Take A Little Love. As the "can only of …

30 Day Album Challenge #Day 28

Welcome to the final furlong if my 30 Day Album Challenge Day 28: An Album by Your Favourite Band/Artist I don't have one favourite of either part of the prompt so here are a few with a track from each Miles Davis: Milestones https://youtu.be/erlKauAFwSw John Coltrane: Giant Steps https://youtu.be/QTMqes6HDqU Jimi Hendrix: Are You Experienced? https://youtu.be/Ll7w7Q1uIAk …

Gig Report: The Pancake Band 12th September

    A late morning Jazz session was exactly what I needed to kick off my weekend and it was my first gig since the end of lockdown so I hoped it would be good, the band in question I hadn’t seen before in this set up, though I recognised one player from Band on the …

30 Day Album Challenge #Day 19

Welcome back to my 30 Album Challenge Day 19: An Under-appreciated album My choice is the Miles Davis album Seven Steps to Heaven, this was Miles' Eighth studio album for Columbia and was produced between the two great Quintets of his Columbia career and as such is over looked. Despite the presence of fairly temporary …