Out and about with Dr Prog...

Albums of the Day
Larry Coryell - Spaces
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Five New Songs
Andrew Hill – Judgement
Donald Byrd – Mustang
Cara Dillon – Sweet Liberty
Coldplay – Speed of Sound (EP)
Grand Funk Railroad – The Singles
Enchant – Tug of War

Began the day at 12:30am this morning (I invariably listen to music when I go to bed as I can’t sleep without it unless I am amazingly tired) listening to Larry Coryell’s 1969 album “Spaces”..

It may well be the only album to contain joint performances by members of all three of the greatest jazz fusion groups of the 1970s (Mahavishnu Orchestra – John McLaughlin & Billy Cobham; Weather Report – Miroslav Vitous; Return to Forever – Chick Corea)...



I was pointed in this album’s direction by my German chum Jorg when he was over staying with us last October...

During his stay he bought the same Reeves Gabrels album which I bought at e-bay recently and which arrived yesterday. The album had been sitting on my hard drive waiting to be copied and burned for seven months before I bought it not realising it was the same one...

Visited the Music Library today and borrowed two CDs by Irish singer Cara Dillon. It’s a wee bit too folky for my tastes but I have three weeks in which to persevere or reject...

A flyer from the Queen’s Hall alerts me to a concert on Tuesday by The Bad Plus – jazz trio led by Ethan Iverson – I will attend...

Before going out to meet up with Dr Prog tonight, I ran through a CBQ Set (around 20 minutes) of my most recent songs:-
“Go Away (And Leave Me Here)”
“The End of Everything”
“The Luckiest Man Alive”
“Happy Song” - hmm I need a new title for that one I think...
“I Still Write You Letters (I Just Don’t Send Them Anymore)”
and, finally, Lindsay West’s fine song
“Do As Others Do”

Then I drove to St Giles cathedral for tonight’s concert in the Sonicfusion Festival (http://www.sonicfusionfestival.com/). I was intrigued as to how this was going to sound – and a little apprehensive. It was billed as mostly improvised music with an instrumental line up of trumpet and clarinet...



I needn’t have worried though. From the first notes which resounded beautifully around the interior of the old church buildings, this was a delightful concert...

Markus Stockhausen (son of Karl-Heinz) and his wife, Tara Bouman, actually played a variety of instruments over the duration of the 90 minute recital, including flugelhorn, trumpet, piccolo trumpet, piano, clarinet, and bass clarinet...

Instead of an interval, Markus stood in front of the audience and invited us to close our eyes and tune in to the harmonics of a single cymbal, which he proceeded to play for around five minutes....

At one point during a piece, Tara even removed her left shoe and used her heel in the horn of the bass clarinet to treat the sound of her instrument...

After the concert Phil Prog and I engaged both Markus and Tara in conversation, congratulating them on their performance and Phil bought their CD and had it autographed...

What an unlikely enjoyable time we had – check Markus’ site at http://www.markusstockhausen.com/

Then we walked down the High St and along to The Jazz Bar on Chamber St to see what was going on there. If you’re into Jazz or just live music in general, check out the website at http://www.thejazzbar.co.uk/ for the interesting stories behind he club...



We caught an entire hour-long set by young Perth saxophonist Fraser Campbell who’s back in the UK for just a few days break from his studies at Boston’s Berklee Jazz College....

He was brilliant – really top notch stuff – and ably backed up by the unnamed pianist and electric bass player (his solos sounded like guitar solos) and, on drums, the bar proprietor, Bill Kyle – a true stalwart of the Scottish Jazz Scene...

Fraser’s playing again on Wednesday night – I will attend...

And so a busy week ahead next week:-
Monday – Acoustic Idol
Tuesday – Ethan Iverson
Wednesday – Fraser Campbell
Thursday – Out of the Bedroom
Friday – Paul Buchanan

Highlight of the Day : Out on the ran-dan with Dr Prog