Dedication, Consternation, Trepidation, Procrastination

I've realised I'm not much of a dedicated musician - I've been keeping this blog for just over a month now and can see from reading it over, that I've probably only worked on my music around five times (if that) in a whole month. Pathetic, considering these are supposed to be the musings of Mr Quartet, MUSICIAN and artist!!

I spoke to Jamie today to finalise a deal with him to produce a reasonable quantity of his album for him to punt about. He mentioned he might head to Out of the Bedroom tonight, but only to watch, not to play. By the time he's collected his kids, Conrad and Madison, from whatever activity they're up to tonight, and bathed them and put them to bed, he won't be able to get there early enough for a slot.

I explained I had to go and pick up the car tonight (wonder of wonders - it's fixed completely - according to the garage that is - I remain to be convinced) but I might go along to play. I've changed the key for "The Crocodile Song" (written with my nephew, Andy Wilson - new father at just 18!!) and it's sounding rather good.

By the time I get home though - disappointed that the car appears to be not quite as fixed as I'd like but frankly i can't be ARSED taking it back yet again - it was gone 7 and, these days, you have to get along to OOTB by 7:30 to be sure of a slot, even though the night doesn't start till around 9.

So, one curry and a few glasses of red wine later, I've decided against OOTB and I'm sitting at the computer transferring my Blue Note compilations, the Janacek piano sonatas disc and the two Mick Ronson CDs into the Jukebox - and writing this blog.

When I got home, I did run through a quick three song set of "The Crocodile Song", "Very Small" and "Where Are You", which led me to ponder on how much time I'd actually spent last month working on the new album - the answer is of course a big fat zero!

Unperturbed, i've dug out a CD I bought last May of JS Bach's oboe concertos and it's top notch. Naxos is a great label - £4.99 each and what a wide selection of composers' works they offer. Then the best of the four Blue Note compilations, "Deep Blue - The United States of the Mind" - although I have to say that for me, vocals have NO place in jazz and so I've not transferred any of the tracks featuring singers/rappers/spoken word. Horace Silver's "I Had a Little Talk" is a particularly good example of an excrutiatingly embarrasing jazz track, wholly down to the use of a vocalist....