One more blue nightmare...

Playlist
Jethro Tull – The Best of Jethro Tull: Anniversary Collection
Golden Earring - 60 Minute Playlist
Various – Recent Albums
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Soundingfall
Various – Recent Acquisitions Jukebox on Shuffleplay
The Bad Plus – New Year’s Eve at the Village Vanguard
Thelonius Monk – Genius of Modern Music Vol 1
Bud Powell – The Amazing Bud Powell Vol 1
Thelonius Monk – Genius of Modern Music Vol 2
J J Johnson – The Eminent J J Johnson Vol 1
Art Blakey – A Night at Birdland Vol 2
J J Johnson – The Eminent J J Johnson Vol 2
Art Blakey – The Jazz Messengers at the Café Bohemia Vols 1 & 2
Horace Silver - Six Pieces of Silver
Sonny Rollins - Volume 2
Bud Powell - The Amazing Bud Powell Vol 3 : Bud!

Another month draws to a close...



Up early, as ever on a Sunday, and listening again to Jethro Tull following last night’s kitchen session...

To the gym at nine and another five miles under the belt...

Waistline yet to recede to any extent of course but this is long term...

To Patisserie Florentin for a croissant (a small one!) and coffee with Anne – on exiting, we bumped into old five-a-side footballing buddy and DJ/Owner of the Messenger Soundsystem – a reggae night which has been a staple of the Edinburgh scene for over twenty years now – Mr Steve Gearty...



Good to catch up with Steve – not seen him for ages...

Dr Prog and I really ought to get along to his club one night...

As Anne headed over to Fife for today’s Old Firm Derby at Chris-with-a-ch’s place with eight other chums of varying footballing persuasions, I walked up into town...





Rangers won 1-0 with a goal in the 93rd minute after Celtic had had a man sent off, probably mistakenly – but that’s football...

Meanwhile, at FOPP, I’m afraid to say I went a bit mad on the old CD front (and that’s putting it lightly)...

I’d gone with the intention of picking up a few of their £3 Jethro Tull CDs – and these were in my hand as I made my way upstairs – only to find a huge selection of Blue Note CDs, also at £3...

Given the “get-em-while-u-can” nature of much of what FOPP stocks, and the fact that these discs are often priced at £7 and above - e.g. I paid £9 last week for a Grachan Moncur III CD - I soon had an enormous pile of CDs selected from the display...

Thirty four* Blue Note CDs to be exact (plus seven by Jethro Tull)...



I must be mad but I didn’t put any of them back – just took them to the counter, swallowed hard and paid...

Home by around 1:30 pm, I spent the rest of the afternoon and a good part of the evening listening to some tasty jazz while I ripped them all to the hard drive for transferring to one of the jukeboxes, on which, space will have to be made...

So, now I MUST NOT BUY ANY CDs IN MARCH (I've just checked - I have now acquired 1,818 CDs since I started this blog on 5 March 2005 - that's just a handful away from one CD every single day for five years)...

And I have a couple more on their way to me but, other than those, there will be no new purchases (I would hope) until at least 1 April (of course I may burn some downloads)...

I am mad...

An interesting set of links from old chum Paul Prog Reynolds pointed me this evening towards the "Paul Green School of Rock All Stars" on Youtube - wow...

Try this if you like King Crimson - "One More Red Nightmare"...

Highlight of the Day : Blue Note Blowout...

*of course I have one of them already (but it wasn’t on my “list of Blue Note CDs I Own” which I carry around with me)...

Listening to Michael Rother in a strange house in the snow...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Songs 1997-2009
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Soundingfall
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
Cockney Rebel - 60 Minute Playlist
Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels - Rev Up
The Bad Plus - New Year's Eve at the Village Vanguard
Various - Recent Acquisitions
Jackie McLean - Jacknife (LP)
Michael Rother - Fernwaerme (LP)
Jethro Tull - The Best of Jethro Tull: The Anniversary Collection

First thing, five days of entries brought matters up to date here - in a week's time almost 10% of my life will be in this diary...

To the gym at 9:30 and another five mile run - fastest so far - I'll soon be able to do six in an hour...

Back home for breakfast, then some more surfing...

The Bad Plus blog led me to a free download of the New Year's Eve performance at the Village Vanguard - now that would have been a night...

Tasty...

Out to Ikea looking for various "storage items" and some new plates...

Both secured...



A celebration for Anne as Hearts beat Aberdeen 1-0 away from home despite a sending off - once again QoS' fixture was called off due to the weather...

To my mum's on the way back, for lunch and a natter for a couple of hours before returning home, after noting the struggle of the snowdrops...



Relaxation in the back room with Meg the Black Cat...



...listening to Michael Rother while we chose what to cook tonight - plumping for an Exec Producer suggested re-run of the Jambalaya from a few weeks back...

To Tesco for a few things then to the kitchen and cooking to the sounds of Jethero Tull...

Another successful session...



The evening was spent in front of the goggle box, watching stuff backed up on the Tivo, including "Harry Hill's TV Burp", "Glee", "Mock the Week", "Law and Order" (with another recorded tonight for future viewing) and a live "Match of the Day"...

Lights out pre midnight...

Highlight of the Day : Cooking...

Cracking the sky...

Playlist
Grachan Moncur III – Evolution
Kenny Dorham – Whistle Stop
Depeche Mode – Live in Glasgow 2009
Mastodon – Crack the Skye

Haircut first thing...



To HMV at lunchtime and secured Mastodon’s latest offering – purely on the basis of rave reviews – I had not heard their music...

In the evening, yet another night out, this time regarding the departure to pastures new of young chum Sorcha...



Obviously the pic above was taken at the end of the evening...

Drinks with Michelle, Martin, Stacey, Gavin, Bernie, Tracey, Sorcha, Christine, Caroline & the Exec Producer, including almost an entire bottle of red wine for your correspondent as he acted as Youtube DJ for the evening...

Off, with the last six of those listed above, to chum Spike’s new Indian Restaurant, “Club India” on Lothian Road for a private dinner, prior to it opening officially next week...

The surroundings were very conducive to a good night - a spacious, modern look – and the food was very tasty indeed – all chosen from a curtailed menu of course...



The drinks continued to flow until late on, when the Exec Producer and I ended the night in the Shakespeare Bar with Tracey and Sorcha, ensuring taxis were secured for both before heading home through the snow...

Highlight of the Day : Finally an Indian at Spike’s place...

Catching up...

Playlist
Chris Lyons – The Ill Tempered Klavier
Kurt Rosenwinkl – Heartcore

Another night out...

I met up with old chums Ken & Rose at the Balmoral Hotel with Prog Rock Willie for a couple of drinks before heading to Tempus at The George Hotel, where we were joined by the Exec Producer...

We’d not seen Ken & Rose for almost a year to the day and it was great to catch up on what we’ve all been up to...



Feeling reasonably merry, we walked round to Thistle Street and the tasty wee restaurant, Iris, where the wine flowed, the chat became more raucous and some excellent food was partaken of...

Ken & Rose headed for the station while we took the bus home, arriving in time for “Question Time” and “This Week” to end another enjoyable day...

Highlight of the Day : Dinner with old friends...

Fleming...

Playlist
Various – The Music of 1970

This evening, round to Dr Prog’s to pick him up and drive us both into town for The John Fleming Quartet at The Jazz Bar....

We arrived at the suggested door-time of 8:30 and enjoyed a couple of drinks...

Two cracking sets of extended workouts ensued, the second featuring a guest alto sax player, providing a superb quintet sound for a couple of the numbers...



Sustained by coffee (beer for the doc) we were able to make it to midnight unscathed before heading home with top jazz ringing in our ears...

Highlight of the Day : Cool jazz at the Jazz Bar...

Cruising...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Soundscapes 1996-2005
Uriah Heep – Look At Yourself
Uriah Heep – Demons and Wizards
Uriah Heep – The Magician’s Birthday
Uriah Heep – Sweet Freedom
Wolfmother – Cosmic Egg

Still cold...



But crisp and lovely...



Back to the gym tonight and my fastest five miles so far – soundtracked by the mighty Heep...

The rest of the evening was spent in front of the telly with the end of the CSI Trilogy being the highlight, although the link to the last two parts was tenuous to say the least...

All in all I’d say to the original “CSI”, steer clear of your offshoots...

Highlight of the Day : Another five miles at the gym..

Sprawling...

Playlist
Jethro Tull – Stand Up
Charlie Hunter Trio – Bing Bing Bing!
Various – Blue Break Beats Vol 3
Jethro Tull – Benefit
Robert Glasper - In My Element

A cold morning...



A very quiet day in comparison to the last few...



Listening to some of the weekend’s purchases...



Telly comprised a Tivo’d “Mock the Week”...



Highlight of the Day : New music...

Rabbits and unicorns...

Playlist
Uriah Heep - Discography on Shuffleplay
Emerson Lake & Palmer - Same
Emerson Lake & Palmer - Trilogy
Emerson Lake & Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery
Jethro Tull - Stand Up
Jethro Tull - Benefit
Wishbone Ash - Wishbone Four
Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels - Rev Up!!
Various - Blue Break Beats Vol 3
Robert Glasper - In My Element
Charlie Hunter Trio - Bing Bing Bing!
Grachan Moncur III - Evolution
Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg
Frank Zappa - The Grand Wazoo
Various - Textures
Happy Apple - Back on Top
The BAd Plus - For All I care
Andrew Hill - Dance With Death
Rheostatics = Whale Music
Phish - Round Room
The Beyond - Crawl
The Beatnuts - Classic Nuts
Black Mountain - In The Future
Jackie McLean - Jacknife (LP)

Another busy day...

Up at 6:30 and PC'ing...

To the gym at 9 for another 5 mile session, today soundtracked by ELP...

A quick breakfast then uptown to meet Dr Prog at Favorit...



We chewed the fat for a good couple of hours, mainly on the demise of "real" prog rock, before heading down to FOPP, where I was on a mission to buy some Frank Zappa for Whitley Bay chum Sid Smith...

The mission was accomplished but not without some collatoral damage to the wallet in the shape of a Zappa disc for myself (hmmm, on the basis of this tasty jazz rock perhaps I need to re-evaluate Mr Zappa's ouevre) along with the new album from Wolfmother and a Blue Note classic from Grachan Moncur III...

Then a drive back to Crispycat Towers with the Dr on board...

We enjoyed some tasty sounds and the company of Meg the Black Cat...



...Anne being out watching Hearts thrash Hamilton 2-0 at Tynecastle...

The doc showed me the advantages of the I-Pod Touch and its various apps, joining music pal Peri Urban in urging me to partake of the technology...

At 4:30 he was off to walk back into town to see "Nosferatu" at the Filmhouse - he had 90 minutes to get there...

I headed to Anne's mum's for tea - the house is in turmoil with flooring removed for an impending new central heating system and boiler - just waiting the all clear re potential asbestos behind the old boiler...

Young Kitty...



...was once again in photographic mode - eye portraits being the order of the day...



...along with Uncle David in the Unicorn wig...



..and here's one of cousins Ollie and Craig post their visiting Tynecastle together this afternoon - in the background is a pic featuring a young Craig proudly standing with his dad by the just won by Hearts Scottish Cup in 1998...



A lift home for Craig and then more CD sampling whilst watching "Match of the Day 2"...

Lights out...

Highlight of the Day : Chewing the fat with Dr Prog...

Packed...

Playlist
Genesis - Nursery Cryme
Genesis - Foxtrot
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Sumner McKane - North
Sumner McKane - If Two By Sea
Pet Shop Boys - Pandemonium
Robert Glasper - In My Element
Various - Blue Break Beats Vol 3
Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels - Rev Up!!
Wishbone Ash - Wishbone Four
Jethro Tull - Stand Up

Up late at 8:30 following last night's shenanigans...

A couple of painkillers and off to the gym for a five mile run, accompanied by a 60 minute Genesis playlist - this is the way to do it methinks...

Home for a light breakfast and then, off to Glasgow...

An hour later parked near Byre's Road and enjoyed a relaxing coffee before taking the subway into town...

A beautiful day...



Leaving Anne to shop for things she likes, made my way from HMV at the top of Buchanan Street (a very large but not very good example of the outlet), I popped into the Glasgow Avalanche - nothing took my fancy...

Wandered on down to FOPP via the Apple Shop (very high tech and futuristic) and the sell-off shop (loaded with hopeless ex-Zavvi stock - even at 5 for £10 there was nothing worth buying)...

In FOPP, two early Jethro Tull CDs, a 1973 Wishbone Ash effort, along with a best of by rock pioneer Mitch Ryder, entered the collection at £3 each...

On to Missing, where I picked up a Blue Note compilation of eminently sampleable tracks (apparently)...

Tasty...

Met with Anne and subwayed back to Byre's Road for the main reason for our visit, a performance by my second cousin once removed's quartet - the John Fleming (for it is he) Quartet, featuring John on Tenor Sax, Andy Bunting on keys, Tim Thornton on bass and Chris Draper on drums...



These young guys are all still studying music and it's part of John's course to either record a CD or undertake a tour - and he's doing the latter...

Great music, delighting the audience over three sets - so good in fact, I'm off to see them again in Edinburgh on Wednesday night with Dr Prog (at the JAzz Bar in Chamber St 8:30 pm £4)...

It was good meeting up with John, his brother Bill and his mum and dad and the rest of this side of the family - I've not seen any of them since the summer of 2006 at the boys' grandmother's 80th birthday party...

Post the gig, a quick nip to the Oxfam Music shop turned up two Blue Note discs from more recent times and concluded today's seven CD buying spree...

Then, after a relaxing drink at the nearby Oran Mor...



...it was time for the second pre-planned item of the day, a very tasty meal at the Ashoka Ashton Lane...



We both chose the same curry, the Satrangi - a rich bhoona style dish with an abundance of sliced mixed peppers, mixed pickle, cherry tomatoes, red onions and spring onions and fresh coriander...

Mmm, mmm...

Out into the cold evening air for one last stroll along the lane...



...then back to the car and home in time for some CD sampling and "Match of the Day", during which my inevitable slumber ensued...

To bed - another good day...

Highlight of the Day : Great jazz, great Indian...

Under the table...

Playlist
Various - Recent Blue Note Acquisitions on Shuffleplay

Lovely blue skies this morning - and the calls of (presumably) migrating geese, which you can just see and no more in the pic below, were heard over the jazzy sounds filling my head...



This evening, I was met by the Exec Producer uptown and we made our way half way to Stockbridge to Iglu for a couple of drinks, before heading further down to the "village in the city" itself, to meet up with Count Brodski and The Penster at The Antiquary...

As you might imagine, by the time we hit Bell's Diner at 8:30, the Count and I were already talking arrant nonsense...

Nonetheless, a good time was had by all...



So much so, that three of the group had their pics taken surreptitiously below the table, while Anne ("the sensible one") counted out the cash to pay the bill...



Outside, Penny insisted your correspondent try on her jaunty beret...



A cab home with much drunken carousing therein...

Unbelievably, to bed pre-midnight...

A good night...

Highlight of the Day : Out with Alan & Penny

14 to 5...

Playlist
Brian Eno – On Land
Cloudland Blue Quartet – 7 Song LPs on Shuffleplay
Jackie McLean – Jacknife
Various – Now That’s What I Called Music April 1987
Various – Best 500 Albums of 1959-2008

With Anne out at Tynecastle tonight for a Q&A with the board and management at Heart of Midlothian FC (courtesy of her being a “Platinum” season ticket holder), I took the opportunity to tidy up the back room a little...



...obviously the shelves still need some work...

On Anne’s return, we enjoyed “The Big Bang Theory” and “Question Time”...

Lights out...

14 to 5...

Highlight of the Day : Solo time...

Forgetting...

Playlist
Brian Eno – Another Green World
Brian Eno – Before and After Science
Brian Eno – Here Come the Warm Jets
Brian Eno – Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
Radiohead – In Rainbows
Cheryl Cole – Three Words

Kitchen flowers...



Ah Mr Eno’s classics “Another Green World” and “Before and After Science” accompanied today’s aimless wanderings...



...which included a couple of drinks early evening with chums Kris–with-a-K, Gary, Keith and Stuart W...

Back home, none the worse for wear...



...watched Arsenal’s bizarre defeat by Porto while enjoying RTCC from the Exec Producer...

Other than that, on this Friday morning, two days later, I can’t remember anything else...

Highlight of the Day : Enomusic...

Face spited, nose lost...

Playlist
Miles Davis - ESP
Miles Davis - Miles Smiles
Miles Davis - Sorceror
Miles Davis - Nefertiti
Miles Davis - Miles in the Sky
Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans
The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Kind of freezing fog this morning...





Much exercise today and a soundtrack from the "Second Great Miles Davis Quintet"......

A walk down the hill for the bus, snapping the hedgerows on the way...





A walk to FOPP and back at lunchtime (nothing bought)...

A walk up the hill in the early evening...

This last was precipitated by my impatience...

The driver of my No 26 bus was going so slowly and waiting at bus stops that I was ready to emulate Michael Douglas in "Falling Down"...

Presumably our driver was ahead of the timetable - though that doesn't explain why another No 26, which I could have been on had I actually been later in getting to the bus stop, went whizzing past as we stood motionless for the third or fourth time...

Eventually, I asked to be let off the bus and ended up waiting five minutes until one which ironically (and annoyingly) wouldn't take me up the hill came along...

At the bottom of the hill, the information display reckoned 15 minutes till the next 26, so up the hill I walked...

Off immediately to the gym and another 5 mile run on the cross trainer to the sounds of Yes' prog-tacular "Tales From Topographic Oceans" (sides one to three only)...

Home to tasty fish in a Hollandaise sauce from Anne and resisted the urge to watch "Ice Road Truckers" again - though "Lisa" is rather attractive for a trucker...

Two episodes of "CSI", the original and then "CSI : Trilogy" ended the day...

Having stopped long ago watching "CSI: Miami", due to its uselessness and overbearing style over content formula, it was a bit of a downer to have this back again as we watched the first part of this trilogy...

Bad is generous...

Saturday in NY (off of which we have also weaned ourselves) should be slightly better and, no doubt, the original in Las Vegas will trump them all next week...

Elsewhere tonight, points on the board for Queen of the South at last as they beat Ayr 3-0 at home in one of three games in hand they have over leaders Dundee...

Get in - back of the net - etc etc...

Highlight of the Day : Exercise - certainly NOT annoyingly slow drivers...

Thrashers and thrashees...

Playlist
Eleventh House - Introducing
Eleventh House - Level One
Passport - Control
Porcupine Tree - The Incident
Miles Davis - ESP

How had I never heard of Larry Coryell's Eleventh House before a couple of weeks ago?

Cracking fusion...

Watched a wee bit of "Coronation St" tonight but managed not to get pulled in...

Tasty pasta for tea from the Exec Producer, sans recipe...

"University Challenge" saw the team who thrashed Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago, themselves thrashed...

I was not on fire...

In the half hour between the end of this and the start of "Law & Order : UK", I ensured the newly created list of CDs was up to date with all recent acquisitions...



Tonight's Tivo'd "Glee" followed "Law & Order" and continued on its entertaining run...

A snatch of "Newsnight" and the frankly dreadful "Newsnight Scotland" then bed with Miles on the headphones...

Simple as that...

Highlight of the Day : Anne's tasty chorizo and creme fraiche pasta...

Swap shop...

Playlist
Peter Gabriel – Scratch My Back
Pet Shop Boys – Pandemonium
Eels – End Times
Sparks – A Woofer in Tweeter’s Clothing
Bad Lieutenant – Never Cry Another Tear
Pet Shop Boys – Christmas
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Events One & Two
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Events Three & Four
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Gold Leaf Deep Red
Steven Wilson – Insurgentes
David Sylvian – Manophon
Jorg Brinkmann Trio – Ha!
James Blood Ulmer – Forbidden Blues
Esbjorn Svensson Trio – Good Morning Susie Soho
Miroslav Vitous Group – Remembering Weather Report
John McLaughlin - Shakti with John McLaughlin

Up at 8:30 – very little sleep due to the on again off again (every minute) low, all pervading, rumbling vibrations from our neighbour's combi boiler...

VERY, VERY, VERY ANNOYING...

To the gym just after nine and did the equivalent of a five and a half mile run by spending the entire 60 minutes, non-stop, on the cross trainer – this could be the way forward...

Home for breakfast then put together and printed covers for many recent CDs burned from the hard drive...

Into town around 2, leaving Anne watching Rangers thump Hibs 3-0...

Taking some CDs bought pre Xmas (and never opened), back to FOPP, I swopped them for another CD I actually wanted – Steven Wilson’s “Insurgentes” – excellent stuff...

Back home, we watched a 20 year old edition of “Poirot” – Good Lord – very entertaining - before a very tasty celebrationary St Valentine’s Day dinner...

Then more printing...



...ripping and listening while Anne enjoyed “Celebrity Dancing On Ice With Celebrities”...

No “Match of the Day 2” due to it being a cup weekend - so off to bed with headphones too loud to try, in vain, to drown out the on again off again (every minute) low, all pervading, rumbling vibrations from our neighbour's combi boiler...

VERY, VERY, VERY ANNOYING...

Highlight of the Day : Very very good gym session...

Out of the business...

Playlist
Peter Gabriel – Scratch My Back
Eels – End Times
Sparks – A Woofer in Tweeter’s Clothing
Bad Lieutenant – Never Cry Another Tear
Portico Quartet – Isla
Jorg Brinkmann Trio – Ha!
James Blood Ulmer – Forbidden Blues
Pet Shop Boys – Pandemonium

Up at 6 - three hours computing etc then an hour at the gym...

Lovely day initially...



Pet Shop Boys and Peter Gabriel discs arrived in the post, despite not being released till Monday – I don’t mind but it seems a bit weird that Amazon can do this whilst shops can’t...



Into town around 11 and, with Patisserie Florentin full, round the corner to Spiro, an Italian place for tasty coffee and croissants...



Up to the library, handing back the booty from 3 weeks ago and borrowing 5CD boxes by both Sonny Rollins and John McLaughlin, which, in total, include 7 albums I don’t have...

Also borrowed discs by the Esbjorn Svensson Trio, James Blood Ulmer, Miroslav Vitous (his latest on ECM, a take on the early music of Weather Report), the Portico Quartet, the Chicago Underground Quartet and an exciting new German trio led by Jorg Brinkmann...

Tasty...

Walked up to Greyfriars and was passed by a large painting, before heading down Chambers St past the museum where I spenrt many a happy Saturday afternoon in the early seventies...



Down to Cockburn St and spent almost an hour in Avalanche – which reminded me just why I gave up on the second hand music retailing business...

Just two sales in an hour, despite many visitors, and then, an obvious junkie with what were more than likely stolen CDs, turned up, professing the content of his rucksack to be “top quality titles” and looking for cash in exchange, no doubt to score some drugs...

A discussion ensued on the condition of the CDs, the fact that many of them were the wrong CDs for the boxes, how much Avalanche might sell them on for etc etc...

Ah, the old days – can’t say I miss that aspect of it...

On down Cockburn St and over Waverley Bridge to FOPP where, no doubt, some of the titles just sold could be had in brand spanking new condition for £3 each...



Bought three CDs I actually wanted – new releases from Eels and Bad Lieutenant and Sparks’ second album – which I mistakenly thought would complete my Sparks set – but it appears I don’t yet own “Womp That Sucker”...

Also picked up a 2DVD set by Led Zeppelin - this coincidentally contains their set from Knebworth in 1979, a gig which the Exec Producer and her chum Lynn attended...

Airport bus to the bottom of Crispycat Hill and walked up home to watch the footie scores roll in as I listened to my new acquisitions – Hearts beat Falkirk 3-2, with the Anne in attendance, while Queens lost at home 2-1 to lowly Morton...

In the evening a takeaway from Bombay Feast and then the Pet Shop Boys DVD, filmed four days after the gig we saw in Glasgow...

A bigger stage at the O2 Arena allowed a couple more backdrop films – other than that, exactly as we remembered...

“QI” and “Live at the Apollo” ended the day...

Highlight of the Day : Loads of new music...