September's Music

These monthly summaries kind of make trying to remember all the music I tend to listen to a little easier. I hope they are proving informative and perhaps even entertaining for you who bother to read these posts.

A little more settled now in the new house, and quite a bit more music consumed this month. One of the benefits of our new house is that it is only about 200 yards (in old money) from a wonderful little real ale and live music pub by the name of The Greystones, here in Sheffield. I've managed to get to a couple of gigs there in the past month. The first was by a collective called The John Martyn Project, a group of musicians who got together to play John Martyn's music as a tribute to him on the 10th anniversary of his death earlier this year, and afterwards decided to tour with the music, They were faithful to John's legacy, though mainly played material from Solid Air, Bless The Weather and Sunday's Child. An excellent evening, enhanced by the support act, a local act called Mishra, who play Indian Ragas on banjo, double bass, whistle and tabla. Totally enthralling and fascinating, and I hope to find them again locally soon. Later that same week I was back for an evening with Kathryn Williams, Mercury Prize-nominated in 2000, looking back over her 20-year career so far and playing material from most of the 10 albums she's released in that time - which have recently been released as an Anthology box-set with 10 bonus CDs and a lyrics booklet and some of her personal artwork. Had a lovely chat with her after the gig, which was excellent, and managed to pick up a copy of the anthology for a much reduced price!

My other live outing was to the City Hall (Ballroom) for a fantastic evening with Focus, who were as engaging and entertaining as ever, and delved into their wide repertoire for an excellent show.

My recorded music falls into three, or possibly four, main categories. First there's the Old Stuff, mostly if not entirely bought as a result of hearing it played on Progzilla Radio, one of my go-to Progressive Internet radio stations. This month they led me to Camembert Electrique by Gong, thus adding to my now growing Gong collection. This is wonderfully bonkers and brilliant music - weird, eccentric, off-beat, but enticing and evocative of the music that drew me in during my teenage years. The other was Rain Tree Crow's only and eponymous album from 1991. This was a band I was unaware of, and discovered that it is essentially a late reunion album by Japan. Most of that 1980s electronic music slipped me by at the time, but it has grown on me since then, and this is a dark, brooding, atmospheric, ethereal and magical work.

My possible fourth category (yes, it's out of sequence, but hopefully you'll see why...) is Old Stuff that's actually New Stuff - or possibly New Stuff that's actually Old Stuff! This month has seen 'new' albums from Jazz giants John Coltrane & Miles Davis. Coltrane gives us Blue World, a collection of material that was originally recorded in June 1964 mainly for the soundtrack of the film 'Le chat dans le sac', and is typical of his work at that time and wonderfully melodic and strident. Miles Davis's 'lost album' from 1985-86 is finally released as Rubberband. Davis was a true progressive of the Jazz world, and having gone through his Be-Bop and Fusion phases among others this is a collection more of a soul or funk groove with Miles's horn at times providing more of a background that a lead, but always being unmistakeably there. For any fan of jazz I would strongly recommend both albums, though the Davis may take some time to grow.

So the second (or is it now the third) category is New Jazz. If you've read these posts before you'll know that I am a keen listener to the output of Edition Records, who release a wide selection of music from the jazzier end of the spectrum. Three of their albums have come my way this month. The first was by Laura Jurd, another Mercury Prize nominee with her band Dinosaur, and her project entitled Stepping Back, Jumping In. Here are 6 good length compositions - nothing under 8 minutes - exploring their themes through brass, strings, piano, keys, double bass, drums, banjo, guitars & santoor. Laura is ably assisted by a host of fellow musicians including fellow Edition players Elliot Galvin, Rob Luft & Corrie Dick. Moody, stirring and emotive stuff. Secondly was  Hope by Kevin Hays & Lionel Loueke. Simple music on piano & guitar with some vocal input from both men, this has a rounded yet exotic feel to it. I was not that aware of Hays's work previously but had come across Loueke about 12 years ago with a song called Abominwe.Captivating stuff. And then there was the latest offering from Oddarrang, a Finnish quintet who make dark, brooding experimental music that I suppose could only come from Scandinavia. This new album, Hypermetros, is a typical offering from them and has been well worth the wait.

So, the final category for me is New Prog (however broad that particular tag is), and most of this month's material comes from a label that proudly represents that breadth and diversity in its output - Bad Elephant Music. The five albums from them all represent material from established acts on the labels roster, but they are all wonderfully different. In order of release, We Are Kin's third album, Bruised Sky, is moody, dark, brooding modern progressive rock, with a soulful edge courtesy of Emma Brewin-Caddy's wonderful voice. Tom Slatter's Demon carries on the unique acoustic steam-punk balladeer-ing that Tom has made his own, and continues to do so with wonderful aplomb. The Bob Lazar Story continue their bonkers approach to music making with Vanquisher, a collection that leaves me simultaneously with a smile on my face and scratching my head in bafflement. Emmett Elvin once again with The End of Music produces sublime music, at times rock, at times almost classical, but always stimulating, thoughtful and profound, an epithet that could also be used of Charlie Cawood, whose Blurring Into Motion is a modern-day classic of composition and musicianship. And the final new Prog is the much-awaited seventh album from Thieves' Kitchen. Genius Loci explores the idea of the Spirit of Place in their inimitable jazz-laden progressive style, something they do to great effect, and Amy Darby's voice never fails to send shivers down my spine!

So, that's been September -  a busy time in all aspects of my musical world, but one that continues to give me life, hope and inspiration. The coming month offers much in the way of live music - with 2 festivals and other gigs I've got at least 26 bands in my diary between now and Armageddon - sorry, Brexit Day... (if it happens...)

This Week's Playlist - a lot of jazz, a bit of Prog

The first week of a new year has seen me at a bit of a loose end. As some of you may be aware early in December I was knocked down crossing the street, and consequently have been somewhat incapacitated. One thing I've managed to do, though, is listen to some music, and I thought I would let you know what I've been listening to (just in case you're interested!)

Much of my listening has been catching up with pre-Christmas purchases, though I did indulge myself a little the other day with some classics from the collection. Quite a bit of my music discovery comes through the medium of Bandcamp, a wonderful way to meet, listen to and even purchase a wide selection of sometimes great music! One band that I came across during last year was the Seattle Jazz combo of the Jason Parker Quartet, initially through a tribute album they released to the work of the late Nick Drake in 2011, which is well worth checking out. More recently I've gone back to their self-titled debut, a wonderful example of the best of modern bebop in the tradition of the classics.

Still in a jazzy vein are first the Oakland, CA trio of The Once and Future Band, who bring a fusion and proggy sound, with echoes for me of Yes and BJH without being derivative. Well worth checking out their Brian EP! Second is the Canterbury-based quintet The Thirteen Club, whose album So Yeah is jazzier and brings a wonderful late-night fusion feel to its lush instrumental melodies. This is good modern jazz rock, which stays with you. Thirdly is an album released towards the end of 2016 on the (for me) increasingly influential Edition Records label. Through exploring their catalogue I have enjoyed the work of Jason Rebello, Tim Garland, Jasper Høiby, Phronesis and Dinosaur, but this particular item came from the guitar-playing hands of Stuart McCullum and Mike Walker. The album The Space Between creates some beautiful soundscapes and textures using acoustic and electric guitars, and is a quiet, thoughtful album that puts me in mind on many occasions of Pat Metheny.

At the more progressive end of my musical diet are a couple of albums that ring a whole lot of musical bells, both by musicians who might be considered on the slightly eccentric side of life! Both of them are also presenters on Progzilla Radio, too: coincidence? The first takes me back to the autumn and to the Summer's End Festival in Chepstow, as it is a recording of one of the sets from this year - that of the multi-talented Peter Jones, aka Tiger Moth Tales. In an exceptional weekend for music, theirs was one of the stand-out sets of the festival, and thankfully it was recorded for posterity, and it is impossible to isolate a stand-out track: they're all fantastic! The second is the final release of many for 2016 from the wonderfully eclectic Bad Elephant Music label, this time a second volume of archive songs from the delightful Simon Godfrey: the Black Bag Archive volume 2. This is a collection of re-worked songs dating from 1999 - 2016, showing a tremendous range of song-writing from Simon and leaving me eager for the new Shineback and Valdez material that should be due shortly. Finally in the new music is an album that's not actually out yet, but which I've got an early copy of: the latest album from Blackfield - Blackfield V. The work of Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen, this is a wonderful collection of short, thoughtful songs that draw on Wilson's solo work and even his work with Porcupine Tree, but with Geffen's voice it seems to remove the gravitas without removing the earnestness. The band's earlier work is not that well-known to me, but this seems to stand out from what I do know (Welcome to My DNA) as an album to return to many times.

The 'classics' from my collection that I mentioned earlier again look quite jazzy. (No links, as these are CDs) The Impossible Gentlemen's third album, Let's Get Deluxe has a great collection of modern jazz tunes (written by the aforementioned Mike Walker). Miles Davis has always featured highly on my all-time greats list, and last year Don Cheatle did a biopic of the great man, Miles Ahead. The OST gives a wonderful feel for the film (still to be seen!), and even features Cheatle himself on trumpet, as well as playing the man. I've also always had a soft spot for the cool jazzy stylings of Walter Becker & Donald Fagen in Steely Dan, and the other day I gave possibly their best two albums a spin: their debut, Can't Buy A Thrill and the beautiful Aja - both offering music of the highest order. Finally, and a little more proggy, was Motivation Radio by Steve Hillage: maybe not the best thing he's recorded (of his solo work, that's probably a toss-up between Fish Rising & L), but an evocative album that has its moments.

So that's how that last week has panned out musically (along with various podcasts!). I hope, if you're not familiar with them, that you'll find the music interesting. Let me know!