It's a great week for us. The Portico Quartet's Knee Deep In The North Sea is a Nationwide Mercury Album Of The Year (n.b. that I got the desired description correct). Wow. That's the second Babel album in 4 years. (Polar Bear's Held On The Tips Of Fingers was chosen in 2005.) The difference this time is that this lot may win.!?
But Christine Tobin DID win the BBC Jazz Award for Best Vocalist - at last, and so well deserved. While Fraud got the gong for Innovation. The only loser was me personally. I lost out to Alan Bates. I'm not going to appeal. Alan has done such a lot over the years for the music.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Selling a home
Over the past few months, much of my time has been taken with the sale of my home. It's been in the family for 57 years, my parents rebuilt it after the Second World War, and it's been owned by my two brothers and me. Notwithstanding all the emotional shenanigans - though these have been adequately recompensed by the sale price - I have found the nature of the top end property market really demoralising. Full of lies, though done with a sense of being my "friend". (It took me a couple of weeks to realise what was going on.)
Anyway, the most distasteful state of this was shown by my dealings with one of the leading estate agents in the area, reaching a peak when we decided to use one of the others (Knight Frank. To be recommended.) They have been a leading agent in the area for the past 30 years. But they can't have spent the whole time browbeating their potential clients like this? My email software is playing up, so I can't actually get hold of them. When I can I'll put them up. Certainly they were sending strong threats that they would try and make the deal fail. Does anyone think that we could use an ombudsman on this subject?
Anyway, the most distasteful state of this was shown by my dealings with one of the leading estate agents in the area, reaching a peak when we decided to use one of the others (Knight Frank. To be recommended.) They have been a leading agent in the area for the past 30 years. But they can't have spent the whole time browbeating their potential clients like this? My email software is playing up, so I can't actually get hold of them. When I can I'll put them up. Certainly they were sending strong threats that they would try and make the deal fail. Does anyone think that we could use an ombudsman on this subject?
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Esbjorn Svensson
The death of Esbjorn was a real shock. I was lucky and privileged to get to know him in the days when he was just beginning to get known in the UK (between 1999 and 2003). I recall spending several late nights/early mornings at the Pizza Express! And Esbjorn had a modesty and a great memory of all those whom he had contact with. Having lost some of the connection with the band, as they moved onwards and upwards, and my work with ACT having ended, I suddenly got a phone call from Esbjorn after a gap of several years, and then met him, just for a short time, a few months later during a sound check at the Barbican.
The band, and Esbjorn in particular, always generated a special contact with each and every person who heard his music, either live or on recordings. And their music evolved steadily and subtly. This is something unique. And they kept the quality of sound and performance to perfection. It is no surprise that Ake Linton was the fourth member of the band. This ability is something very very rare.
Even their covers were effective. I recall taking "From Gagarin's Point Of View" into the Jazz on 3 offices along with a whole selection of other ACT albums in 1999. It was the one that they picked out from the cover alone! The only group that I have come across that approaches the reverence that the fans have is with The Necks.
It was an ambition of mine to bring them to the Vortex to play. Unfortunately that will now never come to pass.
Wishing his family, friends and fans long life.
The band, and Esbjorn in particular, always generated a special contact with each and every person who heard his music, either live or on recordings. And their music evolved steadily and subtly. This is something unique. And they kept the quality of sound and performance to perfection. It is no surprise that Ake Linton was the fourth member of the band. This ability is something very very rare.
Even their covers were effective. I recall taking "From Gagarin's Point Of View" into the Jazz on 3 offices along with a whole selection of other ACT albums in 1999. It was the one that they picked out from the cover alone! The only group that I have come across that approaches the reverence that the fans have is with The Necks.
It was an ambition of mine to bring them to the Vortex to play. Unfortunately that will now never come to pass.
Wishing his family, friends and fans long life.
Monday, May 26, 2008
BBC Jazz Awards 2008
Very exciting and a privilege that I have been nominated for a BBC Jazz Award for services to jazz. Also it's good that I can vote for some of those nominated as part of an "industry panel" But...
The voting form says that "you are NOT allowed to vote for artists in whom you have a professional or personal interest". So I have had to leave the whole form blank!! Of course, I can't vote for myself or Christine Tobin as best vocalist since Babel has funded her album. However, I also feel that, as a Vortex director and creditor, it is impossible for me to vote for musicians who play at the Vortex regularly. Since if they perform and are successful then it helps the club to repay my loan. Indeed all those nominated for Rising Star, Best Instrumentalist and other for Best Vocalist are regulars at the Vortex.
Clearly the BBC is nervous about any voting nowadays, with all the shenanigans over phone votes. But they should surely be a bit more flexible for the voting for other people.
Or am I being too cautious?
My voting form is about to go up on the Babel web site, so you can see that I have not compromised my integrity.
The voting form says that "you are NOT allowed to vote for artists in whom you have a professional or personal interest". So I have had to leave the whole form blank!! Of course, I can't vote for myself or Christine Tobin as best vocalist since Babel has funded her album. However, I also feel that, as a Vortex director and creditor, it is impossible for me to vote for musicians who play at the Vortex regularly. Since if they perform and are successful then it helps the club to repay my loan. Indeed all those nominated for Rising Star, Best Instrumentalist and other for Best Vocalist are regulars at the Vortex.
Clearly the BBC is nervous about any voting nowadays, with all the shenanigans over phone votes. But they should surely be a bit more flexible for the voting for other people.
Or am I being too cautious?
My voting form is about to go up on the Babel web site, so you can see that I have not compromised my integrity.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Radio vs Herbie Hancock
Yesterday we had a double announcement. On the one hand, Herbie Hancock with his Joni Mitchell album won the main Grammy. On the other, GCap announced the closure of theJazz, its digital radio station. John L Walters in the Guardian hit the nail on the head, by highlighting the juxtaposition of success and perceived failure.
(Thejazz is a reason why I too have just bought a DAB radio. And I really enjoyed, just an hour ago, hearing Empirical followed by Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker while having a coffee in my kitchen. Much more exciting that birdsong.)
The closure is though more to do with the pressure on GCap because it is vulnerable to being taken over than to do with the relative success of the station. The radio industry is behaving like old-fashioned smokestack industries. Trying to milk old technology for all the short-term cash that they can get.
Sad to say thejazz has been quite successful so far in terms of audience and reach, and I would congratulate Classic FM on launching it in a very effective manner. One reason is that jazz is a marvellous music for "pushing the envelope". And this has surely been proved by the results so far, which I presume have been done at relatively a low cost to the Jazz music and musicians will ensure that they make the best that they can of anything that they are given. For example, Evan Parker has been a master in finding new sounds out of the soprano saxophone. (I recall hearing this once at a talk, where someone explained that he uses jazz musicians to test new software and equipment, because they would sooner than anyone find out the limitations and where the potential is.)
Any investment in jazz though takes quite a time to come to success, and not many are patient enough with that. When I lent the Vortex money to reopen I had expected (hoped?) that the club could repay the debt within two years. That hasn't been the case. Nevertheless, the club should be glad for my patience, stubbornness and commitment, because it is now trading profitably on a monthly basis and the music level is getting higher and higher. I think that it proves that commercial success doesn't necessarily conflict with artistic quality. So I remain optimistic on that leve.
But thejazz's closure is not about the music and the baby has been thrown out with the bath water. As the Grammy for Herbie Hancock proves. It has been about whether DAB is a good format for digital. At least, Classic FM is keeping two hours of jazz late at night. And I hope that I would prefer to tune into that than Late Junction. Of course that depends on whether Classic FM is there in its current format next month....
(Thejazz is a reason why I too have just bought a DAB radio. And I really enjoyed, just an hour ago, hearing Empirical followed by Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker while having a coffee in my kitchen. Much more exciting that birdsong.)
The closure is though more to do with the pressure on GCap because it is vulnerable to being taken over than to do with the relative success of the station. The radio industry is behaving like old-fashioned smokestack industries. Trying to milk old technology for all the short-term cash that they can get.
Sad to say thejazz has been quite successful so far in terms of audience and reach, and I would congratulate Classic FM on launching it in a very effective manner. One reason is that jazz is a marvellous music for "pushing the envelope". And this has surely been proved by the results so far, which I presume have been done at relatively a low cost to the Jazz music and musicians will ensure that they make the best that they can of anything that they are given. For example, Evan Parker has been a master in finding new sounds out of the soprano saxophone. (I recall hearing this once at a talk, where someone explained that he uses jazz musicians to test new software and equipment, because they would sooner than anyone find out the limitations and where the potential is.)
Any investment in jazz though takes quite a time to come to success, and not many are patient enough with that. When I lent the Vortex money to reopen I had expected (hoped?) that the club could repay the debt within two years. That hasn't been the case. Nevertheless, the club should be glad for my patience, stubbornness and commitment, because it is now trading profitably on a monthly basis and the music level is getting higher and higher. I think that it proves that commercial success doesn't necessarily conflict with artistic quality. So I remain optimistic on that leve.
But thejazz's closure is not about the music and the baby has been thrown out with the bath water. As the Grammy for Herbie Hancock proves. It has been about whether DAB is a good format for digital. At least, Classic FM is keeping two hours of jazz late at night. And I hope that I would prefer to tune into that than Late Junction. Of course that depends on whether Classic FM is there in its current format next month....
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