Musical musings

Unscientific Americans

2010-06-23T12:54:00.010+02:00

I really need to shape up. I realized I haven't blogged since February 2009. Shame on me! So here's something that I wrote for the oldest still running jazz journal in the world, Orkesterjournalen.

Close to fifteen years ago I was at a musicology conference in London, where jazz scholar Barry Kernfeld spoke about the canon formation in jazz. I was familiar with the concept, but he managed to exemplify the inherent problems of canon formation and the writing of history in a simple way - too simple, from my point of view today.

Kernfeld began by listing a number of jazz names that he had carefully sorted according to the principle "most relevant to jazz." Guess who? That's right: Armstrong, Ellington, Parker, Davis, Coltrane. Somewhat surprisingly, he mentioned Ornette Coleman among this exclusive elite.

Not a week goes without my thinking about the jazz canon. There are reasons to do so, for the ways in which jazz history is written plays a crucial part for musicians, music students, listeners, agents and promoters. We listen to what influential people recommend, how jazz was born, how the music evolved and which musicians you must be familiar with.

Looking at the origins of most books, about documentary films and magazines, one realizes immediately that the American influence is very strong. It is therefore important for non-American jazz listeners to pay attention to how out of hand things can get if you blindly follow the U.S. instructions. Let me point out three examples.

For years, books on jazz history have been an important source of canon formation in jazz, which is normal. Historical overviews within jazz literature is used in music education worldwide, but most of course literature that is used is written by Americans and deals almost exclusively with American jazz. Anyone reading this knows of course that jazz history is dominated by musicians resident in the U.S. Nevertheless, there are significant jazz musicians from other countries who have been at least as groundbreaking, creative, original and interesting as the American musicians. Particularly in contemporary jazz. From the late 1900s even more so. You would have a hard time knowing that if your knowledge of jazz was based solely on books by Gary Giddins, Stanley Crouch, Frank Tirro or Scott DeVeaux. Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli are the first non-European musicians mentioned, then you will find almost nothing but Americans. This is not what jazz history looks or sounds like. Especially not for those of us who live in Europe. Not even the main American players like Bill Frisell, Cassandra Wilson and John Zorn are generally mentioned more than in passing. That's definitely not a true picture of what jazz is today.

For many, the magazine Down Beat is the main paper source of jazz information (in Sweden, we have Orkesterjournalen, the longest running jazz publication in the world). Down Beat are obviously very fond of American jazz, especially mainstream jazz. One could also say that the magazine is directly protectionist. In the May 2006 issue, for the first time in the magazine's 72-year history, a European jazz group was featured on the cover. That band was Swedish jazz trio EST. The odd European jazz artist or rock band had occupied that prestigious space previously, but not a jazz group from Europe. Editor Jason Koransky attempted to calm his American readers by writing "Jazz is alive and well here in the States, and our primary focus will always remain on the music scene here." But suppose that it is not in the U.S. where jazz is really happening nowadays?

Last and worst: Ken Burns abusive jazz documentary series from 2001. On the upside, the series consisted of well-compiled film footage with great music from major jazz names. From the United States, in the mainstream, as approved by Wynton Marsalis and his posse of jazz conservatives. For example, the series provides us with an almost embarrassing glorification of Armstrong, Ellington and Charlie Parker, whose excellent music deserves more insightful comments. The miserable disposition speaks volumes. The series was detailed until it gets to the end of the 1950's, nine episodes in and one to go. This section was to cover four decades of jazz history. It did not. Anyone who did not know anything about jazz and wanted to learn something from this series would think that Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, Pat Metheny were not important jazz musicians, since they were either mentioned very briefly or not at all. This is almost to be regarded as jazz's equivalent of the German propaganda from the late 30's and early 40's. It is definitely not what jazz history looks like.

I would like to see more critical perspectives on American jazz and the jazz canon at large, and more books about jazz from a wider perspective. From a geographical, musical, gender and style perspective. A good, solid balanced read on a unique style of music. Certainly, writers such as Joachim-Ernst Berendt, Alyn Shipton and Jan Bruer & Lars Westin has made efforts in this area, but there is plenty of room for more authors with interesting angles. Can someone also make a documentary about jazz in a similar way, our world would become a better, more dynamic and interesting music environment.

* * *

"Unscientific Americans" is a track from the underrated Power Tools album by Bill Frisell, Melvin Gibbs and Ronald Shannon Jackson. It's fierce. I remember being almost shocked when I first heard it, but couldn't stop myself from playing it over and over again. I am sure my neighbours appreciated the music.

So What

2009-02-09T23:28:00.005+01:00

I have decided to go back to blogging again. Once more. Another attempt. So what if I have attempted this before, I will try it again. Sure, I am very active on Facebook, but this is another forum, so let's see what happens!

Since my last post, the music world has suffered a couple of tough losses, mainly Lars Hollmer, Freddie Hubbard, John Martyn and Richard Wright. I have only met one of the gentlemen - Lars Hollmer - but felt a sense of loss for each and every one of these fine musicians when they moved on. The loss of Lars Hollmer upset me more than I thought if would, probably because I met the man and he turned out to be a nice guy. Luckily, his music lives on. Let's celebrate that!

Here's a clip of Lars Hollmer playing Inte Quanta

* * *

So What is, obviously, the modal Miles Davis classic from the Kind of Blue album which incidentally celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It is a great album which everyone should own and listen to frequently. A personal anecdote about this track: I played this tune in a band I played with years ago. As I hadn't heard the track at the time, one of the other guys in the band showed me how to play the theme. Or so I thought. Later, when I bought the album and heard the track, I found out that he had got the notes wrong. Way wrong. There you go, I am sure there's a lesson to be learnt from that experience in some way. Let me know how if you find out.

Nobody's Fault But Mine

2008-07-02T07:40:00.002+02:00

Oh dear, oh dear. I haven't blogged for ages now. Since my last blog, Joe Zawinul and Esbjörn Svensson have died, I have celebrated a birthday, I have had a fantastic time in Gouveia (again) and so many nice and not so nice things have happened. It's all water under the bridge now, but I will try harder to blog on a more regular basis, I promise, this time I will try.

What's up now? Copenhagen jazz festival starts on Friday, hooray! A really strong line up this year with Ornette Coleman, David Murray, Wayne Shorter, Dave Liebman, Ravi Coltrane and Joe Lovano all fighting for sax space. One of my favourite singers, Cassandra Wilson will also be there. I heard her at her visit to this festival the last time she was here and it was a really stong performance. I wasn't too crazy about her Thunderbird album though. She's got a new album out now, so I suppose I should check that out very soon. Also performing is the extraordinary thereminist Pamelia Kurstin who is in cahoots with singer/guitarist Maria Laurette Friis. They're playing on the same night as Paul Bley, also essential listening, but can I make it? That's what I will have to see. So much to do...

Later this month, I am heading to the Loreley cliff with IB. The Night of the Prog is calling, and we are responding.

At this point, there is loads of administrative work that is in Limbo at my jazz office. Unfortunately, I can't do much about it at this point. Not because I am on holiday - which I am supposed to be - but because the powers that be haven't said the magic words.

The situation at the university is much better, but I still get at least one annoying mail each week about seemingly meaningless paper work that needs to be done.

But the future looks bright enough at this point. Now if I can just keep blogging...

* * *

Many artists have recorded Nobody's Fault But Mine, but I was blown away by Beth Rowley's take on this song of grief and self-blame. With a dynamic voice that belies her tender age and strong interpretive skills, I was floored. I must get Rowley's debut album Little Dreamer (released earlier this year) and so should you!

What I did on My Vacation

2007-08-17T00:27:00.000+02:00

- I was on parental leave with Otto, the whizz kid
- I went to Portugal to work with IB Expo at the Gouveia Art Rock Festival, to visit my dear friends Luis, Catia, Fred and Inez with my loved ones Annika & Otto. I also happened to hear Robert Fripp, California Guitar Trio, Magma and Christian Saggese's moving solo recital in the church of Gouveia (now called the church of Saggese). I also monitored the round table discussion on composition vs. improvisation
- I turned 40
- I had a garden party for my 40th birthday
- I booked interesting acts - and some not so interesting - for the Jazz i Malmø autumn season. Favourites are Chris Potter, Bob Brozman, Zawinul Syndicate and Sonore.
- I heard Jan Garbarek in Malmø, a booking I initiated
- I have met and heard one of my all time heroes at my own venue: Allan Holdsworth at Jeriko. A packed house loved what they heard. A very special day for me.
- I worked hard with the Bologna process, which is supposed to start on September 1 at Lund University. A long, hard and boring road.
- I attended the final performance of the sold out Panta Rei performance at Halmstad's 700 anniversary
- I booked acts for IB Expo 07: Christian, Luca, IB, Pamelia Kurstin and Mike Keneally. A great line up!
- I have started recording guitar overdubs for Fred Lessing's forthcoming album.
- I have worked hard in our garden

Now I am back in action and hope to blog more frequently. Sorry for the lazy behaviour.

* * *
What I did on My Vacation is a compilation album by the brilliant band Gillan, formed by Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan in the late 70's. Perhaps my favourite Purple offspring. I've got the album on vinyl, I'm not sure if it's available on CD or download. Get some of the original albums instead: The Gillan Album, Mr. Universe and Glory Road. Excellent stuff!

* * *
NP: an artificial waterfall at Clarion Hotel Royal Christiania in Oslo. Makes you desperate for the bathroom.

Clap hands

2007-03-30T20:02:00.000+02:00

My 11-month son Otto is a keen percussionist. Last week, he discovered the fine art of hand clapping. He tends to work on his timing while changing nappies and sometimes while listening to music. Hardly metronomic, he compensates for this with rich washes of enthusiasm. That goes a long way, at least if you are a proud father.

Very interesting developments on the IB side of things. Stressful Panta Rei compositions sound good despite enourmous pressure on Mats and people not doing what they were supposed to do. The Threepenny Opera sessions will recommence in early April followed by the IB Expo appearance at Gouveia on April 21.

Speaking of IB Expo, planning for IB Expo 07 is proceeding and I am currently working on the line-up. Once more, it will be an unforgettable evening, I can assure you.

I was saddened to hear about a musician friend who seems to have writer's cramp and also a rough financial patch. If I only were Bill Gates, or at least Ingvar Kamprad...

At Jazz i Malmö, I am trying to get the bookings done for three summer dates and the autumn season. Unexpectedly, I ran into some problems that can affect the booking in a serious way. The bottom line of this was that someone I thought was on my side turned out to look after his own interests exclusively, which turned him and his club over to the other side (ie the representative of the artists' side). Luckily, offers come in heaps. Unfortunately, the money doesn't.

* * *

"Clap Hands", from Tom Waits' Rain Dogs is an intriguing tune. Take away the vocals, and you have an almost ambient background with a very nice and basic percussion based texture. Add Waits' stream-of-consciousness-nursery-rhyme-lyrics and you have sometheing truly unique. Add to that Marc Ribot's dirty guitar licks and Michael Blair's well-suited percussion playing. The man himself is one of a kind. And "Clap Hands" is a really good tune.

Too Hot to Händel

2007-03-20T04:50:00.000+01:00

Or rather, "Too Hot to Handle". Since my teens, I have enjoyed UFO's take on melodic hard rock with clever guitar playing (and lyrics I rarely could relate to). The other day, the opportunity presented itself to go listen to the band at KB in Malmö.

With the ever-present (at least physically) vocalist Phil Mogg, most-of-the-time-UFO-basist Pete Way and frequent keyboardist/guitarist Paul Raymond in the ranks, this is close enough to the classic line-up of the Michael Schenker years, at least as close as I am likely to come to hearing this line-up. These three spaceship veterans were joined by drummer Simon Wright, stepping in for the ankle injured original UFO drummer Andy Parker, and lead guitarist Vinnie Moore.

Should you be unfamiliar with Mr. Moore, he can be described as one of the better and more interesting shredders of the neo-classical era. If you're into that kind of thing, you can do a lot worse than cupping an earful of his Mind's Eye album.

So, the million kronor question was: how does this neo-classical italian-american guy compare to Herr Schenker? The ten kronor question was: in what condition would Mogg and Way be in? One thing at a time and first things first.

Vinne Moore is a technical player, a fast player and a Red Bull drinker. But he can't blend blues phrases with classically influences patterns the way Michael Schenker did - and still does. Moore is - technically speaking - a superior guitarist to Schenker (a guitarist who only uses three fingers on his left hand), but he is not as inventive, not as compositionally strong and not as dynamic as the Flying V axeman. Moore's rhythm chops also left something to be desired. In other words, I rate Schenker higher. For evidence, listen to Moore soloing on "Rock Bottom", "Love to Love" or "Shoot Shoot" and get your old vinyls out (CDs will do nicely, as will downloads). Compare and you will see what I am talking about.

I am sure Vinnie Moore is less volatile than Michael Schenker, and I am certain that the american is much easier to work with. Still: give me the wah-wah drenched three-fingered arpeggios of Schenker anyday.

The state of Mogg and Way? Let's just say remind ourselves of the name of Pete Way's old band: Waysted. They were. Having said that, Phil Mogg sang surprisingly well even though he was completely blotto. I wonder if Pete Way has sold off his trusty Gibson basses? In Malmö he played an Epiphone, which is of course a much cheaper instrument. I found it striking that a musician can play professionally for more than thirty years and still have piss-poor technique on his instrument. Very punky, but also very poor musicianship.

* * *

"Too Hot to Handle" is, of course one of the most well-known songs by UFO. It's taken from the excellent Lights Out album released in 1977. Hardly one of my favourite UFO tunes, but it's an OK rock 'n' roll stomper. Probably best heard on the live Strangers in the Night album.

What Now?

2007-02-27T14:30:00.000+01:00

I am currently on parental leave with Otto, ten months young today. I still take care of the bookings at Jazz in Malmo (but all via e-mail), still lecture on one course at the university and still work with IB.

Things are not looking good at the university. For some reason, only a small number of students are interested in studying musicology. I find this strange, since I have only ever met one person who has claimed to be uninterested in music. And since money apparently makes the (university) go 'round, we have been downsized to a skeleton crew. So far, I am still on board.

On the other hand, the IB side of things look really good. First of all, a visit with IB Expo to the brilliant festival in Gouveia, Portugal in April. One interesting project called Panta Rei which is part of Halmstad's 700 anniversary; the very exciting prospect of IB reworking Brecht & Weill's Threepenny Opera; and two highly rewarding meetings with a couple of fine musicians: guitarist/composer Erik Wollo and thereminist extraordinaire Pamelia Kurstin. There will be some fantastic music made with these two!

Also on the cards: the embryo of an international group featuring Mats on keyboards. Still early days, but very interesting and potentially musically excellent! And a couple of other things too, but these are still laying around at the drawing board.

2007 has the potential to be a wonderful IB year. Let's hope so!

* * *

Kenny Wheeler used to be a really interesting trumpet player, but having heard him a few years ago with a Swedish Big Band, I am not so sure he's still got it. Nevertheless, his album What Now? featuring Dave Holland, Chris Potter and John Taylor is a fine record, if not outstanding. I must admit that frequently, Wheeler's sidemen more than upstage the main man. Having said that, there are some nice compositions by Mr. Wheeler on this album. The title track is a slow number with beautyful interplay between all the musicians on a relaxed but confident level.

Long Gone

2007-01-29T08:22:00.000+01:00

Once more I have been away for far too long, three months to be exact, and that's a shame. I will try to do better and blog more regularly.

Since my last writings, I have:

- finalized the bookings for Jazz in Malmo's spring season. I am particularly happy about Allan Holdsworth coming to Malmo for the first time (May 10), but also about Jan Garbarek (April 19). Last weekend, the planning for the autumn season started with a meeting in Gothenburg with my collegues from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. A great meeting and some very exciting possibilities.

-wrapped up the autumn term at the university and tied up all the loose ends so that the spring term started with a clean slate.

- planned IB's 2007 with Mats. Very exciting indeed with the old IB being buried and the new IB taking shape very nicely thankyouverymuch. The new IB will be a projects based organization with a more relaxed structure. A bit like IB Expo all year round. And IB Expo in the best of worlds can be like MySpace in real life. On the cards for IB is the participation in Halmstad's 700th anniversary; a collaboration with Theatre Halland on an updated version of Brech & Weill's The Threepenny Opera; a festival appearance at Gouveia Art Rock on April 21; and tentative plans for IB Expo 07.

My plans until May 31 are to be on parental leave with Otto and only work 25%. It will be a great spring, I am sure!

* * *

"Long Gone" is a title I have used before. But then there are a number of songs with that title. So this time, I am referring to the Gillan track from the album Magic. Hardly the strongest track on the album and hardly the band's best work. I can't remember anything about the verses, middle eight or the solo(s), but I remember the chorus being catchy in a rather poppy way.

Steamin'

2006-10-29T22:58:00.000+01:00

It's eight days since the IB Expo concert took place, and a lot of things have happened. Some good, some bad. Nevertheless, the IB Expo concert was simply too good to let go that easily, so here's some more info and a couple of pics.

The concert in itself was wonderful, it really was. Had I not been involved, I would have had a seat in the middle of the theatre and loved every second of it. As it were, I was involved, and loved every second of it.

I think a setlist says more than 1000 words, at least when I am as tired as I am today - having hosted Otto's namegiving party today, including a very free interpretation of Ruby, My Dear by yours truly. More later.

Here's the setlist from IB Expo 06 (more info in IB's forthcoming newsletter and on IB's MySpace page):

First set:

Conundrum (featuring Kjell, Klas & Pat)
Soundscape (by Markus)
Open/Dark II
Celestial Vessel (featuring Bjorn)
Vrooom
Tuner improv (featuring Bjorn)
Can
Absinth
Krin
Variations on a theme from the Carneval in Venice (Christian solo)

Second set:
Sonata (by Ginastera, as played by Christian solo)

Warszawa
Lake District
Song for a Crow Angel
From Here to Eternity
Coming from the Silence
B'Boom
THRAK
Wild as a Toad
Mariola

Encore:
Magnificent Giant Battles

Extra encore:
Theme from The Coachman

And here's the team from IB Expo 06

From left to right: Klas Assarsson, Kjell Severinsson, Pat Mastelotto, Fredrik "Gicken" Johansson, Linnea Olsson, Mats Johansson, Thomas Olsson, Jonas Christophs, Markus Reuter, Christian Saggese (seated), Jan Severinsson, Luca Calabrese, Noca Ramos (one of two honoured guests from Portugal, the other - Luis Loureiro took this photo) and finally Franco Feruglio.

* * *

I'm not a big fan of jazz standards, but when the material is played as well as Davis, Coltrane, Garland, Jones and Chambers perform it on Steamin', I have no objections. As on all the albums recorded by this classic Miles Davis quintet, the interaction amonst the musicians is startling. They certainly knew what they were doing. As I am a sucker for most things Monk, I recommend the quintet's take on "Well, You Needn't". But do listen to "When I Fall in Love" and enjoy Davis' one-of-a-kind ballad playing. Ohhh, that phrasing!

It Could Have Been a Lot Worse

2006-10-18T08:45:00.000+02:00

IB Expo 06 started gradually this year. Luca was the first to arrive since he had gigs with sax player Carlo Actis Dato and Enzo Rocco duo, making the duo a trio. The first concert was arranged by Jazz i Malmo at Jeriko, the second at Mejeriet in Lund. The Malmo gig was a hoot! You may recall that Frank Zappa asked the highly relevant question "Does Humor Belong in Music". Had Mr. Zappa heard this trio, he needn't have asked. Now, if these three guys weren't great musicians, the whole thing would have been incredibly embarrasing, but since they are the canine's testicles everyone was truly impressed while laughing. Thanks for coming to Malmo Luca!

The next arrival was master drummer/electronica wiz Pat Mastelotto. I had a wonderful talk with the man despite him being knackered following a long flight and losing his bag. Sadly, I couldn't attend his workshop on Sunday, neither be at the first two days of IB Expo due to a heavy workload and my girlfriend coming down with a bad migraine.

Luckily, Mats sent me some pictures I would like to share with you, so here goes:

Here's Markus Reuter leading the troops

Pat and Kjell solving a conundrum under Klas' supervision

And here's Franco bowing his legendary IKEA bass

There's more to come...

* * *

To me, Tim Berne is one of the most interesting composers within the field of contemporary jazz. Working within long structures with tightly woven themes while leaving space for challenging improvisations, Berne has never disappointed me. "It Could Have Been A Lot Worse" is the first track on the Nice View album by his band Chaos Totale (featuring my very favourite contemporary jazz composer Django Bates). This CD has been out of print for a number of years, but is now back in print on the highly recommeded Winter & Winter label. Get it!

Workin'

2006-10-10T14:09:00.000+02:00

I've neglected my blog once more. Sorry blog! The reason is a heavy workload and a young son I want to spend time with. I hope you excuse me.

A short report on what's happening:

September was a very intense month at the department of Musicology. Lots of meetings, loads of papers to be handed in to university authorities about the power draining Bologna process, due next autumn term. Also lecturing and supervising papers of course.

At Jazz in Malmo I am working with booking for the spring season. Several strong and interesting names, among them a couple of personal favourites. Hopefully, at least one of them will come to Malmo in March or May respectively. On a more problematic note, the audience seem completely uninterested in local groups, even though they may be terrific. For some reason, only a small number of audients turned up to hear an incredible evening of contemporary Norwegian jazz with Maria Kannegaard Trio and BOL. Fantastic music, great musicians but a complete let-down from the audience. Having said that, the people who turned out loved every minute of it and were most enthusiastic.

Finally IB. All the work preparing IB Expo will lead to the realization of this years' event next week. So far, so good. Some minor administrative and practical issues to deal with, but nothing major.

It has been very easy to work with our international guests and I am sure next week will be wonderful and creative.

Pat Mastelotto has provided us with some interesting ideas for songs to play. Nuff' said at the moment.

* * *

Workin' is one of the albums that came out of two sessions in 1956 with the first legendary Miles Davis Quintet. It never ceases to amaze me how fresh-sounding these recordings are. They have a timeless quality to them, perhaps even before their time. The interplay and togetherness of this combo is dazzling. Davis and Coltrane in particular play beautifully. They make it sound so easy!

Trumpet No End

2006-09-04T23:22:00.000+02:00

Can someone please explain the reasons for this strange behaviour? Which behaviour? Strictly speaking, it's no behaviour at all, I just wanted to quote an 80's group I never really liked.

Still, I have discovered something weird. My four-month old son, Otto has tried out several brands of nappies. One of them has cuddly animals, stars and... a trumpet! Why is it that of all instruments, a trumpet has a place of honour on my son's body?

Suggestions? I can't wait.

* * *

Duke Ellington probably recorded what will be the ultimate version of Irving Berlin's "Trumpet No End", featuring the remarkable trumpet player Cat Anderson. Considering his stratospheric escapades, he may have worn nappies. Maybe even with a trumpet on them.

Please Mr. Postman

2006-08-13T00:20:00.000+02:00

Starting a few years back, I have started to recieve CDs from people for one reason or other. Sometimes I get them as a sort of thanks for something, as was the case with excellent cellist/conductor Mats Rondin a while back. I helped him make contact with an organization that was looking to give him some money, so the kind Mr. Rondin sent me a handful of CDs he has appeared on. Great music, in particular the duo CD with pianist Hans Pålsson where this dynamic duo perform all of Beethoven's cello sonatas. Highly recommended!

Another category is musicians giving me CDs in hope of me getting them a gig. Very rarely does this happen, but in the case of Television Pickup a demo CD resulted in a gig which I promoted recently. Je ne regrette rien, they played great! Very interesting compositions by Katrine Amsler mixed with humourous laptop comments and good use of free improvisation. Get their brand new CD Da jeg var lille var alting större. I can honestly recommend it.

Most of the time, CDs are given to me because people tell me they want my opinion on their music. Students, people I meet at festivals, friends and people fall into this category. I don't mind this. In fact, I have had several positive musical experiences from unexpected CDs, but not in all cases. Most of the time, people want to hear good things about their music, which is perfectly understandable, but not something I can be trusted to deliver. If you want the truth, don't count on me to tell you a lie.

When I was at Gouveia in April, I had the pleasure of meeting a nice composer/keyboard player from Spain, Carlos Plaza. He asked me if he could send me a CD and I told him yes. The brand new album Omphalos by Carlos' group Kotebel arrived last month, but I haven't really had much time to listen to the record until recently. Now that I have, I can recommend it to any fan of prog rock.

Omphalos is good prog, not bland, derivative stuff, but music that is well planned and well performed. The highlights for me are Carlos' compositions with lots of recurring themes and clever variations. I also think the vocals and the lyrics are quite good. The packaging is also nice. So, support this band. Get the album!

I am always happy to have my postwoman deliver CDs from pals Mick Karn and Luca Calabrese. The stuff they have sent me have never disappointed me. Au contraire! Their recordings are constant eye-openers and a joy to enjoy! Speaking of which, Luca kindly sent me two of his latest recording projects. One CD by Tiziano Tononi & Daniele Cavallanti featuring stellar bass player William Parker among others. The other is a free improv 2-CD with Italian musicians (and a spectacular insert made of wood), among them another good friend, double bass master Franco Feruglio (of Metamorfosi Trio, together with Luca and Christian Saggese). I haven't had the time to listen to these surely great recordings yet, but I am sincerely looking forward to it. Maybe next week, when I am going back to work again. My time spent on the commuter trains is made a lot easier with some music accompanying my travels.

On the IB front, things are looking up. We have our line-up (Pat Mastelotto, Markus Reuter and Björn J:son Lindh), now we have got to focus on the music. But that's not something I need to worry about.

* * *

The Beatles recorded many great songs and at least a handful of true classics in the field of music, period. Their second album, With the Beatles , from 1963 is not one of them. "Please Mr. Postman" is certainly not one of my favourite Beatle recordings by far. It doesn't even make the top 100. This is not why the group made it to the very top. Give me the often ridiculed "Piggies" anytime.

Long Gone

2006-07-26T23:52:00.000+02:00

It's been two months to the day. This is basically a dead blog by most bloggers' definitions, but I will try to resucitate this blog anyway. It remains to be seen if I succeed or not.

I have been meaning to write about a lot of things: Joe Zawinul and his gang of merry men; Dave Holland's gentelmanly troupe; Zappa Plays Zappa; Daniel Lanois; fatherhood; student concerts; teaching a summer course; Isildurs Bane's goings-on etc. So much to blog about, so little time!

Instead, I will just leave things as they are and start anew. Any interaction is encouraged!

Today, I had one long and two short conversations with Mats regarding the imminent future of IB and a number of concert offers. Unfortunately, we have to decline most of them due to economic reasons which is a pity. Sadly, the fact is this: it costs money to put IB on the road. We either have to fly in and trust the arranging part to provide us with a backline or rent a van, get our equipment in and head off. Either way, it will cost a certain amount of money, money that is not necessarily recouperable. We would love to go all over the world to play, but we are not in a position to pay to play.

On a more positive note, IB Expo is coming along nicely and I am really looking forward to hearing Pat Mastelotto and Markus Reuter play and interact with IB and the Metamorfosi Trio musicians. More on this later.

* * *

Long Gone is a great track by British rockers UFO, taken from their 1981 album The Wild, The Willing and the Innocent. Written by then lead guitarist Paul Chapman and vocalist Phil Mogg, this is a great dramatic track by a frequently overlooked band, especially the Chapman years. Filling Michael Schenker's shoes was a hard task, but I think Paul Chapman coped incredibly well and he did it in a very mature way, i e by contributing to UFO's songwriting and thereby bringing his own compositional and playing voice into the band. As he did on this track. Having said that, this album has more than it's share of filler material. But in all honesty, so did most of the Schenker-era UFO albums.

See My Friends

2006-05-21T23:07:00.000+02:00

Let me backtrack a month or so. At the beginning of April, I went to Portugal to visit my good friends Luis and his girlfriend Catìa, and also to attend the Gouveia Art Rock festival where I also participated by chairing a panel discussion loosely based on the paper I delivered last year. I have been to the Gouveia festival with Isildurs Bane in 2004, came back to deliver a paper in 2005, and I was kindly invited back again this year.

After an early, but good flight with Luxair including a stopover in Luxemburg - I even managed to take a few steps in this rather small European country best known for its radio station - I arrived at Porto airport and was met by my hosts. The sun was shining, I had been served vegetarian food on the plane and I was in excellent company!

Being the great hosts that Luis and Catìa are, they took me to Guimares, the place where Portugal was founded (and incidentally, the place where another good man - Carlos Tavares - teaches physics). We took a nice walk, visited the old castle, took a walk around town and had lunch at a bar where the owners took some interest in classic movies. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to spend more than a couple of hours in this lovely town with many old beautiful houses, which kind of reminded me of Ystad in the south of Scania.

Next, we went to get something to eat at a huge shopping centre very close to where Luis and Catìa are living. Apparently this place was open until midnight on a Friday. I feel sorry for the shop assistants! At least I could find some tasty veggie grub, which was necessary since we were about to leave for Gouveia, a two hour trip from Porto. Despite some half-scary sounds from the brakes of Luis' car, we had a good trip and arrived at the rented house around midnight. I was knackered, but decided to join Luis when he suggested we should go meet some people as a warm-up to the festivities starting the following day. I was greeted by several friendly faces as soon as I set foot inside the bar, which was really heartening. At the same time, I was reminded that not all European countries have decided to ban smoking in public places. Luckily, the friendly faces made up for the smokey environment. Still, I was a beaten man when I fell into bed more than an hour later.

Saturday was the first day of the festival and for me, it began with setting up the Isildurs Bane sales table and saying hello to one of the really good guys, Mario of ProgCDs. If you ever need any prog music, get it from him! He has all of IB's back catalogue in stock. During the course of the festival, I met so many old and new faces I had the pleasure of talking to. One of the great things about this festival is that the whole atmosphere is very positive, friendly and intimate with a clear focus on music. The organizers share their love of art rock with the audience and most of them are very open and encouraging to new sounds. This is just one reason why the Gouveia Art Rock festival is the festival for this kind of music.

The bands.

Taal were not my cup of tea. A loud prog-metal band with a lot of enthusiasm, but lacking in compositional skills and dynamics according to my ears. Also, they should have brought a sound engineer and not relied on the organizers to have one on hand.

Matthew Parmenter was a most pleasant surprise. I wasn't familiar with his previous work, but since he kindly gave me a DVD I can safely say that I now know his music. And he really is a good singer/songwriter indeed with interesting topics. He performed his songs on his own with conviction on the Gouveia theatre's Steinway (and some pieces on acoustic guitar) and it was a pleasure to listen to songs like Polly, probably my favourite song of his. To be honest, I think it would be selling Mr. Parmenter's abilities short to label him prog. He is a good singer/songwriter, period. He needs the prog label like Mac users need Bill Gates.

After the rather subdued music of Matthew Parmenter, a contrast was needed and we really got one: Present! Listening to this band live is like being run over by a bulldozer well-versed in music. In a good way. Intense, dynamically rich, sometimes intricately lyrical, sometimes dissonant and dirty, but always musically interesting. Some of the festival's best musicians played in the group: Pierre Chevalier (keyboards), Pierre Desassis (saxes) and Keith Macksoud (bass) were impressive! Kudos to the band for bringing a good sound engineer, Udi Koorman. Standout track: Promenade au Fond d'un Canal.

Peter Hammill ended Saturday night on a high note, albeit decidedly different than Present. His voice in fine condition, Hammill played a well-balanced set including a couple of surprises, such as the encore of Still Life, a classic if you ask me. Here was a man who is so much more than a prog icon. A great songwriter and one of all too few people who can write really good lyrics. And the man's voice is still expressive, impressive, moving and intense.

What a great way to end the first day of any festival! As if that was not enough, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Hammill and speaking to him about music in general, my paper (which he had read), Daniel Barenboim's thoughts on how to start a piece of music, Hammill's performance with the Kronos Quartet at the Barbican in 1994 and more. A true gentleman with informed views on music and a true artist.

After a few hours of sleep, Sunday morning started with an intimate concert by a new line-up of Trape-zape. This group has been a bit of a mainstay at the festival: brilliant guitarist Fernando Guiomar played a solo set in 2004; Trape-zape played as a quartet on the main stage in 2005 and this year, they performed as a trio at the library. Despite having the worst drummer of the festival, a guy called Roland who was very stiff, but easily controlled (by a foot pedal). Hearing the band in this intimate setting, I could really enjoy Fernando's Terje Rypdal-influenced vibrato and beautiful classical guitar playing.

Following the short concert, yours truly chaired a panel discussion on prog at the library in Gouveia. The discussion was loosely based on the paper I held last year, which had conveniently enough been printed (title: Is There Anybody Out There?) and sold at this year's festival. The room at the library was packed with interested audients, some of whom were very involved in the discussions. Along with yours truly, the panel consisted of musician/composer Carlos Plaza, Fernando Guiomar and Matthew Parmenter.

Without blowing my own horn, I think activities such as these really add something to a festival like this. After all, most people coming to the festival are really committed to music and they have strong opinions on their likes and dislikes. Having said that, I didn't feel any hostility at all, despite my being provocative in my paper. Like I said, this is not just any festival, this is the best.

After having tea with my friend Nuno, it was time to go back to the concert venue. The first band to tread the boards on Sunday were my fellow countrymen (and -woman) Anekdoten. I was familiar with the band, but having never enjoyed their music on record, I was hoping for something of a revelation, as a live performance can be sometimes. As it turned out, I was very disappointed. Anekdoten were even duller live than on CD. They sounded like a badly mixed shoegazing indieband. I couldn't stand it, so I left for the bar, where I met up with Fred and his lovely family. We had a game of Uno - I won - and a beer. Later that day, I was very kindly given a bottle of red wine by these super nice people. I treasure it and will save it for a suitable occasion.

Next up were Alamaailman Vasarat from Finland. This band were a most welcome addition to the festival and shows the far-sightedness of this festival: this is all about good and interesting music first and foremost, wheather you can call it prog or not is neither here nor there. Alamaailman Vasarat play a colourful mix of traditional music from several geographic areas with an intense attack and a great sense of humour. Yes, lest we forget, humour does belong in music!

The band selected to close the festival were German veterans Amon Düül II. I like many of the so called Krautrock bands, but this lot is not one of them. Musically, they weren't really in good shape either with lots of sloppy playing and seemingly unrehearsed endings. Once in a while though, there were moments of, not exactly greatness, but at least some musical excitement. Unfortunately, these moments were few and far between. The concert was also marred by a couple of power cuts which didn't make things better.

Full of the great music we had heard over the intense weekend, we headed back to Porto, tired, but very happy. The following day, Luis and Catìa kindly took me to the airport, we had some tea, I had some kind of sticky pastry thing and then I was on my way back home again, many IB records lighter, but filled with warm and wonderful impressions of a lovely festival and above all, nice people. I'll be back!

* * *

I like many songs by the great Ray Davies, but See My Friends is not one of them. It sounds unfinished, it's not played very well and it sounds like a parody of a British band from the 60's trying to do something with Indian influences. It's a shame, Ray.

* * *

NP: Robin Eubanks podcast

Three of a Perfect Pair

2006-05-08T20:02:00.000+02:00

…and then there were three

I have been a sloppy blogger lately. This is due to a massive workload and that I became a father on Thursday, April 27 at 12.06 pm when Otto was born. He was 49 cm tall and weighed 3015 g. Not bad for a premature young man, eh? He was supposed to meet the world on June 9, but apparently he couldn’t wait. I am writing this at the hospital in Helsingborg, where A and myself were taken by ambulance in the middle of the night at high speed.

As of this writing, all three of us are doing just fine. Otto is the largest baby in his room and is already showing tendencies to become the perfect child (says the proud father).

Hail King Otto!

* * *

"Three of a Perfect Pair" is a song that took me a while to appreciate, but now I like it. Adrian Belew's solo version of this on the King Crimson tour of 2000 was astonishing. Check it out on the live 3-CD Heavy ConstruKction, filled to the brims with excellent Crimson live music.

* * *

NP: Gong – Live at Chateau Neuf, Oslo, Norway, December 15, 1974. I am not much of a Gong fan, but since this recording features Bill Bruford, I wanted to hear it. To these ears, it’s Bruford that saves the day with his immediately recognizable drumming. The flying (tea)pot-heads really needed someone to kick them in the rear with some distinct and serious drumming. Mind you, Steve Hillage throws in some neat guitar playing on a few tracks. Quite an individual player. Maybe I should check out some more of his playing.

Jekyll and Hyde

2006-04-16T22:50:00.000+02:00

Starting today, I will look back on a series of interesting days. Today's topic: Bill Frisell's 858 Quartet in Malmo.

One of my all-time guitar heroes, Bill Frisell, came to Malmo to play with his 858 Quartet featuring Jenny Scheinman (violin), Eyvind Kang (viola) and Hank Roberts (cello). Having been responsible for getting this unique group to Malmo, I took it upon myself to pick the quartet up at Kastrup airport. Earlier that week, I had spoken to Frisell's tour manager, Claudia, and was informed that the leading man was ill with some kind of flu or cold. Luckily, when I asked him about it, Mr. Frisell said he was "a thousand times better now". Even so, the leader sneezed once during the show (in time, of course).

The music was great. I am very impressed by Bill Frisell's ability to constantly reinvent himself and seemingly always being on the lookout for new musical ventures. The 858 Quartet is a fairly new group, having playing together on Frisell's Unspeakable from 2004 for the first time. The range of musical sounds and styles available from this excellent quartet was nothing short of astounding: early music and contemporary art music (imagine Pachabel, Arvo Part, Philip Glass and Bartok working together); jazz; a Bacharach cover; intense rock guitar sounds; you name it, they played it. And did they play it well! Dynamic, playful and highly imaginative music was the order of the day in this musical table tennis game where composed parts and improvised sections came and went faster than the speed of light.

Amazing music, fantastic musicians, wonderful people with a great sense of humour. I was very kindly given a CD by Jenny Scheinman, and for this I am very grateful. In fact, this CD deserves - and will be given - an entry of its own eventually.

* * *

The ill-fated guitar hero group GTR only released one album, simply called - you guessed it - GTR. "Jekyll and Hyde" is one of several AOR tracks from that album. As with most of the songs on GTR, the highlights are the guitar parts by Steve Hackett and Steve Howe. A quote from Frank Zappa comes to mind when thinking about this album: "Shut up and play your guitar".

Bro

2006-04-06T11:08:00.000+02:00

It's a great day today! I am going over the bridge to Kastrup airport to pick up one of my heroes, Bill Frisell. He will perform tonight at Palladium, a concert organized by Jazz in Malmo and Musik i Syd. Unfortunately I have had reports of Mr. Frisell being ill for at least part of this tour, but I will keep my fingers crossed for him to be on the road to recovery.

And tomorrow, I will cross that bridge between Sweden and Denmark once more, since I am off to my good friends at the Gouveia Art Rock festival to lead a discussion on all things Prog. It will be great to see my good friends Luis (and his lovely girlfriend Catia) and Nuno again, not forgetting Eduardo, Carlos, Mario and all the other heroes of this lively, wonderful festival.

This will be the first time I fly with Luxair, and also the first time I will be in Luxemburg, even though it's just for changing planes. I have no hopes for the vegetarian food, but I have hopes of finding a good bottle of Scotland's finest on my way back. And in the best of cases a bottle of Slibovitz, not for myself - I don't touch that stuff - but for Mr. Zawinul, who apparently loves the stuff. At least that's what his agent told me, and I want to have a happy musician on stage on Tuesday and Wednesday at our club.

* * *

"Bro" (Swedish for bridge) is the standout track on The Jolly-Boat Pirates' eponymous debut album. Moving between free jazz, some rock elements, aural signs of folk music, and I even hear some minimalism in there. They don't quite go the distance, but "Bro" is really good.

NP: The Jolly-Boat Pirates - The Jolly-Boat Pirates

Wishful Beginnings

2006-04-04T22:49:00.000+02:00

Some brief updates. The course in rock that I have been teaching will be wrapped up next Wednesday with an exam. I have noticed an unusually large amount of absent students when I lectured on the 70's. Also, I have a feeling many of the students have not worked nearly as hard as they should.

At Jazz in Malmo I have been busy organizing a suitable hotel for one of the acts performing at Jeriko this spring. Our regular four star hotel was not acceptable, and to cut a long story short, I was able to book rooms at another hotel. The difference in cost was 500 Euros.

Some good and some bad news on the IB front. The bad news is that we can't muster a proper team at the library inauguration because Klas was busy elsewhere, Jonas will be arriving only a few hours before the gig and our dear Italian friends couldn't make it because they were busy too. Pity, because things are not the same without them.

The good news is that I have recieved two positive initial responses to my invitations to IB Expo 2006. Just like last year, our first choices EG and PM were interested and we will now go on to see if our schedules can fit. My thanks to Tom Griesgraber, who did some serious groundwork and connected me with PM. These are wishful beginnings indeed, but if everything comes together, this will be a fantastic IB Expo!

* * *

On David Bowie's Outside, you will find the track "Wishful Beginnings", co-written by Bowie and Brian Eno. Hardly a standout track, in all its monotony it works as a platform for Bowie's storytelling, which the bizarre tale that is told on this album really needs.

Returning I

2006-03-26T23:58:00.000+02:00

You could be excused for believing it's yours truly who's returning, since it has been a while since I last blogged, but that's not what I had in mind.

A couple of weeks ago, IB bassist and major Pink Floyd fan "Gicken" wrote me and e-mail and asked me what I thought about David Gilmour's new album On an Island. Yes, it's Gilmour who is returning. On top of that, guitar great and nice guy Christian Saggese also wrote me an e-mail telling me that he thought Gilmour's album was fantastic, and what did I think about it? I had only heard the promo version of the title track, so even though I had gotten a bite out of this tasty dish, I was hungry for more. "Gicken" and Christian's e-mails helped wet my appetite.

I had planned to get On an Island the very day it was released, but just hadn't had the time to go to my regular record shop - yes, I know I am old fashioned - to get the album until Friday. When I came home and listened to it, I instantly recognized David Gilmour's ulta tasty note choices and his sound-to-die-for after only a couple of seconds into the first track, the instrumental "Castellorizon". This is what good guitar playing is made of!

But, on the other hand, the vocal tracks are a bit of a disappointment, I am sad to say. Sure, it does sound like old Pink Floyd ever so often, and by that I mean older Floyd, like pre-DSotM (that's Dark Side of the Moon for you non-Floyders). I can hear some Beatles influences and some Dylan in there too. But I am not really impressed. Considering it has been more than a decade since the last album Gilmour composed music for (Pink Floyd's The Division Bell from 1994) and considering it's 22 years since his last solo effort, I was expecting more from the man. I find the vocal compositions weak. There's no drive, no hooks, no strong melodies, no interesting changes, no surprises and nothing odd. To really enjoy an album, I need at least a couple of these ingedients - the more the better, but at least two - for me to be happy about an album.

On this album, I like Gilmour's lead guitar playing. No wonder, it's simply beautiful and once more do I understand why he is one of my favourite guitarists. I also like the production and the cover with it's elegant design. Unfortunately the cons outweigh the pros at this stage. But I will give this album more spins, and who knows, maybe I will change my mind.

I have to mention The Bad Plus. On March 9, they played a blinder at Jeriko. Really good guys to work with, nice people with a mission to give people good music. Wheather you want to call it jazz or not is up to you. I would call it jazz. But it's also good music, period. Before they arrived, their rider had caused quite a stir not only in my office, but also at the rental company. Now, this is an experienced rental company who have dealt with mega stars on many occasions, but in this case, they were slightly worried. Why? In one of the paragraphs in the rider it basically said that if we don't provide the drummer with this particular set of drums and these drum skins, "you will have no drummer". This is scary stuff. Sensing that we were worried, both tour manager Jonin and drummer David King put me at ease and explained that this paragraph was a joke. OK. The house was packed with a remarkably young audience who cheered for the excellent trio. Probably the best concert of the year so far.

I watched a documentary on Swedish keyboardist Mats Oberg earlier today. An amazing musician, Mats is able to fit into rock, jazz and folk contexts with surprising conviction and ease. After watching the hour-long documentary, one question remained with me, having seen and heard Mats Oberg waltz through at least a handful of bands playing some really hard-to-play parts: how can he remember it all? Check him out live if you can! I have yet to do so, but I can recommend any recording by Mats & Morgan.

Earlier this evening, to take my mind off correcting a term paper and several papers, I watched another documentary. Touch the Sound on another fabulous musician, percussionist Evelyn Glennie. Apart from being a wonderful percussionist with some interesting ideas, she tends to surround herself with interesting musical partners. No exception in this documentary, where you can hear her play on a rooftop with a wrecking ball and amazing drummer Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez (one of Jack Bruce's current drummers). Even more exciting was hearing her improvise in an abandoned factory with the one and only Fred Frith. Amazingly, Frith played some straight ahead guitar in a way I have never heard him play before. Oozing with lyricism and armed with an electric guitar, a Fender amp, a volume pedal and a Line 6 delay pedal, he really surprised me. Magic. Wouldn't this man be great for IB Expo 2006?

* * *

The headline for this blog is taken from Robert Fripp's soundscape album A Blessing of Tears. This is may favourite soundscape CD on an emotional level. I find it very moving, with many seemingly reflecting lines full of dynamic expression. This goes for Returning I too, of course.

Idiot Wind

2006-03-18T22:45:00.000+01:00

Just had a dreadful TV experience. Watched the Swedish finals of the Eurovision song contest. Guess who won? The holier-than-thou (scarier-than-thou would be more appropriate) Swedish charlatan Carola. If you ever need a reason for NOT becoming a christian, she is the reason you are looking for. As if a reason was needed.

The jury voted for a 70's styled retro song sung by Bono-light charachter Andreas Johnson, and eurodisco act BWO came second with a song featuring lyrics that would make any hair rock band of the 80's proud. How many songs from that era used the words "in the heat of the night"? The right answer is: too many.

Unfortunately, the jury's votes didn't help, because of the obligatory phone-in. And people did phone in. And I am sorry to say, they made a difference in a most negative way in this case. I suppose the fact that Carola won just proves a point made by witty radio personality Nick Abbot back in 1993-94: the masses are asses.

Since I am far from a nationalist, I hope Sweden will not make it to the international finals. Sending a religious nutter to Athens can hardly be to our benefit.

Just had a look at a Nick Abbot site. I must check up on his recent work. I really liked his work on Virgin 1215 when I lived in London in 1993-94.

* * *

I am certainly not a big Dylan fan, in fact I am not a Dylan fan at all. But I can appreciate a good song when I hear it. As I am in a bitter and whingy mood today, I might as well tell you what I think of the song "Idiot Wind". Unmemorable lyrics in the verses with an even more unforgettable melody to help it stumble along. The chorus features Dylan not only making a fool of himself as a vocalist, but also taking the piss out of himself, at least that's the way it sounds. Great title though.

This Is How It Goes

2006-03-05T23:15:00.000+01:00

Lots of activities now. Lots of different things, some really interesting, making my weeks somewhat stressful.

We are looking at doing IB Expo 2006 later this year. Mats suggested an interesting musician I have never heard, but via a sound file on the Internet, I now have. I agree with him, this person could fit very well. So I contacted PK and am now awaiting an answer. My good friend Luis may be a link to another possible participant for IB Expo 2006. We will see. Speaking of IB Expo, I visited Mick Karn's website and saw that he will go on tour. Great! You should go see him! He plays great, writes interesting music and is a really nice guy.

I am also in the throws of signing a licensing deal with Russia for IB. Starting with Cheval, we are looking at licensing the whole IB back catalogue in Russia. There are still some things to be discussed and I will make a few changes in the contract, but all in all, I think our music being distributed in any foreign country is a good thing.

At the department, last week was spent teaching, providing colleagues with statistics and working with the Bologna process (or the Bologna express, as some people call it because it moves along very quickly). My course in Jazz was wrapped up, and generally I thought this group of students was a good bunch. They did the test on Friday, but since I was in Stockholm at a meeting with the board of the Swedish Society of Musicology, I haven't seen the results yet. Tomorrow will be spent correcting exams. At least I hope to get through some of the answers. Unfortunately, the active students are all males with the females sitting passively but - I am sure - having lots of things to say. Why don't they? I will have to try harder to get them to say something on the next course (Rock), which starts on Tuesday.

It's been a busy week at Jazz i Malmo. Jon Balke played with his percussion-based group Batagraf on Tuesday and believe me, they blew people's minds! Ultra tight, groovy, imaginative playing focusing on rhythmic themes, counter-rhythms and general enjoyment both on and off stage. I heard one man say "I will never forget this as long as I live". He's right.

A less memorable concert was Linda Pettersson's Up From the Skies on Thursday. Great singing, great playing, most of the songs were great too, but I couldn't help being bored and lost interest after a couple of songs. With two sets brimful with standards played in a very traditional manner, it wasn't my cup of jazz. Next week Thursday, US piano trio The Bad Plus take the stage at Jeriko. I am really looking forward to hearing this trio live. So far, I have only heard good things about them, and the recordings sound great. This will surely be a good evening.

I have had several responses to my blog, and I encourage you to use the comment function to interact. Only the other day Gicken, bassist with IB and Sounds of Eternity, wrote to me to ask me to take a demo of the forthcoming Sounds of Eternity album to Luis and Nuno in Portugal, since he read in my blog that I will go to the Gouveia festival in early April. Before that, Leif contacted me regarding a recommendation I gave a few months ago in IB's newsletter. I had completely forgotten about a wonderful record called De Opblasbaare Vis, which was very kindly given to me by Ruggero, one of my Italian friends. I will absolutely have to listen to it again very soon!

Back at the house, the bed room is now insulated and the wall is reconstructed after last weeks' temporary destruction. What we need now is some paint and some help painting, and then we can start sleeping in our bedroom again.

* * *

Aimee Mann is one of my favourite songwriters, period. Even though I really like most of her albums, her solo debut, Whatever, remains my favourite. Lost in Space is excellent too, but "This Is How It Goes" isn't one of the highlights of this otherwise fine album. A fairly ordinary pop song with a couple of quirky sounds and some strong melodic hooks courtesy of Aimee Mann. But she can - and really has - done a lot better than this.

NP: Aimee Mann - Lost in Space

DIY

2006-02-27T21:46:00.000+01:00

The weekend was spent redoing a wall in our bedroom. My girlfriend had an idea about how to improve the room, which included tearing parts of a wall down. Luckily, my father-in-law was good enough to help us out. In fact, he did the lion's share of the work with me helping out. It turned out that the wall wasn't insulated, so we had to take care of that matter which was unexpected and costlier than expected.

I spoke to Mats who has spent some time resting and recharging his batteries. One of the things we discussed were possible collaborators at IB Expo 2006. A couple of major names have been thrown about, a few well-known and the odd interesting but unknown namn has cropped up too. I will look into this during the coming months.

A busy week ahead: a couple of lectures ending with an exam for the students on Friday; two concerts (Jon Balke's Batagraf on Tuesday and Linda Pettersson's Up from the Skies on Thursday); a board meeting with the Swedish Musicological Society on Friday and a meeting with the jazz clubs of southern Sweden on Saturday.

* * *

"DIY" is one of my least favourite Peter Gabriel songs, taken from his second solo album, one of my least favourite Peter Gabriel albums despite Robert Fripp sitting in the producer's chair. There are no strong hooks, no really interesting lines, the singing and playing is ordinary and not very exciting. A rather dull song if you ask me.

Clarinet Lament

2006-02-19T21:55:00.000+01:00

Swedish jazz giant Putte Wickman passed away on February 14. At the concert that evening I announced 32 bars of silence and lit a candle to remember Wickman and his great achievements within jazz.

My favourite recording by Wickman is a CD called Desire/Mr. Clarinet featuring a stellar crew of Sweden's top session musicians: Janne Schaffer, Bjorn J:son Lindh, Teddy Walter, Magnus Persson and Per Lindvall. A very interesting and unusual setting for the more traditionally inclined Wickman, who really shines in this electric company. As far as I can see, this record is still available, and I can heartily recommend it.

* * *

"Clarinet Lament (Barney's Concerto)" is a classic Ellington track featuring the one and only clarinet master Barney Bigard. I would be most surprised if Putte Wickman was not influenced by Bigard. They both play beautiful, lyrical, melodic solos and melodies with tasteful ornamentations. As is almost always the case with the great Ellington, the arrangement is very well done and superbly performed.

NP: Gavin Bryars - Man in a Room Gambling

Papa's got a Brand New Bag

2006-02-16T22:35:00.000+01:00

For my birthday back in 2002, I got a Carlton suitcase from my father. He got a brand new bag. For me. It looked - and still looks - like your average Carlton suitcase in all respects. All respects but one. It looks like it's tie-dyed. That's right, tie-dyed. Like John Sebastian at Woodstock in 1969.

For four years, I wondered if I was the only person on the planet with a tie-dyed suitcase. It have taken it with me on tour with Isildurs Bane in the US, Canada, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Holland and Italy. I have looked at airports in these and other countries, but nowhere have I seen a suitcase like mine. Which is fine, because I can find my Carlton case at once on conveyor belts, luggage racks and in lounges all over the world.

Then, all of a sudden, I spotted one while waiting for a bus in Malmo during a snow storm only a month ago. And today, I saw yet another while sitting on the train to Halmstad. So to sum up: not a single sighting for more than three years, and then all of a sudden two tie-dyed suitcases appear out of the blue.

In Halmstad, Mats and myself had a good meeting with LE of the local council. We discussed planned IB activities for 2006 in Halmstad and agreed that we will do three projects in alliance with the local council:
1) Workshops in the autumn
2) Music at the inauguration of the library in Halmstad on April 22
3) IB Expo 2006

Mats has rediscovered Yes, and we listened to some of the old stuff: Fragile, Close to the Edge, Relayer, Yessongs and The Yes Album. I suggested to Mats that one thing that separates a good prog band from a bad one is if the music swings, grooves or whatever you want to call it. You can tap your foot to Bill Bruford but hardly to Mick Pointer. Also discussed which CDs I am to bring to the Gouveia Art Rock festival at the beginning of April. I was there last year, met nice people and sold lots of DVDs and CDs. It will be great to go back!

Mats played me some of Mariette's songs he has added his magic keyboard touches to. I wasn't too impressed, but I will wait and see what they sould like when they're finished. A lot can happen between the demo stage and the end product.

After a while, Mats discovered that he needed a power supply for his computer and phoned Jonas, since he has the same computer. Jonas appeared after finishing his sushi and joined the Yes discussions. Jonas has now moved most of his recording activities to his flat since he bought a laptop a few months ago. On the other hand, Mats has moved some of his gear from his Ataraxia studio, because it is too cold during the winter and also because his son Xerxes has moved into the Ataraxia premises.

* * *

One of James Brown's best known songs, Papa's got a Brand New Bag is quite a funky little number, one of Brown's first really funky songs based mostly on one chord. I have heard many unfortunate covers of this track, but no cover has even come close. It's like they don't get the main features: the grooves, the sounds, the grain of Brown's voice. Ain't it funky now?

* * *

NP: Mick Karn - More Better Different

Train Time

2006-02-13T23:08:00.000+01:00

I had a busy day today. I started off at the department of musicology preparing my lecture on Wednesday, attending a meeting, dealing with e-mails, sending off papers, booking a flight to Stockholm, rescheduling lectures in March and April and making copies.

In the afternoon, I took the train to Kastrup to pick up Marc Johnson, Eliane Elias and Victor Lewis. It turned out that their flight left earlier from Oslo to Copenhagen. (Does this happen often?) When I arrived, they had already eaten and were ready to leave for Malmo with loads of luggage (ten items, most of them large and heavy). And then there was the matter of the non-arrival of the train on the right platform. To start with, the train was supposed to leave at 15.36 from platform one. The train was delayed and moved to platform two. So we moved too, with all the luggage. I felt embarrased although I had nothing whatsoever to do with the delay. Next, the train was delayed for nine minutes and - would you believe - moved back to platform one. So we had to take all the stuff and go to platform one. Now I was really embarrased, apologized and pointed out that I am not Danish and that such a thing would never happen in Sweden (ahem). And then, without telling anybody waiting why, the train was cancelled. Luckily, the trains run every 20 minutes. I mean, they are scheduled to run every 20 minutes.

In Malmo, we had to take a rip-off taxi to the hotel. At the hotel it turns out that the agent hadn't informed me that Johnson and Elias share rooms. In other words, I had booked one room too many. The suite booked for Marc Johnson was quite cold, especially for someone used to the warm Brazilian sun. An electric radiator solved the problem. To help Johnson & Elias with their jetlag, I got them some fruit, yogurt and crackers in case they need something to nibble on if they wake up in the middle of the night. Also set a new time for soundcheck, the delivery of the bass to be borrowed (courtesy of local bassist Mattias Svensson) and negotiated with the restaurant at Jeriko about the food for Johnson/Elias/Lewis. I am looking forward to the concert tomorrow! If the CD Shades of Jade is anything to go by, it will be a most enjoyable evening tomorrow night. Judging from ticket sales, we will get a good crowd in. Great!

Following my catering work, I was interviewed by Alexander Agrell for southern Sweden's most read newspaper, Sydsvenskan. He was impressed by the artists booked by Jazz i Malmo this spring. He is right of course, there are many big names, and it will be great to hear them during the coming months. It will be interesting to find out what I said to Alexander. It will be in tomorrow's paper. Interesting fact: Alexander lectured classed in jazz and rock at the department of musicology. From 1996 onwards, I have been in charge of these classes. Alexander is one of few music critics in Sweden whose opinion I value.

On the train back the the place I call home, I met L who recently moved here. It's good to talk.

* * *

On Cream's Wheels of Fire you will find Jack Bruce's Train Time. Hardly his best work, but a reasonable time piece.

Miro Bop

2006-02-13T21:19:00.000+01:00

Another day, another sold out concert. Well, almost. The truth is, the first concert of the season for Jazz i Malmo (Tomasz Stanko) was a full house. And so was the second concert, held on Saturday when we had the honour of having one of the greatest double bassists in the house: Miroslav Vitous. He was in town for a seminar at the college of music and Henrik Frisk, a fine sax player and PhD student at the college of music, took the opportunity to invite Mr. Vitous to play in Malmo. I can assure you that everyone who heard Miroslav Vitous perform would agree with me that this was a brilliant idea.

Vitous started by playing a solo set playing his double bass and triggering samples from a tiny keyboard. The samples were courtesy of the bassist himself, since he has spent many years sampling orchestral instruments and later releasing them. For those of you into music software, check out these samples, they are great! Mats uses and likes them, and so should you if you work with orchestral sounds.

It was a true pleasure hearing Miroslav Vitous play and he does so in an astonishing way. Obviously, I was aware of his incredible abilities on his instrument, but his ability to swing like a madman, play with a great sense of humour and work with sounds (sampled and percussive bass sounds) were pleasant surprises.

For the second set, Vitous was joined by Frisk and excellent local drummer Peter Danemo for some improvisations, a blues and "Autumn Leaves".

The man himself was nice and polite, joking and seemingly enjoying himself, even playing a Swedish folk song in his solo set. He is very welcome back to Malmo!

The sound engineer, Svante, was a true hero. He arrived at three o' clock in the afternoon for an early soundcheck (Swedish national radio recorded the concert). After the Miroslav Vitous concert, he stayed on to work his second shift: mixing for a club held at the same place as the concert. When I left just after 11 o' clock, poor Svante was looking forward to going home around four in the morning.

* * *

"Miro Bop" is from - yes, you guessed it - a Miroslav Vitous album, Universal Syncopations. On this track, he is joined by Jan Garbarek, Jack DeJohnette and Chick Corea. To my ears, it sounds like Vitous has given each musician a fair amount of freedom to do their thing, and this makes for some interesting listening. You immediately idetify Garbarek, but you also hear that this is a collective effort. The album also features a somewhat restrained but tasteful John McLaughlin on a couple of tracks.

* * *

NP: Miroslav Vitous - Universal Syncopations

My Invitation

2006-02-09T23:29:00.000+01:00

What a wonderful invention Skype is! I had a fruitful conversation with Luis yesterday about me coming to the Gouveia Art Rock festival in April. Not only could I speak to Luis for free yesterday, Luis' festival co-organiser Eduardo joined us for a brief phone conference. Unfortunately, the quality left something to be desired, but it was still great to hear about Eduardo buying a Volvo and that everything was going according to plan with the festival. Ticket sales have just started and things are going very well: a third of the tickets are gone already. Trust me, this will a packed festival with some truly fine music courtesy of the one and only Peter Hammill.

The very well-recieved lecture I gave last year at the Gouveia festival is to be published in this years' program. I have two, three weeks maximum, to get it ready. No problem really, but I want to have a closer look at it before I send it off. My manuscript was to be read, not to be printed. This can be compared to playing live and recording an album. Live, it might sound great and people may like what they heard, but when you commit to something being printed, you have to think twice about what you've written, your wordings and readability in general.

Luis and me also discussed my talk for this year. I mentioned a couple of ideas to Luis which he was kind enough to find interesting. I hope something interesting will come out of this in the end.

At Jazz i Malmo, I've got my hands full since our administrative producer has gone on to an exciting project. Hopefully things are now set for our concert with Miroslav Vitous on Saturday and Marc Johnson/Eliane Elias/Victor Lewis on Tuesday.

* * *

NP: The Work of Director Anton Corbijn
A DVD featuring a selection of superb director Corbijn's work. Some great stuff here and some things I have never seen before, like Golden Earring's "Quiet Eyes". Generally speaking, this well-planned series featuing other great directors.

* * *

"My Invitation" is a song from Canadian vocalist/pianist Sarah Slean's Night Bugs album. She isn't that well-known, but if you're into Kate Bush, Tori Amos or Rufus Wainwright, check out this truly fine artist. Night Bugs is a great place to start.

The Man with the Horn

2006-02-03T23:07:00.000+01:00

This season's première at Jazz i Malmo got off to a wonderful start. In fact, it couldn't have turned out any better. A full house and a wonderful group on stage: Tomasz Stanko Quartet.

Stanko himself turned out to be a soft-spoken and very gentle man. His trumpet playing reflects this, but only to a certain extent. There is also the other Stanko, the man who was one of the leading horn players of the European free jazz movement during the late 60's and early 70's. Most of his early records were only released in Poland, and I as far as I know they haven't been officially released, at least not outside Poland. My favourite Stanko moments are from later dates. Matka Joanna from 1994 is a fine album and Leosia, released in 2000 is even better. The best album by Tomasz Stanko if you ask me. There is some incredibly dynamic and lyrical free playing on Leosia by Stanko, Bobo Stenson, Anders Jormin and master drummer Tony Oxley. If you are scared of free improvisation, but still interested in it, get this album!

The following day, our new administrative producer quit. Not good. We need a new administrative producer at once, since our previous producer, LL, decided to move on to a year-long project which she will be leading. I wish her the very best. I am sure she will do a great job. But a part of me wishes that she would have stayed, because she did a good job att Jazz i Malmo too. Who will I work with now? And when will we get a new administrative producer?

I met the very nice booking agent Robert Palmen for a couple of beers (and a pub quiz) on Wednesday evening. Another of the really nice guys! The idea is that he will book some gigs for IB later this year. Whatever comes out of this, it was great meeting this guy. We were lousy at the pub quiz though. At least the beer was good!

* * *

Miles Davis has recorded lots of music. A great deal of it is amazing, some of the stuff is truly classic material. But the song "The Man with the Horn" is not. In fact, it is awful. It doesn't go anywhere, there are no interesting improvisations, the vocals are cheezier than Wallace & Gromit's idea of heaven.

Celebration

2006-01-27T21:57:00.000+01:00

It's Wolfie's birthday today. Had he lived he would have been 250 years old today (and probably would have arthritis, amnesia and lots of other ailments). Am being terribly irreverent if I say I don't quite understand what all the fuss is about? Sure, I like Mozart's late symphonies, I like his "Dissonance" quartet (String quartet in C major, K 465), I like his "Alla Turca" (and have even performed it on stage) and some of the piano pieces. But that's about it I'm afraid. Can a trained musicologist really claim that he doesn't really like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that much? Well, at least I can.

Why? Put simply, the music doesn't speak to me.

Come on, you are a musicologist. Discuss!
OK. First of all, too many of his works are too happy sounding: major keys, merry melodies and uptempo. And I don't like opera, period. At least no operas from before 1950. The works that do not fit this description may have melodies that don't get me or they may be too formulaic.

Generally, the classic period is not my period of choice even though musical life during this period is really interesting, which is one of the reasons I am doing my thesis on musical life in Malmo during the first half of the 18th century. My favourites from this period would be Joseph Martin Kraus, Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Beethoven the deaf. Genius or not - please spare me from hearing that misused word again in conjunction with Mozart - Wolfgang's music is not my cup of tea.

My thoughts on this are backed up by the most culturally aware budgie alive: Fassbinder. I have tried playing Mozart to him. No reaction. Beethoven? He loves most of the symphonies, the late string quartets and the piano concertos (featuring Alfred Brendel). A very discriminating gentleman, he is teaching his budgie friend Livingston about what's good and bad within culture.

* * *

NP: The Dissonance Quartet as played by Quator Ysaÿe. Quite enjoyable, but certainly not up there with the mighty Ludwig's late quartets.

* * *

Celebration is one of the two bonus tracks on Tony Williams' Lifetime's Believe It CD. Maybe not up to par compared to burning tracks like "Snake Oil", "Proto-Cosmos" or "Wildlife" where Williams just blows everyone away while grooving like there's no tomorrow and Allan Holdsworth playing like a burning stuntman.

Pa krigsstigen

2006-01-16T16:52:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, i got a phonecall from a working partner who was on the warpath (= Pa krigsstigen). Our opinions on how to handle certain matters differed, but I am not so sure that the thing we discussed was really what it was all about. But I stuck to the hard facts and have since had a talk with The Leader and it turns out I was right all along.

Today, a good meeting with the two drumming Peters (Danemo and Nilsson) from the jazz co-op Kopasetic. There's a great name here if they ever want to do a duo project: Tva trumpeter. Remember where you read it first! But I digress. They presented a great and tempting idea for a two day jazzfestival in September. I will leave the decision to the booking group and we will see what happens. Their ideas were very cohesive and some aspects reminded me of IB Expo and the input I got from Jerry Marotta after the event. Very helpful comments indeed, for IB and for Kopasetic. On behalf of both: thanks Jerry!

When I am working in my office at the university, I tend to listen to iTunes on shuffle with the tracks overlapping at the beginnings and endings of each track. Occasionally, some really interesting mergers appear. Today, a Derek Bailey improvisation worked its way seamlessly into a Morcheeba track ("The Sea"). A random work of pure genious if you ask me.

* * *

NP: Militanta Jazzmusiker - Bunker
I have had my eye on this CD for a while, but haven't listened to it until last week. Now I am listening to it again simply because it's a great album! It's wild, crazy and it comes with a healthy dose of fun! Some great solos by sax player Tomas Jonsson and guitarist Thomas Gunillasson.

My favourite track from Bunker is På Krigsstigen, which features Gunillasson performing some seriously anarchic guitar playing in between a stately theme which reminds me of something Shostakovich could have used while protesting against his political regime at the time. Their website enables you to download four tracks, among them Pa Krigsstigen. Go ahead, do it!

I'm Going Slightly Mad

2006-01-10T21:49:00.000+01:00

Just before lunch, I had to take a break correcting exams. Instead, administrative work with a database called LUBAS called.

I have a degree in musicology, but not in bureaucracy or the fine art of interpreting incomprehensible manuals. My collegue phoned one of the support numbers given, but that person knew less than we did. The second round begins after a well-deserved lunch. Today: a microwave-heated vegetarian wholewheat pizza slice.

* * *

NP: Terje Sundby - Ynde
Not that fond of the musicians playing on it, with the exception of trumpet player Staffan Svensson, whose work I enjoy. The sound - courtesy of Ake Linton - is good, but the music is directionless and without any edges to it. Competent, yes, but interesting, no.

* * *

Queen's Innuendo was one of their best efforts ever I think. Several really strong tunes and Brian May in great shape. Freddie Mercury, on the other hand, wasn't, but you couldn't tell from the way he delivers the frequently odd lyrics. "I'm Going Slightly Mad" is charming, but not among the better tracks on the album. Fun video though.

Take It off the Top

2006-01-10T09:11:00.000+01:00

Just for the record - pun intended - here's my slightly revised top ten CD list of 2005 in alphabetical order with very short comments:

Actis Furioso - Avanti Popolo!
Italian avant-world-jazz with a great sense of humour! Features Luca Calabrese, my favourite trumpet player.

Kate Bush - Aerial
It's features Pi, a duet with a blackbird (she should have phoned Jeff Beck up and made it a trio) and a song that combines Elvis with Orson. And the voice.

Fred Frith - Eleventh Hour
Moving with the grace of a ballet dancer. Only a few years ago, I wouldn't have thought the old avantgardist had it in him. But he has.

Isildurs Bane - Songs from the Observatory
Great. It would have been even better if we could have just a bit more Moog at the end of "Without Grace". Even though he is a friend, I still want to point out what a fantastic composer Mats is.

Eric Johnson - Bloom
An incredible guitarist with ears the size of Texas - please understand that I am writing metaphorically - and a guitar sound to die for. Can I please have more and longer solos and less covers next time please? That's right, I didn't like the Dylan cover.

Mick Karn - Love's Glove
A brilliantly groovy ambient EP from the master bassist. The final track occasionally makes the hairs on my arms point towards the sky. Support independent musicians, buy this!

Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane - At Carnegie Hall
Miracles do happen! Hopefully, the Library of Congress will now employ more archivists so the rest of us can look forward to more holy grails like this one.

Spin Marvel - Spin Marvel
Super drummer Martin France's solo thing. It's electric, it's daring, it's exciting and France hasn't been on fire on this scale since the revolution!

Bobo Stenson/Anders Jormin/Paul Motian - Goodbye
A beautifully understated release from the finest Swedish jazz pianist alive. Period. How good is this? It is so good that yours truly - who hates musicals - even loves "Send in the Clowns" when this trio sends the old face painted jokers into the arena.

Franck Vigroux - Triste Lilas
Luckily I don't work in a record shop any more. I would have great difficulties categorizing this slightly eccentric French release featuring among others guitarist Marc Ducret. Is it jazz? Art music? Electronica? Avantgarde? Rock? None of the above? All of the above? I just know it's great.

* * *

NP: ProjeKct One - Live at the Jazz Café

* * *

Take It off the Top was written by Steve Morse and released on the Dixie Dregs' What If album back in 1978. If memory serves, English DJ Tommy Vance used it as a theme tune for his Friday Night Rock Show (or whatever it was called). One of the more straightforward tracks by this extremely capable US band. Great solo by Morse (as usual). One some of the tours they also included a drum solo by the scary Rod Morgenstein (what is he up to nowadays?). Phew!

Improvisation on Guitar Piece No. 1

2006-01-05T23:56:00.000+01:00

Derek Bailey died on December 25. I came close to hearing him live once, at Copenhagen jazzhouse a couple of years ago where he was to perform with terribly overrated danish drummer Kresten Osgood. The gig was cancelled due to illness. At that point I had no idea that Derek was ill, and seriously ill at that.

Until he left us, I still had some hope of booking him at Jazz i Malmo or finding some way to get him to play with Christian Saggese. Now I can only imagine what this duet would have sounded like. Luckily, there are many recordings of Bailey, mainly on the Incus and Emanem labels. Support these companies and buy some Bailey recordings.

Derek Bailey (1930-2005) was buried this morning in London.

* * *

Improvisation on Guitar Piece No. 1 is, of course, an improvisation by Derek Bailey. It is taken from the Tzadik CD Pieces for Guitar, featuring some of Bailey's earliest recorded playing. It is incredible to hear him play the way he does on these private recordings. The ideas were there already forty years ago, and he spent the rest of his life refining his art and craft.

The Sahara of Snow

2005-12-30T00:40:00.000+01:00

It's now almost two weeks since IB Expo 2005 ended. I have some wonderful memories from that week that I will treasure forever. When Mats and I started talking about who we wanted to invite to the event, Mick Karn and Jerry Marotta were on the top of our lists. We loved their playing and thought they could complement Isildurs Bane and Metamorfosi Trio (who have a standing invitation to whatever we do) really well.

However, we didn't know what Karn and Marotta were like as social creatures. We have had some run-ins in the past with some strange and difficult people to say the least. I started looking at pictures. Jerry is a drummer, and drummers are known to be violent, aren't they? He does look really pissed off in that Gabriel photo. And what about the cover of Mick Karn's Bestial Cluster album? He looks absolutely dangerous!!! Why on earth did we invite him? I am the one picking Karn up at the airport. Good thing Christian and Luca were to be picked up at the same time. Surely they would stick up for me? And I am the one taking Marotta and his collegue Tom Griesgraber - he looks scary too by the way - to a clinic at the College of music in Malmö. Not only that, but since I do some part-time teaching there, I already imagined myself being asked to leave, kindly but firmly by my former friends.

I needn't have worried at all. Mick turned out to be a soft-spoken suntanned gentleman who charmed everyone during the week with his dry, understated sense of humour and his unique and truly extraordinary bass playing. No one plays bass like Mick Karn, period.

Jerry Marotta was an easy-going and lovable man who got everybody's feet tapping as soon as he came close to anything resembling a percussion instrument. His team leading talents were also very helpful during rehearsals.

Stick player Tom Griesgraber was anything but scary. He was ever so nice, laid back and kind. As a player, he was something else, performing funky bass lines, screaming guitar leads and piano-like passages like nobody's business.

Add to this Christian and Luca, two guys I really love. There's no going wrong with a team like that. To cut a long story short, we couldn't have had better guests.

The concert was very successful with everybody involved keeping the time restrictions and playing wonderfully. I had to pinch myself while watching IB onstage together with Christian, Luca, Jerry, Tom and Mick.

Some highlights:
- Mick's inventive contrapuntal bass lines in "Honey Sweating" accompanied by Klas' perfectly groovy drum playing.
- Jerry & Tom's wonderful interplay during their all too short set
- Christian and Luca's incredible improvisation featuring some amazing dialogue between Christian and Tom, and a mindblowing ending featuring Luca on a plastic tube!

* * *

When I look outside, I see snow. Lots of it. My guess is that we now have 35 centimeters, more in some places. Our garden has turned into a Sahara of Snow.

* * *

Bill Bruford composed and recorded The Sahara of Snow (with a little help from Eddie Jobson) on Bruford's one of a kind back in 1979. One of the strongest tracks on one of my favourite fusion albums of all time. This was a fantastic band! Imaging Bill Bruford, Allan Holdsworth, Jeff Berlin and Dave Stewart recording together and playing on the same stage! Too good to be true. Buy this album if you haven't got it already! Do it NOW!

NP: Ashlee Simpson on Jay Leno. Unfortunately.

Twitchy Hand Mover

2005-12-15T02:22:00.000+01:00

Everything is going great at IB HQ. At the moment, Jerry Marotta, Tom Griesgraber, Mats Johansson and Mick Karn are working on a new track of Mick's: "Twitchy Hand Mover". Mick's idea was quickly picked up by Tom and turned into a wild groove by Jerry. Mats will add some crazy synths and Klas may be adding some percussion tomorrow. We will see what it ends up sounding like, but judging from what has been going on so far, it will sould amazing!

Mick is a joy to work with, and he just wanted to make sure that we record the concert. What can I say? Your wish is my command.

* * *

So what does it sound like? It starts with the sound of an orchestra tuning up, followed by some haunting bass clarinet and moves into danceable rhythms. Groovy!

All Together Now!

2005-12-14T01:27:00.000+01:00

Currently in Halmstad witnessing a historic rehearsal. Jerry Marotta, Kjell Severinsson, Christian Saggese, Mick Karn, Tom Griesgraber, Jonas Christophs and Luca Calabrese playing together.

It sounds GREAT!

Since they are playing one of the Marotta/Griesgraber songs, Jerry is in charge and leads everyone through with the sheer excellence only an experienced musician can.

Yesterday, Mick's songs were rehearsed, and I am pleased top say everybody was well pleased with the results.

This is so exciting! And there's lots more to come.

* * *

All Together Now used to be one of my favourite Beatles songs when I was a child. Now? Well, let's just say that it's not in my top ten.

The Disappearing Afternoon

2005-12-04T06:05:00.000+01:00

Does time fly or what?

It was only a short while ago when I was walking around our garden in shorts, wasn't it? Now it's cold - but luckily we've got a new heating system installed - dark and almost Christmas. Fancy that!

I am now officially doing the bookings for Jazz in Malmo. Great work, but the hours run by ever so quickly! I experienced a disappearing afternoon on Thursday while overwhelmed with work. All of a sudden it was time for that evening's concert and I still had lots of work to do.

Today, same thing. The afternoon was spent taking nails out of the floor in our future dinner room. A close friend who's good with figures suggested there were approximately 2100 nails in the floor. Now every single one of them is out of the floor and put neatly into a box. Another disappearing afternoon.

On the IB Expo front, things are going well, even though I haven't heard from Jerry Marotta for a while. I am sure he and Tom Griesgraber will turn up. But when? Where? And how? I will find out eventually.

Mick Karn kindly agreed to my friend Klas Assarsson's suggestions on what to play. Three great tracks originally recorded by Mick on Tooth Mother and Polytown respectively. Mr Karn also said he would bring some bass lines with him to work on. This will be excellent!

* * *

The Disappearing Afternoon is a track on BassDrumBone's (Hence the Reason) album. An amazing trio featuring Mark Helias (bass), Gerry Hemingway (drums) and Ray Anderson (trombone). Get the name? I thought so. The Disappearing Afternoon is a playful piece with a good sense of humour included at no extra cost. Hemmingway plays it loose and partly free, but eventually we get a happy ending when everybody unites in a dancable cheerful tune.

Exposure

2005-11-27T03:30:00.000+01:00

I am currently administrating a most exciting project which will go ahead in December: IB Expo.

IB Expo is the brainchild of Mats Johansson, composer/musician with Isildurs Bane and myself. Briefly put, it is an opportunity for Isildurs Bane to meet and interact with top notch musicians during a handful of days. To wrap it up, we will put on a concert on Friday December 16 at Kulturhuset in Halmstad, Sweden.

Our guests this year will be basist Mick Karn, drummer/percussionist Jerry Marotta, stick player Tom Griesgraber our dear friends Metamorfosi Trio from Italy. This will be great!

Both Mick Karn and Jerry Marotta have told me that they look forward to our week together in December, and so is everyone involved in Isildurs Bane of course. At the moment we are working on the practical stuff, but soon the musical work will begin and in a couple of weeks, there will be interesting music right. left and centre.

* * *

A couple of days ago, I had the pleasure of attending Jazz in Malmo's 30th anniversary concert. A case of a who's who in Malmo's jazz history performed very short sets to get us from 1975 up to date. Highly memorable performances came from the subtleness of Hakan Rydin's trio accompanying Almaz Yebio and Elisabeth Melander; fierce trumpet solos from the horn master Anders Bergcrantz, a humour-filled double bass duet featuring Mattias Hjort and Mattias Svensson supported by Jan Lundgren; the wonderful spikey weirdness of guitarist Krister Jonsson... I could go on and on about this. I was truly pleased to see so many people of all ages there, everybody enjoying themselves and letting the music soak in.

* * *

Exposure was composed by Robert Fripp and Peter Gabriel. I prefer the version on Fripp's solo album on which this song is the title track. Terre Roche belts her heart out over a minimalistic background on this take. Much more interesting than Gabriel's restrained performance on his second solo album.

NP: Mick Karn - The Tooth Mother

Time

2005-11-13T10:07:00.000+01:00

It's been longer than I intended since my last blog. A lot of water has passed under the bridge, and I will account for some of the most important things eventually.

First of all, I must mention two truly great concert experiences, both at the concert house in Malmo. First, I heard the Malmo Symphony Orchestra performing Giya Kancheli's sixth symphony. What a wonderful piece of music! Dynamic, lyrical, lamenting, powerful, arresting, breathtaking. The way Kancheli uses silence as a equal to sounding notes reminds me that silence is an absolute necessity in music. Without silence, how can there be any music?

The other concert was by the extraordinary Kronos Quartet. I have had the pleasure of hearing them twice before, both times in London. This time, they came to my home turf. A great programme: John Zorn, Charles Mingus, Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Steve Reich and Peteris Vasks. The Zorn piece ("Cat o' Nine Tails") I've heard before on record and live, but not the other works. I was particularly eager to hear Sy Johnson's Mingus arrangement and Vasks' sixth string quartet. As it turned out, they were the highlights of the set along with Zorn and Reich ("Triple Quartet"). At least until the encores. I was surprised to see that two of the composers attending the concert - Gudmundsen-Holmgreen and Vasks. Just like Kancheli's symphony, the Vasks piece was very impressive and moving.

For the encores, Kronos chose to perform three wonderful pieces that were earthshattering in three completely different ways. The encores began with viola player Hank Dutt taking the spotlight with Ram Narayan's "Raga Mishra Bhairavi". Some amazing playing from Dutt here! Following some enthusiastic applause, the quartet returned to perform Sigur Ros' "Svefn-g-englr", a low-key piece with small gestures. But great music! For the third and final encore Kronos returned with a vengeance with their take on Jimi Hendrix' take on "The Star Spangled Banner". It was louder than anything I have ever heard at the concert house. Between gushes of feedback, frantic glissandi and chaotic variations on Hendrix' soundscapes, parts of the US national anthem could be heard.

In my forthcoming blogs: new work, book offer, december concert, international contacts, organizing, meetings, a bad person in the heating business, a great jazz concert. And then some.

* * *

"Time" by Pink Floyd is a song that starts off in a great way with the ticking clocks, haunting guitar and the contrasting almost happy-go-lucky percussion. The verses are great too, as is the guitar solo - performed tastefully as usually by David Gilmour. The contrasting theme on the other hand has always bothered me. I have problems with major 7th chords. They are simply too cheesy to my ears. Also, Rick Wright's voice is slightly too shakey in my opinion. On the other hand, his voice suits Roger Waters' words perfectly. Tiredness, anxiety and reflections on life work well with the monotonous vocal lines performed with Wright's fragile-sounding vocal performance.

NP: Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm

Neighbours

2005-10-19T02:01:00.000+02:00

I am currently in a situation which is not unlike that of a professional juggler, if there are any professional jugglers left in the world. A couple of interesting opportunities have appeared, and I need to consider these while dealing with long-term goals and everyday occurrences such as deciding who will I will ask to put in a new heating system in our house.

It's good to have music in these situations. Sometimes for pleasure, sometimes for work, sometimes to turn your brain inside out with research, sometimes to escape and just enjoy the moment.

Last Friday, I took the car to Ystad and heard Magnus Lindgren's quartet with vocalist Rigmor Gustafsson and the orchestra of the MalmÃ¶ Opera house. I must be completely honest to begin with. I am not a big fan of Lindgren's. He is a good sax player, he seems to have an open mind and people say positive things about him. But I don't get his greatness. But then again, I don't get Bruce Springsteen's or Bob Dylan's respective greatness either.

But having heard Magnus Lindgren perform his work Music for the Neighbours on TV a while back, I became moreinterestedd in his work. And this was the work that was performed in Ystad, so naturally I took the opportunity to experience it in a live environment. The environment in question was the old and very beautiful theatre in Ystad, situated immediately on the seafront with grand view of the sea, ships and the odd train passing by.

What about the music then? Not bad. There was some nice interplay between the jazz group and the orchestra, and I especially enjoyed the chromatic passages played jointly by Lindgren's quartet and the orchestra. Rigmor Gustafsson's wordless vocals were another highlight. She should do this more often I think. When I heard Gustafsson's own group some years ago, I remember liking the more abstract and wordless parts the best. In Ystad she proved that the good bits had become even better I am happy to say.

Magnus Lindgren played many solos, some were impressive, but most of them didn't move me. This doesn't mean in any way that they weren't any good, they just didn't affect me on this particular occasion. Unfortunately, I liked the playing of pianist Mathias Algotsson and double bassist Fredrik Jonsson less. At least on this occasion, they resorted to what in my ears sounded like dull and polite playing lacking fire, intensity and dynamics. This is one of many common problems that often show up when a jazz or rock group perform with a symphony orchestra. A wet blanket of politeness seems to hover over the jazz or rock players. Magnus Lindgren didn't suffer from this though, and I salute him for that. His enthusiasm on stage really did the performance some good, as did Rigmor Gustafsson during the second set, when several orchestrated standards made the evening take a turn towards more traditional musical areas.

It would have been more interesting if there had been more interplay between the jazz group and the orchestra. As it was, the parties met briefly, but there was no mingling and networking. And then there is the ever present question aboutwhetherr or not you should push players to play things they didn't know they could. In this case, I think it might have been a good idea every now and then, just to add some nerve to it. On the other hand, I could have done without the orchestras attempts to join Lindgren's sax lines. He swings, they don't. And who can blame them? They weren't made for that and to swing like a jazz musician, you have to have years and years of experience. Swinging takes plenty of practice.

What stood out the most was an absent musician: Magnus Persson. He took part in the performance of Music for the Neighbours in Stockholm, but was not present in Ystad. Too bad. He is a great percussionist who can play a truly funky groove and really invigorate a performance with some zest. All in all, a good performance, but certainly not a contender for concert of the year.

I was 14 when I first heard the Rolling Stones song "Neighbours". I liked the song instantly. It was loose but moving forward like a steam train that's picked up some speed. Jagger sings with quite an attitude and Richards or Wood (I am not sure who) plays a simple but great solo towards the end of the song. You can find it on Tattoo You. And the video is enjoyable too. It reminds me of why I decided to move house.

NP: Joanna MacGregor - Play

More of that Jazz

2005-10-17T09:03:00.000+02:00

After my positive experience with Steve Vai and his merry band of musicians, I had the pleasure of encouting Bobo Stenson's trio featuring the excellent Stenson on piano, double bassist extraordinarie Anders Jormin and new hot shot Jon Fält on drums.

Being on the board of Jazz in Malmö, many tasks can come your way. I was asked if I could go to the airport to pick this dynamic trio. I obliged, of course. As it turned out, the guys were ever so nice. Even better, they are truly amazing musicians! The interplay between Stenson and Jormin in particular is dynamic, creative and always interesting to the listener. Fält is the new man in this team, but as he really is a coming man within the Swedish jazz scene, he fits in nicely with his Monk-ish/Motian-ish mad drumming. And I mean mad in the nicest and best way possible.

The material performed proved that jazz can - and is - lots of things nowadays. Starting with a polska from Abbekås, then onto works by Monteverdi and Ives and onto original compositions by Stenson and Jormin, everything came together as great music. Not necessarily jazz, not art music as such, not simply improvised music. Just beautiful, intense, exciting music.

Any recording by Bobo Stenson trio comes highly recommended. Why not try the latest, featuring the splendid drumming of Paul Motian, Goodbye.

I spent the evening looking through some old concert and documentary footage of IB. Unfortunately, the only existing footage from the Cheval tour is patchy and filmed with a single handheld video camera. The live material is cut up and fragmentary. Still, having missed the tour myself, I was happy to at least get a glimpse of what the stage set looked like and what IB & Hallandsensemblen sounded like live.

I am currently watching IB performing live at the old fire station in Halmstad. This is a concert from 1993, and the band are really hot (pun intended). This was a line-up that existed for no more than a year and a half. Pity. Bo N. Roth is playing really well, managing to merge technical brilliance with matured restraint. His tunes aren't half bad either. Klas Assarsson was the new guy at this point and he certainly had his work cut out, taking care of the cello and the piano parts on The Voyage.

It's also great to hear songs such as "Nimis", "Factory Man" and "Initiation" by this line-up. And when can we hear Mats play a Picassiette live again? Please?

As I watch this concert - unfortunately filmed with only one camera - I realize that this was the last version of IB that worked with theatrics on stage. Personally, I miss this aspect. I think it really added to the music.

"More of that Jazz" is the last track on Queen's fine album Jazz. A great track that sums literally sums up the whole album. Not jazzy at all, but based on a heavy groove and some mean singing by Freddie Mercury.

NP: Isildurs Bane - Live at Brandstationen, Halmstad

The Attitude Song

2005-10-16T08:44:00.000+02:00

It's been a busy concert week for me. Steve Vai on Friday, Bobo Stenson trio on Tuesday and Magnus Lindgren Quartet with the Malmö Opera Orchestra yesterday evening. I will deal with these concerts in three separate installments Here's the first one

Vai I have heard twice before. Once with G3 featuring Joe Satriani and Robert Fripp, and once with David Lee Roth back in the late 80's. The former gig was OK, the latter was great (apart from the fact that Roth let keyboardist Jesse Harms to all the singing Roth couldn't handle). This time the venue was appropriate - KB in Malmö, the band was hot (with one exception), the house was packed and the music was excellent.

I believe it helped that I went with a A who is a Vai enthusiast. A even owns an Ibanez 7-string JEM guitar (which Vai helped design). Having gone to loads of concerts on my own, I am usually not bothered about going on my own, but in this case I think A made a difference in a positive way.

While walking to KB we talked Vai, music and guitars. Fun!!! I got a bit of a flashback to my guitar freaked late teens. Not that I ever would like to be in my teens again, absolutely NOT, not even if I could. But there was more time to be a bit of a music nerd, more time to practise and I had several friends who shared this slightly introverted streak.

A and myself agreed that Passion and Warfare was Vai's greatest album so far, to a large extent because of the compositions. We also agreed that the Alcatraz album Disturbing the Peace is criminally underrated. Pity that they only released one album with Vai.

I am not going into details on the concert. Suffice it to say that I liked the high level of musicianship from Vai, Sheehan and MacAlpine, the well-planned visual stunts (Vai's finger lasers, the smoke appearing at the right places at the right time, the good time interaction between the band members), and the generous length of the show - more than 2 1/2 hours. Even if I would have loved Vai to have played more of his early material, I fully understand if he wants to go on and play his later stuff. He did play a handful of older songs, so I shouldn't complain really, should I?

What struck me at this concert, as many times before, was how unfair it is that the press in general refuse to appreciate the qualities of musicianship. It is OK to rave about athletes, football players or whatever and go on and on and on about how technically brilliant they are. So why do these values not transfer to music? It is a complex matter to go into, but Allan F. Moore's article in Popular Music a couple of years back touches on this matter: authenticity. If you play rock music of any kind, you will be judged by the level of your authenticity wheather you like it or not. A lot of the time it is more about if the music critics percieve you as authentic or not. If you are a rock musician that can play technically great, you are in trouble. Personally, I would like to hear more good musicians in rock. I am convinced that the music would be all the better for it. Partly it is an attitude problem on behalf of the many ignorant music critics that know little or close to nothing about music itself.

A big thanks to Raimond for putting me and A on the guest list. You're a great guy!

Unfortunately, Vai did not perform "The Attitude Song", my favourite Vai song. It was the first song by Steve Vai I ever heard, on a flexi single given away with with an issue of Guitar Player magazine back in 1983 or something. I was floored upon hearing it and listened to it repeatedly while reading Vai's accompanying transcription in the magazine. The wang bar antics, the chromaticism, the rhythmic subdivisions were all truly eye opening to a 16-year old Swedish guitarist. Shortly thereafter, I found the Flexable album at a record shop in Halmstad (Pet Sounds) and bought it immediately. There were more strange things going on on this record! Unbelievable!

NP: Buddy Miller - Midnight and Lonesome

The Times They are a-changing

2005-10-04T19:02:00.000+02:00

After moving from the city to a smaller place - I am still not sure what to call it: a town, city, village? - I have noticed several things that are very different. I sleep much better now, I worry more about costs, I enjoy the fresh air, I try keeping the heating off as much as possible, I appreciate the friendliness of the locals and I am really pleased with the fact that you don't have someone living on top, next to and under your confined living spaces. I can play any music I like as loudly as I like. Well, at least when A is not at home and as long as Livingston and Fassbinder - the budgie team - don't disapprove.

One that I noticed early on was that the shops had strange opening hours. At least they were strange to me. Some shops opened at eight or even seven o' clock in the morning! I can understand it in a way, because these are shops were construction workers get their stuff, and they tend to start their day early in the morning.

But today I was made aware of the most bizarre opening hours while walking past the video rental shop. In Malmö, they tend to open around mid-day and close at midnight. So do the video shops in other places I know of. Not in the place I call home nowadays. The open at 6.30! Yes, they do. I had to actually go up and check the opening times when I passed on my way to the train this morning. 6.30 it was. Inside was a guy sleepily browsing a newspaper. I wonder how many customers they have before noon? Very rarely have I felt the urge to rent a movie at that time of the day.

Spoke at lengt with M yesterday. He phoned me up on my mobile while I was walking from work to the train. I changed trains, still talking to M, and was approaching home when the signal was cut off. 49 minutes. I don't blame M. He has been going through some rough patches for some time. Since last summer I suppose, but the problems keep on coming. At least one of the problems got solved in the best way possible the other week. One down, too many to go.

On the IB, I feel there will be some interesting developments soon. The plans are solid and artisticaly valid. We are currently waiting for the financial part to be solved, then we can move on.

The Times They are a-changing is one of a relatively small number of Bob Dylan songs I like. Some of his songs I really like (Love Sick, Masters of War and Don't Think Twice It's All Right), this one I just like. I am not a big Dylan fan. Frankly, I sometimes wonder what all the fuss is about. He certainly has written some memorable songs, some fine lyrics and I can even stretch as far as saying that some of his performances of his songs are good. But as far as I am concerned, give me Richard Thompson any day. Or Van Morrison. Or (fill in the name of your favourite singer/songwriter here). I prefer Dylan's live versions of The Times They are a-changing. They tend to be grittier, more venomous and with more attack than the studio recording. I strongly feel this performance attitude really underlines the lyrics. And with Dylan, the lyrics tend to be more important than the music. Maybe that's why I prefer Richard Thompson? Or is it just because I am an anglophile?

NP: Grant Green - Idle Moments

I'm So Glad

2005-10-04T08:34:00.000+02:00

I have been in a very good mood today. This is based on some good news I got yesterday.

'Nuff said.

"I'm So Glad" is a song made well-known by Cream. Originally though, it was performed on record by its composer, Skip James, in 1931. The Cream version of the song is the first track on the brand new DVD of Cream's reunion shows at the Royal Albert Hall earlier this year. Certainly not my favourite Cream track by any strech of the imagination, but very appropriate to my current mood.

NP. Henry Kaiser interviews Derek Bailey.

Above the Roofs

2005-10-01T05:55:00.000+02:00

As an inexperienced house owner, you get to experience many interesting situations. Yesterday, for instance, when I wanted to try my hand at heating the house by lighting a fire, I only managed to smother the flames and fill the basement with smoke. It's a good thing we have windows in the basement.

My good friend Mats, a man very experienced in this area, advised me to check for birds' och wasps' nests in the chimney. Having had close encounters of the third degree with wasps twice this summer, I was slightly hesitant to get up on the roof of the house. But somebody had to do it, so I did.

While there, I brought some tiles to replace a couple of absent ones. Luckily, there was no wasp nest, at least not as far as I could see. I must confess that I was none the wiser after looking down the chimney. One thing is certain though. Santa will not come down this pipe. Not unless he is less than 9 cm wide. Maybe an elf?

After securing the new tiles, I took a good look at the surroundings. I could see as far as Söderåsen in one direction and in the other direction, I could almost see the sea. At least with some imagination involved.

I spent most of the day finishing IB's newsletter. It's done now except for a picture that is still missing. This is due to Mats' scanner refusing to work.

Above the Roofs is an Isildurs Bane song, composed by Mats that has been slightly neglected I think. It's a beautiful composition with its long melodic lines and relaxed pulse.

NP: Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes

Can I Play with Madness?

2005-09-17T09:19:00.000+02:00

Lately, madness has surrounded me indirectly. My good friend M has suffered from several people with strange or even bizarre behaviour. Even though I have encountered these people too, they have not behaved strangely towards me. But yesterday, lunacy struck me, almost literally in fact.

Normally, my work at the department of musicology at the university is very undramatic. I do research, read articles, lecture, advise students on their future, attend meetings and so on. Very rarely does anything out of the ordinary happen. Much to my surprise, my collegue T came to my office to see me. T was obviously upset, completely white in the face and muttered something about a student that was going to sue the department.

Following T came the student who was not a happy customer. The short version: the student was very upset because the student had bought the sixth edition of the literature required for the course. All the students had been informed that there is a brand new edition - the seventh edition - available, but the previous edition is still good enough to be used on the course, and the department could sell this edition to the student at a price (including a book on music history, 12 CDs and two anthologies) almost 1000 kr below the price of the seventh edition in the shops. Even though we have copies left of the sixth edition, we recommend the students buy the latest edition. The books in question (yes, they are plural) are currently used at departments of musicology all over the world. According to the student, we had forced the "poor students" (to quote the student) to buy the earlier edition. The book was "old rubbish" and the student said the department would get sued.

I explained very calmly that the book was not rubbish. We have used this book for some years now, and musical history hasn't changed enough to discard the books. As for us forcing the students to buy the sixth edition, that accusation is simply out of order. We have never forced any student to buy this book from us. There have been no complaints from any other students on this matter. As for being sued, I don't lose any sleep over that matter.

When the student understood that I would not give the student any monetary refund for the book, the student very dramatically threw the book on the floor with some force. Interestingly, the student proudly claimed to have hit me over the head with the book. No such thing happened, which is very lucky for the student. I could have reported the student to the university or even the police had I been hit.

"Can I Play with Madness" is an Iron Maiden song I don't particularly care for. Not one of their best, but certainly a most suitable headline for this blog.

NP: Wayne Krantz - 2 Drink Minimum, a remarkable guitarist with his excellent trio on a very hot live date in N.Y.C. Highly recommended for anyone into original guitar playing, good fusion music or just great musicianship.

Our House

2005-08-10T19:20:00.000+02:00

Ah, it's good to be back! Since my last blog entry, almost a month ago, me and A have moved from an apartment to a house. Yes, a proper house. This also means that we have had problems with the phone (we were phoneless for almost a week) and with the Internet (we still haven't got our ADSL connection). I can not recommend Spray as an Internet supplier by the way. We have had a wide range of answers to our questions regarding our ADSL connection. Everything from a letter saying you can not get ADSL to a friendly Norwegian voice who assured me that we already have it. In the end, none of this turned out to be true. But we are still waiting.

In the meantime, things have been starting to move again on the IB front. Hopefully, I will be able to send out the next IB-newsletter by the end of August from my new and improved office at home.

Tonight, I am off to listen to Juliette & the Licks at KB in Malmö. I have no idea what to expect. But I will let you know!

For me, Our House is a good tune by Madness accompanied by a funny video, not a CSN&Y song. It's part of my teenage years when I sort of liked Madness, but never admitted it in public and never bought any of their albums. Maybe I should have? After all, I am a bit of an Anglophile.

Tupelo Honey

2005-07-11T09:07:00.000+02:00

In my last blog I mentioned that I was impressed by Swedish TV's recent willingness to show quality concerts. Tonight, I have enjoyed a concert with vocalist Cassandra Wilson and her excellent band. I had the great pleasure of hearing Wilson live two years ago at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival. Excellent stuff then, excellent stuff on the telly now.

Cassandra Wilson is one of my favourite vocalists ever. In her case, it's because of her husky low voice and her impeccable and flexible sense of rhythm. Very laid back, relaxed and self-assured. Having good songs always helps. As does a remarkable presence onstage. Ms Wilson's got 'em all.

My girlfriend and me only have a few artists we both like a lot. Björk, Peter Gabriel and Cassandra Wilson are three examples. We also agree that with Cassandra Wilson, you should go for the Blue Note albums. On these, you will find the best versions of The Monkees' "Last Train to Clarksville" you are likely to hear as well as Dylan's "Shelter from the Storm" done far better than the grumpy old man himself and modernized versions of old blues chesnuts. And yes, her take on "Tupelo Honey" is sweeter than Van Morrison's original version.

Iron Maiden

2005-07-09T09:32:00.000+02:00

I was pleasantly surprised when I heard that Swedish TV were going to show Iron Maiden live from Ullevi, Gothenburg. Not that I am a big Maiden fan, I really am not. Way back in 1981, I was thinking about seeing them in Gothenburg, but in the end, I didn't. Since I was a very young man, I probably didn't have the means to go.

The reason I think it's great that Swedish TV transmitted a live concert with Iron Maiden (and a taped performance of AC/DC yesterday) is that this is a sign of democracy. For years, hard rock and heavy metal has had a very large fan base, even during the punk and new wave years when, according to some journalists, the music scene was supposed to be dominated by youngsters with safety pins stuck through various body parts. The truth is that there were many types of music that outsold punk, but punk just happened to be fashionable at the time (and disco even more so). Anyway, during the second half of the 70's, many great hard rock bands made fantastic albums. Thin Lizzy, UFO, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Gillan and The Scorpions made lots of fans and sold many records during these years. During the 80's hard rock and heavy metal made it really big, but you saw very little of it on TV. There were radio shows and a couple of shows that dealt with metal, but not in proportion to the enormous popularity of the bands.

During the 90's and the 00's, hard and heavy rock music has developed and kept a big audience at the same time. A quick look at the Swedish charts tells us that bands such as Audioslave, Candlemass and Iron Maiden are top-10 chart material. Just like in the 80's. Another thing that has changed - to the worse - is the exposure of metal on Swedish radio and TV. Why is it that you can hear metal being used in commercials, but not being played regularly on daytime radio, nevermind TV? It's not like this music is percieved as rebellious anymore now is it?

So, that is why I applaud the decision to show AC/DC yesterday and - even better since it was a show going out live - Iron Maiden today. I hope this is just the beginning.

Alive and Kicking

2005-07-08T09:39:00.000+02:00

My first thought when I heard about the explosions in London was: I hope nothing has happened to my good friends the Bereza family. A few minutes ago, I got an e-mail from Andy confirming that everything was OK. Phew! Along with 99,99 % of the rest of the world, I shake my head at the insane acts of violence that have hit London today. My heart goes out to the victims of this vicious attack.

On a happier note, I spent the afternoon with my oldest friend Peter today. We haven't seen each other for... I don't know, more than half a year. There are various reasons for this, but we made up for it by having lunch and a good chat after me selling him my old car, Drafi. Drafi is a Mazda 323 inherited from my Grandfather. My sister and me were the custodians of this elderly gentleman (he's from 1987), but since both of us are driving newer cars nowadays, poor old Drafi has been resting in a parking lot. I offered Drafi to Peter for a very reasonable price indeed, and he certainly knew a bargain when he saw it (and drove it). It's good to know that Drafi will have a good home in the future.

After a few minutes at work sending e-mails, we headed off for our lunch mentioned above. Discussions on music, Peter's stupid co-workers, music, heating, music and... eh... music followed. We must have bored the people at the café. When we came it was crowded, when we left there were only two other people there. We headed home to Peter's flat, watched a Kim Mitchell DVD and remembered the 80's when we were both buying second hand copies of Mitchell's work with the excellent Max Webster. Kim Mitchell was clearly the leader of this slightly bizarre and funny Canadian hard prog rock band. As Frank Zappa famously said: "Does Humor Belong in Music?". Listen to Max Webster and you will find out that the answer is the affirmative.

As I am writing this, I am watching The Last Waltz. Frequently regarded as one of the best rock movies ever, but I am not so sure. I prefer The Band's first two albums. If you ask me, it all went downhill after those two fine examples of Americana. Isn't it ironic that it took a Canadian band to do it properly? And the other performers were either better before or after The Last Waltz was shot. Not bad, not bad at all. But not that good. Personal highlights include Joni Mitchell's performing "Coyote" and Van Morrison actually coming as close as ever to being a bit of an extrovert.

I have never been a fan of Simple Minds. They recorded "Alive and Kicking" on their Once Upon a Time album in 1985. The best things about the band at this point were probably their drummer Mel Gaynor and, even better, the great bass player John Giblin. Check out the man's work with Brand X!

NP: The Last Waltz (but you knew that already)

It's a Shame About Ray

2005-07-07T11:03:00.000+02:00

I've just watched the blockbuster Ray which, of course, deals with the life and times of Ray Charles. Not bad at all. Jamie Foxx is great as Ray, the music grooves along nicely and there's a great story in there. Somewhere. It's just that I have problems with"the American dream". If I never ever saw a movie, read a book or heard anyone sing about this subject matter again, I would be a very happy man indeed.

On the DVD version, you can choose between the cinematic version and a longer version. In the longer version, deleted scenes are edited into the cinematic version. This means that you occasionally get to see parts of some scenes twice. At one point in the film, we get more than we bargained for. The same scene is shown about ten times. Luckily, it's a short scene, but it's annoying. A clear case of misjudgement if you ask me.

As much as I appreciate some of Ray Charles' music - his recordings on Atlantic - he treated the women in his life terribly badly. That's why it's a shame about Ray.

Evan Dando wrote "It's a Shame About Ray". I've never liked the song, but it makes a good headline for today's blog, doesn't it?

NP: Ellery Eskelin/Andrea Parkins/Jim Black - One Great Day...

Leaving home ain't easy

2005-07-06T05:48:00.000+02:00

Leaving home ain't easy is one of my least favourite Queen songs, but a fact for me these days. After living in Malmö for ten years and seven months, it's time to move. Luckily, I am off work and my extracurricular activities are temporarily put on ice until I have settled in the place I will call home: Skurup.

In the meantime, my days consist of packing, packing and more packing.

NP: Andy Summers - Green Chimneys