The Wire: Music Mags for Grown-Ups # 1

The Wire is a beautifully produced monthly magazine, published in London but read around the globe. It grew out of left-field jazz to cover improv, avant garde and art music in numerous niche genres.

Esoteric is an understatement: I rarely recognize more than half a dozen of the names in each issue. If I know more than that, I automatically buy a copy. Over the years, I’ve bought cover isssues on Miles Davis, Van Morrison and The Fall, but most cover subjects are far more recherché than these.

The Wire is an aspirational organ – I aspire to knowing more about more of the music it covers. I’d much rather be challenged in my music reading by mags like The Wire than plough through yet another piece of PR fluff, promoting yet more dubious new product, which is the role of most music mags.


Here’s the contents of the new issue - check out how many names you recognise!



INSIDE THE WIRE 280 (June 2007) (on sale NOW)

Previewed here: http://www.thewire.co.uk/current/

ON THE COVER: Wiley. Grime's self-appointed Eskimo king invites Derek Walmsley into his Roll Deep Studio to explain how his blizzard of beats and rhymes gathers momentum in East London's streets

FEATURES: The Sea And Cake, Invisible Jukebox: Neil Campbell, Kassin + Moreno + Domenico, Cross Platform: Modified Toy Orchestra, Tomas Korber, Jozef van Wissem, Zavoloka

REVIEWS:

SOUNDCHECK: John Abercrombie, Alog, Amp, Badgerlore, Mick Barr, Adam Bohman & Roger Smith, The Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet, Peter Brötzmann/Marino Pliakas/Michael Wertmüller, Cato Salsa Experience & The Thing with Joe McPhee, The Cherry Blossoms, CJA, Philip Corner, Courtis/The Moglass/Andrey Kiritchenko, Betty Davis, Deadbeat, The Dead C, Daouda Dembele, Jim Denley, Dungen, Max Eastley & Michael Prime, Erikm (Luc Ferrari) & Thomas Lehn, Thomas Fehlmann, The Field, 500mg, Fred Frith & Chris Cutler, Fursaxa, Frank Gratkowski/Thomas Lehn/, Melvyn Poore, Mats Gustafsson & Yoshimi, Hugh Hopper, Islaja, Jazzkammer & Howard Stelzer, Andrey Kiritchenko, KTL, Michel Lambert, Alvin Lucier, Lasse Marhaug, Marhaug Åsheim, Merzbow/Carlos Giffoni/Jim O'Rourke 47, Pekos & Yoro Diallo, Roscoe Mitchell, Chie Mukai, My Cat Is An Alien, Conlon Nancarrow, Luigi Nono, KK Null, Original Silence, William Parker & Hamid Drake, Parts & Labor, Plants, Rahkim, Religious Knives, Stephen Scott, The
Sea And Cake, September Collective, Wally Shoup, Skeletons And The Kings Of All Cities, Chris Smith, Chris Smith & Justin Fuller, Marnie Stern, Strategy, Damo Suzuki & Now, Text Of Light, Tied And Tickled Trio, Tight Meat Duo, Vladimir Ussachevsky, Various Bougouni Yaalali, Various Box Of Dub, Various Hyphy Hitz, Various Soundboy Punishments, Vibracathedral Orchestra, Stephen Vitiello, Von Südenfed, Strountes, David S Ware Quartet, Felix Werder, Wooden Wand, Wraiths and
more...

PRINT RUN: Third Coast: OutKast, Timbaland And How Hip Hop Became A Southern Thing, by Roni Sarig; Footprints: The Life And Work Of Wayne Shorter, by Michelle Mercer; Guitar Army: Rock And Revolution With MC5 And The White Panther Party, by John Sinclair

ON SCREEN: Tim Buckley: A Review And Critique Of The Man And His Music (DVD), Tim Buckley: My Fleeting House (DVD), Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Holy Mountain & El Topo (DVDs)

ON SITE: Kill Your Timid Notion, Dundee, UK; c/o The Velvet Underground, New York, USA; Allora & Calzadilla, London, UK

ON LOCATION: All Tomorrow's Parties, Minehead, UK; Free Noise London, UK; Maerzmusik, Berlin, Germany; BLOC Weekend, Hemsby, UK; Donau Festival, Krems, Austria

PLUS: Epiphanies: Novelist Michel Faber recalls a random encounter with a life-affirming Prog group in Budapest; Global Ear: In San Francisco, Ken Hollings immerses himself in a 360° audiovisual experience at Asphodel's Recombinant Media Labs; Savage Pencil's Trip Or Squeek; Charts; News; and more

http://www.thewire.co.uk/current/



Gerry Smith

Seven Ages Of Rock (again)

The second age in BBC/VH1’s new Seven Ages Of Rock, shown at the weekend, confirmed the suspicion that the disappointing first programme was no fluke.

After the looney call to focus on Jimi Hendrix in the ‘60s programme, the ‘70s chapter concentrated on Pink Floyd.

Gimme a break.

I just can’t wait to see who the remaining five programmes revolve around. U2 in the ‘80s? George Michael in the ‘90s?

According to the new canon being advanced by this missed opportunity of a series, rock’s even less interesting than I thought.


Gerry Smith

Don’t Look Back De Luxe 2DVD edition in short supply

The De Luxe 2DVD version of Don’t Look Back, the film of Dylan's 1965 English tour, is in very short supply. Having been let down by my first choice of supplier (see below), I’ve now also been let down by second choice, cd-wow. (I won’t be using either supplier again for a while, if ever).

Seeking a third choice online supplier, including one or two I wouldn’t touch with a very long bargepole, I found most out of stock – Virgin, HMV, Tesco, Play.com, SpinCD can’t supply either. Fopp has it, and so have some Amazon traders, but I don’t like their prices.

Looks like I’ll have to bite the bullet and scour the High Street. Or wait a year or so for the release of a few million more “limited edition” copies and buy at the £6 discounted price I recently paid for No Direction Home 2DVD at Borders.


Gerry Smith


RELATED ARTICLE:

Don’t Look Back 2DVD – now only £12.99

Don’t Look Back (the De Luxe 2DVD version, Region 0) is on the cd-wow.com website at a bargain £12.99 delivered, easily the cheapest I’ve seen, and just over half the list price. It’s a cd-wow “warehouse sale”, so the offer might be short-lived.

I ordered a copy after cancelling my order with 101cd, as I hadn’t received the goods, or any warning/apology, 17 days after release date, or any reply to my query. Byeeeeeeeeeeee, 101cd. Hello, cd-wow.


Gerry Smith

Scott Walker: the grown-up musician’s grown-up musician

Last week’s BBC TV airing of slabs from the spellbinding new Scott Walker film, 30 Century Man, in its Imagine slot, showed just why Walker is the grown-up musician’s grown-up musician. Top art rockers – Eno, Bowie, Jarvis, Radiohead et al - queued up to praise the artistry of the lugubrious baritone.

Walker’s career has been a succession of highs and lows (sometimes simultaneous), and his discography is patchy. But he’s a vastly underrated musician with at least three albums which should be considered for any grown-up collection: Scott Walker 3, Scott Walker 4, and Tilt. Last year’s The Drift is no slouch, either.

Go on, give Scott Walker’s mature music a chance…



Gerry Smith

This Week’s Music for Grown-Ups on Radio/TV

Your new listening/watching guide… thanks to compiler Mike Ollier


RADIO

Monday BBCR2 18.00 ~ 19.00
* Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan # Sleep
Let's face it, either your BBQ is gonna be washed out or you're going to be sitting in a traffic jam. Let His Bobness take away your pain. Cab Calloway, The Rolling Stones, Mingus, The Melodians ~ nothing if not eclectic.

Tuesday BBCR2 23.30 ~ 00.30
* Courtney Pine's Jazz Crusade
Contemporay jazz chosen by the legendary British saxophonist in the penultimate show of this series.

Wednesday BBCR2 22.00 ~ 00.30
* Swee'Pea: The Billy Strayhorn Story
3rd programme of a 4-parter.

Thursday BBCR2 22.00pm ~ 22.30
* In Love With Hank
3rd part of the profile on the Hillbilly Shakespeare, Hank Williams.

Friday BBCR6 ~ all day
Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 40th Anniversary
A whole day devoted to one of the most overrated albums ever. Why?

Friday BBCR6 21.00 ~ 22.00
* Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan: Gun
Respite from blanket coverage of the F***ing Beatles. Los Lobos, The Clash and R&L Thompson

Friday BBCR2 19.00 ~ 19.30
* The Music Club Presents ~ Patti Smith on Songwriting
Pshaw! What does she know? Eh? Wot? Oh. The third programme in the series features Laughin' Lenny. But surely the highlight is next week’s guest, Keith Urban. Presumably it's songwriting for idiots that week.

Friday BBCR2 21.15 ~ 21.30
* Chronicles, Volume One: Dylan Signs
Sean Penn reads from THE book. 1st part of 8.

Friday BBCR3 22.30 ~ 23.30
* Jazz Library ~ Tomasz Stanko
Polish trumpeter selects his best recordings.

Friday BBCR3 10.30 ~ 11.30
* Jazz On Three
Gwilym Simcock Big Band in session.



TV

Tuesday BBC2 23.20 ~ 00.00
* The Old Grey Whistle Test
Tape it and flick through for the good bits ie anything not including Whisperin' Bob ~ though his putdown of The New Your Dolls was quite amusing. It would have been even funnier if Arthur 'Killer' Kane had clocked him one, though. Repeated from BBC4.

Friday BBC2 20.30 ~ 21.00
* In Concert: The Eagles
Friday rock scheduling is back… but with the Hell Freezes Over gang, it's country music for people who don't like country music. And it's been on numerous times already.

Friday BBC2 20.30 ~ 21.00
* When The Stranglers Met Roland Rat
A compendium of kids’ TV clips when respected bands had to slum it with hand puppets in the name of promotion. Should be good for a laugh.

Friday BBC2 23.35 ~ 00.40
Later With Jools Holland
Nobody's favourite boogie-woogie piano maestro introduces tonight's 'fast forward' guests The Who, and nu-blues purveyors The White Stripes.

Friday C4 00.40 ~ 01.40 (OK, Saturday morning really)
* 4 Music
More work for your tape player as you miss living cartoon Ozzy Osbourne searching for Modest Mouse with Johnny Marr.

Saturday BBC2 21.10 ~ 22.10
* Seven Ages Of Rock: Blank Generation: Punk Rock
3rd of 7 parts, this week (repeated Sundays) we trawl through punk, both NYC and the English version. All been seen before but still better than nowt, and if it can turn the younger generation (eg my students) into thinking a little bit about music, then it's no bad thing.

Saturday BBC2 21.45 ~ 23.45
* Sgt Pepper ~ It Was 40 Years Ago Today
Modern bands re-create blah blah. Watch, if you must.

Saturday BBC4 22.00 ~ 23.00
* Once Upon A Time In New York
How rap, punk and disco clashed… so, Debbie Harry is to blame for rap then?!!? Repeat from earlier in the year, as is…

Saturday BBC4 23.00 ~ 00.30
* New York At The BBC
A good-ish trawl through New York punks’ appearance on BBC ~ Television, NYDs and Patti Smith etc.

Saturday BBC2 23.45 ~ 01.35
* Tommy
Rock opera with a deaf, dumb and blind Roger Daltrey. It must have been all those drugs.

New Traveling Wilburys release: worth buying?

If, like many Dylan Daily readers, you already have the two Traveling Wilburys albums, should you bother with the new product, due for (UK) release on Monday 11 June?

Well, for £15.25 (delivered), the best price I’ve seen for the De Luxe version, from cd-wow.com, you get four extra audio tracks, five DVD tracks, a 40 page “collectible” book and “certificate of authenticity” (wow!), as well as the packaging. The Dylan content is still minimal, though – just a few tracks.

Worth buying? Maybe. Probably. Just.


Gerry Smith

Dhafer Youssef – roots discovery of 2007

Even when your life is filled with great music, your sound palette occasionally gets a bit jaded. But then, every now and again, you hear something new, by accident, and find yourself exclaiming “who the H*ll is that!?”

Just such a moment hit me last night as I happened to catch Dhafer Youssef, a Tunisian oud player/singer, on a BBC Radio 3 live broadcast from Bath.

Utterly original, utterly captivating soundscape. Must investigate. Watch this space…




Gerry Smith

BBC Four’s music programming - no longer aimed at grown-ups

Up to about 12 months ago, BBC Four music programming was consistently outstanding; I eagerly devoured 80% of it. At least half of my music TV viewing (which is heavy) was BBC Four programming.

Now? I hardly bother to check their schedules any more.

BBC Four programmes praised on www.musicforgrownups.co.uk over the last few years include:

* Ring Cycle
* Charlie Parker
* Mose Allison (and Georgie Fame, his acolyte)
* African RnR Years
* Coppersongs
* Piaf
* Folk Hibernia
* Gillian Welch/Beck/Springsteen/Bowie gigs
* The Fall
* Stiff Records
* some of the Dylan season (but not the smug, self-serving one about BBC wiping the tape)
* Stones - Maysles film.

They were eclectic, engaging, best-in-class. I enjoyed and learned from all these programmes.

The type of BBC Four programming which doesn't focus on best-in-class musicians has included stuff broadcast on lesser lights like Matt Monroe, Alma Cogan, middling niches like Hotel California, Jazz Britannia, Soul Britannia, and almost everything in the last six months.

BBC Four are confusing nostalgia with excellence: just because it's old doesn't mean it's any good. Who'd listen to Matt Monroe ahead of Sinatra, Bennett..., or Alma Cogan ahead of Ella, Billie H, Sarah Vaughan... ? Life's far too short, unless you're into pap nostalgia, but then your needs are already catered for by some dubious radio stations.

Excellence (in any musical genre) was BBC Four’s keynote: but its relentless surge downmarket is undermining its USP. If there's no audience for excellence - in music as in other fields - BBC Four has no purpose and should be closed.

Sure, they could increase their audience with, for example, a series on ‘50s Britpop - Cliff, Marty, Adam... blah, blah. But then they’d also attract bigger audiences by broadcasting porn (or property renovation porn): there's a point beyond which it's not worth going. BBC Four has already passed it.

Pity. Great pity.


Gerry Smith

Seven Ages Of Rock – daft, plain daft

Jimi Hendrix was the key figure in 1960s rock: “Within days of his arrival (in London), Jimi Hendrix would change the face of music… .” Tee hee.

There’s more: “He redefined the whole period in which he existed…”.

That’s if you believe Seven Ages of Rock, the disappointing new BBC/VH1 rock history series which started airing over the weekend.

Bob Dylan, the prime mover in the genesis of rock, was accorded a mere five minute sequence, bowing in the direction of Like A Rolling Stone.

Now, there’s no doubt that Hendrix was a great, and influential, musician – he raised the game in guitar playing in the same way that Coltrane set new benchmarks for the saxophone. But let’s not forget that he was responsible for a massive catalogue of, er, three moderately successful albums still played today.

Rock music tends to encourage hyperbole in the early school leavers amongst those who play it and write about it, but this poor first programme set new lows in rockist bullsh*t. You couldn’t fault a commentator like Charles Shaar Murray for his typically incisive comments on Hendrix, but they were swamped in a wrong-headed script which, at times, had me laughing uncontrollably.

The launch programme not only exceeded my worst fears, outlined in a series preview on www.musicforgrownups.co.uk (below) - it went further, by imposing on the 1960s material the big idea that Hendrix was the pivotal figure.

Daft. Plain daft.


Gerry Smith



Series preview, previously posted:

Seven Ages Of Rock – a pessimistic preview

The BBC is pushing the boat out for its major new series, the Seven Ages Of Rock, which launches on Saturday on BBC2 21.10~22.10 - hyping it on chat shows on its missable mainstream radio stations and promoting it with four different collectable covers of Radio (sic) Times, its mass circulation weekly programme guide. (Who on earth would want to collect the Radio Times?)

Without having seen even a trailer or promo clip, I can safely report that:

* as it’s by the same team that produced the brilliant Lost Highway series on country music, Seven Ages will be stylish, informative, intelligent television…

* it will include maybe 20 great musicians for grown-ups

* 95% of its airtime will deal with musicians unworthy of grown-up attention

* the series will be rendered virtually unwatchable by an endless succession of talking boneheads who should have stuck to the day job, stacking supermarket shelves or fixing dodgy old cars.

How do I know this?

Because that’s the nature of rock music - 5% timeless great art (Dylan, Stones, Beck, Bright Eyes, Smiths, Joy Division, Everly Brothers, Bowie…), and 95% dubious glitzy, chemically-enhanced showbiz pap.

I’ll be taping - to race through afterwards, luxuriating in the grown-up bits. (Or to recant, if appropriate.)


Gerry Smith

This Week’s Music for Grown-Ups on Radio/TV

Your new listening/watching guide… thanks to compiler Mike Ollier


RADIO

Monday BBCR3 23.15 ~ 01.00
* Andy Kershaw - The Fat Possum label is chock full of wonderful artists (RL Burnside; Jnr Kimborough) and a refreshingly uncompromising label policy. 68 yr old signing Robert "Wolfman" Belfour is in session tonight.

Tuesday BBCR2 22.30 ~ 23.30
* Talking 'Bout My Remuneration - Witty title for a programme in which poor pop/rock stars who should have taken more care of their legacy and money talk about reforming their bands when they swore blind they never would. Maybe bulti-millionaire Phil Collins will explain why, when the members of Genesis say they don't need the money and it's not their motivation, tickets cost upwards of 70 quid for their forthcoming tour. Maybe professional Geordie Sting will explain why he has ignored his hometown on The Police tour. Or maybe they won't.

Tuesday BBCR2 23.30 ~ 00.30
* Courtney Pine's Jazz Crusade - Contemporary jazz chosen by the legendary British saxophonist.

Wednesday BBCR2 22.00 ~ 00.30
* Swee'Pea: The Billy Strayhorn Story - 2nd programme of a 4-parter.

Wednesday BBCR3 23.15 ~ 01.00
* Late Junction - Everybody's favourite folk guitarist Nic Jones is featured tonight.

Thursday BBCR2 22.00pm ~ 22.30
* In Love With Hank - 2nd of a five-part profile on the Hillbilly Shakespeare, Hank Williams.

Friday BBCR6 21.00 ~ 22.00
* Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan: Coffee – Caffeine-induced show this week.
Friday BBCR3 22.30 ~ 23.30

* Jazz Library ~ Charles Mingus - A selection of the very best Mingus recordings by his biographer, Brian Priestley

Friday BBCR3 10.30 ~ 11.30
* Live from Cheltenham Jazz fest, the Claudia Quintet (ex-Refusniks).


TV

Tuesday BBC1 22.35 ~ 11.35
* Imagine: 30th Century Man - A profile of Scott Walker… 3rd in the depression stakes after Nick Drake and Laughing Lenny and just ahead of Morrissey (ie intelligent music), an acclaimed cinema release from last year.

Friday
* BBC4 has again forsaken its normal music coverage for Friday ~ this is all very worrying. Your only hope tonight is to tape Later with JH (BBC2 23.40) and wind forward to Wilco.

Saturday BBC2 21.10 ~ 22.10
* Seven Ages Of Rock: White Light, White Heat - 2nd of 7 parts, this week Art Rock with the Velvets, Bowie and Roxy Music. Not a great series, most of this has been seen before and anybody with even a small interest in music has a handle on it, but still welcome when you consider the dearth of 'grown-up' music on the box. Put it this way, it's better than Casualty on the other side. (Repeated Sunday on BBC1).

Saturday BBC4 22.05 ~ 23.35
BBC4 Saturday schedules appear to be shadowing the BBC1’s Seven Ages Of Rock series. Here is a 1973 Bowie (not forgetting the brilliant Mick Ronson) concert. Followed by:

Saturday BBC4 23.35 ~ 00.30
* Cracked Actor - A 1974 profile of David Bowie.

Dylanesque/Bryan Ferry’s London Sessions DVD – only £6.75!

Thanks to Nigel Boddy:

“Further to your spotting the `bargain of the year' at cd-wow.com for the Dylan Don't Look Back Special Edition DVD, I've noticed the Bryan Ferry - London Sessions (Dylanesque) DVD is priced at £6.75, delivered. (I know it's not released until late June, but it's a still good saving).”

Seven Ages Of Rock – a pessimistic preview

The BBC is pushing the boat out for its major new series, the Seven Ages Of Rock, which launches on Saturday on BBC2 21.10~22.10 - hyping it on chat shows on its missable mainstream radio stations and promoting it with four different collectable covers of Radio (sic) Times, its mass circulation weekly programme guide. (Who on earth would want to collect the Radio Times?)

Without having seen even a trailer or promo clip, I can safely report that:

* as it’s by the same team that produced the brilliant Lost Highway series on country music, Seven Ages will be stylish, informative, intelligent television…

* it will include maybe 20 great musicians for grown-ups

* 95% of its airtime will deal with musicians unworthy of grown-up attention

* the series will be rendered virtually unwatchable by an endless succession of talking boneheads who should have stuck to the day job, stacking supermarket shelves or fixing dodgy old cars.

How do I know this?

Because that’s the nature of rock music - 5% timeless great art (Dylan, Stones, Beck, Bright Eyes, Smiths, Joy Division, Everly Brothers, Bowie…), and 95% dubious glitzy, chemically-enhanced showbiz pap.

I’ll be taping - to race through afterwards, luxuriating in the grown-up bits. (Or to recant, if appropriate.)


Gerry Smith

NOT Music for Grown-Ups

* Classical Brit Awards on TV last Sunday: a celebration of dumbing down of a great musical tradition. Anna Netrebko… Katherine Jenkins… Awful. I lasted a whole five minutes.

* Van Morrison at London’s Roundhouse, according to Pete Paphides in The Times – “parodically grumpy old man… uninterested and uncommunicative… gang of middle-aged session musicians… hotel-lobby R & B arrangements… listless professionalism…” I know what he means: a former serial Vangig attender (c65 shows), I quit for those kind of reasons about five years ago.

* Rolling Stone 40th Anniversary issue: great design and illuminating Dylan interview apart, a mish-mash of superannuated celebs bullsh*tting for America, the politics of the liberal playground, and the silly underlying philosophy that music changes the world. Kiss mine.



Gerry Smith

Michael Gray on Dylan, the blues and Blind Willie McTell

Thanks to Michael Gray for information on forthcoming talks, and his new book:

* BOB DYLAN & THE POETRY OF THE BLUES DATES

A third date has been added to Michael Gray's very short spring-summer tour of the UK: at Bristol's Arnolfini. Details of the three are now...

Wed May 23, 8pm Bath International Music Festival
The Little Theatre, St. Michael’s Place, Bath BA1 1SF
£9 (concessions £8)
Festival Box Office: 01225-463362

Sat Jun 9, 8pm Jersey Arts Centre
Phillips Street, St. Helier, Jersey JE2 4SW
£9 (students £5)
Box Office: 01534-700444

Sat Jul 7, 7.30pm Bristol Arnolfini
Arnolfini Arts Centre, 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA
£6 (concessions £4.50);
Box Office: 0117 917 2300

The flyer for these gigs says this:
BOB DYLAN & THE POETRY OF THE BLUES An Evening With Writer Michael Gray
This is more a one-man show than a talk. The author of The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia and Song & Dance Man III: The Art Of Bob Dylan - definitive studies of Dylan’s 45-year body of work and more - uses a surprising selection of great records and rare footage to show how hugely Dylan has been inspired by the blues and how much of its poetry has been smuggled inside his own writing.

Andrew Motion named Song & Dance Man III as one of the best three books of 2000. It had 5-star reviews in Q and Uncut. Greil Marcus admired ‘Gray’s reach, tone and acuity’ and called its research ‘amazing’. Christopher Ricks called it ‘wonderfully comic and serious and sharp’ and ‘monumentally illuminating’.The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, 2006, was Book of the Week in The Guardian. The Dylan Daily website declared it 'the most important Bob Dylan book, bar none.'

Michael Gray’s events are always lively, spontaneous and acute, using loud music and rare footage in a hugely entertaining, fresh account of Dylan's achievement.

What the British and Irish press says about his performances:
"Michael Gray is a witty, effusive, self-deprecating speaker. A wonderful eye-opener of an evening."
"Clever, funny and fresh."
"A stimulating insight into rock music's premier singer-songwriter."
"Michael Gray is a masterful speaker."


* HAND ME MY TRAVELIN' SHOES: IN SEARCH OF BLIND WILLIE McTELL LAUNCH

Michael's new book Hand Me My Travelin' Shoes: In Search of Blind Willie McTell (UK hardback first edition, from Bloomsbury, £20) will be launched on publication day, July 2nd, with a talk at the eccentric hour of 11am at what is possibly the world's smallest literary festival.
Details:

Mon July 2, 11am
1st Annual Kirkbymoorside Literary Festival
Hand Me My Travelin’ Shoes: A Talk by Michael Gray
Summit Books, 2 Market Place, Kirkbymoorside, N. Yorks YO62 6BB
Box Office: 01751 430033
[nb. free admission but places must be reserved by phone]

Michael has also created a new blog for the book:

http://handmemytravelinshoes.blogspot.com/



Gerry Smith

This Week’s Music for Grown-Ups on Radio/TV

Introducing a new weekly column… many thanks to compiler Mike Ollier

* Radio

Tuesday BBCR2 22.30 ~ 00.30
* Courtney Pine's Jazz Crusade
Contemporary jazz, chosen by the legendary British saxophonist.

Wednesday BBCR2 22.00 ~ 00.30
* Swee'Pea: The Billy Strayhorn Story
Longtime Duke Ellington collaborator, the pianist and composer is profiled.

Thursday BBCR2 22.00pm ~ 22.30
* In Love With Hank
First of a five-part profile on the Hillbilly Shakespeare, Hank Williams.

Friday BBCR6 21.00 ~ 22.00
* Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan: Radio
Laughing Bob introduces another surreal show and plays the equally sunny Van Morrison, The Clash and Elvis Costello ~ I think you can guess the tunes!!

Friday BBCR3 10.30 ~ 11.30
* Jazz Library ~ listener recommendations

Friday BBCR3 11.30 ~ 0100
* Jazz on 3 ~ Bernie Maupin Ensemble
Live from Cheltenham Jazz Fest, a set from a one-time member of Miles Davis' bands (he appeared on 'Bitches Brew') and was one of Herbie Hancock's Headhunters.



* TV

Tuesday ITV1 21.00 ~ 00.25
* Ray
Unbelievably stupid programming for an Oscar-winning movie, and as ever split by the news, so it doesn't finish till way after midnight ~ Jamie Foxx does a fair impersonation of Ray Charles in a watered down story.

Friday
* BBC4 has forsaken its normal music coverage tonight with only slight compensation with a repeat of "Tompkinson's Schooldays" from Michael Palin's 'Ripping Yarns' Series. Or, you could tape Jools Holland on BBC2 and rewind it to the Patti Smith section and miss out the rest.

Saturday BBC2 21.10 ~ 22.10
* Seven Ages Of Rock
From the same team that produced the excellent "Soul Deep" and "Lost Highway", a series looking at Rock, starting with the 60s and Hendrix, amongst others.

The Waterboys put smiles on faces in Milton Keynes

Thanks to Paul Blake:

“A 4pm sit-down show on a Sunday doesn’t sound like a very promising set-up to see a rock band, but those turning up for the Waterboys show at the tiny Stables in Wavendon last weekend needn’t have worried – Mike Scott and his crew were in rambunctious form. As the man himself said halfway through the set, ‘here is a band working its balls off for you’.

“For me, it is always interesting to see a musician at work close up (we had tickets in the second row) and watching Mike Scott I was struck by how self-conscious he is with the wild rock ‘n’ roll poet persona he has created for himself. It is both his defence as a human being and his vehicle as a performer, and, if he didn’t quite look comfortable, it still made for compelling theatre. Perhaps it is just his time of life, as my wife mused afterwards.

“Certainly the Book of Lightning album, on which much of the set is based, is dominated by ‘my baby done me wrong’ songs and in a live setting they begin to sound a little like a man protesting too much (are you sure you didn’t contribute just a bit to the break-up, Mike?) - even if the band play them with muscular grace. And there is much to enjoy at a Waterboys gig, not least the violin playing of Steve Wickham, who gives his boss a good run for his money on the charisma stakes.

“The set veers on the side of rock workout – we get Medicine Bow, a compelling Red Army Blues, and a hammered out version of Old England, but little of the gentler side of the Waterboys. Still, there is something life-affirming about seeing Mike Scott up there doing his stuff all these years.

“The audience has aged with him, and it is touching to see long-term partners and parents with young children dancing to Fisherman’s Blues during the encore. It leaves us all with both a sense of community and smiles on our faces. The band leave the stage grinning as well and in Mike Scott’s smile I can finally see the man behind the persona. He looks contented after a job well done. As Gerry Smith said when he saw him last year – he gives good gig.”

Another 100 songs that changed the world: new MOJO cover feature

The new (“June”) MOJO cover feature - 100 songs that changed the world, or some such - seems very familiar.

I respect MOJO (“The Music Magazine”) – it caters for its Dadrock audience far better than they deserve. And it’s beautifully designed. Occasionally, it carries a long sequence of articles on a favoured muso and I buy a copy.

I only buy one issue in 20 or 30, though. Mostly it just ain’t music for grown-ups – delves far too deeply in a rock genre with shallow roots, covering far too many no-hopers; wallows in nostalgia; overplays the importance of music; and has a show biz tone.

The odd issue is a gem, but my musical life’s far too short to read MOJO regularly. There are 100,000+ regular buyers who disagree, but I’d hate to have to live with their CD collections.

Case in point this month: songs change NOTHING - except the bank balances of those involved.



Gerry Smith

McCartney v Bjork, Uncut v les Inrockuptibles

The new issue of Uncut has a Paul McCartney cover: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Another mag I keep an eye on, Les Inrockuptibles, a French weekly with a far more edgy view of contemporary culture, currently has a portrait of Bjork on the cover.

Guess which mag I bought? And guess which singer I regard as suitable for grown-ups? Clue for new readers: she’s not from Liverpool.


Gerry Smith

Barbra Streisand on tour, at £100+ per ticket: no thanks

Barbra Streisand is about to tour Europe, with a London gig on 18 July. Tickets, according to a report in yesterday’s Independent, are priced from £100 to £500 each.

I don’t get the attraction of Ms Streisand. I wouldn’t go to this gig if she paid me £100 and transported me by helicopter to my free front row seat: I’d much rather stay home and toughen up the pit bull terrier or clear the pond of duck weed.

But this isn’t really about Babs. It’s about how ticket prices for Baby Boomer gigs are creeping ever upwards. I once paid £450 for three front row seats at the Royal Opera House and have been sick at the thought of it ever since.

I vowed never again. Now I struggle to justify paying £30 for a gig ticket. Hell, you could buy 5 good albums, or 10 shirts, for that sort of dough! £50 for a Stones show, along with 75,000 other suckers in a football stadium? Non merci.

If I pay over £30 now, it has to be a rarity gig (Leonard Cohen?) in a decent venue. If Lenny charges £40 or plays Wembley Arena, he can stick it - I won’t be helping him rebuild his depleted pension fund.


Gerry Smith

Amy Winehouse in concert in Bristol - magnifico

Amy Winehouse, the first subject in a new series of Vodafone TBA gigs, aired on Sunday night on Channel 4, was filmed in a Bristol church. The exciting new diva – one of the few pop singers to whom that over-used term can be accurately applied – responded with a suitably divine performance. Stone cold sober (see below), she showed just what a strong performer she is.

The TBA series concept is clever marketing – Vodafone txt msgs subscribers to announce a free gig by a hot name, to be held a few hours later. Kids in the area who are up for it presumably register and hurry to the venue (no doubt after texting a few hundred mates).

That said, the Winehouse programme was a disappointment. Its Yoof TV production values restricted clips of the performance to half a dozen three minute songs - in a one hour programme - with the balance taken up by fan vox pops, a presenter loping round scenic Bristol tourist spots, and Amy spouting to camera. Focus on the music, stoopid!




Earlier Music for Grown-Ups feature on Amy Winehouse:

Amy Winehouse live – music for grown-ups, boozing for losers

Amy Winehouse, the exciting young Brit chanteuse, is currently managing the almost impossible - attracting demanding jazz fans, while getting the mass bonehead market to shake its collective ass and persuading 30-something supermarket impulse buyers to throw the new album into the trolley alongside the baked beans and the cat food.

It can’t last forever – at some point, hard artistic choices will have to be made. But, for the moment, Amy Winehouse is setting the popular music agenda in these parts. And producing some great art.

Friday’s screening by BBC 1 of a recent London hotel gig underlined just why she’s making waves – great voice, charismatic on-stage persona, strong material, and a wonderful band.

It also reminded you how it could all end up in tears. Much as a I value non-conformity, the sight of Winehouse clearly under the influence of booze, seeking refuge in a glass throughout the gig, exchanging “f*ck off!s” with a heckler, was dispiriting.

Somebody may be persuading her that playing a foul-mouthed lush is a good career move. Music fans will be praying that wiser counsels prevail. Amy Winehouse is an outstanding young musician; here’s hoping she doesn’t p*ss it all away in show biz excess. Boozing brazenly in public is for losers.


Gerry Smith