renaissance man
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01kvxrx
Wow! How wonderful. The BBC, doing so well what it once did so often: educate, entertain, and inform.
Sadly I don’t seem able to embed the video, at least not like I can with YouTube vids. But there is the link.
UPDATE: Gaaaah!!! How could I draft and publish this post and not actually link to the music!? Beats me… but that appears to be what I did. Oh dear…
Thanks to Cy, whoever they may be, for posting this ‘original release’ version.
I have to say I’m not just perplexed – even though it’s explained in the liner notes – but I’m angry, that the much more recent ‘official’ release of Turiya Sings, on Impulse, 2021, stripped away the strings. Losing some of the synths? I could live with that. But I want to hear the strings.
I understand what Ravi Coltrane is saying, when he explains his reasons for doing so…* But surely they could have, and indeed should have, put out a set including both versions. It’s possible that wasn’t possible. I’ve read that the full/original master tapes have proven elusive.
But, returning to the theme of the sad missed opportunity, I think, given her history – mostly to do with being in the shadow of her more famed husband – it’s quite astonishing that even her own progeny, even if by force of circumstance, collude in the continued ‘curation’ (or, as I see it, tampering) that has beset some of Alice’s work.
The negative reaction to what Alice did with some of her husband’s music, most specifically on the brilliant – but much maligned (at the time) – Infinity, is a form of antecedent.
I believe there is a CD version of the full Alice mix – with strings/synth – on the Italian B. Free label. I’m trying to get a copy. I’ve also read that numerous unofficial releases of the original cassette version have been made, over the years. But, in the meantime, at least the music is online, so we can hear what Alice intended.
* “While producing her last Impulse release, Translinear Light, I came across some mixes of tracks from Turiya Sings that did not include the overdubbed material and only featured Alice’s voice and her accompaniment on Wurlitzer organ. As dynamic and bold as the original version is, hearing my mother sing and play in this stripped-down, intimate setting revealed the true heart and soul of these songs. In this form, I could hear every nuance and inflection in her vocal performance and feel the weight of her rock-solid pulse and timing and (dare I say it) groove on the Wurlitzer. And, most importantly, in this setting, I felt the greatest sense of her passion, devotion, and exaltation in singing these songs in praise of the Supreme.
In that moment, I knew people needed to hear Turiya Sings in this context.”
Ravi Coltrane, Turiya Sings liner notes.
Well, this is a rum old do, and no mistake.
If you’re a fan of your more normal or ‘trad’ Holmes and Watson, as we are, this might take some getting used to, because it certainly ain’t that.
For starters, it’s partly played as a comedy. And it is funny, in places. But it is also a Sherlock Holmes mystery, albeit not an Arthur Conan Doyle one.
But it’s also a tragedy. I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it. I started out thinking I wasn’t too keen. But by the end, I loved it.
It’s a thing quite apart from Holmes as he’s usually portrayed. Playing somewhat on the distinction – already mentioned by Holmes/Conan Doyle in the original canon – between the ‘real’ Holmes, and the Holmes portrayed to the World via Dr Watson.
There are various strange strands, and muddling McGuffins, from the Russian Royal Ballet, to disappearing midget acrobats. And all are woven together into what ultimately proves to be quite a lush and lovingly produced homage to the world’s foremost ‘consulting detective’.
I know Robert Stephen’s primarily as Aragorn, in the BBC radio adaptation of TLOTR. And secondarily as a character in Ridley Scott’s sublime Napoleonic debut movie, The Duellists.
If you love Jeremy Brett, or even Basil Rathbone, such one off Holmes turns can be difficult to digest. But Stephens totally won me round. And (?) Watson is perfect as his sidekick and companion, deftly mixing the earnest with the comic.
Some pretty big names add their heft to proceedings, in both major and minor roles: Christopher Lee as Holmes’ brother, Mycroft, and Irene Handl as mrs Hudson both figure quite large, whilst Stanley Holloway (first gravedigger) and Frank Thornton (hotel receptionist) have smaller parts.
An unusual entry in the Holmes oeuvre, but worth checking out.
BOXED SETS:
I have to admit I love Rambo, First Blood.
Okay, it’s a bit gonzo. But it’s great entertainment. Stallone is perfect as the taciturn Nam vet, John Rambo, who freaks out and goes native, when uptight local Sherriff, Will Teasle tries to boot him out of town.
Based on the 1972 novel, First Blood, by Canadian author David Morrell, you could actually make a case, as nutso Hollywood as the movie is, that the story is a little bit prophetic, in terms of the idea of America’s exported wars coming home to roost.
As Morrell himself puts it (read more here):
I decided to write a novel about a returning Vietnam veteran who brings the war to the United States…
Setting aside the basic idea of the story, based on the idea of spurned ‘war hero’ veterans, unable to assimilate, it’s just a damn well put together piece of movie making.
Terrific actors giving really solid performances, in great locations. Well shot and directed. Nicely paced, and with loads of terrific scenarios: from chases, to hunting in the woods, or ravines; mining tunnel exploration; even a siege of the local police station!
Once again, author and Rambo creator Morrell puts it well:
… I love the movie. Ted Kotcheff’s direction, Jerry Goldsmith’s music, Andrew Laszlo’s photography, Sylvester Stallone’s acting, Richard Crenna, on and on. It’s a terrific movie that seems more realistic with each year because its action scenes don’t use computer effects. The realism of the stunts is amazing.
In Morell’s book, Col. Trautman kills Rambo. In the movie, he doesn’t. Allowing the sequels/franchise. Watching this makes me want to re-watch the sequels. And plenty of other Sly stuff, like Rocky, and that early movie with the Tom Waits tunes… what’s it called?
Ah… Paradise Alley! Must check that out. ASAP.
I saw several churches I’d liked to have stopped and looked at today (must check out the church at Diddington!). However, I was only able to stop and view this one, St Leonard’s, Southoe.
From the outside it looked quite promising. With numerous parts looking of very different vintages. The arch and pillars around the front door are terrific. They look really old. So it starts well.
But, truth be told, there wasn’t much of interest, to my eyes, inside. Still, I took a load of photos. One thing the photos don’t capture, sadly, is the very yellow light inside, thanks to the glass in the windows.
Once back outside, I spotted some nice demonic faces. And the building has a quite handsome exterior. These old churches, they’re nearly always worth a look.
There are also some nice houses in Southoe, such as Corner House, opposite the church.
I was perusing Teresa’s fab little book (poss 10,000 Years of Art?) and came across the image above. I liked it so much I snapped it, with my iPhone (see above pic).
I then decided to find out more about it. I’d thought it was just a painting. Flat. On canvas, most likely. But I discovered it was in fact a mural, or wall painting. And that it covers all but the floors of a room in a palace!
And a bit of searching lead to the discovery of the above pictured book. Which I promptly ordered. RRP is an eye watering £60! I managed to get a brand new copy for a little over half that amount.
My copy arrived today. It’s still shrink-wrapped, in the photo above. And… my God! It’s absolutely stunning. It’s a whole pleasure palace, adorned with the most opulent of interior decorations. Truly mindblowing.
At the very top of the Wikipedia Miles Davis Discography page, it says this:
‘This is an incomplete list which will never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness as it excludes bootlegs, mix tapes and other minor records by independent labels and unofficial sources.’
Very true!
This blog entry, on the other hand, is simply my own way of seeing how much of Miles’ vast output I have.
For simplicities sake I’m trying to arrange my Miles Discography chronologically, using the year of first official commercial release. With an artist as prolific as Miles, this can often mean music was recorded much earlier, or on different occasions, only to be released quite a bit later.
So… here goes:
PRESTIGE (mostly!)
The New Sounds, 1951 (Prestige)
Young Man With a Horn, 1953 (Blue Note)
Blue Period, 1953 (Pr)
The Comps of Al Cohn, 1953 (Pr)
Miles Davis vol 2, ‘53 (BN)
Miles Davis vol 3, ‘54 (BN)
Miles Davis Quartet, ‘53 (Pr)
Miles Davis All Star Sextet, ‘54 (Pr)
Miles Davis Quintet, ‘54 (Pr)
MD w Sonny Rollins, ‘54 (Pr)
MD All Stars, Vol 1, ‘54 (Pr)
MD All Stars, Vol 2, ‘54 (Pr)
Musings of Miles, ‘55 ()
Blue Moods, ‘55 (Debut)
Dig, ‘56 (Pr)
The new MD Quintet, ‘55 (Pr) ✓
MD & Horns, ‘56 (Pr) ✓
Quintet/Sextet, ‘56 (Pr) ✓
Blue Haze, ‘56 (Pr) ✓
Collectors Items, ‘56 (Pr) ✓
Walkin’, ‘57 (Pr) ✓
Cookin’, ‘57 (Pr) ✓
Bags’ Groove, ‘57 (Pr) ✓
Birth Of The Cool, ‘57 (Capitol) ✓
Ascenseur l’Échafaud, ‘57 (Fontana) ✓
Relaxin’, ‘58 (Pr)
MD & Modern Jazz Giants’, ‘58 (Pr) ✓
Workin’, ‘60 (Pr) ✓
Steamin’ ‘61 (Pr) ✓
COLUMBIA (mostly)
Round About Midnight, ‘57 (Co)
Miles Ahead, ‘57
Milestones, ‘58 ✓
Jazz Track, ‘59
Porgy & Bess, ‘59
Kind of Blue, ‘59 ✓
Sketches o’ Spain
Someday My Prince
Seven Steps
Quiet Nights
E.S.P. ‘65 ✓
Miles Smiles ✓
Sorcerer ✓
Nefertiti ✓
In The Sky ✓
Filles de K ✓
In a Silent Way, ‘69 ✓
Bitches Brew, ‘70 ✓
Jack Johnson
Live-Evil, ✓
On The Corner, ✓
Big Fun
Get Up With It
Water Babies
Agharta, ‘75 ✓
Pangaea, ‘76 ✓
Circle In The Round, ‘79 ✓
COLUMBIA/WARNER (mostly!)
The Man With… ‘81 ✓
Doo Bop, 1992 ✓
What I Say 1, ‘94 ✓
What I Say 2, ‘94 ✓
Panthalassa, ‘98 ✓
This programme starts with Toby Bunting getting busted, parked up in The Fens, not far from where we live, the night after – according to his rather dubious accounts – a chem-sex party.
Channel 4 describe this programme thus:
The inside track on a major covert operation against a Mexican drugs cartel who the police suspect are importing large quantities of methyl-amphetamine into Norfolk.
Wow! So sad. So very, very sad. I’m thinking of the fate of Daniel Fordham, in particular. But I even feel similarly for Toby Bunting.
Daniel is a family man desperate for money. And in these times of ‘cost of living’ cost of Brexit/Toryism crises, one might sympathise with his ‘if you show a dog some meat’ line.
Fordham is quick to come clean. Hoping – in vain, it turns out – for clemency. Whereas Mexican importer Axel Cruz, and Fenland drug dealer Toby Bunting, try much harder to deny their guilt.
It is interesting watching. If horribly sad. But, like a lot of ‘true crime’ stuff I’ve seen, it’s also very annoying and disappointing.
Annoying, because they ‘tease’ you with a lot of investigative footage. Suggesting they’re going to reveal something amazing. And there’s next to no information or exploration of the Mexican cartel Link (other than the tiny bit concerning Axel Cruz).
Disappointing, because the ‘reveal’ isn’t in the same vein – e.g. further interviews with suspects, but instead just a bit of captioning, in an abrupt and unenlightening ending.
Several things, aside from the ‘narco cartels invade UK’ theme (and local to us, at that), really hit me. And – having has a very unpleasant experience involving the police myself not too long ago (not drug related) – they concern what I regard as unnecessarily heavy-handed ‘law enforcement’.
Much (but not all) of which coalesce around the hapless ‘bottom of the hierarchy’ figure of Daniel Fordham. Why, for example, are the police smashing down doors, late at night, when there are children at the suspect’s address?
Surely law enforcement shouldn’t be such a brutally blunt instrument? Potentially doing nearly as much damage as any criminal activity. What about the trauma that the raid and having his family effectively destroyed will cause to Fordham, his wife and kid(s)?
We don’t yet have the kind of crystal meth epidemic that blights the US (and other places), here in the UK. But it looks, worryingly, like that might be changing.
Another thing that really struck me… how come none of the suspects/criminals object to being filmed? Are they even aware they’re being filmed? One would’ve thought that such folk might be camera shy? At least as far as those times when the police are around!
Considering the infamously horrific brutality of the narco cartels in the countries where these drugs originate, surely such people don’t want their mugs all over national (and potentially worldwide) media? There could be awful repercussions…