Robert Fripp on Colin Blunstone
(...and Paul Buckmaster?)

Monday 25th. January, 1999

Hooray! At long last Colin Bluntstone(sic)! His recent CBS compilation Some Years (from Colin's three solo albums) has seven tracks from One Year (1971). He is probably best known as the singer with The Zombies. I have been waiting to hear again 'Say You Don't Mind' for years (Paul Buckmaster the arranger?). And 'Misty Roses'!

Sometimes pop speaks to the place where we are all the same person; where a simplicity of form allows only sufficient time to say what has to be said, and say it directly. There is no room to miss the point, or lose focus. 'Say You Don't Mind' has now played repeatedly, and quite changed my state.

I bought this compilation last year, and have a similar fondness for it.

But All Music Guide says Chris Gunning is responsible for the string arrangements on the first LP. Tony Visconti is listed as an arranger, too. Hmm. Going back to the original sleeve seems called for. Buckmaster's impressive (if easily mistaken for "overblown" by those disinclined to soak them in) string arrangements did have a large part in making Elton John's eponymous breakthrough LP the unique classic that it remains.

Blunstone's first LP is acknowledged as the best of the three, but some fine tunes grace Ennismore and Journey as well. I'll admit to having an immediate negative reaction to the King's Singers backing vocals on the latter, but somehow, it really works on "Beginning"/"Keep The Curtains Closed Today". The madrigal-ish vocals wrap impressionistically around Blunstone's ethereal voice and a lone nylon string guitar, making a beautiful, wistful, romantic whole. For me, a major Guilty Pleasure on a par with the Moody Blues' Most Overblown Cosmic Romanticisms.

Anyway, continuing to cut 'n paste just cuz it's there:

John Payne of L.A. Weekly came to interview me at 14.00. He began by apologising for the description of Crimson as 'prog rock pond-scum set to bum you out' (announcing our three nights at the Beverly Wilshire in 1995). But how could anyone be offended by such a dopey moniker? We adopted it as our own, and raised it on flags. John is concerned with the current state of the mainstream record industry. This is a debate worth having in the media, but inevitably the interlocking nature of business in the US will provide its own problems when the debate becomes public. Like, mainstream companies don't tend to advertise in papers which criticise their fundamentally exploitive nature.

And exciting news from Crafty Patrick Shuleit, who works for Washburn guitars. He has persuaded a firm to manufacture the design of picks we use in Guitar Craft. Perhaps tomorrow afternoon I'll get to fondle the test batch, in the privacy of my hotel room.

I believe this quest for the Perfect Pick never did come out entirely satisfactorily. A unique shape, feel and variable flexibility is required, and, apparently, difficult to reproduce. For myself, I've been using the lighter gauges of Dunlop's nylon picks lately, switching to heavier gauges when cranking up the distortion. But, I mostly have need of cleaner tones these days, albeit disguised with chorus, flanger or phaser effects (70's Telecaster Custom through a Roland Cube 30)...

Poultry In Motion

I still get a comment from this October 2003 Blogcritics post about "Chicken Fat" e-mailed to me every now and then. If the refrain "Go, You Chicken Fat, Go" brings back fond (or horrific) memories from your childhood, you may want to follow the linkage for a Blast From The Past.

Lost And Found

Nth of Pril has returned to a new location. I should update my link before this post scrolls off. Should be easy to do, as seldom as I write anything here! Coincidentally, Deep Purple's cover of Cream's "I'm So Glad" just came up on the CD player...

Also, the final Wigu comic has been posted. I recommend you follow the link to the left and read the entire archive, then order copies of the books and whatever merchandise they got what strikes your fancy. Then, send me the books when you're done reading them. Thanks!

Piano Music CD's For Sale

I've made a public notice concerning my mother-in-law's piano music CD over at saintsteven's place. According to theory, linkage to and from this page will increase this information's visibility to certain search engines. We shall see.

My e-mail address is seen to the left under the Correspondence heading, in case you followed that link in order to contact me. Presumably, the CD can be ordered directly from CDBaby when they have stock on hand once again.

It occurs to me belatedly that I should mention the artist's name. Marjorie Bliese Gluckstein. CDBaby indicates you should go ahead and order a copy since CD's are "on the way", which roughly translates as lost somewhere between the receiving dock and the proper shelf in the warehouse.

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there usually is." - Robert Pease

Overcompensating

Jeffrey Rowland, creator of Wigu and CEO of TopatoCo has a cartoon blog that is very entertaining. Just thought you would want to know about that.

Fripp continues to crack me up. This is from Tuesday 23rd November 1999:

Rocco Farte (pronounced "Far-tay") has spent many years on the inside of the music industry, with varying degrees of success. He has worked with many of the most important artists of the last 30 years, such as pomp rocker Legs Blake, Blane Fury & Bari Neon (two bright lights of the glam-rock era), plus even more of the completely unknown, like Teddy Valiant. Regrettably, all of this has taken something of a toll upon his vital presence. But he continues to breathe, seek territory, food & sexual partners. On a clear day, his reminiscences are startling. On a day when his personal sun is obscured by clouds, even more so.

UPDATE: Bari Neon (like Brain One) is an anagram for Brian Eno. Whether Legs Blake and/or Blane Fury might be anagrams or obscure references to other musical luminaries of Fripp's acquaintance (Brian Ferry? David Bowie? Peter Gabriel?) is a matter for speculation. R.F. seems to have quite a self deprecating sense of humour, in any event.

Links Updated

Rearranged, added a couple, demoted a few... No other reason for this post, just wanted to make sure the Template didn't get hosed...

Oh Yeah, One More Thing

I don't quite have the time or motivation to produce a major post about the performances rehearsals of Jim Grimsley's "A Bird Of Prey" at Tosa West last night. I will note that the people who raised the stink about it are dopes, the "acting" school superintendents are invertebrate weasels, and Ms. King and the troupe did a tremendous job presenting a significant and moving piece of drama. So there.

What Happened To September?

Keeping busy, and out of trouble, I guess. I turned 31 (hexadecimal) last month, and it would have been my father's 90th birthday (decimal) two weeks ago today, as well.

Family news includes tidbits such as Matt's got his Learner's Permit and is taking Driver's Ed, and Sarah is a National Merit Semifinalist and is keeping busy with rehearsals for some play whose name I don't recall... Plus she's starting to learn music to play in the "West Side Story" pit orchestra in addition to UWAY and marching band and State Honors band. A busy little clarinetist, though she plays bass drum in marching band! Peter plays bassoon with the MYSO Junior Winds again this year, but he's the only 'oonist this year! (Last year there were three.) He's not the most active or merit badge motivated Boy Scout, but he did go camping once last month.

Matt and I finished painting the trim and windows last weekend, and Lora tried the sponge-painting thing on the fourth wall of our new enclosed patio / three season room (we haven't decided quite what to call it yet!). Results are very nice. We have some trim to install, but it's livable again. Lora may be planning to refinish the French Doors, too. We'll tile the floor next Spring or Summer, but until then it's a very nice space to sit of a summer or autumn evening or weekend morning... It'll be interesting to see how late into the Fall we end up using the room. Overnight temperatures are starting to dip, now that October's here...

A CD Review...

Through the graces of Blogcritics, I've been supplied with a few promo CD's for reviewing purposes in recent months. The first one to arrive proved to be a difficult nut to crack. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, and I felt I needed to study it pretty hard and educate myself a bit before putting my impressions onto pixels. And, quite frankly, I felt that it deserved at least a somewhat positive review, even though it didn't really excite me on first hearing. So, I've ended up listening to it a dozen or so times over the last month or two, and gradually pulled together the following. I'd probably call it a three star CD on a five star scale. (Or maybe 7 on a 1 to 10 scale... I think American Bandstand has a lock on the zero to one hundred "it's got a good beat you can dance to it" concept!)

Sir Roland Hanna - Tributaries (Reflections On Tommy Flanagan)

Detroit developed a burgeoning jazz scene following World War II, but like many midwestern urban centers, it's lasting heritage is the string of Jazz Musicians it fed to the gravitational pull of New York City rather than the fruits of its own indigenous scene. Consider the effect on the Big Apple music scene had Milt Jackson, Paul Chambers, Ron Carter, the Jones brothers (Elvin, Thad and Hank) and Kenny Burrell not gone East in the 50's...

Sir Roland Hanna (Unlike 'Duke' Ellington and 'Count' Basie, 'Sir' was not a nickname, but an actual title, bestowed on him by the President of Liberia in 1970 for humanitarian efforts on behalf of that country!) was another Detroit native who made his mark in New York. He approached jazz from the classical tradition, having studied at Eastman and Julliard, then served with both Benny Goodman and Charles Mingus in the 50's before concentrating on his own trio and a steady gig with the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis big band. A tenured professor at Queens College in New York, Hanna finished "Tributaries (Reflections on Tommy Flanagan)" just before his own sudden death in November 2002. (Flanagan had passed away the previous year.)

This Solo Piano CD begins and ends with Flanagan compositions. "Sea Change", the opener, begins in a George Winston mood, then segues into a march tempo with unexpected harmonies and syncopation, relaxing again to the contemplative by the end. The closing "Delarna" sounds like a song with no words, putting me in mind of Bryan Ferry's "These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You)" for some reason. Lyricism may be the dominant characteristic of the CD, reflecting, perhaps, Flanagan's decade-plus spent as Ella Fitzgerald's accompanist, or Hanna's own time spent with Sarah Vaughan.

Hanna's take on Thad Jones' "A Child Is Born" seems to quote from "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". If it's good enough for Mozart, why not a 20th Century jazz composer? I wonder if this is intended to evoke a Christmas mood? Not quite the Vince Guaraldi Trio, this feels more like sitting back with a glass of egg nog and rum at midnight after the presents are finally wrapped and under the tree. In contrast, another Jones composition, "'Tis", features considerable energy, syncopation and dynamics.

Gershwin's "Soon" has a nice angular, percussive feel under the melody. Further standards by Cole Porter and Mercer Ellington, and the chestnut "Body And Soul" are explored in a laid-back fashion, swinging melodically, with restrained dynamics, at medium tempos...

Illinois Jacquet's "Robin's Nest" is probably the most upbeat number on the disc. It's easy to imagine a Forties or Fifties tenor sax quartet ripping through this one. Sir Roland flirts with a boogie woogie beat and keeps my toe tapping throughout.

Overall, this is not avant-garde or especially propulsive piano music, but melodic and elegant, with subtle variations in style and texture. A relaxing hour of late evening or weekend afternoon listening. My usual taste in piano players tends more to Professor Longhair and Glenn Gould, and while Hanna shares few obvious characteristics with that odd couple, he also steers clear of the overheated pounding with the sustain pedal that used to pass for dramatic romantic dynamism in the days before heavy metal. Overall, a worthy recording, and a fitting tribute to the memories of two fine musicians.

Comments may be posted at Blogcritics.

Twyford Vitromant Update


Via Ben Turner, corresponding from olde Blighty, Twyford Vitromant is apparently a brand of Toilet fixtures over there in England. Thanks!

I remember being mystified by the neat blue text "K of K USA" on the urinals back in elementary school, eventually deducing that the fine porcelain items in question were probably manufactured by the Kohler Company up there in Kohler, Wisconsin. I never wrote a song about it, though.

The Thoughts of Chairman Bob

Part of the reason I find it worthwhile to check out Robert Fripp's online diary (link to the left) even when he goes weeks without uploading new posts (a common side effect of touring Eastern Europe, running a Guitar Craft seminar in South America, or other extended absences from internet access) is that they automatically revive postings from "this date in history", as well as a randomly selected entry. Recent postings concern the editing and preparation of a 21st Century Guide to King Crimson and his various dealings with home remodeling tradesmen as well as his small pleasures with his wife, his home, and his village. Interesting to me, if not of major importance. And once in a while an observation from the past feels useful in the present tense...

Wednesday 23rd. August, 2000

Part of my morning's reading & reflection: how help is always available, even though we are often not available for help to help us.

The centre of gravity of the act of redemption is love. How easily said, how easily typed. What can this mean? I don't know, and I don't believe it is possible to know redemption on its "own" terms.

The first paragraph resonates especially in my work life just lately. I must attempt to find a way to seek and accept "help" when I find myself spinning my wheels, in loose sand with no traction. Remaining "available" at home is a continuing challenge, as well. And redemption, I suppose, is a gift that needs mostly to be accepted, not necessarily understood.

And I think that's all the bloviation I have time for on that subject today. Now to work!