This and that whilst sipping a fine malt.
Hanging in our kitchen are these words. Something to cling on to as the world outside goes to hell in a handcart. And we love all of the arts in our house - well, most anyway. (Sorry, I don’t get opera.) Also, Mrs. Monkey and I have very different tastes in music. Albeit that… Continue reading Worth it for great art
As the UK and the US split themselves down the middle and bleeding-heart liberal snowflakes like me contemplate our belly button fluff in the cosy confines of our cultural snobbery, there’s nothing quite like doing it to the sound of great music from around the World. Recent weeks have seen The Monkey groove to sounds… Continue reading Contemplating belly button fluff to the groove.
Since I posted the best of 2014 with the conviction that my choices couldn't be bettered I can safely say that I was proved right,to my taste anyway. However, it would be wrong to say that the albums covered there were the only ones worth checking out. There are quite rightly some "honourable mentions" worth… Continue reading The Best of 2014 – Honourable Mentions
The best albums of 2014! What ? Still two months to go ? Yeah, but I've waited this long and I don't see anyone beating these two masterpieces. They are, indeed, quite special. Firstly, the wonderful musician that is Dhafer Youssef and his album "Birds Requiem" which was released in November 2013 and showcased on… Continue reading The best albums of 2014.
Cheltenham, being a not so sleepy beautiful town in Gloucesterhire, hosts a number of festivals throughout the year. Each early May Bank Holiday it is the turn of the Jazz Festival. The event has become something of a mainstay on the jazz circuit and draws world renowned names to it's tents and halls in what… Continue reading Cheltenham Jazz Festival…. what a result !
(The idea for this post was placed delicately into my brain by the task mistress.) Over the years my muso son has kept me apace with the new 'n' happnin' trends in the popular music of the day. Some years ago he gave me a De Phazz album as a Christmas gift and admitted that… Continue reading True North …. the spirits move me back and forth …
Personally, despite my best efforts, I have found 2013 a fallow year for great new music. I know, I know, thousands of you, well a few anyway, who read this blog, will say “ But what about so-and-so , or so-and-so, and then there’s .............”. Well, they passed me by, or maybe they didn’t and… Continue reading ‘Tis these I recommend for lazy days..
Saturday night was spent at the annual Cheltenham Jazz Festival seeing the new Marcus Miller band with some friends dragged along on my recommendation..... and he didn’t disappoint. The centre piece of the Festival this year is a Big Top in the middle of town. A novel idea which immediately implies a lot of fun… Continue reading Tick the Funk Box !
Once in a while as we blissfully glide through our freeform lives we experience moments that are at once so enriching and moving that they form a part of our make-up. They become a part of who we are since this enrichment sits there, quietly smirking, in the back our minds. “Gotcha there, didn’t I,”… Continue reading It sits there, in my mind, smirking….
singlemaltmonkey 