Jan 10th 2009

The First Post.

I’d rather start by looking forwards, than looking back. A theme…

One thing this blog is going to be about is anticipation. About evenings I’m looking forward to….and maybe also the gigs I would try to get to if I could. The gigs which jump off the schedules, which remind me of other good gigs. The travelling hopefully before you arrive. The sounds, the vibe are already there in the mind.

As Louis said to Ruby Braff: It’s what you do if the band on stage – or by inference life in general – doesn’t provide the sounds you want: “I just turn up the volume of the band in my head.”

What’s caught my eye this week? The Ian Shaw evenings at the Pizza.

There will his jaw-dropping energy and infectious good humour….but ALL the juxtapositions look great. Several forms of the unexpected can be expected….why else would one go?

http://www.pizzaexpresslive.co.uk/

He’s there every night from Tuesday to Saturday. The one I’ve picked out to go to is Thursday.

With Natalie Williams – commandingly tall/glam/Anglo-Tscherman/ex-Guildhall( in the dim and distant)/a super musician….

And Liane Carroll. What I say to non-jazz people is: you have to go and hear Liane. You can’t not. You mean you’ve not seen the Hanging Gardens of Babylon or the Colossus of Rhodes? Liane is a wonder. A phenomenon.

Her autobiographical songs…. her Laura Nyro songs …….her phenomenal pianism….her standards (eg Caravan…or the one she calls the Ram’s lament …There Will Never Be Another You) ..her outrageous patter between numbers. It’s always a great show. Even for those of us who go every six weeks or so, Liane just NEVER disappoints.