This will be the first and last time I imbed a YouTube music video on this blog.
I first began listening to Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers late last year after a trip to Japan during which I saw a local group perform This is For Albert from the album Caravan.
This number, I Remember Clifford, features Lee Morgan on trumpet. It was written in memory of another trumpeter, Clifford Brown, one of the all-time nice guys of jazz who was tragically killed in a car accident in 1956 at the age of just 25. Brown played with Blakey in the forerunner to the Jazz Messengers, the Art Blakey Quintet.
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Two blogs
Two blogs I discovered after returning from walking the Nakasendo.
The first is by an American who in 2001 left his job at Aeon (the name of which will be familiar to some of you) and embarked on an "autumn pilgrimage" that took him along the Tokaido from Tokyo to Kyoto and then on to Shikoku where he did the pilgrimage of the 88 temples, famous for its connection with the Shingon sect founder, Kukai, whose name of course you all remember from this post. The site's a bit of a maze, but well worth exploring.
The second, and more recent, discovery is a blog by a Singaporean who as I write is just beginning preparations for his attempt to walk the Nakasendo solo. This is definitely one to watch. His approach is a little different from most people's in that he's not concerned with sticking too closely to the original route and intends to "sleep rough" along the way. Good luck to him.
I've added both these blogs to the links at left.
The first is by an American who in 2001 left his job at Aeon (the name of which will be familiar to some of you) and embarked on an "autumn pilgrimage" that took him along the Tokaido from Tokyo to Kyoto and then on to Shikoku where he did the pilgrimage of the 88 temples, famous for its connection with the Shingon sect founder, Kukai, whose name of course you all remember from this post. The site's a bit of a maze, but well worth exploring.
The second, and more recent, discovery is a blog by a Singaporean who as I write is just beginning preparations for his attempt to walk the Nakasendo solo. This is definitely one to watch. His approach is a little different from most people's in that he's not concerned with sticking too closely to the original route and intends to "sleep rough" along the way. Good luck to him.
I've added both these blogs to the links at left.
Monday, 19 January 2009
The running fool is dead
So, what have I been doing post Nakasendo? Not running a marathon, that's for sure. For a while I did run pretty seriously. This included taking part in a series of organized 5-km "fun runs" at Hagley Park in early 2008, over the course of which I steadily improved my time, finishing up with a not discreditable (for a newbie veteran, that is) 27 minutes 33 seconds. Here's me surging towards the finishing line just ahead of a woman and her dog.
I downloaded a training schedule for people preparing to run their first marathon and was running nearly every day. But as I increased my workload to the point where I was doing 10-km runs once or twice a week, my knees started getting sore, so sore that they kept me awake at night, and I reluctantly concluded that I wouldn't be able to run a marathon. I packed away my singlets and running shorts and bought some new walking shoes (waterproof Keens, similar to the ones Erik wore when we walked the Nakasendo together).
And so in the middle of last year I switched to Plan B and bought a walking map of the Tokaido. I plan to walk it in May-June this year, but as usual there are several obstacles in my way. Principal among these is yet another health issue. I recently found out that the "unsightly bright red scab-like thing on the side of my nose" I referred to in October 2007 is in fact a basal cell carcinoma. A dermatologist has reassured me that it's no threat to my health, but I need to have it excised. I don’t know when this will be. I'm not even sure how long the waiting list for this kind of surgery is at the moment. Hopefully I can get it done and recuperate before 18 May, which is my preferred departure date.
I downloaded a training schedule for people preparing to run their first marathon and was running nearly every day. But as I increased my workload to the point where I was doing 10-km runs once or twice a week, my knees started getting sore, so sore that they kept me awake at night, and I reluctantly concluded that I wouldn't be able to run a marathon. I packed away my singlets and running shorts and bought some new walking shoes (waterproof Keens, similar to the ones Erik wore when we walked the Nakasendo together).
And so in the middle of last year I switched to Plan B and bought a walking map of the Tokaido. I plan to walk it in May-June this year, but as usual there are several obstacles in my way. Principal among these is yet another health issue. I recently found out that the "unsightly bright red scab-like thing on the side of my nose" I referred to in October 2007 is in fact a basal cell carcinoma. A dermatologist has reassured me that it's no threat to my health, but I need to have it excised. I don’t know when this will be. I'm not even sure how long the waiting list for this kind of surgery is at the moment. Hopefully I can get it done and recuperate before 18 May, which is my preferred departure date.
Saturday, 17 January 2009
A spiritual (?) journey (Part 2)
As I was saying, I'm a fan of the music of Keith Jarrett. Listening to his playing now, I find it difficult to imagine that I didn't fall in love with it straight away. Such is the sense of wonder it inspires in me. Such is the extent to which it moves me. Yes, I know some musicians grow on you. You're either not ready for them the first time you hear them, or you just need to allow time for them to grow on you. But it's different with Keith Jarrett. Today he moves me like no other musician I've heard before or since. Yet the first time I heard him I didn’t get it at all.
A few years ago when my brother Mark went to live overseas, he left me his extensive collection of Miles Davis CDs for safekeeping. He also left me a handful of CDs by other artists, among them Keith Jarrett's La Scala. I gave it a listen but it left no real impression on me.
I while later - I think it was Christmas time - we were up in Nelson where my father was living and someone put on The Melody at Night, With You. I thought it was beautiful. I still enjoy listening to it, although it's quite unlike most of Keith Jarrett's other recordings. It's very restrained (it was his first recording after a long period of enforced inactivity due to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and he used a specially adjusted piano as he had insufficient strength in his hands to play a normal piano). Some people rather disparagingly refer to it as "Jarrett lite". But it's a good CD for introducing people to the world of Keith Jarrett without fear of scaring them off with some of his "heavier" material. It certainly did the trick for me. Back in Christchurch, I bought my own copy of The Melody at Night, With You. I also gave La Scala another listen, and before long I was hooked.
What really sealed my fate was seeing Keith Jarrett perform with his trio on the Standards DVD. The performance is shocking in a way. All his eccentricities (the facial contortions, the vocalizing, the dancing while playing) are laid bare, but at the same time his passion, joy, and ecstasy are so plain to see. I knew that I was witnessing something special. It wasn't just great music; there was something more to it.
On just about every Keith Jarrett recording I own, whether it be solo, trio, or quartet, there are certain passages that are so beautiful they almost bring me to tears. My reaction is more or less the same every time I listen to them. There are also moments of ecstasy, of rapture. I'd never experienced this while listening to music before, and I remember telling someone once that listening to Keith Jarrett changed the way I listen to all music, changed the way the sound enters my ears. How can someone's piano playing have such an effect? In an effort to answer this question, I started reading about Keith Jarrett and his approach to music.
(To be continued...)
A few years ago when my brother Mark went to live overseas, he left me his extensive collection of Miles Davis CDs for safekeeping. He also left me a handful of CDs by other artists, among them Keith Jarrett's La Scala. I gave it a listen but it left no real impression on me.
I while later - I think it was Christmas time - we were up in Nelson where my father was living and someone put on The Melody at Night, With You. I thought it was beautiful. I still enjoy listening to it, although it's quite unlike most of Keith Jarrett's other recordings. It's very restrained (it was his first recording after a long period of enforced inactivity due to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and he used a specially adjusted piano as he had insufficient strength in his hands to play a normal piano). Some people rather disparagingly refer to it as "Jarrett lite". But it's a good CD for introducing people to the world of Keith Jarrett without fear of scaring them off with some of his "heavier" material. It certainly did the trick for me. Back in Christchurch, I bought my own copy of The Melody at Night, With You. I also gave La Scala another listen, and before long I was hooked.
What really sealed my fate was seeing Keith Jarrett perform with his trio on the Standards DVD. The performance is shocking in a way. All his eccentricities (the facial contortions, the vocalizing, the dancing while playing) are laid bare, but at the same time his passion, joy, and ecstasy are so plain to see. I knew that I was witnessing something special. It wasn't just great music; there was something more to it.
On just about every Keith Jarrett recording I own, whether it be solo, trio, or quartet, there are certain passages that are so beautiful they almost bring me to tears. My reaction is more or less the same every time I listen to them. There are also moments of ecstasy, of rapture. I'd never experienced this while listening to music before, and I remember telling someone once that listening to Keith Jarrett changed the way I listen to all music, changed the way the sound enters my ears. How can someone's piano playing have such an effect? In an effort to answer this question, I started reading about Keith Jarrett and his approach to music.
(To be continued...)
Sunday, 31 August 2008
The importance of travelling on foot
"If you live in England and your girlfriend is in Sicily, and it is clear that you want to marry her, then you should walk to Sicily to propose."- Werner Herzog
Monday, 14 January 2008
For my next trick...
I'd quite like to run a marathon. I started running again soon after I got back from Japan in November last year, and have got back to the point where I was a couple of years ago (before injury persuaded me to give up running and take up walking) where I can run 5-6km without any difficulty. Barring further injury, I reckon I should be able to run a marathon in a year or so.
My goal is the Tokyo Marathon in February 2009. Unfortunately this is quite a popular marathon, so popular that they hold a lottery to determine which of the applicants get to run. They had just over 130,00 applicants for this year's marathon, with just 25,000 of these getting to start. So if I don't get selected I'll try the Gold Coast Airport Marathon instead. That would be in July 2009. If injury forces me to give up the idea of a marathon altogether, I'll bail out and do something easier, like walking the Tokaido.
My goal is the Tokyo Marathon in February 2009. Unfortunately this is quite a popular marathon, so popular that they hold a lottery to determine which of the applicants get to run. They had just over 130,00 applicants for this year's marathon, with just 25,000 of these getting to start. So if I don't get selected I'll try the Gold Coast Airport Marathon instead. That would be in July 2009. If injury forces me to give up the idea of a marathon altogether, I'll bail out and do something easier, like walking the Tokaido.
Friday, 4 January 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
