All Things Considered

The Fragmented Orchestra

As usual, I was laying in bed this morning, slowly coming round to the day listening to Radio 4's 'Today' programme.

What a pleasant surprise to hear the voice of an old friend and fellow ex-band member, Nick Ryan, being interviewed.

Along with Jane Carter and John Mathias, Nick is part of The Fragmented Orchestra, a music project that has just been named as the winner of the New Music Award.

The Fragmented Orchestra's idea uses recording units set up at 24 sites across the UK to capture their sounds - these sounds will then be transmitted back to the Foundation for Art & Creative Technology (FACT) in Liverpool for visitors to hear.

The New Music Award judging panel said: "This extraordinary work mirrors the fundamental human activity of the brain."

The Neil Cowley Trio

It must be about a year since we first saw the Neil Cowley Trio in Norwich. I'd only just bought their first album, 'Displaced', and didn't quite know what to expect. But what a great night. I even ended up sort of inadvertently/accidentally 'stalking' Neil by e-mail in the days following the gig. A long story.

Their latest album - 'Loud Louder Stop' is available now on CD/iTunes and the trio are on tour across the UK. We're off to see them in Norwich next week. Here's a taster...

Idiomag

I've just discovered a relatively new music site, Idiomag.

I gather Idio is a bit like Pandora, a personalised Internet radio station, which sadly now rejects anyone outside the UK from listening (it checks your IP address, not just your imaginary US postcode). 

It’s easy and quick to join and by just adding artists you like, Idiomag will introduce you to other bands it thinks you will also enjoy listening to. You need to vote for the music you like and don’t like so it helps feed you with sounds and information that you want to hear and read.

Your daily personalised digital magazine can be sent via RSS, email or Facebook and will provide you with music videos, artist interviews, photo galleries as well as the option for purchasing downloads.

And just like with Facebook, Idio is all about sharing - social networking is unavoidable.

Future Radio

I like local produce, and I now listen to it as well as eat it. Listening to Future Radio, a volunteer driven radio station, fills me with goodness like an un-sprayed sprout. I don't get annoyed by the repetitive and bad songs, and I giggle at the DJ's instead of grunting at them (believe me, they are amusing in a non deliberate way). The music genre played is varied, and the tunes usually make me smile, with the scheduled shows appealing to all demographics unlike some other popular stations. You can even submit an on-line form with twelve of your chosen tracks, to be part of an hour long slot called The Peoples Playlist.

Future Radio, based in Norwich, has been broadcasting since 2004, and since this summer has been broadcasting full time. It's part of Project NR5  "a community based arts, media and education charity. NR5 Project provides school inclusion projects for young people aged 13 to 16 years, post 16 support, music, media and radio training, education films/DVDs and much more".

Although you can only tune your wireless to Future Radio 96.9 FM if you live in Norwich, you can listen on-line or download podcasts.

Latitude Festival

We spent last weekend camping at Henham Park situated near the fashionable seaside town of Southwold, Suffolk. The event was Latitude, organised by  Mean Fiddler, a festival of performing arts ranging from comedy, music and theatre to cabaret and poetry.

The setting itself was beautiful, so quintessentially English. Huge towering chestnut trees dotted around rolling parkland.  At one side of the lake was the bracken-scented wood with two small music stages. Crossing the temporary bridge over the lake you enter the main area with 3 music stage tents and a number of other smaller performing art tents. Further along sat the kiddies area, which was both safe and highly entertaining (for all ages).

The line-up list was long if a little obscure to me. There were a few names I recognised but the lesser-known bands, comedians and cabaret acts were more alluring. My highlights were hearing Rodrigo y Gabriela thrashing it out to a packed crowd in the Uncut tent late on Saturday night and the fabulous Puppini Sisters singing popular contemporary songs in 1940’s, The Andrew Sisters 'boogie woogie' style. Australian comedian Adam Hills had us in stitches while our two girls lay fast asleep on the turf at our feet. And we wouldn't have missed our friends perform the enchanting Norfolk tale of The Peddlar of Swaffham with their beautifully crafted, handmade theatre and puppets to a mass of captivated children.

Along with its relaxed and natural setting,  a diverse line up and a friendly atmosphere, Latitude has a unique quality. Michael Eavis, organiser of Glastonbury was seen over the weekend which will lead to further reports of a future partnership of the two festivals. Glastonbury will entice the younger crowd as Eavis has  requested and Latitude will appeal to families and people wanting a more relaxing and less exhausting festival. I know which one I'd rather go to.

The Neil Cowley Trio

When setting up All Things Considered we had to put together a list of categories for the posts that appear.

‘Music’ was right at the top of my list, and yet I’m feeling fairly nervous as I write this first post to be tagged with the category. Perhaps it's the fear of coming across a bit too seriously - like a character from Nick Hornby's excellent "High Fidelity".

Over the life of this blog I’ll no doubt slip in a number of ‘admissions’ about my musical past - most of which I’m genuinely very proud of (...and if you’re really lucky one day I might just tell you all a story about Tony the Tiger - maybe).

So, jazz. I’m the first to admit that I’m still a relative beginner when it comes to enjoying jazz. I first started listening properly maybe 10 years ago, bullied into it by our old friend Andy. Still, it’s paid off.

Jazz is one of those genres that covers so many styles and sub-genres that you simply can’t say you don’t like ‘it’. Out there, somewhere, will be a jazz artist/record that you’ll find yourself listening to again and again.

A firm favourite for the last year or so must be The Neil Cowley Trio. On their corner of MySpace they describe themselves as “jazz-trance-neo-classical-funk-soul for shoegazers”. And who am I to argue.

Having trained at the Royal College of Music and then working with artists such at the Brand New Heavies, Cowley and his trio draw on range of musical styles - from classical to jazz to dance - creating an enticing hybrid - and one that’s even better live than it is on record.

‘Displaced’ is a record I’ll be playing for years to come. Rehearsed over a couple of weeks and then recorded in 2 days at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, the album has been nominated for this year’s BBC Jazz Awards.

So, there you go, ‘modern British’ jazz at its best. Visit The Neil Cowley Trio website.