Back on my feet, Blogging.

Well, I got the final confirmation today of the news I got a fortnight ago; I’ve exhausted the usual channels of complaint – there are further steps I can take but as the Hospital is a reader of this Blog I won’t be sharing that with them.

So, was I moping about depressed and defeated?
Nursing my wounds, broken and alone?

Like F@#k I was.

And to think, if I'd won I'd have been thinking about hitting the delete button on the Blog, once and for all.
Now I'll just have to keep on Bloggin'.

Tomorrow night it’s time for

The SkaSouls

Tonight?

Time for Jazz.

The Pete Davies Quartet play modern jazz at The Barley Mow, Shepperton.

It’s not so spikey, not so cutting edge as I would like instead they play standards, the mainstay of Jazz. Still its stylish jazz played by great musicians, comfortable with their abilities, at ease with their Jazz.

Not demanding, not hard to listen to but reflective and cool.

I was late as I came in but I was in time to hear ‘Desafinado’ – ‘off key’, just the finest Bossa Nova (New Wave).

That was followed up by ‘Autumn Leaves’, an evocative and beautiful standard used by many of the best Jazz musicians to show off their skills. If you haven't heard it , you need to check out the Cannonball Adderley version with Miles Davis's trumpet solo on Bluenote records.

Not that I want to be thinking about autumn leaves this spring.

Here’s Pete Davies on the left and guest Pete Cook on the right.

 

 Nigel Fox was on keyboards, Malcolm Potter on Drums.

I’m afraid I missed the excellent bassist’s name – here he is behind Pete Cook.

 

There were a range of instruments on show – here is Pete Davis on his Clarinet.

 

Batteries recharged, back on my feet, ready for the fight to come.
I'll be Blogging now, to the end.

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)

Home:    helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact:  neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

Walking the earth.

When I got ill there were so many things I wanted to do, so many dreams. Unfortunately, the opportunities just weren’t there. None of those things ever happened.

Instead, like the Samuel L. Jackson character in Pulp Fiction, I decided to just ‘walk the earth’. It worked out for me, I bumped into some wonderful times, by accident.

Good music, good Craic.

Wednesday was a bad day at hospital, I was completely stressed out by everything that was happening.
Too much stress and no solutions.

In the evening I took a chance and went down to The Barley Mow in Shepperton.

I’ve been there before for a spot of Rock N’ Roll or the Blues. But every Wednesday there is a Jazz night. I’ve only turned up once before – to see a band I’d heard of.

Tonight was a gamble – I don’t like 'traditional' or Dixieland jazz, I’m strictly modern. Once a month it goes ‘trad’ and like Russian Roulette, that’s a bullet I need to dodge.

In fact I had a great night, completely unexpected.

I was lucky, it was slow and smooth, which usually isn’t my thing – but this time it was just what I needed to chill out and calm down. And modern too.

‘Peter Davies and Friends’ were Pete Davies on Saxophone, fronting with Peter Cook on saxes too.

 Nigel Fox was doing some solid keyboard stuff, especially whenever he picked the button with  ‘Hammond’  on it and just let go.

Dave Richmond was on Bass and Malcolm Potter, who I’ve seen before in another band, was on drums.

It was a good night, a good scene. As I said, ‘walking the earth’.
And take a look at this;

 

 

Can't you just feel that vibe?

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)