rhythmaning | May. 7th, 2012

May. 7th, 2012

I can't quite get my head around the Conservatives' right-wing and their "alternative Queen's speech".

If they persuade their leadership to dump the coalition agreement, what do they hope to achieve?

Are they really seeing signs of a desire of the electorate for a shift to the right? That would explain why the Conservatives were trounced in the local elections by the Labour Party.

Or perhaps they are hoping to piss the LibDems off so much by going back on their agreed agenda that the coalition will fall. Leading to a general election. Which, on current views, Labour would walk.

Do they actually want to be in power?!

I think I may have posted this before, but it is such a good cover I had to do so again...

It is just over a year since Talisker moved in. He remains incredibly cute. His claws remain resolutely sharp. My scars remain.

Since I reorganised the tv and electrical stuff, he has had a new place to sit: on a piece of electrical kit. He occasionally tries to play with things on tv, too. This is simulataneously cute and annoying.

The fourth Jazz in the Round was last week - the third of the series I've been to (here're the first and second...).

Another three diverse bands. The first, World Service Project were loud, contrived and really not my cup of tea.

The second act was John Russell, apparently a stalwart of the free guitar scene. I'm not a fan of free guitar - I once walked out of a Derek Bailey gig (I found it completely unlistenable to!) - so I wasn't expecting to enjoy this set. I was wrong - it was completely engrossing. It was pretty melodic and rhythmic, though completely improvised.

The headline act were the Arun Ghosh Quintet. I saw them back in November, where they were pretty lively and fun. In the more intimate surrounding of the Cockpit, their energy made them really powerful.

Mixing jazz, rock and south Asian rhythms, with an electric drone running much of the time, this was immensely engaging and enjoyable. The band worked really hard - Ghosh said he was exhausted after the gig.

The energy and power came from the music, too: at one point, Ghosh had the quintet play acoustically, and proved they didn't really need amplification in this space. This was wonderful music - a great gig.