Moiré music

Andrew and I went to the Bracknell Jazz festival. We had to be up early so we could buy me a spare motorcycle helmet, as the one I’d managed to borrow from Susie’s new boyfriend Vince proved much too small. Andrew bought a cheapo white one with peak and visor.

It was an enjoyable journey to Bracknell, the breeze warm as we powered along the motorway into Berkshire, stopping in Slough to check we were on the right route. . . .

It was incredibly warm. A marquee stood in the grounds of South Hill Park, overlooked by a terrace and a bar, and hordes of people sunned themselves in the fierce heat or packed the marquee to listen to the music of Dreamtime. Andrew and  I worked out an itinerary, to get in as much music as we could. I was so impressed with Dreamtime that I bought their album from one of the record stalls.

Joachim Kuhn and the Siger Band were so-so and the John Williams Octet produced passionless, empty jazz, but Lol Coxhill & Associates were excellent, with a quirky array of sounds, voice-overs, electronic synthesized screeches & moans . . .

The main attraction for Andrew & I were Miroslav Vitous & Stan Clarke who played an electric/acoustic bass duo. SC played bits of “School Days” & had us smiling in fond remembrance . . . His bass playing was unbelievable! Next up was Trevor Watts Moiré Music which was one long afro jam with congas, percussion and voices and received a rapturous reception, then the Gordon Beck Quintet which was being recorded for a forthcoming LP, and finally, the main attraction No. 2, the Carla Bley Band, Carla Bley (orange outfit, spindly legged, large yellow sandals) introducing her band with an appealing breathlessness & innocent enthusiasm. They played a Bley arrangement of Thelonious Monk’s “Mysterioso,” but we left before the encore to beat the rush.

We had a wearying tense journey back along the seemingly interminable North Circular Rd, Andrew anxious and angry over his malfunctioning rear light . . . We were back in Stoke Newington at two a.m.