Is a jazz friend hard to find?
Good piece from Jamie Cullum in today’s Guardian about the late Esbjorn Svensson. Jamie pinpoints exactly the appeal for not only the non-jazz crowd but for the young jazz enthusiast like the student Mr Cullum. E.S.T. made the connection between the ageless appeal of the improvising jazz piano trio and the young pop, rock and dance music fan, and they did it primarily by their use of beat “Broken drum ‘n’ bass grooves, electronic four-to-the-floor inflections, funky and almost danceable…” in Jamie’s words.
The piece has a good first line, too: “Being a jazz lover is a hard way to make friends.”
That may be true, but then again, a jazz friend is a friend indeed! And have you, like me, made some really good ones through a shared interest in this wonderful life-giving music?
Read Jamie’s “Farewell to a maverick” in full here.
Read Jamie Cullum’s tribute to Esbjörn Svensson and searched i-Tunes for ‘Good Morning Susie Soho’, the album that made Cullum a fan of EST’s music. The search came back with an album released last month by Ulf Wakenius, ‘Love is Real’, which sounds seriously wicked. It has a track called ‘Good Morning Susie Soho’, which I assume is a cover of the EST song. Still figuring out how to buy it, seeing that i-Tunes turn their noses up at my Namibian credit card. However, Mr Bacon, I’m enjoying jumping between Jazz Breakfast and i-Tunes Store, listening to samples of the CDs you review. This is the second weekend in a row I’ve found myself doing it, leaving aside the Mail and Guardian and my usual Saturday morning rituals as I do it. Then again, in a country where Cabinet Minister’s shoot at their children for supporting an opposition political party, and the national football team would struggle against Andorra, perhaps this is a good way to spend a Saturday after all. Nice one mate.
Yes, my oldest friend, met at university 40 years ago through a shared interest in jazz, still maintained. Just joined him and his wife for a caravan holiday in France. African Jazz Pioneers often on the ipod.