Tag: Music I like.

Trivia.

I’ve not been doing much photography in the last few weeks; probably just fedup with all the restrictions we seem to have had placed upon us.
Although one bonus is that I have been reading a lot and listening to music on my headphones.

Here is a book that was sent to me by my daughter, a completely unknown authour. ‘Amor Towles‘ who published a novel in 2016 with the title A Gentleman in Moscow .

Click cover for Amazon link.

The story of Count Alexander Rostov who is brought before a Bolshevik tribunal in Moscow: condemned for being an unrepentant aristocrat. Saved from the firing squad by a poem whose sentiments seem to coincide with the revolutionary desire for change. Instead of being shot, he is sentenced to house arrest in his current place of residence: the Metropol Hotel. He returns to the hotel after his trial, determined to make the most of his reduced circumstances. As the reader, we follow the Count in his day to day life within the confines of the hotel.


Two quotes from the book:-

“The principle here is that a new generation owes a measure of thanks to every member of the previous generation. Our elders planted fields and fought in wars; they advanced the arts and sciences, and generally made sacrifices on our behalf. So by their efforts, however humble, they have earned a measure of our gratitude and respect.”
 
“For as it turns out, one can revisit the past quite pleasantly, as long as one does so expecting nearly every aspect of it to have changed.”

A book that I thoroughly recommend,

 

The music was Max Richter:

The Little Fete from · Vangelis China.

“I take a bottle of wine and I go to drink it among the flowers.
We are always three … counting my shadow and my friend the shimmering moon
Happily the moon knows nothing of drinking, and my shadow is never thirsty
When I sing, the moon listens to me in silence. When I dance, my shadow dances too.
After all festivities the guests must depart. This sadness I do not know.
When I go home, the moon goes with me and my shadow follows me”

 

Hi Fi.

Not made any music posts for some time – here is one of my Jazz favourites.

My SME series III arm and Ariston Transcription turntable.

Got my UK Hi Fi running after many years of being in semi storage, Vinyl was not practical in Oman, if you could even buy any !
I now have my Quad amplifier and record deck playing again; gave it a good service as capacitors do not like long-term storage – some needed replacing as they have a nasty habit of exploding with a messy bang when old and not used.
I don’t only use film cameras, I also have analogue audio   🙂

 

Anouar Brahem à Coutances.

This is a good version of  ‘Astounding Eyes of Rita’ with a lot of improvisation.
I remember going to a party quite a few years ago (excuse for drinking some beers with good people) at Khasab Oman; they had a local Oud player as guest of honour who when improvising was amazing. This reminds me of that evening, although I think we all got a little less compos mentis than we should have been.  😎

Concierto by the Jim Hall sextet.

A great jazz version of the well-known  Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo: taken from the album Concierto by the Jim Hall sextet.
With a glass of Chateau Musar:  A red wine from grapes grow in the Beqaa Valley Lebanon.
Please click the link for the wine & get an interesting insight into a family run vineyard that has gone through great travails keeping this wine in production.

A Diversion: The Tallis Scholars – Allegri Miserere.

I am not sure how long this will stay – it is well worth the 29 mins spent listening and then go to the version below and be transported to another reality: I have 15 different recordings (obsession – no…  I just love music that can make one stop & listen without distraction) my excuse anyway  🙂

The extended ‘C’ is delightful and without strain or vibrato in the version below.