The big gigs of the year

I don't know what I was expecting when I booked my ticket for Herbie Hancock at Symphony Hall a few months ago. It was a show that I think probably fell into the ranks of indescipherable progressive jazz that is only of note because of how lacking in melody it can be. I had quite long spells in the gig when I couldn't fathom out what I was meant to be listening to and then almost suddenly, as if mist were clearing, glimpses where the melody, rhythm and harmonies came together in quite an amazing scene. It did remind me of why a lot of working class whites like black performers - they've seen them escape from the same type of living conditions and circumstances that they've endured and been largely unable to break free from, perhaps seeing a black performer represents that individual who has managed to break free from social class and other restrictions that reduce freedom, quality of life and a sense of being more than a just another individual. They've made the class jump in a manner that Michael Parkinson would quite frequently aim to highlight about a great many of the guests that he's had on his chat show.

With many similarities and differences in mind, I also saw Paul Carrack at the Town Hall earlier last week. I had an objective if you can call it that, of seeing a couple of big names during the course of the year and the three or four biggies have been Herbie Hancock, Paul Carrack and The Beach Boys who I saw at the NIA. I did also see Stan Tracey and his sextet which was as good an experience at a gig as I've had this year. I have spent a lot of time this year in an eighties revival mode. Not having had MTV I've not seen the pop videos that I've seen as a child for years and so many are on youtube such as the ACE version of How long has this been going on? which stands up relatively well and is a staple of most daytime radio stations. Paul Carrack, although he was introduced by Trevor Francis seem to do a type of show that I've seen done maybe just a little bit too often. I wondered who I'd pair him with to stretch him just a little bit - perhaps Bjork or maybe the Portico Quartet with the inspired sound - stretch yourself just a little more please Mr. Carrack.....

Carole Westwood and Archie Cotterell Trio

Carole Westwood and Archie Cotterell Trio played Rush Hour Blues on Friday. I caught most of the first set which was quite nice - shame her kids got embarassed. I thought they were okay. I went along to the Hall Green Ward Committee meeting held in Hall Green School afterwards which was worth having attended if only to see the how things were handled - I'd only been to Kings Norton Ward meetings before which were held in much the same way unsurprisingly. Not that interesting, really...

Against Conspiracy.

It strikes me that in a city the size of Birmingham there are probably a few hundred people who have been the subject of action of the authorities, whether UK based authorities or those overseas, for the purposes of state control, social management or however we prefer the notion of illegal government activity to be termed which is supposedly carried out in the name of national security. I don't find it unimaginable that there is action carried out, not necessarily by the police or employees of the public sector, in order to incapacitate individuals, frame them or otherwise cause inconvenience to the individuals who live in the UK. While I may think this, I imagine that to most people this will appear to be rather insignificant conspiracy that is relatively poorly conceived. I imagine that

there is reason to consider how statistically likely it is that during your life either you, someone you know of or a member of your family may be subject to illegal action that the police are under no obligation to investigate, that is to say, the statistical basis of conspiracy theory. There are possibilities of a great many people being subject to government action, say in a city the size of Birmingham, perhaps there is a possibility of several hundred if not several thousand people having been subject to state action that will not be investigated by the Police that may only be illuminated by cases brought in front of the European Court of Human Rights.

May be one day I'll get some form of resolution on the matters that I've put before the police and hopefully there'll be no need to go as far as the European Court. I do wonder whether the term 'conspiracy theory' should be thought of in terms of unprofessional conduct. If anything a conspiracy theory is one which is not supported by the authorities, as a result, for an individual to have discussed an explanation, explanation being a term for a description that links together action or incident with causal relations, a conspiracy theory should perhaps only professionally in the light of political correctness be considered as a 'non-government supported explanation of events'. Perhaps this could reduce unprofessional attitudes towards some clients and open up more legitimate discussion on the issues that are linked to behaviour change and managing client groups. Perhaps, paranoia does have some links to those who are convinced of 'non-government supported explanations of events' and there could be greater clarification of this issue area to improve the rights of offenders, improve the mental health of offenders and thus as a result reduce the risk of re-offending.

The notion of a non-government supported explanation of events may be interesting to examine - perhaps what could be used on a regular basis may be explanations that are assessed by Primary Care Trusts as legitimate throught their Public Relations Departments - are these to provide the version of reality that we're to find is the healthy balanced truth...?

Coming down from Gigbeth....

Friday, I saw the The Tomorrow Band as part of Gigbeth which appeared to be a relatively successful undertaking. I like Chris a lot as a saxophonist but the band although intentionally bare in some respects could do with a couple of other members - either Levi or Rob on keys and one of the many trumpet players on the local scene - it's only my opinion though. The band which came on before them, the
Zappa Band did a good set. There was also another band that I don't know too much about, though I have to say the same for them - good set, as was the other one I saw earlier.

1st November 2008 - The first day of my life...

In some respects this is just another saturday - I don't feel very much at ease with the notion of continuing with this blog and not tying it into the themes that it is meant to linked with more strongly. I should be doing what I do to very strong effect and I don't know if I'll get round to doing it but who knows maybe I will actually get round to applying myself one day....

There are some shots on flickr of the band that played rush hour blues last night, the Brigette Beraha Quartet. Some are reasonable but as the nights draw in there's less and less light - this makes shooting without a tripod rather tricky...I think the shots reflect this....the shot above is one of the better ones.