Geography and all that Jazz

Image CC licensed by Flickr user raindog A rare social event yesterday. After working on some projects, it was a train down to London to the BARBICAN : love the feel of it after dark when the apartment lights come on above the lake with the fountains and the seating pods. Inside is always buzzing too with a range of different people using it for different purposes. Outside there was some amazing snow which swirled around the place... The occasion was a gig by Pat Metheny , who I first saw live in 1982 !! Have seen him numerous times since, most recently when his group performed "The Way Up" The project is called ORCHESTRION - an earlier blog post contained a video, and this was the only UK date for the project. There is a review on Jazzwise And for a picture of the ORCHESTRION itself, see HERE - thanks to the Goldsmith family A great concert: out to wander back along London Wall, guided by my iPhone to my hotel...

On Wednesday night, I will be at the Barbican in the evening for a concert by Pat Metheny which promises to be a one-off evening: for a start it's the only UK date for Pat, and for the other, it features him with his ORCHESTRION .

It's been a while since we had a bit of jazz.... A very brief taster... Got tickets for the Barbican in February... Very excited to see how this turns out...

Just watching this as I work.... A spot of Pat for you... Will it snow tomorrow ?? And as a bit of a contrast...

I love the opportunities that summer holidays provide for pottering little jobs... Yesterday went up in the loft and wandered down the ladder with a few samples from a huge box of tapes that I hadn't played for years. On with the wi-fi headphones (a great invention!) and out into the garden with a bottle of 'Cologne style lager' from the Meantime Brewery in Greenwich (pic below of my daughter standing on the Prime Meridian earlier this year) One of the tapes was classic Pat Metheny "Offramp" from 1982. Used to play this a lot as a student, and particularly like the track "Eighteen" - driving and melodic... For those who haven't heard Pat Metheny before - check out this solo acoustic medley... Will keep you updated with some other 'classics from the dusty box' as I work through them...

Geography and Clothing Some cool new shirts with a World Map design are now in at the Womad Shop . I used to have one years ago: from Peter Gabriel's RealWorld records, but can't put my hand on it at the moment. May have to get a replacement (£15 including postage and packing, and they also sell children's sizes) Womad are a good organisation to lend your support to. Geography and Jazz (Cont.) Also out at the moment is the new CD by 2 jazz greats: Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau - some more on this soon... Geography and GeographyPages And watch out for some national publicity relating to GeographyPages soon...

Geography and Maps Just got an e-mail from Ordnance Survey to say that my Free Maps for my current Year 7 pupils have been dispatched and should arrive within the week. I've ordered Explorer Map 250 : Norfolk Coast West, which is shown above. Many thanks to the OS for continuing this initiative, and a reminder to Dr. Vanessa Lawrence that King Edward VII school is covered up on the OS 1: 50 000 map of King's Lynn by the word 'Coll' - hopefully we'll re-appear on the next edition of the map ? UPDATE: Maps now received and distribution has started... Geography and Jazz (Continued....) Finally Pat Metheny's "The Way Up" is released on DVD in early October. An essential purchase. Has an HD option, and a 5:1 sound mix. Mmmm... Order through Amazon, follow the link from my Bookshop if you do.... Update 4th October - DVD is on the way... Update 10th October - DVD arrived, and is fabulous ! - great Lyle Mays solos...

Geography and Clothing Went to Norwich International Airport today to collect my wife and daughter who were returning by Flybe from Exeter. Some good images taken on the outward flight - will post some images shortly. They had also brought some geographical gifts for me - they know me so well. One was a marble from House of Marbles which was printed with a map of the world - cool! Another was a shirt from a shop in Topsham whose name is the position in latitude and longitude of the shop: 50 degrees 41 minutes North 3 degrees 28 minutes West The shirts also say clothing with latitude on them (rather than attitude...) Have done a search for the shop but can find no more details... People as Consumers for Pilot GCSE - design some geographical clothing... On the way back, passed a sign for a road called "Nowhere Lane" - the road to nowhere ? Geography and Jazz Oh, and here's the first jazz mention. The record of 2005 for me was Pat Metheny's "The Way Up" It'...