Barb Dylan

Sadly, I didn't get to see Bob Dylan on his latest visit to the UK. By all accounts, he played a memorable three nights at the Albert Hall...

But a woman called Barb Jungr more than made up for my disappointment when I saw her singing her all-Dylan show – not so much a tribute act, but more an extended love letter to, from and about the great and mysterious Bob.

I have never heard anyone get so deep into the music of Dylan as Jungr did. And her passionate interpretations of the master's classics, as well as a few lesser known works, had me in tears more than once during the evening.

I confessed this to Jungr after the show, and she took my hand, as if to say: "Yes, it's powerful stuff... it's ok to cry."

In performing Dylan, she seems transported into that place where a singer performs at their utmost intensity. If you ever have a chance to see this show, don't miss it...

Ears Wide Open

I've been away... I'm back...

I thought I knew how to listen to music. It's something that I've been doing all my life, it seems.

And I suppose if the truth be told, a lot of the music that I've listened to 'live' has been on the loud side. And occasionally much too loud.

An effect of that has been finding some music much too quiet.

That was how I felt at a concert of early sacred music by the BBC Singers at St Paul's, Knightsbridge, a few nights ago.

The music – including pieces by Cornysh, Taverner, Horwood, Lamb and Wylkynson – was superb but I just wanted to turn up the volume to get the full effect.

Maybe years of listening to heavy blues and rock had taken its toll, and I was starting to lose my hearing, I thought.

In the interval I mentioned this to the person sitting next to me, and she explained the simple solution: "Listen with your eyes closed."

For the second half of the concert, I did just that. And she was right. The effect was remarkable. And the music pierced my heart and soul – as well as my ears.

Christ, You Know It Ain’t Easy

The main band I play with – Russ Payne and the Shark Dentists - is fortunate. It’s been busy gigging regularly all this year and already has bookings scattered right through 2014. And yet we are still caught in the round of calling the people who book bands and begging them for work.

With a few exceptions, the people who book bands seem incapable of giving straight answers, incapable of calling back when they say they will, incapable of intelligible speech when they do call back, and often capable of double-booking you with someone else or forgetting to put dates in their diary.

When too many of these things happen at once, you begin to question why you are bothering. At these times, the lure of concentrating on recordings and videos rather than live performance becomes extremely attractive.

And we’re among the lucky ones. Goodness knows how many bands must have given up, beaten down by the seeming impossibility of getting a gig.

That Royalty Feeling

Well, I got my first royalty cheque for my novel Like A Flower this week. It's been a long time coming. And it isn't going to change my lifestyle significantly, but it really feels good to get even a little something back for a hell of a lot of work.

There's also been money starting to trickle in from Russ Payne and the Shark Dentists' new all-original album 'In Love With Trouble'. And the feeling is the same.

Words and music may look easy... but they take a lot of hours and a lot of energy. Why do we do it? ... is a good question... I suppose it's what we do and we don't have any choice but to keep on doing it...

Double Take

Rowena J Ronson

There is more to life than words and music... so some of the issues that don't get covered on this blog will now be appearing in a new online magazine called Double Take, which aims to make you think twice about things...

Writing and editing can be a lonely business. It usually has to be, because collaboration is not always easy.

The only writer I've ever been able to collaborate with successfully is Rowena J Ronson, who is co-editing the new magazine with me.

I think we make a good team because we are different and because we challenge each other.

And I think we also bring out the best in each other's writing... give Double Take a read and see if you agree.

Fighting For Life

In a bizarre coincidence, two of my children came close to something dreadful happening to them in two completely separate gas leak incidents in the past few days.

And I also found myself helping to tend to a close friend who had collapsed suddenly and had to be taken to hospital.

Inevitably, such incidents remind us of the fragility of our lives.

It was sad to hear of the death of Pat Pilkington (above), a remarkable woman who, along with Penny Brohn, helped found the Bristol Cancer Help Centre (now Penny Brohn Cancer Care).

Pat, whom I had the privilege to meet and interview, was in a way an "ordinary" woman who did extraordinary things, making so many people take a second look at the ways in which we had been conditioned to deal with cancer.

She was the best kind of revolutionary: quiet, effective, steely, charming, successful and modest.

Kofi Time

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time with Kofi Baker. Not literally, but with his excellent drum tuition book, The Forgotten Foot. 

The drummer’s forgotten foot is, of course, the left foot – unless you’re left-footed (in which case it’ s the right one).

And Kofi is, of course, the son of the legendary Ginger. Whether they are speaking to each other these days, I don’t know. Kofi said a while back that their relationship was “distant”.

But one thing that unites them, apart from that distinct Baker drum sound, is their appreciation of the left foot as time-keeper.

For many of us of the rock persuasion, the left foot just sort of follows on in there with the left hand. But if you come from the jazz direction, the left foot on the hi-hat is the crucial master control – the original click track

Once this fact is grasped, the left foot becomes the linchpin rather than an add-on.

Ginger’s left foot – on hi-hat or second bass drum, or on both of those at the same time (in what is known as pedal-bridging) is a marvel, and I’m beginning to find the joy in having that left foot taking on a life of its own, inspired by watching great jazz drummers and particularly my mentor, the great John Marshall.

I’m also indebted to Kofi for his book and its wonderful exercises for every foot and hand. He comes over as a modest man with a true passion for the drum kit and its infinite possibilities. And he deserves to be remembered for Forgotten.