Birdy, Lissie, Adele, Sharron Van Etten, Lucie Silvas, Lucinda Williams and The Corrs

It was exactly a year ago that I posted my last music review. That is apart from Birdy's outstanding Fire Within on the 7th October 2015.

So that is where I start. Going back to Birdy's self titled debut album from 2011, a series of covers including the well received Justin Vernon's Skinny Love. Nowhere near as good as Fire Within and mainly distinctly average. Except for the penultimate track Without a Word, her own composition that promised something special that we got with her next album. And then even better The National's Terrible Love. Worth the money for that alone.

Lissie's latest album My Wild West is every bit as good as her previous recordings. Tracks 4, 5 and 6 are superb: Hero, Sun Keeps Risin' and Don't You Give Up On Me. And then the stand out last track Ojai. Lots performed at her concert at the O2 Forum.

There's not much to say that hasn't already been said about Adele's blockbuster 25. Only that for me it just doesn't quite  have the quality of songs from her first two albums. But who am I to criticise.

An EP from Sharon van Etten in 2015 showcased the excellent title track from I Don't Want To Let You Down. Backed up by the equally good I Always Fall Apart and a live version of Tell Me. I don't like everything she does, but when it's good it's great.

We have had to wait an awfully long time for Letters to Ghosts, the  new album from Lucie Silvas, Her last brilliant The Same Side was way back in 2006. Was it worth the wait? Unfortunately not really. Roots is typical Lucie but the rest have taken a different poppy route away from her great soul songs. Disappointing.

A two disc offering from Lucinda Williams The Ghosts of Highway 20 sees the singer on top form. It's hard to pick out individual tracks but Place In My Heart typically combines a great soft vocal with just two soft guitars. Doors of Heaven took me right back to Car Wheels and almost rocked, but not quite. On to the second CD and the title track is one to play on repeat. Next up Bitter Memory is real rock and roll Lucinda style. Altogether a very satisfying recording.

Another band that has not released new material for ten years, The Corrs new album White Light  sounds like the old Corrs stuff, just not as good. The songs are fairly bland middle of the road composed by numbers. The up tempo that might better to dance to but as yet I haven't found any standout songs. Pleasant enough, though, maybe it needs a few more listens.

The Gate of Angels, Tightrope and Disclaimer

The Gate of Angels is the fourth in my catching up of Penelope Fitzgerald novels and they just get better and better. Not a long book but one full of character and humour. Cambridge in 1912 is a wonderful setting. Her dialogue, of which there is plenty, is superb, so realistic and witty. Sometimes the simplest of prose can be devastating, at other times it is captivatingly intellectually brave. Some of the physics goes over my head, but it never loses my interest. I have two more of her books to order.

Such a well constructed story, the cold war sequel to the equally good The Girl who Fell from the Sky. The new book Tightrope is full of great characters. Even the heroine's family are well drawn. The first half is quite harrowing as Marion recovers from the consequences of the ending of the first book. But the way her talents and training come slowly into play in the second half is very clever. Such an easy fast read, I thought that the prose must have been very plain. But I was wrong, it sparkles when it needs to. At an RAF party the CO's wife Beryl gives Marion some advice that only a great writer could have put into words. You don't have to read the first book, but I recommend that you do.

Not my kind of book I'm afraid. I occasionally try the odd thriller and I'm often disappointed. There was quite an interesting premise in Disclaimer that made the first third tolerable, but then it's just plot, plot, plot, twist, twist, twist, repeat, repeat, repeat. "Shades of Gone Girl" on the cover and I found that book equally poor.

Moriarty, The Versions of Us and Our Endless Numbered Days

Moriarty was not my sort of book. I thought a nice trivial crime thriller would be just right after a few intense novels. I could have picked better. It wasn't as good as the author's House of Silk that we read for book club and that wasn't great.

There are three different versions of the lives of Jim and Eva in this cleverly constructed story about what ifs. The Versions of Us is in some ways comparable to the film Sliding Doors or the books One Day and Life After Life. It delves into the most important thing in our lives, how we choose a partner and why, and how much different our lives would be opting for someone else with whom to share our life.

The most challenging aspect of this book is remembering where we were in each version as a chapter of one follows another. Sometimes there is a hint at the start of a new section of where we were in the previous version, but not always so obvious. A good memory works wonders and I sometimes worry about mine.

Just a note to the author, it's a skiffle group, not a skiffle band. John Lennon's Quarrymen were one of the former. But that's only because this reviewer was there and the writer's editors were not.

There was nothing special about the prizewinning book Our Endless Numbered Days. Another of those stories narrated by a child (eight year old Peggy) about being virtually held prisoner by an adult. OK, this was her father, and he did take her to live away from the world in a European forest, but for me it did smack a little of child abuse. He tells her the biggest of all lies.

The story does have it's interest, particularly about survival in the wilderness and it is pretty well written. Thank goodness there are cuts to nine years on, these are little gems.

Jeff Lynne's ELO at the O2

Who would have thought that after his 2001 "Zoom" tour was cancelled, Jeff Lynne would sell out 14 UK venues for 170,000 people. That's thirty years since he last toured. Last night at the O2 we were treated to the most spectacular show I have ever seen. The visuals were out of this world, a different theme for every song.

All the hits were played with ruthless efficiency. Even the ringing on "Telephone Line" rocked the arena, coupled with hi tech projections I will never forget. Can you see what I mean?

The thirteen strong band were great led by original pianist Richard Tandy. The sound was just brilliant. What a night, ending with a wonderful Mr Blue Sky.

Jim Carter - Lonnie Donegan and Me

"Lonnie Donegan’s stock has sunk pretty low, as illustrated by a sequence at the start of this tribute where Jim Carter stops people in the street and asks if they’ve heard of him. Cue blank looks; those that do remember associate him with My Old Man’s a Dustman.

But as Carter relates, in the late 1950s Donegan hit British pop music like a force of nature, singing wild skiffle music that lit the fuse for rock ‘n’ roll. “It was primal,” says Roger Daltrey. “Like a bolt of lightning,” says Van Morrison. That’s the caliber of Carter’s interviewees – mostly ageing legends, including two Beatles. “A lot of us got out the factory thanks to Lonnie,” says Ringo, who in an unlikely moment, plays the washboard."

This was a seriously well documented trawl through the life of the king of skiffle and his influence on the youth of Britain in the fifties. Ringo says that every street in Liverpool had a skiffle group thanks to Lonnie. John Lennon's band The Quarrymen were a skiffle group that Paul joined in 1957. The programme had a tiny clip of them playing on a lorry at that famous fete. Paul admitted that without Lonnie, The Beatles wouldn't have happened.

Jim Carter (three years younger than me) remembers wearing shorts until he was fourteen and that the highlight of the year in the fifties, The Great Yorkshire Show, was writing down number plates of the cars arriving and spotting where they came from. He got to see Lonnie live which is more than I did.

The biggest treat for me on the programme was to see Chris Barber, now in his mid eighties and looking fit. By the time I saw his jazz band at Dunmow in 1962/3 Lonnie had left. It was in 1952 that Lonnie joined the amateur Chris Barber Jazz Band as their banjo player. Another short film clip and some photos from those days were incredible. The band became professional and led the way in the traditional jazz revival. It was during the interval when the band took a break that a trio would stay and play some blues. Lonnie swopping banjo for guitar and vocals, Chris swopping trombone for bass and Beryl Bryden on washboard. These sessions were so popular, apparently, that on the band's new LP they included a couple of these songs.

I guess it was radio that picked up these recordings and encouraged the record label to put out Rock Island Line as a single in 1956 with John Henry on the B side. This kicked off the skiffle craze and the rest is history. Van Morrison told of starting a skiffle group called The Sputniks. Roger Daltry and Joe Brown gave Lonnie the credit for their careers.

Skiffle died with the onset rock and roll. Lonnie didn't embrace the new vogue but went the way of novelty songs. He toured his brand of skiffle and comedy right to the end. He was the first ever British rock star even though he never played rock.

Lonnie and Me: One of my first posts in 2007:

"When we lived in London in the 1950's, I can remember my brother and I being put in the care of the guard on the train from St Pancras to Rotherham to visit our grandmother (Nanan) in the summer holidays. She used to meet us at the station and take us to the semi on Wordsworth Drive. Still living at home with her were three uncles, all in their twenties. The youngest was Geoff and he was the one who owned "Rock Island Line" by Lonnie Donegan on a single 78 (rpm). During the day we were allowed to play this and an LP of Bill Haley's "Rock around the Clock". It was the single that I thought was magic, and it was played time and time again. It certainly has influenced my musical taste to this day. When Johnny Walker included requests in his Drivetime show on Radio 2, the four he played of mine started with "Rock Island Line"."

Rock Island Line was first recorded by Hudie Ledbetter (or Leadbelly) in the 1930's. Alan Lomax was collecting folk and blues numbers and on his travels with Hudie, heard this sung by a prison gang. Lonnie's recording is described on my posting in May this year:

"On July 13th 1954, Chris Barber and his jazz band went into the Decca studios in Maida Vale to record their first album. At the end of the session, they persuaded the producer to let them put down two "skiffle" numbers. With Chris on bass (quite a change from his usual trombone), Lonnie Donegan on guitar (He normally played banjo in the band) and Beryl Bryden on washboard, they recorded Rock Island Line and John Henry.
The album called "New Orleans Joys" was fairly popular. During the mid fifties, the band toured extensively, and the "skiffle" group always had a session in the middle. This was hugely popular and became quite notorious. This encouraged the record company to eventually release the two skiffle tracks from the album as a single in November 1955. By the following year, Rock Island Line had sold over 3 million copies and entered the top ten. John Lennon said he listened to it incessantly. He was not the only one. At my grandmothers in Rotherham, I must have worn out the 78. In my view, this was the first ever British guitar based popular/rock record. So July 13th 1954 is when it was born.
Early in 1956, Lonnie insisted he would not leave Chris Barber, and recorded more songs with him, even though later in the year he toured on his own in the USA. When he returned, his popularity was such, it was obvious he could not continue with the jazz band, and embarked on his successful solo career. In 1958, one of my favourite TV shows, "The Six-Five Special" (an early version of "Top of the Pops") was made into a movie, on of the first I saw at the cinema. Lonnie's Jack O'Diamonds was the highlight."

This was why I made Rock Island Line the first of my 131 songs. These days it sounds so flimsy it is almost embarrassing. But you cant change your past.

Pericles at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

The main reason for my day in London was to see one of the six Shakespeare plays that so far I have missed. Pericles was staged at the intimate indoor theatre in the Globe complex. The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse has mostly bench seating but I booked the third and last row of the lower tier that has a plain wooden surround that my jumper made slightly more comfortable. You also have to get used to the dim lighting of just candles.

The play itself does not feel like an authentic Shaksepeare. Being co-written by the dreadful George Wilkins, there are certainly themes that echo some of the improbable plots of the comedies, only more improbable. So some of the laughs are at the improbability rather than the actual humour. The story is quite easy to follow, having deliberately avoided knowing what happens. However the action takes place in different places and we jump back to one and then another.

Luckily the cast and direction by the clever artistic director Dominic Dromgoole make up for any shortcomings and throw themselves into the play. Whilst I thought that James Garnon in the title role was weak in the early scenes, he came into his own at the end. But for me, the stand out performance was from 78 year old Sheila Reid as our narrator Gower. This is a much bigger role than the normal chorus at the beginning and end. Gower is on and off explaining what is going on. Reid was fantastic.

The design and music were excellent. I knew from the song at the begining with the whole cast that we were in for a treat. It had been a long day but one that I will think about for a long time. Not forgetting dinner with Zoe at Pizza Express, yards from the theatre.

The National Theatre - "Brutalism's Fine Revival"

Almost exactly a year ago, the Sunday Times published this brilliant article by Hugh Pearman about the revamp of the National Theatre. So this was my next stop on my day in London that started with the Royal Academy and ended at the Globe.

The piece was about the £80million refit by architects Haworth Tomkins. I.m not sure if the iconic concrete has been cleaned, but it seems fresh as the day it was poured between shutters (or in this case panels) made up of a number of carefully chosen rough sawn boards. These were only ever used twice, once each side so the timber grain pattern is never repeated.

Pearman loved the corners the original architect Sir Denys Lasdun created.

I have to say that the overall effect for me is still that unlovely "brutalism" although there is still plenty that I find exciting. Take the photo above and look from the other way. The entrance to the Dorfman Theatre (previously the Cottesloe and stuck on by Lasdun under pressure) is now inspired once the frontage has become part of the plaza.

The entrance and foyers of the main theatre have been remodelled. To the right of the entrance the foyer's existing widow remains intact.

But to the left, an expanded foyer and cafe (two cups of tea and half a cake), the tall window has been moved outwards. It actually looks new to me but it still replicates the original above. Brilliant.

The brand new Max Rayne Centre (scenery workshops, production offices etc) is past the Dorfman in what used to be a wasteland, now on the up.

Royal Academy of Arts - Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse

Using the work of Monet as a starting point, this landmark exhibition examines the role gardens played in the evolution of art from the early 1860s through to the 1920s. I loved the Monets. He loved his garden at Giverny and that shows in the the number of times he painted the same thing. Waterlilies, waterlilies and waterlilies. They are quite spectacular. From the early works ("Japanese Footbridge", "White Waterlilies", "The Pond with Waterlilies", five more "Waterlilies", "The Artist's Garden", two "Monet's Garden at Giverny" and "Peonies".

Unfortunately the other paintings in the Royal Academy's sold out exhibition were underwhelming. But I'm not a great art lover. Renoir, Matisse and Van Gogh are there for the connoisseur. Although I did like Camille Pissaro's "Jean Pissaro - Sitting in the Garden".

The photos of Monet in his garden were interesting that were displayed in books and magazines. I didn't know that Monet stayed behind in his garden at the outbreak of WW1 when the family left. And I was not prepared for the magnificent display of big later works from 1914. There is one huge painting of waterlilies with just three open brightly shining in a darker background. Wonderful.

Ten more large paintings fill the room. There is one of "Day Lilies" which, as a modest gardner, I know as Hemerocallis. Mine failed last year. Then at the very last room are the monumental canvasses; one very large painting of "Waterlilies" and then the triptch. Three awesome pictures from three different museums.

There were far too many people in the first rooms, I cannot believe the Academy let so many people in when they were charging a lot for a ticket. Fortunately, the last two rooms were far less crowded.

Giselle Live from the Royal Opera House at the Odeon Aylesbury

We have only seen a production of Giselle once before and that was on 5 May 2001. We were in the Lower Ampitheatre of the Royal Opera House to see the Royal Ballet and where the ticket price was £35 and is now £82. On that evening, according to the ROH database, Giselle was danced by Sarah Wildor and Count Albrecht by none other than Carlos Acosta, probably the most famous male lead this century? I can't say I remember anything about the performance or even the plot. Fortunately the one page programme we received at the cinema told us what it was all about.

Trawling through my collection of tickets, I found we have been to see a ballet more times than I thought. The Nutcracker by the Royal Ballet, Swan Lake by English National Ballet (three times including once in the round at the RAH) and by The Kirov Ballet, Cinderella by the Royal Ballet    La Bayadere by the Royal Ballet,  Romeo and Juliet by the Royal Ballet and ENB,  Coppelia by ENB, Sleeping Beauty by ENB (three times),  Alice by ENB and The Snow Queen by ENB.

Gone are our days of trips to the expensive ROH, so a live screening of Giselle was a great opportunity in a packed Screen 1 at the local Odeon. There are certain advantages of watching ballet on the big screen. You are much closer to the dancers, particularly the real close ups you would never see in  the theatre. Likewise you also get to see the detail of the costumes and set. It was amazing when the cameras went into the orchestra pit at the introduction to Act 2. The behind the scenes clips before the start and during the interval were excellent.The main downside for me was the lack of 3D. To my mind, the live performance of dance needs that extra dimension and ter hat is why this might be a one off for me. The lighting was good but the sound of the orchestra seemed flat. That might be just the Odeon as I have noticed before it's not the best. The camera direction was erratic. Sometimes the close ups meant we missed the ensemble dancing and the camera positioned level with the stage didn't do the performance any favours. So advantages outweighed by the disadvantages.

As to the performance itself, Marianela Nunez was brilliant as Giselle and she was complimented by an athletic Vadim Muntagirov.

The Guardian says: If the acting is superb, it’s given real authority by the dancing. Muntagirov and Nuñez are technically thrilling; she, at her finest moments, can combine an absolute mastery of the choreography, with the illusion that she’s dancing it for the first time. The Act I Pas de Six is a near textbook display of musicality and style. Of the six,Yuhui Choe and Alexander Campbell were superb.

I certainly didn't remember the startling difference between Acts 1 and 2. The second half has the captivating twenty four corps de ballet as the Wilis. They would be worth watching live.

Tring Book Club - The Green Road by Anne Enwright

I have never known a book with such a disappointing first half and such a marvelous second. I guess the author wanted to introduce Rosaleen's children in early separate chapters but they were all so boring. It is not until Part 2 when the family gathers unexpectedly all together at home for Christmas that the story takes off. Even how they arrive is terrific.

Rosaleen is some mother! How the children, now 25 years later, turned out OK (well maybe apart from one) we will never know. Is it the "forgetfulness and fury" in herself that drives her to despair about them? Can't she see that the fact they come home for Christmas is something to be relished? It's as if Rosaleen actually hijacks the book when it is really about her children: Dan, Constance, Emmett and Hanna. 

But, like others at book club, I found certain difficulties with the storytelling. Hanna, for example, has the first chapter. But she is a child and we only catch up with her 25 years later. I wanted so much to learn about her life in between. Maybe that's for another book?   

Reading Half Marathon

Well, we were lucky with the weather even if it did get a little warmer than we were used to for the second half of the race. But I'm glad I didn't realise there would be so many hilly bits. On each uphill stretch I lost time and couldn't recover my pace on the downhills. It was all going so well until after a couple of miles we have to climb nearly 50 metres. The overall elevation gained is apparently 156 metres if you count all the uphill sections together. So in the end I was pleased with my 2 hour eleven minutes even if it was four minutes slower than Oxford. My final position was 6,955 out of 10,980 finishers, 63% down the field which was exactly the same as Oxford. Also 94th out of 189 runners over 60 (just better than Oxford's 57th out of 96). Just a shame there wasn't a 70 plus category.

The day went very well. However we did arrive too early. Having left home just after 6.30am, we were at the park and ride before 7.45am! We had a rest in the car before catching the bus and arriving at the Madejski Stadium after 8am. We found some seats and watched the children come in from their Green Park Challenge race. By 9.15 we were in the race village and I was leaving Alison to walk to the start. There were so many runners, the walk down kept on stopping so I did not arrive at the Orange pen until 9.45 for the 10am start.

I then discovered that my Orange coded number was for runners expecting between 2 hours 15 and 2 hours 30. I ended up here because of my deferral from last year. I entered in 2014 long before I had attempted a half marathon so erred on the slow side. I took the decision to duck under the tape and enter the Green pen and found the 2 hour ten minute pacer. We finally got under way at 10.35 am so I had been waiting at the start for 50 minutes. And most runners around me had waited longer. That has put me off such a big event.

But what was great was the journey back to the car. A walk from the stadium to bus stop, and we managed to be one of the last on bus. The bus lane to the park and ride was excellent and we were in the car and on our way home in no time. A great end to a memorable day.