Words

The Flannel slipper, the cabbage in a glad bag n the dribbling jew…..

As if orchestrated by the divine conductor himself I walked down Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle  at a little before 11.00 on the night of the  10th of  of July, absolutely and completely exhausted, I had arrived in Paris at 4.30 pm, I was on my way to Spain and had stopped over for the night to see my dear friends David and Kristen, as well as meet the owner of a bar called ‘La Pomme de eve.”So after meeting with Prof Derek Lubner and his esteemed wife Janet and enjoying a scrumptious dinner, we headed briefly over to their hotel, I cant quite remember why, but there I was convinced to accept as a gift a pair of white hotel slippers, not wanting to be rude, I popped the slippers under my white and almost porno jacket and made my way to find the closest taxi. Dave and Kristen were having a party at their apartment, Having assured them I would join there party and be as quick as possible, I was already in breach of the generally accepted modus of behaviour when staying in the home of someone who is accommodating you, so I walked briskly toward Republique the area close to where they live.
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John Koln Train and the day James Brown blew my cover!

I had attempted at all costs to maintain my anonymity, it had been carefully thought through, executed in the last moments between packing the remenants of my belongings, strewn all over the car that was driven from Alabarracin in Spain to Koln in Germany, where I would get my train to Hamburg, my next destination and consuming the goodness Lukas, Ondra and I had purchased on our way through Holland hours earlier. I had all but managed to make myself invisible, ready to blend in, purchase my ticket and go on my merry way.
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The Golem, The Groove and The Gypsy

Happy people, is life good?

I trust the answer is yes, on my side of the street its been sunny, in fact its been extremely hot, Prague has treated me very kindly, the last week opening my eyes and my heart, I sit here at my favourite little café in a neighbourhood called Letna, to have my last breakfast before heading of to play at a Jazz festival in Spain, and with the intention of sharing some of the magic of the last ten days, I arrived here with a completely open mind, one of the positive results of not paying much attention at school, I didn’t listen to what my teachers had to say bout things so I got to discover for myself, im feeling like it wasn’t such a bad thing after all, the down side of course was being held against a cupboard by my mom in standard 6, the second time round, after getting a G for a final maths exam, while she enquired “What the Fuck have you been doing at school the whole year?

It was the only time in my life I heard my mom say the “F” word, I do need to make a blanket apology now, as the spelling in this is likely to be pretty shocking, im typing this once through cos there aint no time for makin it pretty, but youll get the groove.
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Me n Lewis Nash after the Jam Session

Me and Lewis Nash after a Jam Session

Me and Lewis Nash after a Jam Session

Fear! The second loudest voice in my head!

Rus, Benny Green and Chris Burbank after the Jam Session

Rus, Benny Green and Chris Burbank after the Jam Session

I had decided before I arrived at the Festival, that I was going to play at one of the jam sessions, for those of you who are not hip to the music lingo. A jam session is an opportunity for musicians, who mostly don’t know each other, and ordinarily would not have a chance to play together, to do just that. It is often a highly competitive musical scenario, with musicians trying to cut each other, or show who is the most accomplished, capable and articulate. There are an unspoken set of rules and etiquettes that need to be observed, the most significant being, if you cant handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
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