Sunday 1 February 2009

Weekend Miscellany

I had the pleasure (or otherwise) of watching the final of the contest to see who was going to represent the UK in the Eurovision song contest last night. To say I was suitably unimpressed is an understatement. The song which our representative is going to sing in the contest has been written by Andrew Loyd Weber but the acts also had to show there 'vocal talents' by singing other songs as well. The rendition of 'Me and Mrs Jones' but one act was terrible to say the least.

On a personal level my musical tastes are very much jazz orientated and I have a love of female jazz vocalists such as Karrin Allyson, Diana Krall, Jane Monheidt and a special favourite is Gwyneth Herbert who is probably one of the best singer/songwriters in the UK jazz scene at the moment. Word on the grapevine is that she has a new album out in March so there are no prizes for guessing who will be visiting HMV soon.

Last night I was trawling through some jazz tracks on the internet station Last FM and I came across a track by an American vocalist - Ruth Cameron. I had never heard of her before and I liked what I heard but a trawl through the internet showed that she only released one album called First Songs in 2000 and I can not find anything since. I was wondering on a million to one chance if any body reading this has either heard of her or knows if she has released any other material. Her biog states that she used to work in the theatre so maybe First Songs was also her last songs-I hope not.

Winter has reared its ugly head again here in Kent, with snow and freezing temperature set to last until next weekend. The forecast is for 10 to 15 cm of snow overnight with local amounts of up to 3. cms- hibernation sounds like a good idea! Here in Maidstone we are south of the North Downs so hopefully we will escape the worst but people who live on top of Bluebell or Detling hills wont be so lucky. I wonder if the ghost of Blubell Hill will put in an appearance as she only seems to appear on cold dark nights but thats a story for next time.

Take Care and keep warm.

Andy

6 comments:

Delores Getmeslippers said...

I don't know about Jazz, but I would love to hear about your ghost.

Funnyface said...

Is there really a ghost story to tell about Detling Hill...... i remember one very cold snowy winter driving up Detling Hill and being able to see your hand in front of your face - glad i didn't know about the ghost !!
Keep Warm
Luv Jaynee XX

Liz said...

You deserve a gold medal for surviving to the end to see who would represent the UK in the Eurovision song contest.I hope you do not feel the need to sacrifice your senses by actually listening to 'the rest of the best' of Europe!:)

Sandra said...

I think you have really great taste in music Andy. I`ve boycotted the Song Contest now Terry Wogan has resigned. At least he kept us amused while the contestants did their renditions of what they call songs. Now the thought of watching it terrifies me...lol! I`ve driven up Detling Hill on many occasions....do tell us about the ghost!

Hugs

Sandra xx

sparkx said...

I don't think you escaped the snow ... did you ....

louise said...

Hi thanks for leaving me a comment, sorry about your illness hope it all works out ok xx