116 • UNCUT • OCTOBER 2019
F E E D B A C K
BLUE
NOTEWORTHY
SplendidBlueNote
article[Septemberissue]
- a bigthankyouto
PeterWattsandJohn
Lewisforputtingthis
together.Thepraiseyou
giveRudyVanGelder
forhisrecording
techniquesis well
deserved.Whenyou
hearthepoorrecording
qualityofsomeofthe
greatest’60smusicand
compareit withhis
early’50swork,could
it besaidthathewas
theGeorgeMartin
ofhisday?
Withthehelpofthe
fabulousdiscography
onWikipediaand
armedwithAmazon
PrimeMusic(other
providersare
available),thereis so
muchgreatBlueNote
musictoexploreata
minimalcost,soI ama
happyman.
AlanEnglish,viaemail
Thanks,Alan!Eagle-eyedreaders
mightrecogniseAlan’snamefrom
lastmonth’sAreWeRolling?;a
letterfromAlanhelpedinspire
ustocompilethatBlueNoteguide.
Glad,then,it metwithsucha
positiveresponse!– MB
...Hugethanksforthewonderful
BlueNotearticle.It didthatlovely
thingofmakingmegobacktothose
recordsandplaythemagain.AndI
loveRobertWyattevenmoreafter
readinghis“Fuck‘jazz-rock’;thisis
therealthing!”quote.
Moreplease:howaboutcovering
ECM’s50thanniversary(there’s
somegreatstuffintheirreissues
programme)orthecurrent
explosionofyoungBritishjazz
talent(includingKokoroko,Nerija,
Maisha,SonsofKemet,Shabaka
Hutchings,TheCometIs Coming,
NubyaGarcia,etc).
Althoughyouare“thespiritual
homeofgreatrockmusic”,it’dbe
greatif occasionallyyourfeature
articlescouldcoverthesame
breadthofgenresthatyouinclude
inyourreviewssection(jazz,
world,newclassical,ambient,
electronica,etc).
Greatmag,asalways.
Derek Power, via email
Cheers,Derek.We’vealready
writtenaboutShabakaandother
leadinglightsonthenewBritish
jazzsceneoverthelastyearorso.I
suspectwe’llbewritingmoreabout
them,too.I takeyourpointabout
“thespiritualhomeofgreatrock
music”– consider“rock”now
officiallyremovedfromour tagline.
MEANDRORYG
I’vejustrecentlyreadtheJulycopy
ofUncutand,tomysurprise,find
myselfonthefrontrowat theLiveAt
LeedsRoryGallagherconcertof1972.
Wouldit bepossibletohavea copyof
thephoto?Tothinkit is 48yearsago
butalmostfeelslikeyesterday.
Thanksinadvance.
MikeRiley,viaemail
DOWNON
DOWNLOADS
IhopeI’mnottoolatetocontribute
totheCDvsdownloaddebate.
Whileunderstandingthe
convenienceofdownloads,I have
yettohearanycommentonthe
soundqualityofMP3vsCD.I have
heardmanydownloadedfilesand
thesoundqualityis nowherenear
asgoodasthatfromCD.
Secondly,if allyourmusicis in
downloadform,whathappensif
yourcomputercrashesandthefiles
are not recoverable, or if you get a
computervirusor,worse,
ransomware?Whathappensto
yourmusicthen?It is veryeasyto
produceMP3filesfromtheCD,if
necessary,andatleasttheCDis
availableasback-upif theworst
happens.RickDevine,viaemail
HeyRick,thanksforwriting.Any
readerscaretoweighinonthis?
CIRCUSOFDREAMS
Itwasgreatfinallytogeta pieceabout
theStones’fabledRockAndRoll
Circusspecialfromthemanwho
directedit,MichaelLindsay-Hogg
[Augustissue]. It wasfascinatingto
learnnotonlythatperformerslike
Nureyevwereincontentionforthe
lineup,butthatMickchosenotto
contactPaulMcCartneybecausehe
thoughthemightbringtheentire
Beatlesand“tipthescales”.Giventhe
shoddyshapetheFabswereinat that
point(asevidencedinMichael’sown
LetIt Befilm),Jaggermighthavebeen
doingthema favourmorethan
himself.It wasonethingtohavethe
StonesupstagedbyTheWho(which
I finddebatable,givenMick’sown
HailMaryperformanceonStonesset-
closer“Sympathy...”);tohaveboth
theBeatlesandStonesblownoffthe
stagemighthavekepttheCircusfrom
publicviewforever.
StephenConn,Las Cruces,
New Mexico
Oneofmytasksaseditoris tobring
youeyewitnessreportsofkey
musicalmomentsfromthepast
60-plusyearsofmusic.Michael
Lindsay-Hoggwastremendous
valueinthatStonespiece– a guy
whowasverymuchthere,right
inthethickofit,duringsuch
a culturallysignificanttime.
It wasanhonourto have him in
themagazine.
MESSENGERSERVICE
Just11 linestorecognisethepassing
ofGaryDuncan?I’veplayed
Quicksilver’smusicforeveryone
ofthepast 50 yearsandthequality
oftheirliveworkhasneverbeen
bettered.Theywereanextraordinary
anduniquebandandGary’s
contributionwasimmense.Their
influenceis ineverythingfrom
TelevisionandPrincetoJack White.
Andthenjust11 lines...
Tony,viaemail
Hey,Tony.It’sa questionofspace,
I’mafraid.A criticalpartofour
missionatUncutis asjournalof
record,whosedutyis partlyto
documentthesadpassingofmany
amazingmusicians.Thesadtruth
is thatmoreandmoreofthese
talentedplayersaredyingeach
year,andweonlyhavea finite
amountofspaceavailableto
capture that information.
[email protected]:UncutFeedback,Basement2, BlueFinBuilding,
110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU. Or tweet us at twitter.com/uncutmagazine
Ringmasters:the
Stonesrecording
theRockAnd
RollCircusin
Wembley, 1968
MARK AND COLLEEN HAYWARD/REDFERNS
