Isomatic UK Weblog

Today we drove to Fort William, up Glen Nevis and back, then to Glencoe where we lunched. Then up the length of Glencoe, through Tyndrum and Crianlarich, past Tummel and Loch Rannoch to the point where this section of the 'Road To The Isles' ends at Rannoch Moor with nothing but a railway halt and a hotel, both pictured.
We were not expecting too much of such remote lodgings as the Moor of Rannoch Hotel but we were very pleasantly surprised. The bedroom was delightful, with fine views across the moor and the lounge and bar were comfortable and welcoming. The resident proprieters were friendly and efficient, doing a fantastic job with very little hired help. The bed and breakfast rate was very reasonable. The meal and wine were good, albeit a little expensive, served in a light airy dining room with views as good as from the bedroom. We definitely recommend this hotel, particularly for anyone who wants to travel by train and then to walk.

Labels: Travel

Today we drove past Eilean Donan Castle (pictured) to Loch Ness and on to Cannich, where we lunched and then drove up Glen Affric. We are staying at the Glen Moriston Arms (also pictured), close to Loch Ness, a friendly hotel with a nice room, good food (duck and pork in our case) and wine.
For our second day we drove along the other side of the Loch to Inverness and then visited the Culloden battlefield historic site. The new visitor centre is expensive, we spent 22 pounds, but very interesting, telling us more than we ever learnt at school. For the film show we stood in the middle of the room with redcoats firing from the screen behind us as primitive tribal savages charged us from the screen in front. Holes appeared in the bodies of those hit by musket balls or grapeshot.
We returned to the hotel on main roads so we were surprised to find no petrol stations along our route. This resulted in the ultimate economy driving, coasting down even the slightest slope. We deviated to Fort William to be sure of finding fuel.

Labels: Travel

On Monday morning we took the ferry from Mallaig to Skye and spent much of the day driving round the island, lunching at Portree, the only town. The sun came out and we crossed the bridge to Kyle of Lochalsh, unrecognisable from when I was last there 48 years ago. It looks almost modern now.
We are staying at the Balmacara Hotel, pictured, considerably extended since 1960. The public bar where I spent the evening of my 17th birthday is in the same place, but larger, with the footpath I took from the youth hostel unchanged.
Still in sunshine we drove over to Plockton (pictured), a beautiful little sheltered seaside village.
For our first evening we ate in the public bar, a rather more sober affair than the last time. Our bedroom was fine, with a superb view across the water to Skye.
The next day was bad weather locally so we drove north, out of the rain, to Loch Ewe, where arctic convoys gathered in World War 2. In the evening we ate in the very nice hotel restaurant. The food was great and more than we could eat.

Labels: Travel

Today we drove through Glencoe to Fort William then along the 'Road To The Isles' to Mallaig, where we are staying at The West Highland Hotel.
The proprietor in residence had failed to enter our reservation, his excuse being that it was then Christmas ! Fortunately there was a vacant room but we had to wait until 15:00 before it was ready for us. Mallaig was dull and windy so it was difficult to amuse ourselves; we had to go out in the car again. The hotel's high position gives good views from the bedrooms and restaurant but we needed better weather to appreciate this. I had a nice piece of venison for dinner.

Labels: Travel

Tonight we are staying at the Ardlui Hotel, at the northern tip of Loch Lomond. The best feature is the room, more of a suite really, with a fine view of the Loch. The restaurant is rather stark with nothing luxurious about it but serves lots of traditional Scottish fare; we both had Arbroath smokies for lunch and I had haggis for dinner.
The rain has started !

Labels: Travel

On our way up to Scotland today we are staying at Rampsbeck House, Ullswater. We recommend this hotel to anyone who wants a superb location, good food, nicely furnished bedrooms and an abundance of public lounges. It is not cheap but then the best rarely is !

Labels: Travel

This evening we went to the Berrylands Hotel in Surbiton, for Brian White's Magna jazz band, with the standard line-up. Our favourite numbers were:
'Faraway Blues', composed by Johnny Hodges and Duke Ellington;
'Mahogany Hall Stomp', composed by Spencer Williams and recorded by Louis Armstrong and His Savoy Ballroom Five in 1929;
Sidney Bechet's 'Le Marchand De Poissons' (singular/plural disagreement ?);
'The Bugler's Lament', recorded by Red Nichols and also Kenny Baker but I have no idea who composed it;
'Black Bottom Stomp', composed by Jelly Roll Morton, the title referring to Detroit’s Black Bottom area;
and Alan Dandy's keyboard feature 'Little Rock Getaway', music by Joe Sullivan; I first heard it as a teenager on a record by Les Paul, perhaps the flip side of 'Tennessee Waltz'. For those interested in the English Language I would like to pose a question: "Is Tennessee Waltz recursive ?"

This is our last live jazz for 10 days because we will be touring Scotland. We are taking several jazz CDs to play in the car, including the following Berrylands raffle prizes: Sidney Bechet 'Blues in the Air', 'Jazz Piano Greats', Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelly, Judy Eames, plus CDs bought directly: Kid Ory, Bix Beiderbecke, and Eileen Ford (bought from her fair hand).

Labels: Jazz

This evening we saw the Panama Cafe Orchestra at the Cricketers in Horsell Birch, Woking. The band comprised Dave Lowe (cornet, vocals), Richard White (clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax, vocals), Chris Lowe (trombone, vocals), Mike Gibbons (drums), Chris Houslander (sousaphone) and Dave Griffiths (banjo).
Our favourite numbers were:
'Cloudy', from the repertoire of Andy Kirk and his Clouds of Joy, to which Richard invited us to dance;
'West End Blues', played as the King Oliver version;
'Tennessee Lazy' by Carlton Coon and Joe Senders (new to us).
At our table were; Alan 'Mr Sherry' Roper, Brian, and the wealthy Axel (back after his latest European trip). Axel was rather taken with a young woman sitting close to the band, describing her as cute and admiring her silky blouse. In the interval she came over to our table, saying she reads this weblog !

Labels: Jazz

This evening we went to The Europa in East Molesey to see the Urban Gin House Band. The line-up comprised Alan Brock (trumpet), Ray Lindsay (tenor sax, pictured), Roger Limb (keyboard, pictured), Mike Bennett (bass) and Mike Knipe (drums).
Our favourite numbers with this line-up were:
'Body and Soul' written in 1930 by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, Frank Eyton and Johnny Green and introduced by Libby Holman in the revue 'Three's A Crowd' then used as a soundtrack theme in the 1947 film named for the song;
'Polka Dots and Moonbeams', music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke, published in 1940;
'It's You or No-one', written by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, from the film "Romance On The High Seas" (aka "It's Magic") - 1948.
Guests were grouped as follows:
John Shepherd (trumpet), Trevor Dockerill (clarinet), Roy Stokes (trombone) and Nigel (drums) playing 'Bei Mir Bist Do Schön', 'All of Me' and 'I Wanna Little Girl';
Fred Shaw (cornet, vocal), Peter Clancy & Peter Tallent (trombones), Roland (tenor sax) and Trevor playing 'Honeysuckle Rose' and 'Georgia on My Mind';
Mike Bennett's friend Gordon, singing 'Sunny' and 'Bye Bye Blackbird'.
Several of us arrived before any of the main band so Terry, the pub landlord, joked that there was no jazz tonight. Roy Stokes said that was OK, he would ask his wife Mary to perform a striptease for us instead. Terry picked up the telephone, saying "I'll call the band to say it is on after all". I thought this was rather insulting to Mary but she laughed with everyone else.

Labels: Jazz

This evening we went to the Berrylands Hotel in Surbiton, for Brian White's Magna jazz band, with the standard line-up back together, including Pete Towndrow (pictured). All the numbers played were good but we particularly enjoyed:
'Wabash Blues' with fine 'wa-wa' cornet and trombone;
'A Hundred Years From Today';
'Queen Bess' and 'Tuxedo Junction' from the mainstream repertoire;
'I Love Paris', which Brian said referred to a man (I asked if it was written by Helen of Troy);
and Alan Dandy's great keyboard feature, combining two Hoagy Carmichael numbers 'Judy' and 'Stardust'.
Unusually, we had a new member of the audience. Peter Winn introduced the slim, elegant 'Frances'.

Labels: Jazz

This evening at The Cricketers in Horsell Birch, Woking, we saw Ian Cruickshank's Gypsy Jazz. Fantastic guitar playing by Ian Cruickshank and John Coverdale with the great Peter Morgan on bass, making this a great evening of jazz.
The numbers we found great for dancing due to the fine rhythm of the musicians were:
'Only You' as made famous by the Platters in the 1950s;
'Making Whoopee' most recent fame from Michelle Pfeiffer on the piano top in 'The Fabulous Baker Boys';
'Georgia On My Mind', Hoagy Carmichael's most enduring composition.
Numbers to which we particularly enjoyed just listening;
'Tea for Two', a 1925 popular song by Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar, introduced in the musical, 'No, No, Nanette';
'Take These Chains From My Heart' by Hank Williams, later recorded by Ray Charles;
'What a Wonderful World' by Bob Thiele (AKA George Douglas) and George David Weiss, first recorded by Louis Armstrong;
'Tequila' as made famous by The Champs in the 1950s;
'Samba d'uma nota so' by the great Brazilian composer Jobim.

Labels: Jazz

Today we drove to Dorset, visiting Dorchester (pictured), Weymouth, Wimborne and our usual destination, Southbourne. Weather was better than forecast, with only a few spots of rain, but it was very windy. While I was paying to park in Dorchester, Selina went to the Ladies. On my return to the car, I was surprised to see her emerge from the Gents. Apparently the Ladies was locked so she had shown some resourcefulness. Her comment was "when you gotta go, you gotta go !"

Labels: Travel

This evening we went to the Berrylands Hotel in Surbiton, where Brian White's Magna jazz band performs every week. Deputising for Pete Towndrow on cornet was Denny Ilett (pictured), a fine musician from the Max Collie band. Every number was great but for us the best were:
The Sophie Tucker numbers 'One sweet letter from you' and 'Some of These Days';
Jimmy Noone's 'Apex Blues';
'A Kiss to Build a Dream On', made famous by Louis Armstrong but we love the version By Mike Piggott and Piers Clark;
'Who's Sorry Now', always reviving memories of Connie Francis;
Bix Beiderbecke's 'Singing the Blues', the original being almost as good as 'I'm Coming Virginia' and difficult to emulate;
Denny's fine vocal 'The Postman's Lament', similar melody to 'My Grandfather's Clock' that I used to play on the banjo;
and best of all, Alan Dandy's beautiful keyboard solo, combining 'Love is The Sweetest Thing' with 'Sweet and Lovely'. I once requested 'Love is The Sweetest Thing' and Pete Towndrow refused on the basis that it is boring. I wish he could hear Alan's interpretation of it !
Peter Winn had brought a print-out from a previous post where I mentioned that Selina wears stockings and suspenders on the rare occasions when she is not mini-skirted. He said that he only had my word for it. He was treated to a flash of stocking top, Selina commenting that she would charge in future.

Labels: Jazz

This evening at The Cricketers in Horsell Birch we saw the Phil Brown Swingtet, comprising Phil Brown (trombone), Lester Brown (trumpet, flugel horn), Mark Aston (Tenor Sax, Alto Sax, Clarinet), Ken Ames (guitar), Andrew Clancy (keyboard), Peter Clancy (string bass) and David Clancy (drums). Peter replaced Mike Bennett who is on holiday and was playing an upright electric bass, which sounded pretty good.
Numbers we particularly liked were:
'After Supper' by Neil Hefty;
'Milneburg Joys' by Jelly Roll Morton;
'Blue and Sentimental' by Count Basie, Jerry Livingstone and Mac David;
Phil's trombone and vocal feature 'Blues my Naughty Sweetie';
and, best of all
Mark's tenor feature 'Over the Rainbow'.
Unusually, we were not the only couple dancing; two youngsters gave it all they had got !

Labels: Jazz

This evening we went to The Europa in East Molesey to see the Urban Gin House Band. The line-up comprised Alan Brock (trumpet, vocals, just in picture), Les Dyos (trombone, pictured), Roger Limb (bass, pictured), Andrew Clancy (keyboard) and Mike Knipe (drums). This base band started the evening in fine style with a string of great numbers such as:
'Rosetta', 'Sugar' and 'Some of These Days', the last of these with Alan doing the Sophie Tucker vocal.
Guests were in three groups:
1) Colin Kingwell (trombone) and Trevor Dockerill (clarinet), playing 'Should I Reveal' and 'I want a Little Girl';
2) Roland, Roy Stokes and Peter Tallent playing 'Disorder at the Border' and 'Exactly Like You';
3) Peter Clancy duetting with Les on trombones for 'Sweet Sue' and 'Sleepy Time Down South'.
We created some amusement by telling both Colin & Joan Kingwell and Peter & Jan Tallent about fellow trombonist Dave Hewett asking me to send Selina along to the Warlingham Jazz Club without me because they lack a leg show. For this evening at the Europa Selina wore a slightly longer skirt than usual, thus allowing for stockings and suspenders.

Labels: Jazz