Jazz

As it is a Bank Holiday - I don't intend to spend the day working. The one of the nice things about living in Milton Keynes is that there is so much to do here. In recent days we've cycled the "Millennium Cycle Route" - the route in detail is available here; walked through a number of the parks - further details of parks here and visited a number of places to eat and drink - my favourites are Starbucks, the Hub; Las Iguanas; Zen Garden; The Secklow Hundred and Furzton Lake.

Within Milton Keynes Jazz is performed - of course there is The Stables - which hosts "Jazz Matters"; and sometimes at the Madcap in Wolverton; If I'm staying in - I listen to Jazz on CD, and increasingly on my iPhone. I now have an app for TSF Jazz - a french station which - "est la seule radio cent pour cent jazz" - I can listen live if there is wifi, or listen to the podcasts I have downloaded.

One of my favourite pieces of music is the July 1956 version of Ellington's "Diminuendo In Blue" with Paul Gonsalves superb sax solo

The line up was - Duke Ellington (piano); Cat Anderson, Willie Cook, Ray Nance, Clark Terry (trumpets); Quentin Jackson, Britt Woodman (trombones); John Sanders (valve trombone); Harry Carney (reeds: baritone sax); Paul Gonsalves (reeds: tenor sax); Jimmy Hamilton (reeds: clarinet); Johnny Hodges (reeds: alto sax); Russell Procope (reeds: clarinet, alto sax); Jimmy Woode (bass); Sam Woodyard (drums)