Friday, September 28, 2007

Travels

One of those perfect mornings. South of France, my youngest daughter's birthday, beautiful sunny morning and Pharoah Sanders newly acquired album album 'Elevation' for company.

Tomorrow it's off to Lyon to catch a flight to Vienna. I get six hours in Vienna for roaming before catching a flight onto Pristina, Kosovo where I will be for a week. I have been to Vienna a few times and while I like it, it's architectural perfection bores me after a time. I like my cities to have attendant grub and sleaze as well as museum-like architecture and Vienna is a bit too perfect for me. The kind of people who like Vienna are generally the kind of people I find a little too conservative.

Anyway, back to Pharoah Sanders. I am a bit of a completist but had never heard this album until I bought it London l;ast week. I like it because it does what Pharoah does best. Beautiful melody followed by chaos and musical blood-letting before a skillful return to melody. Cleansing, purifying music.

2 comments:

ArkAngel said...

I once had a great walk through the sleazier parts of Vienna (there are plenty outside the centre) listening to Brilliant Trees by David Sylvian (the city and record have been inseparable in my mind ever since). I saw Sylvian and Steve Jansen at the Festival Hall two or three weeks ago and they were class - conviction musos, always doing their own thing.

Douglas Miller said...

You have prompted me to record that I took a more extended walk myself on this visit and really liked the place! Just hadn't seen enough of it before - and saw a bit of sleaze too which made it all the better. What an excellent choice of music too. I can see the connection in my mind. I still recall the gig we went to when he played on his own. I thought it an excellent concert.