Ailsa McCreary's CD release

Hi all, just a reminder my dear friend Ailsa is having her CD release at the Jazz Bistro tonight - the newly
renovated Senator space. First set at 8:30. Her first CD (!) is entitled "When Evening is Nigh"...Woo hoo! It features such wonderful musicians as Adrean Farrugia, Mark Kieswetter, Ross McIntyre, etc. etc. Should be a great evening!


Second item of note, I got to hear one of my idols in jazz writing at Jazz FM last week. Marc Myers was here from New York and gave a great lecture on the evolution of jazz through big band, bebop, cool jazz and the West Coast sound, pop jazz to fusion. If you weren't one of the lucky people to be there - pick up a copy of his book - it's fascinating! Please be sure to check out his award winning blog - featured on the Jazz FM website - Marc Myers "Jazzwax". He has interviewed the Who's Who of jazz and has an incredible breadth of knowledge about jazz and pop music.

On other cultural notes - if you haven't heard of it be sure to check out a great little film "The Angel's Share" - a tale of redemption, love, suspense and most of all that great Scottish sense of humour...although I admit even though I have grown up around Belfast accents - sometimes I needed subtitles! It's the tale of 4 hopeless cases doing community service for their run - ins with the law. In particular - one young man Robbie is expecting a baby with his girlfriend and looking for a way to turn his life around. With the help of a sympathetic counsellor he discovers that he has a special talent - he is a whiskey savant! How can he harness this special power to transform? That's where the caper part comes in featuring a priceless cask of a previously unknown vintage.

One of the fun things for us was seeing one of the distilleries they featured was one of the few places we visited - Glengoyne! Please go and see this Cannes Jury Prize winner from director Ken Loach.