Musical Memories of David Simkin

1949-1959 (Music of My Childhood)

I was born in 1949 in Essex, near Epping Forest, and spent my early childhood in the Essex town of Chingford and in Debden, a council estate on the outskirts of Loughton, Essex. I don't have a lot of musical memories from this period. Most of my days were spent outdoors, either socialising with friends in my street or playing in nearby woods and fields. Apparently, my dad played a musical instrument (an accordion) when he was a young man and my older sister loved to sing, but I have no memories of my dad playing his ‘squeezebox' and only vague impressions of my sister taking part in an improvised concert in a neighbour's back-garden. Music only entered my life through the radio – either on Saturday morning with Uncle Mac's Children's Favourites programme with its Puffin' Billy theme tune or Housewives' Choice (theme music ‘In Party Mood') and on Sunday lunchtime, Two Way Family Favourites (signature tune ‘With a Song in My Heart' ). As a child, I only remember novelty songs such as The Hippopotamus Song (refrain Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud ) by Flanders & Swann and Danny Kaye's ‘The Ugly Duckling', which featured in the ‘Children's Favourites' radio programme and one particular orchestral piece, Charmaine played by Mantovani and his Orchestra. Perry Como's record ‘Catch a Falling Star' (1957) must have registered as this and the chorus of Flanders & Swan's ‘Mud' song were the only songs I ever learned to sing.

1958-1963 (The Soul Music of a ‘Big Brother')

A couple of years after my father was killed in a road accident in 1956, me, my Mum, brother and sister moved to a prefab on a council estate in Dagenham, Essex. It was during this period that my brother exerted an influence on my musical taste. After the family acquired a second-hand radiogram and a Dansette record player I began to hear, for the first time, records being played in the house, mostly courtesy of my older brother (John Simkin). The singles I remember are ‘That'll Be the Day' by Buddy Holly and the Crickets (1957), Big Man by The Four Preps (1958) and La Bamba by Ritchie Valens (1958).

I was particularly fascinated by the 45 rpm records that arrived in the house without centres (presumably ex-juke box stock). My brother's taste at this time (the early 1960s) seemed to be in the area of ‘Soul' and ‘Rhythm and Blues' – ‘Two Lovers' by Mary Wells (1962), ‘You've Really Got a Hold on Me' by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (1962), ‘Anna' (1962) by Arthur Alexander .

During this period, the following singles made a big impression on me and I would have included them in my favourite music tracks if we were allowed a choice of 50 rather than 15 titles.

Make It Easy on Yourself by Jerry Butler (1962) [Burt Bacharach (music) & Hal David (lyrics)]

Any Day Now by Chuck Jackson (1962) [Burt Bacharach (music) & Bob Hilliard (lyrics)]

I Keep Forgetting by Chuck Jackson (1963) [written by Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, and Gil Garfield]

You Better Move On by Arthur Alexander (1961)

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow by The Shirelles (1960)

It Might As Well Rain Until September by Carole King (1962)

I Keep Forgettin': The Best of Chuck Jackson by Chuck Jackson — *I Keep Forgettin': The Best of Chuck Jackson* by Chuck Jackson

1963-1965 (Music in my Teenage School Days)

At my secondary school, the popular music taste of my classmates (particularly the girls in my class) seems to have been dominated by The Beatles. I remember the early songs of The Beatles (e.g. Love Me Do) being sung aloud by my companions on the long walk to my school (from Dagenham to Barking). ‘Beatlemania' was taking hold and I gained some popularity with the girls in my class by drawing for them portraits of Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison. (There was no demand for pictures of Ringo Starr). The music of The Beatles formed part of the soundtrack of my teenage life. I found their music agreeable, but I have never owned a Beatles' single. In fact, I don't believe I have ever bought a single 7-inch ‘pop' record in my life. A few of my friends gave their allegiance to The Rolling Stones, but I only became involved in their music discussions to point out (probably much to their annoyance) that most of the Stones' singles were ‘cover versions' of superior American records (e.g. the Stones' 1964 single You Better Move On being a cover of Arthur Alexander's original 1961 recording of You Better Move On.

I remember only a couple of my schoolmates being truly enthusiastic about music. An eccentric schoolmate called Roy used to invite a few of us round to his house at lunchtimes (he lived close to the school), so he could play us LPs by Bob Dylan and other folk artists whose names I can no longer remember. [He must have had some influence as I bought the Peter, Paul & Mary EP (1963) around this time and in my late teens and early 20s I attended a folk club in Barking. As a young adult, I bought an album by Joan Baez]. A classmate of mine, Brian Sanis was regarded as slightly peculiar because he listened to classical music and both his mother and father were hard-line members of the Communist Party of Great Britain. I think I was considered odd, too, because, even at the age of 14 or 15, I expressed a liking for ‘modern jazz'. [More on this subject later].

1964-1968 (The Songs of Bacharach & David and Tamla Motown)

In 1964, I was a 15-year-old school boy and it was from around this time that I was getting into ‘Soul', Tamla Motown, and popular Black American music in general. From the age of 16, I occasionally attended a ‘Soul Club' in the East End of London and during my weekly visits to the Ilford Palais Dance Hall I listened out for my preferred music – generally Tamla Motown, Bacharach & David songs and singles by black girl groups. (The Shirelles, Martha and the Vandellas, etc.). Favourite records of mine from this period include:

Walk on By by Dionne Warwick (1964) [written by Burt Bacharach (music) and Hal David (lyrics)

Dancing in the Street by Martha and the Vandellas (1964) [co-written by Marvin Gaye]

The Tracks of My Tears by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (1965)

It's Gonna Take a Miracle by The Royalettes (1965)

Oh No, Not My Baby by Maxine Brown (1965)

The Best of the Wand Years by Maxine Brown — *The Best of the Wand Years* by Maxine Brown

Record Buying

The first LP album I purchased (from my first pay cheque) was And I Love Him by Esther Phillips (Atlantic records, 1965). I did not buy ‘pop' singles, but I went through a period of buying Extended Play (EP) records. Amongst my first purchases were EPs by Dionne Warwick – Don't Make Me Over (1964) and Here I Am (1965). Other EP records purchased during this period include the following: Nina Simone (1965), which included I Loves You Porgy (another track I would have liked to have included) and The EP Dusty (1964) by Dusty Springfield (which included Bacharach & David's Wishin' and Hopin'). I was really keen on Little Anthony and the Imperials but did not purchase an EP of theirs until years later.

The first two music tracks I want to play are from 1968, when I would have been 19 years of age, sometime after my "soul clubbing" days.

(1) I Heard It Through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye (1968) written Norman Whitfield & Barrett Strong for Gladys Knight & the Pips (1966)

(2) I Say a Little Prayer by Aretha Franklin (1968) [Burt Bacharach (music) & Hal David (lyrics) for Dionne Warwick (1966)]

The LPs I bought in the mid to late 1960s reflected my taste for soul, R & B and blues-oriented music: Esther Phillips [And I Love Him (1965)], Nina Simone [Broadway, Blues, Ballads (1964), I Put a Spell on You (1965), Let it All Out (1965)], Maxine Brown [The Fabulous Sound of Maxine Brown (1963)], Billy Stewart [Unbelievable (1965)], B. B. King [Live at the Regal (1964)], Johnny Ace [Memorial Album (1952-1954)].

In my mid to late teens, I regularly went to the Ilford Palais with my mates in search of girlfriends (in retrospect, the Palais resembled a meat market. I had a preference for ‘slow numbers' rather than upbeat records purely for the opportunity to get physically close to girls). The music played at these weekly dances was not ‘live' but records played over a sound system (more like a ‘discotheque' than a traditional dance hall). The live music I experienced was mainly in the form of ‘pub rock' – bands playing in the local ‘pick up' pubs. I frequented ‘live music' pubs like The Merry Fiddlers in Dagenham and The Two Puddings in Stratford. I also heard live music at the Lotus Club in Forest Gate.

I can remember hardly any of the names of the bands I saw live in pubs during the 1960s. I do remember hearing live in a pub in the East End of London, Blodwyn Pig, a group with a particularly memorable name. (Also, noteworthy because the saxophonist played 2 saxophones at once a'la Roland Kirk).

I did go and see a black American doo-wop/ R&B/soul vocal group in an East London music venue, but I can't, for the life of me, remember the group's name. (Although I do recall their matching red suits and their expert synchronised dance routines).

In 1965 at Bunjies Coffee House & Folk Cellar in Litchfield Street, off Charing Cross Road, I heard a fey young singer called David Jones who was soon to change his name to David Bowie.

On 5th November 1966, I was at one of the early live performances of the ‘Super Group' Cream (Eric Clapton (guitar); Jack Bruce (bass); Ginger Baker (drums). The gig was at East Ham Town Hall and admission cost 6s. 6d.

My Love of Modern Jazz

A record that was bought by my brother and which made a big impression on me was Fingertips by Stevie Wonder (1963). Although released on the Tamla ‘Soul' label, Fingertips was originally a jazz instrumental recorded for Wonder's first studio album, The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie. I think it must have been around this time that I realised that, as with the young Stevie Wonder, I possessed a ‘jazz soul'.

I think my first exposure to modern jazz must have been through the TV series Johnny Staccato (1959-1960) with the ‘jazz club' theme music by Elmer Bernstein. There was something about the essential ingredients of modern jazz (improvisation, rhythm, etc.) which appealed to me. I guess that the first modern jazz record I was aware of was Take Five by The Dave Brubeck Quartet (a track from the 1959 album Time Out) reissued in May 1961 when I had just turned 12 years of age. I recall that my brother bought Dave Brubeck's single Unsquare Dance, which in the summer of 1962 (like Take Five, a year earlier) entered the U.K. singles chart. It was highly unusual for a ‘modern jazz' record to enter the British charts.

If I was to choose a Dave Brubeck track for the ‘Musical Memories', I would probably select Blue Rondo à la Turk by The Dave Brubeck Quartet (1959). Sadly, because I am restricted to only 15 tracks, Dave Brubeck and Elmer Bernstein's Staccato's Theme have had to be removed from my initial list.

1965-1968 (The untypical musical taste of a young working man)

I left school in 1965 at the age of 16. The first Long Playing album I purchased was And I Love Him by Esther Phillips (Atlantic records, 1965), but, from that year on, my LP record purchases were almost exclusively from the world of ‘modern jazz'. I worked in an office in Central London near Leicester Square. I had no interest in my work and would only come alive at lunchtimes when I would walk down to Dobell's Jazz Record Shop at 77 Charing Cross Road. I couldn't afford full-price LPs, so on arrival at Dobell's, I would take the steps down to the second-hand record department. The cramped basement area contained racks of second-hand LPs and a listening booth. I often didn't know what I was looking for, but I had heard that the Blue Note label was a sign of quality and I was invariably attracted by the distinctive designs on the LP covers, usually the work of the brilliant graphic designer & photographer Reid Miles (1927-1993). It was common for me to select LPs for a test hearing in the listening booth solely based on the artwork on the sleeve. It was through this unusual method that I discovered the music of the modern jazz musician, pianist & composer Andrew Hill (1931-2007).

It was very difficult for me to choose a jazz track from this period of my life. If I had twenty pieces of music to choose for my ‘Musical Memories' I would have included Love Song from the 1965 Blue Note LP Spring by Anthony (Tony) Williams (1945-1997). To keep within the 15-track limit, I have, sadly, had to jettison Tony Williams in favour of Andrew Hill .

(3) Dedication by Andrew Hill (1964) [from the album Point of Departure].

Andrew Hill (piano); Eric Dolphy (bass clarinet); Joe Henderson (tenor sax); Kenny Dorham (trumpet); Richard Davis (bass); Anthony Williams (drums).

At this time, I had no mates who shared my enthusiasm for modern jazz so, in order to discover new artists, I had to rely on the album reviews in jazz magazines and the musical press (Melody Maker, New Musical Express, etc.) and the meagre offering of jazz programmes on the radio. I depended heavily on Jazz Record Requests (launched on the Third Programme of BBC Radio in December 1964). When I was a regular listener, Jazz Record Requests was presented by Steve Race on Radio 3. Race was succeeded by Peter Clayton, who was followed, briefly, by Charles Fox .

Jazz Record Requests introduced me to a range of modern jazz performers. In memory of Jazz Record Requests , I have chosen for my next track a jazz number I first heard on this radio programme sometime in the late 1960s.

(4) Dancy Dancy by the John Handy Quintet (1967) [from the album The 2nd John Handy Album].

John Handy Quintet: John Handy (alto sax); Mike White (violin); Jerry Hahn (guitar;) Don Thompson (bass); Terry Clarke (drums).

Because I had no friends who liked modern jazz, I attended jazz concerts and gigs on my own. Two ‘live jazz music' events which have stayed with me date from 1967. On 29 th October 1967, I attended the Jazz Expo concert at the Hammersmith Odeon which consisted of a remarkable double bill: The Miles Davis Quintet [Miles Davis (trumpet); Wayne Shorter (saxophones); Herbie Hancock (piano); Ron Carter (bass); Tony Williams (drums)] and The Archie Shepp Quintet [Archie Shepp (tenor sax); Rosewell Rudd (trombone); Grachan Moncur III (trombone); Jimmy Garrison (bass); Beaver Harris (drums)]. That same year I saw and heard the saxophonist Roland Kirk in a pub in South London.

Other jazz groups which I heard live during this period include Chris McGregor's large South African jazz band Brotherhood of Breath.

1969-1971 [Rock Festivals and my days as a ‘Weekend Hippie']

I don't want to give the impression that I was exceptionally narrow in my musical tastes. I always preferred jazz to rock (I would always rather listen to a long saxophone improvisation within a jazz group than an extended solo by a rock guitarist), but as my mates liked rock and progressive music, I was always happy to accompany them to a weekend ‘Rock Festival' or a live show by a rock band. For example, I remember going to London pubs see bands like Mick Abraham's Blodwyn Pig and occasionally going to gigs at The Marquee.

On the weekend of 30th-31st August 1969, together with half a dozen mates, I was present at the second Isle of Wight Rock Festival , where I heard performances by The Who, The Moody Blues, Family, Free, The Pretty Things, King Crimson, The Edgar Broughton Band, and lesser known groups like Fat Mattress and Aynsley Dunbar's Retaliation. Top of the bill on the Sunday of that weekend was Bob Dylan and The Band. When he finally arrived on stage at 11 pm, I believe I was the only one of our party who was fully awake.

On 9th January 1970, I saw Led Zeppelin at London's Royal Albert Hall.

On the weekend of 23rd - 24th May 1970 I was sitting in a field in Madeley, near Newcastle-Under-Lyme, taking in live music at The Hollywood Festival. Over that gloriously sunny weekend I heard bands such as Traffic, Black Sabbath, Family, Free, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Ginger Baker's Airforce. For me, the highlight of the weekend was a fantastic set by The Grateful Dead, undoubtedly the best live music I have heard from a rock band. Apparently, according to the music press, the act that had the greatest impact at the Hollywood Festival was Mungo Jerry, who went on to have a No 1-hit record In the Summertime.

The following month, on the weekend of 27th & 28th June 1970, I was camping in a field at Shepton Mallet for the ‘Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music' where I could sample the music of Canned Heat, John Mayall, Steppenwolf, Pink Floyd, Johnny Winter, Fairport Convention, Colosseum, It's A Beautiful Day, Led Zeppelin, Jefferson Airplane, Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, The Moody Blues, The Byrds, Santana, Dr John and the Night Tripper, Country Joe McDonald and Keef Hartley. I remember particularly enjoying the set by Hot Tuna, an American blues band fronted by guitarist and vocalist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady.

During this period, I purchased two sampler albums produced by CBS records: Rock Machine: I Love You (1968) and Fill Your Head with Rock (1970) which introduced me to the music of Laura Nyro; Leonard Cohen; Taj Mahal; The Don Ellis Orchestra; Blood, Sweat & Tears; Chicago and Electric Flag.

Other musical artists who entered my record collection during this period include the following: Al Kooper, The Butterfield Blues Band, Moondog and Third World War. A particular favourite was Edgar Winter who released his LP ‘ Edgar Winter's White Trash in 1971 (I had heard his more famous brother Johnny Winter at the ‘Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music' a year earlier). I also continued to add to my LP collection albums by Nina Simone and B. B. King. I also bought albums by Richie Havens [Richard P. Havens, 1983 (1968)] and Frank Zappa [Hot Rats' (1969)] which featured a vocal by Captain Beefheart on the track Willie the Pimp . When I was ‘let go' by one of my employers, I requested as my "leaving gift", Trout Mask Replica (1969), the double album by Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band.

Jazz Rock

Because of my love of jazz, I was particularly attuned to American jazz-rock groups such as Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chicago and Electric Flag. I was also a fan of British jazz-rock bands like Ian Carr's Nucleus (a group that included the future classical composer Karl Jenkins) and If', the jazz-rock outfit led by Dick Morrissey and the guitarist Terry Smith.

Folk

At the Isle of Wight Music Festival in August 1969, most of Sunday was given over to folk or folk-like music: Tom Paxton, Pentangle, Julie Felix, Richie Havens, Gary Farr and the Third Ear Band.

Between 1968 and 1971 I attended the Cambridge Folk Festival. I also frequented folk clubs in Barking and Dagenham where I heard British folk acts and American singers like Tom Paxton and Carolyn Hester. It was at such folk events that I first heard artists such as Bert Jansch and Al Stewart.

I later bought LPs by folk artists Judy Collins, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Ewan MacColl, and The Unthanks.

Modern Jazz Reigns Supreme

However, although I sampled a wide range of live music - blues, soul, progressive rock, folk, pub rock, jazz-rock, etc. none of these types of music came close to rivalling my passion for modern jazz. I began liking modern jazz at the age of 12 or 13 and it remains my favourite form of music up to the present day.

I first got into Miles Davis in the mid-1960s when he was playing with his classic quintet - Miles Davis (trumpet); Wayne Shorter (saxophones); Herbie Hancock (piano); Ron Carter (bass); Tony Williams (drums), but I soon began exploring his back catalogue. To be honest, I could have selected 15 all-time favourite music tracks exclusively from the outstanding albums recorded by Miles Davis between 1957 and 1970 e.g. Birth of the Cool (1957); Lift to the Scaffold (1958); Porgy & Bess (1958); Sketches of Spain (1959); My Funny Valentine (1964); Filles de Kilimanjaro (1968); In a Silent Way (1969) and Jack Johnson (1970).

Miles Davis, In a Silent Way (1969) — Miles Davis, *In a Silent Way* (1969)

For ‘Musical Memories' I have chosen a track from Miles Davis's 1959 masterpiece album, Kind of Blue:

(5) Flamenco Sketches by the Miles Davis Quintet from the album Kind of Blue (1959).

Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (alto saxophone); Bill Evans (piano); Paul Chambers (double bass); Jimmy Cobb (drums).

1971-1975 (College Days – My Expanding Musical Taste)

When I went off to train as a teacher at West Midlands College of Education in 1971, I took with me a large collection of vinyl LP albums. I would guess that at that time around 70% of my record collection comprised of modern jazz albums – recordings by Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Andrew Hill, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Bill Evans, Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra, Gil Evans, Archie Shepp, The Don Ellis Orchestra, Mike Westbrook, Freddie Hubbard, Gary Burton, Bobby Hutcherson, Roland Kirk, Kenny Burrell, Stan Tracey and Lalo Schifrin.

It was at teacher's training college that I was to meet Brian Millicheap, the person who, after my brother John, had the most influence on my musical taste. It was Brian Millicheap, a Birmingham lad, four years my junior, who introduced me to the American rock band Steely Dan, which mainly comprised of the song-writing duo of Walter Becker (1950-2017) and Donald Fagen (born 1948). It was in my second year at college that Brian played me Steely Dan's debut album Can't Buy a Thrill (1972). I was immediately hooked. Over the next few years, Brian would share with me his latest Steely Dan albums – Countdown to Ecstasy (1973), Pretzel Logic (1974), Katy Lied (1975).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4mOa0RwTXQ — *The Very Best of Steely Dan* by Steely Dan

The Steely Dan track I have selected for my ‘Musical Memories' is from The Royal Scam an album released in 1976 (the year after I left teachers' training college).

(6) Caves of Altamira by Steely Dan (1976)

The song was written and performed by Donald Fagen (vocals and keyboard) & Walter Becker (bass guitar) with support from a top-class band of session musicians – including Denny Dias and Larry Carlton on lead guitars, Chuck Rainey on bass, Bernard ‘Pretty' Purdie on drums. The tenor saxophone solo on this track is by John Klemmer.

My friend Brian Millicheap has a quirky taste in music and, like me, was attracted to the unusual and the eccentric in the world of music. Brian also had an unusual sense of humour, devising odd nicknames for our fellow students e.g. ‘ Dudley Breast Portions', ‘Lenny the Lion' (a female student), ‘Jeff Wow Wow' . Both features – idiosyncratic music and memories of college characters are represented in my next selected track – a song performed by Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks.

(7) Moody Richard by Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks [from album Striking It Rich (1972)

During the 1970s, I like to think that I had eclectic musical tastes:

Rhythm & Blues/Soul/ Funk

Ann Peebles e.g., I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down (1973); I Can't Stand the Rain (1974); Etta James; Average White Band; Bootsy Collins.

Pop/Rock

Joe Jackson e.g. It's Different for Girls (1979); Is She Really Going Out with Him? (1979); The Pretenders; Steely Dan; Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band

Blues/Roots/ Reggae

Taj Mahal; Bob Marley & The Wailers; Linton Kwesi Johnson

World Music

Milton Nascimento (Brazil); Les Troubadours du Roi Baudouin (Belgium); Astor Piazzolla (Argentina)

Singer-Song Writers

Joni Mitchell; Jackson Browne; Randy Newman; Laura Nyro

Folk/Americana

Ewan MacColl; Judy Collins; Joan Baez; Ry Cooder, Maria Muldaur

Classical Music from the Late 19th and early 20th Century

I am not sure when I was initiated into the world of ‘Classical Music'. I don't believe my family ever tuned into the Third Programme when I was a child and there were no Classical records in our home. I remember going to the ‘Record Section' of Romford's magnificent Public Library and taking out classical records. Courtesy of a ‘music centre', I made copies of my favourite pieces on audio tape cassettes

I know I was introduced to Maurice Ravel by my brother-in-law Jim Woods, who was married to my sister Tricia. While staying with Tricia and Jim in the 1970s, I came across an LP which featured the composition Bolero by Ravel . [The version I heard was a 1975 recording by the Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by Arthur Fiedler]. The first classical record I bought featured Ravel's Bolero and I remember being surprised because it sounded different to the version in my brother-in-law's collection. This was when I discovered that classical pieces were interpreted by different conductors and orchestras. The LP I purchased was on the budget ‘Music for Pleasure' (MFP) label and the music was performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Paul Kletzki (1983).

To represent my tastes in classical music I have chosen a short piece by Maurice Ravel, one of my favourite composers. Pavane pour une infante défunte was originally composed for solo piano in 1899, but in 1910 Ravel created an orchestral arrangement of his composition.

(8) Pavane for a Dead Princess (‘Pavane pour une infante defunte by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937). Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Ansermet (1961)

The music of Maurice Ravel forms a significant part of my classical record collection. I believe I own all of Ravel's orchestral pieces. I have a particular liking for Ravel's piano concerti – Piano Concerto for the Left Hand (1931) and his Piano Concerto in G Major (1931), both of which I have experienced in a live performance.

The composers I particularly like were active at the end of the 19 th century or early in the 20 th century: Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), Claude Debussy (1862-1918), Erik Satie (1866-1925), Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), Bela Bartok (1881-1945), Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959), Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), Carl Orff (1895-1982), Francis Poulenc (1899-1963), Arthur Honegger (1892-1955) and Paul Hindemith (1895-1963). Aaron Copland (1900-1990), Kurt Weill (1900-1950), Gerald Finzi (1901-1956), Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999), Samuel Barber (1910- 1981), Jean Françaix (1912-1997) and Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990).

A favourite LP in the ‘Classical Section' of my record collection is Homage to Satie, orchestral music by Erik Satie, performed by Maurice Abravanel and the Utah Symphony Orchestra (1968).

Other favourite classical pieces include:

The Rite of Spring (1913) and L'Histoire du soldat/The Soldier's Tale (1918), both by Igor Stravinsky

The Seven Deadly Sins by Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht (1933). Sung by Lotte Lenya with an orchestra conducted by Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg (1957). [I saw an English National Opera production of The Seven Deadly Sins featuring the singing of Julie Covington and the dancing of Siobhan Davies at the London Coliseum in 1978].

Symphony Mathis der Maler (Matthias the Painter), composed in 1934 by Paul Hindemith.

Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber (Barber's Arrangement of the Second Movement of Barber's String Quartet, Op. 11.) Composed in 1936.

Billy the Kid Ballet Suite by Aaron Copland (1938)

Pastorale d'été or Summer Pastoral (1920) and Cello Concerto (1929) by Arthur Honegger

Petit Quatuor or Little Quartet (1935) by Jean Françaix

Flower Duet ("Sous le dôme épais") from the 1883 opera Lakmé by Léo Delibes

The Cold Song ("What Power Art Thou") from the 1691 semi-opera King Arthur by Henry Purcell.

A Passion for Cinema: Film Soundtracks

I am a regular cinema-goer. I started going to the cinema to see ‘foreign art' films when I was about 16 and over the last few years I have seen, on average, 70 films each year. I suspect that I was introduced to a range of classical music through my extensive visits to the cinema. For instance, I might have heard pieces by Gustav Mahler before 1970, yet it was probably Luchino Visconti's 1971 film Death in Venice which featured the music of Mahler's Third and Fifth Symphonies, which probably reinforced my emotional response to Mahler's music. [ I now have in my record collection Mahler's 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th Symphonies]. Another example – I was introduced to the music of Henry Purcell when I went to see To Our Loves (À Nos Amours), a French film directed by Maurice Pialat in 1983. On the soundtrack of this film was Purcell's The Cold Song performed by the unique Klaus Nomi. My first taste of ‘World Music' probably occurred in 1968 during Lindsay Anderson's film If.. when the lead character puts on a record featuring Sanctus from the Missa Luba performed and recorded in 1958 by Les Troubadours du Roi Baudouin, a choir of adults and children from the Congolese town of Kamina in Katanga Province of what was then the Belgian Congo. It was the soundtrack for Pedro Almodóvar's 2002 film Talk to Her (Hable con ella) which introduced me to the music of the Brazilian singers Caetano Veloso and Elis Regina (1945-1982). If I was allowed 20 rather than 15 music tracks for ‘Musical Memories', I would have included Elis Regina singing Por Toda A Minha Vida. I have always loved the 1938 song Boum! written and performed by Charles Trenet (1913-2001) and this wonderfully uplifting song makes a surprise appearance in Toto The Hero, a 1991 Belgian film by director and screenwriter Jaco Van Dormael.

Original Movie Soundtracks

I can also enjoy film soundtracks composed specifically for a particular movie. I particularly like the film music of Bernard Hermann (Taxi Driver; Psycho), Elmer Bernstein (Walk on the Wild Side; The Man with the Golden Arm), Ryuichi Sakamoto (Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence), Michael Nyman (The Piano; The Draughtsman's Contract; The Man with the Movie Camera) and Alberto Iglesias (Talk to Her; Volver).

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) is a composer and conductor who I admire greatly. I have chosen music from Leonard Bernstein's only venture into composing a film score.

(9) Symphonic Suite from the film On the Waterfront. Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Bernstein's original music for Elia Kazan's 1954 film On the Waterfront.

Jazz Festivals and Live Jazz

1975-1984 (Clubs and Festivals: Jazz in Basildon and Bracknell)

I began my teaching career in 1975 in a large comprehensive school in Basildon New Town, Essex. The school had a substantial teaching staff, so it was probably not surprising that I found amongst my colleagues a few jazz fans, two of whom became good friends Adrian Cartwright, an English teacher, and Alan Burden, the Head of the Art Department at the school. Between 1976 and 1983, me, Adrian, Alan, and several other friends including my old college friend Brian Millicheap and my brother-in-law Jim Woods made annual visits to the Bracknell Jazz Festival, a wonderful weekend event held in the house and grounds of South Hill Park in Berkshire. The Bracknell Jazz Festival (for a weekend ticket costing £7) offered me the opportunity to hear in person leading figures from the American jazz scene and the best of British jazz. Over an 8-year period I witnessed live performances by a wide range of American jazz musicians including Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Arthur Blythe, George Coleman, Chico Freeman, Gary Burton, Archie Shepp, David Murray.

And top British bands & jazz instrumentalists - The Stan Tracey Octet with Peter King (alto sax), Art Themen (tenor sax), Don Weller (tenor sax), Harry Beckett (trumpet), Malcolm Griffiths (trombone). Mike Westbrook and his Orchestra (featuring vocals by Kate Westbrook and Phil Minton). Bobby Wellins. Solo saxophone recitals by John Surman.

European jazz groups were also featured. Top of the bill at the 5th Bracknell Jazz Festival in July 1979 was the Jan Garbarek Group with Bill Connors on guitar, Eberhard Weber on bass, Jon Christensen on drums and the leader, Jan Garbarek playing saxophones.

To represent the period when I was attending live jazz events during the 1970s, I have chosen a track from a Keith Jarrett/Jan Garbarek LP which was released on the ECM label in 1974. I witnessed a solo concert by the jazz pianist Keith Jarrett in London at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 23rd October 1977 and the headline act at the 5th Bracknell Jazz Festival in July 1979 was the saxophonist Jan Garbarek .

The following track features both musicians:

(10) The Wind Up performed by Keith Jarrett's European Quartet [from Keith Jarrett's 1974 album Belonging]

Keith Jarrett's ‘European' Quartet [Keith Jarrett (piano) Jan Garbarek (saxophone), Palle Danielsson (bass), Jon Christensen (drums)].

World Music

After I graduated and returned to Essex, I kept in contact with my college friend Brian Millicheap who decided to remain in the Midlands. Brian gave me regular updates on the musical discoveries he had made. Brian listened to late-night radio programmes, such as ‘Late Junction' (BBC Radio 3, 11.00 pm-12.30 am) - billed as "an eclectic mix of world music, ranging from the ancient to the contemporary". Brian regularly made compilations of music tracks which he thought might interest me. He would send me audio tapes of the musical highlights of these radio programmes. In this way, I was introduced to musicians and musical artists from around the world. The next two tracks are by artists recommended to me by my old college friend Brian Millicheap, but I could just as easily have chosen pieces by Sainkho Namchylak (Out of Tuva), a singer originally from Tuva, an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation just north of Mongolia, Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) the Argentine tango composer and bandoneon player (Greatest Hits) or Marta Sebestyen, a Hungarian folk singer (Márta Sebestyén & The Görög Ensemble) who provided the soundtrack for The Love Patient. I have selected two music tracks that could be categorised as "World Music".

(11) Kalimankou Denkou (The Evening Gathering). Traditional Bulgarian folk song [from the album Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares Vol. 1, first released as an LP in 1975 and issued as an album in the UK by the record company 4AD in 1986]. The Bulgarian State Radio & Television Female Vocal Choir. Soloist: Yanka Roupkina.

(12) Sina (Soumbouya) by Salif Keita [from Salif Keita's 1987 album Soro].

Modern/Contemporary Classical Music

I listen regularly to Radio 3 hoping to discover a new "serious composer". I only became aware of the music of the Polish composer Henryk Górecki (1933-2010) several years after his death. I find Górecki's Symphony No. 3. Sorrowful Songs (1976) particularly moving.

(13) Symphony No. 3. Sorrowful Songs - Lento e Largo - Tranquillissimo by Henryk Górecki. From Górecki's Symphony No.3, composed in 1976. London Sinfonietta conducted by David Zinman. Soprano vocal: Dawn Upshaw. Music composed by Henryk Górecki.

Each year, I try to attend at least one music concert during the Brighton Arts Festival held every May. Over the last three years I have sought out recitals by saxophone quartets, a musical format which has a special appeal for me. A couple of years ago I attended an afternoon concert by the Ferio Saxophone Quartet led by the soprano saxophonist Huw Wiggins. One of the pieces the Ferio Saxophone Quartet played was written by Michael Torke (born 1961, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA), a composer I had never heard of before. So, by attending a live recital, I have been introduced to a new musical artist. Since hearing Michael Torke's composition I have proceeded to listen to his other compositions featuring different line-ups – chamber groups, large orchestras, etc. – and gone on to buy a number of Torke albums. (e.g. Color Music [1991]; Overnight Mail [2008]).

(14) July by Michael Torke, Performed by Apollo Saxophone Quartet from the album Six (1995)

Popular Music and Relatively Recent Discoveries

I may have given the impression that I am a ‘musical elitist' and prefer to listen to Avant-garde jazz or obscure composers rather than consume popular music. I am not, in fact, immune to ‘pop music'. In my teens, I listened to British groups on the radio and enjoyed songs by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Hollies, etc. I remember with affection hit singles like Concrete and Clay by Unit 4 Plus 2 (1965) and Something in the Air by Thunderclap Newman (1969)

I witnessed the supergroup Cream playing live at East Ham Town Hall in 1966. I saw the group Led Zeppelin at London's Royal Albert Hall in 1970. I attended Rock Festivals in the period 1969-1970 and heard live performances by The Who, The Moody Blues, Free, The Pretty Things, King Crimson, Traffic, Black Sabbath, Family, Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, It's A Beautiful Day, Led Zeppelin, Jefferson Airplane, Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, The Byrds and The Grateful Dead.

As mentioned earlier, I admire the American studio band Steely Dan and over the years I have bought all their albums. In the late 1970s I was a big fan of the English musician and singer-songwriter Joe Jackson (born 1954, Burton on Trent). In 1979, I bought two LPs recorded by the Joe Jackson Band: Look Sharp and I'm the Man. I went on to buy two of Jackson's subsequent albums. During this period, I also appreciated the music of Squeeze. During the 1980s I enjoyed the ‘pop music' of ABC, The Look of Love (1982) and Cyndi Lauper [Time After Time (1983), ‘ True Colours (1986)]. I thought R.E.M. was a superior American rock band. I own albums by The Cranberries, The Pretenders, The Editors, K. D. Lang, Adele, and Amy Winehouse. Adele's 2008 hit single Chasing Pavements is still a big favourite of mine.

I am always on the lookout for interesting artists in the field of popular music, but I find it difficult to discover new names, especially as the radio seems to play a restricted range of music. I have tried to tune into radio stations such as BBC Radio 6 Music, but to no avail. I have had more success with foreign online radio services such as FIP (France Inter Paris), a French radio network.

I try to pick up on new music by reading album reviews in The Guardian on a Friday or scanning the positive music reviews in Sunday newspapers, but this requires some effort. I cut out and save music reviews that sound interesting and have been awarded a high 5-star ratings, but I then have to go to YouTube or Spotify on my computer to check them out aurally. Music artists I have discovered by this method include the singer-songwriter & harpist Joanna Newsom, the English folk group The Unthanks, who hail from Northumbria, and the Birmingham-born soul/r&b singer Laura Mvula.

Jools Holland's TV programme Later with Jools Holland, showcases new acts. In 2009, this programme introduced me to The Mummers, a strikingly original group of musicians fronted by the singer Raissa Khan-Panni and directed by composer Mark Horwood, who sadly took his own life 5 months later in September 2009.

YouTube is another useful source for new music. One of my revelatory musical discoveries has been the black r&b/soul/funk artist Janelle Monae. I have three of Monae's albums – Archandroid (2010), The Electric Lady (2013) and Dirty Computer (2018). Monae is a startingly original songwriter with an inventive use of rhyme. To fully appreciate her talent, you have to see her perform live or sample her music videos. See, for example, the music video for Janelle Monae's 2010 single Tightrope on YouTube.

I first came across the music of the Canadian singer Feist [Leslie Feist, born 1976 Amherst, Nova Scotia] in a commercial for the Apple i-Pod shown on TV in 2007.

(15) The Limit to Your Love by Feist [from Feist's 2007 album The Reminder]

I later found out that Feist performed live at the small Komedia club in Brighton in April 2007. I haven't had an opportunity to see her perform live since.

I hope that I will be introduced to new musical artists in the future by attending the monthly sessions of the Musical Memories Group.

Postscript

Since writing the above account of my musical life in 2018, fellow members of the Musical Memories Group have introduced me to musical artists such as Vampire Weekend, Lake Street Dive, Beth Hart, and Grace Petrie.

Final Selection