Homage to MIles Davis

A refreshing night's sleep, then pancakes for breakast again. Clare spotted an interesting Jazz concert at the Royal Welsh College tonight featuring the music of trumpeter Miles Davies. We succeeded in booking a couple of tickets for this on-line. At the end of the morning we drove to Penarth and had lunch in on the terrace of a bar/restaurant on the promenade called Pickfords. It was as a delightful experience sitting out in bright clear sun, overlooking the Bristol Channel with the tide full out, exposing riverbed sand and rock beneath the beach of pebbles.

As we were about to order, Fran called about a meeting with a former colleague and was delighted to learn that we were in the vicinity. She and Marc came down to join us for a drink at the end of the meal and then we walked around for a while before heading home for a pre-concert siesta and supper.

We walked through Bute Park to reach the Royal Welsh College, arriving in good time for the seven thirty concert. It's part of a week long Jazz festival feature performance from students past and present in honour od the head of Jazz Paula Gardiner, retiring after 23 years at the College. Tonight's was a celebration of the 1960s music of Miles Davis by a Welsh quintet, headed by trumpeter Tomos Williams. The auditorium was full, predominantly with white haired people, as a lady sitting next to me remarked, as we reminisced about when we first heard his albums on the iconic Verve label. 

The band performed superbly a range of tunes, some of which were familiar, others not. The ensemble was very tight and the soloists for the most part, good. The only non-Welsh group member was a percussionist from Birmingham whose versatility was very impressive, in terms of variety and sensitivity, even if his solos were a little too long on times, for my taste. A great evening out, even if we were pretty tired by the time we walked into town to catch a bus home, and go straight to bed.

I was introduced to Miles' music aged seventeen by our Scoutmaster Penry Jones, who'd recently finished his National Service and returned to work in the Valleys with a record player and a selection of the latest Jazz albums. Sister June had already introduced me to Jazz and taken me to live concerts in Cardiff five years earlier, and brother-in law Geoff played saxophone in a dance band. I was lucky to have been raised in a music household.