Intensity, high-tempo and rhythmic mastery. Just three of the many words that could apply to John Coltrane’s timeless opening track Giant Steps, from the same-titled album. If smoothness and subtlety were the mots d’ordre on Blue Note’s release Blue Train, then Atlantic Record’s offering Giant Steps were chaos and improvisation. Beautiful chaos and improvisation, I hasten to add. In terms of tenor solo statements, Giant Steps was outstanding. From the outset there was a clear intention from John Coltrane to break away from the foot-tapping sound he had helped create on Miles Davis’ classic Kind of Blue. Saxophone, double-bass, piano…

As we wait with bated breath for restaurants and pubs to open again, there are those of us who’ve kept the high street food economy going with occasional takeaway orders.

It was my girlfriend who told me about Andu Café in Dalston, east London. This is an area well known to both of us. We’ve been to The Arcola Theatre, just down the road and to gigs at the Dalston Eastern Curve, on Dalston Lane.

However, I knew nothing about Andu, an Ethiopian vegan restaurant on Kingsland Road. …

The way our brains process information and our subconscious mind works has always enticed me. About four years ago, I read an interview with the philosopher and scientist Daniel Dennett in the New Humanist which reawakened this passion. In it Daniel attempted to throw some light on that strange, elusive and confusing phenomenon known as consciousness. To Mr Dennett consciousness is not one thing but a combination of different elements. They are our thoughts and experiences. This group also includes our subconscious, that always hard-to-define region of our brain where we hold information we are not even aware of having…

Friday 17th May 2019

Loneliness is scarier when we suffer it in the company of others. Being isolated on our own is horrible, but at least there’s the consolation of being alone with oneself. Shared loneliness is the pits.

I thought of that tonight as I was driving to the Rich Mix. My two formal relationships since moving out of S’s have been free of the clutter I brought to S’s and my relationship. For years the last thing I did before going to bed at night was either switch the computer or my mobile off (or both sometimes). …

Certain books have the capacity to ask questions, others aim at providing answers. And then there are books that just open themselves whimsically to us, delivering their content in ways we are not used to.

Wild Swans is one of those books.

Written by a Chinese woman, Jung Chang, the book traces the history of that Asian nation in the twentieth century through the eyes of three generations of Chinese women: Jung’s grandmother, mother and Jung herself.

From the time when concubines were still a commodity down to Mao’s last years, Wild Swans is not just a memoir, but also…

Is the language we use every day, enough to cope with the world we’re about to enter?

As we move through the different stages of life, from babies’ low-pitched contented sounds to barely muted sales pitches at conventions, we soak up words and phrases. What happens when our lexis fails us?

Most of us stopped commuting a year ago, traded the local panini-serving café for a homemade sandwich eaten in front of our laptop and all but gave up on hugs, kisses and handshakes. We didn’t just lose habits. We also lost part of our language.

Together with our language…

Saturday 11th May 2019

Whilst driving from Ao’s tonight, I had a eureka moment. It was almost as if I could visualise my past and present on the windshield and they were both talking to me.

The tale they told me was one of culture, identity and belonging. At the same time they also warned me not to use these three elements as an excuse to cover up my shortcomings.

When it comes to relationships, we are as shaped by culture as we are by our personalities. In my case, being born and growing up in a chiefly macho culture was an influential factor…

Niche or mass appeal? Writing nook or crowd-facing soapbox? Fan-driven content or audience–building articles?

The battle most writers face nowadays on Medium concerns the streaming of our ideas. This situation has left many of us scratching our heads and pondering what to write, how to promote it and to whom to promote it. Very often the question we ask ourselves echoes down the halls of contribution after contribution: should we concentrate on just one topic or try to cover as many as possible?

Looking for fun and feeling groovy

A complex world like the one we live in demands cross-fertilisation. This means sharing and exchanging knowledge…