Chris Curtis Web Site

• Flickr: mercy and nelson http://bit.ly/yoNab #
• Listening to – Snake Davis “Wakefield Wobble” from Adder Lessons [Jazz] #
• Listening to – Snake Davis “Brawby Boogie – Backing track” from Brawby Boogie Distance Learning [Saxophone Tutor] #
• Listening to – Snake Davis “Invitation” from Hysteria [Jazz] #
• Listening to – Snake Davis “Brawby Boogie – Tenor Sax” from Brawby Boogie Distance Learning [Saxophone Tutor] #
• Listening to – “06 The Lark Ascending draft” from [] #
• Listening to – Josh Groban “Un Giorno Per Noi” from Awake [Vocal] #
• Listening to – Snake Davis “Let’s Stay Here” from Adder Lessons [Jazz] #
• Listening to – Snake Davis “Lowdown” from Adder Lessons [Jazz] #
• Listening to – Snake Davis “Getting Late” from Adder Lessons [Jazz] #
• Listening to – Snake Davis “Just My Imagination” from Adder Lessons [Jazz] #
• Listening to – Snake Davis “Hard to Handle” from Adder Lessons [Jazz] #
• Listening to – Snake Davis “Slippin’ & Slidin’” from Adder Lessons [Jazz] #
• Listening to – Snake Davis “Between Two Seas” from Adder Lessons [Jazz] #

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I was out and about today. Some of the arable fields had the first dusting of green as shoots are just showing, and a few sheltered hedges are also just greening as buds swell. Bluebell shoots are emerging in the garden and there are snowdrops in flower. There is even a little tentative birdsong – from Robins and Blackbirds – for a few minutes in the morning and evening. There is just enough light now to create morning and evening twilights. Spring is not too far away.

• Flickr: Spinnaker Tower http://bit.ly/vbhVj #
• Listening to – Joni Mitchell “Amelia” from Hejira [Jazz] #
• Listening to – Gerry Mulligan Sextet “Night Lights” from Night Lights [Jazz] #
• Listening to – Massukos “Pangira (Unplugged)” from Bumping [World] #
• Listening to – Moya Brennan “Show Me (Theme)” from Two Horizons [World] #
• Listening to – David Sanborn “The Dream” from A Change of Heart [Jazz] #
• Listening to – Daby Touré “My Life” from Stereo Spirit [World] #
• Listening to – Daby Touré “Setal” from Stereo Spirit [World] #
• Listening to – Daby Touré “Baye” from Stereo Spirit [World] #
• Listening to – Daby Touré “Setal” from Stereo Spirit [World] #
• Listening to – Alain Lombard & Bayerisches Staatsorchester “Cosi’ Fan Tutte, Act 1: “Soave Sia il Vento” [Fiordiligi, Dorabella, Don Alf ... #
• Listening to - Anouk "Lost" from Hotel New York [Pop] #
• Listening to – Andrea Bocelli & Sarah Brightman “Time to say goodbye (Con te partirè)” from Vivere – The Best of Andrea Bocelli [Classical] #
• Listening to – Andrea Bocelli, Barry Wordsworth, Bryn Terfel & London Symphony Orchestra “The Pearl Fishers’ Duet (Bonus Track)” from An … #
• Listening to – Sonny Rollins “In a Sentimental Mood” from Solid [Jazz] #
• Listening to – Sonny Rollins ~~ “St. Thomas” from Saxophone Colossus (Rudy Van Gelder Remaster) [ Jazz] #
• Playing Music: Kebaluso Daby Touré Stereo Spirit(World) #
• Playing Music: There Were Roses Cara Dillon Sweet Liberty(Alternative) #
• Playing Music: High Tide Cara Dillon Sweet Liberty(Alternative) #
• Playing Music: She Moved Through the Fair Cara Dillon Hill of Thieves(Singer/Songwriter) #
• Playing Music: The Parting Glass Cara Dillon Hill of Thieves(Singer/Songwriter) #

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I have been exploring and playing with twitter.

I do not think that it will change the world (and I guess it might not survive: I cannot see how they make any money) but the ability to “shout out” short messages and to follow others who do so is useful. It is by far the best means to receive quick, timely news items (though that probably means the quality is low – no time to check) and it is a good way of keeping in touch with what people are doing.

It is this last that is the issue. I want to know if there is an update to a web site I keep an eye on or a new book from an author I like but I really do not care if someone has just gone out to the shops – even if it is someone I care about. I cannot stand soap operas – whether they are real or imaginary – or big brother so that side of twitter is not for me (but then I do not send or receive dozens of text messages a day and some people do)

Anyway, you can find me on twitter as @chrisecurtis

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

I can insert pictures from my space at flickr:

See!

A few weeks ago I ordered a whole lot of reeds and experimented like mad.

Very quickly, I fell in love with Rico plasticovers – about half a grade “softer” than I was using. What a difference something so subtle makes. The plasticovers are “ready to go” straight away and you cannot really get the “moisture content” wrong. I suspect that they give a less pure and rich tone than you could achieve with “traditional” reeds but for a beginner like me this is overcome by being able to stop worrying about whether it is me or the reed that is “not quite right” and concentrate on my own technique. Very quickly, the low notes on the tenor came good, I find I can develop very different tones and projections and can play loud and soft. It felt like a big “jump up”.

Of course, you then realise that some of my long tones are rather wobbly, that there can be an unwanted and unpleasant vibrato but I can work on that.

The other thing I have been doing is leaving the tenor on its stand. I find myself playing it every day without fail and often playing for a few minutes several times a day. The less structured approach is probably very bad for me, but I feel my confidence growing and more as if I am playing the instrument rather than it dominating me.

I need a stand for the soprano (or a stand for both at the same time) so I can work on both!

This is the second day of “close-down” following the heaviest snow for about 20 years in this part of England. Here in Horley we had about 6 – 10cm without much drifting, but just a few km North, on the North Downs, there was around 30cm (a foot) and some severe drifting which, coupled with the apparent inability of local government to respond and the lack of experience among local drivers, meant gridlock.
The snow was caused by easterly winds bringing very cold and moist air off the continent across a relatively warm North Sea and Channel. Heat and more moisture being pumped into the very cold air lead to a growth of shower clouds and showers, which fall as snow. Meteorologists call this “lake effect” snow from a similar phenomenon on the great lakes in North America.
Last night saw a severe frost (-6C) which froze the old snow surface hard and some new snow fell – very slippery conditions.
We now have some sun and a little thaw, so hopefully things can start returning to normal tomorrow.