Older, but no wiser

I’m listening to some wonderful, wonderful jazz by Gwilym Simcock, an astonishing young pianist I only heard of for the first time 2 days ago. I was in town yesterday and took the opportunity to buy his debut CD, plus another CD of a trio he’s in. It’s the kind of music which frees and expands your mind; listening to it, the world seems bigger, more open, with more possibilities.

I’m sat here in the office, headphones on. My tiny workspace - just three feet of a communal desk (we use huge tables seating four each side) – usually feels so cramped, with the bustle of the office crowding in on me. I often use headphones to shut myself off from this alien environment – alien to me, at any rate, although others seem to thrive in it – but this is different; this isn’t shutting off, it’s opening out; opening into a new world.

Goodness knows, I need that. The walls have been closing in lately; I’ve been living trapped in two bubbles – the house and the office – and anything which takes me beyond those is welcome indeed. Even the web and blogs have had a hard time trying to break through.


From Jazzwise magazine:

“At 26, he is, by common consent, a major star in the making and the most talked about young musician in British jazz for decades. In a relatively short space of time he has earned the admiration of both fans and fellow musicians alike. When he appeared on Spike Wells’ recent album Reverence, the veteran drummer, who knows a thing or two about pianists, said he thought Simcock was on track to become “the greatest pianist this country has ever produced.”