Various Artists, Various Venues, London, England, November 16-19

The Music of London - Three nights and four days in the musical capital of the world
Including short reviews of Fairport Acoustic Convention, The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, Appassionata and Dick Gaughan, and mentioning Wizz & Simeon Jones.

Let me slightly alter the words written by Dr. Samuel Johnson in the late 18th century: "When a man is tired of London he is tired of music, because London has all the music life can afford." It seems that many people think so, especially in Sweden. Swedes travel in hordes to enjoy the musicals of the West End, and when Swedish superstar Robert Wells (mostly known for fusing classical music with rock in his "Rhapsody in Rock" shows, which each summer sells out arenas all over Sweden) wants to do something really prestigious he rents the Royal Albert Hall and brings his show there. Needless to say, it is always a sell-out, with the audience made up mostly of Swedes.

And of course all the big rock stars always play London when they are touring. And then there are the big international events, like Live8, LiveAid, etc. Time has passed since Neil Innes proclaimed his World Tour consisting of only two gigs at the Roundhouse in London.

But is London really the musical capital of the world? With a friend I went there to find out. Here is my report.

Wednesday, 16 November 2005

For me every London stay starts with buying "Time Out," the best guide to what is going on. Just browsing through its lists of musical offerings, from rock to classical, will wet your appetite enough to require you to wear a napkin. This time we had already booked tickets for our three main events, but nevertheless it is nice to look for lunchtime and afternoon concerts.

After reading Time Out on the underground on the way in from Heathrow we spent most of the day shopping. London is a gold mine when it comes to record shopping. First you have the big multimedia stores, Virgin has two megastores ( Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Street close to Tottenham Court Road) and HMV two (both in Oxford Street, on either side of Oxford Circus). For those who have not been there, we are talking three or four floors filled with CDs, DVDs, computer games and music books. In fact, they are quite overwhelming. Do not go in just to browse around. If you do not know what you are looking for, chances are you will never come out again.

But you can find smaller specialised shops, both with new music and secondhand. Berwick Street in Soho has a number of such shops, and if you want to travel further away from the centre, the Notting Hill area is worth checking out.

But there are also "proper music stores," with instruments and sheet music. Two of them are to be found in Rathbone Place, on the north side of Oxford Street. One is a guitar shop, with Ovation guitars as their specialty. I must confess I am not a great fan of Ovation guitars. I would rather have a "proper" guitar, with everything made of wood, equipped with a good pickup system. But I like the rest of the shop.

The other is one of my favourite shops in London, Hobgoblin Music, a chain of music stores throughout Britain specialising in folk music. They have a good range of acoustic guitars, as well as fiddles, mandolins, bodhrans and Irish bouzoukis. You name it, they have it. And they even have some instruments I cannot name, as well as lots of song and tune books. Do not miss Hobgoblin.

There have been many legendary jazz and rock clubs in London. I do not know if it is a sign of the times that most of the rock clubs, like the UFO and the Middle Earth, have vanished, and the Marquee Rock has long since moved from Wardour Street. Rock seems to have outgrown the clubs. Of course there is still rock being played all over London, in pubs and clubs, but the classic venues are gone. But a look in "Time Out" will give you at least twenty or more options each day.

The classic jazz clubs, such as Ronnie Scott's and the 100 Club, are still going strong. The latter was our destination on our first night. Our intention was not jazz, but Fairport Acoustic Convention. This is Fairport without bass player Dave Pegg, but with percussionist Gerry Conway, performing with congas, a snare drum, cymbals and some other pieces of percussion.

Fairport stayed seated on the stage throughout the two sets, though it appeared that Ric Sanders and Simon Nicol felt the urge to stand up. Apart from their usual repertoire, with a surprising focus on songs from the Wood and Wire album, they played a few morris tunes, which made Simon call out "Taxi for Mr. Nicol, please," and fine instrumental versions of "Here, There and Everywhere" and "Summertime." The last instrumental was the highlight of the evening. Ric Sanders used the tune as basis for improvisation, and suddenly the gap between the group on stage and the photographs of classical jazz performers on the wall did not seem to exist. What a joy to hear Chris Leslie singing "Banbury Fair" once again. A lovely evening all in all.

Thursday, 17 November 2005

London is a city full of musical history, even for a non-rock fan. The great lute player and composer John Dowland lived here. In the 18th century, George Friedrich Handel moved here from Germany, only to find the ruler he was escaping from was elected King of England. But that did not stop Handel composing most of his masterpieces in the city. Later, Joseph Haydn spent a long time in London, composing 12 symphonies, some of which are considered his best work. Lots of other composers made shorter visits. One of them, Mozart, is remembered in place names.

For the rock fan, London is sacred ground. The history of mid-1960s rock is to a great extent the history of London rock. The Beatles came from Liverpool, but all their music was recorded in London, and this is where they lived when they created most of their historical LPs.

So it is only natural that the company London Walks, which takes you on tours tracing the murders of Jack the Ripper, looking at haunted sites in the older parts of London and so on, also hosts two walks taking you to places with a Beatles connection. Both are hosted by Richard Porter, who once gained the title "The Beatle Brain of Great Britain," and hosts a couple of web-sites about the Beatles in London.

We went on "The Magical Mystery Tour," centred around places in Soho and Mayfair, including the McCartney Publishing company headquarters, neatly situated next door to the publishers of the Harry Potter books, the studio where "Hey Jude" was recorded, the site of Apple Corp's headquarters, and finally an underground trip to Abbey Road.

Abbey Road Studios are in themselves musical history, even if not for the Beatles connection. Composer Edward Elgar recorded some of his works here. Apart from all Beatles albums save "Let It Be," the studios recorded Pink Floyd's masterpiece "Dark Side of the Moon".

And do not worry: visiting Abbey Road, you will see that famous street crossing. You have to pass it on your way from the underground station to the studios.

By the way, did you know that one of Jimi Hendrix's London addresses was next to the house where Handel wrote his Messiah Oratorio? There are now museums at both addresses.

In the evening we went down to Hammersmith, but not for a visit to the Apollo, once named the Hammersmith Odeon, though that in itself is sacred ground for rock lovers. One of London's major venues for decades, I have seen acts like 10 CC, Manfred Mann's Earth Band and Mary Black here, and the concert part of the re-released "Born to Run" package was filmed here, but for Riverside Studios. Riverside Studios is a complex down by the river (guess how it got its name) with a cinema and "studios" for theatre and music. They boast several events every day of the week. We were there to catch my latest favourite band, The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, which was performing eleven nights in a row there.

The Ukuleles appeal to everyone. With a mixture of music from Handel up to the latest in rock, treated without any kind of respect for the originals, they are at times hilariously funny, as well as being musically brilliant. And they have a serious streak too. Hester Goodman's rendition of Joni Mitchell's "For Free" is genuinely moving.

I have seen the Ukuleles five times over the last year and I am beginning to see the central role of their magnificent bass player, Jonty Banks. As well as being a good singer and one of the best whistlers I have heard, he drives the music along with his bass, laying a solid foundation for the other players in the group, who, I must add, have really mastered their instruments and voices. Highlights this time included "Yes Sir I Can Boogie," sung by Peter, the bass voice of the group, and their soft version of Status Quo's "Sweet Caroline." I have raved about this group before, and let me repeat: do not miss them if they ever come to a place close to you.

Friday, 18 November 2005

In London you sometimes come across music where you least expect it. I mean, were you really thinking that there would be a wannabe opera singer standing at the bottom of the escalators at Victoria Station, showcasing the power of his voice to a background of pre-recorded music? But you might not be as surprised to find that Harrods, that superstore of superstores, has a rather well equipped music department. And the range is quite different, from exclusive grand pianos with price tags that make you walk in grand circles round them, not to scratch anything, to rather cheap guitars. And they have a record department as well, run by HMV.

There are two big concert hall complexes in our city. On the South Bank you have the South Bank Centre, with the Royal Festival Hall as the main focus. It is being refurbished, so we did not get the chance to visit it, but there was lunchtime jazz in the joint foyer of the two smaller halls, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Purcell Rooms. But let me assure you, all three halls are superb, with the Purcell Rooms used for smaller, more intimate things, and the others often used for classical orchestras.

The other hall is of course the Royal Albert Hall. That Beatles quote from "A Day In the Life" is true: in the 1960s, they drilled a lot of very small holes in the ceiling to improve the acoustics.

We took advantage of one of the great features of these halls, the free lunchtime concerts, in this case female guitar-trio Appassionata, performing in the Consort Café in the Royal Albert Hall. Appassionata has a broad repertoire, with some modern, impressionistic jazz pieces written especially for them. One piece was inspired by a fish tank, another by flying kites. They also perform baroque pieces transcribed for three guitars. Interesting repertoire and very well played.

The area around Denmark Street (the nearest underground station being Tottenham Court Road) must be heaven for aspiring rock stars. The street itself holds more than ten music shops, most of them specialising in electric guitars, but there is also one solely for drums, one for basses, one for pianos, and three with music books. And of course, there are plenty of acoustic guitars as well. I could easily spend a week there.

A short distance away to the north you have Virgin Records Megastore, which now has a well-equipped instrumental shop in its basement. My friend spent almost half an hour trying out the new series of electronic drums from Roland. Brilliant, he said, but at £2,299, he did not think his wife would appreciate him buying a set. If you should decide to move southwards instead, there are a few complementing instrumental shops on the east side of Charing Cross Road. One of them has a fair selection of ukuleles, by the way.

I have written about the folk clubs of London in an earlier report. This time we chose Court Session in Tooting. I like it for its welcoming approach: I always feel at home there. And we chose it because Dick Gaughan, one of the major singers and guitar players on the Scottish scene, was playing there that night.

Being a folk club, there was more than just the main act. The Wandle Delta String Band, regulars at the club, performed. They were led by Dave East, the organiser of the club. Dave also performed a fine solo version of "Lord Franklin." As an extra treat, Wizz and Simeon Jones did three songs after the interval. Wizz Jones is one of the veterans of the English folk scene, often quoted as the inspiration behind many young performers. I have not crossed paths with him before, but this short set left me wanting more. Wizz plays the guitar and sings, while Simeon adds colours with his broad selection of instruments, this time harmonica, flute and tenor saxophone.

Dick Gaughan is always a treat. He mixes his own songs with other people's, claiming to be too lazy to write all the time. "I find songs by others and I nick them," he confessed. He has had his short stint with the major record companies with Five Hand Reel in the 1970s, but is glad to be back in the folk world, where he claims "people can still be humans and play real music."

Gaughan is a powerful performer. He has a strong, deep voice, and plays DADGAD tuning in a way of his own, using a plectrum to bash out power chords. When it comes to guitar playing, he has the attitude of a rocker.

Highlights included "No Gods" by Brian McNeill, a song about the Scottish hanging on to too much of their past; Si Kahn's "What You Do With What You Got," one of my all time favourite lyrics; Robert Burns's "Now Westlin' Winds," Dick´s own "Outlaws and Dreamers," and "Both Sides the Tweed," which I once named a group after to force the other members to perform that song at every gig. Well, I could go on forever. A great night!

Saturday, 19 November 2005

Sad day, time to go home. But taking the evening flight from Heathrow gave us one last opportunity to look for music.

The obvious place for daytime music on a Saturday or a Sunday is Covent Garden. At any given time you will find at least three or four groups of soloists busking in different areas of Covent Garden. And let me assure you, people playing here are good, the best quality buskers you will find in London.

If you like classical music, the Lower Courtyard is the best place. There are continuous performances by young aspiring classical musicians and singers here. We caught a quartet, two flutes, a viola and a cello, performing pieces like "Bolero" by Ravel, "O Sole Mio" and "Can Can." All were done with a showbiz attitude you will not find in the concert halls.

In other areas we got the opportunity to listen to Chinese folk music, a Buddy Holly song, a singer-songwriter and a young musician treating the guitar like it was a piano. I cannot describe it, you have to see for yourself. Everything was enjoyable and well performed. And of course, everyone had CDs for sale.

For those who like 1960s and 1970s English rock there is a new memorabilia shop in Covent Garden, "England Rocks." Filled with t-shirts, stickers, key rings and fake gold records, it is very centred round groups like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Queen, but you will find lots of other names as well. Much of what it sells is newly produced, and do not expect it to be cheap; T-shirts, for example, cost £20. There are also shops dedicated solely to Beatles and Elvis. Both are situated on Baker Street, close to the Sherlock Holmes Museum.

Stays in London are always too short. But on the way home it is always a good idea to buy a few music magazines. The problem these days is to find one that does not carry a "bonus CD." This time at least three of them boasted samplers of "The Best of 2005," though their selections are very varied. I settled for Mojo and a free collection of tracks that inspired Jimi Hendrix.

And to set the record straight: I am not tired of London, nor of music.

[Lars Nilsson]