Kid In A Sweet Shop

It is weekend so I am going to avoid going on about life or work or lamp posts or any of the other big issues I normally focus on. I am going to take a leaf out of Edwin's book and open up a small trap-door into the battery drive of my psyche. Whatever turns you on and all that. In my case, it is music. There are deeply boring reasons why I care so much about music (if you have experienced tinnitus and deafness for 10 years, believe me you love music). But hang on a minute, I am preaching again. Stick to the music.

For some time I have been wrestling with the "kid in the sweetshop" syndrome which is almost a natural consequence of the digital age. When you can have access to almost everything anyone of note has ever thought, written, played, painted or sung - where do you start. Over the months my music collection has grown with almost algebraic momentum : I am so busy acquiring new music that I don't have the time to listen to it. So I have called a stop to acquisition for the time being and I have introduced a structured listening rotational schedule (or SLRS as I will refer to it).

I am limiting myself to just 10 CDs per week. These alone will populate my MP3 players and my Media Player "Now Playing" list. I am going in search of depth rather than coverage. It is the birth of a new me: a thinking, reflective, contemplative type of chap. For those remotely interested in such things my SLRS list for the first week of this unique experiment is as follows:

1. Songs of Love and Hate : Leonard Cohen (because, as I have said before, Leonard is a Saint)

2. Close Your Eyes : Stacey Kent (because I am in love with Stacey Kent and have been for years)

3. Compact Jazz : Chuck Mangione (because it is a nice sound)

4. Confluences : Jean-Louis Matinier (because I like the accordian)

5. Flirting With Twilight : Kurt Elling (because his voice goes places other voices can just dream of)

6. Waltz for Debby : Bill Evans (because he can make the silences between notes as mesmerising as the notes themselves)

7. The Bob Brookmeyer Quartet : Bob Brookmeyer (because the valve trombone is my favourite instrument)

8. Cello Concertos Vol 1 : Vivaldi (because it makes a change)

9. The Easy Way : Jimmy Giuffre (because its mathematics made into music)

10. Tal Farlows' Finest Hour : Tal Farlow (because this was chosen at random from my selection and, as you know, I am very fond of a bit of serendipity)