Banjos

I'm back in London! I've been back for about 3 weeks now but I don't have a computer at my flat anymore. I spilled Diet Coke on my laptop. It made some sizzling sounds and then died. I haven't taken it to get fixed. I'm not sure that I'm going to get it fixed. I tend to waste time on the computer and there is no time to waste.

Last weekend I got to hear one amazing banjo player and another good banjo player. The first guy was Bela Fleck, arguably the greatest banjo player the world has ever known. In my mind Chris Thile is the greatest mandolin player the world has ever know and Jerry Douglas is the greatest Dobro player the world has ever known. Anyway... Fleck was playing with his band the Flecktones. I don't really appreciate the Flecktones. They have a guy who plays the electric bass, Victor, a horn player (mostly saxophone), and the FutureMan who plays the syntax drumatar. The SD is an instrument that he created. Think of it as a guitar that makes electronic drumming noises when Futureman presses little buttons. In my opinion the Flecktones take away from the Fleck. Thankfully they gave Bela about 10 min. at the end of the show to do his own thing. He played a medley of things including bluegrass, some Bach, and some innovative stuff. Bela doesn't read music. I just smiled the whole time and was really happy. I'm not sure why I liked the banjo so much. I think that I like the plucking/metallic sound that it makes and I like the way that it does sounds when it's contributing to the rhythm of a song. Fleck also seems to be quite a humble performer. He was fun to watch. You could easily see that he loved playing music.

If you are interested in hearing some Fleck, I would recommend the CD Music For Two. It's a classical duet with Bassist Edgar Meyer. I really like the song "The One I Left Behind".


Here's a picture of Fleck and Futureman. Yes, Futureman is dressed as a pirate. This is when Fleck, Victor, and Futureman were doing an old NewGrass Revival Song.










Then Jed came to London on Monday and we saw Boston based Crooked Still play at a little venue in Soho. Their banjo player Greg Liszt was just on the Seeger Session tour with The Boss. He's pretty fun to watch on stage, but their cello player really dominated their music. Their song Mountain Railroad has a good banjo part. I don't' think that Crooked Still will stay around that long. Most if not all of their members are members of other bands and seem to have other interests. Also, while I enjoy their music, it admittedly gets a little old after a while.

Jeremy Bentham

Today Jed and I went on the hunt for Jeremy Bentham. It was a really pretty day for January England so we walked through Regents Park and then over to UCL. Here's a picture. During the summer this pond is filled w. paddle boats.

Bentham is a utilitarian who was instrumental in the founding of UCL in 1826. Back then Oxford and Cambridge were the only real choices for university, but they were only open to the rich and church going. UCL was the first university in England to admit anyone without regard to creed, political, or religious beliefs.

Bentham asked that his body be preserved for all to see. Now he is in a big cabinet in the main building at UCL. He was closed today. Here's a picture of Jed in front of Bentham's "grave". Apparently his head used to be there, but it has since been removed.

I was thinking that it's kinda irreverent to be blogging about him--but I think that it's what he would have wanted.