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My Passion: Rhythm drives my love of seeking out new music
Music, language, numbers – it all comes down to rhythm.
I've been into music since I was at school when I played euphonium and the tuba. I've had a Fender Precision jazz bass for years, and I bought another five-string electric bass a couple of years ago.
I have been thinking about getting a band together again. I'd need to re-learn, I guess, but it isn't that hard, finding enough time might be more difficult.
I've always loved the rhythm in music. When I was 17, Cream and Pink Floyd were my favourites. I went to see The Floyd at Knebworth way back then, and though my tastes have changed, I still love music with great rhythm.
In the last few years, I've really got into jazz, and a lot of that is down to my lifestyle. I live in High Wycombe but travel up to work in Otley once a week, and probably do about eight hours driving a week.
It means I've got a lot of time to explore new music, and the internet has revolutionised the process of finding new music. It makes it a lot easier to track down recordings by the musicians I like, and I buy up to 10 CDs a month.
Tracing the players' names from the CD covers of really good music on Amazon is a good way to find related types of music.
I recently got into Bugge Wesseltoft, who's a Norwegian jazz musician, pianist, composer and producer. The far north of Europe seems to be a rich source of terrific new jazz. I love the Esbjrn Svensson Trio. Their leader pianist died recently but I managed to see them a couple of times. Stanko is another tremendous pianist.
Seeing jazz live is made easier by the fact that I live near London but it's mostly a solitary pursuit, as my wife, who is a headteacher, can't usually spare the time during the week.
I often head down to the Barbican to see gigs and the Radio 3 London Jazz Festival is a great way to see a lot of people in one go. My wife used to play the piano, and she came with me to see Bugge Wesseltoft on our wedding anniversary, and she loved it.
I love the teamwork in jazz. I can't stand it when people go off for ages on solos, especially drummers. When it's done well, though, I love great drumming.
When an evocative piece of music comes to life in the hands of some expert players, it is pure jazz. This is not the plink-plonk, tabulated noises that some modern musicians play but the vivid, cool play that paints moments of time in sound.
David Lynch is finance and commercial director at Words&Pictures, the Otley-based editorial agency.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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