Grappelling reading

I was pleased to be asked recently to write a piece for the excellent Stupefaction blog. A big thank you to Head Honcho, Tim Brown, for posting my Appreciation of Stephane Grappelli. 

The number of the counting shall be 3

When the late Stephane Grappelli recently turned up in EMI's vaults lurking on Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, it was likened to finding The Holy Grail. Grappelli had been working in Abbey Road Studios at the same time as the Floyd and was asked to come in and play with the band. Upon the album's release they said he'd been lost in the mix; more likely Gilmour and Waters had a fight about whose idea it had been and then dropped the veteran jazzer's deft solo altogether. Shame it's taken over 35 years to resurface.

(Grappelli comes in, beautifully, at 3:06)

Pint-sized Grappelli

Stephane Grappelli (1908-1997)

(Oil on canvas, Merryl Jaye)

When was the last time you walked into a pub and asked for a pint of Stephane Grappelli? Mmm, thought so. Well, thanks to those fine people at The Crown Brewery in Sheffield, I've been able to step up to the bar in my local and do just that. As you can see their jazz range has already included, among others, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington and Jimmy Smith. And what a nice drop Stephane Grappelli is too - a rather tasty blonde beer weighing in at 4.5 OG. Martin Robertson, new owner of The Sun Inn, Pickering, is passionate about beer. So much so that he felt the only way to guarantee a perfect pint of real ale to the highest quality (from the start of the barrel to the end) and still give value for money, was to buy his own pub. So that's what he did. It's a bit like me wanting to see Paul McCartney live but because I don't like going to the big sheds and soulless aircraft hangers he insists on playing in these days, booking him privately to perform in my back garden. In fact, Paul, if you're reading this, why not come and play in The Sun's back garden this summer (they're always looking for new turns between 4 and 7 on Sunday afternoons) and we can kill two birds with one stone?