Aw… You people are so nice, well most of you anyway. I couldn’t think of anything to have a rant about; I know, I know, there are many things really, Blair v Brown, Bush v The World, 4×4 drivers, caravans on the roads etc. etc. But, hey, I am too chilled to even pollute my mind with such things, I am not saying that the “black moods” are gone they are still ever present, but a weekend at the Islay jazz Festival has certainly helped. I have to say that there are some things which I am so glad that I did not miss like a piano duet between David Berkman and David Milligan; I know it was supposed to be Brian Kelloch but he had to pass with a broken finger; I will swear to my dying day that David Berkman has four hands, he is truly a great jazz pianist, and that is taking nothing away from David Milligan, as the whole performance was truly awesome! Two fine pianists who fed off of one another, taking themes and twisting them only to pass them back to the other to be further improvised; this for me was the highlight of the weekend.
However, it was not all jazz, BondWoman and I did get to explore the island a little, and I managed to bag all eight distilleries, which I thought was a feat in itself; and before you even think it I did not sample the wares at all of them! Although turning up at Bruichladdich we got talking to a guy and I mentioned that it was the only Islay malt that I had not yet tasted, he promptly shot inside and came back with “a wee dram”, well if that was a wee dram then I would hate to think what his idea of a large whisky is… But, it was gratefully accepted and duly enjoyed in the early evening sun…
For those interested the eight distilleries are:-
Ardbeg
Laphroaig
Lagavulin
Bowmore
Caol Ila
Bruichladdich
Bunnahabhain
and not yet prducing
Kilchoman
And very fine whisky is produced at all of them, I sampled the raw spirit at Kilchoman and if that is anything to judge by they will be producing a very fine whisky indeed…
I will be writing a much more extensive account of the trip for The Bonds al Fresco, and also posting some pictures when I get around to sorting them out properly in the next couple of days….
September 19, 2006 at 9:04 pm
I’ll give Caol Ila and Bhunnahabhain a wave as I pass en route to Colonsay tomorrow. Islay certainly can work its magic on the troubled soul. I hope that the weather forecast moderates a little before 0745 tomorrow; the thought of (a) sailing to Colonsay and not being able to land, or (b) landing on Colonsay and not being able to get off are neither ideal, although (b) is definitely preferable to (a) - there is only so much CalMac coffee one can drink in 24 hours.
September 20, 2006 at 7:39 am
Yes Patrick Islay certainly worked its magic on me to the extent that I am planning a campaign to get BondWoman to forego the pleasures of Edinburgh and to move to Islay; it is really the sort of place that an artist could feel at home, and of course there is the added bonus of great whisky… I hope your trip was successful and that you were able to land, I cannot comment on the pleasure of CalMac coffee as I have, to date, done my best to avoid it much preferring to grind my own beans and make proper coffee, yes, I know, a bit of a fetish, but let’s face it it’s about the only one I have left these days…
September 20, 2006 at 8:19 am
a weekend in the islands listening to music and visiting distilleries? The sacrifices you make for your blog Bondbloke. I must stop reading now because this green colour I am turning doesn’t go with my shirt
September 20, 2006 at 9:36 am
Oh, indeed, Arthur I make many sacrifices for the blog; I find the stresses and strains of this tough task just a little too much at times, however, I suppose someone has to do it, and if it makes someone else’s life just a little easier then I am quite prepared to make such sacrifices…
September 20, 2006 at 12:15 pm
Sounds wonderful!
September 20, 2006 at 12:37 pm
Looks like you had a great time, I’ll be watching The Bonds al Fresco then and hope I won’t have to nag you
September 20, 2006 at 1:03 pm
Catharine: Believe me it was wonderful…
Armin:You will not need to nag am working on the photos right now, well not rigth now as I am responding to comments right now, but as soon as I can get back to them…
September 28, 2006 at 12:32 pm
I hope this won’t be converted into a link (and feel free to delete this comment, I couldn’t find an e-mail for you so decided to post it here). Unless I missed something it looks like this whole entry has been ripped off and duplicated here:
outings.seblogs.net/article/8841/The-Islay-Jazz-Festival/
(removed the http:// to stop it from converting to a link)
September 28, 2006 at 5:43 pm
Thanks Armin, indeed you are right this is a complete cut and paste job - I have left a comment but I don’t think that will do any good at all I am noe going to try and trace the culprit and give him/her the fear of god i.e. dealing with BW!
September 28, 2006 at 5:44 pm
Thanks Armin, indeed you are right this is a complete cut and paste job - I have left a comment but I don’t think that will do any good at all I am now going to try and trace the culprit and give him/her the fear of god i.e. dealing with BW!
Just what I didn’t need right now, another problem…
The Islay Jazz post is on the way, have sorted pics, now have to rite the words…
Btw, it is good to know that my writing is good enough to rip off…