Detective Inspector Adam Fawley is back in the second thriller by Cara Hunter – which means I got to enjoy more reflected glory (Cara is a friend) and another launch event. Cara’s debut Close to Home has been a runaway best-seller, a Richard and Judy book club choice, and an audiobook starring Lee Ingleby. Continue reading
I don’t usually post about books in this blog, but I don’t usually have even a tangential involvement in a best-selling crime novel and I don’t usually get invited to the fizz-fuelled launch in an Oxford museum. In the case of Cara Hunter‘s debut Close to Home both apply, so I took a short break … Continue reading
Michelle Pollace (it’s pronounced poh-LAH-chi) is a super-talented musician, who can often be found playing her smooth Latin Jazz rhythms at venues around the San Francisco Bay area. This Californian native and her keyboard (with backing from some of the Bay area’s finest musicians) are equally at home in quiet, upscale restaurants and outdoor concert … Continue reading
One of my favourite TV channels these days is Talking Pictures TV – a place that gives new life to old movies, many of them obscure, but most an absolute joy in one way or other. Recently [I write this in June 2016] I watched back-to-back a couple of low-budget films I’d recorded from the … Continue reading
Dawn Noel may well be the biggest star you’ve never heard of – multi-talented (to say the least) and surely set to become a familiar name before long. On stage and in front of the camera, she’s an actress, dancer, and model, while behind the scenes she is equally accomplished as a writer, producer, and … Continue reading
My adopted home city of Cardiff has an interesting and sometimes surprising history on film (remember the Wolf Man?), but a new project, Saucy Horsey, is perhaps the most surprising. Continue reading
They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, and the same goes for CDs. Pick up a copy of Laura Comfort‘s new album Don’t Ignore Me, and you may think this is all about the look and not much about the sound – style over substance. But you’d be very wrong. Continue reading
If you’re in any doubt about what to expect from the new Gina Carey album, Can You Dig It, a glance at the tracklist will soon put you straight: songs include Funkalicious and Gimme The Soul. Continue reading
After just three years, the Love Supreme Festival seems to have established itself as a firm fixture on the jazz (and blues and soul) calendar. This year’s edition, again in the beautiful East Sussex countryside at Glynde Place, offered veterans Chaka Khan and (Sir) Van Morrison as main stage headliners, with the likes of Neneh … Continue reading
The founder of legendary rock band The Kinks, and the DJs of Funky Sensation are among the names that have been added to the line-ups at two of the summer’s big jazz festivals. Continue reading
PieceOf Pink Pie 