NORWEGIAN GOOD. LOCATION CHANGED.

I'm usually far more of a jazz fan than a folk music fan. But just last week, some friends of mine persuaded me to come and listen while Norwegian Hardanger fiddle virtuoso Annbjorg Lien and Swedish guitarist Roger Tallroth treated us to a straight ninety minutes of Scandinavian folk. It was staged as part of the London Jazz Festival, ironically enough. And they were brilliant, magical, carrying you away on ever-ascending spirals of song, rhythm, and melody. A spellbinding evening. Catch them if they ever come your way.

And to make it even better, it all took place at a venue that I've never visited before, a terrific arts center called King's Place on York Way, very nicely designed and laid out and with a cafe backing out onto a houseboat filled cutting of the Regent's Canal, so that the evening was memorably picturesque as well. I wish I'd taken my camera along, and shall next time. And all this in an area of London -- north of King's Cross station -- which had quite a nasty reputation not so long ago, a grubby red-light district and the scene of gang fights and some pretty notorious crimes. Some people believe that gentrification is a bad thing. I'm not one of them.

MO' GARDOT

As a footnote to the LADY SINGS posting below, I opened my copy of the Observer -- one of the UK's leading Sunday broadsheets -- today to find a large advert in it for Gardot's latest album, 'My One and Only Thrill'. And according to a friend, there's a piece on her as well in London's top listings magazine Time Out. A year ago, I hadn't even heard of her. As for you, dear reader? Remember where you heard about her first.

LADY SINGS ... WONDERFULLY!

Went out last week -- with my old friend music writer Andy Snipper -- to see Philly-born jazz/blues songstress Melody Gardot, the second time I've attended one of her performances in less than a year. And it might seem unusual for an American singer to visit our shores so frequently, but Ms. Gardot -- who has a very interesting background --lives in Paris these days. So hopefully, we will be seeing a whole lot more of her during the next few years. That's great news for fans of real music and real talent, rather than the manufactured garbage that gets thrust on us so much these days via The X Factor and similar shows.

The first time I saw her, at the Bloomsbury Theatre, she performed with a three-piece backing band in front of an audience that had struggled in despite a Tube strike taking place that day, and was so brilliant she brought the house down. On this occasion she was at the Union Chapel, N1, a stunningly beautiful church in Islington which continues to hold Sunday worship, but which doubles as a music venue during the less Godly days of the week. It wasn't quite as great a show as the previous one. This time, along with the jazzmen, Gardot was backed up by an eight-piece string section, and the formality of that arrangement hampered her a little. But make no mistake, she is a terrific singer, with the lyricism of a Julie London and the fire and passion, when needed, of a Peggy Lee. And she's no mean songwriter either. If you get the chance to check her out, then take it. And in the meantime, here is Andy's review of the evening's performance for Music-News.com. (*The album cover displayed is from Wikipedia, and appears here under the Fair Use rule.)

AND WHEN I'M NOT READING?

I've just been to the 606 Club -- a subterranean, madly-crowded, hugely-atmospheric venue down by the river in Chelsea -- to see the award winning Anglo-Bengali pianist Zoe Rahman (pictured*). And she was just as superb as the last time I saw her, going at each piece with huge verve and seemingly effortless brilliance. If you're into jazz and haven't heard of her yet, check her out.

By the way, another network of sites -- a very good one called Campaign for the American Reader, dedicated to, well, getting folks in the U.S. to read more -- has been running an experiment for a while getting authors to talk about the sixty-ninth page of their latest novel. And the one up at the moment is 'Dark Rain.' I'll reprint it here once they're done with it.