Jam in Camden

What could be better than a sunny May Day bank holiday mooching around Camden Market? Try a Sunday night at the monthly UK Soul Jam, at Camden's fabulous Jazz Cafe. This was my first time to Soul Jam. Being a school night, Sundays for me normally mean an early night in bed with The Sunday Times for company. Instead, I was lapping up some of the great new talent on show.


UK Soul Jam is a monthly night for showcasing acts, with an open mic/jam session later on. First up was a very impressive, funky, original-sounding singer/song-writer by the name of Raff. So when I got back home to Shropshire I was keen to find out more. Maybe I was too quick off the mark, but despite my finely-honed googling skills I couldn't find anything, nada. Fortunately just over a week later I managed to track down his myspace page with a handy link to his single on itunes.

But I couldn't help wonder why it was so difficult to find details of a really good act, following a showcase night. Contrast this with Kaana Ellie and the Remedies. Now, I'm not even really sure which band they were (the cosmo's are very strong at the Jazz Cafe), but since giving my email address Ive been sent future gigs, myspace details etc, via personal emails from Kaana. But out of the 5 or 6 acts showcased, they are the only ones that collected our details. Another fine example of working it - the supporting act at Basement Jaxx recent Birmingham gig were giving out free cd singles.

So, my point is...wicked night out in Camden and I would definitely recommend it. Undoubtedly, more of the acts need to up their game, in terms of promo. These are tough times for the industry but newbies need to get creative and make better use of modern technology. It's not rocket science, is it...

The Real Bucket List

I went to a funeral today. I have been to many funerals in my thirty-something years. It's said that death is the only thing certain in life. That, and taxes of course.

I have been to many funerals where people have known they were dying eg. of long-term illnesses, like my Grandfather's cancer thirteen years ago, and funerals where people have died suddenly - no warning.

Today's funeral service was for someone who had battled with an illness her whole life - sickle cell anaemia, and had been threatened with death on many occasions in her thirty-something years. But this last time it was for real. So, when she was told she had two weeks to live, she wrote her own bucket list. Actually, not so much a bucket list, but a list of people that she wanted to speak to before she was unable. Phone calls, meetings, and a final farewell chat with her local church family - which was videoed and played at the funeral, were all a part of her preparing and saying goodbye in a dignified and positive way, smiling to the end. At the end of the service one of my closest friends who was sat next to me gave me a big hug and said " let's not wait until then to show how much we love each other". I couldn't agree more.

I have been to many funerals, and it's fair to say I'm not a big fan of them, generally. But when people can truly and honestly say that someone's death had the same unequivocally positive impact that their life had, on everyone they came into contact with, that's pretty amazing.