The Regents Canal towpath is such a great way to cycle to West London (excepting the busy sections at Camden which I’ve never found a good detour to avoid). On a weekday, stretches of the towpath were quite idyllic.

It wasn’t long before I arrived in Portobello Road to enjoy the delightful new Talkhouse cafe. I knew Elyse from Prufrock so it was neat to catch up in her new place of work, and get recommendations from her though the whole staff were friendly indeed. It’s spacious, quite an unusual shape really, with a beautiful light design and open kitchen. Bags of beans and coffee and tea equipment adorned the walls, there were a selection of filtered brews on offer (aeropress) and great looking food. The place had quite a refined air but I felt comfortable in my scruffy cycle gear despite finding the stools a little difficult to perch on.

I had a delicious aeropress of a Rwandan Koakaka roasted by James Gourmet – really quite a remarkable coffee. The initial pervading flavour is that of milk chocolate but it also has a juicy stone fruit flavour with a slight hint of lime. After demolishing a chicken sandwich that contained rocket mayo and bacon among other things and its luxury hinted at the fact that the owner is American.

I couldn’t resist trying an Workshop Cult of Done espresso (single shot as standard) before hitting the road. Lovely shot, very sweet. Decent coffee has finally arrived in West London and it’s not just decent, it’s excellent. I can imagine the place being rammed on the weekends so glad to have visited in the weekday calm.

Cycling back East I headed past Little Venice and spotted D1 Coffee just off the Edgware Road, which had been recently recommended to me. I made an unplanned entry for a taste of a takeaway Monmouth flat white. It was over hot and the milk was a little thin which was a shame as it seemed a friendly, unpretentious place. If you are in that area (Edgware Road, Warwick Avenue, Lords, Maida Vale) there’s little else in terms of decent coffee around so I’d recommend it but I wouldn’t go out of my way.

The second unplanned detour was when I tried to avoid Camden Lock and headed up towards Regents Park Road. Near Chalk Farm tube I discovered The Little One. It’s a tiny, friendly place which makes efficient use of space and crams in a couple of indoor seats as well as a few outside. It serves espresso from Monmouth beans and makes it’s own baked goods and crepes (both with and without gluten). Having experienced so many mediocre and sub-par places using Monmouth beans recently I was surprised and delighted by a creamy, well made flat white. On this evidence The Little One pull better shots than Monmouth. It went down very well with a gluten-free berry brownie.

Back on track, I soon arrived in Kentish Town West. Right next to the overground station and surrounded by construction work lay the small but perfectly formed The Fields Beneath. First impressions, apart from the excellent service were of a slightly surreal place: workers in construction hats, a girl sitting singing and playing a folk guitar, a stream of commuters… Like Browns of Brockley, The Little One and Vagabond, it’s a cafe that seems firmly rooted in its community and a great sign that progressive coffee can engage rather than alienate communities perhaps unused to it.

The groceries for sale were a nice touch, the lack of alternative brew methods were made up for by a delightful espresso. Recently The Fields Beneath has served up espresso roasted by Federation, Square Mile, Butterworth and Sons and Extract Coffee Roasters. The day I arrived they were using a Hasbean Burundi Ngozi Mugomera. It was a very sweet, sticky shot with pronounced raspberry and vanilla notes; excellent with the amaretto flavour of a plum pastry.

It was conveient to use the London Overground Station next door to travel direct to Brockley. In all these years I’d never made it to Browns of Brockley, the absolute model of how to integrate a great cafe with high coffee standards into a suburban London community. I’ve met Ross (the owner) and chatted with him quite a few times across London and I knew it was high time I made the trek South East.

The cafe is right opposite the station and manages a subtle elegance in less than inspired surroundings. There are a fair few tables and it’s clear many loyal locals. I must come back to sample the food which I have heard is well crafted and with a good attention to provenance. The coffee was certainly very good and the service is first rate. I ignored the siren call of the espresso machine and settled for a mug of Square Mile La Buitrera Huila (aeropress). I certainly felt at home with the mug. This Colombian coffee had tastes of lychee and red fruit. I felt even more at home when Ben Drury (Notes) walked in and we had the opportunity to chat at length. It’s no accident that people within the coffee industry are often found here.

Following Browns, it was time to head home on the train, just resisting the opportunity to pop in to Vagabond N7 on the way. I’d had enough caffeine for one day. It was a good day, visiting so many places…drinking coffee from five different UK roasters and enjoying a high standard of service at all the coffeeshops I visited.

£400 ono. The bass has been rarely played since I bought it in September 2009. It has the original strings. On purchase I had the Bass Gallery in Camden smooth out the fingerboard for me so it’s very even (uneven boards are often a fault with cheaper uprights). It comes with tripod stand and gig bag.

You can hear it here

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What a great year 2012 has been.

Highlights for me have included my music residency at Notes Covent Garden which has allowed me to develop a new playing opportunity with Maciek Pysz and Demi Garcia Sabat as well as appearances from Mike Outram, Alam Nathoo and Simon Roth.

The gigs with Delicatessen have all been tremendous, these guys are a joy to play with too: Jeremy, Mutsumi, Duygu, Paressa, Patricia, Patrick and Vasilis! What a unique and exciting group to be part of.  The highlight was the St Ethelburgas gig in January where I also got to guest with Pakaw! Great sound, great venue, great crowd! The Green Note and Jamboree have, as always, been a delight to play at and it was something special when Giovanni from Naples was in town on a  day we played.

The Green Note was also the venue for Shirley Smart’s fabulous world music jam, I only made it there once but had an amazing time and formed a new partnership with Tahir Burhan (Cherchen Man) that has resulted so far in a couple of fun duets, a great collaboration with Mandingo/Uyghur sounds and a gig in Colchester.

All Souls Langham Place has proved a great place for us as a family, spiritually; and musically it has given me so much this year as I have finally developed my reading skills.  Playing for worship has provided of the musical highlights as well as leading, directly and indirectly to Ceilidh gigs, jazz carol gigs, jazz performances at the BBC for the Jubilee and later for the Olympics (with Michael Andrews, Dave Hatch, Ian Cape and Craig Hudson, a pop recording session with the highly talented Claire Robinson and a wonderful Anglo-Nigerian wedding where we got to put down some gospel sounds and the bass was mixed high!

Coffeewise, my posts related to coffee were some of the ones most viewed. I slowly developed my tasting abilities though I’m still a baby in that regard. It was a year where new coffeeshops popped up all over London, often in unlikely places but a year where the average standard of London indie coffee went down (in my opinion partly due to difficulties with staff retention and the sheer number of places. A small number of places, committed to excellence continued to strive for excellence however and I am very glad of them. It was also a year where a large number of roasters’ coffees were available as a number of places had guest coffee often…there were some excellent coffees from Scandinavian roasters available more widely and Rapha’s Cafe provided a taste of the new in the form of excellent beans from JB Kaffee in Germany and benefited hugely from the input of Paul Bonna.

It was a year of cycling for me. I got a bike in July and was rarely off it, except while playing, working or watching the Olympics. A trip to Leuven in Belgium really excited me about the possibilities of making cycling in London safer and more enjoyable. But though people stress the dangers, most people are kind and courteous even in London whether driving, walking or cycling. The freedom of zipping around London through your own leg power is very liberating – much as I still love walking!

In terms of listening to music, Nneka was an excellent discovery for me. I did less reviewing so I had to search out more music for myself rather than being sent it to review. Other highlights included albums Donny McCaslin, Marcus Miller and Kurt Rosenwinkel. My top ten.

Playingwise, 2012 was the year I rediscovered fretted bass and fell in love with it all over again. My friend Davo had been kind enough to give me an MIJ Squier Jazz and by the end of the year I was using it on most gigs, leaving the Wal fretless mostly for Delicatessen and then using the Crafter ABG at work.

Workwise, 2012 was also neat, I finished my Dyslexia studies and qualified (w00t!) and was succesful in bidding for a major philosophy project for my school in collaboration with a research project from Birmingham University. My school got a ‘good’ grade from the dreaded Ofsted to boot!

So I’m looking forward to 2013 immensely and thank God for a great 2012 for myself and my family!

http://philwbass.com/2012/11/13/leuven-cycling-centred-city/

I’ve organised this by sections: click on the areas to go straight there. I particularly recommend Prufrock, Kaffeine, Rapha Cycle Club and Dunne Frankowski.

West End

North, Central and City

East

South and West

My coffee map

West End
Tapped and Packed

http://www.tapcoffee.co.uk/

20 Rathbone Place

114 Tottenham Court Road

193 Wardour St

closing the 24^th 25^th 26^th 31^st & 1^st

Notes Music Coffee

http://notes-uk.co.uk/

31 St Martins Lane

Christmas Eve 24th 7.30am-4pm, Christmas Day 25th Closed, Boxing Day 26th 10am-8pm, 27th-30th Normal hours

New Year’s Eve 31st 7.30am-5pm, New Year’s Day 1st January Closed, Back to normal from the 2nd onwards

Notes Covent Garden

36 Wellington Street

Christmas Eve 24th Closed, Christmas Day 25th Closed, Boxing Day 26th Closed

27th-30th Normal hours, New Year’s Eve 31st 7.30am-5pm, New Year’s Day 1st January Closed

Back to normal from the 2nd onwards

Rapha Cycle Club

http://www.rapha.cc/london

85 Brewer St

24th – 10-4pm, 25th, 26th – closed, 27th-30th – normal trading hours, 31st – 10-6pm

Closed 31st Jan – 4th Feb for refurbishment

Kaffeine

http://www.kaffeine.co.uk/

66 Great Titchfield Street

Closed Sunday 23rd at 5pm – reopen January 2nd 7:30am

Workshop Marylebone

http://www.workshopcoffee.com/

75 Wigmore St

December 24th/25th: Closed, December 26th – January 1st: 10am – 5pm, January 2nd: Business As Usual

Lantana

http://lantanacafe.co.uk/

13-14 Charlotte Place

“our last day is 23rd dec and we open again on 3rd jan”

The Counter at the Delaunay

http://www.thedelaunay.com/counter

55 Aldwych

Closed from 23 December and re-opens on 3 January 2013.

Flat White

http://www.flatwhitecafe.com/

17 Berwick St

No news yet but usually closed only 25th/26th 1st only

Milk Bar

http://www.flatwhitecafe.com/

3 Bateman Street

No new yet but usually closed only 25th/26th/1st

Speakeasy Espresso

http://speakeasycoffee.co.uk/

3 Lowndes Ct, Carnaby St

24th: 09.30 – 17.00,  25th: Closed, 26th- 28th December: 10.00 – 19.00, 29 December: 10.00 – 20.00,

30 December: 10.00 – 18.00, New Year’s Eve: 10.00 – 17.00, New Year’s Day: Closed,

“We resume normal hours on Wednesday 2 January 2013″

Fernandez and Wells

http://www.fernandezandwells.com/

Somerset House, 43 Lexington St, 73 Beak St, 16a St Annes’s Ct

no information yet received

Taylor St Baristas

http://www.taylor-st.com/

22 Brook Mews Mayfair

“We will be CLOSED from the 22nd of December until the 1st of January.”

Taylor St Gallery and Training Centre

2 Botolph Alley, Monument

“We will be CLOSED from the 22nd of December until the 1st of January.”

Nude Espresso

19 Soho Square

http://www.nudeespresso.com

closed 22nd Dec – 6th Jan

3 Little Pigs at Black Truffle

52 Warren St

http://www.blacktruffle.co.uk/

Information not yet received

Damson Cafe

64 St Giles High St

http://www.damsoncafe.com/

Closed 4pm sunday 23 dec and reopening 8am thurs 3 jan

Store Street Espresso

http://twitter.com/storestespresso

40 Store Street

We’re closed from this Monday and open on the 3rd January. Standard opening hours

Flat Cap St Giles

Central St Giles

https://twitter.com/FlatCapStGiles

Closed from on 21st today until 7.30am on 7th

Ginger and White

1 Silver Place

http://gingerandwhite.com/

Closed 25, 26, 30th, 31st, 1st

North, Central and City

Association Coffee

10-12 Creechurch Lane

http://www.associationcoffee.com/

“We close 1pm Friday and open again at 7:30am on the 2nd.”

Curators Coffee

9a Cullum St

http://curatorscoffee.com/

“Our last day will be Friday the 21st Dec and we will reopen on the 2nd Jan”

Workshop Clerkenwell

http://www.workshopcoffee.com/

27 Clerkenwell Rd

December 24th-26th: Closed, December 27th – December 30th: 8:00am – 6:00pm

December 31st: Closed, January 1st: Closed, January 2nd – January 5th: 7:30am – 6:00pm
January 6th: Business as Usual.

Prufrock

http://www.prufrockcoffee.com/

23-25 Leather Lane

Last open day sat 22nd, first day open on the 3rd

Dose Espresso

http://www.dose-espresso.com/

70 Long Lane

Closing on the 21st from 2pm. Reopening on the 3rd of Jan. 7am

The Espresso Room

http://theespressoroom.com/

31-35 Great Ormond Street

closed from 22nd-6th inclusive

Giddy Up Angel

https://twitter.com/GiddyUpAngel

Islington Green

“Here at Angel we’ll be closed from the 24th til the 27th. Then closed on new years day. Open otherwise!”

Department of Coffee and Social Affairs

http://www.departmentofcoffee.co.uk/

14-16 Leather Lane

Christmas Eve: 10.00 – 17.00, Christmas Day & Boxing Day: Closed, Thursday 27 to Monday 31 December : 10.00 – 17.00

New Year’s Day: Closed, “We resume normal hours on Wednesday 2 January 2013″

Flat Cap Cannon St

https://twitter.com/FlatCapCannonSt

Abchurch Yard

Closed from 2.30pm 21st until 7.30am on 2nd

Chancery Coffee

http://www.coffeesmithscollective.co.uk

90 Chancery Lane

“Our last day open for the year is Friday 21 December 2012, we resume normal hours on Wednesday 2 January 2013″

Fred and Fran

http://www.fredandfran.com

55 Kynaston Rd, Stoke Newington

closed 23rd dec thru to 7th jan

Giddy Up Guild

https://twitter.com/GiddyUpGuild

Guild Yard, Guildhall

Closed til 7 Jan

Caravan

http://www.caravankingscross.co.uk/

http://caravanonexmouth.co.uk/

Granary Square, 1 Goods Way and11-13 Exmouth Market

closed from 24th Dec to 3rd Jan

Camden Coffee House

http://www.camdencoffeehouse.co.uk

30 Camden Rd

“open through out at all branches apart from xmas day, boxing day and new years day”

CoffeeWorks Project

http://coffeeworksproject.com/

96-98 Islington High St

We close Sunday 23rd at 4pm, re open January 3rd at 7:30 am

Maison d’Etre

http://www.maisondetrecafe.co.uk/

154 Canonbury Rd

Our last day is Friday 21st and we are opening again on Monday 7th Jan.

Vagabond N4

Unit 20, Charter Court, Stroud Green Rd

https://twitter.com/VagabondN4

closed on the 25th 26th and the first of new year

The Liberty of Norton Folgate

Norton Folgate, Broadgate

http://libertyofnortonfolgate.co.uk/

Our last day open for the year is Friday 21 December 2012. We resume normal hours on Wednesday 2 January 2013

Ginger and White

http://gingerandwhite.com/

4a-5a Perrins Ct, Hampstead

2 Englands Lane, Belsize Park

Closed 25, 26, 1st.

Information not yet recieved

Beas of Bloomsbury

http://www.beasofbloomsbury.com/

St Pauls One New Change and 44 Theobolds Rd

closed 24-1st at theobalds road, 12-7 at onc, closed 25/26/1st

Flat Cap Fleet Street

https://twitter.com/FlatCapFleetSt

Fleet St/Fetter Lane

Closed from 2.30pm 21st until 7.30am on 2nd

East

Prufock at Present

http://www.prufrockcoffee.com/

140 Shoreditch High St

Open for normal trading hours over the xmas period except for xmas, boxing and new year’s day

Dunne Frankowski

http://dunnefrankowski.tumblr.com/

18 Hewlett Street

Protein by DunneFrankowski is going to be closed from the 21st of December to the 6th of January

Giddy Up Floripa

https://twitter.com/Giddyupfloripa

93 Great Eastern Street

open 21st then closed ’til 3rd

Timberyard

http://www.timberyardlondon.com/

61-67 Old St

“We will be open up to and including Christmas Eve (8am-5pm), before closing for the festivities and re-opening on Weds 2 Jan. On all other days we will be operating our usual trading hours of Mon-Fri 8-8pm and Weekends 10-4pm.”

Tina We Salute You

http://tinawesaluteyou.com/

47 King Henry’s Walk, Dalston

24th open 10am-1pm, 25th-1st closed, 2nd re-open 8-6

Taylor St Baristas

http://www.taylor-st.com/

1A New St, Unit 3 125 Old Broad St, 110 Clifton St Shoreditch, 8 South Colonnade Canary Wharf, 1 Harbour Exchange Square

New St open 24/12 8-4pm, 27-28 8-4. 31/12 8-4; Bank/Shoreditch/Canary Wharf/South Quay closed 22 until 1st, Shoreditch closed 22 until 1st

Giddy Up Fortune Park

https://twitter.com/GiddyUpCoffee

Fortune Park

Open every day 10-4 except xmas, boxing and NY

Look Mum No Hands

http://www.lookmumnohands.com/

49 Old St

“We’re closing on Sat (22nd) at 6pm and then re-open as usual on the 2nd”

Climpson and Sons

http://webcoffeeshop.co.uk/

67 Broadway Market

cafe last day 24th, re-open 2nd

46b Espresso Hut

https://twitter.com/46b_espressohut

46b Brooksby’s Walk

We are closing on the 23rd at 5pm and reopening on the 5th at 10am

Allpress

http://uk.allpressespresso.com/

58 Redchurch St

“we are closed in the cafe from December 24 to January 3″

Salvation Jane

http://www.salvationjanecafe.co.uk/

Unit 2, 1 Oliver’s Yard, 55 City Rd

“our last day is 23rd dec and we open again on 3rd jan”

Ozone

http://ozonecoffee.co.uk/

11 Leonard Street

“we are closed 25-28 reopen for brunch 29-31 10am-4pm. Closed 1st, biz as usual from 2nd.”

Carmelite Cafe

https://twitter.com/CARMELITECAFE

181 Bow Rd

open till 23rd reopen 5th

The Pavilion Cafe

http://www.the-pavilion-cafe.com/

Victoria Park

tbc

The Counter Cafe

http://thecountercafe.co.uk/

7 Roach Rd, Hackney Wick

tbc

Nude Espressso

http://www.nudeespresso.com

26 Hanbury St

closed 24th-26th Dec & 1st Jan

South and West

Federation Coffee

http://federationcoffee.com/

Unit 46 Brixton Village Market

24th 10-4, 25th-27th closed, 28th-29th 10-5, 30th 31st 10-4, 1st closed, 2nd 10-4, 2nd back to normal

Browns of Brockley

5 Coulgate Street

https://twitter.com/brownsofse4

“We’re normal hours until 24th which is 10am – until I want to go home, then closed until the 7th”

Flat Cap Victoria

Strutton Ground

https://twitter.com/FlatCapVictoria

Closed from 2.30pm 21st until 7.30am on 2nd

Flat Cap Borough Market

Borough Market

https://twitter.com/FlatCapBorough

see http://boroughmarket.org.uk/celebrate-christmas-at-borough-market (closed 25, 26, 1st only)

Bambino

30 Church Rd, Crystal Palace

https://twitter.com/BambinoCoffee

“My hours normal Thurs & Fri 11-5 and Sat & Sun 10-5 as xmas and NY fall on my closed days…I’m now opening on Monday 24th 10-4 for last minute xmas coffee.”

Craft Coffee

Maltby St Market

https://twitter.com/craftcoffee

‘open every Saturday over Christmas/new years 9-3′

Bambuni Nunhead

143 Evelina Rd

http://www.bambuni.co.uk/

Friday 21st            9:00 am  — 5:30 pm, Saturday 22nd      8:00 am  — 5:30 pm
Sunday 23rd        10:00 am  — 5:30 pm, Monday 24th        8:00 am  — 3:30 pm
Christmas Day   Closed, Boxing Day  Closed, Thursday 27th 9:00 am—5:30 p
Friday 28th  9:00 am  — 5:30 pm, Saturday 29th        9:00 am  — 5:30 pm
Sunday 30th   10:00 am  — 4:00 pm, Monday 31st          9:00 am  — 3:00 pm
Bambuni will be closed from January 1st for winter break.
We shall reopen on Wednesday January 16th

Elliots

http://www.elliotscafe.com/

Borough Market

Closed 24-26th Dec and 31st Dec – Jan 2nd.

Birdhouse

http://www.birdhou.se/

123 St John’s Hill, Clapham

We are closed from the 16th Dec – 7th Jan

Taylor St Baristas

http://www.taylor-st.com/

Unit 3 Westminster Hse Kew Rd Richmond

25th, 26th and 27th of December – closed, 28th and 29th of December – open 10am – 4pm, 30th of December – closed

31st of December – open 10am – 4pm, 1st of January – closed, 2nd of January – open 10am – 4pm

3rd of January – back to the usual opening hours

Camden Coffee House

http://www.camdencoffeehouse.co.uk/

208 Balham High Rd

Unit 1142, The Whitgift Centre, Croydon

“open through out at all branches apart from xmas day, boxing day and new years day”

The Dish and the Spoon

http://www.thedishandthespoon.co.uk/

61 Cheltenham Road SE15

We will be open on Xmas Eve 9-3pm & then closed till January 8th.

Franklins SE22

http://www.franklinsrestaurant.com/dulwich/

157 Lordship Lane

open until 24th and from 28th onwards

Cafe Viva

http://www.cafeviva.co.uk/

44 Choumert Road, Peckham

“we will be closed from xmas eve for 2 weeks! Reopening tues 8th Jan.”

No67 at the SLG

http://www.southlondongallery.org/page/cafe

65-67 Peckham Road

We are closed for dinner 22nd, open for brunch 23rd, then closed til the 2nd

Anderson & Co

http://andersonandcompany.wordpress.com/

139 Bellenden Road

24th til 4pm; closed Christmas & Boxing Day; open from 8am on 27th

It will probably also be worth checking out Harris and Hoole if you live in the outskirts of London. http://www.harrisandhoole.co.uk/

If I’ve missed you out, please add in a comment or tweet me at @philwbass

Donny McCaslin – Casting for Shadows

First on the list, probably my overall favourite, a recent discovery. Though my good friend Bill has been banging on about Donny for a long time, it took my realisation that Tim Lefebvre was on bass on this album to spur me to check it out. The band is tremendous: great tunes, great playing, great sounds, great intensity. Mark Giuliana’s drumming is worth buying the album for alone. Top notch contemporary electric jazz.

Nneka – Soul is Heavy

OK, maybe tied for top spot. This is a brilliant album. Lyrically hard hitting at times the Frankfurt based Nigerian singer writes incredibly catchy and intense songs. Falling between soul, hip-hop and reggae she seems to embody the spirit of Bob Marley through a contemporary African perspective. Righteous! Gros Ngolle Pokossi play some great basslines.

Marcus Miller – Renaissance

The best Marcus Miller album so far. I’ve always wished he would make one with more of a band sound and less of a produced record sound. This is it (bar a couple of fillers at the end). Miller wrote these tunes with the young musicians in his band in mind and it shows – wicked playing, great writing, lovely record. If you only own one Miller records this is the one! My full review at No Treble.

Kurt Rosenwinkel – Star of Jupiter

Fabulous record – wonderful, wonderful stuff – this is a long album – the equivalent of a double CD but doesn’t feel like it. Rosenwinkel is the jazz guitarist du jour with his intense, inventive playing and his amazing technical virtuosity (always in service of a deep musicality. The genius of this record is in the pairing of Rosenwinkel with such a gloriously swinging rhythm section (bassist Eric Revis, and drummer Justin Faulkner are regular members of Branford Marsalis’ band).  Aaron Parks is incredible on piano too. Another year this would have been my record of the year, in 2012 it’s close! Preview the album here!

Esperanza Spalding – Radio Music Society

Uplifting music. In my March review I wrote “This endearing and beguiling record ranges widely, is equal parts lyrical and musical, yet retains a unity of sound and purpose as Spalding creates a confident and coherent new album.” That about sums it up. It’s more extrovert than Chamber Music Society and wonderfully accessible – the sound of jazz reaching out beyond middle aged guys in wooly jumpers – an effective companion piece to Black Radio by Robert Glasper. My full review for NoTreble.

Robert Glasper – Black Radio

Ground breaking. I love this record. Definitely takes jazz to a wider, younger audience though at times to do that it sacrifices solo length to a vocal centred format and the lyric occasionally verge on banality. It is what it is though, a remarkable record of contemporary black music with sophisticated playing and singing. Highlights for me are Erykah Badu and Lalah Hathaway’s vocal contributions, Casey Benjamin’s fabulous short effected saxophone solo on Cherish the Day and Glasper’s piano and Chris Dave’s unique and brilliant drumming throughout. When I can hear the bass it’s great but it’s mixed far too low in both volume and sub-tone to easily appreciate, much as Derrick Hodge is one of my favourite bassists.

Vijay Iyer Trio – Accelerando

Vital, exciting trio music. Accelerando was originally written for dancers and it sounds that way, though it must have been an exhausting dance performance!  Vijay’s trio with Stephan Crump on drums and Marcus Gilmore on drums are at their best live – one of the most exciting live groups I’ve seen – and at it’s bets, this record captures their stunning, tumbling, complex, organic intensity.

Lionel Loueke – Heritage

Another recent discovery for me. Loueke has a rich toned voice with a timbre and beauty similar to Richard Bona’s. His guitar playing has an angular edge that reminds me of Nguyen Le while also capable of melodic fluency. This album nods to his West African heritage in some of the grooves, sounds and colours and features some fabulous tunes and great playing. Mark Giuliani (again) thrills on drums with his fiancee Gretchen Parlato adding some vocal texture). Derrick Hodge is great on bass and Robert Glasper (producer here) adds some excellent piano. Recommended!

Dave Douglas – Be Still

Long a favourite of mine, the trumpeter creates a different kind of album here. When his mother was dying she asked Douglas to play several hymns at her funeral service.  These are the arrangements of those hymns. The hymn structures and the context give the music  an emotional and spiritual depth and the unfussy vocals by bluegrass singer Aoife O’Donovan spell out the lyrics. The band is great. Linda Oh’s bass is a deep resonant centre to the music around which the music develops.

Steve Lawson Mike Outram – Invenzione

Two of my favourite musicians get some studio time, improvise together for the first time without discussing what to play. What’s not to like?

Also Recommended

Linda Oh – Initial Here - tremendous bass-led contemporary jazz

Flying Lotus – Until the Quiet Comes – another peak into his unique, often bizarre and enchanting musical universe

Victor Wooten – Sword and Stone - my favourite of his records, less of the smooth-jazz tendency, more of the intense musicality and wonderful invention and phrasing

Mike Stern – All Over the Place - my favourite of his records too, great writing, spectacular grooves and playing

Jez Carr, Simon Little, Mike Haughton – Foreground Music Vol. 1 – relaxed, effortless sounding at times, atmospheric soundscapes

Interesting and thoroughly enjoyable trip to Belgium. Fabulous cycle infrastructure, very few helmets used, generally friendly and courteous road users and also, interestingly, cyclists who generally obeyed traffic laws.

The four day trip to Leuven courtesy of the province of Vlaams Brabant (Flemish Bramant) showed me how a city could accomodate cyclists, walkers and drivers safely through cityplanning and design.

Leuven is a small city, with a population of around 100,000 and focussed very much around its University, one of Europe’s most renowned. So, not much in common with London perhaps but surely an attitude towards city planning that could be applied in London. It’s a very international city and well worth a visit.

The first thing you notice are the two way cyclepaths segregated from the traffic, no mixing with HGVs here. Immediately we were also struck by how few cyclists wore helmets, they were very rare indeed inside the city. It was safe enough without them.

The second thing that hits you is the sheer number of bikes: they are everywhere. Everyone cycles, young or old. There is cycle parking on many roads equivalent to car parking and in huge underground parks and chained (usually locked anyway everywhere)

There’s definitely a courtesy and consideration among drivers, cyclists and pedestrians that is not always seen in London. Many of the city centre streets are pedestrianised but cyclists, pedestrians and the occasional delivery driver (within certain hours) share the paved areas easily. In London cyclists are often kept away from pedestrian paved areas and some ride selfishly it’s true, but how much possibility for shared use of pavements is often missed!

Residential area, no entry for vehicles except cars or scooters

It’s not an easy thing to create a symbiosis of road users like this but the urban infrastructure and road signage helps. Even walking around, we would find that cars would tend to stop for us to cross on quieter roads. Little things like considering the needs of walkers and cyclists in all areas makes a huge difference.

Further out in the city there is a network of cycle routes that link up across the region (numbered and mapped) and usually segregated from traffic. There are more helmets to be seen but more so because cyclists are hitting higher speeds. Still, many junctions have special crossing lights just for cyclists.

In the city, the main bikes used are town bikes with built in locks and plastic chain guards.

And of course the postman is on a bike!

More photos, click to enlarge!

I interviewed (by questionnaire) a number of the key figures on the London independent coffee scene. I have received a number of responses which make quite fascinating reading. If you want to be part of this, please email me here I purposely made the questions on the questionnaire very open. Also feel free to comment either here or on the individual pages. Comments will be moderated.

Ben Drury (Notes Music and Coffee)
Lee Harte (Giddy Up)
Peter Dore-Smith (Kaffeine)
Steve Leighton (Hasbean)
Shelagh Ryan (Lantana, Salvation Jane)
Christian Baker (Association Coffee)
Rob Dunne (Dunne Frankowski)

My coffee map

http://www.caravankingscross.co.uk/
http://philwbass.com/2010/02/14/londons-best-coffee-a-map/

My friends have been very supportive and one, Ped, took these photos. They are here reproduced with permission so please contact him (through me) if you would like to use them.

Enjoy
Click to view slideshow.

First a beautiful ballad from Turkey sung by Duygu

Then a driving Greek anthem with a lovely bounce sung by Paressa

This next one is a medley of a Turkish song and a Greek one

Now a medley of Pontian music from Black Sea Turkey, starts slow and builds to a frenetic conclusion

This one is a medley of Greek tune well known in different versions and languages across the Balkans and an old Greek tune with a Mambo beat

And finally a Sephardic Ladino song – a Jewish song from Spain sung by Patricia in a reggae influenced arrangement