There is more than one way to slip a disc


Yesterday set a record for Overgrown Path site traffic, thanks to my post Two billion Internet users are not on Facebook being picked up by some high profile news feeds, notably the Financial Times and Bloomberg. My article reached far beyond art music's usual audience; which is rewarding because the final links pointed to posts about the undervalued music of Ali Keeler, Kelly Thoma, Nawab Khan, Ross Daily and Monsieur Doumani. It just goes to show I can still slip a disc or two without grovelling to social media, without the patronage of Universal Music, and without clickbait like 'A body coach writes: 'My breasts get in the way of my cello''.

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Some music should be as boring as posible

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In the 1950s a number of prominent jazz musicians converted to Islam, including - to use their adopted names - Ahmad Jamal , and Sahib Shihab , Yusef Lateef . One of the most notable converts was the drummer Art Blakey , while the very personal heterodox cosmology of the most celebrated jazz musician of that period John Coltrane was influenced by the beliefs of his first wife Naima, who was a Muslim convert . Many of the musicians who converted were African Americans endeavouring to escape from the shadow of Western colonialism ; they saw Islam as an attractive alternative to Christianity within the Abrahamic tradition, and jazz at that time was heavily influenced by music from cultures beyond the Judeo-Christian world. These circumstances were unique to the 1950s, and fewer jazz musicians have taken the path to Islam since. But those who have include the bass player Danny Thompson who converted in 1990; he has played with many great musicians, including Nick Drake on the legendary...
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A vintage year for blasphemy and heresy

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Those are my principles....

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No big bearded imam was going to tell me music was haram

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Music for four accordions

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David Munrow - more than early music

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Classical music's biggest problem is that no one cares

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Could LSD have saved Tchaikovsky?

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Great composer who comes with a parental advisory

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