Archive for year: 2024

The timple is one of the most characteristic sounds in the folklore of the Canary Islands.

I have always been thrilled by the work of players like Joe B Mauldin, and now, in a slightly different way I will always be thrilled by a new name to me, with the sense of fun whilst still retaining a reverence for the music and his instrument, as held by Mauildin..  So tomorrow Sidetracks and Detours will introduce readers to a great double bass player who has recently joined with an excellent exponent on the timple, and a world class guitarist, both well´loved around the Spanish peninsular and its islands, to record a wonderful new album. Check out tomorrow to find his identity here at Sidetracks And Detours.

On his last album, a month before he died, Leonard seemed as ready as anyone could be. He littered his songs with a dry acceptance of the inevitable, “clos[e]ing the bar,” “leaving the table,” being “out of the game.” I imagine very few of us get the chance to publicly declare our own demise or, as Leonard did so often in his music, argue with himself about what, if anything, comes next. I’m writing this essay half a world away from my home. My writing has given me opportunities to chase dreams and futures I never saw as catchable all those years ago—listening to Leonard, writing atrocious poetry.