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MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL; open

this is a working church and it is teeming with life. Come along to the host of brilliant events that we run here at Manchester Cathedral every year and help us to protect this very special place for another 600 years.
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a murmur of memories to come, carried on BEESWING

he sees John Lennon “wandering around, looking every inch an impersonation of himself, with his moustache, NHS spectacles and Afghan jacket”.
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IN LIGHT OF A VERY BLUE MOON

moon river wider than miles to go before he sleeps and he has promises to keep to bring to deliver to break into moon dust that would be some kind of proof but there ain’t no man in the moon
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BOOK SPEAKS TRUE ON JAZZ SOPHISTRY

´His long, prolific career may have been characterized by dramatic highs and lows, but the final fifteen years of his life were marked by one success after another – a righteous homecoming, worldwide recognition, prestigious awards, and even an Oscar nomination.

NEWPORT: where Dylan plugged in and the world blew a fuse

The history of jazz can be told as the story of Black dance music reinterpreted via improvisation and harmonic substitution. But if that dance music is propelled by a machine rather than an instrument, how can jazz adjust?

NEWPORT: folk-on festival finger-picking a way back

The concensus among many writers on-line who attended the event seems to be that the Sunday highlight was an evening of black female artists curated by singer, songwriter, poet and activist Allison Russell

A HAPPY BIRTHDAY PARTY for Richard Thompson

We’d already enjoyed the concert of a lifetime as the final half-hour approached and still, this event had more aces up its sleeve.

when RICHARD THOMPSON planned his party

It was totally revolutionary at the time. Rock music with an element of British traditional music in it was pretty much our innovation, and I’m very proud of that.

A NUBIYAN TWIST IN THE TALE + news of a Clare Teal gig

´By bringing those rich stories together, we hope that Freedom Fables serves as a metaphor for the life we’re all living.´

LORDY, LORDY, LORDE

the album is not “my big climate change record”. “I’m not a climate activist, I’m a pop star. I stoke the fire of a giant machine, spitting out emissions as I go. There is a lot I don’t know.”