Coventry Sounds
Soon after She who must be obeyed left for her trip abroad, I moved Gecko to the other bank in order to polish her left side. The changeable weather meant that I was able to wash her one morning and polish the next day after the April showers had cleared. I thought about moving back yesterday afternoon but the wind had picked up so left that manoeuvre to this morning. Being Thursday I felt that a visit to the launderette was probably expected of me. On my return the place I had recently vacated was now occupied by The Antidote. We met Paul and Julia last year descending the Stoke Bruerne flight so it was good to catch up with their news
This afternoon I spoke to Dave the Rave and ascertained that he will not be able to join the crew of Gecko next week so it looks like I shall be here for another week. Fortunately BW has been very good about this extended stay.
A couple of nights ago my reverie was broken by a familiar sound. Familiar, that is to someone brought up on black and white war films as a child. I could definitely hear a Heinkel coming over. I jumped up and scanned the sky to no avail. Eventually I focused my ears on the culprits: two Canaltime (or whatever they are called now) boats were doing a dance in the basin as they tried to wind in a wind so to speak.
In a former life, She who must be obeyed performed historical court dances with the Dolmetsch Historical Dance Society and so we were pleasantly surprised to hear a hurdy-gurdy as we left St. Mary's Guildhall on Sunday. The fair young maid demonstrating this fairly new example also plays several wind instruments including the crumhorn. That is, she did not play them all at once, unlike Dick Heckstall-Smith who used to play saxophone and clarinet simultaneously.
Dick was a jazz musician who I saw at various times in: The Graham Bond Organisation along with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker who later formed Cream with Eric Clapton; John Mayal's Bluesbreakers with Jon Hiseman and Mick Taylor; and last but not least with Georgie Fame.
He formed Colosseum with Jon Hiseman, who, incidentally, played the drums as session man, on Procal Harem's first hit A Whiter Shade of Pale.
Not may people know that.

Dick Heckstall-Smith died in 2004.