I bought the Economist to catch up on the world situation from a well-defined viewpoint. Not encouraging. I wonder what it was like to be on the March. The Labour Govt is obviously hanging together lest they hang separately. James enjoyed the Economist. It was his last day at work and so I suppose he was in a buoyant mood!

Listened to more of Blisters � very provocative. I played the last half of the Cream documentary � including the famous Hendrix Sunshine episode. Jack Bruce said how priveliged he felt to have known J Hendrix. In his mind Hendrix died and Cream stopped for the same reason � a lack of care. Hangs together really and I suppose it�s a point to reflect on when one thinks about the wonders of the 60s.

There is a connection with a rather good Sunday Times article about the decline of the music industry. Some time in the early 70s the suits discovered how enormously profitable the new rock market was with albums like Tubular Bells. According to Dave Crosby that started a period of enormous indulgence for A list bands. Certainly the recorded music market grew dramatically but now seems to have peaked � around 2000 as luck would have it. The business model is broken and there isn�t an obvious replacement. Well not to the people writing the Sunday Times.

I drove to Bloomsbury and then Nick Brown and I drove to Cambridge � not my usual route � out of London to C � but east via three Hawksmoor churches and then North up the M11. By chance my route from Gfd to B had taken me up Drury Lane � past The White Hart � where Nick, Steve and I had played so much bop in the second half of the 70s and early 80s. We entered Cambridge from the West and went past the end of Grange Rd � where I used to live � and drove across to Parkers Piece. Hughes � which was built by the same architect as chunks of Newnham is off Mill Rd.

There was a big surprise waiting for me. The performers � Mike and Peter- were waiting for Nick to arrive with the key and were soon setting up in the modern eight sided hall which the music society uses. Well two surprises � the first came when Mike put together his bass flute � twice the length of the usual flute � and ask me if I wanted a blow. I have never blown that instrument before. But the real jolt came when Mike unbagged a Dhorn � exactly like mine a DH500. This is the first time I have ever met someone else who plays this instrument � but Mike soon introduced me to a third one � a Japanese guy who had come to hear him play. Mike used it for the encore � introducing it with the excuse that it was a rare coincidence to have three Dhorn players in the same room in England. He played on flute setting � not one I use much. Apparently he was given his by Casio as they were so impressed with the way he blew other wind instruments. I was very interested by the positive audience reaction to the sound.

The thinks which stick in my mind from the recital are a Vivalvi sonata for sopranino recorder and also one especial part from the Histoire da Tango by Astor Piazzolla - the caf� 1930. It was written for guitar and flute and is an absolute must-have corker .

Over supper in an authentic North Indian restaurant in Mill Road, I said to Mike that I enjoyed playing the Yamaha cheap plastic sop � he agreed but said that he had a tie in with a German recorder manufacturers - not Moek � the other ones. I mentioned to Nick that I have Steve� Moek�s � makes me wonder about using them a bit more.

Mike was part of the Cambridge Buskers which emerged while he was at Churchill between 74 and 77. His main band is a further stage from this called Classical Buskers. Last evening was the first outing with Peter who also plays lute and kind of tenor lute with bass strings the name of which I cant remember. Peter seems to know Jacob but I guess lute players all know each other.

Anyway a Lullabyes proposition is on the stocks.

Small world as ever.