Edge of Jazz     

Jazz Links and more!

The speed with which FOPP Records in the High Street opened and closed is regrettable. The nearest branch is now at College Green in Bristol, and Exeter is left with a dire HMV branch in Princesshay. Elsewhere in the City Jamie is the helpful owner of Rooster Records at 98 Fore St Exeter, EX4 3HY Telephone [44]01392 272009‎, where you can find an intriguing mixture of vinyl and CD’s, but no website yet.

A little further afield is Broad Street Jazz in Bath at 11 Broad Street, Bath, Avon, BA1 5LJ Tel: [44] 01225-427-494 It’s described as “One of the few jazz specialist shops outside London. The 3,000-odd CDs in stock cover the whole spectrum, original to contemporary. Many imports from France, the USA, and - attention jazz anoraks! – Japan.” They’ll soon be online at www.broadstreetjazz.co.uk and it’s always worth a phone call to the helpful staff to have difficult questions answered!

Depending on your pockets and your devotion to the music www.amazon.co.uk is a usually reliable source, as is the parent company at www.amazon.com - but with the latter be sure to check out the prevailing exchange rate before buying!

As far as the written word is concerned there is extensive coverage of jazz and jazz related events in many newspapers and we particularly commend the coverage in the Guardians’ Friday supplement and online at www.guardian.co.uk/music/jazz. However for much more details of the British Jazz scene it’s hard to beat the authoritative Jazzwise magazine www.jazzwisemagazine.com which gives good coverage of the widest possible news and some excellent reviews. If you’re looking for a more regionalised publication then www.jazzservices.org.uk supported by the English Arts Council and edited from Cardiff is an essential read. Closer to home in our own City you can check out Exeter events at www.exeterlist.co.uk

Other (often strange) Links:

Exeweb is the unofficial website for Exeter City Football Club and can be found at www.exeweb.com and you’ll see just how fanatical a group of fans can be about a football (or soccer if you’re in the US!) club. However you ought to know that the fans have owned the Club since 2003 when it almost went out of business. For the more mundane Trust business go to www.ecfcst.org.uk

Finally one of my other abiding interests is helping to restore the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway which closed in 1935. About 1 mile of track has reopened and there’s a lot more to do. Find out further details at www.lynton-rail.co.uk

Courtesy of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway