What was fascinating about the master class that I went to yesterday was that many of the points made by the "master", who in this case was a distinguished mature lady who gave her first concert at the age of six, to the three ultra able students who braved having their dirty playing scrutinised in public were the same as those made by my teacher to me.  We're not talking about the mechanics of playing the instrument here but the business of shaping and transmitting the music.

That music can be shaped in bizarre ways was evidenced by a French group I heard (it had to be the French I suspect) where two musicians intoned abstruse poetry while one of them disdaining the keyboard played the wires of a grand piano and the other produced weird noise from an electronic keyboard.  Simultaneously a sax player and a flautist interjected odd notes and a girl carrying a long black rod caused shapes and distorted images to come and go on a large screen behind the musicians apparently by manipulating the rod.  It was actually quite pleasant to listen to believe it or not.

Very pleasant to listen to were Brass Jaw the brilliant Scottish quartet that features a trumpet instead of a soprano sax.  Despite having played for four hours with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra they hoofed it straight over to the Byre Theatre for the last gig of the night and were reluctant to leave the stage two hours later at half past midnight.

Perhaps they have the luxury of lying in their beds this morning but I have an early date with a recital or two so it's breakfast and off.