Amsterdam Russ

That's it - you've got it. This was pretty much explained by some of our esteemed forum colleagues (including the late and still sorely missed BobA) when this thread was first started.

Not entirely. In the realm of gospel music there are many private presses. These are tunes pressed by, say, a church that decides to commit to posterity its gospel choir's currently popular tunes to vinyl. The copies pressed are released on a label set up specifically for the purpose by that church and sold to members of the congregation. Likely they're sold to other church communities in the locale. The church isn't a record label in any commercial sense, and there's no intention to drive the record to success beyond the small communities reached by that church. Whatever monies are made go towards the church upkeep/charitable funds. Relative to your point - and in complete agreement with what you've said - gospel groups might also privately press their popular tunes for sale to the church communities they serve. I think much of what I'm saying here was actually surmised by previous posters.

My pleasure, although I would have preferred it if I taken just a single one of them!

Another fine selection of wintery photos courtesy of BBC News "Your pictures of Scotland 12-19 February". Source: BBC News / © Arletta Babicz Check them out here: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-56044800

Another photo here: Source: https://www.larrybisso.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=26804993

Although I must admit I was very much on the outer edge of the jazz dance scene, musically it was an incredibly vibrant time. Happy days, indeed!

It was comped on the album Dance Juice Vol 2 in 1988 by the label BGP (Baz Fe Jazz & Gilles Peterson). This was at a time when London's dance jazz scene was in full swing and it was getting heavy plays at places like Dingwalls (as Wiggyflat has pointed out) and the World's End in Camden.

An almost menacing arrangement with a great, moody feel, and I love the punchy brass. It gets my vote.

Not mine, but a lovely little video filmed yesterday morning showing people ice skating here in the Netherlands at sunrise. The skating has continued across the country today, but most places have given out official warnings to now get off and stay off the ice as it's melting. Unless there's another super-cold snap, that'll be it for the year.

Idiots! I've read there have been a number of instances where people have had to be rescued after falling through the ice. In Amsterdam last week, the city council banned all boats from sailing on the canals specifically so the ice could form and skating could begin. Thing is though, the weather changes tomorrow and the ice will quickly thaw, which means today is really the only chance people have for skating - even if it isn't thick enough to do so safely.

Ice staking - it's what the Dutch live for in winter. In this instance though, it's what they might die for as the ice has been deemed by the local authorities to not be thick enough (every local authority has "ijsmeesters" - ice masters - who determine such things). That's not stopping people and I hear there are hundreds out skating on our local lake. You wouldn't catch me out there!

This one does it for me...

Very interesting. Bit of a shame the museum doesn't offer much in the way of online content in these lockdown times. A missed opportunity there, I think. One thing I did learn from scanning the museum's press releases is that a film has recently been made about the legendary Buddy Bolden, known as King Bolden and often described in the modern era as the "father of jazz". Trailer here: For anyone interested in Bolden and the embryonic years of "jazz" in late 19th century/early 20th century New Orleans, I highly recommend the book Buddy Bolden and the last days of Storyville, written by Danny Barker (b. 1900 - d.1994), a jazz musician who actually knew and worked with Jelly Roll Morton, and played with Cab Calloway, Benny Carter and many others. ISBN: 9780826457028

Very sorry to hear this tragic news. RIP Dave.

Another fine selection of wintery photos taken by the public in this week's BBC News "Your pictures of Scotland 29 January - 5 February". Credit: BBC News / © Alan Mackenzie Pics here: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-55922640

An updated list of the most expensive records sold on Discogs. There are a number familiar tunes in the list... https://blog.discogs.com/en/discogs-top-100-most-expensive-records/

A fine selection of photos showing wintery scenes across Europe. Source: Euronews / © Laurent Gillieron/AP Photos here: https://www.euronews.com/travel/2021/02/02/enjoy-the-best-photography-of-europe-in-the-snow

I don't actually know it, but am guessing it's somewhere in the Nieuw Land National Park. That's in the province of Flevoland and about an hour away from us by car. Must check the park out when we're allowed to be out and about. Great opportunities for bird watching and thus photo taking.

BBC News: Your pictures of Scotland (22-29 January 2021). Another fine selection of mainly Scottish winter scenes sent in by the public. Source: BBC News / © Peter Johnson Full selection of pics here: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-55798075

I was going to say something witty about age and memory loss but I can't remember what it was now!

Thanks, Mike. At least I had actually posted the pics, even if it was in the wrong place! I've now deleted the pics from the COVID thread. Martyn - you're very probably right. Now where did I put my slippers?

Must be gremlins!

Not sure what happened to the pics I posted up yesterday. They seem to have disappeared. No matter - here they are again. These were taken on a walk to our local lake on what was a gloriously bright winter's day.

The Superlatives "I don't know how (to say I love you) Don't walk away" Simply because with 12 words it's got to be one of the longest song titles out there!