Curated by interesting people

Mark Robinson hails from Slough, just west of London (yes it's where The Office was based, but he assures us he's not in any way related to David Brent ). Mark began tuning into classic soul/funk/jazz shows that could be heard in The Home Counties from the late 1970's onwards. Influenced by early pirate radio stations such as SOLAR (Sound Of London Alternative Radio), Invicta, Horizon, Radio London and many more that he can't remember, he began spending his hard earned pocket money on precious black vinyl. 

Soon Mark was to be seen (with several other Soul Boys) on dance floors around Britain at many of the now legendary Soul Weekenders (Prestatyn, Southport, Caister, Barry Island, Bognor Regis), but due to extensive & excessive lager consumption many of the sessions are now but blurred & fading memories.... Always the one with the beat box in hand, loaded with hastily recorded cassette tapes made up from a selection of pirate stations - Mark was a future dj waiting for a radio opportunity. Fast forward & jazz became his dominant dance floor selection, but Mark had been banished by the Soul Boys to the back corner of the pub.
 
Mark relocated to Auckland, New Zealand in 1997 where he had a hectic life, juggling the demands of earning a living, and pursuing his passions, which apart from jazz include: learning stuff, mountain biking, red wine, single malt whisky, playing guitar, playing saxophone and keeping the middle-aged spread at bay.
 
Mark took over the mic from Andrew Dubber on GeorgeFM’s “It’s A Jazz Thing” and also presented on KFM Radio. Mark was program director and playlist generator (using his collection of some 30,000 mp3 files) cleaner, tea-maker, engineer and technician of internet radio station “George Jazz”. Mark was involved with the Queenstown Jazz Festival 2005 to 2009 as musical advisor, MC and radio show host. Mark was a founding member and creator of the not-for-profit collective called “Creative Jazz Club Aotearoa” along with Carolina Moon and Roger Manins.
 
Mark now resides in Melbourne Australia and creates a weekly 2 hour show that is broadcast on UK Jazz radio. Recently he presented 2 shows on PBS Radio and is awaiting the call up to present the grave yard shift one Sunday morning – the new show is called “Jazz Spectrum”.
 
Video
I don’t watch much video online. I'm not a huge user of You Tube. I guess perhaps because I'm not a visual person. However I am a fan of the "Fail" website. I do like watching people fall off things.

 
The last video clip I watched was this one called Tutorial: AV Receivers and Amps Explained.
 
I am contemplating trading in my Musical Fidelity A3 pre amp and power amp for a home theatre receiver. I ripped all my CDs last year and traded them to Real Groovy for a new Project turntable and lots of beautiful vinyl. My "background" listening is from a few digital sources whilst my "sitting down really listening to music with a glass of Single Malt" is sourced from vinyl. Many years ago when I bought my fairly expensive am and pre-amp AV Receivers did not offer "Audiophile" audio. Today they do and so a switch to an AV Receiver might give me the best of both worlds? Not sure yet. 

Music
At the moment I cant get past The Bad Plus - Never Stop. This new release is the first of theirs to consist of all original material. They have been doing this sort of stuff for 10 years now. 10 years is a long time to be doing the same sort of stuff and basically they have been doing the same stuff 10 years; piano, bass and drums. The incredible thing about The Bad Plus is the intelligence and inventiveness that they bring to each and every tune they play. Whilst the format of each tune they have ever played in the 10 years of doing this stuff is the same, every track has its own individual something. I interviewed Dave King (drums and cymbals) for "It's A Jazz Thing" on GeorgeFM about 3 years ago and every now and then I play the whole interview - they guy is mad. But incredibly sharp and witty.  The Bad Plus has maintained this combination of intelligence, madness, wittyness, creativity and individuality in the 10 years they have been doing this stuff;. Stunning music.

Art

Recently having moved to Melbourne, I have been reading up on art history here. Maree and I visited Heide Museum of Modern Art last weekend. The museum is set in park grounds to the north-east of Melbourne city. The Contemporary Art Museum consists of several detached buildings of historical importance. Gallery space made up of rooms within these buildings many of them dwellings at some stage in their history. This gives the exhibitions space a more relaxed feel. Currently "freehand: recent Australian drawing" is showing. My favorites? Realistic charcole drawings - Maree says realism is not clever. Realism in art is to classical music in, well, music. Copying if you will. As someone who cannot draw I tend to disagree with Maree on that point, but she has a Fine Arts Honors from Elam so perhaps she's correct.
 
The museum's collection includes works in various mediums by many contemporary Australian artists since the 1930s. These include works by; Moya Dyring, Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker, Joy Hester, John Perceval, Arthur Boyd, Howard Arkley, Charles Blackman, Peter Booth, Mike Brown, Richard Larter, Wolfgang Sievers, Sweeney Reed, Sam Atyeo and Jenny Watson.
 
To be honest I prefer photography. Preferably Black and White photography. Oh and Blue Note LP covers, now that's art.