Jazz economics

I was driving through Delamere Forest this morning listening to one of Kenneth Clarke's profiles of great jazz musicians on BBC Radio 4. He was reviewing the career of Milt "Bags" Jackson, peerless exponent of the vibraphone. Clarke's own tones are well suited to radio and his choice of easy, fluid tracks made for a sublime moment bowling along the ancient hunting tracks of the forest. For a politician presumably busy grappling with the most intractable economic conundrums of our times, our radio DJ seemed supremely relaxed and completely immersed in a medium he so obviously adores. It was strangely reassuring to hear an ex-Chancellor thus.

There is something to be had in metaphorical comparisons between the global economic crash of 2008/9/10 and the world of the jazz musician. Nobody has the faintest idea what the score is and where the next big gig will be; payment is arbitrary and never guaranteed; all we can do is keep playing a few familiar, jaunty riffs and hope that somebody somewhere picks them up. And yet maybe, just maybe there are a few underlying certainties and reassuring patterns beneath the surface cachophony. As Ken's studio guest said, 'you just have to keep your ears wide open'.

Keep whistling. Somebody may hear you.