A period of silence . . .
To all those who’ve read The Blue Moment over the past five and a half years, I’d like to say thank you for your interest and your comments. I started the blog out of a desire to recreate the pleasure I had in the days when I was fortunate enough to be able to choose the music I wrote about and the manner in which I did it. This time around I wasn’t really expecting much of an audience, so it’s been a pleasant surprise to discover how many people seem to enjoy these pieces.
It’s time, however, to take a break. A book project, not music-related, will be occupying me for the next few months. It’s something I’ve been carrying in my head for a long time, and I’m lucky enough to have a publisher who shares my enthusiasm. I want to give it priority, so I’m pressing “pause” on The Blue Moment until the book has been researched and written. And when normal service is resumed in this space, I’d be very pleased to find you still with me.
— Richard Williams
thebluemoment.com 
Well, 100 of your readers have got there before me but can I add my belated thanks for all the splendid music writing over the last few years. I really can’t think of another writer who covers such a wide range of music with such clarity and objectivity and I am sure I am not alone in being directed by you towards some fantastic music that would otherwise have completely passed me by. Best wishes for the book project, and I look forward to the bluemoment.com pause button being released in due course – maybe in time for your annual ‘best bits’?
I look forward to bumping in to you, perhaps, at the Cafe Oto, Vortex or Berlin Jazz Festival.
What Graham said.
Richard, all best wishes for the book project and many thanks for all the interesting Blue Moment posts over the years .
Take care
Good luck with your project! Looking forward to your return …
Thanks for your wonderful bloggings Rich, and best of luck with the book! I must thank you too for your perceptive stuff in the Grauniad.
We still haven’t managed that (half) pint but it will happen one day. (I presume you remember Dick Manton – he was chuntering away a month or so ago about organising a mini-do, so we’ll see what happens, as the Trump says).
I hope you enjoy your sabbatical and that you return refreshed. Meanwhile:
You probably already know this but in case you don’t: Curtis Amy and Dupree Bolton were featured in a California tv show called Frankly Jazz and much of that show has appeared on YouTube in fragments. E.g. Frankly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=514EvI2Oc-Q.
I really enjoy your writing on music.
Thank you for your most interesting blog, I am glad to hear that you will be coming back to it once your book is completed, so good luck with that.
I can remember reading you in Melody Maker in the early 70’s, and needing a dictionary beside me for the harder words.
Either my vocabulary has improved in the meantime, or you write more simply, but whatever, I now greatly enjoy your blog without assistance!
Very best wishes with the book, and look forward to seeing the blue moment in the not too distant future.
Oh, Richard dear, don’t count on a book taking a few months! If it does you’re a genius – which of course you are!
Good luck with the book project Richard and look forward to the return of The Blue Moment, which has taught me an awful lot about music.
From a fellow Necks fan, in Melbourne.
….and thank you all the way from Australia. Your pieces have been an inspiration and wonderful example of a warm, well informed and generous style that has helped me with my own small foray into the genre. I will look forward to reading your blog again when you are back.
Thanks Richard and good luck with the book. I`ll be back here waiting for your return. Best wishes.
Hope all gone sell… see you the other side…
jonathan
Whatever it is, I shall look forward to reading it and to thebluemoment’s return.
best, Charlie
It’s all been said already, but I’d just like to add my thanks for your stimulating and entertaining Blue Moments. All the best with the book.
All the very best with the book Richard.
Look forward to it.
Thank you so much for your beautifully written posts. You express better than most of us ever can why we care so much about the music we love. We will miss them during this hiatus. Wishing you all the best with your book.
All the very best Richard. Have enjoyed your blog tremendously.
Looking forward to the book!
Peace, brother
Likewise, I’ll miss your posts, but I also understand the need to transfer focus to different projects.
Hi Richard,
Just wondering whether you might be able to point me in the direction of someone who might like to release some previously unissued Westbrook live recordings from 1965 that I’ve received. It’s the soundtrack of a TV show the band appeared on in Plymouth with Lowther, Osborne, Surman, Jackson et al. Good audio quality too.
Best Wishes
Simon Spillett
http://www.simonspillett.com
I’ve just started re-reading The Blue Moment – our mutual pal Charlie Gillett first alerted me to its worth a decade or so ago – so now I’ll have to read slowly, savouring each page until you return. Anyway, good luck with the writing and I look forward to the new book.
Rather belatedly just to say thanks for it all – erudite, eclectic and consistently enlightening, and above all taking me to some great music finds, old and new. Good luck with the book and look forward to your return!
Thanks for all the fascinating articles. Good luck with the book.
Best of luck with the new project! I hope you will let us know of its fruition here as it’s so easy for things to get lost in the shuffle these days.