Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
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NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
John Edwards and Mark Sanders
Nisus Duets (Emanem 4094)
John Butcher and John Edwards
Optic (Emanem 4039)
John Edwards
Volume (psi 08.09)
STRANGE how a boyhood encounter with a two-stringed ukulele could have sparked the formation of one of Britain’s finest improvising bassists.
John Edwards was born in Hounslow, west London, in 1964. His elder brother played drums in a punk band and John would add to the rhythm on the front room chair arms.
When he picked up the ukulele, he made bass lines by plucking its two strings as if it were a bass guitar.
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