Their drummer, gruff Yorkshire man Griff Griffin, who learned his trade on the northern jazz circuit, is - as the only non-songwriting member of the ensemble - very much the shadow man, although he does endure a personal tragedy. This recurring conceit can amuse or annoy in equal measure, depending on one's attitude, or even one's patience As well Jasper has spent time in a Dutch psychiatric institution after being hidden away at a posh English private boarding school.
Virtuoso Hendrixesque guitarist Jasper de Zoet is the ‘illegitimate’ scion of a wealthy Dutch family who, in a characteristic call-back to one of Mitchell’s previous novels, 2010’s The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, suffers from schizophrenia/demonic possession (delete where applicable). Home counties folksinger Elf Holloway is going through a bad breakup from her garrulous Australian boyfriend Bruce – who also happens to be the other half of her performing duo. Oh, and he’s just been kicked out of his band. He also has ongoing issues with an alcoholic, abusive father. When we first meet Gravesend-bred blues bassist Dean Moss, he gets mugged, loses his bedsit and his job in a cafe, all within the space of a few hours. Not that things were always so rosy during their rapid rise along the rocky road to rock'n'roll stardom. After all, they are called Utopia Avenue. Utopia Avenue is a happy book about a happy band.
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