The tradition here, a more longstanding one, is that if you are leaving Ascension and keen not to come back, you have to paint the rock, unseen, at night.

ECONOMIST: Day five: The many greenings of Ascension

His moody themes have less to do with blues and swing than with mesmerising soundscapes that paint the northern lights and rock-bound coasts.

ECONOMIST: Our pick of the best, including music by Abdullah Ibrahim