Variety is the Spice of Life

PermalinkGigs, Jazz, Live Work, Solo Work, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Over the last few weeks I have been doing a great deal of different types of work, each with different responsibilities. It has been a real thrill too, because I feel like I’ve succeeded in doing a good job with each of the challenges in front of me – particularly with the time I’ve had to prepare – and that gives me the sort of buzz I am looking for.

Since playing in Grease at the New Theatre in Oxford, I’ve spent quite a bit of time with the Denmark Street Big Band, playing three gigs with two of them being a bit of a trek, including ventures to Inverness (at the castle where Madonna got married), and to Great Yarmouth to play in a Big Band festival. All three gigs were fantastic fun with material ranging from Glenn Miller to Sinatra, Buble, and Basie, as well as two shows dedicated to the work of Bobby Darin.

I had the privilege to be able to play solo at my brother’s wedding, and also as a special part of his wedding speech, a solo gig for Team GB Triathlete, plus a jazz performance with my quartet to relaunch a stately home/hotel for DeVere Hotels.

Things are fairly relentless at the moment with final rehearsals on Monday for this year’s Live at the Rose event, as well as an Irish-themed recording session coming up where I need to get the mandolin out. Coupled with new ukulele and bass students it’s a very busy time!

Linsdale Singers and the Peacemakers Concert

PermalinkGigs, Live Work, , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Last night I performed with the Linsdale singers for a one-off performance of Karl Jenkins’ Peacemakers. I was covering the 5-string fretless bass part, however due to my lack of a fretless 5-string bass, there was a guitar part which I played, alongside some critical parts on my fretted 4-string from the original bass part.

This was my first time performing with an orchestra and choir, and it was a really worthwhile experience that I hope to duplicate in the future. It was refreshing to play the bass and also have to work alongside the string bass in the orchestra but also nice to be doing more work on my classical guitar.

I think it went really well, and it was particularly nice playing to a full and appreciative audience.

Next up are Flashdance and Jesus Christ Superstar performances – lots to look forward to!

MAD About Waddesdon Festival Promo

PermalinkArrangements, Jazz, Live Work, Solo Work Leave a comment

Today was great fun, and very rock and roll! I spent the morning shooting some video with BucksTV to promote the MAD About Waddesdon Music Arts and Drama event. It’s happening over the weekend of the 25th and 26th of June this year.

Today was great because I was out on my own – as a solo guitarist – and playing tunes that I’ve written/arranged myself, or worked on, with a view to trying to sound like guys like Martin Taylor and Clive Carroll. I played one tune in particular called, ‘The Second Time Around’, which was written by Jimmy Van Heusen – a great jazz writer!

I had three performances shot in different parts of the grounds of Waddesdon Manor. The first was the most rock and roll – I was on the portico above the the main entrance to the Manor, Brian May-style! The others were shot in front of the Manor from different locations, and it was great. I think the playing came out well too, so I’m really pleased about that!

I’ll be playing at the Manor on the Sunday – two sets. It’ll be great to see you down there. You can expect a mix of Blues, Jazz and Folk. Should be interesting! Check the photos out! I’ll post the video when it’s done.


Seussical The Musical – Elgiva, Chesham

PermalinkLive Work, Theate Work, , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Tonight will see the first performance of Seussical the Musical at the Elgiva Theatre in Chesham, Bucks. I’m really excited about it because the music in it pretty varied in style, but I’m also covering two guitar parts. It’s really challenging, but great fun.

The show has rock, funk, latin, and blues genres in it, and a handful of lovely ballads too. I have to play electric and acoustic guitar as well as banjo which is a real treat!

There’s a great deal of uptempo stuff in the music – your counting has to be spot on especially because the time signatures change around quite a lot.

Managing both guitar parts isn’t too difficult either – I’ve marked both pads up where I need to swap from one to the other, and any instrument changes as required. I do find myself playing parts from both pads in a single tune, and some changeovers are as short as a couple of bars, but it’s great fun and I wouldn’t want to do it differently.

Gear-wise I’m using my trusty Ibanez RG3120 for the electric stuff. It’s a really versatile humbucker-driven guitar, and I can get some really sweet out of phase single coil tones out of it too. This is plugged into my pedal board, and out into my Blues Junior which does a great job in these settings. My acoustic is the Martin OMC16Aura which sounds lush through my AER Compact 60 acoustic amp – the mic algorithms sound fantastic. I’m also putting my banjo through the AER since I fitted a K&K Banjo Twin transducer pickup to the head. This sounds really good – beyond all my expectations. The banjo is also holding up well in the pit – it’s a Deering Goodtime Special and I’ve tuned it to G D G B E which means my chord shapes on the top four strings are the same as the guitar stuff. I feel a bit ashamed doing it as I’d love to same I can play it as it’s meant to be played, but alas! needs must. It’s doing the job and sounding great.

I’ll keep you posted how it goes!

The Red Hot House Band!

PermalinkGigs, Live Work, Red Hot House Band, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Another band I’ve recently started working with is The Red Hot House Band.  Based around Milton Keynes, the band is perfectly geared to keeping the party going all night long!  There’s an emphasis on fluidity, and nothing is fixed, so if a song is working we may keep the chorus going, or add a solo in, or drop down in feel and build to a climax.  It keeps us on our toes, and keeps audiences grooving!

Recently we’ve been having some promo video and photo shoots.  The above photo is one of the new promo shots.  Check out the video below for some more as well as audio of the band!

‘Ain’t Nobody’, like Floorfillers!

PermalinkFloorfillers, Gigs, Live Work, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Today was quite an exciting day. I received the mixed versions of some recordings that I’d done with one of the function bands I work with. The band is called Floorfillers, and we play quite a few contemporary tunes, as well as Disco and Motown classics. For your delectation I’ve uploaded one of the tunes we did – Chaka Khan’s ‘Ain’t Nobody’. You can listen to it on my homepage, or here.

The recording process of this was quite interesting, since the drums were recorded in one take(!) in a studio in Milton Keynes, and then bass, keys and my guitar were recorded by their respective players in their own homes. After a few emails it all came together back in Milton Keynes where the vocals and BVs were laid down before mixing.

If you need a band for your party, look no further than Floorfillers!

Pritee Hurnam – Funkify’s Big Mamma Funk!

PermalinkFunkify, Gigs, Live Work, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

I thought I’d take a little moment to mention one of the singers I have the privilege of working with. Pritee Hurnam is the female singer in Funkify, one of the main function bands I work in. There isn’t anyone else I’ve worked with who is as good as Pritee at getting a group of people to have a good time! I’ve seen static, near empty rooms transformed to heaving discos, and it’s all thanks to Pritee. She has a great knack of involving people in her performance, serenading a gent with ‘Somebody Else’s Guy’, encouraging them to sing ‘9 to 5’, and also copy dance moves to ‘Blame It On The Boogie’. But that’s all the practical stuff involved in being in a party band.

Not only can do she do all that better than anyone else I’ve come across, she’s also a blinding singer. She’s a true pro – I’ve seen the show go on despite her feeling really ill and flu-ed out, and she’s still done a great job! She’s one of the most consistent musicians I know, and directs her band with ease, and a thoughtfulness that shows her mind’s always on the ball. Further evidence of this is proven when she alters a set at a moments notice, depending on the mood of her audience.

She works really hard for the band, and is a cracking musician and performer. I hope you get the chance to see her to her thing soon!