As a long-time supporter of knitted, crocheted and otherwise hand-crafted musicians, it gives me great joy to share with you the cover of Ellen Tsai’s new EP ‘Windy Friends’! But to quote a phrase, “A cover is not the book so open it up and take a look,” or in this case, “A cover …
If you’re reading this, you probably have an interest in the noises I make through my various wooden, plastic and metal tubes! Yes? Well in that case you’ll also have an interest in a song called ‘A Lens To Find A Trace’. This is the latest release from Dortmund-based musician David Kleinekottmann and is part …
Here’s a thing! O.K., maybe I should be more specific. Here’s a video of a piece of music I helped record a few months ago. It’s written by a fellow called Jan Maria C. Deckers and is entitled ‘Paradise’ – deservedly so, in my opinion! This is a really beautiful bit of music and I …
It is with unbridled delight that I share with you today a brand new recording from the songwriting powerhouse commonly known as Ellie Bleach! The piece is called ‘That’ll Show ‘Em’, and will be the penultimate track on her upcoming EP ‘Now Leaving West Feldwood’. I had the pleasure of recording some clarionet and some …
One of the reasons I play so many different instruments is that I really enjoy performing in pit orchestras for musical theatre productions. In these ensembles, each individual woodwind musician is frequently called upon to swap between 3 or 4 instruments, and this practice of ‘doubling’ allows orchestrators to maximise the palette of sounds available …
I recently had the pleasure of collaborating with Cambridge-based composer Paul Wellings-Longmore, who despite not playing any musical instruments himself has written some thoroughly charming pieces for a variety of woodwind ensembles. He’s kindly allowed me to share the results of one of these projects, and so I’d like to present ‘Variations on a Theme’, …
Quandary: What do you do if there’s a piece of violin music you really want to record, but you can’t play the violin? Answer: Use The Jelly Roll Soundfont! The Jelly Roll Soundfont is the latest innovation in the world of hi-tech musical instrument sampling, and today I’d like to provide a little demonstration of …
I was saddened and surprised recently to hear of the death of the legendary songwriter Burt Bacharach, at the age of 94. To be completely honest the main surprise wasn’t so much that he had died, but rather that he had still been alive so recently – but that’s beside the point! At any rate, …
The other week I had a delightful time performing with pianist extraordinaire Jack Mitchell Smith for a wedding in Tabley House (near Knutsford). But if you don’t believe me, I HAVE EVIDENCE! Here are some videos taken from our performance on the day, as well as a couple of clips from our rehearsal: There’s …
The weather may be getting decidedly chilly – yes brrrrrrrr – but I’ve got the perfect thing here to make you feel all warm and glowing like some sort of lantern! It’s a newly-released track by the Mantra Blues Band called ‘Vem Comigo’ (which translates as ‘Come With Me’), and I was fortunate enough to …
