GOOD EVENING! And welcome to… THE GIG REVIEW! “Well, it’s a marvelous night for a moondance, With the stars up above in your eyes, A fantabulous night to make romance, ‘Neath the cover of October skies.” – quoth Van Morrison, ‘Moondance’ As the days continue to shorten and the nights to lengthen, we yet …
Tag: flute
The Gig Review: April 2024
GOOD EVENING! And welcome to… THE GIG REVIEW! “Though April showers may come your way, they bring the flowers that bloom in May; so if it’s raining, have no regrets because it isn’t raining rain you know, it’s raining violets.” – quoth B. G. De Silva, ‘April Showers’ Good grief is it that month …
The Gig Review: February 2024
GOOD EVENING! And welcome to… THE GIG REVIEW! Well, February has been and gone so you may think me the fool for carrying on, however that’s a chance I’m willing to take if it means I can tell you about all the hooting and honking I indulged in over the year’s second month. And what …
Video: ‘Gypsy’ Overture | One-Man Woodwind Section
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 …
Video: Excerpts from ‘The Addams Family’
I’ve got to the point now where I’ve played in a fair few musicals, however one that’s doing the rounds at the moment but had eluded me until recently was ‘The Addams Family’. This all changed last month though, when I got the chance to play Reed 2 for the show and find out what …
‘Oliver!’ and ‘Footloose’ Clippety Clips…
HEY GUYZZZ!!! I did a couple of zhowz recently, and made a couple of videoz zhowcazing zome clipz of my playing. Zo I thought I’d zhare them with you in caze that’z the zort of thing you’re into for zome reazon. Ready? Zteady? GO!!! Oliver! Footlooze
Sneaky Behind-The-Scenes Panto Pictures
Now that Peter Pan-tomime is officially finished (and believe it or not we managed to get through the full 66-show run without a single cancelled performance!) I think it’s high time I made some attempt to publicise it. So here is a selection of piccies I got over the course of my festive season at …
The Emporium of Mr. Maleforium
Back in September I had a great time recording flute and piccolo parts for one of the most surreal, wacky and downright bizarre albums I’ve ever been involved in (and that’s saying something!). A few months later, and The Emporium of Mr. Maleforium by Lucifer Sam & the Buzz is now available for all to …
Peter Pan (-tomime) in Lichfield
Ahoy tharrr! Shiver me timbers! That’s just a small preview of the kind of banter you can expect to enjoy if you attend Lichfield Garrick Theatre’s 2021 pantomime: All-New Adventures of Peter Pan! And as if that wasn’t enough, you can also expect to hear: Me playing the clarinet. Me playing the …
‘Prelude on “Prospect”‘ (Featuring Two Of Me!)
“What have you been up to this week Michael A. Grant?” “Some things.” “What things?” “Oh, you know, stuff…” “Would you care to be any more specific?” “No.” “Pretty please?” “No.” “Pretty please with a cherry on top?” “Oh… go on then. One of the things that’s kept me occupied has been a remote recording …