Saxophone History Podcast Episodes 7-9 Paul Desmond

I’ve just released the third and final episode on Paul Desmond for the Saxophone history podcast and I think the three episodes are quite an interesting story. Just like with the other saxophonists I’ve looked at, Desmond had a much more colourful life than the few bits and anecdotes that we all know of. I hope you’ll give these episodes a listen and then I hope you’ll listen to some of his…

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Sanguine & Cardamom Album Review for Earshot Jazz Published

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing the upcoming release from Day Soul Exquisite titled Sanguine & Cardamom for Earshot Jazz and let me tell you, it’s a banger! The review is published in this month’s edition of the Earshot Jazz magazine and you can read it here. The first single from the record, Disentangle, is available on all streaming services now and the rest will be released in a few…

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Saxophone History Podcast Episodes 3, 4, & 5

Today I’m happy to release a short little story that I think is super interesting. It’s the true story of the Cannonball Adderley Quintet album, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at The Club! I thought that this story was pretty widely known but after talking to a few people about it recently I realised that maybe it’s not as widely known as I had thought. Anyway, it’s episode 5 of The Saxophone History…

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Saxophone History Podcast Episodes 1 & 2

I’m very pleased to be publishing the first couple of episodes of a new podcast I’ve been working on for a while. It’s called The Saxophone History Podcast and the idea is to take a look at the lives of the most interesting people who have played the saxophone throughout history. It’s a thoughtful, researched, and slightly irreverent look at our collective history as saxophonists. I’m going to…

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A Few Live Recordings...

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything on here. I’ve been quite busy retooling so to speak. I’ve been focusing my energy on the bari lately. It’s the one saxophone that, until recently I haven’t spent a tremendous amount of time with. Anyway, I’ve been working with my trio, the Bigote Trio, to create a horn-focused version of Gypsy Jazz and in the past that’s meant mostly playing…

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This Week's Shows 9.23.22

This Week’s Shows 9.23.22

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Der Hirt auf dem Felsen D. 965 Op.129 Analysis

Der Hirt auf dem Felsen D. 965 Op.129 Analysis

Another Schubert analysis here. This one looks primarily at the harmonic scheme and phrase structures in this unique work of the clarinet repertoire. Franz Schubert’s song Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (Shepherd on the Rock) D.965, Op.129, was composed in 1828, the last year of the composer’s life. Written for voice and piano with clarinet obbligato, the work consists of three main section. Section A,…

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Unity and Symbolism in Winterreise

Unity and Symbolism in Winterreise

Unity and Symbolism in Winterreise Franz Schubert’s Winterreise D. 911 Op. 89 was composed beginning in February of 1827, and finished in the spring of that same year. Published in 1828, the composition consists of two books of twelve songs each, originally composed for tenor voice, but frequently performed by other voice ranges. Both Winterreise, and Schubert’s earlier cycle, Die schöne…

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Glass Works

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31.12.21 This Week's Shows

31.12.21 This Week’s Shows

Well, it’s the last day of the year and the last day of a busy month. I suppose this is the sort of time when people generally reflect on the year they’ve had and all that sort of thing. Let’s just say it’s been interesting and kind of a wild ride. It started out super slow with live music still being banned in the UK, then things seemed like they were going to take off, only to be scuppered by a…

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This Week's Shows 10.17.21

This Week’s Shows 10.17.21

This week started out early, both in the year and the day for the Bent’s annual Christmas Opening. Christmas in October sounds a bit crazy to me but not for the droves of people coming in to see all of this years offerings at Bents. This was the same place where I played the fashion show a few weeks back so it was nice to be called back. Easy day, and always nice to work for Anita Ryan, total pro…

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This Week's Shows 10.3.21

This Week’s Shows 10.3.21

This week was a nice change of pace and an opportunity to put my clarinet on the back burner for a bit and focus on saxophone. I had two events, one a big corporate fashion show at Bents Garden Center, and the second a birthday party at a restaurant called Gorge. For the Bents fashion show, I played an hour chillout set as people were coming in and then got up with the singer and host, Anita Ryan…

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New Band Video -- Toxic

New Band Video — Toxic

It seems somewhat appropriate to be posting our version of Britney Spears’s Toxic the day after the courts ruled in her favor to remove her father from her conservatorship. In reality, I just found out that this video was finished and wanted to post it as soon as possible. This is the Jim Wallace Gypsy Project, sometimes known as the Gypsies of Bohemia, and various other names. We play a mix of…

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This Week's Shows 9.26.21

This Week’s Shows 9.26.21

Two very different dates with the band this week. The first was an afternoon benefit performance in Altrincham for the Music Place, which is a community music education center for kids. It was held at a pretty interesting place called Stutter and Twitch. This record label/coffee shop/record shop/cocktail and beer spot has a little stage and table set up in a shopping precinct in Altrincham. I had…

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This Week's Shows 9.12.21

This Week’s Shows 9.12.21

It’s been a busy week with three very different bookings…actually I should be getting ready to go to a fourth in Eccles at the moment but I had a last minute cancellation so here I am. On Wednesday, I played a corporate fundraiser for a mental health charity at the storied Midland Hotel. According to legend, and US intelligence reports, the Midland Hotel was coveted by Hitler as his would-be HQ…

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This Week's Shows 8.20.21

This Week’s Shows 8.20.21

Two very different gigs this past week, The Welcome Back Festival in Warrington and a wedding in Altrincham. We played two different slots on two different stages at the Welcome Back Festival under the name Gypsies of Bohemia. The festival was designed to kick start high street businesses as we come out of lockdown and pandemic restrictions and it was nice to see some faces out braving the…

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This Week's Shows 8.11.21

This Week’s Shows 8.11.21

It feels like and has indeed been forever since I’ve posted one of these weekly roundups. Except for a handful of live performances here and there, the pandemic has pretty much put the kibosh on any kind of live music for me for well over a year now. I’m very grateful to say that it finally seems to be turning around. I’m playing Gypsy jazz with a new six-piece band here in Manchester though…

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