As 2021 draws to a close

The last year, two years (how long has it been?) is, in my memory, and I imagine in the memory of many others, a bit of a blur. This is my first post on a new website, so I’ll mention a few of the nice bits. I’ve released a couple of albums on the very supportive 577 Records. One was my piece written for nonet, I Went This Way. I remember quietly creating the artwork doodle during the very first pandemic lock down, when not a car or a plane could be heard around me in London. The piece was recorded in London’s Cafe Oto pre-pandemic, and it was nice to be reminded of a warm summer evening playing with and to friends. I then went on to release a solo album, Dreamsing. It was never intended to be a lockdown album, and most of the recording took place in January 2020, but given everything went solo not long after I included a couple of lockdown tracks for good measure. I also took the opportunity to Zoom record (a first!) with Corey Mwamba, a playing partnership I treasure, and we released the recording (What we said when we met) on Cafe Oto’s digital label created during the pandemic when performances were put on hold.

It’s been great to get back to playing live in person over the last few months. Highlights have been a couple of gigs with Shifa (Pat Thomas and Mark Sanders), a first gig with violinist Angharad Davies, and a lovely recording project playing compositions by Olie Brice.

I’m also delighted to have been awarded a Developing Your Creative Practice grant from the Arts Council England. I’ve plotted myself a timeline of a year and it started last week. I’m creating a seperate little blog to document some of my activities and thoughts.