Those of you who follow me on Twitter or my Facebook page will no doubt be aware of the new trio project I’m currently working on. I’m really pleased with the music we’ve come up with and thought it was about time I posted about it here.
A few months ago I played a little gig with pianist Jez Carr and saxophonist Mike Haughton. This was the first time we’d played together as a trio; In fact it was the first time Mike and I had even met. Even though it was a straight ahead jazz function gig, we quickly established (in the brief soundcheck!) that the three of us worked well together and clearly shared a similar musical vocabulary. Literally the minute we’d set up our equipment Mike started playing and Jez and I joined in. What followed was an extended free improvisation that said far more than anything we could have planned. The three of us knew immediately that this was something we’d like to explore again.
A few weeks ago we finally got together at Mike’s house and recorded everything we played. We didn’t discuss what we were going to play or even particularly what sound we were going for. I took a whole brace of basses with me, plus my trusty Pod X3 Pro and Looperlative LP1. In the end I played the entire session on the Triumph upright bass. Mike played mostly soprano saxophone with a little tenor.
We recorded over 140 minutes of freely improvised music that day. Jez has been beavering away mixing the eleven tracks and we are currently deciding how we’re going to whittle this down into a potential album release. We’re all really excited about this project and are keen to get the material out so watch this space for further news. If you’re a fan of my solo stuff, you’re gonna love this. There may well be a release imminent folks.
Just a quick post to let the bassists and guitarists among you know about a couple of bits of gear I have just posted up on eBay for sale.
First is my Lexicon MPX G2 guitar effects processor and R1 midi controller. This is the processor I used to create all the sounds on my first album Mandala (CD’s still available by the way… hint hint). And those of you familiar with Steve Lawson (aka the mighty @solobasssteve), this is the unit he uses for all his solo bass work. It’s a great piece of kit and they are pretty hard to come by, especially here in the UK. Here’s the link…
The second offering is my beloved Warwick ProTube IX bass amp. I bought this from a guy who got it from Cass Lewis from Skunk Anansie. It sounds absolutely amazing and has been my backup amp for a couple of years. I’m attempting to scale down my bass rigs at the moment and this is just a bit too hefty for my usual requirements so I’m letting it go. The fan is a bit loud once it’s revved up and the little W light doesn’t light up anymore but these are minor issues. The amp works a treat. And it’s essentially 1000 watts. Which is rather powerful folks. Here’s the link…
Thought I’d drop a quick post to let you all know about two great shows we’ve got coming up the Hideaway in Streatham this week.
On Thursday we have our monthly showcase gig Voice. We have six vocalists performing this month including Helen Theophanous, Mark Jennett, Halima Ihonde, Melissa Cantzlaar, Lorna Marshall and Arorah, plus our very special guest for the evening Anthony Strong. The band features myself, Janette Mason on piano and Frank Tontoh on drums. promises to be a hoot.
Then on Saturday we have our bi-monthly Diva show where we feature four excellent vocalists and a wide variety of music. This time we have Martin France on drums and Paul Booth on sax in the house band. The featured vocalists are Juliet Roberts, David McAlmont, Nina Ferro and Sarah Ellen Hughes. Many of you have probably seen me play with Nina before in her band so you all know how awesome she is. We were lucky enough to have her guest at Lea DeLaria’s Wall To Wall show at Pizza Express Dean Street last Tuesday which was one of the best shows there yet. And I am so excited to be playing with David McAlmont. I’ve been a massive fan of his since the first McAlmont & Butler album came out in the nineties and have wanted to play with him forever. I really hope he does Yes.
So there you go. You should come to both shows. Just bring tents and camp out in the Hideaway carpark Thursday to Saturday. Actually don’t do that. I shouldn’t think the Hideaway would thank me for that suggestion. Or Streatham Council for that matter.
Just come to the shows. See you there x
ps. Here’s a video from the last show I did with Nina Ferro at Hideaway. This is Lesson Learned..
