March 29

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 […]

January 06

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, […]

October 29

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 […]

September 18

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, […]

July 23

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 […]

October 23

This Week’s Shows 9.23.22

I haven’t done much of an update in a while but the seasons have changed and I’ve moved house. The dust has settled a bit and a rainy Sunday morning seems like as good a time as any to put up a couple of pictures of recent escapades and whatnot. The main thing that’s been […]

June 04

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 […]

May 26

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, […]

March 05

Glass Works

Usually when I’m writing about glass on this site I’m talking about Philip Glass but today I wanted to share mostly some photos and also few words about one of the things I’ve been up to for the past year. I’ve been learning to repair and restore stained glass windows as part of the Manchester […]

December 31

This Week’s Shows 31.12.21

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 […]