June 04

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

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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 […]

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May 26

Unity and Symbolism in Winterreise

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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, […]

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March 05

Glass Works

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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 […]

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December 31

This Week’s Shows 31.12.21

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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 […]

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October 17

This Week’s Shows 10.17.21

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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 […]

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October 03

This Week’s Shows 10.3.21

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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 […]

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September 30

New Band Video — Toxic

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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 […]

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September 26

This Week’s Shows 9.26.21

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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 […]

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September 12

This Week’s Shows 9.12.21

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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 […]

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August 20

This Week’s Shows 8.20.21

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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 […]

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