Blog
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Pre-Order Yorkshire Suite
I’ve once again been busy digging through my old hard drives and cobbled together something that almost sounds like a record. Back in 2014 I was commissioned to write a suite of music by Jazz Yorkshire for the Yorkshire Festival, it was recorded live in 7Arts in 2015 and it’s taken a global pandemic to…
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This one’s for the recording nerds – Part 1
Last week I had a chat with Barkley McKay from Valley Wood Studio. Barkley has recorded and mixed my first two jazz orchestra albums and kindly took the time out to chat about his approach to working on them. In part 1 we talk about the prep, setup and tracking decisions for these recording sessions.…
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Lost Tapes album released
After a five year hiatus I’m dragging the tired, weary bones of the Jazz Orchestra from it’s slumber. After some spring cleaning of my hard drives I’ve managed to cobble together a series of new releases from the archive recordings of the band. This album is the first in a series of recordings that deserve…
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Website gets an upgrade
It was high time that I gave the website a bit of a spring clean so now it has a retro 80s computer game vibe about it! Without a doubt one of the hardest things to do is change a font on a website. I massively bit off more than I can chew, so whilst…
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JHJO Singers @ 7Arts
On the afternoon of the 31st May 2015 two musical worlds are due to collide. I’m re-awaking the Jazz Orchestra from it’s endless slumber for a special one-off-never-to-be-repeated show. Me and sixteen of the very best jazz and session musicians in Yorkshire will join forces with a plethora of unique vocal talents from the Leeds…
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Good things come in threes!
I know it’s been a while but I’ve been busy so don’t get on my back about it ok! Anyway I’ve got bundles of news for you. You’re gonna love it and instantly forgive me for my absence. [DISCLAIMER] If you’re not into jazz take yourself straight down to the bottom of the page where…
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What has Jazz Yorkshire ever done for us?
The internet has been full of talk of the art councils funding cuts to Jazz Services in their recent NPO announcements. This somewhat overshadowed the celebration of the end of an organisation that suffered a similar fate. Last month marked a final hurrah for Jazz Yorkshire. Seven Arts, in Leeds’ Chapel Allerton, home of Seven Jazz,…
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The idiots guide to recording a big band
Over the course of 2013 I’ll be getting the James Hamilton Jazz Orchestra together for one off day sessions to record…….stuff……some of which has been written some of which has definitely not. I’ll be blogging about the process as we go through the ups and downs of writing for, organising and recording a jazz orchestra.…
