Wednesday 5 December 2012

Leicester - Big 10 needs you!

Leicester - Big 10 are coming.

The best Ska covers band in the Eastern counties is coming to The Shed on Yeoman Street on Friday, 21st December for a massive gig for Glastonbudget.

For many of you it's the last working day of the year, and for just a fiver you can come and skank your way into the Christmas holidays.

There are plenty of other bands on that night so it will be a great party regardless but it would be great to see some familiar faces from Leicester. Big 10 will be on stage at 9. See you down the front?

If you need info about the venue/tickets etc please contact me here or via the Big 10 Facebook page

Here we are in action (in case you need some convincing)

ta muchly

x








Tuesday 20 November 2012

Glasto Wishlist - Part 3

Next on my Glasto Wishlist are everyones favourite Lancastrians, The Lovely Eggs.

Championed by Chris Hawkins of BBC 6 Music, their music first came to my attention early last year, and since then I've bought their albums and seen them live. 

The songs are original, witty, bonkers, and open for scientific debate. Yes, the Universe is in the stars. Cambridge said yes, Oxford said no. Well, what do they know...?

With all songs recorded on guitars/ukes & drums, this paired down sound would be ideal for the John Peel stage. Delightful songs sung with the flattest of A's.

The Lovely Eggs third album 'Wildlife' is due out next week and the tour begins soon after. Check out their first single from said album.

Food.

*warning - don't actually eat food whilst watching food. You may upchunk your food*



Saturday 17 November 2012

Ska Festival - Next Week!

The Dublin Castle, birthplace of ska legends Madness, and as of next week, home of the Dublin Castle Ska Fest!

The month long event sees the DubCastle host The Kubricks, The Mistakes, The Stiff Joints, my beloved Big 10, Tootenskamen and Specials main man Roddy Radiation.

I'll be playing this Saturday 24th November Big 10 will take over the pub, playing two full sets of the best of Jamaican & London Ska. Doors are 8pm.

In the meantime here's a clip of Big 10 performing the Madness classic 'My Girl'



See you there :)



Thursday 8 November 2012

Glasto Wishlist - Part 2

This lot need no introduction, except to say that they very much inspired the VTQ's last album 'Dress Down Friday'

Oops, that was kind of an introduction wasn't it? Oh well.

Kraftwerk are doing a series of 3D concerts in Dusseldorf next January, which I doubt I'll get to, but I'd love it if they could bring one of these performances to Glasto next year.

LETS KRAUT!


Wednesday 31 October 2012

Happy Hallowe'en!


A few years ago Hallowe'en was my busiest gigging time of the year, when I played with a Horrorbilly Showband called The Texas Chainsaw Orchestra.

An epic 13 piece outfit, Mexican Day of the Dead Brass, corpse bride singers, an undead accordion player, a voodoo drummer, an indestructible double bassist, keyboardist who could summon the end of the world, a guitarist with skills so sick you'd think he was at the crossroads with Robert Johnson and the guy in charge, our lead singer with a mic stand forged by the breath of the Morning Star himself.

As you can imagine, it's quite a unit to mobilise when it comes to gigging, but the show was always amazing. Thanks to our honorary 14th member, Lorenzo, we really looked the part with some truly gruesome make-up. Sometimes I do actually miss getting home from a gig at 4am and then having to stay up another hour getting all the black makeup off.

So when it's Hallowe'en, I remember these guys and the fun times we had. Here we are in action.







Tuesday 16 October 2012

One for the Glasto 2013 wishlist...

Hey Sholay.

Engaging performance, great music, lots of twiddling effect stuff without being too wanky about it. 

Perfect for the John Peel Stage.

Their name's a bit Wombley too, and I do enjoy a Wombling Glasto.

Check them out below:












Sunday 14 October 2012

Glasto 2013


A week ago, after a difficult gig with a broken hand and precious little sleep following a minor plumbing incident, I found myself sat at this computer doing the old F5 mambo.

That's right - Glasto ticket buying time.

Every year I get so stressed with it, moan about what a headache it is trying to get through, having a zillion screens open, running an spare laptop on a different browser (just in case) and hoping and praying I get my tickets now and don't have to go through all of this again in April.

I was lucky. I got my two tickets with 6 minutes to spare, after over an hour 'n' half of exhausted refreshing and crashing input screens. Seetickets are just not up to the job, I really don't know why Glasto persist with them.

My heart goes out to all who desperately wanted tickets, and didn't manage to get them. I'll cross my fingers for you for April.

Here are my ideal headliners. Yes, Kylie is on the list. What of it?

I'll be mostly more Glastonbury 2013 wishlists in the coming months.






Monday 8 October 2012

Good News / Bad News

Good News!

The 2nd Cambridge Wind Band concert was a near full house once again. Thank you to everyone who attended, we got a lot of good feedback from you all.

Our Christmas concert will be on 8th December 2012. Please keep an eye on www.camwindband.com for more details.

Bad News!

I've broken my hand. No playing for a month.

I've had to dep my ska work for the next few weeks, hoping to pick up again at the end of October.

Good News!

I can play a rather challenging programme of wind band music with two fingers taped together. You can play a low Bb on a bari with your knee...oh yes.

Bad News!

X-factor is back. Please, please, please... don't encourage them. Ignore it, and go out to a gig on a Saturday night, support your local music scene. Thats where the real musical talent is.

Good News!

Recordings of the Cambridge Wind Band concert to come soon...

laters

lizbeth
x



Tuesday 18 September 2012

Cambridge Wind Band - New Website

As well as recently confirming their winter concert, Cambridge Wind Band now have their own website.

For gig news, ticket info and vacancies, please go to www.camwindband.com

Splendid.

lx

Monday 17 September 2012

VTQ at Smoked & Uncut

The next VTQ gig is nearly upon us, held at the Limewood Hotel in the New Forest this Sunday! It's free entry and starts at 4.30pm, loads of bands are performing, and we'll be on around 9.

Details for the gig are here  - here's hoping for good weather & a great party.

Oh, and we'll be releasing details of a very very cool gig in London next month this week. Watch this space.

lx




Tuesday 11 September 2012

Cambridge Wind Band - New Concert Announced


The details for Cambridge Wind Band's next gig have been confirmed, and we're all rather excited about it.

It's at St Andrews Church, Chesterton in Cambridge on the 6th October. Less film music this time, focussing more on musicals and music written for the wind ensemble. Our showpiece will be Gallimaufry, a piece that I have previously squee'd about several times on this blog

Tickets are available on the  door, £7 £5 and £3, and it would be great to pack the place. Our last (first) concert was a sell out, we'd like to do the same again. If you would like tickets please email cambridgewindband@gmail.com

In the meantime, check out this recording from our first concert back in May.

Drink up me hearties, yo ho!

:)


  Cambridge Wind Band - PotC by saxylizbeth

Thursday 9 August 2012

Interview for Sine FM

My interview with Jon Kelly from Orange Flavoured Pipe Machine for Sine FM is now available to listen online here.

The VTQ album 'Dress Down Friday' was Album of the Week, and tracks from it feature throughout the show. My interview is in part 2 of the Listen Again, and as well as chatting about the VTQ, Jon and I also put the world to rights on Ska Fans, The Beat and just how amazing The Lovely Eggs are.

Listen again here. Then listen every week because Jon's selection of tracks is pretty bloody awesome.

Splendid.

Recording with The Burning Aces

Here are some pictures from the recording session with The Burning Aces this week.

We spent 2 days down the rabbit hole at a studio in Headingley, recording new songs for the Aces website and our booking agents. In a first for me, we were recording as a live band, and in another first, we were recording on to tape. The studio was full of tape recording machines and all kinds of equipment I'd only seen in books on Motown.

Being one of the Logic 'Cut & Paste' generation, it was a real challenge for me, holding concentration like that for live recording. The recordings do have a real energy that you don't get with the clinical precision of digital recording, and I can't wait to hear the results.

Mitch, Sion, Gord, Lee, Tris, Tilo. Splendid bunch and a splendid job all round. I'll put up some clips when the mixes start coming through. In the meantime if you are interested in booking The Burning Aces for weddings/functions/generic knees-ups then please email livemusic.lovemusic@gmail.com






Tuesday 31 July 2012

Voodoo Trombone Quartet on Sine FM

So as mentioned in an earlier blog, I had an interview with Jon Kelly of Sine FM this week, for all things VTQ, ska, music and Doncaster :)

If you want to hear more, the show goes out on Friday 3rd August at 10pm, and it will be available from the Sine FM website as a podcast at the weekend.

I'll be picking it up by podcast myself as I'll be kicking it with Big 10 at a gig on Friday, but I'd love to know what you thought.

Apart from 'Isn't she squeaky?'

Friday 10pm. Sine FM. M'kay?

Monday 30 July 2012

More Ultrazang Footage!

As promised, here's more footage from the final night of the Ultrazang tour that finished last week.

Enjoy!



Thursday 26 July 2012

Ultrazang Footage

Check out this video from the final leg of the (amazing) Ultrazang Tour.

Butterfly perform their genuinely brilliant song 'Flying Close to The Sun' at Epic Studios Norwich. I'll be posting more footage from them, The Scissors and Killamonjambo later in the week.

A Mini Festival for the Ears...

...is how Altsounds.com described the latest Voodoo Trombone Quartet single, 'Hello Who Are You?' which I think is a lovely thing to say.

Check out the review in full here 

The promo and rehearsal for 'Dress Down Friday' is bubbling along nicely. I'll be doing an interview for Sine FM next week discussing the new VTQ album. Sine FM is a community station based in Doncaster, who have been playing 'Dress Down Friday' for a while. Imagine how chuffed presenter Jon Kelly was to find out that the VTQ are in fact 1/8th Doncastrian.

I'm not sure when the interview will aired, but I'll post up on here when I find out.

Enjoy the sun y'all

x

Tuesday 3 July 2012

VTQ News

Just a quick update, here are nice things about the upcoming album, from Glasswerk.

Dress Down Friday

The Voodoo Trombone Quartet are also playing in the New Forest, on 23rd September, with the splendid Police Dog Hogan. I'll put up more details when I get them.

So in the meantime, have a listen to this and think how much better it is than the official Olympic theme.

Ultrazang on Tour!

Regular readers of this blog are now well aware that my favourite music night held anywhere in the UK is Ultrazang, an alternative music night held in Suffolk.

Well, I'm happy to say that Ultrazang is on the move, with a 3 date mini-tour this month. Ipswich, Cambridge and Norwich, the Zang crew will be bringing their good vibes to all corners of East Anglia.

Featuring Ultrazang regulars Butterfly, The Scissors and Killamonjambo, the tour will see the Zang return to its roots, playing PJ McGintys in Ipswich on 19th July. It will then debut the following night in Cambridge at The Man on The Moon. The tour concludes on 21st July in Norwich, at the very shiny Epic Studios.

With a bunch of awesome support acts, fire-based entertainment and no doubt people dressed as banana's, it's about time the word of Zang was known UK wide. Europe-wide. Worldwide and beyond.

Details of tickets for the tour are here. See you down the front (banana costume optional)

Thursday 21 June 2012

Voodoo Trombone Quartet - New Video

The buzz on the latest VTQ and album is really starting to grow, with lots of positive reviews and one odd one calling us 'Brass Heavy Groove Armada'. Hmmm...okay.

The DJ who's name also sounds like it came from a random word generator, Eddy Temple-Morris of XFM, has been very complimentary. Check out his show here and listen from around 3hr 40mins in.

Best of all though is that the video for 'Hello! Who Are You?' is ready. For your visual and aural pleasure, check out the below.


Tuesday 12 June 2012

Ska News

In between preparing for a busy summer of wedding gigs and album promo,  there's a lot happening on the Ska front too.

Big 10 have finally joined the 21st century and got a twitter account! You can follow us on @big10ska for news of gigs, interesting goings-on in the van on the way to gigs and tips on keeping your Doc Martens in tip top condition.

Ok, maybe not that last bit. But you get my drift.

I'm also now full time with Ska Wars, the Ska band made up of Northern reprobates and ex-pat Northern reprobates and a few honorary Northern reprobates. You can hear me perform Baggy Trousers with them on my audio page . They're a great fun bunch with buckets of energy and a great line in audience participation.

Keep an eye on my gig page for the next Ska Wars appearance near you. These are rudeboids you were looking for.

New Single - Reviews

Here are some reviews (favourable, I'm pleased to say) of the recent release from The Voodoo Trombone Quartet

Sack of Streams

Top40Charts

'Hello. Who Are You?' is available as CD/7inch from www.voodootrombonequartet.com and download from everywhere you usually download music from  :)

Monday 21 May 2012

A Bee Gees Memory

With the sad passing of Robin Gibb today, it got me thinking back to a metal night I used to attend on a Tuesday night in Doncaster.

No, really. Stick with me.

Before I was an ale drinking Ska-head, I was a lager drinking jump around to Marilyn, Rage and Nirvana etc-head. Tuesday nights at the long since departed club Karisma had something for everyone if you were into guitar music and circle pits.

Every week between 1999 and 2001 me and my friends would attend this club night, which had a musical timetable more reliable than most train services today. The first hour would be Metallica et al, leading into the American heaviness of Rage Against the Machine and Marilyn Manson. Things would then lighten up, with Limp Biskit, Green Day, Nirvana and Hole. This took us to midnight.

At which point, something strange happened.

The stroke of midnight always meant Night Fever. No metalhead worth his tats should be seen singing along to Disco. But the Bee Gees were above that. They were class. So as Wednesday began, Goths, Rockers and indie kids who had turned up cos the beer was cheap would unite, and dance.

Right arm point up, then down to your left, step forward, step back whilst winding a bobbin, spin, clap. 

Turn.

Repeat.

Some of the scariest looking chaps and chappesses you might ever meet, getting on down to Barry,  Maurice and Robin Gibb. You couldn't get away with it if it was Gloria Gaynor, or even Earth Wind & Fire. But these were the people who wrote 'Massachusetts' and 'Gotta Get a Message to You', and they had our respect.

So today I'll think of the crew of Karisma Tuesdays, and of Robin Gibb. RIP fella, and thank you.



Wednesday 16 May 2012

Voodoo Trombone Quartet - New Single Now Available on Download!

It's here!

It's amazing!

It's taken long enough, lets face it.

But the new single from Voodoo Trombone Quartet is now available to download from I Tunes and various places.

Here are some useful links!

I Tunes

E-Music

Spotify


Thank you for your patience! Don't forget you can also buy the single as CD or 7 inch by going to www.voodootrombonequartet.com

Tuesday 8 May 2012

The G Word..

...got mentioned at Wind Band last week.

If I hadn't have been so exhausted I'd have popped with glee.

Click here to see previous thoughts on the 'G' word, and below to hear a reminder of how amazing this piece is.





Monday 30 April 2012

Voodoo Trombone Quartet - Live in London

This Friday sees the return of The Voodoo Trombone Quartet to the London gig scene, performing at The Worlds End.

No. Not that one. The one in Finsbury Park.

Good. Just so we're clear.

We are  performing as part of the Save Rubyyy Jones Revue, with a number of Burlesque artists, complementing the lounge-ska feel of tracks like 'Medium Wave' and 'Voodoo Trombones'

We will also be performing 4 songs from our new album, due out this summer. These will include our latest single Hello! Who Are You? / Easy to learn, as heard on BBC 6Music. There will also be an opportunity to pick up a copy of the single on CD or 7inch.

It's free-ish entry, donations only. We're on at 11, but entertainment starts at 8pm. So come along, drink, dance and be very, very merry.

Cambridge Wind Band - First Concert



After rehearsing together for only 4 months, Cambridge Wind Band have our first concert in May, at St Giles Church, Cambridge.

As much as I love ska, there's nothing to compete with the colours and textures created by a wind band. It will always create a special shiver down my spine.

The programme is quite open and available, something for the Symphonic Wind geeks and curious passing tourists alike. I'll be somewhere near the back, on bari sax.

With a running theme of 'Music from the Movies', the programme will feature music by Paul Hart, John Williams and Leonard Bernstein.

As most of my gigs involve late nights and bars, this will be a great opportunity for my younger students to check out what I do when I'm not teaching, and to see where all the scales and rhythm tree clapping can lead to! Tickets are £7 for adults and £3 for children, it would be great to get a big crowd in for our first concert.

Thursday 19 April 2012

Voodoo Trombone Quartet - Download Delays...

...so you may have noticed by now that the VTQ new single 'Hello! Who Are You?' isn't available online as yet.

As usual, things have gone breasts aloft on the admin side of things (making the music is the easy bit) and until all everything's sorted on the publishing/distribution side of things, we can't release the track online.

Hopefully this won't take too long. The CD and 7inch single are available from our website www.voodootrombonequartet.com and if you drop us a line there, we'll send it along.



Thursday 12 April 2012

Best Gig Ever!

And it's not even happened yet. It will be tomorrow.
I haven't developed psychic powers, but I know that two of the best ska bands I've ever seen will be appearing on the same bill tomorrow night at the O2 in Islington.

The Slackers - New York ska with a hint of old school Rock 'n' Roll. Amazing brass, amazing songs, and a curiously engaging keys front man.

Here they are with 'I'll Stay Away'


Supporting them are the New Town Kings, from much closer to home...Essex. These guys have been with Big 10 on the bill at The Junction recently, supporting touring ska revivalists The Beat and The Selector. Picking up fans wherever they gig, NTK have very strong songs that you simply have to dance to. You don't get a choice, those beats mean not skanking is not an option.

Here they are with 'Dynamite' from their latest album 'M.O.J.O'


There are still tickets available so don't miss this chance to dance.

lx

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Just in case you missed it...

... the 'B' side to the new VTQ Single 'Easy to Learn' was played on the BBC 6 Music 'Freak Zone' show on Sunday.

Big thanks to Stuart Maconie for playing that, we'll forgive you getting the band name wrong...

Have a listen about 15 minutes in: Freak Zone

Tuesday 3 April 2012

John Peel & The Zang...

...surely a match made in heaven?

Not far off.

I'd not been to the John Peel CCA before, and what a great venue it is, perfect to host Ultrazang. It was Voodoo Trombone Quartet's first Zang, and from the way the audience were dancing, I don't think it will be the last.

The lighting was amazing and really leant itself to the psych openers Butterfly, and the swirly organ sounds of The Scissors. The VTQ set was a selection of our more ska-tinged songs (being a Zang veteran, I know what makes the people dance) and our new single 'Hello! Who Are You?'. We closed the night with our single B side 'Easy to Learn'.

The only slight downside to the gig was the Rob Castellani set, as the large hall magnified the sound of an audience intent on carrying on their conversations, to the point where Castellani had to have his on stage monitors turned up. There is a place in hell set aside for people who talk through quiet music sets, and to see people yakking their way through a truly astounding performance had my inner Doncaster bubbling to the surface. Luckily no-one got hurt.

A great line up, and a great single launch. Thanks to Chris for putting on another great show. And it's not just me who thinks so - check out this great review here

Wednesday 14 March 2012

Voodoo Trombone Quartet - New Single UPDATE!

It's arrived! The CD single of 'Hello! Who Are You?' by the Voodoo Trombone Quartet. Isn't it cute? The release date is 2nd April 2012, available as CD, 7inch or download.

The new single also had it's first play on national radio this week. Gideon Coe played us on his show on BBC 6 Music, as we were all hard at work rehearsing for the single launch on the 31st.

If you click here, and listen in at 1h 18mins, there were are :)

We're busy plugging this at the moment, and will start organising gigs for the Summer once the launch is out of the way. New album, new label, and a new sound. New website too soon. This will be a big year for us, and we really appreciate your support.

Friday 9 March 2012

A sad farewell...

...to the Little Red Tardis.

My car, a little City Rover run-around, has been retired as it is now too expensive for me to maintain. It became known as the Little Red Tardis because I managed to fit drumkit, backline, saxes and band members into a small vehicle designed for nipping to the shops.

A veteran of 3 Glasto's, 2 Chagstocks, a national tour with Popes of Chillitown, countless trips to Survival Studio in West London, a mercy dash to the Lake District with the Truebeat merchandise tub, and a 90mph burn down the M20 to a wedding gig in Kent. 99% of the time, I arrived at my gigs/rehearsals on time, because of the Little Red Tardis.

It was not your fault, little car, that you were made in India under the Rover brand, just as they went bust. It is not your fault that replacement parts cost an arm and a leg to ship over (scrapyard did well..but you can't have a 2nd hand timing belt). It is not your fault, little car, that the government placed you in a stupid tax bracket, meaning you cost twice as much as cars twice your size. But as cute as you are, you are a money pit.

Ok, so we always broke down after Glasto cos the damp and mud ruined your spark plugs, and your speakers just couldn't handle dub. But you were a faithful servant to The Voodoo Trombone Quartet, Popes of Chillitown, The Scissors, Jacqui & Geoff and lots of others, and I will miss you.

Goodbye, my little car, and thank you.



*sniff*

Friday 2 March 2012

Voodoo Trombone Quartet - New Single

It's March, which means it's only a matter of days before the VTQ release our new single 'Hello! Who Are You?' We're very proud of the new track, a more positive and uplifting track you won't hear all year.

The release will be at my favourite music night ever, Ultrazang! It's the first time the VTQ have played the Zang, although I'm considered a veteran :) This time Ultrazang will be held at the John Peel Arts Centre, in Stowmarket on 31st March, and we're very proud to be performing there.

Also performing that night are The Scissors (Cambridge collision between The Doors and Teardrop Explodes), Robert Castellani (finalist in the 2011 Acoustic Guitar of the Year competiton) and Butterfly, headed by the Zang's own Chris Hollands. I've put a few videos of them below, you can see we'll be in good company!

Here is a sneak peek of the new single. Listen, it will make your insides and outsides smile :)


Tuesday 28 February 2012

More New Stuff...

...you lucky people!

This is it for a while though, until I make a decision about building a shinier cleverer website in wordpress.

I've added a new audio clip to www.skasaxophone.co.uk especially for all you Madness fans. There are a bunch of new shots on the Images page, from my recent shoot with AWE Photograpy. Thank you Kevin, they look splendid.

Enjoy!

x

Monday 27 February 2012

New Stuff

I'm taking advantage of this extra day in February to get a bucket load of new stuff uploaded. I've added a new clip of 'One Step Beyond' to my video page, and I'll be adding an mp3 of 'My Girl' this week too.

I've also had the photoshoot results through from AWE Photography and they look fab. Live shots and portfolio, I'll upload them on here once I've figured out the best widget way of doing it. I'm thinking Flickr, but if you can think of other (better) ways, do drop me a line on twitter @saxylizbeth.

So, off to the video page with you. Prepare to skank!

Lizbeth

Monday 20 February 2012

Ok, so it's not ska...

...but it's a brass intro not to be messed with.

In honour of Dexys new album out this year, and the fact that Big 10 blew Over Community Hall apart with this on Saturday night...enjoy the new addition to my audio page :)

x

Thursday 16 February 2012

New Saxy Ska Audio Clips

I love half term, it gives me the time to do fun things like adding lots of new audio to my website.

Check out the new clips from my recent gig with Big 10 at The Junction, Cambridge. Our set included lots of Madness and The Specials, but the Bad Manners songs always have an extra energy.

Click on the page Ska Saxophonist available, or via www.skasaxophone.co.uk. I've put a selection on my audio page on the main site too.

Do leave comments if you like them, or even if you don't! You can tweet me on @saxylizbeth too.

Enjoy!

Sunday 12 February 2012

End of an Era

This time last week Cambridge was covered in white, there was a 4 foot pile of snow next to the house where I'd dug my car out, and I spent my last day as a Pope, finishing the recording of the Popes of Chillitown debut album.

Eight songs in two days with two saxophones, many cups of tea, a blizzard, and the cutest kitten on the planet. With PoC drummer Jack and Paul Jones handling the mic fiddling and knob twiddling, I played the songs I hadn't played for months one last time.

Here are some pics from the recording session. It's been a pleasure, guys. I am proud to have been involved.



Monday 30 January 2012

Big 10 & The Skanx

This Friday is the first public gig of the year for Big 10, at The Junction in Cambridge. We're definitely looking forward to this one, as we've brought our London pals, The Skanx, up to support. They're a 9 piece ska band, mostly originals (a few cheeky covers) and a huge sound. Here's a video of them playing Oxford last year.



As well as that marvellous bunch, Big 10 have new songs in the set, and new merchandise too. Details of tickets and times can be found here.

See you down the front.

Friday 27 January 2012

New Ska Website

One Ska band I gig with regularly is Ska Wars, a Leeds/London based (yes, really) band who have got a shiny new website!

Lead by Bobba Fatt, we play all the regular ska covers, and a few that don't turn up in the usual 2tone set. I've been called for Horntrooper duty several times now, and I bloody love it.

I'll be gigging with them in Blackpool next month, I'll post details on my gig page as soon as they're confirmed. In the meantime check out the website www.skawars.net

Wednesday 25 January 2012

Cambridge Wind Band

To keep my reading skills sharp, and in all honesty, because I love it - I've joined a wind band this month. Cambridge Wind Band is a new venture (they still have a few vacancies for trombones, bass clarinet) and after only two weeks is sounding like a band that's been together for years.

It's not Ska, but still sounds like the side of a house. This recording of North Texas Wind Orchestra performing 'Toccata Marziale' by Vaughan-Williams is one of my all-time favourites, and contains some of the best counterpoint ever written. Enjoy.



If you are interested in joining, or would like to know about our concert dates, please email cambridgewindband@gmail.com

Thursday 5 January 2012

Happy New Year!

Ok, so I'm a few days late.

Looking back at 2011, it was an amazing last year with lots of gigs, meeting new friends, joining new bands and of course, leaving one very special old one.

2011 was the year I found Big 10 and left Popes of Chillitown, although I'm recording the album with them this month. It was the year the Voodoo Trombone Quartet opened for Bellowhead at Chagstock, and we managed to record our 3rd album in half the time the 2nd one took.

2011 was the year I decided my chosen career as a Ska Saxophonist. 2012 is the year I get on with it.