Chronicle 13-18 Jan

In the last week, I’ve been…

• Adding violin parts to my big band pieces DARKMANS and Four Scenes on L’homme armé to be played by John Garner at a workshop on 20 Jan.

• Arranging Bill Bailey Won’t You Please Come Home for ELCB Big Band.

• Helping run a jazz workshop and performance at HAEC with Will Bartlett’s Acrobat Trio, on tunes including:

• Ensemble directing at ELCB, and teaching at HAEC,.

• Preparing to lead a jazz workshop for the Cambridge Jazz Co-op on 25 January on Stolen Moments and my original tune Lamb Chops.

• Setting up my new monitor speakers in my home studio.

• Planning activities and repertoire for my jazz ensembles at HAEC and ELCB.

• Collaborating with the ELCB committee to develop a fundraising strategy.

• Noodling about on Logic.

I’ve been listening to…

Make Your Stand - Acrobat Trio (thanks Will Bartlett); Stolen Moments - Oliver Nelson (never gets old, incredible soloing variation); Kaleidoscope of Rainbows - Neil Ardley (thanks Ed Rice); Trombone Shorty, New Orleans Heritage Hall Jazz Band; Dizzy Gillespie.

I’ve been reading:

Forces In Motion: The Music and Thoughts of Anthony Braxton, by Graham Lock

The New Silk Roads, by Peter Frankopan

I’m looking forward to:

Playing some brand new big band music with a bunch of great London jazz players on Monday, followed by seeing Anthony Braxton during his 3-day residency at Café Oto.