Hi all. It’s been far too long since my last post, life and laziness having taken over, so here’s a quick one to ease me back into the swing of things. I’m just about to head off on my summer holidays – 2 weeks touring Scotland visiting family and friends in Glasgow, Edinburgh and the beautiful Isle of Skye. Before I go, a brief roundup of a few summer musical events.
Generally most of my own musical events break for the hols – and it’s always a bit of struggle to get my “lip” back in after the summer break if I’ve had a few weeks off playing the trombone. Like any physical exercise, it gets harder with age to keep the fitness levels up! Luckily my 2 bands carry on rehearsing as much as is practical, and both are performing over the August Bank Holiday long weekend.
Firstly my jazz band (sometimes called “Bring on the Swing”, sometimes called “Not Quite Jazz) perform on the afternoon of Sunday 30th August at the Ring O Bells, Marple. The Ring O Bells is great pub, just by the canal, with a very comfortable beer garden and every Sunday afternoon throughout the summer they host a different brass band – well to be precise 15 brass bands and one jazz band – us! It’s a great fun afternoon either outdoors if it’s sunny, or in the marquee if the weather is more traditionally bank holiday. Head on down for some beer and fun tunes.
http://www.ringobellsmarple.co.uk/music/brass-bands/summer-sunday-brass-band-concerts/
http://www.notquitejazz.co.uk/
My second gig of the bank holiday is on Monday 31 August at the cheekily named Glaston-Bury festival. It’s all in aid of a good cause, the Bury Hospice, so all similarities are forgiven.
The link above has yet to show details of this year’s event, but one of the bands performing will be my funk/rock band Lostock playing at Wyldes Bar, Bury from 3.15pm.
And whilst we’re it at – if you haven’t checked out the band website, please do at the link below. Hopefully Tim will have uploaded some new photos by the time this is posted, and make sure you check out the recordings – they’re pretty good!
Before I sign off, just a quick mention of a couple of festivals that are particularly close to my heart. They’re also both a great introduction to music styles that are impenetrable to many, jazz and classical. Give them a go!
http://www.manchesterjazz.com/
Sadly I’m missing all of this this year as it coincides with me being away – but if you’re local do give it a go if you haven’t done in the past. A whole bunch of eclectic music and some super venues – particularly the festival pavilion on Albert Square. There’s loads of stuff that’s very reasonably priced, or better still, free. There are short gigs that you can catch in your lunch hour or you can spend a whole day hanging out in the square, grab some beer and street food and dip in and out of several gigs. Definitely one of my favourite ways to spend a summer’s day in Manchester city centre. Turns out you don’t like the music? What have you lost? 40 minutes and a couple of quid. Go on – give it a try!
Confession – I’ve never actually been to a Prom concert. I never seem to be in London when they’re on. However, I do keep a close eye on what’s being programmed and like to catch up with what I can on Radio 3 or BBC4. Like jazz, classical music can seem a bit daunting, so I would heartily recommend, in particular, the BBC 4 TV coverage. Rather than sitting through a whole 2 hour concert, check out a piece you’ve never heard of and give it a go. Sunday nights, for instance, feature a bunch of different symphonies all introduced and explained by Halle Orchestra chief conductor, Sir Mark Elder. Yes, he’s posher-than-posh, but his knowledge of the subject and enthusiasm is infectious. Who knows, you might find out you like Stravinsky after all….
If there are any other events you have a burning desire to let us know about please feel free to pitch to your hearts content!
Happy holidays!