Happy New Year!
Like a lot of musicians, i’m not over busy at this time of year, in these latitudes the nights are long and the temperatures are low but time for taking stock and making plans.
I’d have to say that 2010 was a good year for me, musically I had several of those moments where you think that maybe you didn’t waste your life learning an instrument after all: the Gathering continues to be a joy, and its live offshoot, the Infinite Monkey Orchestra managed another memorable performance with Simon Fell on bass.
Meanwhile, I’ve got two finished CD’s on the launch pad: ‘Human’ with Maggie Nicols is a 50 minute collage of improvisations, found sounds and poetry that we took 18 months to assemble, while the second amere3 album is a classic bass/drums/sax recording with a classy sound and some fabulous playing. Recording-wise I’m continuing to work on Steve Boyland’s solo album as well, which, true to form, has developed into something a lot more complex.
But the best bits, as in 2010, will be the things I haven’t seen coming. Kind of like the best improvisation, really.