Where musicians are family
A very pleasant late afternoon and evening in town with Mark, which began at The Rooftop, St James’s, just off Trafalgar Square. Understandably for January, enjoying the superb view from the outdoor tables was somewhat tempered by the very cool temperature.
I have recorded eight videos during December and these focus on a range of issues currently facing professional musicians, principally those working in the live arena, in education, the orchestral sector, recording and broadcasting, theatre and touring.
I drove into town this evening to collect my suit order from Adam of London in Berwick Street, Soho. Upon arrival at the superb stocked outfitters, I met Steve Tannett, Music Director and Head of Marshall Records.
Our highly-respected PR agency, Kindred, has delivered the latest report on the media coverage of the MU’s activities once more. This time for the months of November and December 2021.
I am delighted to confirm that I am standing as a candidate in the forthcoming MU General Secretary election. I welcome the support of all MU members and anyone wishing to learn more of my plans is encouraged to contact me.
UK Music Chief Executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin hosted the annual event for its communications representatives today at the Groucho Club in Soho. The attendance list was understandably smaller than usual, courtesy of safety concerns.
I joined an entertaining online meeting this evening, hosted by documentary film maker Alan Boyd, in which legends of the session music world gathered to watch the scenes recorded to date for One More Time.
I have just spent a very worthwhile evening in the welcome surroundings of the legendary Half Moon in Putney, south west London, enjoying superb performances by the award-winning Robert Vincent and the evergreen Peter Bruntnell.
Tomorrow’s Warriors, the exemplary charity set up by Gary Crosby OBE and Janine Irons MBE to support and sustain our up and coming jazz musicians, is celebrating its thirtieth year of operation.
I joined MU colleagues, staff from the Ivors Academy and supporters of the Broken Record campaign in the Members’ Dining Room at the House of Commons this evening.
A visit to the West End proved very productive, with time spent at the jazz club in the basement of Pizza Express, Dean Street; at the Phoenix Theatre in Charing Cross Road; the extremely helpful team at NOTOM in Denmark Street; and at St Pancras.
A meeting of notable music advertising sales contacts and clients in town this lunchtime.
An energised crowd of musicians and Parliamentarians gathered in Westminster outside the Houses of Parliament at lunchtime today to mark the publishing of Kevin Brennan’s Private Member’s Bill, which is set to be debated in the House on the 3rd.
A cracking evening at the Chandos in Colindale, north London, courtesy of the regular Sunday Just East of Jazz club night, this week featuring the top class line-up of saxophonist Derek Nash, vocalist Noel McCalla, drummer Rick Finlay, bassist Phil Scragg and keyboard player Mike Gorman.
The latest excellent edition of Music Week contains the full page advertisement I arranged on behalf of the MU, on the inside back cover, calling for the industry to join us and ‘Fix Streaming.’
An absolute pleasure to attend the press launch for the UK Americana Awards event last night at Omega in London Bridge. A superb evening, marvellously hosted by Stevie Smith and her team.
A final day at Rimshot Studios in Kent, making those key touches to my Waterloo Sunrise album with engineer and consummate host, Mike Thorne, and producer Greg Fitzgerald.
My son Ben is an army cadet with 143 detail in Shirley, Croydon, and today his group joined the 145 cadets in New Addington, the Fire Service, the police and St John’s Ambulance in honouring the armed forces who have given their lives in World Wars and recent conflicts.
I have begun an online gallery of pictures taken by Jonathan Stewart for the Waterloo Sunrise album project. This picture was taken in the Leake Street tunnel and features the stunning artwork of Olivierr. These can be seen on Instagram and via the hashtag #WaterlooSunriseAlbum.
I dropped into Crazy Coqs tonight, which is a club situated in the basement of the Zedel bar and brasserie, just off Piccadilly in London’s West End. The venue is a grand French art deco restaurant, sited in an historic 1930s building.
I attended “An Evening of New Jazz Fireworks” at Cadogan Hall this evening, which was presented by Hampstead Jazz Club and Lateralize Records.
Today saw the arrival of the second Kindred PR report for the MU, this time for the month of October. Items in The Guardian, i newspaper and the NME are featured, alongside links to Music Week, Billboard, Business Matters, The Meteor, MixMag and Sonic State.
I travelled into town this afternoon to meet up with photographer Joanna Dudderidge and Chair of the MU Executive Committee, trumpeter Dave Lee in Soho.
Photographer Jonathan Stewart and I attended the rehearsal and ‘Concert for Afghanistan’ this afternoon. The event had been organised by violinist Enrico Alvarez and was to be compered by John Suchet in the historic surroundings of St James’s, Piccadilly.
Visited Steve at Printstore this evening to work on the cover artwork for Waterloo Sunrise.
The Musicians’ Union, The Ivors Academy and Tom Gray, founder of the #BrokenRecord Campaign, have welcomed the decision by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to carry out a market study into music streaming.
Those who know me well, will be aware of my appreciation of a classic men’s outfitters. Especially those sporting the winning combination of a quality range and attention-to-detail service.
At the centre of this picture is a traditional phone box, which is a marker of an important moment in my teenage life. It was here that I made a call to a property agent in March 1978 and arranged to visit a flat that had been advertised in the Evening Standard.
I travelled back from Manchester this morning and immediately headed to EartH in Dalston and joined my MU colleagues Dave Webster, Kelly Wood and Jamie Pullman on the MU stand at the Music Venue Trust ‘Venues Day.’
The MU, in partnership with Lodestone PR, hosted an event at the Conservative Conference this evening.
Tribute to the excellent teams in the MU offices.
In partnership with Kindred PR agency, the MU consistently secures considerable media coverage for our campaigns and press statements. Kindred now kindly produce a monthly report on our PR activities and I distributed the first of these to senior Officials and colleagues this week.
The MU is delighted by the Government announcement that ‘splitter vans’ can be used by British musicians touring Europe. The MU has been lobbying to ensure musicians can continue to tour Europe post-Brexit using this type of vehicle.
It is September and therefore Conference season once more and today I was in Brighton for the gathering of the Labour Party faithful.
The MU Education team could be found at the Music & Drama Education Expo at London’s Business Design Centre today.
