Conference set up
Following my trips to this wonderful city for the TUC Congress and Drum Show, I am now spending a week at the Labour Party Conference and managing the MU’s annual stand at this landmark event.
Player of the Season
Beckenham Cricket Club held the Junior Awards tonight in Foxgrove Road for the Under 9s through to the Under 17s. Neil Coulson, Junior Chair, introduced the event by celebrating the players’ achievements both in Junior league cricket and in District and County teams.
Classical Awards
I attended the Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2023 this evening, where I hosted a table on behalf of the MU. This is the first time the Union has sponsored an award at the event and the night was a great tribute to the genre.
Black History Month
I was delighted to arrange the inside front cover of the Black History Month magazine in recent days. My thanks to the team at SMM Media and designer Chris Stenner for creating a superb design featuring rising star Lady Nade.
Partnership recording
I met MU in-house solicitor Dawn Rodger and Tim Northrop of NMD Solicitors this morning at the studios of producer James Reynolds in Parsons Green, west London, where James has expanded his already superb facilities to include a suite of podcast and video rooms.
TUC, Liverpool
An intriguing 24 hours in Liverpool, where I had been invited to attend the TUC General Council dinner at the Hilton Hotel.
Ashridge GC
An excellent day at Ashridge Golf Club in Hertfordshire, courtesy of Peter Leathem and all our colleagues at PPL. The forecast had been for hot weather of above 30 degrees C and so it proved.
Mitch Dalton
Legendary session guitarist Mitch Dalton played the Pizza Express basement club in Dean Street this evening with his top class band, which included piano and keyboard player David Arch (of Strictly fame).
Greg & Jennie
Julie, Ben and I enjoyed a wonderful day in the stunning grounds of Swarling Manor, Canterbury, for the wedding of Greg Fitzgerald and Jennie Griffiths.
Uncle Arthur
During our stay in Scotland, my sister Janet very kindly passed us some notable family photographs. Including this picture of Arthur Ames in his school’s first XI cricket team in 1926.
Melrose week
A lovely few days in the Scottish Borders with Julie and Ben, as we visited my sister and brother-in-law in Bowden. This gave us the opportunity to benefit from a number of hill walks plus take in the Edinburgh Festival.
Secretariat return
A pleasure to invite former MU colleagues to Eden Park as we hosted John Smith OBE and his wife Sandra, Horace Trubridge, Jane Austin, plus David Ashley and his partner Sarah.
Becks at home
The new football season is marked in classic fashion by a series of pre-competitive friendlies across the country and this afternoon saw Beckenham Town entertain Leatherhead in a fiesty clash.
MMF Summer Party
My thanks to the Music Managers’ Forum for the invitation to their Summer event this evening at Two Tribes Brewery, Campfire Taproom, Tileyard Road, N7. Great to catch up with Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, Paul Scaife, Stephen Budd, plus MMF’s leadership, Annabella Coldrick and Anneliese Harmon.
Ashes drama
Ben and I were to be found on the Laker balcony at the Oval today for the last day of the Ashes series. The weather once again did the teams no favours.
MU Conference
A successful and satisfying week in Birmingham as the MU hosted its biennial Delegate Conference at the Park Regis Hotel at the top of Broad Street.
UK Music party
UK Music’s annual Summer Party took place this evening in the elegant surroundings of the Institution of Engineering and Technology in Savoy Place, central London.
Lower Marsh
Julie and I caught the train into Waterloo this afternoon to drop in at Iklectika and ‘Waterloo’s Paradise’, a collection of artists’ units next door to Archbishop Park.
Yvette Cooper MP
I joined members of the local Labour Party this evening at Ruskin House in Croydon, as Yvette Cooper MP addressed those in attendance about current party policies and the state of politics in general.
Mags galore
An extremely pleasant lunch with Paul Geoghegan, Managing Director of the Music & Leisure Division at the Mark Allen Group. A suite of magazines, which includes Gramophone, Jazzwise, Songlines and the newly launched Musicals.
ELO Experience
Julie, Ben and I drove over to Croydon this evening for a much-awaited performance in the Ashcroft Theatre by the renowned ELO Experience. The band is the leading tribute to the marvellous songs and recordings of Jeff Lynne.
MPG by the River
A pleasant evening courtesy of the Music Producers’ Guild at the BFI, The Riverfront on the Southbank. Their summer event certainly attracted an enthusiastic crowd from across the industry. My thanks to Executive Director Cameron Craig for the invitation.
Southbank Saturday
A highly enjoyable afternoon courtesy of Julie, who kindly had bought tickets for us to ‘Witness for the Prosecution’ at the County Hall on the Southbank.
A crucial win
Ben starred as Beckenham CC 5th XI scored an important away victory this afternoon in Dulwich over league rivals Streatham & Marlborough CC.
The Musician (June)
The summer 2023 issue of The Musician is scheduled to be dispatched in print format to members from today. The 74th edition for which I have been editor. In line with members’ requests, the journal will also be available in audio, from the MU website as a pdf, and as a large print file in 24 point.
