Rythme Futur album launch

I seem to be playing a lot of jazz lately. Sunday night was the official album launch of Rythme Futur's new album, Yesterdays. Scroll down some posts back, and you will see the studio pics of those particular sessions, recorded at Tin Pan Alley studios. The CD has come out really nicely and you can get it either on gigs or drop me a note, and I'll put you in touch. I'm singing on about five tracks - hell, I'm even whistling on one of 'em!

We played our launch gig at Le Quecumbar, the top venue for gypsy jazz and Parisian swing. Everybody played well, but the duelling solos between Andy Aitchison on violin and James Evans on clarinet were something else. Sometimes virtuosity can be a bit alienating, as though it's just about instrumentalists pulling out all the tricks in their bag for the sake of it. Here, though, it really sounded like music as it should be: warm, inviting, inspiring and with a sense of humour. There were also star turns from the other troopers in the band: George Trebar on bass, Barrington Meyer on guitar and Simon Moore on guitar also.

If you've never been to Le Quecumbar, you should check it out. It's an entirely independent venue and feels as though you've walked into a stylish French bistro from the pre-war era, with live music virtually every night. I may well be back there with my own set-up, too. Watch this space.

Let it snow, let it snow

Well, this is the view from my study window today. I was due to be out pretty much all day - had three different appointments - but it was not to be. I've never seen so much snow in London. I feels a bit like a kid who's managed to blag a day home from school - except that my work is also at home, so there's no getting away from it!

I shall enjoy the snowscape, at any rate. And watching the few kids that live on our street making snowmen out on the pavement below.

As if that wasn't enough pictorial delight for one blog post, here are some photos of our show in Winchester on Saturday night, taken by a very nice man in the audience.

The show was a blast and we had a very appreciative audience. Nina Schofield set the tone in the first set with her beautiful vocals and slightly Tori Amos / R'n'B styled tunes. We also tried a few new tricks this time around: Andrew added extra welly, switching from electric to double bass on a few songs; we had manly warblings from Sam and Mark on backing vocals; and Sam got funky on the keys for a few numbers, which meant I could get up and jig about. Hooray!

Thank you to everyone who came, especially those old acquaintances who I hadn't seen for about 15 years - you know who you are! It was really great to meet people after the show - always one of my favourite bits of the evening.