Rehearsals, gigs and radio

Life goes on of course. This week, half term, has been a good week for me in terms of playing music. Monday I got to play original music with friend, recording it so I won't forget what we did. Tuesday was Soul Beaver rehearsal night and we produced a swathe of new (cover) songs to play at our next gigs. On Friday the blues/rock trio Bridge Street worked through the whole current list of songs. I've noticed that, although I can remember many things I should have forgotten, I fond it very easy to forget what key a song is in. Even if I've played it a hundred times. Friday night was like that. One embarrassing mistake after another until my confidence returned and we all began to produce music to be proud of. At one point in the evening some younger people looked in through the window, nodding to the beat of the songs. Later they danced, shouting goodbye and waving before they left.

As well as all this playing I got to see the exquisite Sarah Maclachlan in Bristol on Wednesday night. A belated birthday present from a friend, this turned out to be one of the best concerts of the year, if not the last few years. A delight of styles and every note sung from the heart. She kept singing in ways that made you believe she was going to lose her way, only to be rewarded with astonishing, boundary breaking acts of vocal magnificence. As you can imagine, I had a great time.

And if all this wasn't enough, on the way home from Friday's rehearsal I tuned in to Radio 3, hoping to hear Mixing It, but too late. Instead I heard Jazz on 3 presenting Chick Corea live from earlier in the year. Red hot music played by people obviously having a great time. I can identify with that.