Author Archives:

About Jay

Musician, aesthete, lover of concord.

Come to His presence

Posted on 18 August 2011

I wrote the first verse of this gospel song about five years ago and added the other two verses just a few months ago. Jen and I played at my friend Peter’s wedding in All Souls, Langham Place, London a … Continue reading →

Posted in composition, songs | 1 Comment

Grace and poise

Posted on 16 August 2011

This weekend, New Dublin Voices took part in a production of ‘Singin’ In The Rain’ at the National Concert Hall. It was a full week of rehearsals starting with the conductor, John Wilson, putting us through our paces on Monday … Continue reading →

Posted in Brilliant, Intellectual, links, New Dublin Voices and other choral singing, reviews and reports, Technical, what I'm up to | Leave a comment

Pure beauty

Posted on 10 August 2011

Nothing for weeks, and now two posts in as many minutes! Just saw that Michael McGlynn had posted this. Knowing some of the strange and awful things I’ve gotten wind of from Michael before (I’m thinking of a particularly hideous … Continue reading →

Posted in Brilliant, Technical | Leave a comment

Gotye and Jacob Moon

Posted on 10 August 2011

Great/brilliant song by Belgian/Australian singer/songwriter Gotye (his spelling of the French name ‘Gaultier’). I was watching the video (posted on Facebook by my musical maven friend, Jill Deering) and thinking he looked a bit like Sting, just without the high … Continue reading →

Posted in Brilliant, Technical | 1 Comment

Scorn Not His Simplicity

Posted on 13 July 2011

My Dad was a big fan of Phil Coulter. He was at Queen’s at the same time as Phil and liked to tell us about the time Phil locked him and a bunch of other students in a room on … Continue reading →

Posted in composers, lovely performances, lyrics and lines I especially admire, togetherness | Leave a comment

Kimbra

Posted on 9 July 2011

This is quite cool indeed—a speeded-up view of what goes into making a music video. Watch this and then the finished version of this catchy tune, ‘Cameo Lover’, by New Zealander Kimbra. Her album will be out in August and … Continue reading →

Posted in links | 1 Comment

4 in a Bar

Posted on 18 June 2011

I supported the barbershop quartet, 4 in a Bar, at their CD launch at The Workman’s Club on Wednesday. I did my three best Sting covers: ‘Roxanne’, ‘Seven Days’ (with obligatory story…), and ‘Message In A Bottle’. I also did … Continue reading →

Posted in Brilliant, links, reviews and reports, Technical, what I'm up to | Leave a comment

Toast

Posted on 15 June 2011

Here’s another poem done as an exercise from Stephen Fry’s ‘The Ode Less Travelled’. It’s from the chapter on Anglo-Saxon Attitudes and the apprentice poet is tasked with writing some lines on food using the alliterative principle. Each line of … Continue reading →

Posted in composition, The Ode Less Travelled | Leave a comment

Jonny Boyle

Posted on 15 June 2011

It’s my friend Jonny Boyle’s birthday today. He is a brilliant guitar player—melodic, jazzy, and musical beyond belief. He is doing a couple of workshops in his home town of Carrickfergus on 25 June, one called ‘Jazz Up The Blues’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Brilliant, forthcoming events, links, Technical | Leave a comment

Cows

Posted on 13 June 2011

I picked up Stephen Fry’s excellent book, ‘The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking The Poet Within’, after stalling with it a few years ago. All through he advocates reading poetry aloud and gives space for lots of practice. This is one … Continue reading →

Posted in The Ode Less Travelled | Tagged | Leave a comment