A little video from the gig

For those of you wondering how my gig went: It went well. Here's a solo I played on one of the pieces. Unfortunately, the piano is very quiet (and the video is in portrait format).

Friday Album Recommendation: Vi & Tinga "Sempremente"

Today I would like to recommend the Bossa Nova album Sempremente by Vi & Tinga. It contains 11 beautiful original compositions with melodies that you will find hard to get out of your head. In particular the soft and touching guitar work by Björn Tinga is quite impressive and it goes well with the somewhat hypnotic voice of Vitória Magalhães Piai. Unfortunately, I cannot say anything about the lyrics, because I don't speak the language. Great album to bring you through a rainy winter day. You can listen to this album for free on bandcamp.com or buy in there.

Gig in Totnes

Hi,
On Sunday, 14th of December 2014, I play at the Landscove Village Hall. This gig marks the end of an amazing Jazz workshop I did under the leadership of Neil Maya. It starts at 7.30pm and it's free.

We will play:
- Tenor Madness
- Sweet Georgia Brown
- Milestones
- Night and Day
- Big Girl Funk Machine (by Neil Maya)

Hope to see you there.
Michael

Exploring Open Mic Nights (2)

I did check out the "Woodside" pub and it's a very nice location to practice playing solo in public. I think I will do my first open mic gig there. Maybe on the 21st of December if it's possible on that day. I would do it on the 14th, but that day, I will play a gig with my jazz course in Totnes, and one gig per day is sufficient for me.

"The Turning Point", original composition and solo

I composed a new tune last week. I tried to keep it as simple as possible. And since I like modal jazz very much, this is a modal piece. For the jazz buffs among you: It's a modal tune consisting of two bars of Eb mixolydian and two bars of Gb lydian with a very short, but beautiful melody.  I called this tune "the Turning Point" because composing jazz tunes on the piano is getting easier and a lot of fun.