About Me
November 2009
The year has flown by again, Christmas is just around the corner. This year has thrown up some great jobs including a real 'dream come true' gig over summer working on 'Thank You For The Music' for the BBC. It was great to meet Benny and Bjorn from Abba and to rehearse and sing their songs with singers like Chaka Khan, Kylie and The Feeling.
'Nine' is due out Boxing day and I've done a few other nice film scores this year, the big one probably being 'Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen', and it was good to be asked back to do the BVs for 'Britain's Got Talent' too. There's been a lot of live work this year and I've just done the Radio 3 reconstruction of 'The Good Companions' a musical written by Andre Previn and Johnny Mercer, and I'm about to do some lovely close harmony work for Radio 2's celebration of Johnny Mercer's music. The Proms concert of music from the MGM musicals was a concert never to be forgotten, the largest orchestra I have ever seen and some amazing arranging.
The end of the month will be spent at 'Ronnie Scott's' jazz club with Pete Long's Big Band, including some nice new arrangements of Christmas tunes, and then on to The Royal Albert Hall and the Birmingham Symphony Hall for the Gubbay 'White Christmas' concerts
December 2008
The year is coming to an end before it even seems to have started. It seems to have been non-stop since September. I've now fulfilled a real ambition by singing at the legendary Ronnie Scott's. It was a great night, Pete's band was on great form and the whole night was made even better by having so many friends in the audience. The band must have been on fire because we were booked to go over to Italy to perform for a wedding on the back of the show and, even after a never ending flight and coach trip, had a fantastic night in the hills of Perrugia - there are some pictures in the gallery.
Finishing my Masters was a real milestone, only topped by being awarded a Distinction. All that work now seems worthwhile.
The last month seems to have flown by with a series of White Christmas concerts for Raymond Gubbay, a Disney gala for Radio 2 and The Royal Variety Performance in the middle of it all...roll on 2009.
September 2008
It's been a really great summer for work - if not for weather. This weekend I sang at the Proms in The Park - a celebration of Andrew Lloyd Webber's work for his 60th birthday. I've done 3 of these Prom concerts now and they are such a great day - and an audience of 40,000 or so is quite a buzz. This year I got to work with Joss Stone, Lee Mead, Jason Donovan and cast members from loads of shows.
Last week was fun - rehearsals for the new Rob Marshall film, the musical 'Nine'. I guess working with Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench and Daniel Day-Lewis is a pretty good way to spend a week. I can't wait to record the score next week.
August was good, it was a real highlight to sing with Mica Paris and Craig David at the Palladium.
April 2008
Another good start to the year. The teaching is going great, we've just had a new intake at college so all the staff (that includes me) will have to perform for them at Freshers' Night this week - should be fun. The singing has gone well so far this year - and I'm thrilled that Leona Lewis has now topped the American charts as well as the UK! Even if I only did her backing vocals on the X Factor it was obvious to all of us that she was something special and it's good to see things working out for her. A couple of nice singing jobs have have already come in this year - in particular a trip to Dubai later this month, that'll be fun - and my own course of study (I'm doing a Masters) is going well too. If only it would just warm up a bit here - I need some summer sun!
Just found some YouTube footage of the Prince's Trust gig. Have a look, you'll only ever see my back - typical!
December 2007
It's Christmas Eve and things are just about ready for tomorrow. It's going to be a quiet day at home as the end of this year has been manic. The X Factor series went well again and involved even more work than in previous years; good luck to Leon, he's already got the Christmas number 1 so he's off to a great start. RyanDan have plans to release a few new singles and have released 'O Holy Night'' for Christmas with High' as the double A side.
I have had a great few months singing, including the usual 'White Christmas' shows at the Royal Albert Hall and The Birmingham Symphony Hall. I've also been out on tour with The RAF Massed bands, a great group of musicians and a real privilege to be out front singing for them.
Have a great Christmas and 2008!