Music from my Synth – Jazz/Rock

Page Contents

Songs – History – Influences – Equipment – Friends – Spot

Songs

Clicking on the titles listed below will play them for you.

“Revelation on the Road to Ely” – It happened on the road of discovery for the Bard of Ely. A revelation…..

“Bluer Than Blue” – You know what “blue” is? Well, this is bluer than that. Floydian.

“Ice and Fire” – Ice interacting with fire – as a fanjet turbine cutting through the stratosphere, or maybe as a Southern Comfort plus ice.

“Kingfisher”  – Here’s our band “Totem3” in all its glory. Steve Andrews (the mad greenbeard) sings his own composition while accompanied by Alan Mansfield’s harmonica and my “rhythm-and-blues band”.

“Imogen May” – Schmoozy fifties easy swing jazz, a slow foxtrot to celebrate my younger daughter’s marriage to Frank. Her name is Imogen May.

“Stadium Time” – You are walking into a stadium where the band “JazzRoc” is playing. You step through the backstage corridors until you arrive at the stage door. You enter…

“Another Day”  – A plaintive reggae blues song co-composed and sung by Alan Mansfield. This theme is familiar to all, and perhaps reflective on the consequences of boredom and drink…

“Dancing As One”  – Paul Jones plays his co-composition to my “small rock-and-roll dance band”. It’s a “Last Waltz”, and couples shuffle softly over the darkened floor, dancing so close that you can’t see any gaps…

“Hanging in the Air”  – My “jazz quintet” (piano, sax, organ, bass, drums) gets down to play a natty twelve-time number which represents the freedom of hang-gliding, soaring like a bird, expanses of land laid out before one’s eyes, and solitude…

“My Mind’s Made Up”  – Totem3 closes this performance with a wickedly onbeat song composed, sung, and accompanied on the harmonica by Alan (The Harp) Mansfield. He’s definitely leaving this town…

 History

My Band History:

1959-’65 – Bass guitarist and pianist in a dozen rock bands in South England.

1989-95 –  Studio technician, sampler and composer, London.

1996 to date – Composer, works: “Voyage” and “World-of-Wisdom” CDs. Technician for “Twelve” and “Out There” by Michael Cartwright. “Crazy Paving”, “Jazzroc” , “JazzRoc’s World”, “My Joanna”, co-composed with Paul Jones, and “Totemized” with the singing composers Alan (The Harp) Mansfield and Steve (Bard of Ely) Andrews.

Influences

My influences:

“Nutrocker” by Bee Bumble and the Stingers started me playing, Everleys (started me singing!) Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Hollies, Beatles, Stones, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Tina Turner, John Mayall, Steve Winwood, Stevie Wonder, Monk, Davies, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Zappa, Chaka Khan, Nat King Cole, Sinatra, Basie . . . much more!

Equipment

My Equipment:

M-Audio Keyrig 49 Keyboard, M-Audio Fast Track Pro, Pentium Dual, Spirit Folio Desk, Technics SU-V300 Class A Amp, 30yr-old Wharfedales, Beyer mike, Windows XP SP3, Cakewalks Pro 8 and 9, 3 different Jammer sets, Cubase and a plethora of VSTIs.

Friends

This is a difficult gap to fill from a remote island early on, so-to-speak, because of the relative rarity of recording equipment – especially in the sixties. The incredible change of the present day from the past is still difficult for me to comprehend.

Well. Here’s one: Pete Downes whom I’ve known and admired for about fifteen years now. He has a website at Petedowns.com. Here’s his “Street Scene”:

He’s quite an all-rounder, so ferret through…

Spot

 

My Favorite spot?

View of La Gomera Island from Las Americas, Tenerife. Do you like surfing? It’s spring all the year here. If you like the cold you can climb Mt. Teide.(12,000 ft)