Yorkshire Music: News and Updates

Since it was first introduced to the internet, I've always like Wikipedia - it really is a great online resource for any number of subjects, including music. Sure, it's no Grove Dictionary of Music but it is a portal that is trusted by many, updated regularly and checked by those who are in the know about these things.


It also contains some wildcard pages like one I came across today - a list of songs related to Halloween! Certainly handy if you're planning to have a party tonight!

In honor of the Orange Man Project, the link to which a friend of mine has been passing around the email recently, I thought I'd blog on the subject of another seemingly natural human phenomenon.. or at least a phenomenon that seems to effect me: that one ear is more directly connected to the respiratory system than the other.

So, here's the experiment I urge you all to try - get some cotton wool buds and give your left ear a good poking. Stick it in far enough so that you can pull out some yellowy wax (but not far enough to actually, you know, penetrate your ear drum). Once you're all done with that try the same thing with the other ear.

Now, here's where the interesting bit comes in.... did poking your right ear make you cough?? And, if so, why didn't you get involuntary coughing when you poked your left ear? These, I feel, are some of the most crucial and profound questions of our times. Unfortunately, I do not have a logical answer to offer. Feel free to leave a comment if you can think of one..!!

For me, the highlight of last Monday's gig at Leeds Metropolitan University's Student Union bar was not the main act, Divine Comedy, but their support, the brilliant Duke Special.

This duo really epitomised the phrase 'less is more' by performing all of their songs on piano and drums with one single vocal line provided by the pianist. Thanks to a pianistic style that was pretty frantic at times, combined with really varied syncopations from the percussionist, Duke Special really managed to pull a bit sound out of the bag. They have a distinctive sound that's complemented by songs that are interesting and thought-provoking.

Definitely worth seeing, they're touring with Divine Comedy and offer limited free downloads from their website www.dukespecial.com Go visit and hear for yourself! :)

I wrote a blog a couple of months about the ridiculous red-tape involved in getting a Criminal Records Check and just wanted to update any prospective customers with children or young adults that my CRB disclosure has now gone through and, of course, come back 100% clear. Details are below:


Disclosure Number: 001143551349
Date of Issue: 23rd Oct 2006


The Enhanced Criminal Record Certificate that I hold is not evidence of my identity but it is relevant to sections 115 and 116 of the Police Act. It basically states that when a check was run against my details for the following things none were recorded:

Police Records of Convictions, Cautions, Reprimands and Final Warnings
Information from the list held under Section 142 of the Education Act 2002
Protection of Children Act List information
Other relevant information disclosed at the Chief Police Officer(s) discretion.


The top and bottom of it is that I don't have a criminal record and so pose no danger when working with children, which is a good job since I already work as a singing tutor in various schools and after-school clubs!!

My very reliable and hardworking cousin, Craig, has just stepped up his landscape and gardening business to a full-time occupation. He's working in the Bradford and Leeds areas and is available for any type of gardening jobs, no matter how big or small.

For further information about availability and rates, give him a call on 01274-638218 or 07708-528757 and ask for Craig Verity. He does not yet have a website up and running but would be happy to chat to you on the phone about your requirements!

I always think that the tradition in our society of calling for an encore is a very strange one. For a start, the whole thing is so very staged: when a band goes off stage (and especially when it's the main act) we expect them to come back on and do another one or two numbers before the end of the night. Equally, they expect the crowd to call for more - it is a declaration of adoration but, more than that, it is the validation that the group has been looking for from the very beginning of the performance.

Moreover, it is always obvious whether or not an encore is going to be performed - the venue will either raise the lighting or put other music through the PA system when they want to tell the crowd to get themselves off home. So, if the band says "Thanks and Goodnight" but the lights stay down and there's no other music playing for more than ten to twenty seconds then you can be sure that the band is coming back on for their swan song.

My question is this: why do we need to continue with this charade?? Yes, we like your music. In fact, we think you're so great that we shelled out £60 each for a ticket to see you play. So, do we REALLY have to watch you pretend to finish your set then yell out "More!" for a couple of minutes before you'll finish off the gig? Am I just being a party pooper here?? Maybe it's that time of the month or something?! :)

It beggars belief how stupid some people can be. For example, in a leaked memo, Greater Manchester Police asked detectives not to make planned arrests against Muslim people at prayer times during Ramadan. Apparently, the need to be 'sensitive' to other people's belief systems now extends to allowing known criminals freedom to worship at times when they ought to be being arrested and removed from our communities for the safety and security of the rest of us.

Not surprisingly, this faux-pas has not gone down well with most rational people, whatever their religious background - muslim people clearly feel as strongly as anyone else about the need to deal with criminals in an appropriate manner and would be much happier if they did not have to worry that wrong-doers in their own communities were intentionally left to their own devices during the Ramadan period - unarrested thanks to a decision made by GMP that seems to have confused the concepts of respect for others with plain negligence! In fact, Mohammed Shariq of the Ramadan Foundation, an Islamic youth organisation, has gone as far as to say "It's stupid, lunacy, that police could even consider not arresting Muslims during Ramadan."

I wonder when the idiots who run the police force are going to realise that racial equality is about treating people with the same level of decency whatever their race happens to be. This is not about positive discrimination and letting people off if they are a different colour or if there is a perceived need to be sensitive to their religion. There is no place for the race card in law enforcement (or any other system) and to implement a rule such as not arresting someone who is of a certain religious orientation does inter-community relations no good whatsoever. Such an idea puts us all at greater risk, patronises those who want to see justice done when the law is broken, and fans the flames of race hate.

Nice one Greater Manchester Police: you couldn't have thought up a more ineffective policy.

Don't know whether this is genuine but it arrived from a friend into my inbox today so it might be worth a try:


This Friday and Saturday (20th / 21st October) HMV.co.uk is offering you a 20% online discount*. Just use the promotional code: SQ1515 to save 20% on thousands of CDs, DVDs, games and accessories (future releases are excluded and terms and conditions apply.)

This is a Friends-and-Family offer, so please forward to anyone you think would enjoy 20% off at HMV.co.uk. Remember it's only valid for two days.

Best wishes,

The HMV.co.uk Team

The Borat sketches that have been passed around the internet numerous times over the last few months and that will be showing as a feature length movie this month are generally pretty offensive to most groups. Pretending to be a Khazakh tourist, this character coaxes people into giving away their most outrageous views, and just simply takes the michael out of them seemingly without their even realising it's happening.

Anyway, the government of Kazakhstan got a bit upset about this and in particular remarks that Borat made about their country, including that the age of consent to have sexual intercourse there had just been raised to 8. But, they really don't help themselves with blunders like the one made this week : the Kazakh bank has printed two thousand notes on which the word "bank" is spelled incorrectly! As if that itsn't bad enough, they intend to circulate them even knowing that the error exists.

Read the full story on the BBC Website.

According to a government report, known as Music Manifesto, the standard of school education in music across the United Kingdom is so varied as to be described as a 'postcode lottery'.

The details of this report go on to say that there are "pockets of excellence" around the country that the rest of the national education system should be using as a positive example to bring the nationwide standard up. Of course, this could be interpreted as an indication that the majority of local education authorities are failing in their duty to bring excellence in music education to the children of today. Hardly surprising, really, since funding for extra-curricula music activities such as the running of choirs and orchestras and the providing of one-to-one vocal and instrumental tuition for pupils in England and Wales seems to have continued be reduced over the past decade.

Certainly, when I was at school lessons in as many instruments as a pupil would want to play were provided free of charge to parents and many groups were organised by the music department after schools. But with the reduction in financial backing and the ever increasing demands on teachers, I'm afraid those days seem to be over. However, it is clear from the report that many teachers and LEA's continue to work hard to provide the best possible musical opportunities for every young person that comes through the school system and these groups and individuals should be congratulated for their outstanding work.

My personal experience of working as a peripatetic pianist / music teacher in primary schools around the Bradford area is that most schools continue to be grossly overstretched to the point that musical activities simply have to take a position of secondary importance. Too often I have visited schools where the teachers responsible for the class don't even know what it is the kids should be doing in their music lessons, let alone conduct the sessions, giving them a sense of structure and purpose. Infact, I have often been told by staff on duty that they have no idea what repertoire the regular teacher (usually a person brought in from outside to teach singing) works from and where in the school building the necessary resources are located. This is not a slur on these schools or the staff that work in them: simply a fact that is all to easy to observe - music is not treated as an important, serious academic subject because teachers and support staff really don't have the time or energy to bestow this status upon it, thanks to the numerous other pressures weighing down on them, for example in maintaining high standards in literacy and numeracy.

So, it is good that this report has come along to shine a light on the problems that schools are facing and to help them get the assistance they require from the relevant LEA. I hope that this initiative has a marked and notable effect on music education in our schools all year round, not just in National Music Week for Schools.

How many people do you know who have recently purchased a second, third or fourth property, or very soon plan to do so? If you’re social group is anything like the ‘average’ then the chances are you’ll be acquainted with a number of these people and will possibly be one yourself!

As property prices in the UK continue to rise, more homes are being bought up, most often on money borrowed from the bank over a long period of financial commitment, that in turn stimulates the market, encourages those who are already in a financially secure position to take advantage and take a step or two up the ladder, further increasing house prices and isolating those on lower incomes and those who do not already own a property from getting into the system in the first place. Ironically, this latter group are the very people who are then forced to rent a home from those who have been able to take out further credit – thus, they pay the mortgage that they cannot themselves afford to get whilst simultaneously lining someone else’s pocket: someone who is already much better off than they are.. or, so they think.

You might ask how this is different from ten or twenty years ago when traditional landlords owned dozens of properties that they rented out to many less fortunate families? I think the shift that has taken place is really one of the choices available to young people and those in lower income brackets. Simply put, there is no longer a choice for these groups. As a result of the greedy, paranoid society that has developed into the beginning of the 21st century in this country, young people are faced with options ranging from relying on financial assistance from their parents (which isn’t always forthcoming or available), renting a property at an enormously over-inflated monthly rate, or else (where possible) getting onto the property ladder by signing an agreement that locks them into a commitment over a period covering their entire working life – a future that is simply far too long to make an accurate prediction of uninterrupted employment. Of course, for those who are in unskilled jobs and / or are single, even this latter option is not on the table and since most undereducated people stem from a background of poverty and inopportunity, a lifetime of paying someone else’s 2nd or 3rd mortgage is likely to be on the cards for these unfortunate people.

It’s not as if I don’t understand the reasons why many people are now rushing out to increase their mortgage commitments, either to make improvements to their homes or to purchase additional properties: there is a strongly held belief that, when it comes to the long-term future for those who are in work now, and for their children soon to enter the working world, the government will let us all down, bail out on providing a decent pension and leave us high and dry but for the investments we have made ourselves in the years when we were able to do so. But, I’m afraid that this fosters a false hope that, like in a game of Monopoly, buying up as much property as possible to get above the waterline will lead to long term financial security, and presumably to hell with those who fall by the wayside. Personally, I can’t see that this is a realistic view: most purchases of additional properties and home improvements are being made on some form of credit and although it is true that the average income is also on the rise the rate at which it is growing is nothing compared to that of the debt this country is sinking into. Sooner or later, the bubble has to burst – it might start with a few people finding that they’re deeper in credit than they had anticipated or with some major event such as a war, but the landslide is all set up like dominos ready to fall.

My view is that it is time for people to start taking responsibility for all our futures, realise that buying up properties is not only foolhardy but that it is also supporting and encouraging the growth of a system that is totally sick – a system that feeds off the greed and insecurities of those who are currently financially better off than most, leading them down a path to inevitable hard times ahead, while also abandoning those who are desperately clinging onto the thin end of the wedge. A return to affordable housing for all is essential if we are to regain a fairer society in which first-time buyers do not have to sign away an entire lifetime for the privilege of having a place to live that will not be lifted from beneath their feet at the drop of a hat, or a downturn in the economy. Perhaps a depression in the market is what it will take to curb the spiralling selfish attitude towards property in our society. If that’s the case, then so be it.

After a short break for the summer, Bradford Music Club is very much back open for business and on track to bring many new and unheard musical talents to a local stage that prides itself on its friendly atmosphere of support and encouragement for all who wish to perform.

Last night's event was no exception to this rule: pieces played varied from an arrangement for flute and piano of Schubert's Gute Nacht (the opening lament of the Wintereisse song-cycle) to a vocal duet of Heart Like a Wheel to the French chanson d'amour of Gabriel Faure, Apres un Reve. The musical experience of performers varies hugely but one thing that is assured is an appreciative audience, partly made up of others who get up to play or sing.

These Bradford Music Club meetings take place on the penultimate Sunday of each month at the Quaker Meeting House in Yeadon, Leeds. Performances normally get started by around 7pm - if you're interested in performing or would just like to enjoy an entertaining evening of mixed musical styles and genres, come along for the next one which is on November 19th, or the following event on December 17th. Contact me for any further details.

I've been working with the Stampede Theatre Group again over the last couple of weeks, this time as a rehearsal pianist for their production of the hugely popular Broadway musical Annie, due to open in Yeadon this December. And, it's got to be said that even after just a few weeks of rehearsals, it's clear that this is going to be a great show.

Once again musically directed by Sylvia Shepherd, the cast for this production of Annie is very strong indeed with some great voices and big personalities, including Joe Morrow as Mrs Hannigan, the drunken manager of the orphanage. Certainly a show to warm you into the Christmas spirit and one not to miss if you're anywhere near the Yeadon are at the beginning of the festive season.

Annie will be opening on 12th December (also my 30th birthday, as it happens!!!) at Yeadon Town Hall. Contact me for further details of how to get hold of tickets.

I was lucky enough to get to the Topic Folk Club's weekly meeting lastnight in time to see a couple of great folk performers get on stage.

Accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, Gordon Tyrrall sang many well-known folk tunes and took an interestingly alternative approach to some more modern songs that one wouldn't normally associate with the folk scene. A couple of his songs were memorable as much because of their rhythmic content as the pitch or lyrics - I found myself spellbound as I tried to keep on top of the different time signatures that Gordon performed, seemingly totally comfortable with playing tunes that either mask their main pulse under a blanket of syncopation or that contain incredibly complex combinations of strong and weak beats. Wonderful to hear.

The other special guest at last night's meeting was David Moss, who wowed crowds firstly with unaccompanied fiddle music (mostly playing melodies of Celtic origin), then with his amazing vocal talent, accompanying himself on bouzouki. But, I think the part of this performance, by the former front-man of Banoffi, that most intrigued the audience was when he used Mongolian overtone chanting techniques within his folksongs.

This really was something else - using this specialist vocal method, David is able to sing multiple notes simultaneously. Of course, most sounds produced by voices and / or instruments can be broken down into the main pitch and a series of overtones that actually dictate the timbre of that sound (this is why a violin sounds like a violin and a flute sounds like a flute, even when they are playing the same note), but these overtones are so subtle that the listener is rarely conscious of them. Overtone singing, however, is a technique that brings these sounds to the forefront, standing them alongside or even in front of the main pitch, resulting in a whole collection of notes being clearly audible. David Moss seems to have this technique mastered because he used it to wonderful effect - watching him do this was rather like seeing aliens in an episode of Star Trek trying to communicate... it was so odd to know that only one person was singing in the room, without the assistance of a microphone (let alone any other live sound manipulation equipment) and yet I could hear at least two notes making up a drone plus one or two more providing a sense of melody. Really excellent stuff - I'm intrigued enough to try to find out more about this method!

In the meantime, you can catch David Moss giving his 'Musical Bridges' tour - see my forum entry for details. Also on my forum is information about forthcoming Topic Folk Club events. Many great performers are coming up (including an appearance by the original Scarlet Heights duo - a band that performed regularly at Maguires pub back in the day) and there is usually some opportunity to get up and do some singing or playing if you wish to do so. Non-members are always welcome : my friend and I were made to feel very much a part of the group lastnight.

I've been reading a really interesting interview with a well-known saxophonist from Seattle called Skerik. Although I'm not particularly familiar with this person's music, I was intrigued by his remarks to Glide Magazine because they confirm everything I've always felt about what is really important for a musician preparing a performance or recording :

...after a certain while there’s an amount of mechanical knowledge
absorbed. It’s mostly like a mental state. You can practice all you want, music
theory and technical stuff, but unless you have a philosophical idea on what
music should be and what life is, then none of that theory is going to help you
because you’re not going to have any context for it. So you get to a certain
age, after a certain amount of study, it’s more about building context and
philosophies for the music to exist in.

Personally, I don't think it's even about age as much as it's about an awareness of self and one's environment. Yes, in order to be a great performer (and I'm certainly not claiming that I'm personally anywhere close to that state!) you need to have done the ground work, practised the scales and arpeggios, gotten to know the rhythms, keys and / or modes inside out, really made friends with your instrument of choice etc. - this supplies you with the technical 'knowledge' that Skerik refers to in the quote above. After that it all hangs on personality: what you have to say through the medium of music and then how you go about conveying those things.

In vocalists it's usually pretty clear who just sings the melody and who really thinks about what they're saying in the music, allows the individuality of their personality to interpret it and brings that understanding through in the nuances of their performance: bringing the lines and dots off the page and injecting life into them.

With instrumentalists it can be more difficult to sift through the technically brilliant performers to find the gems who really bring themselves to a gig, recital or recording session. I like to think, though, that the more we are involved in music the more tools we acquire to make this transition happen and so most of those who have found the time to perfect their instrumental technique will also have been afforded the opportunity to deal with the more important aspects of music. In many ways, though, listening to an imperfect effort that brings the audience closer to the performer(s) is more fulfilling for everyone involved than when an audience is subjected to a note-perfect but mechanical rendition - but the two positive elements combined can trigger the most profound response. This way, when you listen to a really good concert pianist, a rapper or a bass player, you get the benefit of finding out something about who they are - what they want to say, rather than just being shown a glorified programme.

Snooker star and Leeds lad, Paul Hunter, has died at the age of 27 after fighting cancer of the stomach.

This Yorkshireman had everything going for him - a talented sportsman, he had a young family and as many material things as money could buy, thanks to his successful career as a snooker player. As this region mourns the loss of one of its most successful sons in recent years, we will also be reminded that riches and fame don't bring happiness any more than they can halt the onset of illness and death.

Paul Hunter, rest in peace.

A kind Freecycler has a piano to offer to anyone who is able to collect it from the Keighley area. According to this morning's post on the Ilkley Freecycle forum, this upright instrument needs some cosmetic attention but plays alright - would probably be ideal for a beginner to intermediate player.

For further information contact eckisix@yahoo.co.uk

I just caught 10 minutes of a programme on BBC4 lastnight called Piano: A Love Affair, about people who are passionate about learning, playing and listening to the piano. The presenter, Alexander Waugh, seemed a bit more obsessive than passionate, if I'm honest, but the part of the show I saw was a good watch - I do hope the BBC repeats the whole programme at some point.

Some of the characters that Waugh caught up with included Jools Holland, a group of 'piano holiday makers' at the Malvern Hills Piano Holiday, some students in Sheffield who some months ago could not get their piano up the garden stairs to their house so instead had it bolted down to the pavement in the street outside (much to the annoyance of the local council and some select neighbours, but also to the delight of many local and national pianists who visit the city just to play this notorious instrument), and Damon Albarn (of Blur and Gorillaz) who's passion for the instrument goes much further than its use in Western classical and rock musics.

I think my favourite part of the programme (at least, of the bit I saw of it) was when Waugh attempted to teach a beginner to play the piano in 3 half-hour lessons. Attempting to side-step some of the more literal, academic issues such as notation, Waugh instead opted to look at improvisation techniques and made some bold but often overlooked observations about the nature of the pianoforte's timbre in its various registers, noting for example that notes that are close together on the lower end of the keyboard sound 'stodgy' when played together, so the advice to his new student was to try to separate the notes she chose to play in the left hand while note clusters in the right hand (further up the keyboard) worked much better.

Interesting stuff anyway.

Tomorrow is the start of Leeds College of Music's lunchtime chamber concert season and it will get kicked off to a great start with the Russian pianist Eduard Kunz playing pieces by Scarlatti, Haydn, Debussy and Rachmaninov.

Lunchtime concerts will take place at LCM's 'The Venue' every Wednesday from this week and every week for the next few months. Admission is free of charge to all events (with the request that those who can afford it make a donation on their way out of the auditorium).

This week's musician, talented young pianist Eduard Kunz graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music with both the RNCM Piano Prize and the RNCM Gold Medal for performance. Born in Russia he studied at the prestigious Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire and has been a major prize-winner in a succession of international piano competitions, including the Netherlands International Piano Competition, the Grand Konzerteum International Competition and the Dudley International Piano Competition. In June 2004 he was awarded a prestigious Dame Myra Hess Award in London. Eduard’s recent engagements include the Tchaikovsky and Schumann concertos with the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

For further details about this and all other Leeds Classical Music performances this year, visit the Leeds Concert Season website.

According to The Bereavement Register, the most requested song for funeral services this year is Goodbye My Lover, by James Blunt. Not entirely surprising given that the main hook is the line "Goodbye my lover / goodbye my friend", but you'd think people would be a bit more original about the kind of music they choose to send off their nearest and dearest.

In any case, I'm not sure that the lyrics of this particular Blunt song are appropriate : I've had heated discussions in the past with a number of friends who interpret them in entirely different ways. If you don't know the song (where have you been for the past 12 months??!!), here are the words :




For me, this is a song written from the viewpoint of a person about to take their own life as a result of the heartbreak caused by a broken relationship. I think the second verse really points to this with the lines "As you move on remember me / remember us and all we used to be" and "I cannot live without you."

In any case, the vocal performance on the original recording of this song is absolutely stunning - it's clear that James Blunt is a creative songwriter but this even is overshadowed by the manner in which he delivers his songs. When the magic moment of the song appears with the line "And I still hold your hand in mine / in mine when I'm asleep" the whole tone of the piece shifts to a reflective acceptance of the situation. Blunt brings the whole thing down - the timbre changes with the mood-change. Wonderful stuff. Pity it seems to only get played these days when someone carks it!