Róisín Marie Murphy is an Irish singer-songwriter and record producer. She first became known in the 1990s as one-half of the UK-Irish trip hop duo Moloko with her partner Mark Brydon. Murphy met Brydon in 1994 at a party, using the chat-up line “Do you like my tight sweater? See how it fits my body.” […]
The Staple Singers
It’s Sunday, time for a little gentle gospel music from those 1970’s doyens of of the genre – The Staple Singers. They were an American singing group. Roebuck ‘Pops’ Staples, the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha, Pervis, and Mavis. Yvonne replaced her brother when he was drafted into the […]
Robert Miles
Roberto Concina, known professionally as Robert Miles, was a Swiss-born Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ. Miles became proficient at playing the piano during his youth in Friuli, Italy, in the small town of Fagagna, where his family moved when he was young, and had been in the music scene since 1984. He worked […]
Summertime
As promised, I am following yesterday’s post on George Gershwin with one of my occasional ‘Which version do you like best?’ entries. Summertime from Porgy and Bess has become a jazz standard and has been covered by many artists since it’s composition in 1934. The song is sung several times throughout Porgy and Bess. Its […]
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned both popular and classical genres. George lived a boyhood not unusual in New York tenements, which included running around with his friends, roller-skating and misbehaving in the streets. Until 1908, he cared nothing about music. Then as a ten-year-old, he was intrigued upon hearing […]
Remembrance Day
As promised today we shall be thinking about Remembrance Day. I wish to honour those who gave their lives in conflict throughout history for what they believed to be a just cause. That being said I also want to remember that in many wars, particularly WW1 these brave souls were ‘Lions Led By Donkeys’ and […]
Mr Wilson’s Second Liners
I first encountered Mr Wilson’s Second Liners when they appeared as part of the ISAN Festival (Independent Street Arts Network) in Bradford during 2016. They were playing on the grass outside city hall to an enthusiastic crowd. Our recent visit to New Orleans with Dr. John and Hugh Laurie put me in mind of their […]
ZAZ
Isabelle Geffroy, better known by the nickname Zaz, is a French singer-songwriter. Her mother was a Spanish teacher, and her father worked for an electric company. In 1985, she entered the Conservatoire de Tours with her sister and her brother, attending courses from the ages of 6 to 11. She studied music theory, specifically the […]
Celebrate!
I am aware that it is Remembrance Sunday, and I will be addressing that on Wednesday 11th which is Remembrance Day, but I just felt today should be one of celebration because the results of the latest election in the United States perhaps give us some cause to believe that there is still some hope […]
Hugh Laurie
During my recent post on ‘Puttin’ On The Ritz’ I used a clip of Hugh Laurie playing the piano in the role of Bertie Wooster. This reminded me that he has developed a following as a musician in recent years and perhaps it was time to feature hi on this blog. So let’s begin again […]