The HG blues

some light-hearted honest blues (which is definitely not about you)

The city of opportunities

An opportunity came up for me to play some saxophone at nursing home I work at some days. I’ve played and sang in a variety of places but this was a new one. The residents came down to the lounge, the backing CD primed and off I went playing some blues “Cry me a river”, “Hit the road Jack” and others.

Half way through a nurse brings a second student nurse in, who, unbeknown to me is a piano player. Off went the backing CD and then we started jamming and taking requests including “Moon River”. To play for people at the sharp end of their diagnoses and to see their smiling faces was precious. Faces were lighting up. Was some much fun to be able to bring some joy to people who  really could do with it. Just for context, two residents had died that week and two more the previous week. 

For me the purpose of music is to touch people emotionally. Whatever form that takes. The more emotional attachments you make to music the powerful it is. That's what I hope to bring across in the stuff I play, write and sing and am thankful for opportunities like these in which I can do so, because for me that is what music is all about.

B flat blues

It seems that there is no escaping the blues for me right now. I went to a jazz night in Blackheath, South London, not realising how far away it was. Well, going to a new place, another mini-adventure and getting get back to playing jazz was enough of a draw to get myself up for it after a long day at work. So after a rapid turnaround and fighting through  rush-hour human traffic I found myself in a hotel amidst a family reunion. A trio is playing in bar playing some light jazz.  Picture the scene, small hotel bar, lots of grey hair most, easily the youngest person there, all glasses of wine and local real ales, all very middle England then it comes...

"We've got a sax player tonight - come up Sam, were playing blues in B-flat come join in." I obliged obviously and played solo over a Bflat blues progression. It's weird you travel 1 hour across London to get some jazz on the go (Thursdays seem to be lacking in playing opportunities, particularly in jazz) and its the blues that gets served up.

Still, I'm grateful for every opportunity to perform and pick up stuff from fellow performers.
It's was a lovely close and friendly crowd who were very welcoming and run at a gentle pace - which is gonna be a stark contrast to the rabid, high energy buzz of Angel's 'Round Midnight Blues Jam that comes a-calling next Tuesday. That's the kind of night you don't want work the next day to get the most out of it. Certainly not the night to have before your weekly 3hr+ meeting. But I love the blues so I'll go but pull out early

In other news I saw two "famous" people on the tube with me today - some actress I remembered from Holby city and a T4 presenter. If you don't know British television that's not gonna mean much to you, then again it didn't mean much to me either.

Good night

Got Blues?

The last few weeks I've been heavy into my blues; listening playing and writing it. Got a great and unexpected blues education last Thursday night. 

I turned up to a blues bar to play, only to find I was over an hour early, so I ambled around town and found a quiet pub to while-away some time. Met two older guys there who saw my sax and a natural conversation started. It was great to hear about their love of blues and some of the favourites recommending people like Joe Turner and Dr Feel Good.

We also talked about lyric-heavy songwriters, the type who manage to cram so many well orchestrated words and phrases into so few bars. As a song-writer who often produces way more words and ideas that would fit neatly into song, this was great to hear. Particularly because lyrics are what I spend most of my time on when writing songs

We talked about the musical heritage of Sheffield, the genius of Alex Turner, John Cooper Clark, Jack Thackray, finished off with listening to some jazz by Sonny Rollins. At this point, the barman joined in and it was only just us 4 in the bar pulling out songs from the barmans Spotify account on his laptop.

The weird thing was that as we talking lyrics kept on coming to me for a love song  on a totally different topic that I had been working on, so I kept on dipping out of the conversation to write them down before I forgot. They didn't seem to mind.

All this before I got the blues bar and get into the blues jam that I actually went out that night for.

Many people have tried to put into words what the blues is all about. It's a difficult task to define it without music. I'm not offering a definition, but there is something special about pouring my soul out over a I-IV-I-V-IV progression with a good rhythm behind and not holding anything back emotionally and creatively. If you hold back it's not really the blues (as I have learnt these past few weeks). The blues formula works. It just works. It's so simple and yet the possibilities and variations are endless. It may sound similar to an un-trained ear, but no two blues jams are the same. I love that about the blues.

If you are new to the blues here's three names to get you going

BB King

Jack White

Billie Holiday

Once, I'm happy with it, I'll post some blues I've been writing.

Song-leading

For a couple of weeks, I had the opportunity to teach a song-leading workshop with a church in north London with the aim of providing solutions and perspectives on getting the most out of congregational (group) singing in a sunday morning setting. Below is an extract of my handout from the first workshop titled "Fundamentals of song-leading"

6 Fundamentals

1.       Make sure you know the song

It may seem obvious but it is the most fundamental of them all. The better you know the song the easier it is to engage with the congregation in song and it makes the other 5 principles easier to follow.

2.       Sing and engage with the congregation

Singing with a congregation will involve such things such as making eye contact, not singing into the book or the stand. As far as you can, be on the same page as everybody else (both literally and metaphorically). Always being conscious that you are singing with the congregation – that you are a partaker in communal worship. It’s never about you alone.

3.        Clarity

Be clear. Be loud. Make sure as far as you can that everybody knows what you are singing – especially if omitting verses, repeating lines, splitting between men and women etc

4.       Pace

As far as you can, dictate the pace. You can sway, beat time with arms, tap your foot – whatever helps .Whether you want to slow down/speed up depending on the words you are singing that’s fine. Whatever you do, control the pace. There may always be people you are singing with that sing their own the pace regardless. Do your best to control the pace.

5.       “Follow-ability”

Make it as easy as possible for others to follow. Sticking to the tune alone (and not harmonising) helps.

6.       Range

Know your own range. Stay within it. If others can go above you or below you then great.

Handy tip. Hit the first note (maybe in your head) then scan through the song and look how much higher or how much lower the song goes. Adjusting your starting note accordingly to make sure you can.

Things such as sitting/standing, harmony, choosing songs etc some of these we will touch on next week. Following these six principles will, in themselves, improve congregational singing. Once these principles are being implemented, considering and adding these other things are bonuses. First things first.