September & October, you beauty!
Hello everyone!!
Since my last update it has been busy! I went to Freudenberg, Germany (right on the border to Luxembourg!) and stayed with some good friends while I recorded my first CD! What an experience! The team at LEICO Studio's were fantastic, welcoming, fun and professional to work with.
My friends with whom I stayed with also happened to have a guitar collection of 150 acoustic, electric and jazz top guitars.. As hard as I tried I could not play them all.
Once I returned back to Switzerland from my CD recording I went straight into preparing for the ZeitRaume Basel Architecture and Contemporary Music Festival. I performed twice, once to open the festival and again in the evening of the second day. I performed on behalf of the fantastic team at the Swiss Foundation For Young Musicians.
The whole festival was just plain awesome. During the opening ceremony they lifted (by crane!) a grand piano 100 metres into the air to place it where the concerts would take place! I had the challenge and privilege of providing music for the lift.
The second performance was in the glass room on top of the Sudhaus Warteck (for those of you who don't live in Basel, its a very tall tower that over looks the whole of Basel, beautiful!). The concert was great, intimate and acoustic.
The following week I went to the Music-Akademie in Basel and hung out with the amazing Fred Frith for a two hour long improv workshop. He blew me away with his approach to improvising and musical ideas. Needless to say I went home and practiced very hard afterwards.
In the last week of September I was lucky enough to perform at the prestigious Basel Plucks Festival for the closing apero of the event.
Now.. Onto October...
I was lucky enough to meet up with the lads from Klischee, one of Switzerlands biggest and best electro swing bands. We traveled together to Zurich and crashed the office of Watson with a small impromptu concert, it was a great laugh and fantastic to play some gypsy swing!
After this I traveled back to Basel to play a show with the gents at Xipenda, for a few hours of afro cuban grooving!
This now brings us to today!! With plenty of rehearsals coming it means there are plenty of gigs coming up to! The next concert will take place in Bremen, Germany at the Musik Akademie fur Alt Musik, where I shall perform a concert and host a 4 hour guitar clinic.
I can't wait!!
So, until soon!!
A very happy guitar player,