A Year in review, a Year in anticipation...

So 2011 pulls to a close and 2012 is just around the corner.
2011 was an interesting year for me. It was coloured however, by its terrible start. On 21 December 2010 I was in a dreadful car accident as a lorry pulled into me on the motorway at 60 mph and I was knocked unconscious, my car was a complete write off and my whole family was taken to hospital and traumatised. We were lucky to escape with our lives, and by a miracle we are now almost back to normal, though it has taken time. I had some gigs in January 2011 and at the time had no idea if I would even be able to play at all. Each one was a hurdle and a relief when they were OK. However I did have to pull out of some performances, most notably - sadly - Soft Machine legacy in Sao Paulo, Brazil in April - which I could not do, and Art Themen kindly stepped in and depped for me. It was a thrill to play with him in the rehearsal whilst showing him the parts. Art is a superb sax player (Stan Tracey/Soft Machine/Don Weller and also a consultant bone surgeon!), who was also an inspiration to me when a young aspiring jazz player. Also in January, Mick Karn, bassist extraordinaire who I have known since 1997 sadly died of cancer and I attended his funeral at Kew crematorium with his family and friends. It was very sad indeed and a great loss.

In February my "All I know" Anthology was released which covers my jazz recordings going right back to 1993. It is my first retrospective release and feels like a landmark as well as covering many of my best and most popular tracks.

In March I was involved in the Bill Nelson Classic Rock Legends DVD filming at Metropolis studio in London. I love Bill and his music and have worked with him on an occasional basis for about 5 years. This was a full band performance playing his classic songs (Ships in the Night, Furniture Music, Panic in the World, October man etc) in front of a small and hugely enthusiastic crowd and a full film crew. The result (now released) is great and it was a very rewarding experience. I subsequently played live with Bill in September with Orchestra Futura, my improvising trio with Bill and Dave Sturt (ie. Cipher and Bill collaboration) at Leeds University. It was a great gig and some really interesting music was plucked out of the ether. I hope we release an album someday.

There was quite a bit of activity with the Tangent this year, as the live in the studio DVD - Going off on Two - was released and also I recorded the new studio album "Comm" which has come out to very positive reviews. The band also toured quite a bit including going to Russia, but I was unable to do these concerts due to my other committments, so the band continues to tour as a (very fine) four piece without me.

In May I went on a European tour with Soft Machine Legacy. Two weeks of concerts round mainland Europe. It is such a great band and bunch of guys that it is always a particular pleasure touring with them. Soft Machine Legacy is most certainly not a tribute band, but a contemporary improvising instrumental band that crosses over jazz and rock and maintains the spirit of musical adventure and ambition that characterised the original Soft Machine. We do also play a few of the old Soft Machine numbers from various periods of the bands career - particularly the period previously when John Etheridge, John Marshall and Roy Babbington were in the band - together with our improvisations and our own new compositions.

June and July were spent recording the new studio Travis & Fripp album (probably to be called "Follow") which is very exciting and will be my major release of 2012.

A sizable part of the year was spent on the Steven Wilson "Grace for Drowning" album and tour. I have known Steven since the Jansen Barbieri Karn tour of 1997 but with this album he has really excelled himself. I am quite heavily featured as soloist on the album on flute, alto flute, bass flute, clarinets, tenor, soprano and baritone saxes (!). The album is not only beautifully composed, sung, and mixed, but has been nominated for a Grammy in the surround category. How awesome is that?! I went to the officlal launch and play-back in surround sound at George Martin's Air Studios in Hampstead, London and it all sounded truly stunning.

In October and November I toured as part of Steven's live band on his first solo tour -round Europe and the USA - playing in New York, London, Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam amongst other places. The band was quite awesome with phenomenal musicians who were all a pleasure to tour with. It looks like we are back on the road in April and May 2012 and there is talk of a live DVD/Blue Ray too which would be great. See swhq.co.uk/ for details

....and that takes us up to now - late December 2011. I have just had the best weekend with a reunion of my first ever band on the anniversaty of our first ever gig at the Junction pub, Harborne High St, Birmingham - which was on 18 December 1981. I played bass guitar then (!) and flute and the band was called "Fundamental Furniture". We met up in the pub again and the next day had an informal performance at the MAC (Midlands Arts Centre, Moseley). It was quite incredible seeing old friends and faces I have not seen for so many years, talking about the old days, and playing the old songs again. People were shocked that they seemed to remember all the songs and even all the lyrics! It just came back in an instant. Very moving and hugely enjoyable.

....and so on to 2012. The big project for early 2012 is the Cipher "Past Lives" project. 12 concerts around the Midlands area of the UK with a new film, additional string players, new music, new venues, new ideas and a whole exciting concept. I have written about it separately on the news page so I won't repeat it here, but it is an exciting project and it will be a busy time. Do come to one of the shows if you can

Then there are more live dates with Steven Wilson and the new Travis & Fripp release to finish off and sort for release. So looks like I am going to be pretty busy.

As for my favourite releases of 2011, well I have listened to lots and lots of music this year, but there is so much great music out there particularly from the last 100 years, that very little of what I have been listening to has been new - in fact it comes from anytime between 1905 and 2010 ! So I can't give you a best new releases of 2011 at all. However, my most recent listening is listed below.

Current listening playlist -
Travis & Fripp - Work in progress
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Miles Davis - In a Silent Way
Fionn Regan - The End of History
Claude Debussy - Complete solo piano music (Fergus-Thompson)
John Martyn - Sapphire

Best wishes

P.S. Do come and say "Hi" if you come to a gig and also feel free to contact me about anything and nothing if you feel like it. I manage to reply to just about all personal e-mails and it is always good to get feedback.