February 2022

Due to my poor admin management my website was offline in February, right when a whole lot of exciting musical things happened. I'll recount them here, just for the record...

Feb 10, coincidentally my birthday, the string orchestra subset of the Tasmanian Symphony premiered a piece I wrote for them, Saborea el momento (Savour the Moment), as part of the Live Sessions series of concerts. This series serves up lighter fare for the music-loving public who are perhaps less interested in full length symphonies and the gravity of the classical canon. My piece is a bolero/chachacha inspired by the great Cuban tradition of charanaga flute. It featured Douglas Mackie, TSO principal flutist. It has been recorded and will hopefully be available soon over the interweb, and the score will published by the TSO in-house enterprise.

Feb 16-20 was the Clarence Jazz Festival, at which I had a few gigs. LD Trio played a set at the opening event at Piyura Kitina (Risdon Cove), presenting the Jazz Festival Scholars who have been mentored for the past 6 months, and backing the incomparable Michelle Nicole for a few numbers. Michelle was the Jazz Ambassador and made several appearances at the festival - lucky us!

LD Trio was featured on the Friday 18th with the multi-talented local, Kelly Ottaway, on vibes. I'm loving playing trio with Hamish and Tom, but I also miss comping behind a 4th voice, so the chance to play a few of my tunes with Kelly was very satisfying, not least because he is a very fine musician. Our set was followed by Michelle presenting the Bach project, the recording of which will soon be released. Complex and beautiful music, skillfully arranged yet free in many aspects, it was a treat to hear it in the warm acoustic of the Rosny Barn.

Michelle and I also participated (with the Jazz Scholars) in a Music Conversations series sponsored by Music Tasmania (which will be available at the MT site), and I also played in the

closing night jam session. The Clarence Festival features the best of local talent, with an orientation towards young and emerging musicians. It has a strong equity and diversity ethic which results in some innovative programming and broad community support. It was great to be welcomed by the organizers and to be able to participate this year!