2012 and I’m excited!

Happy New Year one and all, and wishing you the very best for 2012 – a year destined to be significant for many, if you are open to the possibility of change.

I saw in the New Year in style this year, on a gig in Dubai at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel (despite having a terrible cough and cold and generally feeling very under the weather).  On 30th December I flew with 8 other musicians from a chilly London to the warm shores of the UAE where the 10th band member joined us from Manilla.  Even though the tour budget couldn’t stretch to putting us all up in the Jumeriah Beach Hotel (3000 UAE Dirhams / £530 per night) we were nonetheless well looked after by the hotel, who collected us from the airport (cold towels and bottled water at the ready) and dropped off at the Academy (appartments allocated to staff at the hotel).

After a late arrival and an early start for the most amazing breakfast buffet I’ve seen in a long time (since my last trip to Dubai in fact), we took the opportunity to stroll along the beach and dip our feet in the sea, before a meeting with the agent and a lengthy set-up and soundcheck on-stage.

The venue for the gig was a temporary, but enormous, open marquee on the hotel’s private beach, where the 1000 or so guests ate another lavish buffet meal before joining the dance floor outside to party the night away with us in the run up to midnight and beyond.

The countdown to midnight saw the band scrabbling for last-minute dinner and costume changes before the most spectacular fireworks display over the water.  Since the stage’s backdrop was the sea and the Burj al Arab hotel, we had the best (and completely unobstructed) view of the whole display.  We then played our fourth and final set to get 2010 off to a rocking start.

Champagne on the beach followed – the band were in high spirits by then since this was the first drink we’d been allowed to have all night.  I was the first to go to bed, since by this point the drugs (Sudafed & Cold + Flu pills) had worn off and I was feeling worse for wear.  Some of the band continued the celebrations way into the early hours of New Year’s Day and only made it up in time for the plane home.

Luckily myself and two of the girls in the band had extended our stay until 5th Jan, so for us we still had a few more days of sunshine and sand.

And as for the exciting year ahead, there’s been a lot of noise about 2012 and all the possible changes it may bring; from the end of the Mayan Calendar and the prophesised end of the world to shifts and changes on a much smaller scale, it seems to me that this is the year to really make of it what you will.  I for one have started as I mean to go on: working with fantastic people and having as much fun as possible along the way.

2 gigs, 3 dresses, many ‘celebs’

Saturday 9th July was a busy day for me; I had two gigs in the diary which is always good news!  The first gig was a wedding in Windlesham, Surrey, playing Trumpet Voluntary for the Bridal Procession of a wedding at noon.  I allowed plenty of time to get there but still was tight on time due to the Saturday morning traffic getting through central London.  I needn’t have worried though – the bride was 40 minutes late!  Apparently she arrived at the church late, realised she had forgotten her bouquet, went back to get it, and then was having photos taken outside the church while the congregation, organist, professional choir that she had hired and myself all waited around inside.  The choir had been hired mainly to sing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus for the Bride & Groom’s recessional music, but as far as I’m aware they had to give it a miss as there wasn’t time!

I didn’t hang around to find out – I had to get to my second gig of the day (which I missed the soundcheck for because of the delay at the church in Windlesham).  Gig Number 2 was a performance with function group The Atlantic Band playing at theDuke of Essex Polo Trophy 2011.  I had an AAA pass for the whole event, and managed to get my sister (Nicola aka ‘Rubes’) a free ticket too – she has a keen interest in both fashion and minor celebs from The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE) etc so she was the perfect companion.  Dolled up in our new dresses from my sister’s fashion boutique Ruby we enjoyed a pricey glass of Pimms while Nicola, in her element, told me who was who and why they were ‘famous’.  I’m sure I’ve never been surrounded by so many ‘reailty’ tv stars; most (if not all) of the TOWIE cast were there, but surprisingly no sign of the Made In Chelsea crowd.  Both Peter Andre and Alex Reid were there (who I’m reliably informed are both exes of Katie Price) along with many, many others, including a TOWIE cast member who is actually called Joey Essex – his favourite word appears to be ‘reem’, whatever that means?!  (See here for an UD explanation).  All in all it was a fun day in the sunshine, a short game of polo (I never realised how short a polo match is!) and then on to the gig.

Just as I went backstage to get changed into my 3rd dress of the day (another ‘Ruby’), the heavens opened and the whole place turned into a swamp – just what you need when the band is wearing all-white on stage!  I managed to keep my outfit filth-free though and had a fun gig – we were joined by Gareth Gates who got really stuck into a rendition of Mustang Sally, a guy from a new boy band I’d never heard of, and Dane Bowers (who was originally mistaken for ‘one of the ones from Blue’) singing an interesting version of Signed, Sealed, Delivered.  We were also due to have the pleasure of performing with Arg (James Argent from TOWIE) but he disappeared from the marquee before we could get him on stage and wasn’t seen by me again for the rest of the evening.  Perhaps these Tweets of his give us a clue as to what happened:

“Last year i was singing on a lil podium at the side of the tent and tonight im on the main stage wiv a live band, Crazy! Essex Polo lets go!” (@RealJamesArgent)

“@LydiaRoseBright @kirk_official in The Helicopter haha! I’m singing later with big band so nervous!! http://yfrog.com/kfi8hij” (@RealJamesArgent)

Don’t fret Arg, there’s always next year!!

Dropped for Freelancing? Comments welcome!

I was recently dropped from a ‘professional’ ensemble I have been playing with, essentially because I’m a freelancer, and I can’t help but feel a little miffed at the decision.  It boiled down to the fact that I had depped quite a few of the gigs with this particular ensemble out to other trumpet players because the fees were very low, the gigs were often on the weekends, and I was eventually offered much better paid work on the same dates.  As a freelancer living in London, money can be tight, and I’m in no financial position to turn down well paid gigs; it literally makes the difference between being able to pay the rent and eat, or not – this is hardly a choice that is difficult to make when it comes down to simply being able to afford to live.  However, it’s never a decision I like to make, as the gigs I had to dep out would, I’m sure, have been much more fun and enjoyable than the better paid ones I was offered instead; a point I had tried to explain to the band leader, but who seemed to take the whole thing rather badly.

I had been very open and honest with said band leader about my position; that I rely solely on my work as a musician in order to pay the bills and while I enjoyed the gigs I played with their ensemble, if I was offered a gig that clashed and where the difference in fees was sizeable, that I would have no option but to take on the higher paid work and find a suitable dep for the original gig.  The next thing I heard from the band leader was that I had been replaced, probably indefinitely, as I wasn’t seen to be showing commitment to the group.  I think that if the band leader was made uncomfortable by the knowledge that I may dep some gigs out closer to the time after originally taking them on, that I was owed the professional courtesy of them discussing these concerns with me first, not just booking somebody else and telling me the next day.

I do understand that they want a core band of people who play at every rehearsal and gig, but if they are going to have freelancers in the band then I think it’s unrealistic to expect that.  As far as I have experienced, it is standard in the industry to dep out gigs if you need to – as long as the band leader agrees and the dep is suitable.  Yes, I did have to pull out of some gigs that I originally said I could do, but I never left anybody in a position where a dep could not be found and the part left unplayed.  Unfortunately I couldn’t commit more than that to the band – turning down higher fees would cripple me.  The band leader seemed to think I wanted ‘one rule for me and a different one for everybody else in the band’ – perhaps I was the only one there who wasn’t sitting on a pile of money – or perhaps the other musicians have more secure sources of income.  Either way, I told the band leader that the only way to secure your core band members who rely solely on playing for their income is to secure higher fees for the band (in one instance I depped out a £70 gig on a Saturday night so that I could take one for £170 instead, and passed up a gig for £30 on a Monday night as I would have lost more than that from not doing my teaching while at the gig).   I think when you’re working with an established band it is not unreasonable to expect a decent fee – or dep out the work appropriately as required.

So, now I’ve been replaced, and while I don’t have any hard feelings about it if that is the basis on which the ensemble is going to be run, I do think it’s a very dangerous move in terms of them maintaining the highest possible performance standards.  If they are only going to work with musicians who can commit 100% to all gigs regardless of the fee, thus essentially ruling out working with freelancers, won’t they essentially end up with a band of amateurs?  I don’t mean that to sound like a negative comment – there are many amateur musicians who perform to exceptionally high standards, of course – but if you want to run a band as a professional outfit, surely it would be best to use professional musicians?  I would appreciate any thoughts or comments you have on this – have I just got the wrong end of stick, or is my approach to working as a freelancer in line with everybody else’s?

Tweeting is easier!

I realise I have been rather slack on the blogging front.  I have to say, Tweeting is so much easier; I think micro-blogging is much more my style!  However, I will now attempt to condense the last 6 months into a sensibly sized blog post.

So, after a quiet January, February wasn’t much of an improvement.  Aside from my regular teaching work I had two function band gigs and a handful of rehearsals for The Bombshellettes and T.Mandrake.  On a positive note, I did have a couple of lessons with an old teacher of mine, Andy Mitchell.  Andy is principal trumpet with the English National Ballet and professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Junior Department (where he used to teach me).  I was put back in contact with him by one of my former RAM tutors, Mark David, who’d been working with Andy and suggested I get back in touch.  I’d not seen him in ten years, so obviously there had been quite a change in my playing since he’d last taught me!  We had a couple of lessons working on a recital programme I had coming up and it was so useful to get a new perspective from an old tutor.

Things started picking up a bit in March.  I had my recital – one of the highly coveted lunchtime concerts at Chichester Cathedral which went very well indeed.  The venue was full, there were literally hundreds of people there to see the concert, including my mother – my number one fan!  I also had a photo shoot with Cavendish Brass which was a really fun day and we got some great shots for our new website (http://www.cavendishbrass.com).  I played with Zone One Brass (ZOB) at the Regional contest and we failed to qualify for the National Finals – very disappointing indeed considering how well we felt we’d played and especially after listening to the recording of our performance.  Oh well, the politics of the brass band world are far too ridiculous to get into now.

April was a rather average month, although I did play a fun charity gig at The Parish Church of the Annunciation, Marble Arch.  The concert was a fundraiser for the church, with many actors and singers involved, and I was booked to open the show with a performance of Let The Bright Seraphim along with soprano Eli Rolfe Johnson and organist Olly Lallement. 

The month of May was ZOB madness.  The band played in two contests that were two weeks apart; the first in Blackpool and the second at the All England Masters in Kettering .  The rehearsing paid off and the band did rather well – 2^nd in Blackpool and 5^th at the Masters.

In June I launched my new Live Music Night at a bar in Soho called El Camion (formerly El Camino).  The night runs every Tuesday and I book four acts to play a 30 minute slot each.  So far it’s all been going really well, and I’m trying to build up the reputation of the venue and the night as a respectable one to play on the London circuit for those looking for an intimate performance space. 

July was a very busy month – spent a couple of days up north with Oompah Brass doing some outreach work with them which was great fun.  The Bombshellettes opened the main stage at the Lovebox festival which was a big step forwards for the band.  I then spent 3 weeks in France for the Opera de Bauge festival, which was a great experience.  3 operas in 3 weeks (Mozart – Magic Flute, Verdi – Rigoletto, Handel – Julius Caesar), I met some great people, enjoyed the operas and in general had a wonderful time. 

So, that took me into August, and then it’s been all about the function band scene since then.  I had some Bombshellettes gigs too; a wedding that was basically a 3-day festival, as you do, and a fun gig at Floridita.  I’ve been Oomping again, with Oompah Brass at Katzenjammers in London Bridge for a couple of Friday nights, which is always great fun.  I saw their new show up at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last month – “The A-Z of Oompah” – which was excellent.  I had a fun few days at the Fringe actually, saw a few shows, played a jazz quartet gig, and it was sunny for a change!

Now it’s September, the schools are back which means I’m back to many hours of teaching and driving, but it’s good for paying the rent.  I’m off to Poland on Friday to see my boyfriend singing in a concert or two out there, and then back to London in time to run another night at El Camion.  I will, of course, attempt to blog more regularly, but life’s busy and I’m promising nothing!