To Russia With Love

I'm off to Russia tomorrow and my first time performing in Moscow!  Really looking forward to it.  I've got my wooly hat (with "ears") and my thermals (just in case) and am good to go.  Love Russia!  Wish I could speak the language but will just have to try to fit in by drinking lots of vodka instead. ;-)

Nothing more to add at the moment so here's a recipe for Moscow Mule to be going on with until I have more news...

Servings: Serves 1

Ingredients

• 1 ounce vodka
• 1 tsp. sugar syrup
• Fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup ginger beer
• 1 sprig fresh mint
• 1 slice of lime

Directions

In a copper mug, pour vodka over ice. Add sugar syrup and lime juice. Top with ginger beer and stir. Garnish with mint sprig and lime slice.

And here's a link to the song "From Russia With Love" which I'll be learning for my London Jazz Festival concert with Jonny Philips. 

From Russia with Love - Matt Munroe

Dosvedanya!

A Rural English Indian Summer - Cumbria, Durham & Northumberland

Wow!  If I had superpowers and controlled the weather, this would be exactly the kind of weather I would have chosen for my rural tour!  There I was worrying about wellies and the like and here we are in glorious sunshine and the perfect weather to enjoy the spectacular views in beautiful Cumbria.

Dufton

Kate and I had a great time at the first of our gigs last night.  A full house turned out and we had lots of lovely comments and positive feedback on our performance.  We are staying in a gorgeous B&B with amazing foods and very welcoming and knowledgeable hosts.  Couldn't ask for more really.

Dufton Village Hall

The audience

This morning, after a very hearty breakfast of freshly baked bread and local produce, we headed off for a walk along the Pennine Way.  Absolutely stunning views.

The view!

More stunning views

And yet more...

Kate - Pennine Way

And after the long walk I felt a cream tea in the cafe on the village green was more than justified. :-)

Village Green

UPDATE:  Sunday 2 October

We've had such a great time!  Cumbria was absolutely wonderful.  After Dufton, we had gigs in Boldron (technically Durham) and Armathwaite.  Full houses at both gigs again and absolutely lovely audiences as well as very gracious and helpful hosts.  All the great things you hear about northern hospitality are all true!

Dry stone wall and fells are typical of the Cumbrian countryside - stunning!

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We encountered several streams... and lots of mud! Those sequinned wellies wouldn't have stood a chance!

Then last night we drove to Wooler in Northumberland and played to a packed and very warm (in both senses of the word!) audience.  The weather was so warm that I didn't need a coat or jacket even at midnight.  Once more we were looked after very well but the well organised hosts.  The weather has turned a bit today but the views and autumn colours are truly spectacular.

Tonight is our last show in Stocksfield.  It will be sad to leave the countryside but I'm looking forward to having a break before my band and I head up to Wakefield Jazz Club on the 14 October.  I just can't keep away from the north these days!

Musicians and Copyright

Apologies for being AWOL recently but I've been super-busy!

So far this summer I have been to Greece twice, up north to Wirral and I'm about to start my rural tour in Cumbria, Durham and Northumberland tomorrow.  And BBC weather states that we're heading for a UK heatwave - yay!  I won't need any wellies - which is just as well as I couldn't find any sequinned ones...

And next month I'm off to Moscow to perform there for the first time.  Before that I'll be back up north to Wakefield and then in December back again to Greece for some gigs over the Christmas period. :-)

I've also been rehearsing for a new European project with guitarist Jonny Phillips for the London Jazz Festival in November.  I'm planning to sing songs in Italian, French, German, Spanish and Russian!  Time to brush up on those language skills...

But back to the reason for this post.  An excellent guide to copyright has just been published by the wonderful Jazz Services.  It contains important information that every musician/composer should know.  Definitely worth checking out to make sure you're not missing out on any potential income.

Download the Jazz Services Guide to Copyright here

Greece is the Word!

I'm going back to Greece tomorrow!  Tinos is one of the Greek Islands and home to the Tinos Jazz Festival.  I'll be performing once again with the wonderful Dimitri Vassilakis Quartet as part of the festival's "Ladies of Jazz" programme.

Apart from the music, I'm especially looking forward to the sun as although we've had a few bits of sunshine recently, today it is pouring with rain in London and the Met Office have even issued flood warnings! This is what we laughingly call the British Summer...

My camera is coming with me as usual so I'll be posting pics here when I get back.

Sun, sea and swinging jazz - here I come!

UPDATE - September

Photos as promised...

On the ferry from Athens to Tinos Island

Tinos Beach Hotel

A walk along the beach before the gig

The venue

Yes - yet another sunset... but I just love sunsets and on the Greek Islands they are particularly spectacular!

Moscow Mule Cool or Russia Revisited

I've been booked to go back to Russia!  Really looking forward to performing in Moscow.  Although I've been to Russia several times - including Siberia! - I've only been to Moscow as a connecting point and have never played there.

But that's about to change as I've got 2 dates (27 & 28th October) in the diary at a couple of great clubs.

Jazz Club "Soyuz Kompozitorov" (or The Union of Composers) is widely known among musical circles in Moscow and has live music every evening.  Luminaries such as Joshua Redman and Diane Shuur have both performed there.

The second club is called "Cool Train" and lives within the B2 Club.  B2 is the biggest club in Moscow and one of the largest clubs in Europe. The five floors of the club house a restaurant, a sushi-bar, a billiard room, a jazz club, a modern concert stage, a dance floor, a chill-out, a cinécafé and 7 bars. UK Jazz musicians Peter King and Dick Pearce have both played here.  It looks amazing!

It may be pretty cold in Moscow by that time of the year but I'm sure I'll be offered plenty of vodka or perhaps even Moscow Mule cocktails to keep me warm! :-)

Glam Goes Rustic! Dorset, Wirral, Cumbria, Durham and Northumberland

The most "glam" wellies I could find.  Although silver, not sequinned - but they'll have to do!

I'm so excited to be visiting some beautiful, unspoilt parts of the country during my rural tour.  The tour officially starts in September and confirmed dates are:

28 Sep - Dufton Village Hall 017683 52902
29 Sep - Boldron Village Hall 01833 638210
30 Sep - Armathwaite Old School Hall 016974 72383
01 Oct - The Cheviot Centre, Wooler 01668 282406
02 Oct - Stocksfield Community Centre (SICA) 01661 842346

But before that I'll be performing on 27th August at the Milton Abbey Music Festival for the event "A Little Light Music" in the beautiful village of Milton Abbas, Dorset.  You can get tickets here.

And on 15th September I'll be at the Floral Pavilion in the lovely seaside resort of  New Brigton, Wirral.  Tickets here.

So it won't be long before I'll be donning my wellies and going for some gorgeous long walks.  Can't wait!

Mykonos, Syros & Athens - My Big Fat Greek Island Experience

The sight that greeted me on arrival.  The hotel pool aka Paradise!

View from my hotel balcony first thing in the morning

Sunset begins at Mykonos Port

Another sunset pic (I LOVE sunsets!)

The band!  Manos, Manos, Me, George and Dimitri.



On stage in Mykonos



On stage in Mykonos - Dimitri and me



Syros



On stage in Syros.  The lighting for the show was amazing!



On stage in Syros



View from the house I stayed in just outside Athens

On stage in Athens - Dimitri, George and me

On stage in Athens


With thanks to Elena Vassilakis for the stage photos.