Ambient drifting in London

So it’s time for my first post on my freshly designed website. Thanks again to Dr Eric Scott Day for Night for being the architect of this finely accessible site.  Given the amount of views and new subscribers to my newsletter in the last days it’s already proved to be quite a success.

I intend to use these posts as a way of exploring more detail around events, performances, collaborations, sharing stories and exclusive insider recollections of particular moments in time. I’d rather this site was more of an exchange in that way, rather than simply promoting work and encouraging sales of product.

Ambient times ahead

An invitation to support the legendary American minimalist pianist Harold Budd in a forthcoming London show was a real joy this week. Described as an ‘ambient music master’ by the Guardian newspaper, I remember hearing his work for the first time as a teenager. The Pavilion of Dreams was released back in 1978 on Brian Eno’s exploratory record label, Obscure, bringing forth this warm, organic world, bridging the avant-garde and dream worlds. Looking over the credits now many years later I realise that it features the playing of several musical friends, Richard Bernas, Michael Nyman and Gavin Bryars. Nor would I ever have imagined my world connecting to these folks all those years ago, whilst I sat quietly in my bedroom listening to this exquisite music.

https://youtu.be/0XYXexLWOKc

Curiously I have never heard Budd perform live. As a sprightly 82 year I’m certain it’s going to be a perfectly blissful experience, in collaboration with the Vespertine Quintet. I have attended various Eno related/curated events over the years, most notably at the Riverside Studios and at the South Bank Centre in London. I vividly remember hearing Canadian guitarist Michael Brook perform so incredibly quietly that the volume of the man’s watch sitting directly behind me was significantly more prominent. At times I even held my breath to better hear the music. Truly unforgettable.

So it’s with great enthusiasm I look forward to this special night of music in a beautiful venue, the Union Chapel, a location I’ve had the pleasure of seeing so many concerts over the years, from Arvo Pärt to Laibach, Valgeir Sigurðsson to Sigur Rós. I hope to see some of you there.