Speaking and playing

In 2016 I experimented with speaking while playing the piano. At it’s best this was comically honest and strangely profound and at worst it was obscure and pretentious.

Both recordings here were made at Free Range events.

Speaking and playing no.3

The first was the opening set of an evening that featured Laura Jurd’s band Dinosaur (17th March 2016). There were many people packed into a tiny space and during the gig someone passed out. During Dinosaur’s set the paramedics arrived.

I Still Dream of Orgonon

This second recording was again the first set of an evening featuring a new piece for sitar and string quartet by Jasdeep Singh Begun. This evening was a collaboration between Zeroclassikal and Free Range.

I chose to use text and lyrics that had been in my mind that week. These included:

Cloudbusting by Kate Bush
Back to Black by Amy Winehouse
Nothing Important by Richard Dawson
Creature of Havoc by Steve Jackson (a Fighting Fantasy adventure gamebook)