february at last
It's 'Home' by Sarah Wilson. Made in reponse to my song of the same name.
I wanted some clouds to be the pendant lights in my house. So last weekend I made them. I used papier-mâchè and balloons and built them around some vintage light fittings I had bought years ago at a junk yard. The nicest thing was, two of my best friends came over and we all did our own projects, and listened to music.
I find this time of year very hard and I cant tell you how satisfying it was to want something, and make it, and finish it and put it up. So many things at the moment are intangible or have been sent off into the ether and may yield future joys. But this was a small nice thing I did.
Next week I'm going to have a cloud party, where I'll wear a floaty dress and invite some friends over to eat meringue and listen to Joni Mitchell and gaze at my cumuli creations.
That my favourite singer/artist Cecile Mclorin Salvant, who is an absolute inspiration, has a new album coming out next month? You can preorder Mélusine now. I'm going to.
by Luca Shaw & Helenskià Collett above my desk.)
One of the clouds, before I hung it from the ceiling (note the lovely pictures
The boat is called 'S.s. Birdie' after my niece's imaginary friend Birdie who was with us for several years. Birdie was sometimes person-sized, sometimes fit in a bicycle basket and occasionally even slid down a straw.
its some news! i've just announced
my first show with the new music from my upcoming album The Beast. It's May 25 for Manchester Jazz Festival, with an absolutely incredible line up of musicians. I'm so excited to share this music and these ideas with you!
thank you for reading
the newsletter
See you back here next month
it's january and everyone's sad
It's a melancholy set of film photographs from my neighbourhood by William Hewer
"The friends have left, the sea is bare
That was strewn with floating, fresh green weeds.
Only the rusty-sided freighter
Goes past the moon's marketless craters
And the stars are the only ships of pleasure."
Elizabeth Bishop
Isabelle Faust playing Bach
A picture of me by Chiara Terraneo
well what's the news
here it is
I've been mired in planning work so I can make all the things I want to make this year, and it's been a sticky quick sand of budgets and timeline and horror. BUT it's important to do and it means I'll (hopefully) be making lots of beautiful colourful things again soon.
Right now I'm working on funding for Ulita to make lots of new work (and to take 'What Happened to Agnes' to Edinburgh fringe!) I'm also planning for The BEAST which regular readers of this rag will know is my new recording project which I am THRILLED to be bringing to you.
So even though this is the saddest, greyest muddiest time of year (and Frank's paws are a constant source of anxeity), we'll be out the other side soon and spring will bring music and magic again.
I'm not doing many live shows right now but
since you're here and you read my newsletter (thank you) I can tell you I'm doing a special one-off house concert in Manchester on Feb 20. So if you are in Manchester and you'd like to come, send me an email and I'll give you the details.
thank you for reading
the newsletter
See you back here next month
well
it's december
It's a beautiful festive scene by Luca Shaw
it's cold and wintery and gloomy
but I've assembled some nice things for you.
a big news i have
Is that last week, I held the R&D days for 'Travels Backwards'. This is a show I'm developing inspired by an Elizabeth Bishop poem, 'The Man-moth.'
My collaborator Yandass Ndlovu and I brought together five dancers and five musicians at The Yard in Manchester for two days of play and exploration. We wanted to see how the improvisation could flow across the disciplines, and try to create a shared language between the artists that we can later use to tell the story.
It was incredibly inspiring process, captured on film by the talented Shawn Stephen. A huge thank you is owed to Help Musician's Creative Collaborations Fund for making this happen, and I can't wait to tell you more about the project!
The artists: Yandass Ndlovu, Cara Marsh, Katy Lea Smith, Juliana Fapohunda, Natalia Meksa, Aaron Wood, Joshua Cavanagh-Brierley, Richard Jones, Johnny Hunter, and myself, shot by Shawn Stephen.
Belonging is a group exhibition that showcases the work of eighteen artists from Stockport-based collective, Underbank Studios. Through multiple mediums and practices each Underbank Studios artist explores their unique and personal sense of belonging.
The female-led organisation strives to create an inclusive space where people feel welcome and accepted. Belonging echoes the studios inherent value of connection, which is intrinsic to how they work. The exhibition is an extension of the studio’s intentions as a physical arts space, and is also a homage to the feeling of being a part of the arts community within the Stockport area.
There's some wonderful work on display, I really enjoyed it, and so will you!
one more news!
I'm super excited to share that I've been awarded a Development Award delivered through the
Peter Whittingham Jazz Awards to work on my new recording project 'The Beast'. I can't wait to tell you more about this, but for now, it means new music, as soon as next year 🙌🏾
thank you for reading
the newsletter
See you back here next month
It's a crab by Sarah Wilson
hi
it's november
I dreamt of geese flying overhead in formation
and when I woke my father called.
‘I have sad news’ he said.
We exhausted each other
But you
loved me.
Mean sometimes, jealous, old fashioned.
But love. steady as the ocean’s coursing waves,
deep as its implausible depth
tiresome, difficult sometimes
but love
which lived in your stomach,
(thick and muscular with years of breathing
into it
and out.)
You served it with a filling of apricot jam,
dusted with snowy sugar.
you curled your hair
lined your eyes
I slept.
you sat
the geese flew
you shivered
i turned over
you went softly sideways.
i woke
he called.
and still.
steady as the ocean’s coursing waves,
deep as its implausible depth.
Nov 12. At Oso Jazz in Bedford
A tiny, lovely little venue with great
food where I’ll be playing some
of my favourite jazz standards. Click
Nov 19. At London Jazz Festival
I’m playing in the Purcell Room at Southbank Centre
with Tom Harris and Aaron Wood as part of
the Take Five Showcase. Click
UK theatre awards update
Last weekend I went down to London for the UK Theatre awards and incredibly, I won! 'Best Supporting Performer in a Play or Musical! Wild scenes. But, I heard from a reliable source that you shouldn't put things in a newsletter that are already on social media (I'm new to this), so here is some behind the scenes juice:
-
I travelled down to London on an elegant National Express bus!
-
The entree served at the awards was a goats cheese on a Welsh cake!
-
The night before I ate the best Malaysian food I've had in the UK (I'm Malaysian so this is big), at Normah's in Queensway Market. You should go!
It's a new EP, called
The Beast.
It's going to feature an
amazing lineup, and of course
I have a crazy music video planned
stay tuned...
1.
This is the incredible work of
Heather Chambers,
a Stockport based illustrator, muralist, artist, and art director.
I've had the pleasure of working with Heather on a bunch of creative projects– she actually did the cover art for the 'Friends With Monsters' zine.
She has a number of originals for sale right now, and she has recently completed some incredible murals in peoples homes. Check out her website, and follow her insta!
2.
This is a video of a wonderful jazz singer, Lucy-Anne Daniels singing the gorgeous tune 'Pure Imagination'.
I've had the pleasure of hearing Lucy-Anne sing on the upcoming debut album from my dear friend and collaborator Tom Harris, and she is phenomenal!
Go watch this video and then support Tom by preordering the album, I promise it's going to be very special!
thank you for reading
the newsletter
See you back here next month
So you probably signed up to my mailing list quite a while ago and never heard from me. But great news, I’m doing mail now! And here it is:
hello it's october
It's a picture of a jellyfish by Molly O'Donoghue
It's a little cartoon I made
of a dog I know, Charlie
travels backwards r&d
My October is all about writing. Next month I start an R&D with the incredible Yandass Ndlovu and her dance collective I M Pact. We’ll bring five improvising musicians and five dancers into musical conversation. The piece we’re making is based around a delightful Elizabeth Bishop poem, The Man-Moth, and we’ll have a whole story and set eventually. But right now, the R&D is about exploring what kind of language we can create between the dancers and musicians, so we’re trying to hold ourselves back from getting too stuck into the details. I’m writing sketches of the music, but leaving big empty spaces for us to explore and play.
UK theatre awards nomination
In wild news, I found out last week I’ve been nominated for a UK Theatre Award for ‘Best Supporting Performance in a Play or Musical’ for my role as the bird in ‘Kes’ earlier this year. If you didn’t see Kes then that’s really sad, because it was a beautiful play. It was put together by just an incredible team of creatives and brought to life by Harry Egan and Jake Dunn who I had the pleasure of sharing the stage with. The award ceremony is October 23, at Guildhall in London so tune in to the November newsletter to find out what happens next I guess.
1.
Luca Shaw has made this stunning booklet, ‘Lusting’. I have it and you should get it too. Buy it here.
2.
Incredible singer and songwriter Caitlin L M Has a new live video out for her song ‘Root’ and it’s lush. Watch it here.
Nov 1. At Creative Space Manchester
Upstairs at the Slug and Lettuce in Didsbury.
Come see the quintet playing some of my
new songs for the very first time. Click
Nov 12. At Oso Jazz in Bedford
A tiny, lovely little venue with great
food where I’ll be playing some
of my favourite jazz standards. Click
Nov 19. At London Jazz Festival
I’m playing in the Purcell Room at Southbank Centre
with Tom Harris and Aaron Wood as part of
the Take Five Showcase. Click
thank you for reading
the newsletter
See you back here next month