Alan Musson’s programme will be featuring Dave Balen and Adrian Litvinoff sharing their musical experiences and influences to tie in with the launch of the new album “Global”. Alan will be playing some of the new CD and also some of the music that has inspired Dave and Adrian over the course of their musical lives. Do tune in on Monday 21st October on 102.5 Fm The ‘Bridge- Stourbridge local radio. To listen online – go to...
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Two years in the making ‘Global’, Interplay’s second album, is finally released on 21st October 2013 on Silvery Records (SRCD0065). Musical scents of Cuba, North Africa, India and elsewhere infuse the jazz-rooted repertoire, powered by the fine musicianship of Alan Wakeman, Richard Baker, Neil Hunter, Dave Balen and Adrian Litvinoff. To celebrate this milestone Interplay are having a special event at the Live Arts and Music Project (LAMP), Leamington’s newest and grooviest venue. Join us on Sunday 20th October at 8.00pm for music, drinks and good times to celebrate this milestone. Bring a horn or join in on percussion. Please follow the link http://tinyurl.com/o87z2ys and confirm your attendance. Even if you can’t make it, send us a message to read out on the...
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Here’s a short interview I did following our recent photoshoot for the band at LAMP in Leamington. You can also see some more great shots of the band taken by specialist music photographer Rob Bridge of Redwood Photography. Rob is well known for his work with indie bands – I think we were something of a challenge for him! The occasion also established beyond any doubt that Alan has the best wardrobe. Killer jacket! The interview reveals that a new Interplay web site is in development. That’s right! More information coming...
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This has been an exceptional weekend for Interplay and many other musicians in and around Coventry. The band delivered a storming set at Leamington’s venue LAMP, eliciting comments from the audience such as ‘My chin was on the floor’. This was despite a security alert on the M6 resulting in Neil being delayed by over 2 hours (I nearly said ‘detained’) and arriving just 15 mins before the scheduled start time. ‘Weightless’ (featuring Dave on tabla) and ‘Ruby My Dear’ (featuring Richard on trombone) attracted particular attention, as also did ‘Spanish Step’ – only our second time out with that one. There are some nice pictures of the gig at http://tinyurl.com/onl9keh Then it was time for the Coventry Jazz Festival, and a trio set with Alan and Neil at Playwrights, the festival’s spiritual home. This place has the smallest stage imaginable (hence it being a trio set), but the audience was really receptive and out for some good music. With the sun out and the doors open the music flew out along the street and all kinds of people came by to savour the music and the really festive atmosphere. After that I scooted across town to Blue Bistro which was already rammed in anticipation of hearing Joe O’Donnell’s Shkayla – far from standard jazz festival fare, but a band with outstanding soloists and some jazzy grooves amid the traditional and fusion-based sounds. The next day I returned to Playwright’s for a SugarDaddies afternoon set. This was possibly more mellow than either of the previous day’s excursions, and by this stage in the Festival seemed to be just what many in the audience wanted. As with all good festivals, the intervening periods allowed some time to encounter some new music, and I was pleased to catch up with the Tim Bowes Trio and to hear the redoubtable Hayden Mathews Haynes in flying form. There was also a lot I didn’t get to that I would have wished to hear too. It is unsurprising and also gratifying that the Festival managed to present such a range of rewarding music with pretty much all local performers. This is a welcome contrast to the ‘big name’ syndrome that seems to predominate at many festivals, some of which increasingly seem to resemble each other. So, finally, a sincere vote of thanks to all the organisers and participating venues for putting themselves – and us – out there. Incidentally...
See MoreLeamington Spa’s favourite jazz singer Ellen Callender will join Interplay on Friday night at LAMP to furnish one or two of Adrian Litvinoff’s seldom-heard lyrics. Ellen is well known for her full-on performances with her own band the Swing Cats and for fronting the highly successful monthly Spa Jazz sessions at the Clarendon. The Interplay tunes are in something of a different vein, less great American song book, more abstract impressionism meets confessional whimsey. One of these is so unknown not even the band has heard it! It says a lot about Ellen that she has taken on this commission and we look forward very much to hearing her interpretations, adding to gaiety and the uniqueness of the occasion. For further details and reservations please...
See MoreAfter a recent Interplay gig a friend of about my age asked “Where does this stuff come from? It sounds like those cool American detective series from the early 1960s”. He was expressing pleasure both at the music and at how it connected him with something else he really liked. It’s lovely that people attribute the same music with such widely varied associations. If the music is mine these are often ideas I have never even thought of! Of course the suggestive power of music and its ability to fire the imagination is one of its greatest qualities. But it still knocks me out – and makes me smile – when I hear comments like this. “Really? If you say so” I thought, then I started to ponder. I certainly remember as a kid thinking the theme music to ‘Hawaii Five-O’ was pretty exciting. There was another series though, with Bill Cosby and someone else (was it Robert Wagner?) as ridiculously cool plainclothes cops, and they had some hip music too. Anyone remember that series, what is was called, or how the music went? If so please let me know. Stuff I liked and still remember comes from a bit later – ‘Taxi’ and ‘St. Elsewhere’ were two series with great music, by Mike Post if I recall. But do I think about any of that when I’m writing for Interplay? Not a bit, although many years ago I did write a big band score titled ‘Bullet-Proof Vest’…. By contrast another example comes from a very different age-group. The band is booked to appear at LAMP, Leamington’s new music venue, which is run out of a social enterprise to engage young people through music and related activity. The PR for the venue (young, naturally) has written up our music as reminding him of the sound track to a well-known computer game. He tells me this is because he really likes that music and ‘his’ public will relate to it. Brilliant! I can describ e our music to our typical audience, but would never have thought in a million years of talking to young people about it in such terms. (And it might suggest a different outlet for our music...
See MoreIt’s almost four months since Interplay last played to a real live audience! Sign of the times I guess, with gigs becoming noticeably scarcer all around. So it is with real pleasure as well as a certain amount of relief that we announce our first appearance of 2012, next Wednesday March 14th in Leamington Spa for Leam Jazz. Besides affording us the pleasure of playing for its own sake I take a special pride in this particular gig as indirectly I can claim some responsibility for Leam Jazz getting started. The moving spirits, Stewart Duthie and John Hodgetts, originally met as members of my Jazz Workshop in 2008. Since then they have arranged vacation sessions for workshop participants, organised public jam sessions and, ably assisted by audio wiz Rob Sargent, presented some exciting and enjoyable jazz gigs over the last two years. Interplay was actually the first band Leam Jazz put on, back in May 2010, and it’s a true credit to them and their supporters that they are still at it two years later. So come along to Leamington Rugby Club, Kenilworth Road Leamington CV32 6RG on Wednesday 14th March. Tickets are only £6 and there is excellent beer to be found at club prices. bLA BLA...
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