Gigs, gigs, rehearsals, gigs.. jazz, classical, military

Over the last couple of weeks things have been pretty busy. I've been playing with different jazz big bands around London, as well as playing with my regular band Mojo who are next gigging on Sunday at The Vortex jazz club. I also did a dep gig with a military band (on drum kit, not actually marching) which was a first. Had to turn up and sight read the whole thing on the gig - lots of marching snare type patterns and some jazz and latin charts. It started off a bit scary but I was quite enjoying it by the end. I've also done a couple of classical concerts on timpani, playing Rachmaninov's 2nd symphony, Dvorak cello concerto, Merry Wives of Windsor, Beethoven's 8th symphony and Mozart's Clemenza Di Tito. I also had a fun jazz/pop function gig with a couple of guys who have been gigging in London for a long time, and have done lots of cruise contracts etc - it was really nice to talk to people who have been at the game for longer and to hear what things used to be like in comparison to now. They were also great to play with! I auditioned with a band in Manchester a couple of months ago for Princess cruise ships and have since been offered a few contracts which I'm really keen to do at some point, but it's not the best time for sailing off on a ship for months unfortunately.. Definitely up for it when the time is right. I also played with a band for the bass player's audition to do a Masters in jazz at Trinity college of music - that was fun.