Here’s a thing! O.K., maybe I should be more specific. Here’s a video of a piece of music I helped record a few months ago. It’s written by a fellow called Jan Maria C. Deckers and is entitled ‘Paradise’ – deservedly so, in my opinion! This is a really beautiful bit of music and I …
GOOD EVENING! And welcome to… THE GIG REVIEW! “You bettah Stick to the plan and get me planted by March ‘Cos They call me Iron Man – y’know, Tony Starch? [woof!]” – quoth Rich Tweed, ‘Something About Buckwheat‘ Well, we were dragged kicking and screaming into January, we staggered blindly into February, but then …
GOOD EVENING! And welcome to… THE GIG REVIEW! Well, February has been and gone so you may think me the fool for carrying on, however that’s a chance I’m willing to take if it means I can tell you about all the hooting and honking I indulged in over the year’s second month. And what …
GOOD EVENING! And welcome to… THE GIG REVIEW! This is a brand new, freshly-baked feature in the Michael A. Grant Blogging Universe, in which I will be taking a wry look at the preceding month’s performances, sharing some of my sublime and ridiculous adventures, and – who knows? – maybe even learning some life lessons …
One of the reasons I play so many different instruments is that I really enjoy performing in pit orchestras for musical theatre productions. In these ensembles, each individual woodwind musician is frequently called upon to swap between 3 or 4 instruments, and this practice of ‘doubling’ allows orchestrators to maximise the palette of sounds available …
I was saddened and surprised recently to hear of the death of the legendary songwriter Burt Bacharach, at the age of 94. To be completely honest the main surprise wasn’t so much that he had died, but rather that he had still been alive so recently – but that’s beside the point! At any rate, …
A couple of weeks ago I got to perform in my first musical since November 2019, in the form of ‘Shrek The Musical’ in Romiley, with NK Theatre Arts. Having been originally scheduled for March 2020 and since been postponed 3 times, it finally took to the stage at the end of September and was …
Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I announce the premiere performance of the U.K.’s newest and quite possibly greatest ever musical ensemble: The Dunleavy & Dimplesauce Showtime Orchestra! Yayyyyyyyyy! The orchestra was formed in mid-2020 by the legendary (and also mythical) characters of Beatrice Dunleavy and Ericona Dimplesauce. Their mission was a …
Advance warning here, that I’ve made a special little festive video which will be premiering on YouTube at 8:30 am on Boxing Day. Sit yourself down with a large glass of rum and enjoy…
So here’s something I’ve been meaning to get around to for 3 years! Shortly after purchasing my baritone saxomophone at the start of 2017, I thought it would be fun to pick a woodwind-heavy piece of Broadway music and do a one-man reed section video. I imagined it would be particularly interesting for people to …
