Here’s a performance of Kashmir by Led Zeppelin I did the other week in San Jose at the premiere of The Human Face of Big data – a film I scored for Sandy & Rick Smolan.
It’s using a cello (leant by the amazing Eric Cheng) and a Boss Loop Pedal.
I worked with Jimmy Page back in 2008 – but that’s a whole lotta other story. We were both younger back then…
Here’s a cover of ‘Crazy’ by Gnarls Barkley that I performed recently at the COP21 Summit in Paris. Just recorded this to get warmed up for a busy set of film sessions.
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Here’s a version of Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen that I played at C2MTL at the end of my talk there. I hope you like it.
The full talk is here http://c2m.tl/1BU3KGH
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/154364936″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]I played as support last night for UNKLE at the Royal Festival Hall opening for James Lavelle’s Meltdown Festival. Here’s my live cello-looped version of ‘Glow’ by UNKLE, a track I first worked on way back when we were recording Never, Never Land…
Here’s another track from the set.
I’ve been a long-term collaborator with James Lavelle since being invited in to the Never Never Land sessions with UNKLE to play acoustic and electric cello. Since then, I’ve performed on numerous tracks as a string player, and have been a co-writer on many album tracks.
My first impression of James and his working method has remained intact, save for the fact that over time he’s become a dear & trusted friend.
James is an alchemist.
He instinctively knows how to throw disparate personalities & elements together, resulting in beautiful dissonance and restless confluence.
At the time of the first sessions I was working as a classical cello professor at the Royal Academy of Music and James blew the doors off my recording life, giving voice to my wilder sonic personalities, encouraging me to stretch the potential of my musicianship.
I remember one day working on Beethoven sonatas at the Royal Academy, then getting in a cab up the road to a North London studio with James, Keith Flint, dry ice, strobes and a license to let rip in an all-night recording session. That’s living the dream…
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This is a live version of ‘Amazing Grace’ from my recent gig at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival. It’s recorded using an 18th Century cello and a loop pedal. Hope you like it.
These are my favourite verses from the hymn.
Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,
Will be forever mine.
Very very excited to announce that I’ve been invited to perform a solo set to kick off James Lavelle’s Meltdown 2014.
It’ll be a solo cello looping set in the Royal Festival Hall before I join the UNKLE line-up (my long-time conspirators) in the second half.
Nice article re the other artists here.
Hope you can come. It’s going to be different. In the meantime let me share a previous Meltdown experience with Jeff Buckley that changed my life entirely…
My solo performing setup generally includes loop pedals, pitch shifters and reverb units.
I’m doing a lot of experimentation at the moment with my live setup, using acoustic & electric cellos, new custom built units as well as some exciting new effects pedals from Boss, Boomerang & Line 6. Before I plan a programme I always draw a new circuit/ wiring plan and however much I try to simplify things around my feet, they always end up verging on the complex..!
The sketch above is the setup I have in my studio at the moment… Looking a little tangled for my liking…
Here’s a short improvisation from a set I performed in Mexico a couple of months ago. The guest speakers prior to me had mentioned whale songs, volcanos and one of my favourite pieces, La Folia. Needless to say, all of them found their way in.
It’s been great to see Andrew Bird storming Sundance with a live set where he built songs up from live loops on violin using a parallel setup of Line 6 delay modellers, one tightly locked, the other more for floating ambient lines. You can watch it here.
The great thing is that the gadgetry he’s using is rendered unimportant by the emotional punch of the songs. It’s easy to get hung up on gear for its own sake, but if you’re not making someone laugh, cry or get the chills, it ain’t worth it…
TDNRE5PHSP2N
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