DC's Diary
( Monthly report...)
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DC's Diary ( Monthly report...) |
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5 December 2008 |
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| Chris Stassinopoulos has sent me a review of 'Light in the Dark' which includes some live tracks featuring Hugh Hopper and myself with the Space Explorers in Athens. This is from "Euro Rock Press"- the review is by Shunya Nakajima. | |
" An album by an Greek drummer who have a long career, and have played with NOSTRADAMUS, VANGELIS, ZAO, Cyrille Verdeaux according to the booklet. The core of this album is Stassinopoulous's drumming that sometime reminds me of Bill Bruford. The formation of this album is consisted of a core band, but also adds some guests (guitar, sax, bass etc) on each tracks. Of the guests, David Cross (violin on track 1 & 6), Hugh Hopper (bass on track 6) should be most worthy of noting for our readers,but I have to point out that the guitarists (there are three of them) play very well too. Generally the album have a feel that crosses Progressive Rock and Fusion, and partly reminds me of ELP & UK in it's keyboard use. Unlike the shredding fusion that are common today, there are no trace of Heavy Metal / Shredding Guitar here, and with this this album can also to the fans of symphonic rock. Overall this is really good album." |
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30 November 2008 |
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I've got hold of a Roland GT-10 and I'm working on some new sounds ,,,thinking also about a different violin.
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18 November 2008 |
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Had a great night out at The Fiddler's Elbow in north
London on Sunday night. |
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7 October 2008 |
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Andrew Keeling and I got together on the last weekend
in September and mixed our recordings from the two previous sessions.
It's all soundng quite beautiful (very English and sometimes very Baroque)
and there;s well over an hour of material there,,, time to make some
decisions about the album. |
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4 September 2008 |
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I had a great time as a CD salesman at the Disk Union Prog Rock store
in Shinjuku. I had my own apron (which I was allowed to keep!) and my
own barcode which I had to scan before logging in the CDs (so the customers
all had a personal receipt with my name on). I really appreciate the
staff in the store who welcomed me into their team and gave me the high
quality training; I was so pleased to have a reason for joining in the
'irasshaimase' greeting to everyone who came in the store. |
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24 August 2008 |
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Just looking at photos taken by the DCB before and after the concert at Cupra Marittima on 2nd August. I was born opposite the Barbican, the fishing harbour in Plymouth and spent my whole childhood within a short distance of the sea. I miss the smell and sounds of the sea in London and the kind of thickness that the air has when you're on the beach. Mick lives within 5 minutes of the sea at Worthing - one of the reasons I really like recording in his studio. At Cupra Marittima we the concert venue was shifted from a cliff top amphitheatre to the beach. The photo here is of Simone setting up the mixer on the sand- we played facing the ocean.
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Great concert, apart from the dressing room which was a
tiny beach hut/first aid post. Lovely food (fried olives were new to me)
at the beach side restaurant. Because of heavy traffic going south from Rome we switched to a train to get to the airport the next day. It was a beautiful train journey to Pescara with the beach and sea to our left the whole way. We were met by a camper van which took us to the airport. Easy journey back without my suitcase. That turned up last Monday, two and half weeks after I last saw it at Heathrow Airport. |
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23 August 2008 |
Tomoko has set up a David Cross Band fan page at
http://www.myspace.com/thedavidcrossbandfanpage |
20 August 2008 |
I've got a job. On Saturday 30th August I will be working as a salesman at a Disk Union store in Shinjuku, Tokyo from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. My name will be on the sales receipts and I'm hoping Disk Union will give me an apron to wear. Amongst the other fine products, Disk Union will be offering the new David Cross Band album 'Alive in the Underworld' and I'll bring a pen with me in case anyone wants me to sign a copy. Anyone who buys a copy of 'Alive in the Underworld' will also receive a special free bonus CDR of two long tracks from the as yet unreleased recording, 'The Worthing Tapes' (limited numbers of these so don't leave it too late).
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10 August 2008 |
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| Last Saturday I was woken for the second day running by church bells clanging - two bells a minor third apart with overtones clashing like anything – worse than that sound that Alex has been using for the beginning of ‘Black Ice’ . This was followed (again) by a thunderous wooden crashing that I was sure was someone desperate to get me out of the room (fire? earthquake?). By the time I’d leaped from bed and flung open the door I realised this was an exact re-enactment of Friday morning and that the noise was builders starting out the day by clearing out a room somewhere beneath my window. Still, I had a great concert at the ‘happy hill’ to look back on and by the time I found the others and had some breakfast the day was beginning to warm up. |  |
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The drive across Italy to Cupra Marittima was staggeringly beautiful. The mountains were increasingly impressive the higher we drove and I couldn’t get my head into my book or even organise a return Canasta match because I couldn’t take my eyes off the scenery. As we came down from the mountains towards the coast I had to stop off to buy some clothes - I was still without a suitcase (thanks KLM!) | |
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7 August 2008 |
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Paul and Mick managed to find most of the missing instruments and
equipment at Fiumicino airport and returned to the hotel at about
5pm looking utterly worn out and miserable. Mick and I still did not
have our suitcases and my effects processor was in mine. We could
not locate a GT6 processor in the locality so we took Paul’s
spare processor out of his rack and set that up. Paul knows this inside
out and we worked right through the sound check setting up ten usable
patches for the set. Unfortunately there was no time to sort out any
relative levels and I had to struggle with some sounds too quiet to
hear and others blaring out during the performance. Great fun, though.
This is a photo of Mick and I – note the glasses – my
contact lenses were in the lost suitcase (last time that happened
was with KC in Detroit---read diary 5 May 2006). |
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5 August 2008 |
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Last Thursday the main thing I was looking
forward to in Italy was freshly made pizza like this (from lunch in
Tivoli 3 weeks ago). |
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Unfortunately the main event of the day was the journey
itself. We had a stop/go departure from Heathrow and had to make a tight
connection in Amsterdam. We made the flight - having to sprint the last hundred metres - and headed for Rome. Our checked luggage was less ambitious and never even made it on to the aircraft. We arrived at the hotel near Monte Casino in the early hours of Friday morning after a 2 hour drive. When the morning brought no news of bags, bass guitars or violin and guitar processors, Mick and Paul drove with Simone back to the airport in Rome to spend the day chasing after our equipment. The rest of us actually had a peaceful day engaged in our usual recreational habits (Jinian sleeping, Craig sunbathing and Alex and I hunting down food and drink). |
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| I finally got my pizza and enjoyed it ,feeling only a little bit guilty about Mick and Paul still searching the conveyor belts and customer service desks. I was getting worried, though, about how we were going to play the concert with no bass guitar and no effects processors for Paul and I. Also no stage clothes, underwear....... |  |
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30 July 2008 |
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'Rain rain' will finally have its first ever public performance on Friday night. I developed the theme and verse tune as part of my solo set and have been writing around the idea for the past year or so. 'Raintwist', a kind of moto perpetuo was written for guitar but was actually totally unplayable and Paul sent that back to the drawing board. The band version has also been rejected, re-written and argued over a few times so I'm really pleased that it's finally starting to shape up as a piece for the DCB. All the khaki and bare knees - reminds me of the boy scouts. |
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27 July 2008 |
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After a long day interviewing potential music teachers on Friday I made it down to the National Portrait gallery to hear the world premiere of Tom Armstrong's 'Akin' for violin and piano. This is a piece that is structured in a similar fashion to KC's 'Fracture' and it was performed beautifully by Darragh Morgan (violin) and Mary Dullea (piano). In fact it was a great programme by this sparkling duo with music by Arvo Part, Chick Corea, John Adams and Astor Piazzolla. I liked Tom's 'Akin' and thought it was indeed akin to 'Fracture' and worked well as a tight piece of chamber music. |
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I tried to take my own picture in Trafalgar Square afterwards with
my phone |
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21 July 2008 |
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| We've now got a Youtube
site (davidcrossmusic) and I've just put up a great clip from last
year's concert at Stazione Birra in Italy. It's a section of Calamity, one of my favourite tunes. Check it out! |
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14 July 2008 |
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Saturday's concert in the Tivoli Rock Festival was a great experience. We performed 'The Pool' for the first time and got a magnetic response. The audience were a real mix of ages and were prepared to listen to whatever we had to offer. The moment when the bottom drops out of Starless was magnificent - there probably were stars above but I couldn't see them because of the stage lights. |
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10 July 2008 |
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| We've pulled together a new track for the concert in Tivoli. Some very swift penmanship by Richard Palmer-James (struggling with mobile technology in Northern Italy) and fast work by the band this week means that we will premier 'The Pool" on Saturday night.. See you there! Well some of you.... |
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11 March 2008 |
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Paul Clark seems to have joined a new family...
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29 February 2008 |
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One of the easiest errors to make in improvised music is
trying to re-create something that was previously achieved spontaneously;
it's never as good the second time round.? I've always felt that about
places as well - I had such a wonderful time in Dublin when I lived there
for a year that I can't bear to return and shatter the image. So it was with a certain amount of? trepidation that I approached the return gig at Birra Stationne in Rome last Friday, exactly a year after our debut there.? The reception had then been so warm that I thought this concert was bound to fall short.? I was confident about the band - the gig in Naples had been well delivered and there were hints of real magic in some of the songs - but everything else seemed in the lap of the gods. ? |
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After the drive up from Naples, during which Alex and
I finally concluded the Canasta marathon, Francesco, our unflappable
tour manager, delivered us safely to the 'beer station'? and I immediately
realised why the odds were in our favour.? We were in the hands of a
real team - Guido, Stephano, Didier, Paolo and everybody associated
with the club and the promotion just wanted the concert to go well -
it was as simple as that; they were there to make the music work - no
ego problems, no fortunes to be won or lost, no 'cool disinterest' -
just a genuine concern for the outcome.? From then on, things just got
better and better (at least once I'd picked up my lucky hat from the
hotel).? The club was packed with people of all ages and backgrounds
and they once again treated us like long-lost friends - except this
time there were more of them. ? It was a great concert, certainly not
note perfect, but great enthusiasm and commitment from everyone in the
band and there was real passion in the playing from beginning to end.
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28 February 2008 |
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The second day in Naples I recorded some violin for a track by Osanna ( who supported us at the concert). Unfortunately the studio was some distance away from Marano di Napoli so I spent 3 hours travelling there and back. By the time I returned to the hotel it was nearly dark so our hoped for trip to the centre of Naples was a non-starter. In fact, everybody had become quite introspective and dinner was a like a psychotherapy group. Highlight of the meal was a green apple mousse.. Alex and I spent some time trying to buy playing cards (worth remembering that Napolitan cards come in sets of 40 - swords, cups etc. and that what we should have got was poker cards). Finally, after the local shopkeeper tried to charge us 16 Euros for two packs and a much more productive visit to the 50 cent shop (2 packs and a free pen for 50 cents) we embarked on a game of Canasta,which neither of us had played for some time but I kept remembering various rules at convenient times. Not very rock and roll.... |
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26 February 2008 |
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Played at a beautiful small theatre the ‘Teatro
Giancarlo Siani’ in Marano di Napoli last Wednesday – first
outing for the new line-up and Jinian and Craig were right on top of
things all through the evening. In ‘Are we one’ Paul suddenly
went quiet in my monitor, so I kept
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24 February 2008 |
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| Thanks to everyone who joined In the ‘What exactly are Jinian Wilde and Paul Clark doing here?’ competition. The first time we ran through the set with the full band Jinian went off to get a coffee when we got to ‘Schizoid Man’. The rehearsal CD included Paul’s midi arrangement of the tune (with the vocals missing) so Jinian thought it was an instrumental. Fortunately Paul had a CD with him with the vocal intact so they were sitting in Paul’s car (the nearest available CD player) writing down the words for the song. The closest answers were from: Roland Kaczor (from Belgium) who wrote ‘Answer is :they are rehearsing ! And sit in the car not to be disturbed.” Sami Piirainen of Finland ‘I guess Jinian is singing Schizoid Man to the rehearsal CD playing in a car CD player. Paul's at the wheel probably to keep Jinian at the right track!’ ‘Closer than Skin’ CDs signed by the performers will be on the way to Roland and Sami this week. My favourite answer was from Maurice (I think he must know Paul!). Jinian: "Santa Monica Expressway? You sure mate?" Paul: "Directions are overrated. Trust me!" |
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18 February 2008 |
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Had a great rehearsal. Jinian Wilde and Craig Blundell are right on top of the material and the band is tighter than ever. Even the rehearsal room PA system works better than usual. Mind you I still found myself turning the TV volume up to number 11 when I got home – why does Orlando Bloom talk so quietly…? Another clue about Paul and Jinian in the motor. Mick sent the new guys Craig and Jinian the same rehearsal CD that we use including Paul’s rearrangement of 21st Century Schizoid Man in 4/4…. |
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17 February 2008 |
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| What exactly are Jinian Wilde and Paul Clark doing here? The clue is that they are sitting in Paul’s car in the rear car park of Survival Rehearsal Studios in Acton on Sunday 17th February. Send an email with your answer to quiz@noisy.co.uk First correct answer wins a ‘Closer than Skin’ CD signed by the band members! |
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16 February 2008 |
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Andrew Keeling and I met up again this week and recorded
4 new pieces. We seem to have moved on somehow and these pieces are
quite different in many ways from the last session. ‘Shiny Head’
and ‘High Scree’ are violin and flute duets, ‘Lamentoso’
is a piece for piano and violin and the fourth piece ‘Dido’
features flute and violin over a loop of pizzicato ‘cello and
organ. |
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3 February 2008 |
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| In addition to new drummer Craig Blundell we will be playing
with a great new singer in Italy. Mick and I did some work with Jinian
Wilde some years ago and when the opportunity came up to work with him
again we jumped at it. Here is Jiniian’s life history…"After
spending many years in various bands, playing various places all over
the UK and parts of Europe, I decided, in about 1999/2000, that a major
change was in order. Living in Devon at the time, I decided to apply for
as many "different" positions as iI could.This led to some very
interesting propositions, one of which was to front the Dance track for
the 2002 release of "I Would Die 4U" by "The Space Cowboy"
(AKA Nick Dresti). A fabulous experience indeed, |
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| and one which i didn't expect at all as my "Musical roots" are certainly not in any way connected to Dance music. This in turn prompted several other Dance acts (Over the following years) to inquire if I could vocal different tracks for them, which I did & enjoyed incredibly, even getting some chart exposure in the process...... which was nice! Then, some 7 years later (Which is rather cool because my Lucky/Favourite number is "7") i find i am contacted by Mick Paul, and asked if i would like to vocal for "The David Cross Band"? Wow!! Words fail me! It's not only the greatest of opportunities to be able to work with such a fine gathering of Musicians, but also a chance in a lifetime, to sing some of the BEST songs that i have heard in my life! I look forward to our first outing, with a skip in my heart, a lump in my throat, and a huge smile on my face! :)" More on Jinian athttp://www.wilde.wordpress.com Good to have you with us Jinian! | ||||||
1 February 2008 |
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| We’ll be working with a new drummer in Italy. Craig
Blundell has already made his mark as one of the most in demand session
drummers and International drum clinicians around. His list of commercial
credits is rapidly expanding and he is now one of Mapex, Roland and Paiste's
foremost clinicians. His clinic style, performances and level of entertainment
have received rave reviews in the media all over the globe and have put
him ‘out there’ with some of the best clinicians and educators
in the world. Craig is renowned for pushing the boundries of time and
experimenting with odd time signatures. |
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| Craig reckons his new role as drummer in the ‘David
Cross Band’ suits him down to the ground. Craig said "This
is the dream gig for me, playing with world class players playing phenomenal
charts is what I've always wanted to do. I have that opportunity to take
my playing and experience to the next level with these amazing musicians.
I'm really looking forward to playing with David and the band" You’ll find more on Craig at http://www.craigblundell.net Glad to have you on board! |
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31 January 2008 |
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The DC Band is playing in Italy again in February. |
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22 January 2008 |
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Had a great session with Andrew Keeling just before Christmas
and recorded music based on haikus by Pete Sinfield as well as more
open improvisations. Andrew is a great flute player and improviser and
we always get on welll. |
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21 January 2008 |
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Just returned from blue sky and sunshine in Athens to a dreary, cloudy (but not so cold) London. Hugh Hopper and I drank a lot of coffee at various cafes in the Plaka district (near the Acropolis) and had a great meal with the Space Explorers at (drummer) Kostas’ and (xylophonist) Maria’s home near the sea. Chris Stassinopoulos couldn’t keep still or stop talking all
the time we were there. I look forward to the next invitation. |
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