Merville House Début

I did my official first gig on the 30th of September, and I will briefly summarise - I have practise to do, a computer to re-format and install Windows 7 onto, music to write and stuff to tidy. All on top of my hefty 7 hours a day of procrastination! How will I do it? Easy... go to bed at 7am again.

I was playing with my go-to musicians, Scott, Dan and Matt. These guys are awesome, and make my life easier by keeping me right when needs be and just playing the hell out of their instruments! The first 2 tracks were a bit nerve racking, but I soon relaxed into the gig and besides the odd clam, I think overall it was a great wee concert. It was very well attended which always makes you feel like playing better and doing your best to play music. I shan't say much more. I was very pleased with my tune "Dawn" which I wrote for the concert, it was played very nicely buy the guys and by my own estimation, is probably the start of me writing more modern music.

Well the first review is through:

http://projectormonkey.com/2009/10/the-michael-barkley-jazz-quartet/

Band Members:

Michael Barkley: Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Scott Flanigan: Keyboard
Dan MgGeown: Double Bass
Matt Weir: Drums

On a typical evening where local acts provide the entertainment, usually it entails watching a haze of check shirts and floppy fringes bouncing up and down like the stage is their mother’s mattress, and the music sometimes falls on deaf ears, or causes deafened ears. However, this is a particularly different concert to which I normally attend. In Newtownabbey, The Michael Barkley Jazz Quartet are about to embark on their first gig.

Recently appearing on late night BBC radio show with Linley Hamilton, local music virtuoso Michael Barkley has been performing in the background of many high profile musical events around the country for many years, and this evening, the spotlight is finally all on him, armed with his extraordinarily talented backing band.

Playing to a rather small audience in an even smaller room, the quartet ran the jazz gamut, playing impressive renditions of Miles Davis, a thoroughly enjoyable Bossanova number, and a gorgeous original piece, entitled “Dawn,” which Mike informed the audience that it was only penned 48 hours previously. That is something quite spectacular, especially considering that the piece sounds like a 40-year old jazz aficionado painstakingly wrote it over a period of months; never mind a young man of 22 years of age writing it within an evening. No doubt about it; this is perhaps one of the most talented young men performing in Northern Ireland today.

Though jazz is certainly not the cup of tea of most modern music fans, The Michael Barkley Jazz Quartet deserve more praise than most local acts out their, on the merit of their acute musical sensibility, their enormous respective talents, and their humility. So pour yourself a glass of brandy, get comfortable in your burgundy robe, open your Nuts magazine (if you like that sort of thing…), and have The Michael Barkley Jazz Quartet provide the soundtrack to a sophisticated and enjoyable evening.

These guys are available for bookings and private functions. Check them out on http://www.myspace.com/michaelbarkleyjazz

In other news I have started keeping a practise diary, just noting how much I play each day to keep me focussed and to help me level it out to an even 4 to 6 hours if at all possible. I will maybe spreadsheet this and share in December. Friday was a LAZY day for me! 1 hour. For shame!

Time to organise the photos from the gig and get some long tones going!

Mike