Corey Mwamba

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Where the Hell have you been? Part 22109

Today's my [self-imposed] day off. I tried doing it yesterday, but it didn't work. But today is mine. Which means I have had ample time to add all the gigs I'm supposed to be doing.

I entirely forgot to talk about the gig with Robert Mitchell in Newcastle—but needless to say, The Mitchell's sinistral set is breathtaking. He'd hauled me up to do a solo set and then join him in duo formation. It's been a while since I've done a solo gig but the room at The Lit and Phil was beautiful, just beautiful; and I was able to work with the room in terms of dynamics and tone. I ran through Herbie loves Monk [a mash-up of One Finger Snap and Evidence]; Mack The Knife—UNSEEN!; a musical re-telling of Orpheus and Eurydice called then she looked [which was in podcasts as few years ago], and I think I may have played ICD-10 as well, which is on the Group of One recording. The audience was lovely and it was great to see singer Zoe Gilby and bass buddy Andy Champion too! Robert and I did a short duo; all in all a good night! Soured it the next day by losing my train ticket and having to stump up for the return journey though...

Speaking of Andy, we had a gig—in fact, the first gig of Batteries. Mark Sanders was out of action with a bad back so we had Joost Hendricx from Shatner's Bassoon step in. We quickly settled into a sound, and Chris Sharkey's acoustic playing was a revelation! Looking forward to the next chapter of the group.

I spent an enjoyable week in London with Arun Ghosh and Surinder Sandhu devising some music for a new play by Paul Morris called conumdrum at The Bush Theatre. The themes were quite densely packed but the actor Anthony Ofoegbu delivered the messages with startling clarity. A mad sprint to Leeds then followed to join the Seth Bennett–Laura Cole Orchestra which combined some lovely writing and fantastic players; and Juxtavoices, a great modernistic choral group run by Martin Archer.

A day of travelling and then it was One Note Sunday's first birthday! We've moved to a new space, The Crown And Cushion, a CAMRA pub which is near the train station. Julie and I have also tweaked the time so it's better for people travelling from further afield. It marked the first time I'd put myself on for a full One Note Sunday set, and it has to be said I was surprised at how intensely the audience listens at these things. I'm so happy it's continuing; and with luck I'll be bringing more music to Derby soon.

But first—my day off.

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