Archive of original News entries 09/2006 to 11/2008

January 2008

Happy New Year! After spending Christmas at home and becoming part of the few million who got ill in the UK over the "festive season" - I got the 'flu and spent the period from Dec 26th until January 3rd in my dressing gown feeling generally crappy - progress is now under way once more on Dorothee Munyaneza's project, which has acquired a further eight (!!) songs, begun during a particularly productive few days in mid-December. We departed from our previous established method of setting up a drone and djembe loop (to define pitch, tempo and groove) because drummer / percussionist Richard Marcangelo was present (and inspired) during these sessions. We set up a small kit which allowed Dorothee to focus on singing straight away as well as yielding a sonically different and pleasing result. I'm currently spending time getting to know the tracks intimately and editing and programming them into the next phase, which will be when more musicians get added to the blend ...... exciting!

November 2007

The IMAGINED VILLAGE

A significant part of November was taken up by the UK Live Tour of The Imagined Village project, which I had a recording and mixing involvement with while still at Sonic Innovation 2 in late 2005 / early 2006. Produced by fellow Afro Celt Simon Emmerson, the CD was finally released on Real World Records in mid-October, several months after a debut live outing in the WOMAD mud. (I did the Front Of House mixing, which was a handful - at the end there were over 20 people on the stage!). This was very well received, and I was asked back to do the UK tour, which took in many notable concert halls and culminated at the Royal Festival Hall on the 27th of November - my first time back there since the Afro Celt Sound System "Seed" show in 2003. 

Yes, a foray into the outside world! Being a cog in a different wheel. On a tour bus. And I'm happy to report that it was altogether a good experience - I made some new friends and learnt some things!

I particularly loved having the same mixer (a Midas XL3 - I specified a 48-channel one but was given the 40-channel version - I managed) for each show. Aah, the ability to progress and hone the sound on a daily basis. It actually sounded pretty good in the end - only alienated a few people with the level of the loud bits ...... it wasn't a "rock the house" sort of show, although one reviewer did refer to it as "high decibel folk fusion"!

On reflection, even during  more large scale live activity with the Afro Celts there has not, so far, been the opportunity to tour a front of house desk - we may have owned the entire stage, but I have always made do with whatever is at the venue / event. Fingers crossed for the chance to make this a possibility in the future ..... meanwhile it's back into the bunker to resume work on the ongoing Dorothee Munyaneza CD project which I'm producing and which is shaping up excellently. There are currently seven tracks significantly in progress to which will be added a whole new batch to be written in the next fortnight. Then we select and complete the very best of the entire bunch, (stereo and surround mixes so that all formats (mp3's, CD's and DVD's) are on offer when the time comes). A small mountain of work in prospect!

September 2007

DARFUR NOW premiere at Toronto Film Festival

I am very proud to report that a song I have produced recently has been included in the new Warner Independent Pictures theatrical documentary "Darfur Now" - directed by Ted Braun and premiered on the 9th September at the ongoing Toronto Film Festival - as the End Title Song. It is an all-new re-work of Stevie Wonder's "Love's In Need Of Love Today" (which was originally on his legendary album "Songs In the Key Of Life"), and features Bono in a duet with Stevie Wonder himself over a new arrangement which includes Sudanese rap star (and ex boy soldier) Emmanuel Jal and several other excellent Sudanese and African musicians and singers. You can listen to it here. The film has Don Cheadle (who played the lead role in the 2004 feature "Hotel Rwanda", for which I wrote a selection of cues which were used in the score) both as a producer and as one of the six featured activists whose progress is followed onscreen. For further information please follow the supplied link above, check this out or Google here - this is obviously current and at the time of writing the full impact of the film is as yet an unknown quantity. I obviously wish it the greatest possible exposure and success, and am delighted to have had the opportunity to be involved.

April 2007

 

MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVICH 1927 - 2007

I have just heard of the death today (27th April) of the great Russian cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich.

As well as seeing him perform several times courtesy of my parents and their concert-going (which was such a huge influence on me) I once attended a master-class he gave as part of the Aldeburgh Festival. He arrived by helicopter, which got my attention immediately, and then proceeded to give out his amazing and entertaining insights into the particular music his pupils for the occasion were playing and on life in general. He was a champion of human rights and a harsh and outspoken critic of the Russian establishment when it got heavy-handed with it's artistic icons.

There's an obituary and tribute to him here and a good article about him here.

March 2007

Sadly, Darfur in Sudan is ever increasingly in the news for all the wrong reasons. One of the foremost campaigners publicising this issue is actor Don Cheadle, the star of Hotel Rwanda. Martin is proud to be associated with his activities in this regard - have a look at this :

 

YouTube also have footage covering Don Cheadle and George Clooney's recent efforts here (part1) and here (part2).

 

December 2006

AHMET ERTEGUN 1923 - 2006

I have just become aware of the death on December 14th of Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records.

This man's influence on contemporary music was both huge and significant, particularly to someone of my own vintage. A great loss.

 

Check these links for more information :

There's a great interview with him, done in 2005 here and an obituary / appreciation of him here.

Finally, Atlantic have a tribute site here.

 

September 2006 (1)

On the evening of the 7th of September, 2006, the London premiere of the Lebanese feature film "Bosta" took place at the West Kensington Odeon.

(Martin wrote the underscore and 5.1 mixed the entire music content (including song and dance sequences) between May and July 2005).

The premiere was a charity event, organised by the British Lebanese Association, with all proceeds being donated to humanitarian and reconstruction work following the appalling hostilities which took place earlier in the summer. Director Philippe Aractingi attended the screening, travelling from Beirut specially for the event, and taking an extensive Q&A session at the end of the evening. He is currently shooting a new feature amongst the aftermath of the bomb damage and displacement, amid much human anguish, while his wife and children are safely re-located in Paris.

This was the first time Martin had seen a high quality print in a big-screen setting and was a memorable occasion. The music came over nicely, too! The film was rapturously received by the capacity audience, who were touched in many ways by the story, the songs and dances and the beautiful travelogue footage of the unspoiled Lebanon. Hopefully a distribution deal for the film is more likely as a consequence of the evening's success!

A reminder - you can hear a montage of cues from Martin's underscore to the film by clicking here.

 

September 2006 (2)

Also, Martin has finally located his End Credits music from the short film "Mr Firecul", and posted it on the Sounds page.

 

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