Guy Hatton’s Pantechnicon – Album out now!

So today is the day! Guy Hatton’s Pantechnicon has been released for general sale and is available to buy/download at CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon and all other good online stores. The album features both some great tracks and musicians which have been written, rehearsed, gigged and recorded over the past year. All the material has come from the musical mind of the group leader/guitarist Guy Hatton and shows a really exciting beginning to a great project! Keep an eye out for upcoming performance dates.

The artists included on the album are: Guy Hatton (Gtr, Composition), Me (Sx/Electronics), Graham Clark (Violin), Dave Evans (Pno), Roger Inniss (Bs), Jose Williamson (Drms)

You can both purchase and download this brand new album right here, right now from the CD Baby link below:

Album Release: Guy Hatton’s Pantechnicon

This year some of you may have seen me playing with guitarist Guy Hatton’s band ‘Pantechnicon’. The group was set up to realise a set of original compositions by the man himself. They draw on his life expereriences and musical influences including Jazz, Prog, Experimental, Rock and many more contemporary genre’s. This all encompassing set of music was recorded earlier this year and the final product has arrived!

All involved are getting excited as it is set to be released on September 5th 2011 and will be available on CD from CD Baby and as a digital download from iTunes, Amazon, eMusic and other good stores.

The album features myself (on alto, soprano saxophone and effects) Guy Hatton (guitar/composer), Graham Clark (electric violin), Dave Evans (Fender Rhodes, piano and synthesisers), Roger Inniss (bass guitar) and Jose Williamson (drums).

Here’s a taster of what’s in store:

Indigo Jazz Jam Session – This Wednesday (10th Aug)

If you are in Manchester this Wednesday it would be amazing to see you before I head to the big smoke. Even better still, it would be great to have a play as I am going to be fronting the house band at the Indigo Jazz Jam Session.

This session has become one of the most happening places to be for so many reasons! Indigo itself is a cracking bar with a great friendly atmosphere and has become a meeting place for both aspiring and professional musicians the like! The Jam is also ran and promoted by two of the cities favourite faces, the fantastic sax player Ed Kainyek and equally brilliant drummer Marek Dorcik! If you don’t know where it is, it is in Withington, many buses travel out this way and it is really worth the journey!

This is going to be my Manchester swan song before moving to London so would be fantastic to catch up, hang out and have a play with each and every one of you. On Wednesday I am joined by the great Andrzej Baranek on Piano, the beautiful playing of John Sandham on Bass and for the first time ever my wonderful father and drummer Clive Meadows!

It all kicks off with a set by the house band at 9:30 before we Jam the night away until 1am!

Back up North with 3point1

I know it’s an early warning but get your diaries out now as I am craving gravy on my chips, meat and potato pies and a fancy new flat cap!

…3point1 have an upcoming 3 date mini-tour which we are very excited about indeed. Maxwell Sterling, Steve Hanley and myself are lucky to start off with the chance to make our debut at the beautifully situated, incredibly popular Cinnamon Club in Altrincham and we can’t wait, we know the audience here is one of the best listening crowds in the North of England!

With a few hours of sleep and preparation in-store next up on the road is one of the fastest growing contemporary Jazz Festivals in the UK, the Lancaster Jazz Festival where we are part of a great Sunday afternoon line-up.

Finally we return to our regular Manchester haunt and old-time heavyweight on the Manchester scene: Matt and Phred’s Jazz Club!

There are going to be new tunes, exciting performances and some stories a long the way! We would love it if you could join us between the 24th – 27th September to catch up and divulge in our little world of music. We really have been working hard on this one. All the specific information and links are below!

24th September, £8:30PM, £TBC

3point1
The Cinnamon Club
http://www.thecinnamonclub.net

25th September, 6:30PM, £5/4
3point1
Lancaster Jazz Festival
http://www.lancasterjazz.com

27th September, 9PM, £free
3point1
Matt and Phreds Jazz Club
http://www.mattandphreds.com

Degree Results

3point1 in my final recital!

A fantastic three years at Leeds College of Music came to an end in June and I am still missing everyone and everything about it as I struggle to find a place to live in London and find a place in my heart void of the volume of friendly faces I had become accustomed to. Last week included results day and oh boy was I nervous! As many of you will know I had worked so hard on both the performances and composition portfolio which were too be marked. So hard in fact that I didn’t want to accept that the hand-ins had to be handed in, I had become officially obsessed!

So the e-mail came through titled ‘transcript’ for my BA (Hons) in Jazz, I clicked the link and low and behold I have been fortunate enough to receive a First Class Honours Degree. I would like to take the time to thank my family, friends, musicians, tutors, venues, promoters and each and every single person who has been involved in my music thus far as for the first time I have received top marks in Music!

The biggest hand however has to go to my fantastic recital group who are all incredibly talented musicians worth researching and checking out:

Anya Thomson - Vocals
Aubin Vanns - Guitar
Maxwell Sterling - Double Bass
Steve Hanley - Drums

So thank you Leeds, you really have been a great place for me and I can’t wait to return in September and November for gigs!

3point1 Latest News

For those of you who don’t know. 3point1 is a trio I am involved in featuring two other people who are both fantastic friends and incredible musicians. We have been playing around the UK for a few months now and are very pleased to be able to announce a couple of dates in September that mean I will be returning to the North for the first time since moving to London, It would be great to see you at one of the gigs!

Lancaster Jazz Festival:

Sunday 25th September, 6:30pm – £5/£4 for the day or £15 for a full festival pass
There are a few acts before us on the day so go and check those out too!
More information at http://www.lancasterjazz.com/index.html

Matt and Phred’s Jazz Club (Manchester):
Tuesday 27th September, 9pm – £FREE
Table booking advised!
More information at http://www.lancasterjazz.com/index.html

Glastonbury Round-Up!

Glastonbury Festival 2011 was such an awe-inspiring place to be, if you were there I am sure you would agree! Live music across 60 stages and every genre imaginable being performed in front of audiences aged from 3 days to 100 years old. 200,000 people made the journey to the South-West to create a weekend that will live long in my memory.

I was privileged to be there with Yorkshire Jazz Vocalist of the Year Nicki Allan and her fabulous sextet. We performed twice to a packed out Bourbon Street Jazz and BluesTent and had a great time on both gigs! The Glasto audience is one of the warmest, kindest and greatest around and it was a real pleasure to both play for and meet so many of you. Thank you for coming to watch us.

It was also great to catch up with so many friends including some I have not seen for years.

Over the festival I managed to see all the areas of the site including some amazing acts such as BB King, Jimmy Cliff, Janelle Monae, Wu-Tang, U2, Biffy Clyro to name a few. Hopefully I will have the chance to return to Glastonbury 2013 as it truly is a special place to be.

My last gig before the move, Matt and Phred’s 28th June!

Swiftly after I return from playing at Glastonbury I am set to be perform at Matt and Phred’s Jazz Club (Tib Street) in the Northern Quarter, Manchester on the 28th June! This is my last gig whilst living up North so it really would be great to see you before I head to the big smoke.

We kick off at 10pm and it is free entry so there is no reason not too come. If you can’t make it though don’t worry I am still going to come up to say hello and perform regularly!

On this gig i’m going to have my fantastic trio 3point1 featuring Maxwell Sterling on Double Bass and Steve Hanley on Drums. We’ll be playing some of our favourite standards and some of our original tunes too! Take into account the great drinks and fantastic pizza Matt and Phred’s has to offer and we are on for a really great night.

See you there!

Degree is over… and relax!

3point1 in my final recital!

I wanted to take the opportunity to thank each and every one of you who made the trip to The Venue at Leeds College of Music yesterday. I had a really great time at my final recital and it was so great to see so many friends and family, you all made it a truly memorable experience. It was one I will never forget! I would also like to thank the fantastic tutors who have helped me develop as a musician over the past three years, I couldn’t have done it all without you.

But most of all I would like to thank my fantastic band. My trio 3point1 featuring Maxwell Sterling and Steve Hanley and two very special guests: Anya Thomson and Aubin Vanns all of which have been a pleasure to work with and an honour to play on the same stage.

It’s the morning after now and I don’t even have a hangover (terrible student right?) as I had to jet straight to the last Glastonbury rehearsal, which is sounding great! I feel slightly lost in what to do as the past few months have seen my efforts spent entirely on recital material…. Strange!?!

Glastonbury Build-Up: Radio Performances!

This week see’s the team of musicians with Nikki Allan promoting their two Glastonbury Gigs in the Bourbon Street Jazz Tent. We have, Dave Evans on Piano, Colin Sutton on Bass and Alex Wilbrew on Drums! It’s going to be a lot of fun… We are set to be performing on the Thursday afternoon as well as the Saturday.

This Wednesday (15th) we are being welcomed to perform for the BBC as part of BBC Radio Bristol’s Glastonbury build up. I’m not sure if it’s live or a recorded show, but i’ll let you know as soon as I do! (Most likely keep an eye on the twitter feed on the right of the page for information! On Sunday (19th) we will also be on East Leeds FM on the breakfast show. It really is an exciting build up for the journey!

If you can’t catch us at the festival do make sure to catch us on the radio! Lets hope the weather forecast stays positive! I’ll keep you updated on all the latest as it happens!

Glastonbury 2011

So this summer is going to start with a bang! I am very excited to be playing at Glastonbury 2011 with Jazz singer Nikki Allan. We’re going to be there for the whole festival in our muddy wellies and will be enjoying all the free time we have surrounding the shows so let me know if you’re there too, it would be amazing to catch up/meet you.

The band are playing twice. Once on the Opening Day and then again on the Saturday in the Bourbon Street Jazz Tent. I’m not sure of the times yet, but the Saturday is an evening gig! I’ll update this post as soon as I know more. The rehearsals so far are sounding great, a real mixture of upbeat Jazz and Funk and we can’t wait to play at one of the worlds leading music festivals!

I’ll be tweeting throughout with pictures and information so do check out my twitter feed on the homepage! Hope to see you happy campers there!

My time in Leeds is almost over – Recital details!

My time in Leeds is almost over!

I’ve had an amazing three years in Leeds and I wouldn’t trade them for the world! I’ve met so many amazing people and even more inspirational musicians. I have some of the nicest, kindest and most caring people around me and will miss each and every one when I move to London in a few weeks. I would like to thank everyone who has helped make my time in the North so enjoyable!

However it’s not quite over, as I have two recital’s left and would like to invite you all to come and watch. They are both free entry and are for the end of my degree…. so here goes:

6th June, Room 140, Leeds College of Music – 10:40am prompt!
Phil Meadows Solo – a twenty minute minor recital
For my minor in improvisational strategies i’ve been looking at approach to time and changes. This is to culminate in the scariest performance of my life as without a band to support it becomes a whole lot tougher!

16th June, The Venue, Leeds College of Music – 5:20pm prompt!
Final Recital ft. 3point1 + Anya Thomson + Aubin Vanns
This is the big one, my final send off! A 40 minute recital of some of my favourite tunes, played with some of my favourite musicians.

It would be amazing if you could make one, or both of these recitals as I have put a years worth of work into both. If you can’t, I’ll be back in Leeds at Seven Arts Centre in November with 3point1 and Stuart McCallum so I shall see you there!

Phil Meadows Music

Saxophonist. Composer. Educator.