Regular readers will remember that in my last blog I was getting ready to fly to Canada on holiday… Well, that was eventful! I’m over the moon to say that during our travels, my partner-in-crime, Chris, proposed and we’re getting married in April! I’m super excited to be on the other end of the bridal emails and get organising. For anyone interested, or any brides-to-be looking for ideas, I’ll be blogging about the big day closer to the time so watch this space!
I have full-on wedding fever, having just returned from an epic 3-day Indian wedding in Khao Lak, Thailand with Entourage (me on electric violin, André Saxman Brown on sax and Deji Carr on percussion). First off, we stopped in Bangkok to perform at two club night events – one at Havana Social (the Cuban club we featured in this video), and one at Above Eleven (a rooftop Peruvian restaurant and bar on the top floor Fraser Suites Hotel). It was great to come back and play here at what are now a couple of our regular haunts, and I never tire of the view from Above Eleven overlooking the cityscape of Bangkok. Such cool venues to play at!
After a few days in Bangkok, we hopped on a plane to Phuket and into a car to the JW Marriot hotel in Khao Lak. Absolutely. Stunning. We were due to perform on the 2nd and 3rd days of the actual wedding celebrations: at the Mehendi lawn/pool party, the Sangeet after party, and the reception after party. This crowd sure knew how to party and we were up playing until past 4am both nights. This made me feel super rock and roll, until I realised 4am is basically 9pm UK time, but ssshhhh! (Still hard-core.)
The wedding was beautiful. The venue location by the beach, together with the way each room was dressed and themed with incredible flower arrangements, made this wedding completely out of this world. What a pleasure to be a part of it, and a big thank you to the bride and groom for having us! Here are some action shots from the week:
Having enjoyed the balmy Thai weather for a week (and managing to get a mosquito bite on my FOREHEAD), it was a rather rude awakening returning to England this week to 1°C! My first gig on returning to the UK was last night at Nottingham's Winter Wonderland in the Sur La Piste bar. They’ve completely upgraded last year’s installation, and the new set-up blew me away:
This has truly got me in the cosy winter spirit, and if you want to catch me electric violin-ing in public in the run up to Christmas, I’ll be performing here again on the following dates throughout December, between 10-11.30pm:
- Saturday 1st December
- Friday 7th December
- Saturday 22nd December
- Friday 28th December
With Christmas approaching, it’s that time of year when I get to perform at more and more corporate parties. Recent events have included performing for LinkedIn at M, Threadneedle Street, and for Air France / KLM at The Wallace Collection with André. You can see a video of us at this incredible event here.
Other recent corporate highlights include performing with DJ Phoebe for AccorHotels on the top 3 floors of Novotel Canary Wharf, and working with House of Angels for ‘The Brick Awards’ at London Hilton on Park Lane. We performed the musical ‘stings’ as people went up to collect their awards, and then later as well for the after party. Although I had never heard of a ‘Brick Award’, I later found out that my dad had actually won one himself in 1994! Small world! (He won 'Best Newcomer' beating M People and Gabrielle)
As a solo violinist, I was also recently asked to perform for a fundraising event for Borne and Unit London. This was a private viewing of the gallery's ‘21st Century Women’ exhibition, which celebrated female artists and 100 years of women’s right to vote in Britain. The event was to raise money for Borne - a medical research charity that works to identify the causes of premature birth in order to save lives. I was really honoured to be able to play a small part in this evening and be involved with a charity that does such important work. Do check them out here.
I was also recently invited to perform at a special Wagyu and wine tasting evening at Hampton Manor. I performed some solo acoustic and electric violin and had the pleasure of sampling a delicious 4-course tasting menu, as well as staying overnight in one of the manor’s beautiful rooms. The evening was in special partnership with Nyetimber and I was delighted to be there to represent the brand for their 1086 campaign. It was also very fun (and surreal) finding my picture for the ad campaign in the December issue of Harpers Bazaar:
As always, it’s been great to be a part of some beautiful private events and parties over the last month, including a couple of 50th birthdays at the Savoy and Club Langley, a bar mitzvah at the Ham Yard Hotel, a wedding at Barton Hall, and an engagement party at a private home in London.
You may have also caught a glimpse of me on TV recently as a backing violinist for Tom Walker on Stand Up To Cancer and Michael Bublé on The X Factor! If you fancy seeing me play in public, do pop along to Nottingham Winter Wonderland during December for a bit of après-ski entertainment! x