In June I did a frankly ridiculous trip to Mumbai with the Bollywood Brass Band where we played one gig and were on Indian soil for less than 36 hours. Was fun, though arguably not for my grandchildren, who will be blaming me when London is underwater due in part to my carbon footprint.
Oh, and we were also on Indian TV.
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I was arranger and MD for this one-off event celebrating the 150th anniversary of Highgate Cemetery.
The event was directed by John Caird and featured performances from Tim Piggott-Smith, Jenna Russell and Sara Kestelman amongst others.
Working with John Caird, I researched, sourced and arranged music relevant to each stop on the promenade performance, before performing and MDing it with a small mobile band.
It was a great thing to be involved with, and provided me with something of a rare opportunity for a left-leaning trumpet player (or indeed anyone I suppose): to play the Red Flag on Karl Marx's grave, before Tim Piggott-Smith did a beautiful reading from Das Kapital.
