Spring Has Sprung

Photo - Ian Cartlidge

Jazz 4tet gig @ The Merriott Hotel Spring 2015 Photo - Erika Skykes

Although everyone back home in Nova Scotia, Canada will find it hard to believe, spring has definitely sprung in Leeds, England! The daffodils are up and the birds are chirping. It's been a very exciting winter - read on for more!

I'm thrilled to announce that I have been granted my Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK! This means I don't need to apply for any more visas to stay and I can come and go as much as I like - and I can apply for dual citizenship in under 10 months. This has been a massive undertaking and has involved the support of many people - thank you!

Lots to share since my last post in October. Had a wonderful trip back to Nova Scotia in the Autumn to catch the last of the red leaves and see my family - managed to fit some playing in as well. 
I've been doing some training in Makaton signing with my work at Doncaster Community Arts and recently had my first workshop in a school using both signing and music - super fun!

Katie on drums & Hassan on oud working on some Moroccan grooves

Music & Makaton Workshop w/ Year 2 children

Most recently I've started working with fantastic multi-instrumentalist Hassan Erraji. Originally from Morocco he is extremely skilled and knowledgable. He's been showing me some traditional Moroccan music and we are working towards a duo performance together on Saturday 21 March at St. Chad's Parish Centre in Headingley. What an exciting new project!

This past month has been very busy with my trio doing workshops from Live Music Now. Over half term we partnered up with Harrogate International Festivals and NYMAZ to present 'Musical Villages' in North Yorkshire. We started out with a few taster sessions in the local schools leading up to the half term week. Over half term we worked with a great group of kids for 5 half days in a row and composed our own suite of music that we performed on the last day. Using a few words for inspiration, we created a story about Pete (the bass player) and his nemesis, Mr. Artichoke. In the story, Pete unintentionally squashed Mr. Artichoke's family which upset him so much he decided to get Pete back. Pete narrowly escaped death in various scenarios - in the shower, in the car, in the hospital, in the kitchen. We then composed the sound track for the story using drums, percussion, guitar, bass, clarinet, trumpet, alto sax, flute and other instruments. We even recorded our own samples for the music! The final performance was a combination of acting and music and it went down a storm.  
On top of that, we've been working in a few schools in South Yorkshire. It's been really nice to spend the whole day in one school so we can get a chance to work with more individual children instead of a large group concert style performance. 

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Showering the people with my rainstick!

Another new fun project - spent a lovely day with the 'Sweet Baby James' band doing a video shoot of some of James Taylor's greatest hits. Managed to do some drumming, percussion and background vocals. You can check out the final video here. Look out for us in Halifax, West Yorkshire on 26 June. It's such a treat to play such well written, well loved music with excellent musicians!

How Sweet it Is to be playing the music of James Taylor!

Everyday I sing a little louder!

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