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While we are on the subject…

April 29, 2026 in Life as we know it | No comments

…of music…

In a missive posted but a few weeks back I introduced gentle readers to the excellent guitarist – Clive Scott – who has recently joined the ranks of Anam Danu.

This has been most exciting period bringing – as it does – the prospect of the first live Anam Danu concert a little closer every day!

In turn this splendid new member has introduced us to a new musical inspiration – a scarcely believable phenomenon… arguably a true musical genius!

…the which is embarrassing, because none of us had even heard of him.

Now – you may already know the young man concerned – in which case ‘good for you’. If not – let me introduce Jacob Collier.

Before you accuse me of hyperbole – here is the start of his Wikipedia entry:

“Jacob Collier (born 2 August 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and educator. His music incorporates a combination of jazz and elements from other musical genres, and often features extensive use of reharmonisations and close harmony. He is known for his energetic live performances, in which he often conducts the audience to sing harmony or play percussion parts.

In 2013, his split-screen video covers of popular songs, such as Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ’bout a Thing”, began to go viral on YouTube. In 2014, Collier became friends with Herbie Hancock and Quincy Jones after they heard and saw his video cover of Stevie Wonder’s song. He decided to stay independent and produce his first album”.

Far better than anything I could write here would be simply listening-to/seeing the man in action. To that end herewith some links.

Here he is recording (live) the video for a new single, with accompaniment from an impromptu choir of fans:

And here improvising with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra:

Should you find this prodigy as fascinating as do we, you might be interested in this BBC documentary about him:

Should you choose to watch any of these clips I would encourage you to watch through to the end. Jacob has a habit of springing surprises throughout.

Enjoy!

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Washing the Dust – 2

April 26, 2026 in Life in BC, Photos | No comments

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidA suggested in my last post, our dalliance with the arts over the winter months here on Vancouver Island has not been confined to the theatre alone. This follow-up missive takes us into the wonderful world of music in Victoria… and a surprisingly varied world that is. Herewith a few of the highlights from a wide spectrum of celebratory events.  As chance would have it these all feature predominantly the human voice

First up – an event for which we had purchased tickets way back in the summer of 2025 – the extraordinary Ladysmith Black Mambazo at The Royal Theatre.

Now – just in case any gentle reader should be unaware of this legendary ensemble, herewith a brief extract from their extensive entry in Wikipedia:

“Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a South African male choral group singing in the local vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They became known internationally after singing with Paul Simon on his 1986 album “Graceland”. They have since won many awards, including five Grammy Awards.

Formed by Joseph Shabalala in 1960, they became one of South Africa’s most prolific musical groups. Their releases received gold and platinum disc honours in both South Africa and abroad. The group became a mobile academy of South African through their isicathamiya music”.

At The Royal – on a virtually unadorned stage and behind a simple row of microphones – the nine members of the current choir quickly captivated the sell-out crowd with their infectious call-and-response routines, their silky harmonisation and their soulful melodies – the which were energetically underscored by their exuberant choreography. Our faces were wreathed with delighted smiles throughout.

(Sadly, we hear that Albert Mazibuko – one of the founders of Ladysmith Black Mambazo – recently passed away. Rest in peace).

At the opposite end of the spectrum from The Royal Theatre may be found the ‘Brentwood Bay Village Empourium’. This delightful meeting place bills itself thus:

“Welcome to Greater Victoria’s Favourite place to meet up with friends, enjoy great food and drink and browse our selection of merchandise – much of it locally and regionally procured. From apparel to dishware, greeting cards, candles, decor, jewellery and gifts – we’re your friendly neighbourhood general store and more”!

In addition to decent coffee and rather good snacks this hospitable cafe is also a live music venue. On Friday nights the display cabinets in the centre of the shop are pushed back to create an intimate 35 seat cabaret-style venue at which local musicians just love to play.

I am slightly embarrassed to admit that – in the decade since we came to Canada – we had not until recently attended any of these shows. This omission was corrected a few weeks back for the visit of Victoria legend, Louise Rose. This from the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame website:

“Musical from a very early age, Louise’s capabilities and interests haven’t exactly been restricted to making music. A native of the United States, she has, among other things, been a police officer, a Baptist missionary and a sociology teacher. But all that changed after she arrived in Victoria in the early 1970’s and fell in love with British Columbia’s capital city. A pianist, vocalist, and actress, she was formally trained in piano, organ, voice, conducting and arranging. Her teachers included Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellington and Leonard Bernstein. She is host of ‘Let’s Sing Again’ – and leader of the Louise Rose Trio. Louise is also conductor of the highly successful Victoria Good News Choir, which specializes in blues, gospel, semi-classical and jazz”.

We have seen Louise before and can attest to the fact that she truly lives up to her legend. She improvises on the piano with an extraordinary harmonic sense and is a character very much larger than life. At the Empourium she declared that she did not hold with breaks between sets – and that she would simply play until she had run out of requests.

Finally in this eclectic smorgasbord of musical treats is one that I had not expected to experience. The Victoria Symphony Orchestra (VSO) were closing out their season with a performance of Mozart’s Requiem at the Royal – the which event was sold out long before we heard about it. In part this was because the VSO was to be joined for the performance by the choir of King’s College, Cambridge.

When I did finally hear the news it came in the form of a flyer advertising the availability of a very limited number of seats at one of the final rehearsals for the concert. This would take place at the Farquhar auditorium at the University of Victoria and only one hundred and seventy five tickets would be issued. The choir and the VSO would be led through the Requiem by the King’s College Director of Music, Daniel Hyde, with his instructions amplified for the edification of the fascinated attendees.

I have long had a tangential interest in the King’s College Choir – and not just because I was a boy soprano back in the day before my voice broke. I grew up listening to the recordings of the King’s College Choir (in particular those of their Christmas choral music, the which I still reach for come the season). Also, my penultimate employment in the UK was at a very well known school that not only had its own excellent choir but was also blessed with strong links to Cambridge. For a number of years I sang in impromptu Christmas Eve choirs in the chapel there and can attest to some of the magic involved.

 

 

 

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Washing the dust – 1

April 17, 2026 in Flotsam and Jetsam | No comments

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls”.

Pablo Picasso

There have been years – probably too many in all honesty – in which the winter and early spring months have seen life’s dust accumulate upon our souls just that little bit too briskly.

Exposure to the arts may not truly require that much of an effort, but those of us of ‘un certain âge‘ are doubtless sometimes guilty of hibernational tendencies when is comes to our artistic intake during these dark months.

Not so this year! We have already been out and about a fair bit – and the dust of daily life has been well and truly disturbed.

Herewith a few highlights:

The threatre season at The Belfry started in February with Tawiah M’Carthy and Brad Cook’s excellent ‘Maanomaa, My Brother’. The Belfry’s notes reveals this:

“Childhood friends Kwame and Will reunite in Ghana for the funeral of a loved one, and discover how much has changed since they separated 25 years earlier. Telling their story in a beautiful combination of dialogue and movement, the play is both fiercely personal and curiously abstract. It’s a meditation on grief and diaspora starring playwrights M’Carthy and Cook“.

This is an extraordinarily beautiful and moving piece of writing, brought fiercely to life by its authors. The writing and performance are excellent and I for one was delighted that the production did not shy away from the theatrical – something that to my mind is all too prevalent these days.

Neither The Girl nor I care for the west coast habit of leaping to one’s feet at the end of a show to award a generous ovation. We cleave to the British view that standing ovations should be reserved for the truly exceptional.

In this case, however, we were both on our feet!

At the opposite end of the theatrical scale The Girl and I travelled with dear friends, one weekend in March, to the mainland for the ‘Broadway Across Canada‘ touring production of ‘Les Misérables‘ at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver.

Now, The Girl and I – separately and together – have both seen ‘Les Mis‘ on many occasions, stretching right back to the show’s transfer to the West End in London from the RSC’s home at the Barbican in 1985.

That we have done so should not be taken as a sign of obsessive reverence for the piece – though we have always enjoyed it. The reality is more prosaic. In the decade that we lived together in the UK we were visited on a pleasing number of occasions by travellers from Canada. When asked what they would like to see in London, ‘a musical‘ was always near the top of the list. ‘Les Mis‘ proved to be a reliably satisfactory way of fulfilling that desire.

With regard to the Vancouver touring production – the show provided its accustomed magic, but we did miss the full-stage revolve that had been such a integral and bold feature of the original show’s staging.

On the other hand – it was good to hear a full 16 piece orchestra featured in this production. Many modern presentations save money by utilising a heavily stripped down pit band.

On which subject – next time, music!

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Trust the process

March 24, 2026 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

“Slow down. Calm down. Don’t worry. Don’t hurry. Trust the process.”

Alexandra Stoddard

In my recent missive concerning our plans for 2026 I included this brief note:

  • There will certainly be more music making this year and there are indeed already things upon which I should be reporting. Look for further postings soon.

Look no further.

The Chanteuse and I have been searching for some time for a guitarist to recruit to the Anam Danu cause. After what has felt like a long and intensive search (because it was!) we are thrilled to announce that Clive Scott is officially joining Anam Danu in that role. We have already been working together for a while on some new music and we cannot wait for you all to experience this new sound.

Clive previously played with the local Victoria band Aston Martini. We asked him to share a bit about himself and his musical background. Here is what he had to say!

“I grew up on a farm near Innisfail, Alberta. I remember always loving music and was first exposed to formal music training in grade 5 in the school band program where I learned to play saxophone and read music. At 16, I started learning the guitar and was immediately hooked. While I loved playing and jamming with others, for many years as a professional pilot, my irregular schedules precluded playing in bands. I was able to get back into bands in 2020 when I moved to part-time work. I am currently playing as the guitarist in Vanilla Riot, a popular Victoria-based band featuring two female vocalists and covering rock, post-punk, and alternative hits. I am excited to be playing in Anam Danu – the songs are beautifully written. I love the melodic structure and stories they tell. It is quite different from music I have played to date. What would one call it – ‘West Coast contemporary’? There are influences of jazz, folk, rock – all at once. Challenging and rewarding to play and wonderful to hear.”

Welcome aboard Clive – and thank you for your kind words.

There will be music to follow soon. As ever – stay tuned…

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A Ship Called Dignity

February 15, 2026 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid“And I’m telling this story
In a faraway scene
Sipping down raki
And reading maynard keynes
And I’m thinking about home and all that means
And a place in the winter for dignity
And I’ll sail her up the west coast
Through villages and towns
I’ll be on my holidays
They’ll be doing their rounds
They’ll ask me how I got her I’ll say “I saved my money”
They’ll say isn’t she pretty that ship called dignity”

Ricky Ross – Deacon Blue

This posting is long overdue and should really have appeared late last summer. The tardiness stems from the fact that the matter it concerns is something about which I feel perhaps unexpectedly emotional.

Let me explain…

My last post featured the rediscovery of The Waterboys’ classic track – “The Whole of the Moon”. This led – as such things often do – to the revisiting of another great Scottish song – Deacon Blue’s “A Ship Called Dignity”. Now, regular readers with long memories might just recall that this song has been referenced in these jottings before – the context for which was as follows:

Back in the day – way before we moved to Canada – The Girl and I had many a discussion as to what our new life might look like; where we would live… what we might get up to… what we would not… It was not always certain that we would end up in – or indeed near – Victoria but one of the things that finally swayed me – after a number of visits and the very great joy of getting married amongst friends and family on the Saanich Peninsula – was that I really loved the idea of living within sight of the ocean. Sweeping vistas of snow-capped mountains would just be the icing on the cake.

But that wasn’t all! To move away from the country of one’s birth – the place where one grew up – and to cross the sea to a whole different continent – is no small matter and the decision so to do was not taken lightly. I suggested that what might really seal the deal for me was to be able to fulfill a very long-standing dream…

…of owning a boat!

I couldn’t help but think that it would be a shame to live within sight of the sea but not to be able to play thereon.

Fortunately, The Girl is who she is – and operates the way that she does – and we agreed that a handy lump sum from one of my pensions should be used for that end.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidIt took a year to find the right boat – an old but characterful 20ft Double Eagle – and I decided that she should take her name from Ricky Ross’s song. ‘Dignity’ seemed to me to be appropriate.

So – what is all this about last summer?

Tune in next time…

 

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The Whole of the Moon

February 12, 2026 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

 

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid“Unicorns and cannonballs
Palaces and piers
Trumpets, towers, and tenements
Wide oceans full of tears
Flags, rags, ferry boats
Scimitars and scarves
Every precious dream and vision
Underneath the stars

Yes, you climbed on the ladder
With the wind in your sails
You came like a comet
Blazing your trail
Too high, too far, too soon
You saw the whole of the moon”

Mike Scott – The Waterboys

 

The other day The Girl and I watched some of the coverage of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony from Milan and Cortina, courtesy of the mercifully still splendid BBC. The program was preceded by a short film featuring former AC Milan and Sweden footballer, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, on what it takes to become a champion.

The soundtrack of this diminutive opus included – amongst other musical items – a cover version of The Waterboys’ track – ‘The Whole of the Moon‘. Now, this is one of my favourite ever songs… in other words, I wish fervently that I had written it myself! To my intense frustration, however, I missed the credit for the piece (assuming that there was one) and realised that I had no idea whose cover this was – or where I might find a copy.

No matter! We are, of course, blessed (or cursed!) in these dog-days with a frankly incredible range of services that enable us to discover pretty much anything about pretty much everything. I spent the next couple of days pottering around the InteWebNet looking for clues and hoping to locate a source for the piece.

This I was duly able to do, of course, establishing that this particular version had been created by one Tom Hickox – an English singer/songwriter who is clearly worth taking the time to get to know better.

Whilst I was hunting down this fascinating link in the chain I found yet another cover version of “The Whole of the Moon” – this time by another unknown (to me!) singer/songwriter – this time a Scottish lady by the name of Karine Polwart. This considerably more delicate version comes from an album of covers of songs by Scottish writers – entitled “Karine Polwart’s Scottish Songbook” – the which I had immediately to snap up.

In amongst other versions of songs that are already well known I found another of my favourite tracks (yes – another one that I would have done pretty much anything to have written!). This song goes by the soubriquet – “A Ship Called Dignity“…

…but more of that next time.

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Safe harbour

February 9, 2026 in Life as we know it | Permalink

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid“A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”

John A. Shedd

High time to wrap up the New Year’s reflection and to get on with living the year itself:

If there is one thing of which we can be sure in this volatile day and age, it is that nothing now is certain. Making predictions as to how the year might unfold is most probably a fool’s errand. That having been said the following ventures are at least at some stage in the planning:

  • Something that I did not mention in my recent review of 2025 was that both The Girl (and to a lesser extent I) struggled during the year with various health related matters. I don’t want to overplay these issues because we are, after all, both getting older and some of our concerns really do just go with the territory. We are determined, nonetheless, to take steps to ensure that we do better in 2026 and beyond. We will be working on diet, exercise and general health during the year. I will, naturally, be reporting back on our progress.
  • We thought long and hard about spending another week in the sun this February. As ever it would have been good to have felt the warmth on our shoulders, but thus far (fingers crossed) this has been a mild winter on the west coast of Canada and there is not quite the same urgency so to escape the season as has been the case in some previous years.
  • Also, we decided early on to put all of our efforts this year into an expedition further afield. The Girl has been working hard at one of the many things at which she excels and plans are well advanced. Again, I will report back once things have been firmed up. Most likely that trip will take place in September/October.
  • This is the first full year of retirement for us both and we are still adjusting to the fact. Thus far we seem to have been even busier than when we were working (the which makes no sense to me at all
  • We will slowly continue to ‘right-size’ the clutter that seems to attend modern life. More on that soon
  • We intend spending as much time as we can with family and friends and we will, of course, be aiming to attend as many artistic events as is feasible. Some have already been booked and more are to come
  • I have now done two productions with the Peninsula Players (as Musical Director) and I am into my second year on the Executive Committee. I have a new venture to report in this space – so look out for that also.
  • There will certainly be more music making this year and there are indeed already things upon which I should be reporting. Look for further postings soon
  • We will definitely aim to entertain in our garden just as much as the weather allows

OK – enough with the ruminating – let’s get to work (and play)!

 

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Hearing the music

October 31, 2025 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music”

Friedrich Nietzsche

Since The Girl and I moved (returned, in her case) to western Canada a decade ago the gentle reader might – on a number of occasions at this time of year – have found posted to this forum a glowing write-up of an evening spent in the delightful company of Barney Bentall’s Cariboo Express. Sadly – as reported last year – Barney and his peripatetic crew of musicians, writers and poets have decided that it was time to hang up their travelling boots and to stay at home instead. Since the Express had been making these charitable trips for some twenty years it would seem churlish to deny them the right so to do.

Fortunately that doesn’t mean that we will never see Barney again. His continuing popularity was all too evident during this summer, when he drew a sizable crowd to Butchart Gardens for a concert in their open-air series. We duly attended with friends and a splendid and joyous occasion was enjoyed by all. Barney and his band ended the evening with an entirely unrehearsed rendition of ‘American Pie‘ – during which the audience demonstrated that they too knew all of the words and required no rehearsal.

This weekend just passed The Girl and I attended another musical performance – this time at the Mary Winspear in Sidney. This seasonably appropriate event was a very different kettle of fish to Barney’s summer show and featured Vancouver folk band The Fugitives, with whom I fell in love with back in 2019 when they played at the Brentwood Bay Music in the Park. One of the two main songwriters in the band – Brendan McLeod – has recently spent a considerable amount of time studying the First World War Battle of Vimy – the which understandably looms large in 20th century Canadian history -and from this research Brendan and the band have created a one act monologue with music entitled ‘Beyond Vimy – featuring letters and songs written by the WW1 Canadian soldiers. Deeply affecting and bringing a tear to many an eye in the Charlie White theatre, the piece made a strong case for the importance of remembrance as an ongoing process that involves the whole community. Most impressive and moving!

In addition to these two fine musical occasions we also attended, this autumn, two further concerts at the opposite end of the scale – each taking place at the Save-on-Foods Arena in Victoria. Both of them featured sold out performances by Canadian icons.

Bryan Adams has decidedly achieved legendary status on this side of the pond – even if in the UK he is known mainly for for the rock anthem ‘Summer of 69‘ and the seemingly indestructible ballad – ‘Everything I Do, I Do it for You‘. Bryan was in good voice at the Save-on-Foods Arena, though there were few surprises. My enjoyment of the show was tempered somewhat by the sound being unnecessarily loud. I like the mix to be at a certain level, to guarantee an immersive experience, but I have grown less tolerant as I have grown older of excessive decibels.

An object lesson in how to obtain a perfect sound at the arena was provided a few weeks later by the wonderful Sarah McLachlan. Over the past decade and more I have been led on multiple occasions and by diverse means to this hugely talented artist and I have long desired to see her live. Last year she set out on a worldwide tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her classic album, ‘Fumbling Towards Ecstasy‘, but we were unable to get tickets for the shows because they sold out so quickly. Unfortunately the tour was postponed when Ms McLachlan lost her voice completely but we were better prepared when the rescheduled concerts were announced this year. The revised tour started in Victoria, but I see that, sadly, Sarah seems to have suffered a recurrence of her vocal issues some ten concerts in. We wish her the very best for a speedy recovery.

As for the concert itself – it was sublime! I have attended many shows over the years but this one I immediately identified as my new second favourite concert – ever! – just behind my equal first number-ones – Peter Gabriel’s ‘Secret World – Live‘ in London in 1993 – and the Peter Gabriel and Sting joint ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors‘ show in Edmonton in 2016.

If you think you detect a theme developing here, then you do. As the echoes of Sarah’s final encore died away and the audience started reluctantly to head for home, what should be played through the PA but Peter’s ‘Solsbury Hill‘.

Tingles!

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But wait – there’s more!

September 27, 2025 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

OK – so today’s post-topping quote might appear at first glance to be apropos of nothing at all, but a moment or two’s reflection would surely reveal that it is, after all, entirely apposite.

I was – as usual – hunting online for a suitable aphorism with which to head this post when I came across this little gem. It made me chuckle, which is – at the end of the day – the most important thing, so in it goes!

Now – what is the post actually about?

Regular consumers of the Immigrant’s scribblings will not have failed to notice that the past few months’ worth of postings have been focused pretty much entirely on photographs of our splendid trip to and through the glorious Rocky Mountains. Given that The Girl and I have been back in Victoria since the end of June there must – clearly – have been a fair bit else about which I could – and probably should – have written.

Time to catch up. There is a fair bit to tell.

Over the summer and into the autumn we have organised for ourselves a smorgasbord of cultural experiences. Future posts will touch upon a number of theatrical events at which we have been present. The musical scene must also to be considered and reported upon. More on both of these subjects in future posts.

We are fortunate in that we have been able to spend more time in our garden than has been feasible in some recent years. Good friends have obliged us by accepting our invitations to join us in enjoying the facilities. This is, after all, the reason for us having them.

I think it would probably be a good idea for me to glance back through my calendar to check that I am not missing any other important topics. I can think of at least one matter upon which I should report – and which has been overshadowed by my  all-consuming focus on waxing lyrical about The Canadian and the Rocky Mountains.

More to come soon!

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Winds of Change

June 25, 2025 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

Things might appear to have been a little quiet on the Anam Danu front of late – since the release back in October last of our fourth album – ‘Euphoria‘. Well, that’s the way it might look, but in actual fact there has a constant stream of activity that will eventually surface as new releases, new directions and new developments.

As a case in point we are about to release a new single!

‘Winds of Change‘ is a song that was written back in 2019 and which appeared on our eponymous first album. As part of our general re-working of songs for potential live performance we decided that the track was even more relevant now than when we first wrote and recorded it – and that we should re-visit the song.

This we have duly done and we hope that you will agree that it has come out rather well. Herewith the notes that I wrote regarding the track back in 2019.

“I was watching a documentary on the TV (I forget now the exact subject!) but something in it reminded me of MacMillan’s ‘Wind of change’ speech, The phrase not only stuck in my mind but immediately turned itself into a melodic motif. Within a couple of days it had grown organically into a complete song.

‘Winds of Change’ started with the now familiar image of the haze of smoke in the air from the wildfires that are these days a feature of North American summers and grew into a protest song – not just on behalf of the climate but also encompassing the West’s apparent inability to conduct its political affairs with any degree of decorum or dignity… or competence“!

‘Winds of Change‘ will be released to the usual download and streaming sites on July 11th, but if you just can’t wait until then you can find it now on Bandcamp here.

Do let us know what you think.

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