Jason Lyon Music

Author: Jason

  • I’m Sorry…

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    Jason
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    There are many institutions of British humour that have achieved international recognition – Monty Python, for instance, and for a slightly older generation, The Goons. This post is about a radio classic that has been running longer than both and is every bit as wonderful but perhaps not quite so widely acclaimed abroad. It’s called…

  • Vi Hart & Twelve Tones

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    Jason
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    For some reason I can’t even remember, I was recently spurred to refresh some of the funkier stuff in my maths education. In my online quest after some of the long forgotten detailed bits behind the sublime Euler’s Identity (yeah, I know, I’m weird) the linky stuff led me to this gal right here, who…

  • Lies, Damn Lies & Marketing Part IV: Is That So?

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    Jason
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    File this one under personal attitude, because we’re not going to be diving knee-deep into tritone-infested waters here. More of a generalised New Year type reflection, really. We’re all prey from time to time to concerns about how we’re perceived by others – band members, other musicians, management, audience, the press, the world, the dog… It’s…

  • Merry Christmas

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    Jason
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    …to all seventeen of my loyal readers It’s that time of year again… Time flies. It irritates me as much as the next person when the supermarkets start stocking mulled wine in September, but actually I started planning the gig roster for these crucial couple of reindeer-bothering weeks way back in October. Currently booking February……

  • Ugo Delmirani

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    Jason
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    I do hope the grapevine’s wrong about this one – please let me know if so. I heard the other day that Ugo, a formidable pianist and stalwart in particular of the scene at London’s famous 606 Club, had … sort of disappeared for a while. From what I hear, he won’t be coming back. The…

  • A Santa Shoutout

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    Jason
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    I don’t usually use this blog to reference my residency, mainly because I don’t think many people care. But here we go… It’s been a great year for the gig. Since moving into the new Loft Bar at Toulouse Lautrec we’ve established a little scene that seems to be growing very healthily indeed. In fact,…

  • Pausing for Breath

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    Jason
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    Here’s another video. Apologies for writing less recently, but it’s that ho-ho-ho time of year and I’ve got other things on. Anyway, this video is a stone-cold classic. Here’s Bud Powell in Copenhagen doing Anthropology (not, as a friend of mine who played with us the other week and cocked up the head described it…

  • Anna Russell’s Ring

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    Jason
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    I love musical comedians, in particular the ones who make you laugh and then casually sit down at the piano and demonstrate that they can actually do what they’ve been knocking. Made some remarks on here before about Victor Borge, but here’s a contemporary of his, the late great Anna Russell. If you’ve always wanted…

  • Sound Judgment

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    Jason
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    It’s a vocal Jim, but not as we know it… I’ve done quite a bit of engineering in my time, both live and studio. Believe me people, every little one of those controls on the Starship Overprize does something, and the whole result is organically linked, onstage and front-of-house… Every choice of microphone, the position…

  • Circling the Square

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    Jason
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    I’ve been asked to post something on piano fingerings for jazz. I’ll do my usual – half-answer the question and then talk about something I think is far more important. With precomposed music, you work out a fingering in advance but it’s largely based on standardised ways of working with scales and arpeggios. With improvised…