back on topic ....

I come from a musical family and we have always been singers whether that be in choirs or small groups. But my first instrument was the guitar because my sister played the guitar and I loved everything about my eldest sister 😃( I love all eight of my sisters by the way ) . But I felt limited with the guitar because in my head I could hear the bass strings horns keys brass . None of these could be adequately replicated on an acoustic instrument . I started playing keys very late in life when I was 28 years old. I have a client who is a jazz piano teacher and one time when I was providing him with advice on his finances ,I asked him to play something for me. He asked me what sort of music I liked . I told him hymns and he started to play abide with me in a jazz style something that I've never heard done like that. I was mesmerised that religious music could be so beautifully reflected through the Jazz form .

So I started taking music lessons from him and I guess his influence helped shape my direction in terms of my musical journey and its adaptation to gospel music.

and I discovered arranger keyboards when I went to a popular music shop in Birmingham and heard a gentleman playing a Yamaha keyboard . but as he was playing the keys I could hear drums and bass, and strings and it was the most stunning thing I've ever heard. he was playing a Michael Bolton song " how am I supposed to live without you " and it blew me away. I decided I had to have that keyboard and I purchased my Yamaha PSR 8000 keyboard soon after. I was a member of the choir at the time and we had a musician that would be very unreliable. Sometimes he would come to practice sometimes he would come very late and sometimes would not come at all.

So I would bring my Yamaha to practice and just play along to the tunes and if he was there I would a play bass Or drums until I got better and could play accompaniment . And then I discovered that I could remix songs instantly using the various styles on the keyboard adding new life to old hymns and all songs. And from there i progressed to being choir leader musical director and a have assisted numerous choirs throughout Birmingham with my now korg PA1X keyboard . Right now as we are going through the Christmas period I have been singing and playing with a small group of friends at various old folks homes Christmas carol services et cetera.

most musicians really don't fully understand how much the music can impact a person's life but as I have gone on my journey playing for lots of different people, the most gratifying experiences have been playing for the old folks. Many of them are old enough to be my parents grandparents. Last night we were at such a home and we performed for about an hour. We sang Christmas carols and religious songs with my arranger and my friends and everybody sang along and got up and danced and jumped and clapped like young people would.

Music can be so powerful and can bring people together in such an awesome way. It saddens me that music is not taught as a foundational course at schools throughout the country. I'm convinced it would have a major impact on the way that communities grow together and how young people interact with one another .

One of the greatest challenges I have had as a Christian musician is using the gift that I have responsibly but that's for whole different discussion.