This one’s for my mum! I wonder if she’ll post a comment now…
Mona Lisa was first recorded by Nat King Cole in 1950 and since then has been covered by Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson and … Shakin’ Stevens!
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This song was first appeared on the Visitors album in 1981 and it is said to tell the story of the separation of Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. It was reworked into a ballad for the Mamma Mia film, this time focusing on two people finding love again. I think it’s one of the best [...]
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Today’s song is a bit special because it’s part of something a bit bigger. This past week I’ve been horrified at the images coming from Haiti following the earthquake there, and I decided that I’d put together a CD of inspirational songs and hymns and “sell” it at church in return for a donation to [...]
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Today’s song is by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black and was from the musical of the same name, first performed at the Sydmonton Festival in 1979 by Marti Webb. The one-act musical was included as the first part of the show Song and Dance in London’s West End in 1982.
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Today is the final day here in London at BETT and I’m absolutely shattered. It’s been an enjoyable few days working with Oscar and Joe and everyone on the stand, but I’ll be really glad to get home tonight! Today’s song is The Wind Beneath My Wings. It was first recorded by Roger Whittaker in [...]
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As part of the Apple Leadership conference happening alongside BETT I attended a dinner on the Silver Sturgeon last night and I had been asked to play a few songs with saxophonist and fellow ADE Joe Moretti. We hadn’t had the time (or piano) to rehearse anything, but enjoyed ‘busking’ our way through a few [...]
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Since I’m in London this week I thought I’d do something a bit theatrical, so here’s one of the lesser-known songs from Phantom of the Opera. If anyone is coming to this blog having been at one of my presentations this week, then you may want to find out more about 365songs here.
This evening I’m [...]
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Today’s song is the Duke Ellington classic Don’t Get Around Much Anymore. The last time I played this song was around 1am in the bar at the Crowne Plaza in Glasgow following the first day of the Scottish Learning Festival and I was joined by Derek Robertson from LTS who sang the song to the [...]
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Today’s song was requested by Helen Myers. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Helen on several occasions and she wrote a lovely comment last week on Guldet Blev till Sand. I’ll hopefully catch up with Helen later this week at BETT. I hope you enjoy this, Helen!
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This song dates from 1935 and I’ve always enjoyed playing it. Written by Harry Link, Holt Marvell and Jack Strachley, the song has been covered by lots of performers including Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, and Bryan Ferry, but I think my favourite has always been Ella Fitzgerald’s version.
I hope you enjoy today’s performance!
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Today’s song is the beautiful Fields of Gold, written by Sting, although my performance is much more in the style of Eva Cassidy’s version. The last time I played this song was in the Café Rohan in Strasbourg when we were there in November with East Dunbartonshire. On that occasion the song was sung by [...]
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Earlier this week I asked if anyone had any requests and I’ve had loads of suggestions from friends on Twitter, Facebook and even in the real world! I’ve started recording some of these and we’ll start today with Elton John’s Your Song which was requested by Carolyn, dedicated to her dad. I had the pleasure of [...]
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Week 2 begins today – with Yesterday! Beautiful song, first released in 1965. According to the Guinness Book of Records, this song has the most cover versions of any song ever written. Here’s another one to throw into the mix!
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I’m in London today for an Apple meeting at Hannover St so I wanted to play something appropriate. With yesterday’s snow I wasn’t even sure I’d get here, but one cancelled flight, one late flight, one late train which broke down and another train later I finally arrived last night.
According to Google Maps I’m a [...]
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“This one’s going out to Sorcha and Paul in Northern Ireland…” If you’re interested, you can find out more about the song on Wikipedia.
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Sticking with the musicals theme from yesterday, Guldet Blev till Sand is one of many beautiful songs from the Swedish musical Kristina från Duvemåla, written by (my musical hero) Benny Andersson and with lyrics by Björn Ulvæus. The musical is based on the novels of Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg which tell of a Swedish family’s [...]
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There’s no particular reason for this one today. It’s the song On My Own from Les Misérables, sung by the character Éponine. The musical Les Misérables, based on the novel by Victor Hugo, was written in French by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil in 1980, but wasn’t staged in London until 1985 with English lyrics [...]
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I’ve always loved this song. It was originally written by George and Ira Gershwin in 1926 for the musical Oh Kay! and has been sung by many performers including Ella Fitzgerald, Barbara Streisand and Linda Ronstadt. The song has also featured on Battlestar Galactica and in Star Trek: Voyager and in the movie Mr Holland’s [...]
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In this morning’s Herald “Review of the Decade”, I was reading about 9/11 and I was thinking back to one of my lasting memories from the time after the horrific events. Billy Joel performed the brilliant New York State of Mind at the benefit Concert for New York City and along with the other brilliant performances [...]
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Yesterday my new piano arrived – the Roland RD-700GX and I’ve been playing it pretty much non-stop since. As we entered the new year I was thinking back ten years to the Millennium and to the fact that at the time I was playing much more regularly – on New Year’s Day 2000 I was [...]
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In 2010 I challenged myself to record a well-known song every day of the year. To see the full list of songs, click on the image below.
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