This year is coming to a close. Looking back, I feel blessed by the amount of special occasions I’ve had the chance to contribute to with my music. There’s been a little of everything: private and public events, celebrations of beginnings, milestones and ends. Old friends for whom I’ve performed many times and a no small amount of new faces. A myriad of different venues.
I want to mention two gigs that I had this autumn, which kind of illustrate the range of experiences I’ve had this year. The first took place a few weeks ago, during a special dinner. Nottinghamshire had recently appointed Gary Godden as crime and police commissioner, which made him become the first black person to occupy that position in the county. The dinner was a surprise for him. It was lovely to enhance the evening and celebrate an achievement that’s both individual, for the merits that Commissioner Godden has got during his career, and of the community, which is now represented in a more diverse way.
For the second gig I want to talk about, I travelled to London and played at the Shangri-La Hotel in The Shard, where Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., in conjunction with Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Hon. G. P. Ian Gooding-Edgehill, M.P., hosted a reception for tourism partners.
The role of the music here was all about boosting the energy for new ideas and agreements, in a reception that didn’t celebrate achievements already reached, but that looked at the future and its potential. That’s the wonder of music at special occasions: it can elevate the past and the future while enhancing the present.
Many thanks to Nottinghamshire county, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. and the many other people and organisations who have booked me for their events this year. If you’re interested in having my music at your own event, my booking enquiry form is always open and available.
