Copyright © Neil Wood 2012-14   All Rights Reserved   Site by OW   Contact:  neil@neilwood.net

I am currently working on an album tentatively called “Shadow Life” with some rather fine jazz musicians.  It will be a collection of the songs from the great American Songbook with a jazz feel.  
We may also shift some of the arrangements a little, change some lyrics, even include some original material ……..…work in progress.

So how did I get here from back there in the Black Country of my working class roots?

It started with a performance of the ‘Thunderbirds’ Theme in the school hall
by a local R.A.F. band with me riveted to the wall, all goose bumped flesh
and thrilled to the core.
It started with the Hollywood musicals I imbibed at the teat of the BBC.

It started with the discovery of the 1812 Overture and Rhapsody in Blue.

It started with West Side Story and then
The Beatles and Fleetwood Mac and Joni and Paul Simon and
Jimi and Tchaikovsky and Luciano
and on and on and on… so much glorious sound.

It started with me picking up the Cello’s at the back of
Basil’s music room and making up tunes.

 And then the poetry of Keats; Dylan Thomas, Roger McGough, Spike…
and
poetry of my own.
Then songs and a head full of tunes and a desire to create that would not let me be…

And so here we are a lifetime later with a return to those early songs and to that hunger…